Margaret, the next time you go on one of those cruises, you’re just gonna have to take me along because I need a vacation. Fine wine may mellow with age but I sure as hell haven’t. I watched the dedication today for that architectural oxymoron known as the George W. Bush Library. That man was and remains an idiot. In fact, the only one in the family who seems to have any brains at all is the mother, Barbara Bush, who said the country has had enough Bushes’ in the White House. I couldn’t agree more. I hear, however, that she’s a real bitch. That’s certainly alright by me. It takes one to appreciate one.
While watching the dedication I was reminded of his idiocy (I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully) as well as his arrogance (I am the decider). Lord help me. I wonder if that man’s library even has books. I bet nobody ever has to be ssss-hushed in that place. It’s probably filled with paint-by-number sets.
It just kills me that we put that idiot in office… twice. But I guess there has never been a shortage of idiots in politics.
And speaking of idiots, it seems like every time there is an explosion in the world, Ann Coulter and a bunch of other old white Republican men crawl out of their caves long enough to thump their chests for the cameras. Funny how a bunch of yahoos clinging to the 2nd Amendment after kindergarteners are murdered, suddenly want to throw the rest of the constitution to the curb because this time the culprit was a Muslim using a pressure cooker. That monkey of an author, Ann, summed it up best when she said that the bomber’s wife “ought to be in prison for wearing a hijab.” I had to look that word up. It’s that religious veil worn by Muslim women. I guess the constitution only applies to Christian Americans – you know, value voters who seem to have no values beyond the latest sale at Wal-Mart. Give them time and they’ll argue that you should be allowed to yell “fire” in a crowded mosque.
I am tired of idiots. Could the real Republican party grow a pair and clean their house so this country can finally get back on track. I mean it. Really.
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Do we really want to allow these “people” to obliterate this site because they are more relentless than we are? (Don’t forget: They’re no better; they are just more relentless…) These “posters,” IMHO, are not “people,” but programmed machines who just crank out crap assembled from all over the place. (I find some of the “posts” incredibly funny, BTW, as are their “email addresses.”)
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Okay… Maybe there are no longer – and never were – a Margaret and Helen, and maybe there never was a Matthew. But I believed in all of them, and in you, in an “internetish” sort of way, and I loved all of it, and still do. (Hell; I was even considering the possibility of going to Hawaii, or Alaska, or Texas, or to NY, which is right around my corner…)
Things are heating up in this country… We are becoming ever more of an armed society. We just don’t seem to care if children kill each other because they thought a gun was a toy. (Just so “unfortunate, isn’t it?”) Even the US Department of Agriculture (AGRICULTURE!! We’re talking plants here) now feels they “need” some big guns, and, as I was reading that, I thought, “Well, I suppose now the USPS will also feel the need to arm its carriers,” and was kind of laughing about it, and, in the next paragraph, I read that the USPS has also asked for the same… REALLY…? My letter carrier is going to show up in her funny little truck, every day, at my mailbox, with a rifle strapped behind her? Really…?
Ah, yes; those carriers need to be able to defend themselves from armed mail recipients who just don’t like that latest CC bill they’ve received, and they feel… threatened… So they gotta “stand their ground.”
Corporations have now been ruled to be “people.” The Texas GOP has decided to include, in its “platform,” the recommendation that “reparative therapy” should be available for people who have been “damaged” by their homosexual “lifestyle.” Bowe Bergdahl’s father is being labelled a Taliban sympathizer because he grew a beard and learned to speak their language.
Well, gee whiz; I might want to know what my son’s captors had to say about how he was doing, but that might just be me. Guess a Real American wouldn’t give a shit about his kid, if it meant learning to speak to his captors… (And, never mind those “duck people.” They were wearing stars & stripes bandanas, so we don’t care about their beards, or anything else they say or do.) “Second amendment defenders” seem to think they can order a couple of dogs at Chili’s while having an assault rifle strapped over their shoulders. (Restaurant managers are now the only voices of reason in the Greatest Country In The World…? Evidently so. Nothing wrong with that…)
I have neglected my own blog for quite a while, because I – like you, apparently – sometimes get goddam weary just doing what seems like pissing into the wind.
I don’t have kids, but I do “have” my husband’s granddaughter, and I’m goddamned if I’ll let her inherit a world like this without giving it a seriously good fight. I want her to know that speaking truth is a good thing, and a necessary thing, and I’m giving her everything I can to let her know that she can, too. No guarantees… But it’s worth doing.
Ask Lori. Texas may be the front line of everything. Or maybe Alaska. Or Hawaii… We just don’t know.
AND… This is a message from myself to myself, as much as it is to any of you. I miss hearing from you, and i have been remiss in replies, myself. Thank you all for listening. You are my sisters.
Gato (the verbose)
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Chris, Thank you for sharing this. I read it all but will have to watch the videos later. I’m always up for a Bill Moyers interview. I also posted this site to my Facebook page. I’ve been signing petitions concerning labeling. We’re up against some big players so it takes a lot of signatures to get our message across.
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POOLMAN……And ALL….
Here is Dr. Mercola and people worldwide speaking of the harms of GMO foods, and read the comments.
Monsanto and the GMO seeds with human DNA makes MadCow Disease, and isbeing attributed to the NWO….WoW!
Really!
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/06/25/glyphosate-residue.aspx?e_cid=20130625_DNL_art_1&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20130625
There really is a conspiracy going on.
So much of what affects us could not be happening and CONTINUING to go on without it being a conspiracy. Under normal circumstances, when one thing happens, it is found out, and eventually corrected, That correction on all levels IS NOT TAKING PLACE, even though the “finding out” is taking place.
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BE SURE AND READ THE COMMENTS BLOG AFTER THE ARTICLE, THEY ARE BLAMING NWO.
Peace..
Chris
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Chris, agreed. I just want to be a conduit for my Lord. For some insight on the effectiveness of prayer and the power of words and thought, google ‘miracle of water’. If you haven’t seen what prayer can do for water, and science has proved everything in the universe is surrounded by a water barrier, some as thin as one molecule, it is very enlightening. And they have proven water is quantum coherent. Now that goes a long way to explain how homeopathy works. Humans are 60 to 75 percent water, and we know our atmosphere is mostly water. Just think how much we can affect!
~~~~~~~~~~
Gato, I agree with what I have seen of Network. I have to rant. It just baffles me how folks would rather not know the truth if it messes with their comfort zones. That is just foolishness to me and really helps enable those that are working against us. I don’t advocate violence and I am not a violent person. My Lord showed himself violent one time of record, though it was more acting out of anger. You know the story, it’s when he took the time to construct a whip and turned over the tables of the money changers (banksters) and ran them out of the temple. Otherwise, he was not violent at all. That’s my example to strive to follow. We war not against flesh and blood and our weapons are not carnal. Spiritual warfare is where the real battle is at. Unfortunately, we modern humans don’t put much effort or confidence in the supernatural as a rule. We’re basically a nation of spiritual weaklings, even with the vast amount of churches we possess.
Keep fighting!
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By: poolman on June 25, 2013
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Hey, Poolman – Gotta say this reminds me of the movie “Network,” where the news anchor leans out the window and starts yelling, “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it any more!”
And I think I know where you’re coming from. (You, too, Chris…)
But I’m not sure responsive ranting does any of us any good, ultimately. If “they” are violent, and we are violent in response… Then we just have twice as much violence – violence of the soul, of the heart, of the spirit. Not that I haven’t gone there, myself. And, when I do, I am not uplifted, and I don’t feel any better – nor does anyone else. We are then all just combatants. Nobody learns much of anything from an exchange of blows, other than – maybe – how to survive a blow…
So… WWBD? “What would Buddha do?” I think the Buddha would embrace all this distress and, in so doing, would absorb it into something so much greater that we see ourselves, all of us, for the small squabblers we are…
Gato
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By: Anonymous on June 24, 2013
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POOLMAN…
AMEN…..
LET US PRAY..for all mankind. We are at God’s infinite mercy…
Now is the time to Pray…as prayer does work….
Even if people do not believe in prayer, the energy we colaborate and aim in our minds, will make mountains move…
That is science of today….try it….
We must put our minds to stop all this nonsense we are experiencing.
I choose to give credit to the creator, but, this works otherwise, as well.
If we clear our minds with no negative intent of our goals, or to anything else, it works. Jesuis told us we could heal and create even more miracles than he..
We are all energy. That is why positive energy is so important to send out into the universe..
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Peace to You, Poolman..
Chris….
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By: Anonymous on June 24, 2013
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After listening to today’s msm coverage, Snowden is definitely a dog and pony show. Nobody’s paying attention to TPP negotiations and the fed is all but forgotten. Metals are being MANipulated™ and fiat currencies are inflating stealing hard-earned wealth from what’s left of the middle class. Politics is now morphing with Hollywood and serves up masturbation for the masses while we club each other to death for shoes constructed by barefoot and starving child slaves, the holy capitalist way. Rah! Syria is being diced up as sectarian genocide is being served by our proxy mercenaries and arms supplies while our intelligence apparatus pushes Russia’s and China’s buttons. And not the ‘easy’ or ‘happy’ buttons, either.
But things are looking up. 🙄 Just keep shopping and voting, folks. Hell, if you need any virtual valuables you’ve accidentally deleted, the NSA’s probably got a copy in your file. Nothing’s gone, nothing’s sacred. No need to call information. We have an entire agency with a mother ship’s worth we, the people, have already bought and paid for. Well, I guess we’re still paying, as will our kids, and there kids, and there kids – if we survive till then.
I’m sure this will all blow over, right? The lies. The murders. The wastes. The immorality. The crimes against humanity. The crimes against nature. Someone will understand we did what we had to do no matter the consequences. Short term gains for some, long term agony for all.
We know the white-hatted cowboy wins the day and rides off into the picturesque sunset, and every princess gets her prince, and the all the happy ever afters will keep us safe through night…
Drones in the sky, uncle’s got our back. What could possibly go wrong?
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Hi, Terri – Haven’t gotten back atcha for quite a while… My bad! Still reading though…
Actually, most of those questions weren’t mine, although I probably would have asked them, if I’d thought of them. The whole thing just seems to be too well orchestrated to be just a spontaneous act of conscience. It’s obvious that Snowden just LOVES being interviewed, and likes to make clever comments (like the one about how he could have been in a palace on mainland China, petting a phoenix), or emphasize the melodrama of his situation (the government is going to try to kill him, but “the truth” will come out), and so on.
Compare this with Bradley Manning… To me, the story that Manning really did just have a crisis of conscience makes much more sense. He WASN’T “clever” about what he did; he didn’t seem to have a lot of high-placed “helpers,” although he certainly has supporters these days; he didn’t give a lot of interviews explaining his high moral position – at least not that I can remember. And he got hammered… And is still in prison, as far as I know. It’s possible that Snowden took a lesson from Manning’s experience… But I think Snowden is, first and foremost, a manipulator, and a self-serving one. If it turns out that’s not the case, so be it.
It is warped to keep presenting this as an “Obama administration” issue. Does anyone remember W? Aluminum tubes? Dick Cheney? Rumsfeld? Even (darn it) Colin Powell…? There is SO MUCH to be gained by keeping the populace perpetually terrified, paranoid, and afraid to open our mouths… Remember those color-coded “terror alert” warnings…? Today is only yellow; tomorrow could be red… And the idea that we should all buy protective “kits” so we could put plastic wrap over all our windows, in case of a germ warfare attack?
As long as people are scared to death, we aren’t going to risk much of anything. We’re not going to ask a lot of questions… That’s why I’ve really got to hand it to Lori in TX, and Pi in Alaska, and all the rest here who really put themselves on the line to make things happen in their own back yards. Fearless!
It’s odd that I can’t give Snowden the same credit, isn’t it? That’s because, at least so far, it all seems to be about him. I’m waiting to be proven wrong… Sort of. My gut instincts tell me that won’t happen.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 24, 2013
at 8:36 PM
Gato, all friends, jump to the 2012 review thread to continue our conversations. Cynthia has trouble downloading large threads and we don’t want her (or anyone else) to miss out on our stimulating conversations LOL LOL right? . 😉
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By: lori on June 24, 2013
at 8:21 PM
Hi, Cynthia – NOT a “waste,” at all! Sharing a story of loving and caring can never be a waste…
And what a little sweetie you’ve evidently found! Our neighbor here has FIVE rescued pits (or “blockheads,” as she affectionately calls them). When she first moved in with them, I have to say that my husband and I had a few qualms. But they are some of the best-trained, most well-behaved, and eager-for-strokes-and-scratchings dogs we’ve ever known.
Congratulations to you; I hope you’ll be very happy together for many years!
Thanks for sharing…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 24, 2013
at 8:05 PM
Cynthia..
Interesting about your puppies and their ends.
I had a cat that was 21yrs. old when it passed.
My friend’s dog lived to be 17 yrs. old.
I understand the gluten in the grains are causing the kidneys in these small animals to clog and shut down. It is also happening to humans, as well.
It just takes us a longer time to die from the GM corn and gluten, since we have a larger body masses than animals.
Feed your cars and dogs chicken, rice and vegetables that you biol on the stove. They will live a lot longer. Also, provide distiller water. The poisons in the water is killing all living things that partake, as well.
One food advertised.. Is purdue? Is this in a pet food ?
They use GM corn in the chicken feed. We CANNOT use this either, if we wish to live a longer life.
I have two thick volumes to read tonight on the Rothschilds…
They sold in Great Britian, the highest priced HOME EVER SOLD IN THE WHOLE WORLD…Wow !
I will share info…
Peace…
Chris
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By: Chris on June 24, 2013
at 7:59 PM
Fesser – With all due respect, I doubt it would be possible to leave you “speechless”…!
Neither you nor I know what Snowden’s motivations were/are. You like to portray him as a selfless young patriot, shocked by what he discovered – at a spy agency, no less! – and who was willing to “sacrifice” his future life as an American (whatever that might mean to him), and “give up all” to warn his fellow citizens of the travesties being committed by our government.
It is equally possible that he, a young man of 28 (and how many of us at that age really know what we’re doing?), saw an opportunity for fame and a brief period of Significant Importance, and maybe a book deal, and inroads to people of influence… And took it. (At his age, his amygdala has only been functional for a year or two…)
The jury is still out, IMHO. The fact that there is apparently documentation that he and Greenwald were in contact well before Snowden signed on with Booz Allen; the fact that he was given access to highly-sensitive material with so little experience, and accumulated it so rapidly; and the fact that he’s been so well-protected ever since his great revelation; make the notion that this all just “happened,” and his highly-developed moral sense just carried him along, a suspicious one, indeed. It’s “possible,” of course; and so is the Zombie Apocalypse.
BTW, I DID “scream [my] head off” from the moment the accursed Patriot Act was put into motion, some twelve or so years ago. It was a dangerous program then, and it is now. (I doubt I have to remind you of that quote about giving up liberty for security, and consequently deserving neither.)
This whole thing is not an “Obama Project;” it’s been going on for quite some time. I didn’t like it when W suggested that we all just go shopping, or go to Disney World, days after 9/11, and let “the government” take care of “protecting” us from everything. And I don’t like it that this administration is turning itself inside out to try to get their mitts on this relatively insignificant player. Makes me think there’s undoubtedly a hell of a lot more going on. (See earlier articles I’ve linked…)
So that, sir, is some clarification of “what’s ‘wrong’ with [some of us] people.”
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 24, 2013
at 7:58 PM
Gato …..
Everything in the mainstream media is staged at this point.
Remember, they mention little of the 2 million marchers against Monsanto, who are committing genocide on our people and those around the world.
They do not speak to any degree on the jailed and wounded and dead in those marches in some 400 cities around the world.
They do not mention the picketing of the Bildeberg Meeting in London a few Saturdays ago.
WHY Do they harp heavy and focus on stories THEY choose? To create disturbances within the world community; to meet their ultimate agendas.
Why is is so difficult to understand when the majority of movies being provided to the masses shows JUST that conspiracy going on everywhere on every level…
Peace…
Chris
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By: Chris on June 24, 2013
at 7:47 PM
lori – sounds good to me.
For my bday my darlings bought a Chromebook for me and wire-less Internet. But the wire-less is on a 30 day trial and ran out yesterday (I think they forgot to renew it). New passwords, email, new thingies to remember, and an updated cell phone. By the time she was through explaining everything I was so confused with information overload; I went out an mowed the lawn because I knew how to do that. I am getting used to it but not comfortable yet and keep come back to this old thing. Hard to teach an old nag new tricks, eh? I also have a newer computer sitting here but not hook up yet.
They want me to be connected to the world…I can take it everywhere…constant contact with all. Now does someone who lives on 3 acres surrounded by cornfields in upstate NY sound like someone who wishes to be connected to the world???? Do you think the Corner Store has wireless? Time is going by fast enough no reason to speed it up more.
Sound like I am an ungrateful, complaining witch….just overwhelmed. It is a great gift; being able to view a video is fantastic. Not taking 5 minutes to download an article to read is heaven!
And I have a new dog too. I put my 16 yo lab down about a year ago. Adopted an 11 yo dog who needed a home in Dec but unfortunely had to put her down in May – cancer the vet thinks. So I am in the process of adopting another dog. She was found starved, had been bred but no pups with her and burn wounds on her. http://www.pitcityrescue.com/Events.html
go to the bottom of the page. These pictures were of her two years ago. I just can not understand the people who can abuse an animal in this manner. She is such a sweet dog.
Talk about wasting space…sorry.
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 24, 2013
at 7:36 PM
I agree PF. It does not matter what party is in office. This is an attack on our government from outside sources.. THE CORPORATIONS who are multi national…the government gives contracts to these corporations because of the influence they have ( control )
I am not sure ANY president would ever even know this is happening.
( like I said before, 25 of our presidents are related….only a few certain families have had control of the presidency, so, maybe, they are part of the plot…as it thickens, if not, the corporations are the culprits, alone.)
The government got so big, even the enemy…whomever they are can hide from within, and never be totally detected.
The government is SO BIG…it runs without anyone at the helm. A President CANNOT know all the details of the function of our government. If any of us thinks so, get elected, ( you could not, even if you wanted to, unless you got the blessings of the powers that be ) and be lead around as a figurehead…..You may NEVER know what is being done behind the scenes…like a Saudi Company CONTRACTED ( sourced out ) to PROTECT THE EAST COAST….and not our own United States Coast Guard..
Katherine Austin Fitts, acting Asst. Secretary of HUD during the Bush Adminstration, spent her entire career in the financial system and the stock market and was a patriotic American.
She was put in charge of paying the bills provided to her on behalf of the HUD contract corporations.
She wanted to see the files she was to be responsible for, and with each file she reviewed, she noted NONE of the bills had a listing of what services were performed by each service provider.
She claimed she was to sign checks to Bank of America, Chase Morgan, and Citibank and many other banks……the amounts were for millions and millions dof dollars to each corporation….with no list of services provided.
This is what she claimed was black holes in the government budget.
Would any of us provide a blank check to any company, not knowing what we were paying for?
She is a super interesting person to listen to, and read about. She has first hand knowledge of what is happening within the American Corporate Government.
http://www.coasttocoastam.com/search/?search=Search&query=Katherine+Austin+fitts
Here is a list of some of the many interviews she has given on the subject, however the one I remember was some 5 to 6 years ago.
Point…This government is SO LARGE, with so many facets, we can NEVER keep track of the divisions and departments with their powers to do whatever and charge the budget with however much it decides to charge.
Peace….
Chris
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By: Chris on June 24, 2013
at 7:36 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
In light of the Snowden Saga, I think some of you might be interested in our Moscow adventures on a Uniworld River Cruise, the “Litvinov” cruise ship in August 2007 from Moscow up the Volga River to St. Petersburg. We had been to St. Petersburg before but there is never enough time to see and do everything so we wanted to go back! This river cruise was perfect because we “did” Moscow and lots of other cities and towns along the Volga River up to St. Petersburg. I have told some of this in the Kitchen/Bin before. But some of the nitty-gritty might make more sense now.
Our decision to go on this trip was almost spur of the moment. Of course, we needed a Russian visa. We were advised to send our passports with the applications and $150.00 per person to the Russian Embassy in San Francisco and allow 30 days. That was a bit of a nail biter since we are always a little skittish about handing our passports over to bureaucrats. (Registered mail, return receipt requested of course.) Further, our departure date was only five weeks away. Much to our surprise and delight, the visas came through stamped in our passports in only three weeks. The Russian Embassy was more efficient than our U.S. passport office! Fortunately, our passports were still valid. I don’t know what the procedures are now but for a long, long time, U.S. passport used to cost $45.00 and were valid for 10 years.
Countries in the E.U. as well as a number of other countries do not require entry or exit visas for visitors but do require passports.
My husband ordered some Rubles from the bank here. They had to get them from the Honolulu branch. He got 4,200 rubles for $200.00. So we were all set.
Since we have sons and their families on either coast of the U.S., we have always hippity-hopped from here to San Francisco, spent a few days visiting and to get over the jet-lag. Then on to Philly and do the same thing before going on to Europe. Coming back we reversed the itinerary.
It has been our experience on cruise ships, large and small, that their security systems are much more efficient than airports. When you boarded the first time, it was similar to an airport with this exception. They took your picture and on the spot issued you a credit card sized card with all the info on it, including your stateroom number. Then whenever you either got on or got off the ship, all you had to do was swipe the card in their machine! Simple and easy.
I’ll get back with more details later and how my husband got lost in Moscow.
Aloha! 🙂 🙂 :- ) Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 24, 2013
at 7:13 PM
I have to tell you, gato et al: sometimes you all really do leave me speechless. Here a young man exposes himself to — well, basically ends his life as an American, gives up all he has or ever hopes to have in this country in order to reveal a government agency’s spying on ALL Americans – something that, if it were done by Bush or any Republican, you would be screaming your head off.
But because it was exposed under Obama’s administration and embarrasses him, the spying is A-OK and you question the whistleblower’s motives.
Are you all really that partisan? Is Obama really that important to you that you think this kind of attack on the American way of life is OK? Progressives are the very people who should be screaming to the high heavens about this stuff.
What is wrong with you people?
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By: PFesser on June 24, 2013
at 6:32 PM
How bout this one Cynthia? https://margaretandhelen.com/2013/01/06/2012-in-review/#comments
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By: lori on June 24, 2013
at 6:30 PM
Gato – The Republicans would think it was a great idea. No worse then some of their other ideas to destroy this country. Don’t see them being deep thinkers or thinking things through on many of the matters this country faces. However, they are experts in corruption, selling their souls to the highest bidder and getting into lady parts just to mention a few issues.
Maybe Snowden did not think it through, just saw his 15 minutes of fame and a best seller book. Or someone made him an offer he could not refuse.
lori – great idea to move it to a smaller thread. I tried but could not find the number of comments to pick a thread with fewer comments. Can you?
pf – Another side to fracking:
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/16962-the-price-of-sand
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 24, 2013
at 6:22 PM
Absolutely Lori, the second attorney has a lot more on the ball. I am also impressed with the judge.
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By: No One's Puppet on June 24, 2013
at 6:20 PM
Hey Gato!
I think you raise a lot of valid questions and I think there is a lot we don’t yet know about Snowden. I think there is more to come. I do, however, from what I know now, question his motives. Those who are trying to make a hero out of him should wait until we know the full story. And we should all wonder what damage he has done to national security as he travels to various countries who have access to him and his computer files.
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By: Terri in NY on June 24, 2013
at 5:26 PM
Oh and Gato I meant to tell you the other day, please tell your friends that are relocating to Austin, if they have any questions or need anything I will be happy to help in any way I can. You have my e-mail address.
I think they are going to LOVE Austin. it is a lovely city. Hook’em Horns! 😉
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By: lori on June 24, 2013
at 5:25 PM
Hi friends!
NOP, so far, I have not been impressed with the defense. But like you say, I’m not sure they have much to work with. The guy that is doing the cross exam is better than the guy who did the opening statement though, don’t you think?
Cynthia, do you wanna jump to a different thread, while we wait for Helen to post again, since it’s difficult for you to load? I’m sure others have the same issue.
Auntie Jean, 😉 why yes, I remember Colorful. I was just thinking about him, how cowinky! LOL LOL
Gato I agree, all good questions. Not sure we will ever know all the answers though are you?
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By: lori on June 24, 2013
at 5:20 PM
“If this is in fact an attempt to somehow hurt or even bring down the Obama administration, it’s at best a ham-handed affair, and at worst gives the president to once more burnish his national security bona fides.”
Let me get this straight: a 28 year old man with his whole life ahead of him willfully exposes himself to the full weight of the United States Government, to include but not limited to, torture, jail time, likely execution………………………………………………………………………….
.
.
.
in order to embarrass Hussein Obamba.
.
.
.
.
What have you been smoking, anyway?
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By: PFesser on June 24, 2013
at 4:58 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Anybody here remember “Colorful”? Wonder whatever becaue of him/her.
Aloha! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 24, 2013
at 4:47 PM
“Fracking is unacceptable in 2013. We can do better, much much much better.”
Care to elaborate?
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By: PFesser on June 24, 2013
at 4:22 PM
Fesser – You are correct to plop me in there with the “progressives,” because I certainly consider myself to be that.
Here’s another article for everybody… Yes; it’s from The Obama Diary, and here it is. As I keep thinking, Snowden and Greenwald are minor players in whatever’s going on…
“chat away – questions
By Liberal Librarian 32 Comments
Crossposted on The Peoples View.
The biggest news of the day is the confirmation by the South China Morning Post that Edward Snowden went after the NSA job with the express purpose of accessing and leaking US security secrets. He has gone from “whistleblower”—which he never was—to pretty much of a spy and traitor.
Now he’s holed up in Russia, where it’s quite certain that the FSB is pumping him dry, at least as dry as Chinese intelligence did. And his whirlwind tour of quasi-democracies and outright dictatorships puts paid to the idea that he’s a starry-eyed defender of democratic ideals.
But this real-time John Le Carre novel begs several questions:
How did Snowden get by background screening to get a job at Booz Allen?
How did Snowden even get past screening with his paltry CV?
Why did Booz Allen contract him for sensitive intelligence work?
What political strings were pulled to get Snowden that job, and who pulled them.
Who benefits from secrets being spilled to the Chinese and Russians?
Who’s the patsy? Snowden? Greenwald? Or are they both quite aware of what they did?
We’re going to be entering the looking glass on this one. If this is in fact an attempt to somehow hurt or even bring down the Obama administration, it’s at best a ham-handed affair, and at worst gives the president to once more burnish his national security bona fides. High school dropouts with spurious claims of having taken “computer courses” do not—or at least should not—gain access to the keys of the security kingdom.
I’m not a conspiracy theorist; usually the simplest explanation is the right one. And I’m not going to speculate on these still-developing events with my theories. To be frank, I have none, just questions. But the fallout of this escapade will last all summer. I’m quite curious to see how this plays out, and how the administration works to bring Snowden and any accomplices / enablers to justice.
This is your “spy who came in from the cold” open thread.”
Some pretty good questions, IMHO.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 24, 2013
at 4:16 PM
Chris – I believe I was the one who thought you were a “yahoo”. Your mentioning Alex Jones, Glenn Beck and the Biedenburg(sp)/Bankers taking over the world IMO was a bit over the top. Especially the Beck “tells the truth” comment. (I think he is a fraud and crazy as well.) Then I realized you are sincere and passionate in your POVs however I can not join you. I do agree with some of what you think, just not the who, why, where and when.
I do not believe every comment needs a return comment, especially for those with dialup and old computers. It makes the thread too long and since Helen rarely posts these days they take up too much space.
We have problems in the country but most are man made and there are solutions if we were to put our minds to solving them. Instead we fight each other as if fighting is going to change any thing.
I believe our most serious problem is the mess we are making of this planet. It will not matter who is in control if it can no longer support life as we know it. I just heard a conversation/report on the nuclear disaster in Japan and how it is affecting the ocean. They still have no solution to the problem at this time and it will only continue to spread.
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 24, 2013
at 2:43 PM
Lori, the defense looks like one hot mess in my opinion. Thoughts?
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By: No One's Puppet on June 24, 2013
at 2:30 PM
PF…
I blogged an answer to Gato…a few minutes before your comment was posted.
I just would like you to forget the conspiracy..idea….as this is such new insight that it shuts down the brain makng it unable to take in any new information.
I watched a documentary on the brain which concluded the above.
The average person has been conditioned ( especially by the time we are 60+ years old ) to hold whatever information we have as a truth. ) It is ALSO difficult to accept new information as a truth, by that time, unless one is of the open minded variety. no matter what age we are..
Remember the old saying ” It is hard to teach an ole dog new tricks” ?
Those folks knew something that people probably do not take into consideration..
Please read my other comments, as they are NOT showing up on the blog, unless you go to the complete list of comments…
Thanks…
.
Chris
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By: Anonymous on June 24, 2013
at 12:32 PM
OH BTW Auntie Jean , Snowden’s Passport was revoked by the US. NK allowed him to leave, and Russia allowed him in, anyway.
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By: lori on June 24, 2013
at 12:31 PM
Hi friends!
I admit I am exhausted and haven’t read all posts so I don’t know where my friends stand on these issues. With that said, my opinion hasn’t changed from day one Snowden has been bought and paid for by the person who had/has the most political gain by “embarrassing” Obama. Period… If one thinks that is an action of a hero, so be it.
Personally I can name 50 things off the top of my head Obama has accomplished so far. I can name a few he hasn’t. My hope springs eternal he will get er done. 😉
Fracking is unacceptable in 2013. We can do better, much much much better.
In TX the war on women continues. Stay alert … Thanks for the support my friends, it’s appreciated, especially on morning like this. 😉
I am vegging in front of the TV with a few glasses of ice tea watching the Zimmerman trial today. I have to agree with NOP, day one is going to the prosecution, thus far. One thing for sure, George needs to get off his meds, or back wayyyyy off, for the duration of the trial.
Waving to alllll….love yinz much.
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By: lori on June 24, 2013
at 12:27 PM
Just watching the Zimmerman trial, his defense strategy seems to be boring the jury to death.
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By: No One's Puppet on June 24, 2013
at 12:13 PM
Chris – Believe me, there ain’t no “tightly knit group” here. To my eye, things are as follows: on this blog there is a group of like-minded individuals, highly “progressive” – loosely defined as Grandma, gato, lori, maybe one or two others, a group of more independent thinkers such as pi, and then a group of folks who have no party affiliation and think BOTH parties couldn’t possibly be more worthless and more alike: poolman, James, me. James, I think, is more Republican; poolman and I are Libertarian. (If I mischaracterized anybody, somebody correct me here.) Obviously, folks who think both parties are FOS greatly irritate Hussein’s minions (group 1), who IMHO think he is The Messiah.
Those groups above don’t toe the same line very often, but this NSA stuff is so scary that it is blatantly obvious to anybody of any political persuasion that something has to be done. (well, maybe not obvious to lori, but independent thinking is not her strong suite) As they say, “My enemy’s enemy is my friend.”
As for picking on Grandma, our mutual irritation goes way back. From my admittedly very biased POV, I’ve tried to stop it several times, to no avail. Maybe she feels the same way; I don’t know. What I DO know is that, when attacked, I will respond. Every time. No exceptions for age or anything else. It’s sad, but on the Internets, that’s how it has to be. My preference is to not have to waste time on such bullshit.
As for nobody much supporting your POV, to be perfectly honest, I think your take on things has such a “grand conspiracy” ring to it that not many folks, except maybe poolman, are comfortable with your conclusions. I am certainly very circumspect about a great deal of it.
That’s my take on it. Others please feel free to pipe up.
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By: PFesser on June 24, 2013
at 12:09 PM
Gato…
The comment made does not reflect on you, at all.
I am referring to the lack of acceptance of the information I offer to the blog as a whole…
No intent toward you individually.
Please re-read what I have stated over the past 2 months and you will understand more, the subject matter, and how revelant it is beoming as the days move on..
We are in dire times…when our govenment is doing all these things to us, while claiming transparancy .
It is a lie…we are living a lie…
I do believe the end times may be on the way or beginning, and I am not a revelationist by any means. I always thought that the bible book refered to the then times of the Romans and what their people were going through with the evils of the Roman government….but, now…I am not sure ???
Peace…
Chris
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By: Anonymous on June 24, 2013
at 12:08 PM
Gato…and the Gang….
It is one thing to work for your country as a spy ( agent). It is entirely another thing to find that the oraganization you work for is spying on ALL AMERICANS…..
Any inteligent person would assume that something is not right.
Spying and counter- spying within, has been taking place for years.
It is apparent J. Edgar Hoover used his authority to crush his opponents, and anyone else he wished to desroy, even if you ONLY came to know this from the movie…of the same name..
This is not business as usual procedure…what is happening with Snowden.
Of course, the internet has created freedom never before realized, that is why it is SO important for them to violate all of our privacy rights to oversee and at some point shut down the internet.
Most of our people woud not be whistleblowers. They are afraid of loosing their jobs, or the reprocussions of coming against our government; which is another sign of decay from within a free nation…
This whole affari may be a ploy to create unrest and revolution from within, which could cause Martial Law to be declared. ( which IS their goal ).
ASt this point and time, we do not know what to believe, as they bombard us with crap in the news to smokescreen what they are really doing.
Peace….
Chris
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By: Anonymous on June 24, 2013
at 12:00 PM
Chris – I have no idea what I said earlier that indicates I think you are a “yahoo.” Actually, I didn’t mention you at all, which is perhaps the thing to which you object – the fact that I pointed to a McClatchy article, and didn’t say, “See? Chris has been right, all along!”
It’s a shame that your feelings have evidently been bruised…
I agree with some of your premises, and disagree with others. The McClatchy article is very specific about its subject matter: A particular government program. It does not extrapolate its remarks on that program to indicate any world-wide deliberate conspiracy.
Whether or not it “should have” is something on which I suspect the two of us would also disagree! We all draw our own conclusions…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 24, 2013
at 11:53 AM
BTW……..
I did not hit ANNON… it did not have me even signed in…on my last comment to you Gato…
?????
Chris
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By: Anonymous on June 24, 2013
at 11:38 AM
Gato…You say the same things about our government that I tell you all, but, the only information you adhere to MUST come from within your tightly knit group, all while, you try to ;make me sound like a yahoo…
There must not be an actual Margaret and Helen, but rather a mediator within your group….who started this blog..
Some one who makes fun of old women…????
Peace…
Chris
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By: Anonymous on June 24, 2013
at 11:35 AM
gato – super article. Thanks. I’m emailing it to all my friends.
How long has it been since you read, “1984?” I’m going back and re-reading it ASAP. They say sales of 1984 have shot through the roof since Snowden’s revelations.
God, let’s hope something good comes of all this and the PATRIOT Act just becomes another bad dream from the Bush years.
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By: PFesser on June 24, 2013
at 11:02 AM
Hi, Cynthia, and other posters on this subject – I’m starting to think that Snowden is small potatoes in this “game” – and an alarming “game” it is.
Here’s a link from Charlie Pierce’s blog this morning:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/06/20/194513/obamas-crackdown-views-leaks-as.html#.Uchl2xaf_wx
Something called the “Insider Threat Program,” which basically encourages people to snitch on their co-workers if they suspect someone might be becoming even a POSSIBLE “threat.”
This atmosphere of potential and ever-present “danger” serves some very well – and the rest of us, not at all. To say that I’m not happy about this kind of thing would be the Understatement of the Year!
I still think that what Snowden personally “has” is probably, in and of itself, not very significant, and I suspect that if the government basically just ignored him the whole thing would disappear pretty quickly – until he just couldn’t stand being ignored any longer, and blurted out some new “revelation.”
So why isn’t the government just doing that? I suspect that they feel a real need to present themselves as trying to be “legitimate” about what they’re doing, while all along they are doing the kind of reprehensible stuff mentioned in the McClatchy piece.
What’s that old saying…? “Even paranoids may have some real enemies…”
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 24, 2013
at 10:43 AM
CYNTHIA……
The Govt. IS controlled by the Corporations. That is why we are Corporate outsourcing the GOVERNING of our country to private companies.
The Coast Guard should be protecting our shorelines, but, I remember after 9/11, hearing that a Saudi Company was PROTECTING our New England Shorelines ????
PEACE…
Chris
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By: Chris on June 24, 2013
at 10:25 AM
I am not sure what to think of Snowden. Some of it sounds fishy so I am waiting to hear the whole story. But one positive thing he did is to make us aware of what is being done in the name of protecting the US and how we are being spied on. And that is a big thingy!!
I don’t believe the government needs to know everything we have to say or write. We Americans, on the whole are not the enemy. The Patriot Act should be eliminated. (And how did a 1500 page act get completed and put on the table in +/- 30 days?) As I understand it the government has just phone numbers and times etc. but not the content. Others think differently, who is right? But anyway how can they process all that information in any useful way. Seems to me like looking for 1of 2 grains of blue sand in 10 tons of beach sand.
However, what I find more disturbing is that these private security corps have the contents of said numbers/emails. What is to stop them from using/selling this information for other purposes like blackmail or using it to discredit a politician, person, or another corportation etc. There could be unlimited use for information from phones or emails if you had a target in mind.
Also there is big money to be made in security and defense. If there were no “enemy” there would be little need for this type of business. I am sure if you put Blackwater/Z, a security corp, and a defense contractor in the same room together they could come up with a number of new enemies even if they had to invent or create one. Why should we trust them or their information? There way too much money to be made to give it up for a peaceful world.
The government we have some control over but a private corp we have no control.
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 24, 2013
at 10:01 AM
PFESSER….
You are getting it. When any U.S. citizen does anything to upset their apple cart by speaking out, they are demonized and discredited, or worse.
Remember this premise in ALL your media coverage.
You are on the right track.
Our media does not tell us the truth. The medias owners and advertisers are in control of what we are presented as “TRUTH”.
PEACE..
Chris
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By: Chris on June 24, 2013
at 9:48 AM
Terri in NY: “Actions speak louder than words.”
Yep. Such as, for example, the universal collection of wired and cell-phone data, in the face of public statements that it isn’t happening. All in the most “transparent administration ever.” Feh.
“We need to watch his behavior and draw conclusions from it.”
Agreed.
“So far, going to China, Russia, Cuba and Ecuador does not speak well of his motives.”
Why is that? Where should he go?
“These are certainly not bastions of democracy”
Nor is the USA anymore. That is exactly why he doesn’t want to come back here.
“or friends of the U.S.”
precisely. Our “friends” – read that vassals – would turn him over immediately, wouldn’t they?
“Why did he not use the whistleblower laws we have in place in the U.S.?”
That’s a joke, right? The moment he puts himself in US hands, it’s all over. Since everything is now done in secret (contrary to our Constitution, I might add) there is no telling what they would do to him. Drugs? Waterboarding? Forced confession? Transport to Guantanamo? Complete flouting of habeas corpus?Things that the govt never used to be able to do, but thanks to the PATRIOT Act, things they do daily. Thanks, but no thanks. If I were he, I’d take my chances elsewhere. He’d be a lunatic to come back to the US.
“How qualified is he to judge our national security needs?”
Based upon the things he’s revealed, I’d say DAMNED qualified.
Now the trashing of Edward Snowden begins. I’m glad to see that many Americans are doing what they usually do: be led around by the nose. It’s a shame that most are too dumb to even be embarrassed by their own credulity.
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By: PFesser on June 24, 2013
at 9:41 AM
Re Snowden. Actions speak louder than words. We need to watch his behavior and draw conclusions from it. So far, going to China, Russia, Cuba and Ecuador does not speak well of his motives. These are certainly not bastions of democracy or friends of the U.S. Why did he not use the whistleblower laws we have in place in the U.S.? How qualified is he to judge our national security needs?
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By: Terri in NY on June 24, 2013
at 9:16 AM
re: Snowden. He’s not Snow(den) White, but he’s what – 28 or so? How much world experience can you have at that age? I’m sure he knew the NSA was a “spy” agency, and like most of us, had a vague idea that they were doing things that benefited the US, but no idea the real depth of their evil, particularly the depth of their spying on US citizens.
Just take “news reports” about him with a grain of salt. The govt’s job now is to demonize him, and manipulate the public’s perception. Just be aware that it’s happening even as we speak and none of us is immune. Somewhere Joseph Goebbels is having a little grin, I’m sure…
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By: PFesser on June 24, 2013
at 5:56 AM
Cynthia – the Grist piece says the oil spill was due to a ruptured pipeline; I didn’t see anything in it about “fracking.”
A couple of years ago I read Tom Friedman’s, Hot, Flat and Crowded. Really, really good look at the next fifty years or so, vis à vis energy needs and environmental considerations. His take is that we must convert to an all-electrical transportation system.
We have most of what we need already in place: electric three-phase motors that are over 90% efficient, and the controllers to run them. (A gasoline engine tops out at about 50%, meaning at least half of the energy is lost as heat.) What we don’t have are good batteries that charge quickly and have good range, but there have been recent breakthroughs in fuel cell technology, making them about 3/4 cheaper. They run on hydrogen, but the “exhaust” is pure water, and hydrogen is made with electricity.
As for right now, until the public stops demanding gasoline engines, engineers will continue to drill and transport oil. Folks can’t have it both ways.
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By: PFesser on June 24, 2013
at 5:47 AM
Imagine: the US has a problem with
Snowden using Cuba to bypass US law.
I wonder where he got that idea? 😉
Peace ~ Δ
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By: Whirled Peas Δ on June 24, 2013
at 1:38 AM
Auntie Jean…
When we get stuck in our own believed truths, we are not truth seekers.
Seek the truth… It is out there, and not necessarily what we have been taught.
The powers that be have their own personal reasons for teaching us their ideas.
Their ideas created our world which we believe in, while we live in complete which confusion. The REAL truth does not leave one in confusion.
Your opinions on the truth may not be the truth, just as you tell me.
Study new information, as it becomes available.
The Rothschilds…spelled many different ways, depending on their country of origin, sold the most expensive home in England that has ever sold anywhere in the world. It would be safe to assume they probably have the most wealth in the world…See??
We NEVER hear about the means of their wealth…wonder why?
PEACE..
Chris
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By: Chris on June 24, 2013
at 1:31 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Gato.
Oh.
That’s Greenw-A-ld of the Guardian in Great Britain, right? Now I’m up to speed.
I am “presuming” (and I presume a lot of the time!) that Snowden is traveling on a valid U. S. passport. It seems to me that the State Department could yank his passport across the board and that would prevent his boarding a flight from just about any airport in the world and perhaps have him detained for questioning. That happened to us, sorta, once in Paris because we were traveling from Rome en route to the U. S. and had checked all our baggage in Rome. Pretty suspicious, traveling without any carry-ons beside my purse, huh. We did have our passports though. But the Paris security man was very nice. After a thorough interrogation he let us go and board anyhow.
Well, at least Snowden has made it as far as Istanbul from Moscow and Hong Kong and is “presumably” on his way to some “undisclosed destination” in Central America for asylum. He would be well advised to stay out of dark alleys though, when and if he gets there.
Which reminds me of another story. (Don’t they all?) In September 2006 we went to Cappadocia, Turkey and then spent a few days in Istanbul before embarking on the Wind Spirit yacht of the Windstar Cruise Line of the Greek Isles in the Aegean Sea down to Crete and then back up to Athens. Istanbul is a beautiful, beautiful modern city with delightful people. We were moseying along a street on our way to our hotel from the Hagia Sophia. A couple of men were sitting on the stoop of a house, smoking a Hookah, (water pipe). Hashish maybe??? We of course spoke no Turkish and we “presume” they spoke no English. We smiled and nodded. They looked up, grinned and gesturing, offered us a puff from their pipes. We smiled again and nodded our regrets as we walked on. But wasn’t that gracious of them?
Aloha! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 24, 2013
at 12:12 AM
The Snowden story is all over mainstream media. That means they want this story out there, and since all the msm outlets are censored and are only allowed to broadcast what is government approved, the Snowden story is presented to us as they intend. I see it as a diversion and its purpose will be to further reduce our freedom of speech and internet access. That has been the agenda followed before 9/11, and has been the one accelerated since.
I think the correct term is a dog and pony show.
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By: poolman on June 23, 2013
at 11:15 PM
That’s for sure. My grandparents were the ones who taught me that early on. The wife and I compost religiously. I’m enjoying sliced tomatoes right now that I picked earlier today. Store bought cannot compare.
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By: poolman on June 23, 2013
at 11:06 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Uh, Chris, there are two words I rarely use at all and when I do, it is with circumspect and always in quotes: “truth” and “facts” as to whose “truth” and which “facts”, as well as in what language, what time frame and just who is telling the “truth” and revealing what “facts” and why.
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 23, 2013
at 10:59 PM
Hi, Auntie Jean – You’re up on plenty of stuff – no worries!
Glenn Greenwald is a columnist for The Guardian newspaper, and the one who “broke” this story. He evidently focuses on “civil liberties,” which, I guess, sort of makes sense in this situation.
Apparently there is some evidence supporting the idea that Greenwald and Snowden had contact well before Snowden went to work for Booz Allen, a company that was hired by the NSA to provide it with staff. Snowden also evidently had previous contact with the woman who is apparently filming a “documentary” about all this. (Snowden worked for the NSA for only THREE MONTHS before coming up with all of this, BTW…)
Now, if one is into conspiracy theories (which I certainly can be, from time to time), there are a couple of possibilities. One is that Snowden came up with the whole “let’s expose the NSA” thing all on his own, and approached Greenwald with it – a proposal that many a “journalist” would certainly find delicious – especially one who is riveted on showing all the ways that government overreaches its authority as far as “civil liberties” are concerned. Or, perhaps it was all Greenwald’s idea, and he found a willing cohort in Snowden. Maybe there were even some promises of fame and fortune for an ambitious young geek… Who knows?
At any rate, as you pointed out earlier, somebody is certainly giving Snowden plenty of assistance as he jets around from country to country, granting televised interviews whenever things get too quiet… (Wikileaks is evidently involved, too; that’s what they do.)
What is impossible (for me, anyway) to believe is that this young man “innocently” went to work for a spy agency, and then was suddenly “shocked” at the scope of how much spying they were actually doing, and on whom. (Was he thinking they’d just be all “nicey-nice,” and never do anything they shouldn’t…?) I also find it questionable that a “newbie” in the system would be able to get his hands on a vast amount of highly-controversial material, in such a short time – information which both Snowden and Greenwald insist that Snowden has.
So that’s what I know, or have heard, about this whole thing, so far…!
Best,
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 23, 2013
at 9:21 PM
CYNTHIA……
PBS, like many other media, used to tell the truth.
Now, since it has Corporations funding them, there are beholding to their sponsors. What a shame for America…..It does not tell the truth, either.
I was on PBS viewers advisory board 40 years ago.
Peace…..
Chris
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By: Chris on June 23, 2013
at 9:20 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
gato, who is Mr. Greenwold? (sp?) Cynthia, the Koch bros. couldn’t be publicity hounds too, could they?
Silly me. Obviously, there are plenty of things I’m just not up on.
Aloha! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 23, 2013
at 8:36 PM
“Here’s what PBS, hardly a right-wing shill, says:” – pf
Well unless you consider this :
PBS cancelledCitizen Koch (money politics and Wisconsin uprising in 2011 and 2012) – and Park Avenue – Money, Power and the American Dream – both with negative views of the Kochs.
David Koch sat on the board of PBS WNET – NYC
David Koch has donated upwards of 23 million to PBS – you get to dictate the on-air programming.
http://www.truthdig.com/…/citizen_koch_directors_reveal_how_pbs_quashed_...
truth-out.org/…/17991-nyc-pbs-president-freaks-out-over-documentary-…
google – PBS cancels Koch Bros special for more information
http://grist.org/news/pipeline-spills-oil-waste-over-more-than-100-acres-of-alberta/
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 23, 2013
at 8:07 PM
Hi, Auntie Jean – Yes; that’s a fascinating question isn’t it…? Who IS picking up the tab…? Mr. Greenwald, maybe? Just a thought… Seems possible, especially if, in fact, the two were in touch before Snowden ever went to work for the NSA – or that company that was hired by the NSA – and there does seem to be some evidence that such is the case.
Of course, I’m sure we can be confident that Mr. Snowden’s high moral principles would never let him “bargain” his incredibly valuable top secret information (or whatever he says he’s got) in exchange for anything like asylum, or a plane ticket, or even that room in the Chinese palace, with the pet phoenix, he was talking about a couple of days ago…
Now that I think about it, he’s acting more and more like the Kim Kardashian of Secret Agent Man Wannabes… She’s holding out on the “exclusive baby photos” until the highest bidder comes through; he’s hinting at all the other cool stuff he’s got, and possibly doing exactly the same thing…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 23, 2013
at 6:28 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
WAY TO GO, LORI!!!!! Texas is turning bluer by the minute. All the good and decent folks there needed, was for people like you to get the word out. Keep it up!
I wonder who is picking up the tab for Snowden’s globe trotting plane tickets, hotels, meals, etc. His credit card must have maxed out by now.
Talk about “persona non grata”. No legitimate government wants to touch him with a ten foot pole.
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 23, 2013
at 6:04 PM
#BGTX has come together and are making our voices heard. BGTX is making u proud Helen. Maybe you are there even? Lol lol http://t.co/kYDNSdoDLr
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By: lori on June 23, 2013
at 4:17 PM
re: hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) and ground water contamination. Here’s what PBS, hardly a right-wing shill, says:
“Shale-based fuel production should be one of the most benign forms of energy production. It uses the least water of any mode of hydrocarbon production and generates the lowest CO2 emissions. And there is only one documented case where the “fracking” — the process of opening up deep underground seams in the shale rock by hydraulic pressure to facilitate product flow — has contaminated underground water supplies.”
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/businessdesk/2013/06/comeback-why-the-us-sits-at-th-1.html
Remember, nothing is risk-free. This seems a quite-acceptable risk to me, in order to get the energy we need. Anybody have a different number?
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By: PFesser on June 23, 2013
at 4:13 PM
B http://instagram.com/p/a6hm-Hk6ni hope that worked.
Big day for #BGTX #teamBgtx and all Texas Women!
TX proud and loud.
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By: lori on June 23, 2013
at 4:07 PM
United States Geological Survey on energy independence:
http://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/usgs_top_story/usgs-releases-new-oil-and-gas-assessment-for-bakken-and-three-forks-formations/
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By: PFesser on June 23, 2013
at 4:05 PM
WP – thanks for the “Soldier’s Last Words.” If there were ever evidence that we need to get back control of our government, that was it.
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By: PFesser on June 23, 2013
at 10:41 AM
I’ve found, quite by accident, that the key to gardening happiness is compost. My older brother lived on our parents’ farm after they died and tended their 3/4-acre garden. The soil was always poor and it took a tremendous amount of tending to get a really good crop every year. My father collected manure from the barnyard and spred it each year, but the soil was clay-ey and tough to till. He and Old Pete (our Belgian horse) would spend days preparing the soil every year.
One year my brother and I lost a full crop of hay (about 150 bales) to rain, but we baled it anyway to get it off the field and stacked it at the garden’s edge. That fall I collected all the leaves from his yard and my parents’ and, as luck would have it, the power company had cleaned the right-of-way and needed a place to dump a couple of truckloads of chips. We had everything we needed, and that fall mixed the hay (nitrogen) and leaves/chips (carbon), using my endloader to stir it about twice a month during the winter. I buried a thermometer just as an experiment, and the temperature in the compost pile averaged 120-140 degrees all winter long – always increasing when I stirred the pile.
The next spring I knew we were onto something; where the winter rains had soaked the pile, the runoff area was brilliant green with grass and weeds, as soon as the air temperature allowed.
We had enough mulch to spread over half the garden; I later flew over my brother’s garden and it was striking: where the mulch had been was a bright green; the rest of the whole garden was a sickly yellow. That was over ten years ago; that part of the garden is still easily-tilled loam and his wife gets bumper crops every year. We haven’t used chemical fertilizer the whole time.
Natural gardening: good stuff.
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By: PFesser on June 23, 2013
at 10:37 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Oh, Peas. The “Soldiers Last Words” are so tragic and touching. He went through so much more than any of us can ever imagine. I hope he at long last has found the peace he longed for.
Thanks so much for putting up the links I asked for. You said to ask you for something tough next time. That’s easy for you to say! You are the computer genius around here.
Before I launch into my bell pepper story, this is a little background music. Our island is situated in the Tropics and since a volcano formed it millennia ago, the soil is very rich broken-down volcanic magma. You can grow just about anything that doesn’t need a dormant season. Just stick it in the ground and stand back. This makes for an almost year-round growing season. It didn’t take long for agriculture in general to recognize that fact.
Initially it was sugar cane and pineapple that was grown commercially. Both were and are labor intensive despite mechanization. But cane couldn’t compete with mainland beet and cane sugar partly because of shipping costs across the Pacific. So, almost all of the pineapple and the sugar cane were moved to the cheaper labor markets in the Philippines. Sugar growing was still limping along even after we retired out here 23 years ago. It is completely gone now. There is some pineapple grown for local consumption though.
The latitude and soil brought the big seed companies here because they could harvest 3 sometimes 4 crops a year as opposed to maybe only once a year on the mainland. We knew a young man who worked for one of the big seed producers. One time they were harvesting the seed of big ripe beautiful bell peppers. He managed to salvage several bushels of them before they were plowed under to plant the next crop for seed. The company was only interested in the seed, not the distribution of the mature peppers. Several gals got together, cut them up, marinated them in large mason jars and gave them away to family and friends. It was a shame to waste them. But of course they are perishable like any other fresh fruit or vegetables.
We like bell peppers very much. I use them in a variety of ways, cooking and in salads and such. Not too long ago, I got a package of red, green, yellow and orange peppers at a local store almost exactly the size and taste of those peppers grown here for seed only. Here’s the catch though. I absently happened to notice the origin of these peppers from the label on the plastic packaging. They were grown on a farm in the Netherlands!!! Say what!!! They were nice and fresh!!! So they would have to have been either flown or shipped in refrigeration from halfway around to world and distributed to ultimately get to our store. Don’t planes and ships operate on fossil fuels? It seems to me there is an odd circularity going on here with plowing under perfectly good locally grown peppers from across about 20 miles on the island, to shipping the same things across two oceans and a continent with the inherent costs passed on to the customer.
Now there are plenty of products we cannot grow here. How about potatoes for instance? But Georgia Vidalia Onions are quite favorably comparable to Maui Onions. I have used both varieties when we lived in PA and out here. I can’t tell the difference either raw or in cooking. But the Vidalia’s are designated as such by LAW and a CFR (U.S. Code of Federal Regulations) Can you grow bananas, mangos, papayas, lychee and macadamia nuts? Nope. But we can and we ship ‘em to ya. You can grow blueberries, apples, peaches and walnuts because they need a dormant season. We can’t. So you ship’ em to us. That seems like reasonable tradeoffs to me.
Aloha! Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 23, 2013
at 2:18 AM
This left me speechless.
“I Am Sorry That It Has Come to This”:
A Soldier’s Last Words
by Daniel Somers
I am sorry that it has come to this.
The fact is, for as long as I can remember my motivation for getting up every day has been so that you would not have to bury me. As things have continued to get worse, it has become clear that this alone is not a sufficient reason to carry on. The fact is, I am not getting better, I am not going to get better, and I will most certainly deteriorate further as time goes on. From a logical standpoint, it is better to simply end things quickly and let any repercussions from that play out in the short term than to drag things out into the long term.
…
I really have been trying to hang on, for more than a decade now. Each day has been a testament to the extent to which I cared, suffering unspeakable horror as quietly as possible so that you could feel as though I was still here for you. In truth, I was nothing more than a prop, filling space so that my absence would not be noted. In truth, I have already been absent for a long, long time.
My body has become nothing but a cage, a source of pain and constant problems. The illness I have has caused me pain that not even the strongest medicines could dull, and there is no cure. All day, every day a screaming agony in every nerve ending in my body. It is nothing short of torture. My mind is a wasteland, filled with visions of incredible horror, unceasing depression, and crippling anxiety, even with all of the medications the doctors dare give. Simple things that everyone else takes for granted are nearly impossible for me. I can not laugh or cry. I can barely leave the house. I derive no pleasure from any activity. Everything simply comes down to passing time until I can sleep again. Now, to sleep forever seems to be the most merciful thing.
…
Thus, I am left with basically nothing. Too trapped in a war to be at peace, too damaged to be at war. Abandoned by those who would take the easy route, and a liability to those who stick it out—and thus deserve better. So you see, not only am I better off dead, but the world is better without me in it.
This is what brought me to my actual final mission. Not suicide, but a mercy killing. I know how to kill, and I know how to do it so that there is no pain whatsoever. It was quick, and I did not suffer. And above all, now I am free. I feel no more pain. I have no more nightmares or flashbacks or hallucinations. I am no longer constantly depressed or afraid or worried.
I am free.
.
.
.
PEACE ~ Δ ~ I mean it. Really!
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By: Whirled Peas Δ on June 23, 2013
at 1:06 AM
The blogs are being highly monitored by I suspect government monkeys intent on slowing the flow of truth. No lie. The conservatives are griping about it.
http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/2013/06/22/is-wordpress-censoring-conservative-blogs/
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By: poolman on June 23, 2013
at 12:56 AM
Chris, I am aware. I experienced similar posting problems some time ago when I spent much time here. A few links would never stick. There is only so much truth that can get through in a given time. Too much too fast and the filter clogs. 😉
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By: poolman on June 23, 2013
at 12:50 AM
Here ya go Jean,
Hooser introduces GMO bill
and
Bee healthy, bee happy.
Glad to help. Please continue.
How about something tough next time? 😉
Peace ~ Δ
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By: Whirled Peas Δ on June 23, 2013
at 12:42 AM
POOLMAN…
My comments are not being registered through the site on answering other folks comments…I believe that is on purpose…Why ?
I hope you see this comment and answer me…
I hope the rest of the folks learn more about what is really happening.
Here is some information on the Philadelphia and Montauk Experiment..
Are you aware of this?
Al Bielek…One.of severa; Survivors of the Philadelphia & Montauk Experiments..by U.S. Government…
He is a survivor of the experiments by the Nazi scientists our govt. welcomed after WWII.
Nazi scientists were involved…in these experiments…
Our Govt….secretly use this MK ULtra…Mind Control…It is the same ontrol used on the German peoples up to and including WWII.
mind control.. wow…
This mind control….. is what they did to James Holmes…the P.H.D. Neuro- Science student, used to create the smoke screen to stop his father from giving testimony to congress against the bankes in Libor Scandal….( which was to take place within a few months of the Aurora, Colorado theatre masacre ) The Elder Holmes testimony was to implicate the top world bankers and how they deveated the world in all the circumstanes leading up to the crash of 2008. ) He was a top math scientist working for FICA, the credit bureau agency…..working for the bankers to keep the populus from getting low interest rates…thus making the bankers in charge of mankind…and keeping contol of the world, by keeping the populus poor…and beholding to them..
check out what this man, Al Bielek is saying….
He us quite old now…but, brighter than most folks are at ANY age..
LIsten to this interview…..
There are lots of other sites on utube relating to Al Bielek, Preston Nichols, and Duncan Cameron; all survivors of these drastic government experiences..
Peace…
Chris…
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By: Anonymous on June 22, 2013
at 11:57 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Peas, ole buddy, need your hep – again. Could you please track down two lengthy but timely articles starting on the front page of the Kauai Garden Island Newspaper for June 21, entitled:
1.) “Hooser introduces GMO bill” and
2.) “Bee healthy, bee happy.”
I’m hoping people here will take the time at their leisure to read through both of them carefully, as they are related. They have to do with the use of pesticides, specifically “neonicotinoids”, and GMOs by several agricultural seed producing companies here on our island. Pioneer BASF and Syngenta are two of the biggest ones.
“Neonicotinoids” have been banned altogether in Europe. The effect on the honey bee population is devastating. You do remember about the birds and the bees and pollination, don’t you? The bees can be compared to the “canary in the mines” a long, long time ago. When the air quality became so bad down in the mine that the canary sickened and/or died, that was the wakeup call that maybe it wasn’t very good for human health and life either.
I have told my bell pepper story here before but it bears repeating in light of these articles. I’ll put it up after Peas does his duty, (uh, a favor to me.)
Just sitting in the corporate board room or in front of our computers to tally up the numbers can lead to a condition called “myopic tunnel vision” that cannot see beyond the financial bottom line. However, our world is somewhat more complex than that. The money and profit angles are only a small part of the multifaceted factors in the patchwork quilt of life.
Aloha! Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 22, 2013
at 9:57 PM
Way to go, Lori! I’m sending the BGTX link to two friends here (of the progressive persuasion) who are moving soon to Austin. Maybe they can get an early start before they’re on the ground there in person!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 22, 2013
at 10:58 AM
HTG, James – I really appreciate your taking a bit of your very occupied time to even reply to my points! I can certainly agree with your remark that “thunderstorms are more important than political arguments,” as are granddaughters, planting green beans, and any number of other Real Life Things! (Not to say that “politics” doesn’t affect people’s real lives, but “timing” is everything…)
Your granddaughter is lucky to have such an attentive grandpa!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 22, 2013
at 10:54 AM
Hi Gato, and thanks poolman for asking about our grand daughter. She seems to have all of her marbles, and her head has grown 2.4 centimeters since birth. The left side of her head is a bit flat, so she is supposed to lie on her right side.
I played Al Stewart’s “The year of the cat” three times. On the first day, she stopped crying and went to sleep. Yesterday morning, her eyes widened, and she repeatedly made pseudo smiles. She also looked at the video camera playing the music.
We will be back there tomorrow, and I think I will try joik music next.
Doctors still want to sedate her to conduct an MRI scan and do a genetics test.
Six months to a year will tell the tale.
I am sorry. I tried twice with a long argument, but each time, I mistyped something, and the computer ate it all. I can’t spend any more time on it right now. Google The Daily Republic. SD landowners support Keystone pipel lline or are resigned to it.” It tells much of the story including the large sum of money the project will bring to just South Dakota.
It also tells how the company tried to intimidate Canadian and domestic landowners until they united and got an above market place settlement.
The article also cites several oil spills along the pipeline already in place.
The gist of the article supports my view that the Keystone Pipeline will benefit more than cost the local region economically through payments to land owners, taxes, and the economic muitiplier effect.. Risk is a relative term, and subject to one’s own outlook. Thus, I can’t argue against your private opinion of risk because it is as valid as mine. A cold cost- benefit scenario favors the pipeline as the article shows. If I had more time, I would cite more articles.
“My candle burns at both ends
It shall not last the night
But ah my foes and my friends
it casts a lovely light.” Edna st. Vincent milay.(SP)
That is my opinion of risk.
More later. We are catching up with things before we go back to Omaha and right now, a strong thunderstorm has moved over. The rain has washed the Colorado smoke from our air. Thunderstorms are more important to me than political arguments. We could have done more yesterday evening, but the heat index was over 94, and the power was out. it was still 88 at 10 PM.
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By: James on June 22, 2013
at 10:41 AM
We are fighting hard in TX .
“Update on the fight for women’s rights in Texas. The State Affairs Committee met again today, with no public testimony allowed. Bills now go to calendar and the 20 week ban that the Senate took out of #sb5 is back in the House bills. We will keep you posted on next steps. The fight is far from over! In the meantime, Rachel Maddow is now covering the history made in Texas. The eyes of the nation are upon us. ” Texas Democratic Party (yesterday) @TXDemParty
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/06/22/19076693-texas-republicans-meet-the-citizens-filibuster-and-update-schedule-new-abortion-vote-anyway
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By: lori on June 22, 2013
at 8:44 AM
Damn! I respect strong women.
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By: poolman on June 21, 2013
at 7:17 PM
The articles in this series and an online database at topsecretamerica.com depict the scope and complexity of the government’s national security program through interactive maps and other graphics. Every data point on the Web site is substantiated by at least two public records.
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 21, 2013
at 11:58 AM
Way to go you Texas women !
http://juanitajean.com/2013/06/20/i-am-woman-hear-me-talk-and-talk-and-talk-and/#comments
Moon Watchers – Supermoon this weekend ?
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 21, 2013
at 10:36 AM
PFESSER…
In regards to water quality..
We in America are being poisoned daily by way of our water. ( and food sources by only 5 major agri corporations )
It is mentioned in the news on how different countries are being charged with possible chemical warfare.
We in America, are being subjected to chemical warfare by our own government.
( the government has been approving the chemical poisoning of water for several years, which has helped genocide for many decades. The increase of diseases of many types has NOT been authoritatively linked to the water, but, it has to be at least one of the culprits, no ?)
There are significant scientific studies that indicate fluoride, and other chemicals added, to our water systems, are poisonous to human life, and animal wildlife.
Why is our government doing the opposite of protecting it’s citizens, but rather putting us in danger, as to the status of the health of our future generations.
Peace…
Chris
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By: Chris on June 21, 2013
at 10:34 AM
BTW….
the Rothschilds…
They have Protestant Christian and Jewish affiliations, as well as heavy control of the Vatican Bank…
This info is not meant to be anti Semitic….read how it encompasses every religious faction…
Chris
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By: Chris on June 21, 2013
at 10:12 AM
ALASKAPI..
This Rothschild Banking family has control of ALL the world’s natural resources.
They OWN most of the world’s CORPORATIONS, as well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rothschild_family
The De Beers family married into the family…they control the majority of the world’s diamonds, having killed the African people for them..
Africa is starving, even though the continent has the wealth of the most diamonds In the world… How can that be?
It is easy, if a country cannot utilize its own natural resources, it will never succeed in overcoming poverty.
THEY ARE DOING THE SAME GENOCIDE ON US.
The world is at their mercy, by the power and wealth it has attained in EVERY field and business and resource and commodity.
They and their families are in control of every type of corporation..
Read for yourselves…Note, even Gore is a family name…
Their tentacles reach beyond our imaginations.
There are different factions of the same family…..
BTW..there are many spellings of their name, depending on which of the German, French, or British families they belong to…
Peace
Chris
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By: Chris on June 21, 2013
at 10:08 AM
re: energy efficiency. The bleeding edge these days belongs to “velomobiles.” Based on commercially-available pedal-powered trikes (like my wife and I have), they are enclosed with carbon-fibre cockpits and offer all-weather trike-ing.
There are available 3-phase electric wheel motors that match one’s pedal effort: if you pedal with 20# effort, the bike matches with 20#. When you quit pedaling, it quits. Completely transparent to the rider; extremely long battery life.
These are sweeping Europe these days as grocery-getters or just all-round fun machines. One of these machines (pedal-only, no motor) just set a new world record: over 50mph average speed over 24 hours, human power only. Over 1200km!
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By: PFesser on June 21, 2013
at 9:51 AM
Maryam Namazie is probably the most prominent supporter of women’s rights in the Muslim world. She risks her life daily to help end the Islamist oppression of women. Good article about the Left in Europe and how their multi-culti nonsense supports Muslim oppression:
http://www.onelawforall.org.uk/siding-with-the-oppressor-the-pro-islamist-left/
(She has a companion publication equally scathing about the Right.)
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By: PFesser on June 21, 2013
at 8:36 AM
re: water quality. Tennessee official tells citizen group that complaining about water quality could be considered by Homeland Security as an “act of terrorism.”
Still think the PATRIOT Act is “keeping us safe?”
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/06/21/official-says-water-complaints-act-of-terrorism/2445071/
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By: PFesser on June 21, 2013
at 7:19 AM
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/northern-alberta-pipeline-was-only-five-years-old-before-toxic-spill/article12536856/
Pffft!
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By: alaskapi on June 21, 2013
at 6:39 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Thank you Peas sooooo much for putting up the link for me to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s article on the Texas oil company’s buy-out here. It is interesting that the Middle East North Africa Financial Network picked up on it so quickly, obviously from the wire services. Also thank you for the visuals on the Koch piles by-product of refining tar sands oil. A few pictures are worth several million words, aren’t they.
We had a wonderful day! We made a trek into the Big City of Lihue for some appointments and errands. As we usually do, before we started home we swung by Nawiliwili Harbor. A picture postcard day. It is such a serene setting with the mountains as a backdrop to the azure sky with a few puffy white clouds reflected in the calm blue waters at low tide. As often happens, there was the NCL “Pride of America” cruise ship at anchor along with some small pleasure and fishing boats.
A common sight there is to see a few fishermen along the dock. Today there was a man and a boy about 6-7 years old. The man had a rather long line stretched out into the water. We absently watched for quite a while. All of a sudden he apparently had a bite and began to reel it in. From our vantage point in the car not far away, it appeared to be a fish about 4-5 inches long thrashing away on the hook. The man cast it out into the water again right away. At first we thought he might be using it for bait to catch a bigger fish but no…….
He handed the pole to the boy and let him reel in the small fish for a second time. The boy stood there proudly holding the pole and the line with his fish while the man dropped to one knee and whipped out either a camera or a cell phone to record this obviously historic moment in the boy’s life. The lad posed with his little chest stuck out as the man took his picture. We are sure this is a moment they will both treasure forever. We will certainly not soon forget being witness to it.
A great dad!
Aloha! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 21, 2013
at 2:15 AM
Whirled Peas..
You are smart. I like your comments.
Deutsch Bank ? A German Bank….is also known as………Bank of America.
Go to the Bildeberg Secret Society and see how they fit into the elitist group.
The Bank…BOA is always an invitee to this yearly secret meeting.
The World Bankers are the investors across the world buying up all the world’s natural resources.
Read my earlier comment on resources in my state of Missouri.
Thanks for your knowledge. Keep up the good work.
I will read further what you posted.
Peas…
Chris
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By: Chris on June 20, 2013
at 6:41 PM
POOLMAN….
You are correct with ALL you say.
I only say that because, if one studies and gets daily emails from the many points of view, has an historical background to any of the subjects you address, one can ONLY come to your same conclusion.
I only wish these folks would study some of this information, and add as they go along.
Fear is the greatest motivator.
Every Great Conqueror knew that. Atilla the Hun did horrendous deeds to his enemy and the fear was passes around the world. That is how he conquered his next enemy. He came to control much of the world because of fear.
Ghengis Khan created victory over much of the world in the same way.
The old world alliances and elitists are in control of the printing and distribution of ALL the money of the MAJOR countries of world, except for North Korea, Cuba, and Iran.
As they squeeze the last dollar from the entire world; they continue to instill the FEAR of Iranian bombs, Communist Cuba, and the ever growing enemy of N. Korea.
We will eventually be brainwashed to the medias, and go to war out of the continual FEAR they instill in the daily news propaganda. We are being told these NEWS CREATED ENEMIES are bad guys and must fall, in order for us to be free.
The truth is these are the only last 3 major countries that do not have a Rothechild Central Banking System, after the FEAR created 12 year war, after 9/11.
Thanks, POOLMAN keep telling the truth..
Peace…
Chris
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By: Chris on June 20, 2013
at 6:21 PM
NOP..
I told the story already about how the plat drawing on land in the Farmington area in Missouri is owned by the U.S. GOVERNMENT. ( why do we not know about this…either locally, or nationally ?)
THEY have been using a private citizen to buy up all the small farmers land and paying a bulldozer around the clock 24 hours a day to clear the land of trees and vegetation. ( small farmers lands are being bought up by our government and this one party, as well )
This is taking place throughout the center of America, both North and South in a straight line through Missouri.
I understand the old mines in the area indicate it is pre-Cambrian.
Many of the newest, most importantly used minerals are in this area, such as uranium…computers………plutonium…weapons……..and the blue mineral ?are all here in great quanities in Missouri.
The minerals are coming to the surface of the earth, with each Vocanic action and shifting of the earth.
We, in America, are losing the use of our natural resources.
Who is running this shadow Government we call our Government ?
I saw on PBS that if a third world country wants to come out of poverty, it MUST be able to utilize its own natural resources.
( you will note what took place in the case of Africa and its BLOOD Diamonds, and how cruel the rich are with taking over natural resources around the world )
When I googled the name of the buyer of all the land in this particular locale…I found them to be an old German family, part of the German aristocracy of the 1800’s.
By the way, this family owns several new car dealerships in St. Louis.
This information fits in retrospect, to the elite old aristocracies controlling this government and every other.
According to info given by Alex Jones, a Verticle Superhighway from South America, through the entire North American continent is to be built.
That is why illegals are NOT stopped by our government, and instead our border guard was charged with murder, after doing his job, telling an illegal to stop, and shooting him, for not doing so.
That is why there will never be a 2000 mile ? fence constructed to keep the illegals out of America.
Peace…
Chris
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By: Chris on June 20, 2013
at 5:50 PM
Oh, for heaven’s sake… We GET your point of view.
“Can we just get back to the topic now?”
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 20, 2013
at 5:32 PM
When you think it can’t get worse it can. I don’t have an answer but I don’t think this is an answer.
When Bei Bei found out she was pregnant, she was excited to start a family. But things took a turn for the worse. Her boyfriend abruptly left her and said he didn’t love her anymore, and she fell into a spiral of depression. It got so bad that she tried to kill herself on Christmas Eve.
Bei Bei survived, but after an emergency C-section, her baby — whom she named Angel — didn’t survive. Now an overzealous prosecutor is putting Bei Bei on trial for murder.
Bei Bei lives in Indiana, which has a law that was meant to criminalize people who attack pregnant women. This law has never been used to convict a pregnant woman of harming herself — and suicide is not even illegal in Indiana. Bei Bei went through a personal tragedy, and now she could face 45-65 years in prison.
http://indianalawblog.com/archives/2013/01/ind_courts_two_38.html
google BeiBei Terry Curry Murder charge for more information.
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 20, 2013
at 5:08 PM
Anon.
Your comment reminds me of the study that was made many years ago in school with 5 yr. olds. The males were inherently MORE aggressive, and girls took a back seat to them, even at that age. Both behaviors have been conditioned by men toward themselves, and women throughout history.
Women have been trained throughout history to walk behind the men.
Lately, there has been a lot of buzz about Moslem men treating their women so badly, and the abuse they sustain at the hands of their men.
I remember driving along Delmar Boulevard in St. Louis on a Saturday and seeing a family of an Orthodox Jewish sect walking to Temple, with ALL the women several steps behind the men.
Also remember, that women in America only received the right to vote some 100 years ago.
America has NOT always stood for equality of women, or blacks, nor, the poor.
MEN have ALWAYS controlled women and the lack of education women received throughout the history of MAN. Even after the somewhat freeing of women, with the sufferage movement, a lack of education was just another reason for women to be looked down at with lesser value to society than men.( in the eyes of mankind, as a whole )
Some men are very evolved and do not think of women as less, but, many men are not.
The Christian faith is also guilty of misinterpreting of the Bible as to the treatment of women.
I do understand that during the last 100 years, the changes to society due to womans sufferage, has created a confussion to our men, as to their roles, in regards to women and the families they both created. ( this confusion is seen amoungst the children brought forth after the suffrage movement, as well. )
I IMMAGINE, if one was born closer to the previous 100 year mark, your view of women will mirror MOST LIKE the social mores of 100 years ago.
Yes, ANON! There are many women more intelligent than men.
Intelligence is inherent, and cannot be measured by the formal education afforded a person.
Women may not have the educational background that societal pressures afforded men, but, that does not determine which sex is smarter.
There are a lot of educated idiots, who have been trained like monkeys to do a job, but do not have a clue as to how the world works and how they fit in.
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By: Chris on June 20, 2013
at 5:07 PM
pf – “It’s really a lot simpler than that. Be nice to me and I’ll be nice to you. Be a bitch, even an old bitch, and I’ll take your head off.”
Pf – likewise – if you wish to behave like an assh*le you will be treated as an assh*le.
Laissez les bons temps rouler.
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By: PFesser on June 20, 2013
at 4:06 PM
Here ya go Jean,
Par Petroleum agrees to buy Tesoro refinery
And here’s a bonus link for some visuals:
The human cost of Detroit’s petroleum Koch piles
Peace ~ Δ
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By: Whirled Peas Δ on June 20, 2013
at 12:18 PM
These are not done for nothing. The pipeline will literally divide the nation and will be monitored 24/7, like our borders. This divide and conquer activity is a daily act by tptb to control us. Why else do you think the fear factor has been hyped and continually plays in the background? Fear is the best herder ever found. Check real history. Check the progress of the TPP and see how our rights, those that we think we still have, are systematically being eroded. The secretive negotiations have had a few leaks that should anger even the mousiest among us. That, and this new NSA ‘crisis’ will be used to crush any dissent.
This beast is at full throttle. Step away from the vehicle.
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By: poolman on June 20, 2013
at 12:07 PM
Hi Gato,
Thanks for commenting. I will answer later, but I can’t now, because we will soon be leaving to help our daughter with our grand daughter while her husband is at work. I am planting several more rows of string beans first.
I was the one who mentioned the potential number of workers. Nebraska said most in that state would be US citizens or some sort of variant. The jobs would last as long as it took to construct the pipe line, maybe several years. During that time, wages would impose a multiplyer effect on the economy. Once completed some workers would still be maintaining the pipe line and performing other duties. Even two or three years means a lot to unemployed or under employed families, and a paying job means the state doesn’t have to provide unemployment or other aid.
The economy might be better and more conductive for job hunting at the end of the construction period. It isn’t a problem in Nebraska because the unemployment rate is about 4.5% or so. In some places bought time might be beneficial, and could mean the difference between keeping a house or losing it.
We also have a fiber optics line under our land. It was upgraded last year and took a week or less to cross our farm. I imagine it would take somewhat longer to lay down the pipeline in any one place.
As far as risk, Everything we do is risky. Cost-benefit analysis tells us when the risk outweighs the benefit. You know the old joke. Something or other will happen if I don’t get hit by a bus or truck. It happened to me, but I assume chances of a repeat are remote,
“Talk” to you later.
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By: James on June 20, 2013
at 12:00 PM
Hi, James – I’d like to respond to some of your points here.
First of all, as you state, this is “Canadian oil,” and not even really “oil” yet – it’s shale with oil in it. I see no reason to assume that we, as a nation, will necessarily profit from their oil simply because we sell – or lease – our land to them, on which they can run THEIR pipeline. In fact, our doing so will make that land THEIR land, so a large multinational oil company will essentially own, and control, a great swath down the middle of our country. And do you think they will dutifully adhere to “our” environmental and safety regulations on “their” land, especially if those regulations and standards cut into their potential profits…? Hardly!
As you also say, China is already buying that oil. Again, there is no reason to think they will not continue to be among the high bidders, whether the supply comes directly from Canada (or anywhere), or from a tanker out of New Orleans or Galveston. Where have we gotten the idea that somehow we are going to be given a “deal” on any of this oil, simply because we’ve been “nice enough” to let them run the pipeline through our country? (I’ve never seen much “nice” in ANY oil dealings, ever.)
I wish that your statement that “greater supply lowers prices” were true in practice. In theory, of course, it is – but that assumes that the market is truly “free,” and everyone is willing to put everything they’ve got out there for sale, at every given moment. That is never the case. What controls “market prices” is the manipulation of supplies by those who hold them. When there is too much supply, and prices start to drop, the producers simply hoard what they’ve got, and/or stop producing, until supplies get tight again, and the price rises again to what they’d like.
Auntie Jean commented on the age of many current refineries, and the pipelines that serve them. Of course these should be upgraded, especially due to the particularly corrosive nature of shale oil. Again, they won’t be – until some disaster strikes and the damage has been done. There is always a risk/reward equation at work, and nobody is going to spend one dime they don’t absolutely have to spend, until they are forced to do so.
As for your statement that the “odds favor relative safety”… That may be so about the odds – but even if the “risk” is one in ten, the catastrophe that would result from just that one are potentially devastating. One contaminated aquifer or other water source will never be replaced.
I’m glad that your farm did not suffer from the oil and gas breaks nearby. BTW, in our Community, we are replacing every single water main and pipe, because the system is more than fifty years old, and things were starting to break. Old pipes have a much shorter lifespan than newer ones. That’s something you might want to investigate. (Obviously, the KXL will be laying new pipe, but I would imagine that it would connect to some older ones, as well.)
Someone – perhaps you – mentioned that this project could create “42,000 new jobs” during the period of construction. Any idea how long that period might be? Ten years? Fifteen? And what makes anybody think that these will be “new” jobs, given to unskilled American workers, currently unemployed? My guess is that a great number of those jobs will go to highly skilled pipeline workers currently at work on some other project possibly nearing completion. (The parent corporation will certainly not be interested in taking some former lawn maintenance worker, currently unemployed, and spending the time and money necessary to train him or her to do highly-skilled pipeline work. No; they will say they “have to” hire people who already know what they’re doing, for the sake of efficiency.) And many of the workers will probably be Canadian, because those workers are not going to quietly let themselves be laid off just because “their” employer happens to have a project going on US soil.
In sum, there is absolutely no guarantee, in any area, that this pipeline will have any long-term benefit for this country. In fact, it is my opinion that we are fools and idiots to sell off our land and risk our irreplaceable natural resources so that a few very wealthy corporations can become even wealthier and more powerful.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 20, 2013
at 11:27 AM
pf – “It’s really a lot simpler than that. Be nice to me and I’ll be nice to you. Be a bitch, even an old bitch, and I’ll take your head off.”
Pf – likewise – if you wish to behave like an assh*le you will be treated as an assh*le.
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 20, 2013
at 10:50 AM
Hi NOP. I hope you enjoyed your trip.
The pipe line will be no more a target for terrorists than the numerous other pipe lines crossing our nation. Large dams and city water supplies are also potential targets.
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By: james on June 20, 2013
at 9:56 AM
The Keystone Pipeline will be a 5,000 mile target for terrorists.
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By: No One's Puppet on June 20, 2013
at 9:42 AM
“I haven’t noticed too many decapitations of those who aren’t “nice” around here, either, have you…?”
Well, when you are incapable of walking and chewing your cud at the same time, it’s tough to notice what is going on in front of your very eyes, isn’t it?
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By: PFesser on June 20, 2013
at 9:05 AM
Hi, Cynthia – Enjoyed the “math” link. Every month, Consumer Reports magazine has a page of advertising ridiculousness of the same ilk. One of my favorites is the “warning” on packages of FireStarters: Warning! Risk of fire!
As for what’s-his-name’s remarks about those with whom he will “not play sex games” – as if we’re all just dying to know – that sentence gets trotted out (verbatim, I might add) whenever even the flimsiest “opportunity” to do so seems to present itself to him. Must be from some reference guide to “Phrases You Think Will Be Shocking and Clever” that he picked up somewhere in his studies…
I haven’t noticed too many decapitations of those who aren’t “nice” around here, either, have you…?
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 20, 2013
at 8:57 AM
Cynthia – nice math link. Let’s have some fun.
#1 $4 for two and $1.69 for one? I’ll have the other one.
#2 10 per 8oz and 20 per 20? Let’s drink the 4 oz that have no calories!
#3 must be that metric oz in one…
#4 ah, those chickens with three nuggets each
That’s enough for now. Anybody else?
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By: PFesser on June 20, 2013
at 8:33 AM
Cynthia opined: “And as for your remarks about old women.” &c.
Nice try at generalizing, but transparent as a windowpane.
It’s really a lot simpler than that. Be nice to me and I’ll be nice to you. Be a bitch, even an old bitch, and I’ll take your head off.
Can we get back on topic now, please?
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By: PFesser on June 20, 2013
at 8:22 AM
Some sad pathetic little men can’t handle a woman who is as smart as they are. They don’t seem to realize how much they diminish themselves by so obviously revealing their apparently deep seated insecurities. What a pity..
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By: Anonymous on June 20, 2013
at 7:52 AM
pf – since you are soooo good at math I thought you might enjoy this:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/18/work-math-fails_n_3442834.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular
And as for your remarks about old women. If you think a +/-50/60 year old man is as physically attractive as he was in his 20’s you need to put your glasses on when you stand before a mirror. The only thing that makes an older man more attractive than a younger man to a young woman is the size of his bank account.
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 20, 2013
at 7:47 AM
Economics rule that the Canadian oil will be extracted because there is a demand for it. We either profit from the oil or someone else does. The Canadians are our allies, and in the event of an emergency that oil would be ours to buy.
Otherwise, as I noted, without the pipeline, someone else, notably China will buy the oil. The Chinese are our potential rivals for world power. Oil tankers hauling oil across the Pacific Ocean are at greater risk, in my opinion than a Texas tornado. The North Pacific gets very stormy at times.
The oil, no matter who buys it prevents energy prices from rising to levels they would reach should the fracked oil not exist. The reason is that the oil increases the total world supply. Greater supply lowers prices. Such potential supplies also have a psychological effect on the market. If war starts in the Middle East or other oil producing area, the knowledge that other supplies exist and can help take up the slack mean there is less panic bidding of energy prices on the futures market.
Jean has a good point about aging refineries. Companies should build new ones or repair the old.
Nothing is without risk, but the odds favor relative safety. An oil pipe line has been under our farm for at least fifty years. The 2011 flood broke a natural gas pipeline within fifteen miles of our house and an oil pipeline in Montana. Neither caused enough damage to make the national news.
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By: James on June 20, 2013
at 7:16 AM
Grandma, former piano-player and newly-minted petroleum engineer, after waxing eloquent about the intricacies of oil refining, begged and pleaded: SpankMe!
No thanks, Granny; none of us play sex games with the aged; it’s too disgusting. Perhaps you could salve your erstwhile urges with an appropriate Google search. They say there’s something for everyone there…
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By: PFesser on June 20, 2013
at 6:32 AM
http://www.habeascorpus.net/hcwrit.html
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By: PFesser on June 20, 2013
at 6:25 AM
poolman@10:34 – It is just beyond belief. Habeas corpus predates the Magna Carta. That it would be flouted in this way, by MY country, and given tacit approval by my fellow Americans, makes me want to vomit.
Since our country came into existence Americans have always deservedly held the moral high ground – and to think that now we are holding men without charge or trial… What is worse is the lack of public outrage; politicians are congenitally corrupt, but I thought better of my countrymen.
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By: PFesser on June 20, 2013
at 6:23 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Peas, I’m gonna need your help again. This time for an article buried in the business section of the Honolulu Star Advertiser Newspaper for Tuesday, 6/18/2013. The headline was on the front page, reading “Texas Firm to Buy Refinery.” The lengthy article is entitled ”Par Petroleum agrees to buy Tesoso” refinery by Alan Yonan, Jr.
(ayonan@staradvertiser.com.) Looks like Texas oil interests are up to their old tricks yet again.
This should be of great interest to you lori (about a small Texas oil company, Par Petroleum); Cynthia (in relation to the excellent book you recommended on the Bush Dynasty and their big oil connections. And gurl, since you live in a state bordering Canada, you should find this interesting as well as gato, Terry W., Poolman and Chris and anybody else who gives a big rats’ ass about the environment.
Tesoro is a small local oil company that has had the refinery, distribution and gas stations throughout the state of Hawaii for a long time. Let me explain. We have no access to fossil fuels except by crude import in tankers. Now, it is very easy to fall into the provincial thinking that everything has to do with ME and what goes on in MY on backyard and of course what affects MY bank account. It is the ole stuck in a place and time warp mentality. We are all gulilty as charged. Also gato and Terry W, you already know how easily distracted SpankMe is from the subject at hand by anything suggestive of women’s lingerie and/or pornography.
I think we are all aware of just how dependant we are on energy sources. Out here, there is little chance of people freezing to death without heat in the winter. Some of us might sweat a little without air conditioning, but that’s not fatal. However, most of us know that there is a finite amount of fossil fuel and sooner or later alternate sources of energy must be found. Plenty of good people are working on that in wind, solar and out here waves and as endless, safe source of energy. For us, hydro-electric is out of the question. Some are looking into geo-thermal. During the transition interim though we may have to depend on fracking somewhat to take up the slack even though it is potentially an environmental nightmare. Unlike nuclear power plants (read Chernobyl and Three Mile Island), people world wide are more aware of the pitfalls as well as the benefits of energy sources.
Out here we are seeing more and more charging stations at individual parking spaces in parking lots for hybrid cars. They are being used!!! Of course there is the problem of how to dispose of old batteries, large and itty-bitty, but it is not nearly as ominous as nuclear waste disposal.
I don’t see why it is necessary to build the Keystone Pipeline bisecting the continental U.S. to get Canadian and other fracking oil to aging refineries in Texas. Especially across states prone to tornadoes, floods and other natural disaster that could quite possible disrupt the flow in the pipeline. BTW, as I understand it, it takes a great deal of energy and manpower to extract the fracted oil in a ratio to the amount of energy in the finished product. That would certainly not result in lowered fuel costs. Perhaps short pipelines from Canada and other fracking fields could be built simultaneous with new small state of-the-art refineries in some of our northern Midwestern states. There is no reason why the oil has to be piped all the way to Texas’ tired old refineries just because the traditional Texas oil interests and politicians say so. Maybe it’s about time senators and representatives in those northern Midwestern states got on it!
I have plenty more to say on this topic another time. But it’s getting late now, so nighty-night.
Aloha! Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 20, 2013
at 2:49 AM
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By: poolman on June 19, 2013
at 10:34 PM
Yes, Terry W. it is about greed and power.
I like your song lyrics. They remind me of what some soldiers sang as they landed in Saigon. ” Well its one, two, three what are we fighting for? I don’t know, I don’t give a damn. Next stop is Vietnam. Whoopy We’re all gonna die!”
I agree Pfessor. In fact two Democrats tried to warn about the mass spying, but they couldn’t say much as long as the program was classified. Progressives and conservatives can unite on this issue.
Obama appears to have united Catholics in Ireland. He spoke to 2000 Irish and told them Catholic schools are divisive and turn towns against each other. Catholic schools should go,
We may be back in Omaha helping with our grand daughter tomorrow . If a political explosion in our home town isn’t contained life will become even more interesting. We live out of town, but we have property in town. So far, it is not affected.
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By: James on June 19, 2013
at 9:44 PM
Gato opined: “aying that “fracking is here to stay” is about the equivalent of saying “slavery is here to stay,” or “polio is here to stay”… Only if we let it.”
I don’t think it sounds like that at all! I think it’s more like: Energy independence is here to stay, and the money we used to send to the Middle East so gato can have gas for her car – which we KNOW will not run on piss – will not be sent; therefore it will not be used to fund madrasas that teach little boys how to kill westerners, or to buy the weapons which they will use to do it. Their cars won’t run on piss either, and they find it hard to stage jihad without money. Win/win.
“The word “fracking,” itself, sounds remarkably like another word that accurately describes what the whole process really is.”
Paraphrasing Jim Garner in “Murphy’s Romance,” I think that’s an ugly expression for that particular pleasure – and that particular process.
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By: PFesser on June 19, 2013
at 9:43 PM
I know a little about the Keystone Pipeline because it will be near our home.
Viewpoint Keystone Pipeline is an economic slam dunk for America”
They describe it as a line in the sand issue for those who want to stop development of fossil fuels and those who want energy self sufficiency and a growing economy.
The pipeline would carry nearly a million barrels of oil per day. It would transport oil from Alberta oil sands and also oil from the new fields in North Dakota and Montana,
The Department of Energy estimates that energy if used here would eliminate or reduce our dependence on Middle East oil.
Construction of the pipe line would create an average of 42, 000 jobs over the time of construction. Many labor unions support the pipeline.
The State Department started its NEPA review of the original permit showed construction to be safe.
Canadian oil will still come to the surface Keystone or not. The Canadians are already preparing to sell the oil to China. If they did, tankers would haul the oil away. They of course run the risk of leaks and spills . The ships will burn carbon based energy and send more green house gases into the air.
I know about the water wars in California and Mulhullen’s work. World- wide energy production is the same. it goes to the highest bidder. The more energy we and our friendly neighbors produce, the stronger will be our economic position relative to some of our enemies’.
Chris, no one will make most of our family die in our seventies unless they use guns or poison. Most of us live and are active well into our nineties. Two relatives missed 100 by two hours and two weeks respectively. One was still driving at age 98.
.
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By: James on June 19, 2013
at 9:35 PM
Jim Hightower on commondreams.org says, Repeal the PATRIOT Act!
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/06/19-2
See? Most Progressives are not asleep at the wheel. Just some.
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By: PFesser on June 19, 2013
at 9:35 PM
Social Security has two trust funds. Income excluding interest-earned interest is not accounted for. I may be wrong, but I think it earns about 4.5% interest. Through 2033, projected income is less than what is owed. As soon as the trust fund is depleted in 2033, the program can pay for 73% of scheduled income.
We are exporting good paying jobs, and the economy remains sluggish. This lowers the inflow of money and accelerates spending. America Blog predicts the fund will be depleted within twenty years. A surge of baby boomer retirements will further strain the system.
Much of the trust fund no longer exists. The government has been borrowing from it since LBJ to finance other operations. When it has to repay the loans, the government will be forced into a real sequester with serious cuts in programs perhaps including support for old people.
My earlier figures still stand until some one can prove them wrong. I don’t mean by a few thousand dollars. I mean by showing that the hypothetical people I cited would earn less than they paid .Poolman’s inflation scenario does alter the equation, but inflation affects the entire economy making some increases relative.
People do get more than they pay into the system. My citations prove it. Time Magazine Business and Money Social Security Now Takes more than it gives ” Aug 7,2012. “But it is now official. Social Security is a lousy investment for the average worker. People retiring today will be among the first generation of workers to pay more in Social Security taxes than they receive in benefits over the course of their lives. according to a new analysis by the Associated Press.”
. Programs will have to be cut beyond our wildest dreams, or taxes will rise. it won’t matter to most of us, because most of us will be dead. As I wrote before, younger people are getting a raw deal..
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By: James on June 19, 2013
at 9:13 PM
Gato, I saw some video of the Trans Canadian folks cutting through private land in Texas to make way for this pipeline monstrosity. A gal down in Texas was pretty upset, and rightly so. This contaminators don’t care and government is behind them in the name of cheap energy, jobs, and capitalism. The crap they want to ship is garbage and we, the people, are not even going to benefit from it. Jobs? Right. These are not hiring trades. These crews are always going where the work is. The only permanent jobs will be in government paid caretakers over corporate stockholder’s investments, stockholders often foreign investors. I believe the Koch brothers are big on pushing that pos. I think they got foreign buyers standing by. These people are raping the land and upsetting the ecosystems and have been doing so for decades, often with full government approval. It’s a sick joke. These are crimes against the planet. It’s time to reverse the entire process. Just keep prayin’…
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By: poolman on June 19, 2013
at 8:43 PM
How Social Security Trust Funds earn interest
http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/404/~/how-social-security-trust-funds-earn-interest
If you want to argue about where-the-extra-money-comes-from and math and all , be sure to include the understanding that the money we pay in does not just sit there. it is invested -by law. It earns interest.
if you want to argue that we tap it for too many things by all means do so but forget the stuff about how people get more than they are due as per what they put in. Is an awful lot like the “extra” money one gets from savings accounts. We all expect to get that dab o dough . There is nothing unreasonable about expecting that monies invested for 30-50 years in SS to yield a bit more than what was put in.
Why does everything have to be about about people-getting-more-than-they-are-due when it comes to everyday people and crickets over all the bazillion tax credits and special assessment deals and the like big business gets when it deigns to start up in an area? THAT costs us a hell of a lot but what a frickin sacred cow it has become!
Pfft
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By: alaskapi on June 19, 2013
at 7:22 PM
Gato, Or you could say we can’t see the oil spills for the oil or the means justify the end. It’s all about greed and we get sucked in by their glib phrases concerning jobs. Cleaning up after their messes will certainly create jobs but it could also be a “water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink” scenario as they pollute the water table and/or use it up while they frack. I’m thinking of a Disney follow-up with the dwarfs singing, “Hi, ho, hi, ho it’s off to frack we go”. I’ve also picked up on the way we’re being “fracked”.
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By: Terry W on June 19, 2013
at 5:58 PM
Hi, Poolman – This bloody KXL pipeline, as far as I can tell, does absolutely nothing to benefit this country. “Provide the US with much-needed jobs”…? Sure, a few thousand construction workers for a few years. (Not to be scorned, but hardly a long-term benefit.) “Provide our country with energy independence”…? Yeah, if we happen to be the highest bidder. They’re not going to just give it to us at bargain-basement rates, as long as China and Dubai are willing to pay more – which they will.
The only potential for future “job creation” is for those that will inevitably be necessary to clean up their messes – probably substantial. And those are jobs that will be paid for by all of us, as taxpayers.
You are no doubt aware that the pipeline proponents have been moving to try to get protesters labeled as “terrorists” who are “threatening vital infrastructure.” These people have no shame. They want this, and they want it bad. They’re going to get even uglier in order to try to get it. (Again and again these days, I’m remembering that great movie, “Chinatown”… Getting water for California agriculture, and what people were willing to do to make that happen. If you’ve never seen it, or haven’t seen it in a while, do so. IMHO, it’s prophetic…)
Saying that “fracking is here to stay” is about the equivalent of saying “slavery is here to stay,” or “polio is here to stay”… Only if we let it.
The word “fracking,” itself, sounds remarkably like another word that accurately describes what the whole process really is.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 19, 2013
at 5:49 PM
James correctly noted: “That extra money has to come from somewhere.”
Careful, now – you are dangerously close to math.
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By: PFesser on June 19, 2013
at 5:27 PM
POOLMAN..
Check out the damage the EPA is about to allow in our feed to animals.
Oil…does that surprise you?
Oil is in everything from plastics to the plastics in our foods, itself.
No wonder the human body cannot utilize within each cell, nor digest the plastic.
Our cells are dying a slow death of starvation…from no nutrition, along with the other toxic poisons on our vegetables, and fruits.
See how the EPA is OWNED by Monsanto and the other chemical companies.
http://www.naturalnews.com/040842_glyphosate_EPA_regulations_contamination_levels.html
Peace…
Chris
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By: Chris on June 19, 2013
at 11:55 AM
James,
The complete Corporate Government System we live in will not allow us to live beyond the years the Secret Corporate Bildebergs have outlined in their agendas. ( men 75….women…..78….Ameica is # 47-49 in life expectancy )
The main systems of our government, political ( you see what a mess that is, worse condition in the history of man. Or is it the same ? ), medical
( poisonous drugs and protocols at such gravely high costs ), the educational ( teaches the children to work for the corporations and be beholding to them for their very existence ), the financial ( the bankers stealing every investment dollar from those who believe their lies on growing money, by pulling the plug each time they decide to devastate, from the fools who save in their institutions ) all systems have the same negative outcome.
We are rats running in the maze constructed with the institutions that the money they stole from society built and controlled, all along. The mom and pop companies our grandparents built have been bought up by the big guys and are no longer. The freedom to do so is being diminished even more with each upcoming generation. The goal is to take us back to the dark ages, and it IS happening.
Bad mouthing each bad political element, whether on this or other site, still does not lump the problems as a collective effort being used to control and devastate our American and all encompassing World societies.
Peace…
Chris
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By: Chris on June 19, 2013
at 11:19 AM
Good morning, James. I’m glad your grand child is doing well. Don’t let those medical ‘experts’ turn her into their latest research project. They are not doing mother or baby any favors by satisfying their own curiosities and jacking up the medical expenses. When did we become so clinical?
Fracking is a crime against nature. Precious water sources are being contaminated, sometimes even flammable. For what? There are huge natural gas reserves being discovered everywhere. Nikola Tesla had devised the ability for everyone to have free power, but JPMorgan, among others, put the kibosh to that. Welcome to the tailings of the age of capitalism.
SS money I payed in, along with others, during our years of employment had greater value when we all started. The dollar in 1970 was worth much more than that dollar is worth today. So, getting more than one paid in ought to be the case. Of course, the money wasn’t put into an investment account, rather spent as quickly (or prior to) being collected. Those that promote privatization have that going for them, but the guarantees of gain via stock market investments are mostly pie in the sky. After all, our pols get insider info which has made them rich and you can see how well that has played out for the rest of us.
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By: poolman on June 19, 2013
at 10:29 AM
Here is documentation from US News Money and Retirement Planning to Retire.
If a single man earns an average of $43,100 during his career from 22 to 64, he will have paid $345,000 into the system. He will likely get back $72,000 more than he paid in. A single woman with a similar work history will do even better because of her longer life expectancy. She will net $192,000 more than she paid. Medicare benefits also let those people get more money than they paid in.
That extra money has to come from somewhere.
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By: James on June 19, 2013
at 10:17 AM
Re Obamacare: The media is noticing that the government is having trouble persuading young people to sign up for Obamacare.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito noted that healthy young adults pay an average of $854.00 a year on health care. Obamacare would require them to pay roughly $5,800 because they would have to pay for services they wouldn’t need. “The mandate is forcing them to provide a huge subsidy to the insurance companies… to subsidize services that will be received by somebody else.”
The new government system of insurance will be good for some people just as we old people are bleeding the younger generations dry with our tax funded benefits. People say they deserve current Social Security payments, and many need the money to survive, but they are receiving and spending money they did not pay into the system. If one got exactly what he/she paid plus interest, the payments would soon stop.
We are getting more back than we put in. This cannot last forever.
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By: james on June 19, 2013
at 9:56 AM
One Monday afternoon, while her parents slept, our grand daughter began breathing irregularly without displaying distress for about five minutes. We nearly woke someone to get a doctor’s number, but then she was fine. It only happened once that we know of.
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By: James on June 19, 2013
at 8:55 AM
During the months doctors were sure the baby had Down’s Syndrome, our daughter and son-in law investigated after birth care with several groups and pre – schools. They joined a support group.
Our daughter noticed many of the babies had a certain look in their eyes, as if their eyes were somewhat vacant. Our grand daughter’s eyes sparkle and they follow sounds and people.
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By: James on June 19, 2013
at 8:52 AM
Pfessor, anything we do is a trade off isn’t it? Even eating. Cheap energy has also brought millions or billions of people into the middle class.
As far as big boy or girl pants, few can match the standing man in Istanbul or the standing woman in Ankara. They mirror the approach of China’s Tank Man.
Our grand daughter is doing better. Before the last appointment on Monday, doctors worried because she was one ounce away from real concern about her weight loss. On Monday, she had gained four ounces and she was where she should be.
I don’t remember how much her head had grown in the first week. It gained four centimeters from Thursday to Monday. Now, her head is on the charts–the 20th percentile. Her ears are still pretty small.
Doctors still want to do a genetic test and an MRI but unless the information found can actually find something treatable, what is the point? Our daughter said she will ask detailed questions. Whether she does or not is another matter. A CT scan was negative and one of the doctors said a negative score meant an MRI was not necessary. Now, they want to proceed.
A new theory is that maybe her head wasn’t denied nourishment after all. Maybe her head was jammed in a tight space because of our daughter’s misplaced placenta.
One of our daughter’s fellow counselor’s father is a noted infant etc brain surgeon. His daughter had been relaying some of our daughter’s questions to the doctor.
My wife and I are getting this information second hand, so we only know our daughter’s interpretation.
Baby was at Red Robin as we ate with some of our son-in law and daughter’s friends. The little girl stared at everything and it was the first night she let her parents sleep. Our son in law took her to the TV station, and her picture was on the air. She slept much of the time, so she still woke parents up in the night,
She recognizes faces and voices and has passed the benchmarks the pediatrician listed for a new-born infant. I tried playing Sami music to calm our grand daughter early in the morning because one of its uses is to calm reindeer and infants. Her eyes opened wide and then, she went to sleep, However, she probably would have done so anyway.
We came back home yesterday afternoon because we have to manage our own lives too.
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By: James on June 19, 2013
at 8:47 AM
James – I agree that fracking is here to stay. One has to laugh at the schizophrenia sometimes; folks want cheap energy, but somehow they think it can be had with ZERO risk. I’m reminded of a ‘seventies comedian, Robert Klein. He did a little ditty on oil drilling, which he finished with, “Oil: organic, natural, necessary. After all, your car won’t run on piss.” Neither will your furnace.
*********
On another front: great interview with David Stockman, budget director under Reagan, on Edward Snowden. Calls him a “hero.” I couldn’t agree more.
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/edward-snowden-heroic-says-david-stockman-150758788.html
As I’m sure you remember, he and Reagan butted heads over Reagan’s fiscal irresponsibility. He is scathing in his assessment of the NSA’s spying on American citizens, and the current (and previous) admins’ attacks on the Constitution. I’m reading his book on the fiscal irresponsibility dating back to before Roosevelt, to include Nixon, Carter, Reagan, and especially Hussein and his minion, The Bernank. He hails Eisenhower and his treasury secretary, William McChesney Martin, and interestingly enough, also Bill Clinton. The more I read, the more I think Stockman is right on the money.
I’m pulling most of my retirement out of the American market and putting it into Canadian bank stocks. We are SOOOOOOO riding for a fall…I just hope I can keep my kids out of most of it. They don’t have the experience to ride it out, I don’t think.
How’s the new baby?
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By: PFesser on June 19, 2013
at 4:52 AM
Terry W – “The same applies, by the way, to people who have no recourse other than the ER for their routine health needs. We pay for that in our insurance premiums and whatever isn’t covered by the insurance.
I know the “Obama Care haters” will argue with that logic. I have on my big girl panties and I can take it.”
Did you say, “panties?!” Say it isn’t so! Someone will be on you like a duck on a June bug. LOL
No, I agree that there are many folks who simply have no other recourse than just go to the ER. I watched (from inside!) this whole system unravel for more than thirty years; it has to be rebuilt from the ground up, and believe me, making it even more complex and expensive (Obamacare) is NOT the solution.
The biggest problem is cost, most of which can be traced directly to the govt’s pouring money into the system. If you want more of something, subsidize it, and that’s what they’ve done. When my mother was in the hospital in the late ‘sixties, it averaged about $40/day.
The same thing has happened to college costs: distortion of the market by very cheap money, provided of course by the govt via grants and loans. If college had to be evaluated as a REAL expense, and that expense balanced against expected benefit, there would be many fewer college students and the cost much lower. Majors without significant financial benefit, like “Women’s Studies” or “Men’s Studies” would fall by the wayside.
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By: PFesser on June 19, 2013
at 4:39 AM
Auntie Jean, They had your phone number because they, like us, have caller ID. I’m glad you didn’t repeat the info to the later caller. I often order stuff online myself and was scammed at one time by a book seller. Fortunately my credit card company picked up on the charges made in England. I told them it certainly wasn’t me since I was teaching Vacation Bible School those days! I would have enjoyed being in England again but was happy they saw that red flag and contacted me. Of course the bottom line is that we end up paying for the criminal activities be it shop lifting or identify theft. The businesses or credit card companies aren’t going to just eat those losses. The same applies, by the way, to people who have no recourse other than the ER for their routine health needs. We pay for that in our insurance premiums and whatever isn’t covered by the insurance.
I know the “Obama Care haters” will argue with that logic. I have on my big girl panties and I can take it. :o} – Terry W.
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By: Terry W on June 18, 2013
at 6:09 PM
Culver City Patch on May 8, 2013 wrote that the environmental concerns associated with fracking cannot be ignored, but the potential economic benefit is “staggering.”
Fracking would benefit the Fresno, California area which has the highest unemployment rate in the nation, according to the Huffington Post.
The Gazette of Colorado Springs wrote that most of the environmental problems occur after the fracking has ended. Spills and seepage are documented.
The Washington Times reports that Democrats as well as Republicans support fracking, and some environmental groups such as the Environmental Defense Fund believe the best strategy is to campaign for production in an environmentally sound way.
Salon.com April 24, 2013 “Fracking’s coming boom” Experts note that we can potentially become energy independent and Middle East and other oil producers will no longer get so much of our money. The natural gas glut is holding domestic prices down, but if we export more of our energy, it will be depleted sooner, and prices here will rise.
Fracking is here to stay.
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By: James on June 18, 2013
at 3:29 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
While the subject of security leaks is so much in the news, here is a related happenstance that has been occurring right along for about a year now. I have enjoyed the convenience of mail order and/or online shopping for a long time but actually prefer to see and touch for myself in person the items I buy. I have had long time accounts with Amazon and several cosmetic companies that we don’t have out here.
Recently I have ordered a few things online and gone through all the steps they DEMAND including passwords, etc., etc. Twice this has occurred afterwards. I received multiple automated phone calls from a party that did not identify itself saying that my order (not specified) could not be shipped until I verified my name, address and credit card number. Say what? Naturally, I did not disclose any of it. Further I don’t recall giving out my phone number with the online order either. I never received the things I ordered and they did not show up on the credit card bill. No great loss. They were items I can easily do without.
Here is my point. Big companies can cut down, way down, if the more business is handled by automation, the less they have to hire and train real live people to service their customers. If they overdo it though, in the long run it will hurt their business. The robo calls turn people off!
And so there was the Industrial Revolution when people left the farms to find work in urban areas with the inherent problems that Revolution caused.
Now we are in the midst of the Technology Revolution. There are always some up sides and some down sides to every type of revolution. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out.
Aloha! Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 18, 2013
at 1:58 AM
Now why does a payroll card instead of pay check sound like a bad idea? What will they think of next to nickle and dime every penny they can get from you!
Morgan Chase payroll cards charge:
$1.50 min. for ATM
$5.00 for over the counter cash withdrawal
$1.00 to check balance
$0.75 for online bill payment
$15.00 for lost card replacement
(I’m sure there is more)
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/pa-mcdonalds-franchise-sued-payroll-cards-19420312
And this is done at a minium wage job no less!!!!!
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 17, 2013
at 11:33 AM
HI, again, Cynthia – Yeah, this idea of using water for fracking in areas suffering a drought is pretty thought-provoking isn’t it? The phrase “…an opportunity to make money by selling water…” makes me feel quite unsettled, just by itself – something just not right with that concept.
Who’s going to consume all this newly-created “energy” when people start dying from dehydration, or starving because crops could not be irrigated…? (May sound a bit melodramatic, but it’s what’s happening all over central Africa, right now, for example, and, IMO, is the underlying reason for all the slaughter taking place in that area. “Ethnic,” or “religious,” strife would not be so necessary if there were enough water for all.)
This subject is very close to my heart since I live in a small private Community with its own water system, which we manage ourselves. In fact, the Community Association was originally formed, decades ago, for the specific purpose of supplying water to its members. Recently, we were approached by a large regional private water management company, looking to take over our system. (They originally tried this ten years ago, and were turned down.) We face ever-increasing quality and monitoring requirements from the State, the Department of Public Health, and the EPA – all of which are expensive and require the endless slogging through the kind of paperwork only multiple governing agencies can engender. The management company jumped on this situation, suggesting they could “help us out,” and “take over the problem,” by dint of their vast experience and expertise. Fortunately, IMO, the Community rejected them, once again, by a margin of ten to one. (I have the nagging feeling, though, that they have no intention of giving up, even so…)
We are a real anomaly in the area, reminiscent of a David and Goliath situation. In our case, our small group of homeowners has been willing to commit to holding on to something we feel is absolutely essential to our well-being, and equally willing to shoulder the work and considerable cost required to do so.
And, yes, I’m damned proud of us!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 17, 2013
at 9:37 AM
Hey, Cynthia – FASCINATING site! I’m sure we’re not the only country that does this kind of thing, but I’m confident we’re right up there among the most active. And Congress is UPSET!!! This is a SCANDAL!!! WORSE THAN WATERGATE!!! AND IT’S ALL OBAMA’S FAULT!!! KENYAN SOCIALIST WHERE’S HIS BIRTH CERTIFICATE NO OBAMACARE DON’T TRY TO TAKE OUR GUNS FREEEEEDOOOOOMMM!!!!
Members of Congress should be upset – they should be upset because not a single one of them has paid much attention to this proliferation for the last twelve years, and none of them have any idea what’s actually going on with it now.
Kind of makes you realize how totally inconsequential that little “leaker” twerp (whose name I’ve already forgotten) and his “explosive information,” and his buddy Greenwald, really are, doesn’t it…?
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 17, 2013
at 8:31 AM
I was wrong about Brazil. Their system started as a pay-as-you-go but has been corrupted by – guess who – the politicians. Now The Netherlands ranks as #1, Australia # 2. US is # 10.
http://www.advisorone.com/2011/11/07/top-10-countries-with-best-retirement-systems?t=the-retiree&page=1
I would like to see the US system changed so that anybody who gets a pension contribution from work gets Real Money, which goes into his own private pension fund. He could then take the pension with him to his next job. Nowadays the pension funds are accessible by the corp itself and raided, leaving the employee high and dry. Two brothers I knew who worked at J&L Steel in Cleveland ended up, after it went out of business and was the target of a corporate raider, each with about $60/month pension, after working there thirty years each. Jesus.
Stockman really goes off on the corporate and Wall Street co-opting of congressional politicians. Promises to be a good book.
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By: PFesser on June 17, 2013
at 8:27 AM
Gato – money paid into the system will not come close to paying for healthcare when one gets older. And Jean, there is no “Medicare Trust Fund.” There is supposed to be, but in actuality it is all financed out of current taxes or borrowing.
Nobody is opposed to taking care of old folks (I’m getting there myself!) or anybody else, but the numbers have to add up. They either add up now or they add up later. TANSTAAFL always applies.
My argument with both Dems and ReBiblicans is that they are too spineless to do what is right for the long term. Social Security, for example. There is no trust fund there, either; they spent it all. If you were a lawyer taking care of somebody’s estate for the benefit of their kids and you started taking money out and putting IOUs in its place, you would go to jail. The same should apply to Congress.
I’ve been reading David Stockman’s book, “The Great Deformation.” It is a scathing indictment, but interestingly his greatest criticism for fiscal irresponsibility is of Republicans. (He was Budget Director under Reagan)
So I’m told, the Brazilians are the poster children for setting up a responsible retirement system for their people. Happened just recently. Apparently it is solvent, and will be so for the foreseeable future. We’re smart; we can do that too. If there were ever a reason to “Throw the Bastards Out!”, we have it here, now.
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By: PFesser on June 17, 2013
at 8:16 AM
How we got to this point!
Top Secret America describes huge national security buildup in the US after the 9/11 attack.
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/articles/editors-note/
and/or
topsecretamerica.com
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 17, 2013
at 7:54 AM
“We use the very element to maintain our lives,
water….to destroy the environment we require for life.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/16/colorado-fracking_n_3450170.html
“I think it’s one of the worst occasions in my memory of somebody with access to classified information doing enormous damage to the national security interests of the United States.” – Cheney
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/16/dick-cheney-edward-snowden_n_3450006.html
I have an even worse occasion in my memory….Dick.
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 17, 2013
at 7:53 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
That’s it, Peas! How’dja do that? I’ve said it before and I say it again. You are a GENIUS!!! When are your cat, your lovely wife and you coming out and moving in? We’ll feed you and do your laundry in exchange for computer guru advice. You can even get in lots and lots of beach time and snorkeling. Scuba maybe?
Aloha! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 17, 2013
at 1:57 AM
Here you go Jean.
Army major guilty in data leak.
Peace ~ Δ
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By: Whirled Peas Δ on June 16, 2013
at 11:08 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Army major guilty in data leak – Honolulu Star-Advertiser1 day ago … An Army officer who worked for U.S. Pacific Command was found guilty Friday by a military jury of … Saturday, June 15, 2013 … Army major guilty in data leak.
http://www.staradvertiser.com
http://www.staradvertiser.com/…/20130615_US_security_Army_major_guilty_in_ data_leak.html?.
Ah ha!!! Success, ( I think.)
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Aunie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 16, 2013
at 10:23 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Thank you much, Cynthia, for your link on June 16, 2013 at 11:06 AM. Very comprehensive. It dovetails with our experience. In a nutshell, we paid into FICA for the premiums and for supplemental insurance for 50ish years. I don’t have the numbers handy off the top of my head. There were and are hefty annual deductibles for both. And of course, premiums are still deducted now from our pensions and Social Security (for Medicare.) For most claims, Medicare pays 80%, supplemental picks up some and the rest is out of pocket.
I did see a report on CNN about 5% of physicians going for cash only patients. That reminds me of three doctors that I knew of personally a while back but not as a patient, thank heaven! One in Colorado and two out here lost their hospital privileges through incompetence. They each tried to go it alone in the private practice only route for a while but didn’t attract many patients. Don’t know what became of them. One was an internist; another, a cardiologist and the third, an “ecology” allergist, whatever that is.
Is congress still wrangling over keeping their fingers outta the Medicare Trust Fund to “privatize” it and “invest” it in the stock market?
On to another topic, this timely article was on the front page of the Honolulu Star Advertiser Newspaper yesterday, (June 15). lori, I tried to find the thingy to highlight to link it but couldn’t. Lost my newly acquired computer skill pretty quick, dontcha think? Looks like I’m only good for YouTube so far. Anyway, the title of the article is “Army major guilty in data leak.” It is fairly long. Here are some excerpts. For the rest of it, you’ll just have to track it down yourselves if you’re interested.
“An Army officer who worked for U.S. Pacific command was found guilty Friday by a military jury of illegally possessing and passing classified national defense information, an Army official said.
“The jury Friday night sentenced Maj. Selvrak Inson to 10 years in prison, forfeiture of pay and dismissal from the Army.
“Inson passed classified intelligence assessments about Cambodia to an unidentified person not entitled to have them between 2009 and 2012, and had unauthorized possession of a U.S. Pacific command maritime strategy document, which he ‘had reason to believe could be used to the injury of the United States.’ The Army said.
“Capt. Leslie Waddle, a spokeswoman for the Army’s 8th Theater Sustainment Command in Hawaii, said Inson was found guilty of those charges as well as a charge that he had unauthorized possession of a Defense Intelligence Agency intelligence report, and that he failed to report to his chain of command that he had contact with Cambodian military and government officials.
“Inson was found guilty of a charge that he cheated on his wife – a criminal offense in the military – but was found not guilty of beating her, Waddle said. [???] He also was found not guilty of the accusation that he compiled information about U.S. service members of Cambodian descent with the intent to transmit that information to the Cambodian military, she said.
“Maj. Kevin Landtroop, the prosecutor, told the seven-member panel of high-ranking military officers during closing arguments Friday morning that the case was about loyalty and trust.
“He urged the jury to find Inson guilty on all charges.”
The rest of the article is about the juicy details of the trial and personal info on Inson.
Aloha! Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 16, 2013
at 10:09 PM
I think I read that we older/wiser/funnier people won’t have to take off our shoes at the airport anymore. For that I’m thankful but I have pretty much given up travel. My kids in Texas come up here every summer for a nice long visit. The last time I did travel I got the wand treatment and when I got to the gate I realized I’d left my coat behind! I guess I’m lucky I realized it before I got on the plane. – Terry W
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By: Terry W on June 16, 2013
at 4:25 PM
Lori, I assume you’re talking to me about the Corey Booker video. It was a leadership summit that’s held every summer in August. I’ve never been able to attend because I’m taking care of my granddaughter. Church members bought the series and shared them with us. His talk was very inspiring.
Now I’m going to finish fixing Chicken Kiev for my son and his daughter in honor of Father’s Day. We’d be getting into my pool but a month after opening it it’s still not completely ready. I have to depend on others to help me with it and the pool guys kind of dropped the ball this year. – Terry W.
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By: Terry W on June 16, 2013
at 3:44 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Oooooo lori, Segovia. He is sooooooo mellow! We have several of his CDs.
On this day when we honor fathers everywhere, I remember my dad with so much love. He was always so proud of we kids’ accomplishments but mostly all we had to do to gain his approval was breathe!
We were a musical family. He played the valve trombone. He was also very good looking. Many people compared him favorably to the matinee movie idol of the day, Tyrone Power. In a local Passion Play similar to that of Oberammergau, my dad played the part of Lazarus, (the one Jesus raised from the dead.)
One of our grandsons who is quite musical too with a beautiful baritone voice certainly takes after his great-grandpa! Must be in the genes.
Aloha! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 16, 2013
at 3:33 PM
Thanks, Lurker – Great info. Fortunately, I’ve never heard of most of them!
Most of my charity $$ goes to Doctors Without Borders, to Sojourners (an evangelical Christian group focused on “social justice” – and, believe me, I never thought I’d support an “evangelical Christian” ANYTHING!), and to FINCA, a micro-financing organization – even though providing funds for loans is not technically “charity.”
And, of course, my local Police Athletic League and both the City and volunteer fire departments, with the admission that my doing so probably has an element of the self-serving in there… (I guess I’m thinking that if my house catches on fire, they’re going to check first to see if the address is on their list of recent donors!)
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 16, 2013
at 1:48 PM
Fesser – My husband’s and my premium for our long-term-care insurance went up almost fifty percent this year, and it has nothing to do with Obamacare. It has to do with their trying to stay in business in an ever-dwindling market “niche.”
Insurance companies raise rates (or at least propose raising them) for any number of reasons, not the least of which is making a profit. No judgement there – at least not any I’m going to mention – just a statement of “market reality.” Any change of anything, in any direction, can be used as “justification” for raising rates.
It is inaccurate to say that older people get Medicare, or any form of medical care, “for free.” (What do you think most “old people” were doing during all those years it took for them to get “old”? Sitting around eating bon-bons, from adolescence onward…?) Most of us paid into it for three, four, or even five, decades, just as we paid into Social Security. And we paid, all those years, for those who were “old” before we were, and receiving the benefits of our labors, just as still-working citizens are doing today, to pay for ours.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 16, 2013
at 1:31 PM
Cynthia, I see your point. Yes, multiple people can borrow from the same source. Some times, they even lift similar phraseology. Liberals have done it too and also twisted the truth. Cutting and pasting is a wonderful thing, isn’t it?
I’m waiting for tonight’s KETV news report about Canadians coming to Omaha for medical treatment.
Our son – in law is a producer at the station. Thus, our week old grand daughter’s picture was on television this morning.
We will be helping care for her in a few hours to give the parents some respite. Better yet, the size of her head was off the charts when she was born. Not now. Her head is growing measurably this week, and so are her ears.
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By: James on June 16, 2013
at 12:25 PM
James – I will agree that it is difficult to determine the truth these days. I did a bit of research and found a few sites just cut and pasted the WTimes article. But these two sites at least put some effort into their opinions.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/06/12/1215746/-Ohio-s-Lt-Gov-lies-about-Obamacare-rate-hikes
http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2013/06/obamacare_to_make_rates_soar_s.html
I do expect more of pf since he is so good at that math thingy.
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 16, 2013
at 11:06 AM
ugggg… Terry W & Terri!!!! one more time sorry for the confuzzlement! I just need a free get out of jail pass for the year please! LOL LOL
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By: lori on June 16, 2013
at 8:59 AM
Love it Delurker! I saw a funny pic on Twitter last night that I so wanted to post here but Im not sure of the proper etiquette so didn’t. I need to look that up! I think many here would enjoy the funny memes.
Terri I heard that show too! In a perfect world it would be nice to have a non partisan discussion about all this stuff wouldn’t it? Ill take odds that isn’t going to happen. ;(
Have a wonderful day all! I’m hitting the pool and a good ole fashion TX country bqq today! Yinz can start hating me now. 😉 xoxoxo all
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By: lori on June 16, 2013
at 8:34 AM
Pi I LOVE it! The Cry Of The Wild Goose was a song we sang around the campfire (or anytime we were together and someone would pull out a guitar, which was every time!) with my extended family growing up! LOL LOL My Uncle John is a bit of a wild goose himself and always requested that song at our get together’s. In fact he lived in Alaska for a time. Along with They Call the Wind Maria, You Are My Sunshine, She’ll Be Coming Round The Mountain, all good memories! LOl Thanks!
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By: lori on June 16, 2013
at 8:26 AM
My mother could play multiple instruments, and in her younger years, she taught music. She could also play “by ear.” After she heard a song on the radio or elsewhere, she plunked about on her piano, and soon there it was.
We cared for my parents in our home near the end. One day my mother insisted she wanted her accordion which she had not played in years. I searched through her house until I found it, and she spent the afternoon playing music.
Then, she was done and said I could return it to her house. We didn’t know my mother was seriously ill, but her funeral was less than a week later.
The Washington Times is as legitimate a source as any of the liberal publications. As with any other publication,, one can check and verify somewhere else. Usually the facts are true, but the interpretation may be biased. Even rags like the National Enquirer can be credible as we learned during John Edwards’ adventures.
So, bring on the Washington Times and Mother Jones.
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By: James on June 16, 2013
at 8:14 AM
Parenthood is forever. We glory in the children’s successes and suffer their pain. In time, they tell you “you’re smarter than we thought you were.”
Its also time to remember the ones who didn’t make it, for parts of them will live inside us for the rest of our lives. If we are lucky and the timing is right, we are able to convince our parents how important they were to us before they die.
Since our son-in law works for the television station, her picture was on air a few minutes ago. We will be helping with the kid later today and tomorrow. I am besotted.
Tonight, the station will show a story about the large number of Canadians coming to Omaha for medical care. A woman interviewed for the teaser said it costs money, but it is worth it.
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By: James on June 16, 2013
at 8:01 AM
Sorry for the unexplained link. It’s just a fun example of Sean Hannity’s hypocrisy, somewhat emblematic of the times.
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By: delurkergurl on June 16, 2013
at 7:59 AM
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By: delurkergurl on June 16, 2013
at 7:56 AM
lori- that was lovely !
it was my Ma who loved classical guitar.
My Dad had totally different music likes/loves . He loved Frankie Laine’s stuff , esp this one:
He played the harmonica himself. He and his harp got thrown off the sub he was on during WWII. The other guys got tired of something he was learning to play. 🙂
Loved when he would pull it out to play myself. Family dog always sang along to Red River Valley . Nothing else , just RRV 😉
Happy Father’s Day to all.
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By: alaskapi on June 16, 2013
at 7:55 AM
Oh come on pf. There is nothing in this article to support their statement about Obamacare. Every freakin link takes you back to the same article. And you can click here for permission to reprint so you can hand out to all your uninformed friends and neighbors! The Washington Times!!!!!! Quit peddling Bullsh*t.
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 16, 2013
at 7:52 AM
Happy Fathers Day JSRI, and all the other male lurkers. 😉
This is my memory of my Dad.
He was many things, one of which was a classical guitarist. His favorite pieces was Paganini’s Romanza played by Andres Segovia . Happy Father’s day Daddy . ❤
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By: lori on June 16, 2013
at 6:30 AM
I think it was Jean who was so happy with her new Obamacare…it seems that folks in Ohio are having a bit of a struggle with it…
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jun/11/obamacare-rate-shock-hits-ohio-88-percent-insuranc/
Of course those are people who are actually working and pay for it all; not old folks who get it for free.
It’s just a little dose of TANSTAAFL; somebody has to pay for everything. It’s math, you know…
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By: PFesser on June 16, 2013
at 5:35 AM
Super article in The Atlantic on how “affirmative action” injures the very people it is designed to help.
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/10/the-painful-truth-about-affirmative-action/263122/
Nobody can accuse this magazine of a right-wing slant. Anybody who has been through college can remember minority students who just couldn’t keep up, and professors who were terrified of flunking them out. I still remember Dr. Ashby, who, in the whole time I was in med school, I don’t think ever had a successful kidney transplant – hardly a tough surgery even in those days. He had clearly gone through school on the affirmative action program – or at least WE thought he had; a lot of med students knew more medicine than he did. Wanna be his patient?
This exemplifies what I believe are the problems of well-intentioned gub’ment programs – nobody takes the time to assess whether they REALLY accomplish their goals. It also highlights one of the criticisms of the Left – if anyone suggests their programs aren’t working, then he is a “racist,” “bigot,” — take your choice.
No, sometimes he is just somebody who doesn’t believe gub’ment solves social problems very well.
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By: PFesser on June 16, 2013
at 5:21 AM
Here is more. its true a minority supported the American Revolution. Some of my ancestors fought on the winning side. Others supported the Crown and became Canadians.
However,our revolution was not fought in isolation. It was part of a larger European conflict, and many countries, especially France gave the rebels aid. Some historians have written that the French Revolution was an indirect result of their helping us.
Most revolutionaries, but not all, win because they have foreign help. We are not immune. I am not advocating anything of the sort, I am thinking theoretically.
The Romans coped with an income disparity by giving “bread and circuses” to the masses. We are in our way, doing the same thing.
Revolution is entirely possible here, and we are well-armed.
Our son and daughter in law just called from California to wish me “happy Fathers Day.” He works for a large multinational company and is one of a crew who keep the computer system functioning. A large number of e- mails, billings and other business work passes through his office.
Our son said that he recently figured how to snatch any given communication from the large amorphous mass and read all words and numbers to and from one individual in less than a minute. It saves the company a lot of time. If he can do it, our government can do it as well.
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By: James on June 15, 2013
at 9:38 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
It is a foregone conclusion that the Big Data Bank in the Sky has a dossier on each and every one of us starting with exactly where our mothers were and what our fathers were doing nine months before we were born. So what else is new? Saint Peter has one. Santa Claus has always had one.
So here is another one of my rhetorical questions. Why then are each and every one of us required to get to the airport at least two hours before our flight departure time, stand in endless lines to go through security and TAKE OFF OUR SHOES? But we can check-in the day before on the computer and breeze through the airline check-in line in no time.
(But just ask a gun happy right-winger to go through a background check and register his guns and he goes ballistic. National Security has nothing to do with Domestic Security for little grade school kids.)
My husband has two stents in his heart and a titanium hip, (bought and paid for!) Whenever he goes through airport security sans shoes, it lights up like Christmas. The security people take him outta the line and frisk him up and down and between his legs with a wand. They won’t accept printed and signed cards from his doctors documenting his medical devices. At one U.S. airport and one in Europe they even put him in a glass phone booth type structure and blew puffs of air on him that were analyzed on the spot for any traces of explosives he might have been handling.
Well, actually as a retired octogenarian and veteran flying in a B-47 during the Korean “Conflict” I suppose he does fit the profile of a dangerous looking character at that.
Aloha! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 15, 2013
at 9:34 PM
Progressives worthy of the name:
Bold Progressives deliver anti-spying petition to Senator Lindsey Graham’s office, only to be met with “no filming in the front office!”
To which they replied, “We don’t like our phone calls being spied on either!”
http://www.examiner.com/article/no-filming-deliverers-of-100000-spy-petitioners-to-congress-were-told?CID=examiner_alerts_article
No cud-chewers there. Way to go, guys! Now if we can knock some of the lazy-asses off their couches to get involved, we’ll be doing a great thing for our country.
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By: PFesser on June 15, 2013
at 9:11 PM
Cynthia, thank you and others for the Fathers Day wishes.
I was a history major, so I already know about what you wrote. Here is what Paul Harvey would say is “the rest of the story.”
Smedley Butler ” The fighting Quaker” was a genuine war hero. He won two Medals of Honor in two operations, as well as numerous other awards for valor.
He was a Republican who supported Hoover until the Bonus Army was forceably disbanded. He like many who believed Obama would change the world, put his hope in FDR. He also made a name for himself with lectures warning against war profiteering, military adventurism, and nanscent fascism in the US.
He like many people disappointed with Obama later became disenchanted with President Roosevelt. After the attack on veterans, Butler spoke to veterans groups and asked them to join the Veterans of Foreign Wars because he believed Wall street controlled the American Legion and was betraying veterans.
In 1934, Butler testified to Congress that business interests approached him during his activities among veterans’ groups. They knew of his developing hostility toward the president, but more importantly the Wall Street interests understood Butler’s popularity. They planned a peaceful coup d’etat with the help of the American Legion. Butler could with his popularity persuade the American Legion to revolt. A delegation would approach FDR and tell him to resign to protect the country from extended violence.
Smedley pretended to agree, but he later turned the conspirators in. Congressional committees failed to reach a conclusion about the validity of Butler’s testimony, and no charges were filed. Some charged that Wall Street money and a slanted press killed the case, or not.
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By: James on June 15, 2013
at 9:06 PM
Lori, I did hear something interesting on NPR today. In the past we got phone bills listing all the numbers we had called including the duration of each call. I don’t personally have any problem with anyone knowing whom I’ve called or how long the call lasted. I would hope it would alert the authorities to suspected terrorists engaging with anyone in our country. I think it’s like anything else in our hum-drum lives: if someone’s up to no-good I hope someone figures it out before that person can act on it.
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By: Terry W on June 15, 2013
at 6:12 PM
Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there!
An interesting observation:
Waiting for the Revolution.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-burnett/waiting-for-the-revolutio_b_3441375.html?utm_hp_ref=politics
An FYI – I remember this from a Ken Burns documentary but didn’t realize MacArthur, Eisenhower and Patton were involved.
“The fate of the Bonus Army is a clue what would happen to a revolution…”
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/snprelief4.htm
The Bonus Army
“…President Hoover ordered the army to clear out the veterans. Infantry and cavalry supported by six tanks were dispatched with Chief of Staff General Douglas MacArthur in command. Major Dwight D. Eisenhower served as his liaison with Washington police and Major George Patton led the cavalry.
By 4:45 P.M. the troops were massed on Pennsylvania Ave. below the Capitol. Thousands of Civil Service employees spilled out of work and lined the streets to watch. The veterans, assuming the military display was in their honor, cheered. Suddenly Patton’s troopers turned and charged. “Shame, Shame” the spectators cried. Soldiers with fixed bayonets followed, hurling tear gas into the crowd.
By nightfall the BEF had retreated across the Anacostia River where Hoover ordered MacArthur to stop. Ignoring the command, the general led his infantry to the main camp. By early morning the 10,000 inhabitants were routed and the camp in flames. Two babies died and nearby hospitals overwhelmed with casualties. Eisenhower later wrote, “the whole scene was pitiful. The veterans were ragged, ill-fed, and felt themselves badly abused. To suddenly see the whole encampment going up in flames just added to the pity.”
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 15, 2013
at 4:06 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Happy Father’s Day tomorrow to all you terrific dads out there. We love you!
Aloha! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 15, 2013
at 3:52 PM
Chalk up another one for offshoring our jobs! When will these guys have to play fair? Why aren’t they penalized tax-wise for doing this? And what about offshore accounts that so many use to avoid paying their fair share of taxes as well?
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By: Terry W on June 15, 2013
at 1:22 PM
I agree. it is almost like scratching a black board with your fingers. My wife taught English, and she notices such things as you do.
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By: James on June 15, 2013
at 12:17 PM
James, the other thing that drives me crazy/crazier is when I see a sign such as “The Brown’s”. I want to knock on their door and ask them if only one person named Brown lives there! They also use it on pre-printed Christmas cards.
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By: Terry W on June 15, 2013
at 12:06 PM
It was I because I forgot to sign in,.
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By: James on June 15, 2013
at 11:38 AM
Another rule. Gerund takes the possessive.
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By: Anonymous on June 15, 2013
at 11:35 AM
Lori, thanks for sharing this. I was shocked to see who was actually saying that quote! Who would have thought it? Also, taking into consideration the time when the “who” questions were posed, I think a lot of water has passed under the bridge in the interim. Also, shame on those “educated” men’s grammar snafu in not using “whom” as the object in those declarations.
I would have made a mean English teacher if given the opportunity! I don’t hesitate to correct my children and grandchildren though. I see it as doing them a favor in the long run.
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By: Terry W on June 15, 2013
at 10:13 AM
Good morning friend!
I came across this this morning. I have one question. Are they really THAT ignorant that they don’t even understand how racist their statements are? SMH
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/06/14/2163661/minority-outreach-gop-faith-freedom-romney/
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By: lori on June 15, 2013
at 8:14 AM
I don’t like tea. I drink grape juice.
If people read this, they will read once again that Delurkergurl and Pfessor offered to help our food pantry when we were recovering from the flood. I don’t forget kind acts like that. Our area is thinly settled, and as its reputation grows, people come from as far as fifty miles for aid. That covers an area as large as our school district,
Sarah Palin is returning to Fox. That should set some hearts a flutter and raise some bile.
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By: James on June 15, 2013
at 8:10 AM
Gato:
You can buy Constant Comment Tea by Bigelow at amazon.com. This place has just about anything you could ever want or need to buy and free shipping and no tax on many items.
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By: CraftyLadyinIllinois on June 14, 2013
at 11:33 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Terry W, I dub thee “Terry M&Ms” for “Magnificent, Magical and Mom” because you are sweet! It fits you.
Yep, gato, consider yourself officially adopted as of now. The paperwork will be submitted forthwith.
I’ve been brewing and drinking “Constant Comment Tea” brand name forever. If I can get it out here, anybody can get it anywhere. They have even put it out in decaf now. But I like mine straight up with a little lemon. The aroma wafts throughout the house, doesn’t it, like it did in your childhood memory of that shop. (My kind of shop! Don’t need to buy anything, just browse and look to your hearts’ content.)
Aloha! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 14, 2013
at 10:04 PM
Auntie Jean… And can you really adopt me, and hold me as one of your own..? The mention of “Constant Comment” tea brings back so many wonderful thoughts and memories to me… (And, of course, that’s what the best of us are all doing here, aren’t we – commenting constantly?)
When I was a young girl, in my midwestern home town, we had one really cool shop nearby – full of hand-made ceramic things, jewelry made of stones and silver, scarves of silk, little elephants made of jade, and so on… It was run by a woman who was undoubtedly one of the first real goddesses I’d ever met. Her name was Helen Winnemore, and her shop was named the same. What a wonderful woman she must have been. I kind of knew that then; I know it even more, now.
My mother and I would go there together, for a special treat. And there was always “Constant Comment” tea available. I can smell it right this minute… I never drank tea in my life, when I was a kiddo, except there.
Can I find that tea again today? (I’ll bet I can!) “Seek, and ye shall find.”
You know… It used to be that you’d have to seek “the source” to find the thing that meant so much to you… Now all you have to do is hit the internet to (maybe) find it.
I’m not sure that’s a good thing…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 14, 2013
at 8:29 PM
Hi Gato,
You have a lovely way with words. Always a pleasure to hear from you. Thanks.
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By: Terri in NY on June 14, 2013
at 8:26 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
OMG!!! Didja hear? Fox is trotting out Sarah Palin again. The far right must be getting really, really desperate. More major embarrassment for mainstream conservatives. They just can’t get a break.
Terry M&Ms, (Magnificent and Magical Mom). I think that fits you. I’m proud of all the everyday things you and the other gals do here all the time. Actually, all in a days work, right?
Gato, sounds like your month is shaping up to be something like ours was last month. Oh, well, c’est la vie. Anytime it gets to be a little too heavy, come on out and join me any afternoon for some Constant Comment Iced “Tea and Sympathy” out on the Dinky Deck. I keep a pitcher in the fridge all the time. (After 5:00PM, I’ll even spike it if necessary.) That goes for all the rest of the porch dwellers, well, with three exceptions.
Aloha! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 14, 2013
at 7:29 PM
I pray you two have never procreated
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By: Anonymous on June 14, 2013
at 6:46 PM
F&F Terry, you are both of those things! My Daddy use to tell me the same. LOL LOL so funny..
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By: lori on June 14, 2013
at 5:57 PM
Not if the “M” stands for Magnificent or Magical. Actually Mom and GrandMa are even better. As my dear old dad use to say, “Call me anything as long as you remember to call me to dinner.”
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By: Terry W on June 14, 2013
at 5:54 PM
ha ha Terry W! But not by better? LOL LOL and trolls don’t count!
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By: lori on June 14, 2013
at 5:48 PM
I’ve been labeled worse!
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By: Terry W on June 14, 2013
at 5:32 PM
Hi, Terri – and Terry W, and Lurker, and Lori, and Auntie Jean, and all the rest of you great goddesses (and guys) who just keep truckin’ on and doing great things for your neighbors, and for all the rest of us (and, if I’ve neglected to mention any of you by name, you sure as hell know who you are…)
Mid-June is the “perfect storm” of celebrations around here. Always has been, and this year it’s even a bit grander: A big birthday party (more than forty people) here for my husband tomorrow (his birthday this year ends with a “5,” and more than that I will not reveal); granddaughter’s birthday (twelve); and Father’s Day. All so worth celebrating. But they all arrive at once!
Meanwhile, I’m reading all your wonderful posts, and thank you for them.
Here in our Community, one of us is going through a few months of chemotherapy for some serious cancer. A neighbor set up a cooking schedule. Each of us cooks twice a month for her and her family. We leave the meal, with instructions, in a cooler by her front door. Works!
And it certainly makes all that crap about stun guns, and throat-cutting, and whether or not one’s anatomy is functioning, quite clear as the garbage it is, doesn’t it?
Thanks, Wonderful M&H Friends, and bless you all… You are joy in my life.
Back soon!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 14, 2013
at 5:04 PM
LOL LOL Sorry Terry “W” my Dyslexia kicked in. 😉
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By: lori on June 14, 2013
at 4:52 PM
Peas, that little boy is one amazing talent. Unfortunately he has had to witness the underbelly of what our social media has to offer wayyyy to early in his little life.
GO SPURS!
Terry M such great projects you are involved in. 😉 I’m humbled and impressed with your good works.
It reminds me of what our beautiful FLOTUS said about her husband…”And he believes that when you’ve worked hard, and done well, and walked through that doorway of opportunity…you do not slam it shut behind you…you reach back, and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed.”
I think many here on the porch not only believe that, but live it everyday.
Namaste!
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By: lori on June 14, 2013
at 3:49 PM
Lori, My denomination supports an organization in the inner city that now requires it’s clients to take cooking classes, money management classes and possibly others. They’ve been donated a space for a community garden as well. When I volunteered at another food pantry I often thought that cooking classes would be a great help to their clients and a community garden takes it one step further. Any volunteer or mission work I’ve done has blessed me in ways I never imagined they would.
We, as a church, are also supporting a new program in the city that takes in homeless people, finds them an affordable living space, teaches them how to bake bread and pays them a salary. When they “graduate” they have a skill and work ethic to take them further in life. My church orders the bread and sells it every Sunday during our fellowship time. It’s referenced as “a hand up rather than a hand out.”
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By: Terry W on June 14, 2013
at 2:19 PM
Here’s one for ya lori…
Sing it again Sebastien
…a Latino boy in a mariachi suit quickly became a controversy, with social media users asking why an “illegal alien” was singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” and why he was “dressed like such a little Mexican.” One Twitter user posited that “They prolly made this Mexican sing to stay in America.”
De La Cruz was quick to respond , as was San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, who wrote in a Facebook message that De La Cruz “represent[s] the best of our nation’s future!” Spurs coach Greg Poppovich blasted the critics as “idiots” who were for some reason “proud of their ignorance.” But the Spurs organization itself had the best response, because it asked De La Cruz to come back and sing the national anthem again before Game 4 Thursday night.
Peace ~ Δ
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By: Whirled Peas Δ on June 14, 2013
at 2:17 PM
I see that senator Jeff Flake’s son had racist and homophobic remarks on his Facebook page. I wonder where those attitudes come from?
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By: Terri in NY on June 14, 2013
at 1:07 PM
It swings both ways, James. Remember Mercede Johnston, Levi Johnston’s little sister. (Levi was the stud who got Bristol Palin preggers.)
When my wife and I were doing a lot of investigation into BabyGate, Mercede’s computer was hacked and all – ALL pictures of her and the Palins removed.
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By: PFesser on June 14, 2013
at 12:04 PM
Pfesssor we are in deep trouble. CBS News hired a cyber security firm which determined that Sharyl Attkisson’s computer was invaded on multiple occasions by unknown parties in late 2112.
One of the few reporters to care about why four of our men died at Benghazi had a hacked computer. ;Who do you suppose could have done that? “SATAN?” Or maybe someone who didn’t want to discuss the raid. What at this point does it matter?
I support tax funded elections. Obama does not.
When she was teaching, my wife rummaged through school trash cans at the end of the school year. She repaired back packs, jackets etc and gave them to students the next year.
One of my favorite low budget meals is Kraft Dinner and hash alternatively eaten with a can of salmon.
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By: james on June 14, 2013
at 11:07 AM
Terry W that is a really good idea about the casseroles for down times. I am going to look into that around here!
I took you ladies advice a while back and contacted our extension office about holding cooking “classes” for new/young mothers. It is really all about stretching a buck with just a few pantry items and affordable cuts of meat, but still being nutrition. Casseroles fit that bill. I currently take meals to an abused woman’s shelter a few times a month but I think the classes are really something that will really fill a void.
It is still in the planning stages but we are hopeful it will become a reality by fall.
Just goes to show what a difference a few ladies on a blog can make a big difference in their communities doesn’t it?
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By: lori on June 14, 2013
at 10:31 AM
Re: charities. There’s a really good website called Charity Navigator that evaluates charities. It’s a good place to check if you have doubts about any organization. Really useful.
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By: Terri in NY on June 14, 2013
at 10:16 AM
My church is talking about helping a local organization do the backpack program as well. When I shared some of our plans with fellow church members they were surprised/shocked to learn that there are a number of children in our affluent suburbs here in St. Louis who are eligible for free or reduced price breakfasts and lunches during the school year. And, as you know, the weekends and summers are not addressed for them as well. We’ve talked about providing casseroles for the “down times”. I think it takes a church to raise a village.
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By: Terry W on June 14, 2013
at 10:06 AM
Peggy Noonan on the Surveillance State:
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424127887324188604578543721259199626-lMyQjAxMTAzMDEwNDExNDQyWj.html?mod=wsj_valettop_email
“The purpose of the surveillance is enhanced security, a necessary goal to say the least. The price is a now formal and agreed-upon acceptance of the end of the last vestiges of Americans’ sense of individual distance and privacy from the government. The price too is a knowledge, based on human experience and held by all but fools and children, that the gleanings of the surveillance state will eventually be used by the mischievous, the malicious and the ignorant in ways the creators of the system did not intend. For all we know that’s already happened. But of course we don’t know: It’s secret. Only the intelligence officials know, and they say everything’s A-OK.
Yes, knowledge held by all but fools and children.
And the bovine.
Just keep chewing your cuds, girls. The stun gun doesn’t hurt a bit. You won’t feel a thing when they hang you by your hind leg and cut your throat. And they will. And you will help them.
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By: PFesser on June 14, 2013
at 10:03 AM
Terry W, I have contributed food to a church program that fills backpacks with food for kids. It’s a neat program. The backpacks are quietly slipped into kids lockers. They are pretty good about returning the empty backpacks each week. It is rewarding in a different way than contributing to food drives and food banks. There’s something more personal about it, with the participation in the filling of the bags. Looking forward to startup in the fall.
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By: delurkergurl on June 14, 2013
at 9:48 AM
I have been screaming for publicly funded elections for years now.
These bills aren’t perfect IMO, but it’s a step in the right direction and likely the closest we will ever come to publicly funded elections. Please read and consider. Thanks!
http://boldprogressives.org/2013/06/progressive-groups-launch-campaign-for-citizen-funded-elections/
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By: lori on June 14, 2013
at 9:15 AM
Thank you so much for posting this. I printed out the list so I can be on guard against future pleas. I have given to one of them but will not do so again. My own denomination is one I’m always happy to give to as 100% of donations go to the relief efforts they address. They, UMCOR, can do this because member churches contribute to their overhead. We also have ongoing food drives for the area food pantries.
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By: Terry W on June 14, 2013
at 8:50 AM
That charity list should be printed in all of our newspapers and should be on the television news. We once gave some money to two of those groups. Now, much of our money goes to our local food pantry and local causes.
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By: James on June 14, 2013
at 8:18 AM
Put your money (and your time) where it will do the most good.
Here’s a list of the top 50 worst charities in the country:
http://www.eclectablog.com/2013/06/get-informed-americas-top-50-worst-charities.html
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By: delurkergurl on June 14, 2013
at 8:11 AM
President Obama has finally found a way to thin out the bloated Washington government workforce: force them to accept the same health care coverage they forced on everybody else!
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jun/13/hurt-obamacare-has-federal-work-force-panicked/
Yep, just make’m use Obamacare for their health care insurance. That’ll make ‘em head for the exits!
Thanks, Hussein. Nice job.
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By: PFesser on June 14, 2013
at 7:26 AM
I decided to do some research on San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro to see if he is as good as advertised., The examiner April 2, 2013 reports that the mayor and some city council members are being investigated for multiple violations of the Texas Election law. They were given until April 18 to correct their campaign reports or explain them.
Cahnman’s Musings “The Hollow Mayor: Updates on Julian Castro” Monday June 10, 2013.discusses a new hit site with statistics showing a less than stellar record.
“A surprisingly honest piece from Al Jazeera takes the cake. The reporter noted the parallels between the lives of Obama and Castro, including Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayres. Rosie Castro, the mayor’s mother plays the same role. She is associated with La Raza Unida party and could like Wright become a “lightning rod.”
She told the New York Times Magazine that the real heroes at the Alamo were the Mexicans.
MY SA “The Castro Internet Takedown” April 28 2013 mentions the attack web site “The Hollow Mayor.” What follows is a scrupulously sourced but extremely slanted take down,.. These points are at least backed up by statistics, but no such case can be made for the cheap shots on racial issues.”
Eva Longoria supposedly has given him Spanish lessons.
Most articles gush about Castro and similarities to Obama. Some even write he might be our first Hispanic president. Maybe unlike Obama he is what he seems. Anyone with the time and inclination to do the research knew before the 2008 election that Obama was not fit to be president. Reality and time have proven people like Stanly Kurtz to be right,
Maybe Castro is different and really does fit his press clippings. Then again, maybe not. I don’t know and don’t really care because I don’t live in Texas though cousins do. One should do a little research before voting.
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By: James on June 14, 2013
at 7:25 AM
President Obama has finally found a way to thin out the bloated Washington government workforce: force them to accept the same health care coverage they forced on everybody else!
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jun/13/hurt-obamacare-has-federal-work-force-panicked/
Yep, just make’m use Obamacare for their health care insurance. That’ll make ’em head for the exits!
Thanks, Hussein. Nice job.
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By: PFesser on June 14, 2013
at 7:23 AM
Gato hummmm I don’t know. I prolly didn’t do something correctly. Sorry, if you are really interested you can youtube the Castro brothers at the Democratic convention. Joaquín Castro introduced his twin brother Julián as the keynote speaker. They are super stars!
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By: lori on June 14, 2013
at 7:16 AM
Here are some good pixs of the rally for Ed Markey MA – Senate, Special election, June 25!
I am sure they could use all hands on deck so if anyone is in MA hook up with the Markey campaign. Good luck!
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/06/12/1215768/-Scenes-from-Ed-Markey-s-Boston-rally-with-President-Obama
Auntie Jean, I hope you enjoy the book! I’ll pass your story on to the authors. I’m sure they will be pleased to hear the buzz. I see they were on Lou Dobbs (uggg LOL) the other night. Their book tour blitz continues.
Anon I ❤ Pi too. 😉
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By: lori on June 14, 2013
at 7:10 AM
Hi, Lori – Whatever you sent appears just as a black box on my screen, with no apparent way to access it. Any ideas or suggestions…?
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 14, 2013
at 6:52 AM
Oops! Forgot to log in I guess. That below is me.
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By: waialeale on June 14, 2013
at 1:50 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
What a coincidence, lori! The book you recommended “America 3.0” by your relative, James Bennett and Michael J. Lotus was highly recommend to us by one of our closest young friends out here. Well, actually he is in his
late 50’s but to us that’s pretty young.
He is probably the best read person we have ever known! He spends half his life on airplanes so has a chance to read a lot. He is a Princeton PhD Educational Economists and is a consultant for the World Bank as a liaison with local governments throughout the Pacific and Asia. His wife is from Zimbabwe, where they met. He is of Eastern European Jewish heritage and she is of Christian but both, like us would be considered by many as “heathen.” We met through out mutual interest in music. She is a talented flautist.
They have turned their backyard into a veritable Garden of Eden. Whenever we get together at their place, we dine on their deck overlooking such an idyllic spot. Fine wine, superb food and great discussions! They do a mean leg of lamb on their barbeque! On rare occasions when the conversation turns to the national or world economy, he just laughs and shrugs it off as “Not my specialty in economics.”
So we have ordered “America 3.0” from Amazon.
Nothing new going on here at M&H’s. I am amused by the frequent and frantic efforts of the “Terrible Twos Trio” to appear relevant (note the alliteration there) as I scan on by. They don’t seem to have been able to round up any pals. But these three do serve a vital purpose. With the hits count here at roughly 11,000+ to 3, their example of conservative and tea-party thinking will certainly drive those readers, their families and friends to the voting booths in the mid-term elections toward progressive liberal candidates. So these boys are the gifts that keep on giving! (They must be an embarrassment to mainstream conservatives though.)
Aloha! 🙂 😉 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: Anonymous on June 14, 2013
at 1:47 AM
Hi, Whirled – I’m not sure I’d say it’s exactly “adorable,” but it’s interesting that there is so little hesitation in telling the world how this or that suggestion, or some thought they might have, precisely affects their…anatomy. It takes a lot of people a long time to reveal that kind of thing even to their proctologist, let alone share it with everybody on a blog…
Gotta give ’em credit for “candor,” that’s for sure!
Have a good evening…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 13, 2013
at 9:25 PM
Great article in The Journal that sums up quite well the feelings most Americans have toward Hussein’s administration and their use of govt power – and that is precisely what the govt is, isn’t it? Power, raw power, and nothing else – to silence their opponents.
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424127887324688404578541503659850678-lMyQjAxMTAzMDEwMzExNDMyWj.html?mod=wsj_valettop_email
couple of memorable quotes: (Hussein:) “We’ve got congressional oversight and judicial oversight. And if people can’t trust not only the executive branch but also don’t trust Congress and don’t trust federal judges to make sure that we’re abiding by the Constitution, due process and rule of law, then we’re going to have some problems here.”
(Author:) ‘Uh-huh.’
also: ‘In January the pollsters at the Pew Research Center reported that for the first time a majority of Americans—53%—now agree that “the federal government threatens your own personal rights and freedoms.”
This is far beyond concerns about the size of government. A majority of people now see the government of Madison, Jefferson and Franklin as a direct, personal threat.
So yes, we have “some problems” here.’
***************
Yes, my girls, we do. Just keep chewing your cuds. The stun-gun is completely painless. You won’t feel a thing when they cut your throats.
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By: PFesser on June 13, 2013
at 9:11 PM
I ❤ Pi. So much better than cake.
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By: Anonymous on June 13, 2013
at 8:59 PM
Hey Gato,
Isn’t it adorable when
‘IT’ gets all worked up?
I love the way ITs eyes bug out when IT grits his teeth.
Dance monkey, dance!
😉
Peace ~ Δ
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By: Whirled Peas Δ on June 13, 2013
at 8:11 PM
Only if they are a combination of gross incompetence and malignant narcissism as Hussein. But if you prefer Zero, Bongo or Asshole to Hussein, I will grant your wish.
You know what’s really great? When Lori sues me, I won’t have to travel very far. 😀 We’re like practically across the street half the time and my probable son-in-law is right there in hometown. I think he nullifies Lori’s vote.
Um Gato. I know I’m now off your friends list 😉 and I am almost sure I speak for my boyfriend Pfesser too, but I promise you from the bottom of my heart that when I enter this blog, the last thing on my mind is being a peacock to attract your affection, drab or no drab.
In fact, the thought of your affection makes me shudder and flaccid.
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By: Dirk Diggler on June 13, 2013
at 8:02 PM
ok my last one. LOL LOL sorry for the shameless pride 😉 But they are both just so damn cute!
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By: lori on June 13, 2013
at 6:42 PM
My congressman 😉
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By: lori on June 13, 2013
at 6:38 PM
gato here are a few peeks at the bros. 😉
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By: lori on June 13, 2013
at 6:38 PM
Hey, Terri – Don’t know much about the Castro brothers, but, from what I have seen, they are both quite engaging.
Have to wonder if their surname will get as much play as POTUS’ middle name does from the poster boys, should they start to come into some real prominence. (BTW, the poster boys seem to have gotten going on trying on different personas, haven’t they? I’m reminded of those birds who walk around looking pretty drab, day after day, and then, when they want attention – especially from the females of their species – they puff themselves up with a great display of multi-colored tail feathers, luminous wattles, and loud, crowing calls… Most of the females just wander off, anyway, paying no attention whatsoever, to their displays.)
Have a good evening…!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 13, 2013
at 6:34 PM
Lori,
We agree again. The Castro brothers are very talented and engaging. Definitely two to watch.
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By: Terri in NY on June 13, 2013
at 5:50 PM
😆 😆 😆
There is nothing I can add to that wisdom.
————
I suspected Hussein was just a touch full of himself and highly overrated when he announced to the genuflecting bed wetters here and abroad, “This was the moment when … the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.” 😯
And the rubes screamed with great joy and inspiration, “Now our rent and gas will be free” as they danced around like park monkeys.
Remember that when they tell you about their deep well of talent.
Pfesser, when a majority of America’s citizens are this confused and hoodwinked, I’m afraid the writing about our future is written in granite.
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By: Dirk Diggler on June 13, 2013
at 5:33 PM
LOL LOL WELllll Cory is ONE of the rising stars. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my two home town guys. Joaquin Castro and Julián Castro are equally qualified and certainly stars in the making. We are so lucky to have a deep well of talented “ladies and gentlemen in waiting” .
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By: lori on June 13, 2013
at 4:46 PM
Dirk noted: “How does President Hussein say it? That’s out of my pay grade.”
Everything is out of his pay grade.
BTW, speaking of ‘out of my pay grade,’ I see the Rupert Murdoch is divorcing his concubine, er – wife. If your son ever asks you why he should get an education, show him this picture:
If your daughter asks you the same question, you should show the same picture to her, too.
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By: PFesser on June 13, 2013
at 4:43 PM
Make that inflict and not inflect…
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By: Dirk Diggler on June 13, 2013
at 4:41 PM
They’ve already reached the speaking in tongues, Pfesser. Babbling is the rule of law on this here fine blog.
As to getting them to talking sense? Now that would take the omnipotence of our Maker. How does President Hussein say it? That’s out of my pay grade.
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By: Dirk Diggler on June 13, 2013
at 4:36 PM
We all accuse each other of being long on ideology, short on concrete ideas. Here’s a concrete idea for you: Get rid of this government program.
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424127887324063304578525871827319936-lMyQjAxMTAzMDEwMzExNDMyWj.html?mod=wsj_valettop_email
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By: PFesser on June 13, 2013
at 4:34 PM
Isn’t he terri? I’m telling you I am impressed. I don’t know much about NJ politics but I am hoping they come through with the money he is going to need to win this special election. Christy gave him a gift – he just needs to unwrap it.. Fingers crossed!
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By: lori on June 13, 2013
at 4:34 PM
Here’s another one you’ll like, James. Because it’s the second shortest verse and most applicable to the brethren of bubbly here… 😈
Luke 17:32
Remember Lot’s wife!
🙂
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By: Dirk Diggler on June 13, 2013
at 4:33 PM
Bravo Anon! Fortunately for you, I’m not your judge nor worthy to be one. But I am capable of discernment.
However, apparently you missed one very important part…
I see no act of contrition or repentance. Or did I miss something?
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By: Dirk Diggler on June 13, 2013
at 4:29 PM
Lori,
I pretty much agree with you about Cory Booker. He’s super smart and articulate with a really impressive education. He’s one of the most energetic politicians out there.
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By: Terri in NY on June 13, 2013
at 4:26 PM
Thank you Terri and I yours. 😉
Terry, he really is an amazing man. I know I go on about twitter , butttt, LOl I follow him on twitter and I will tell you I have never in all my years in politics seen a more dedicated individual to their constituents than he. During hurricane Sandy he was literally leaving his home open, while he was riding around dragging people out of flooded areas, to strangers to seek shelter. He is one hell of a man. I look for him to go far.
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By: lori on June 13, 2013
at 3:50 PM
Jesus wept. John 11:35. I like it because it is short.
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By: james on June 13, 2013
at 3:34 PM
I too admire him. I saw a video about his moving into the inner city and working with people. I didn’t know his political leanings but would have supported him for his values and his ability to relate to all people.
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By: Terry W on June 13, 2013
at 3:24 PM
Hi, all
Hi Hussein
Hi Eric
My God, Dirk – you’ve got ’em quoting Scripture. What’s next, talking in tongues? What are you shooting for next, talking sense?
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By: PFesser on June 13, 2013
at 3:16 PM
lori opined: “Scott Walker says he doesn’t have a problem with transvaginal ultrasounds. Hmmmm I wonder how many he has had?”
Or done? Or heard some of the comments that the more liberated, um…earthy – ladies make? LOL.
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By: PFesser on June 13, 2013
at 3:12 PM
I like that passage. But I still like the verse from the Reverend Mr. Black.
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By: James on June 13, 2013
at 3:07 PM
John 8
New International Version (NIV)
8 1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11 “No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
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By: Anonymous on June 13, 2013
at 2:48 PM
Hey Lori,
I really respect your commitment and activism. Keep on keepin’ on. Cheers!
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By: Terri in NY on June 13, 2013
at 2:46 PM
“yeah, he kicked open the meeting house door and he cussed everybody up and down the floor! Then when things got quiet in the place, he walked up and cussed in the preachers’ face! He hit that reverent like the kick of a mule and to my way of thinking it took a pure fool to turn the other cheek, but that’s what he did, The Reverend Mr. Black. He stood like a rock, a man among men, and he let that lumber jack hit him again, and then with a voice as quiet as could be, he cut him down like a big oak tree.” “The Reverend Mr Black by the Kingston Trio.
I just like the song and its reference to turning the other cheek.
Rutherford is a good man, and as Dig Diggler wrote, he has nothing to do with any retaliatory attacks.
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By: James on June 13, 2013
at 2:42 PM
I simply corrected the record of the faith mentioned by name.
Why would I show you love when you’re wicked and evil? Why would I show compassion when you’re a brood of vipers and Pharisees? Why should I give when your ideals do nothing but steal? Frankly, you’re not worthy of my own demonstration because you’re absolutely and completely unedifying.
There is a time and a season for everything. This is not the place and you are not the one to demonstrate good works. It’s one thing to turn the other cheek or to allow for simple ignorance; it’s quite another to let wickedness you propagate go unchallenged.
Before you lecture me if you are truly serious in your statement, perhaps for the first time in your life, you should take a moment of introspection about your own circular reasoning and false sense of worth, though I don’t think you capable in your hubris and haughtiness. Perhaps you should contemplate your zealotry and activism in its content and the damage in conveys. Do not make demands of others that you yourself are not willing to do first.
But if you are serious and you really want to get rid of me, you can make a sincere apology to Rutherford, a member of your own political party and by the way and someone far, far more eloquent than you in carrying a message of your desires. I tell you that as somebody completely and totally unbiased about progressive politics which I loathe.
Rutherford did absolutely nothing to deserve what you attempted while playing bully and attempting to inflect damage to him. Nothing.
He didn’t send me here. He is perfectly capable of shooting you down, but that is not Rutherford’s nature. I do this of my own accord.
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By: Dirk Diggler on June 13, 2013
at 2:21 PM
Cory Booker is running for the newly vacated NJ Senate seat. This was his facebook status a while back. I ❤ him!
Before you speak to me about your religion, first show it to me in how you treat other people; before you tell me how much you love your God, show me in how much you love all His children; before you preach to me of your passion for your faith, teach me about it through your compassion for your neighbors. In the end, I'm not as interested in what you have to tell or sell as in how you choose to live and give.
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By: lori on June 13, 2013
at 1:13 PM
Ah, shucks. There’s something else I have over on you. Cute.
If there is anything more “not cute” than many of you, I have never personally witnessed it. Hideous, haggardly, Medusa, nasty, skank, ammonia, and in your unique case stink star come to mind.
But not cute.
But see Squirreled Sleaze, I actually believe I invoke this response in you…
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By: Dirk Diggler on June 13, 2013
at 1:12 PM
Hi Gato,
Look…
…“ITs” trying to communicate.
He’s soooooo cute!
Peace ~ Δ
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By: Whirled Peas Δ on June 13, 2013
at 12:22 PM
———
Good gawd. If the premise of this blog isn’t pure hedonism on display, I don’t know what is. This blog is an anathema to any god, even if your god capitalism, take your pick.
As to getting better? 😯 Look around, sister. This nation hasn’t been this polarized in 150 years. It’s way overdue to admit, it’s broke and needs reformation back to its original basic principles.
The imminent economic collapse will change everything. And many of you will be taken in its wake.
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By: Dirk Diggler on June 13, 2013
at 12:04 PM
Gato, you’re so incredibly observant. I changed my name to make it easier for you. You won’t get that one either.
———-
I’m just wondering what is Jesus would say to those who are actively participating in not only creating a dependency amongst the multitudes in the twisted name of fairness, especially after $16 trillion of Great Society hasn’t made a dent in poverty rate, but “joyfully” passing the bill to future generations in doing so.
I feel quite confident Jesus would not only disapprove, but turn your tables over with whip in hand. And I could prove that from the New Testament alone, a hundred times over.
You don’t want to go there, girls.
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By: Dirk Diggler on June 13, 2013
at 11:58 AM
Gato, your analysis of the man’s name having a feminine ending is precious. My brother’s name is Fred and when he was 6 and wanted me to play cowboys & Indians I made a deal with him: in return he’d pretend to be my little girl Penny, wear a ribbon around his buzz cut head and one of my dresses. I didn’t make him go outside where his friends might have seen him but we still laugh about my being “Penny’s Mom”. Had I known I could have called him “Fredette”.
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By: Terry W on June 13, 2013
at 11:47 AM
Right Gato, I think we are bright enough to think of many ways these costs of research & bring to market can be offset.
You know its just NOT the cost of one person getting tested. For example, if the parent tests positive, each individual child of that parent must be tested. A negative result for one sibling doesn’t guarantee a negative result for the other. So some of our relatives have families of 5 children. That’s 15k! And what parent could just test one or two children and leave the rest? It really is out of most American’s reach. It’s just not right.
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By: lori on June 13, 2013
at 11:23 AM
Keeping up with the latest GMOnsanto crimes against humanity.
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By: poolman on June 13, 2013
at 11:20 AM
Hi, again, Lori – Or maybe corporations should be required to “tithe” ten percent of their income to the public good, the way some churches require their memberships to do.
I know that’s what “taxes” are supposed to be, in a way, but as long as the payers (i.e. the corporations) have the power to buy and sell the lawmakers, the laws are inevitably going to be skewed in their favor, and more and more so, all the time. Hard to imagine the membership of a religious organization “buying” their clergy, and then saying, “Okay. Now you’re in, thanks to us, and we only want to give eight percent this year, and six percent next year.”
(May it please the goddess that none of the usual suspects out there takes this as yet another opportunity to point out to me all the differences between secular and religious organizations. I’ve used the above example with full awareness of those differences! I’d even go so far as to say that if corporations had some of the moral conscience that groups of faith are at least supposed to have, we might have a whole different society… And a better one.)
Hope all continues to go well with your family…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 13, 2013
at 11:10 AM
Loved your comments but I laughed at myself when I read “wile and determination”. I thought it said “vile and determination”! Let’s reword that to “vile determination”. For people who claim this is a Christian nation many have evidently never read the story Jesus told about “the least of these” as they raise themselves on the backs of those very people. You and others make reading these comments so worthwhile. It gives me hope that we can become a better nation, a nation under God – everybody’s God no matter what their beliefs are or lack thereof. We’re guaranteed “freedom OF religion” not “freedom FROM religion” after all.
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By: Terry W on June 13, 2013
at 11:09 AM
Yep Gato, I agree.
I get the whole cost associated with “research & bring to market ” thing but it seems to me there should be a limit on how MUCH money these companies can make on those types of “findings”. Im all for making a profit but not endlessly and unlimited on things related to life and death.
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By: lori on June 13, 2013
at 10:52 AM
Hi, Lori – Yet another example of the kind of “financializing” of almost everything, which Max Haiven addresses so well in his “Truthout” piece this morning. (Thanks again, Cynthia, for that!)
The things some people think they can, and should, “own” is just mind-boggling to me. Surprised the first cave dweller who managed to light a fire didn’t try to patent that. If there had been “cave lawyers” in the bunch, or some large multinational “cave-poration,” it probably would have happened…!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 13, 2013
at 10:49 AM
Hi, Terry – Sometimes I just delete that sort of thing; sometimes I read them and THEN delete them… And sometimes I snark right back. Just depends on how I’m feeling at the moment. Must be my “woman’s brain,” or something like that… 😉
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 13, 2013
at 10:40 AM
The SCOTUS ruling on if synthetic DNA may (not) be patented is particularly interesting to me.
My husband’s family members carry the BRACA 1 and 2 genes. Having two children, daughters, my husband’s need to be tested was critical for my daughter’s (and husband’s) future healthcare decisions.
The costs associated with the tests, needed to determine if one carries these genes, is well out of the reach of most American’s. ( over 3k including DR’s visits) Not to mention the surgeries that may reduce the likelihood of contracting these types of cancer the tests isolate. None of which are covered by insurance (which is a different issue).
Many of our relatives found these costs to be out of reach for now. They have had to roll the dice and hope for the best until funds can be found. I found this unacceptable.
I think the Court got one right this time. At least partly. 😉 I think there is hope for millions of people out there that can now, maybe soon, gain the information they need to determine their personal well being and PERHAPS cost won’t be as much of an issue.
One down, 3 more important decisions to go! Fingers crossed.
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By: lori on June 13, 2013
at 10:30 AM
Gato, Well put, not that it will stem the vile comments. I just delete his posts without reading them.
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By: Terry W on June 13, 2013
at 10:24 AM
Hi, Lurker – So I guess that means that someone like Christine LaGarde, for example, current head of the IMF bank, must have had a brain transplant or something, huh?
The old, traditional, “folk wisdom” (for whatever that’s worth) says that even though it may be the man who “brings home the bacon,” it’s the woman who knows what to do with it. Fortunately, this, like so much “folk wisdom,” often is not the case in reality.
I love it that the dude’s name ends in “…ette,” the French suffix designating both the diminutive and the feminine! Maybe that’s why he feels compelled to point out that he has a “man’s brain”…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 13, 2013
at 10:09 AM
now that’s the dumbest piece of shit yet!
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By: penny abrams on June 13, 2013
at 9:59 AM
andddddd the counter on the number of days Republicans go without insulting women keeps clicking back to zero – zip .
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By: lori on June 13, 2013
at 9:58 AM
Your sound remarkably like a couple of the other poster boys here, especially with “:razz”…
How interesting!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 13, 2013
at 9:55 AM
Pfffffffffffftttttttttttttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😀 😀 😀
Maine GOP Leader Boasts That His ‘Man’s Brain’ Makes Him Think More Rationally About Costs
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/06/12/2147031/maine-gop-leader-mans-brain/?mobile=nc
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By: delurkergurl on June 13, 2013
at 9:53 AM
Pfesser,
I don’t suppose this will do any good for these lovely genuflectors to Obama.
But in the slight chance there is hope for the lesser, newer entry of these sorority sisters from Delta Upsilon Mu, I am going to provide this approximately 10 minute video so that by chance, they could listen to something or someone who actually has an understanding of free enterprise and liberty, that might possibly set one of them on the road to freedom from the shackles of dependency before they join their leaders in the impending doom.
Oh, and I snickered at the misandry. As an evil white male, you should join me in granting them their wishes of having only Brucie, Abdul, Trayvon™, and Obama in their midst to govern. I can’t think of a more just payback than leaving them with that. 😛 It would look like Afghanistan within months.
I ask the military men to drop their arms and grant these ladies their wishes….
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By: Dirk Diggler on June 13, 2013
at 9:46 AM
think Cynthia??? LOL LOL There certainly seems to be a LOT of desperation out there. 😉
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By: lori on June 13, 2013
at 9:19 AM
White Americans will become the minority nationwide within about 30 years.
Do you suppose this is what is getting these old white man’s panties in a bunch. Abortion, BC, immigration, keeping the average person poor and powerless and ???.
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 13, 2013
at 9:14 AM
Interesting concept, and several great people involved.
Call in the B Team: Richard Branson’s big idea for building a better version of capitalism
http://www.economist.com/node/21564197
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By: delurkergurl on June 13, 2013
at 8:37 AM
opps sorry Good morning gato didn’t see you there. 😉
Yes, seriously? The Grand Ole Party just cant seem to get enough of ladyparts can they? LOL LOL SMH
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By: lori on June 13, 2013
at 8:06 AM
Good morning friends!
There is lots of work to be done .. I best get to gettin’ I hope everyone has a wonderful day. I know I will.
I will leave you with one last link.
Rand Paul needs to dump his Dad’s political advisors if he ever hopes to be taken seriously, me thinks.
Rand Rand Rand…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/for-conservative-republicans-immigration-becoming-a-political-balancing-act/2013/06/12/8ae4c3e0-d370-11e2-a73e-826d299ff459_story.html
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By: lori on June 13, 2013
at 7:52 AM
HTG, Lori – Is there no end to this kind of garbage? (Evidently not!)
And, no, most people are NOT “just fine with [transvaginal] ultrasounds”… How on earth would he know…?
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 13, 2013
at 7:49 AM
More info on the SCOTUS case Shelby County, Alabama, Sec 5.
http://www.thenation.com/article/172685/why-are-conservatives-trying-destroy-voting-rights-act
I am beginning to see a connection here? LOL LOL Anyone else?
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By: lori on June 13, 2013
at 7:44 AM
Baby is fine, but her parents are exhausted. Doctors are still trying to understand why she is normal, since given what happened before she was born and her slightly small head, she should have problems. Every test has proven negative. Next, they want to do an MRI scan in a few weeks. She stops crying when I hold her and then she falls asleep. I must be boring her.
I haven’t had time to read all of the previous comments.
Maybe someone can discuss this. The Daily Caller:” House committee looks into IRS seizure of 60 million medical records.”
Investors.com says “Obama’s Snooping Excludes Mosques, Missed Boston Bombers. Since October, 2011, mosques have allegedly been off-limits to FBI agents without approval from a secret committee.
Politico “Jeff Duncan questions IRS gun useage” He toured a federal law enforcement in February and saw IRS agents training with semi-automatic rifles. He questions if that level of fire power is necessary when the IRS can coordinate with the FBI and other agencies during our time of austerity.
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By: James on June 13, 2013
at 7:43 AM
Scott Walker says he doesn’t have a problem with transvaginal ultrasounds. Hmmmm I wonder how many he has had?
http://www.nationalmemo.com/5-things-scott-walker-and-wisconsin-republicans-are-doing-instead-of-creating-jobs/2/
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By: lori on June 13, 2013
at 7:37 AM
Hey, Cynthia – That is an absolutely TERRIFIC article by Max Haiven. (And, alas, I cannot find a single point with which I disagree…) The term “financialization” has never been in my vocabulary, but it sure as hell is now… The friends I have who consider themselves “Libertarians” are inevitably of that “every man for himself” stripe, and adamantly so. Ironically, they blame “the government” for any and every difficulty in their lives, and are convinced that every large corporation is worthy of admiration and trust, since each one has obviously been very “successful”… And they argue that it’s just human nature to want to be “successful” in that very same way – by beating out everybody else, by being solely responsible for every factor in their lives, by pulling themselves up with their own wile and determination…
And the financialists do everything they can to make sure people keep thinking like that – because doing so robs people of some of their greatest strengths: The strength of cooperation, of mutual support, and the very formidable power of common will.
We are, and always have been, a “tribal” species, and have survived, for the most part, through cooperation, not competition. The “lone wolf” may hunt alone, but he is always hungry…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 13, 2013
at 7:32 AM
So disappointed in Carl Levin’s decision to vote against Kirsten Gillibrand’s legislation regarding sexual assault in the military.
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By: Terri in NY on June 13, 2013
at 6:28 AM
Its a new day in America! 😉
Watch for the SCOTUS ruling/s . Some are expected as early as next week.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/13/minorities-in-america-census_n_3432369.html
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By: lori on June 13, 2013
at 6:05 AM
Okay, now you two assholes have shown who you truly are. The vitriol and poison you have in you is almost unbelievable. And PF, the way you follow and copy your friend is pathetic and sad. Your insults say way more about you than anyone here.
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By: Anonymous on June 13, 2013
at 6:05 AM
‘morning all.
‘morning, Hussein
‘morning, Holder
‘morning, Clapper
Want to see the kind of stuff that takes place under the PATRIOT Act? Oldie but goodie:
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2007/06/librarians-desc/
This is what I mean about not even being able to talk about it. IMHO a clear, egregious violation of the First Amendment. Hussein did not start it, but he has the bully pulpit; he could definitely stop it. Not going to happen; he likes the power.
Note to NAGS: just scroll by and keep chewing your cuds. There’s nothing to see here.
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By: PFesser on June 13, 2013
at 3:32 AM
‘morning all.
‘morning, Hussein
‘morning, Holder
‘morning, Clapper
(Would you guys mind tapping into my son’s computer and telling him to quit screwing around and get his English paper done? Thanks.)
Pretty funny, Long Duc Dong – not a single attempt at answering a single question by a single leftist. It\’s because there are no answers – the same tired socialist rhetoric has been tested, re-tested, re-tested. We’ve run this experiment before – in dozens of times and places – and the socialist totalitarian model does not work.
And as always, when it begins to fail, the govt begins to take off the gloves, and By God – FORCE everybody to be equal and happy, whether they like it or not.
Don’t worry, gals. Just keep chewing your cuds. The stun-gun doesn’t hurt a bit. When they hoist you by your back leg and cut your throat, you won’t know it.
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By: PFesser on June 13, 2013
at 3:07 AM
lori opined about TX: ““don’t get angry get active”
You’re barking up the wrong tree. Texans long ago discovered that a market economy is what it takes to prosper. (Which is why, until recently, TX and my state, VA, have dueled for first place in the National Chamber of Commerce’s annual poll of the best places to do business. Lately, though, due to our unfortunate Siamese twin, Northern VA (NOVA, as we call it), TX is now running away with the ball.)
Your lame attempts at infecting the Lone Star State with the Welfare State spirochete, while laughable, are entertaining. Do carry on! We’ll get the popcorn and some Jim Beam and watch!
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By: PFesser on June 13, 2013
at 2:55 AM
Δ Al Fonz looks like IT could suck grape fruit thru a garden hose… 😈
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By: Long Duc Dong on June 13, 2013
at 1:52 AM
Δ Squirreled Sleaze
One of the founding members of Δ at Reject U, still living in the
whorehouse with the tattooed brand…the sorority that catches all the ugly, spurnedgirlssquirrels.You want to take a stab at my questions, squirrel?
Gato is like Fat Granny’s MENSA when compared to Δ Squirreled…
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By: Long Duc Dong on June 13, 2013
at 1:36 AM
Hey, Whirled… I know, I know…
Many times in my life I have tried “just one more time”… Sometimes I get whacked; and, occasionally, I do not. I have learned that a whacking might sting for a minute, but it never kills me – and, the few times it has opened a door are moments for which I am always grateful.
Now… The next thing I need to learn (and there’s always something) is how to not waste my time – or any of yours!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 12, 2013
at 10:08 PM
Hey Gato (and everyone else),
Ignore ‘IT’.
He’s an IDIOT!
Peace ~ Δ
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By: Whirled Peas Δ on June 12, 2013
at 9:44 PM
Hey! Where’s the outrage at the meanies pointed toward me? Goat….
I said it was pointless as you’re unteachable and unreachable in the deep abyss of abysmal failure. But Aunt Liki Liki made the point this blog is read by thousands (cough, cough), so it worth distinguishing how utterly contemptible and mindless you gals are – without capacity to understand anything above what’s for dinner and read the Media Matters meme.
The fact that I called you a step up from the 9th grade pom squad doesn’t mean I’m impressed with you, ‘Gato.’ Like the rest of the Philpot Delta Upsilon Mu sorority sisters, I still think you’re a low information Obama voter and rube.
I was just giving a bleater like you a chance to take a shot at answering any of my questions in a civil manner as you insisted. The truth of the matter is, you can’t. Baaaaahhhhh…
The country is broken irreparably. Let’s get rid of each other and start anew. If I have to bait you a little to make you mad enough to act into separating from me for real, then I have accomplished my mission here. We don’t belong in citizenry together. You need Marx, Mao, Mad Dog, and Michelle Antoinette.
I trust that this is a really low priority item for the blog owner with the rare appearance, who will accept the accolades to boost his or her own fragile lefty ego, but is probably embarrassed at the profound inanity it attracts from his or her side. I really think that Private Pyle Jumping Jimmy Wright is the same way. He’d like to attract a little better crop of genuflecting dolts, but his writing too lame to attract the small pool of talent on the left. It’s the mirror image of abject stupidity you read here with a little G.I. Joe smoke thrown in.
Bottom line is you’re weak, Gato. Real weak. But I knew that the first night.
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By: Long Duc Dong on June 12, 2013
at 9:02 PM
I do appreciate your referring to me, for the first time, by the name with which I have chosen to post here. And, for a few moments, I actually considered the possibility of a potentially reasonable exchange with you.
However, your following post, to someone else, (at around 5:20 pm, I think) has now eliminated that possibility entirely. Among the reasons I make this decision are the following quotes, all from the aforementioned post – just one – of yours:
“anonymous stooge”
“unique reasons to disdain each of you”
“the lair of forked tongue snakes and filthy roaches trafficking in lies and innuendo”
“I find most of you evil and wicked”
“your ignorance and duplicity”
“incorrigible and unteachable”
“rank cowards”
“utterly and morally bankrupt, hypocritical, disingenuous, and truly ignorant”
“goats”
“my intent oozes in your slimy pores”
And that’s not the entirety of it.
I, therefore, decline any further dialogue with you, from this point forward. Even ninth graders know this is a pointless exercise.
In short, thanks, and no thanks.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 12, 2013
at 7:29 PM
A troll who makes no sense!!
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By: Anonymous on June 12, 2013
at 6:20 PM
This is worth reading IMO.
http://truth-out.org/news/item/16911-financial-totalitarianism-the-economic-political-social-and-cultural-rule-of-speculative-capital
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 12, 2013
at 5:51 PM
Garden variety troll. Don’t feed them.
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By: Anonymous on June 12, 2013
at 4:45 PM
I’ll answer your question. But which Anonymous stooge do I direct it to? Can you take a number so I can be very specific? I have unique reasons to disdain each of you. Like Anon #1, Anon #2, Anon #3?
Why am I am here you ask? I will answer your question of my motive and my intent. It is multifaceted.
To expose you. I come to the lair of forked tongue snakes and filthy roaches trafficking in lies and innuendo. To challenge your mendacity and your lame propaganda – to characterize you as a blight on our country. To face those who market in the game of personal destruction and give them a taste of their own medicine. I find most of you evil and wicked, without any redeeming value. You say thousands lurk here? Well let them read the challenges I’ve posed that you avoid in your ignorance and duplicity.
But I am also not without a degree of moderation and after the last thirteen years, frankly tired of trying to educate your type. I have decided most o you not only incorrigible but unteachable. I want a divorce from you – not on a blog – for real.
I’ve come to the lair to request each of you leftists to help me as it takes two to make this work and separate us permanently without physical war so we can avoid another Civil confrontation. I want to shake your dust from my feet in this birthright we unfortunately inherited together and return it to where I believe it was meant to be without your carcass in the way. I don’t want to smell the stench of failed liberalism and mooches any longer.
I want you to go your way and I want to go mine without any relationship, without any common identity. I do not want to share the same country. I want to build a real wall where your ilk a distant memory. And I want you to have the country you wish so you can prove me wrong.
I want you to have no more influence in any capacity on the lives of my children, grandchildren, wife, parents, friends, and anybody the least bit interested in morality, the Constitution and the rule of law. I want to hold no allegiances to you. I do not need to care what happens to you, nor do I want to care for you. I loathe you…
There’s your answer.
Now, are any of you rank cowards game to take a stab at the questions I posed clearly demonstrating how utterly and morally bankrupt, hypocritical, disingenuous, and truly ignorant you are as low information Obama voters?
I thought not, goats. Let our small little world read that so that my intent oozes in to your slimy pores, head to toe, and removes any doubt of why I am here.
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By: Long Duc Dong on June 12, 2013
at 4:20 PM
I’ve seen Trent Franks speak a few times. He seems to be a Tea Partier, and not too bright. This proves it.
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By: Anonymous on June 12, 2013
at 3:20 PM
opps LOL try that again
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/06/rep-trent-franks-claims-very-low-pregnancy-rate-from-rape/
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By: lori on June 12, 2013
at 2:07 PM
Oh boy here we go again!
Another old white GOP man giving us all a lesson on rape. Apparently Trent Franks didn’t get the “new GOP ” memo.
I guess I will be turning the counter of how many days the GOP can go without talking about rape back to zero.
http://www.comfortsuites.com/hotel-san_marcos-texas-TX905?listpos=3
FAIL!
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By: lori on June 12, 2013
at 2:07 PM
Hmmmm, short dong. I’m wondering about all the “anal” references. Is there something you’re keeping from us?
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By: Anonymous on June 12, 2013
at 1:52 PM
Short dong: Ha, ha, ha. That’s the laughter part. Here’s a question for you, hot dog. Why are you here? I demand an answer to my question. Who are you to demand people answer you, or even talk to you? How much longer before you learn nobody is interested in you, your questions, your opinions, and your insults (except you and your boyfriend, of course). Cheers!
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By: Anonymous on June 12, 2013
at 1:11 PM
PeoplesView: A few thoughts on Snowden, Greenwald, and the NSA
http://www.thepeoplesview.net/2013/06/a-few-thoughts-on-snowden-greenwald-and.html
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By: delurkergurl on June 12, 2013
at 12:15 PM
GrottoGato,Ah, but I guess you don’t realize your own circular logic and its conclusion?
How would we know how I would respond to an answered question when there have been none answered? You have arrived at a false conclusion without support, Dear Lady. I could be sweet. A real gentleman. Chivalrous, in fact. 😉
Would you like to take a stab at those questions I posed, mam? You seem to be a step up from the ninth grade pom squad. You want to give a whirl? All you’ve got to lose is admission you either know or you don’t.
I have to admit I’m somewhat amused at how much “laughing” is going on at me with the threat of suit hanging out in space. 😈
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By: Long Duc Dong on June 12, 2013
at 12:14 PM
Well, the great thing is – the way you’ve done things so far, anyway – that it doesn’t matter one bit whether or not anyone answers your questions. If someone does reply, you take the opportunity to call him or her an asinine idiot, in your own colorful way. And, if someone DOESN’T answer… You take that opportunity to call him or her an asinine idiot, in your own colorful way, as well.
So, you can hardly be wondering why so few bother to “answer” you: It’s because it’s quite apparent that it doesn’t really make much of a difference to you, whatsoever, one way or the other. You’ll just keep being… You!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 12, 2013
at 11:57 AM
You forgot Rambo. 😛
Your responses don’t indicate laughing, sad sack. They indicate rage and profound inanity. However, I’ll leave it to the audience lurking to decide who understands the situation and the math, and who doesn’t. But if you’re laughing, you can quit bitching, can’t you?
Now listen up Jimmy Jr, Village Idiot Apprentice. Undoubtedly, my insults aren’t the only thing incoherent, pathetic and nasty – I mean, besides their Chatty Kitchen panty drawers.
I’ve been here the part of three weeks asking you sages questions and calling you on your mendacity when I wasn’t popping your balloons, and so far all I’ve received in attempt at real response is either fleeing, bleating or bloating – including the most lame of all. That would be you, sport.
Let’s face the facts, Anon. You’re a bunch of dopes and sad sacks who just happened to shit bricks when a couple of jokers came in and interfered with your group think, while in conjunction busted your sorry, bubble gum asses in the process.
I don’t know about legend, but I do know this much for sure. I can beat you in debate, effete.
Now, why don’t you take a stab at my questions if you’re so good?
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By: Long Duc Dong on June 12, 2013
at 11:17 AM
PFESSER….
The Monsanto Company is not the only culprit. All chemical companies are poisoning us. Reported as of 2010, and growing, there were some 80,000 regulated chemicals in our total environment, according to the EPA.
( supposedly, during the approval stage, the EPA banned a total of five chemicals since the agencies inception in 1977.)
A little research shows the chemical Aspartame was originally accepted by 90 countries. All regulatory agencies accepted the company
sponsored research without ever having completed independent studies.
Here is the link…
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Aspartame
My point….the EPA approval of chemicals and drugs take place everyday by the FDA, headed by the past CEO’s of the same drug and chemical companies that stand before them for current approvals of their poisons.
They are either company or independently sponsored clinical trials.
Either way, it must pass only two positive clinical trials to pass. It may have 18 cases stating negative symptoms or outcomes, but, that does not hinder the FDA approval of the drug or chemical.
Peace..
Chris
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By: Chris on June 12, 2013
at 11:08 AM
I know you’re a legend in your own mind “Scorpion King”, but it’s sad you don’t realize everyone is laughing at you. Your insults are incoherent, pathetic and just plain nasty. Mwah!
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By: Anonymous on June 12, 2013
at 10:57 AM
A. Mousse, I need no backup – just you for an audience so that I can use my new cattle prod. You probably climax at the experience….
If you’re not Jimmy Wright’s Village Idiot apprentice, he should pay you royalties. I haven’t read such lame attempts at insult since I dumped a load at Private Bradley Manning’s Stoned Kibbles’ blog.
I fully admit, Anal Mousse. Short isn’t the half of it. The dong completely retracts when I enter this blog. When I previously talked about the attempts at shuffling through their panty drawers? You can’t imagine the horror that was pictured in the theater of my mind.
I can’t speak for my boyfriend – only to say it’s my estimation if I tallied up the aggregate IQ of Chatty Cathy Kitchen bouquet herd that roam here, which of course I’m sure includes the effete like you, and shoved the collective IQ up a gnat’s ass, it would be like dropping a B B in a boxcar. 😉
But you’ll note, Jimmy Jr.. I didn’t use The Blaze. I used your own feckless government against you sad sacks. What’s wrong? A little over your collective heads to recognize you were just busted for lying about ‘Boner’ and the economy? Why don’t you take a stand at my questions directed towards the Chatty Kitchen crowd, Jimmy Jr.? I need a good laugh.
XOXXO,
Short Dong
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By: Long Duc Dong on June 12, 2013
at 10:33 AM
“As we say, “don’t get angry get active”
Amen, Lori! Do not get distracted by noise. 😉
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By: delurkergurl on June 12, 2013
at 9:30 AM
Short dong: I think you are barking up the wrong tree when you turn to your boyfriend for backup about ” primitive propaganda.” He just posted a link to The Blaze! That’s About as primitive as you can get. No need to thank me. Kisses.
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By: Anonymous on June 12, 2013
at 9:20 AM
Pi, Friends,
Yep the TX Gerrymandering/voter suppression is astounding. Recently at a Dallas event featuring Steve Munisteri, the Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, Ken Emanuelson, a leader in the Tea Party, said: “I’m going to be real honest with you – the Republican Party doesn’t want black people to vote” The REAL kick in the ass is he was speaking to an African American minister attending HIS event which was about community outreach when he made that statement!
The good news is we are fighting back. The numbers aren’t in their favor. We will run quality Democrats at every level and we will change the TX Constitution by 2020.
Although the SCOTUS case doesn’t directly effect us down here, it’s a shot across the bow. We are gonna take it anymore. Lawsuits are already being filed.
As we say, “don’t get angry get active”! LOL
Here is another great diary relating to TX demographics. 😉
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/06/11/1215457/-Republicans-either-support-immigration-reform-or-they-kiss-Texas-goodbye#comments
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By: lori on June 12, 2013
at 9:05 AM
They told me if I voted for Mitt Romney, they’d be shuffling through my personal records and they were right!
Why, why, why wasn’t Hussein Obama the President in 2008 that promised the most transparent administration in history?
Question for the libbies, moonbats, and progs to verify their definition of “transparent.” You guys always love to play the semantics game, so we need specific definition.
Did the word “transparent” during the first Obama term mean transparently corrupt? Repeat after me for old times sake: “You Are the Generation We’ve Been Waiting For!!!!”
——–
The FBI has dramatically increased its use of a controversial provision of the Patriot Act to secretly obtain a vast store of business records of U.S. citizens under President Barack Obama, according to recent Justice Department reports to Congress. The bureau filed 212 requests for such data to a national security court last year – a 1,000-percent increase from the number of such requests four years earlier, the reports show.
The FBI’s increased use of the Patriot Act’s “business records” provision — and the wide ranging scope of its requests — is getting new scrutiny in light of last week’s disclosure that that the provision was used to obtain a top-secret national security order requiring telecommunications companies to turn over records of millions of telephone calls.
Taken together, experts say, those revelations show the government has broadly interpreted the Patriot Act provision as enabling it to collect data not just on specific individuals, but on millions of Americans with no suspected terrorist connections. And it shows that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court accepted that broad interpretation of the law.
———-
Are Barack Obama and Eric “New Black Panther” Holder swell guys or what, gals?
Who knows. Wait around long enough, and we might discover they’ve been shuffling through your panty drawer too. 😉
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By: Long Duc Dong on June 12, 2013
at 8:47 AM
Pfesser, see this primitive propaganda from the nags™?
Once again preaching to the choir, but you’ll note that not one of these superstars of nanny government has taken one stab at eve one of my questions. The lip service they provide you about civility? 😀 That means you mind your Ps and Qs about staying on message concerning the framing of Lori’s ‘Turning Herself Blue’ narrative.
Because I also provided something last week that absolutely blows away what Lori just posted as utter bullshit and outright KKKos lies. I can’t speak for John ‘Boner’ (remember that when they scold you about your use of Hussein), but perhaps ‘Boner’ should register as Dimocrat.
Last week here, I provided for the mathematical geniuses that not only did Hussein’s tax increase do nothing for the deficit, but it has actually further slowed the entire macro economy of the United States. Surprise, surprise.
And since you and a few of a our buddies are the only ones with even a rudimentary knowledge of basic mathematics, I will once again provide unbiased material documenting just how untruthful these “ladies” really are – courtesy of their own government bureaucracy called the Federal Reserve:
(Excerpt)
http://www.frbsf.org/economic-research/publications/economic-letter/2013/june/fiscal-headwinds-federal-budget-policy/
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By: Long Duc Dong on June 12, 2013
at 8:31 AM
Well put, Chris. It sounds a lot like Congress and the lobbyists, don’t you think? We’re the pawns in these games and we need to be more aware of the back room, under the table deals. Our livelihoods and our very lives are at stake.
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By: Terry W on June 12, 2013
at 8:09 AM
That was great fun. I clicked on another one – Hot Girl with Hairy Chest and went on a wild ride for 16+ minutes of other funny videos. Thanks!
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By: Terry W on June 12, 2013
at 7:59 AM
Good morning friends!
It’s always a good start to a day when Boner admits he was wrong!
According to Official Republican Dogma™, raising taxes on the wealthy increases the deficit because in their world, rich people apparently would prefer to make less money than to pay higher taxes. Of course, in the real world, it doesn’t work that way, but I wasn’t expecting House Speaker John Boehner to acknowledge that fact:
BOEHNER: The deficit is coming down. Because the president got a tax increase on January the 1st.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/06/11/1215381/-Boehner-admits-Obama-s-tax-plan-reduced-the-deficit
Don’t forget to read the comments. They are always the best part of Kos’ site. 😉
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By: lori on June 12, 2013
at 7:30 AM
Good morning, all.
Good morning, Mr. Obama, Mr. Holder.
Thank God for The Guardian. It’s pretty bad when you have to learn these things from a foreign newspaper:
“The Guardian revealed last week that seven technology companies – Google, Facebook, Skype, PalTalk, Microsoft, Apple and Yahoo – were involved in the Prism surveillance scheme run by the NSA.
The Guardian understands that the NSA approached those companies and asked them to enable a “dropbox” system whereby legally requested data could be copied from their own server out to an NSA-owned system. That has allowed the companies to deny that there is “direct or indirect” NSA access, to deny that there is a “back door” to their systems, and that they only comply with “legal” requests – while not explaining the scope of that access.”
Yep – the most TRANSPARENT administration in history. I know that’s true, because President Hussein said it’s true.
Know why these companies are asking for permission to reveal the NSA requests? Because under the PATRIOT Act, even telling anyone they got the requests is a violation of the law and carries jail time. For those of you unfamiliar with your Constitution, that is a violation of the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights, but hey, who cares? They’re keeping us safe.
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By: PFesser on June 12, 2013
at 7:11 AM
Homeowner with gun thwarts TWO would-be armed robbers, is shot, but kills one.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/06/03/two-would-be-robbers-no-match-for-homeowner-and-his-gun/?utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=may#
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By: PFesser on June 12, 2013
at 6:48 AM
Auntie Jean…
That was laugh out loud.
Loved when she rolled her eyes and then
raised her eyebrows, and the guys were so shocked.
Very Funny…
I needed that. So funny !
Chris
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By: Chris on June 12, 2013
at 2:29 AM
Auntie Jean…
Good job..
I wiil read your link..
PFESSER talked me all out.
I am so tired…
Peace…Chris
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By: Chris on June 12, 2013
at 2:23 AM
Whoopee!!! It worked!!!
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By: waialeale on June 12, 2013
at 1:52 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
lori, thanks for the tips on how to post links – I think…..OK, I am about to set sail on my maiden voyage into the treacherous waters of posting my very first link. I am following your instructions TO THE LETTER so if it doesn’t work, it will all be your fault.
Be sure to turn up the sound.
https://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=sls5M5YWIOQ&feature=youtu.be
Aloha! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 12, 2013
at 1:47 AM
PFESSER..
You are right. Certain plants can be dangerous in more than minimal amounts, but, you are loosing sight of the losses incurred by Man made chemical drugs. ( I do understand that most of the conventional drug compounds have a natural base ..it is just the man made stuf that is of concern. )
Many times the use of man made chemicals cause damage to the body filtering organs, like liver damage and sometimes liver failure and death.
The human body is NOT made to assimilate foreign compounds. You cannot improve on the wonderful machine, we have at birth. One thing that most doctors do not know is that the body is made of some 93 elements, if there is a shortage, we need to supplement the shortage ( which can be indicted with a simple smack blood test. ) We can replace the food source of the elements, which heals the body in a lot of instances. Given the proper situation, with NO chemicals, modified foods, chemicals in the environment, and proper balance of the bodys elements, the body can heal itself. That is what a doctor is to do; help it get clear of all detriments. Old time doctors were scientists, they studied everything to heal the body. Many modern doctors merely ,listen to the drug salesmen for the latest drug fix, to do their jobs.
Doctoring is a science, not an exact science, but one, just the same.
There are various variables with each person. What works on one person, will not work on another.
In Chinese medicine, which is viable in most instances. It should be used before western medicine is indicated.
When one is treated either by native American or Chinese medicine, three different plants are used simultaneously, for each body adheres to different chemicals, and collectively they work, or, one or another.
Instead, the chemical companies push the man made chemicals which give a myriad of further negative symptoms, requiring another drug to combat the next symptom, and as the symptoms pile up drug upon drug, we can be on as many as 15 or 20 drugs which will eventually drag down the body, by eliminating many necessary minerals and elements from our systems, which eventually, may causes death.
The drug companies tell the Health professionals that death is eminent, thus covering up for themselves for bad drugs… ( most drugs get recalled eventually, after thousands to hundreds of thousand of lives are lost )
In America, we lose upward of 100,000 people a year, to wrongful scribing, interactions, and various drug issues within the medical system, itself.
Your Grandpa was hurt by too much of the natural heart medication.
See how you look at the loss from a natural compound standpoint. It was unfortunate.
The drug system covers up the losses of millions of people due to the government sanctioned LEGALLY Prescribed DRUGS, while the natural vitamins and alternative plant healings get ALL the bad rap.
BTW, drug companies cannot patent
Can you see the government control?
The medical system disassociates itself from legal Dr. prescribed drugs in order to perpetuate the doctoring profession.
Drug companies own and run the medical schools, either directly, or, indirectly through grants and gifts. SO, they are perpetuated in their practices and sell the drug use, as part of the teachings which will be continued long after the doctors begin practicing medicine. Later the drug salesmen pitch the uses, while maybe only two positive trials ( with a possible 18 negative trial against the drugs use ) are conducted for the FDA to approve the drug. Then you and I know that somewhere down the line, some 100,000 patients will be damaged or killed before the drug company has a class action suite filed against them. Then the drugs production is ceased only to be reincarnated as a new drug treatment for other symptom which starts the whole process of FDA drug approval. ( that is how a bird poison used in in the 1980’s, freezing the bird’s muscle, making him shriek, and chasing the others away, can be reincarnated as an MS treatment called Avonex …at the cost $2,000-$5,000 per shot. )
Do you think pest control companies paid 2-5K to kill the birds?
BTW, Monsanto or, another chemical company made the raw extermination chemical, decided to make real money from its use, and sold it to the drug companies to compound as an MS drug, which in most cases, not only does not work, but, why would a doctor prescribe a drug which FURTHER paralyses an MS patient that already does not have use of his legs? See where I go here?
PF… I know you are looking for proof that Monsanto is bad.
I just had a short conversation with someone.
Monsanto sells 5 + gal containers of chemicals to the drug companies who make the drugs your profession prescribes to its patients. That sounds correct. My ex- husband worked for Monsanto for many years as a manager.
I know how the plastic came in. All their chemicals are shipped in like manner. They are at least partly responsible, either directly, or indirectly for the manufacturing of many different drugs. There are only so many large chemical companies, and Monsanto is a GIANT.
My iPad is tired..
My screen is frozen…Ha!!
Peace..
Chris.
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By: Chris on June 12, 2013
at 12:52 AM
Chris, I don’t spend as much time commenting as I once did. Rutherford’s blog is where some of us hang out: http://rutherfordl.wordpress.com/ He is not as involved as he once was due to working full-time, but we can pretty much post whatever we want. I build swimming pools and this is turning into a busy year for me, so I have less time to devote to
beating my head against the walltrying to wake people up. 😀LikeLike
By: poolman on June 11, 2013
at 11:23 PM
POOLMAN..
You are refreshing and are more like the knowing people I enjoy sharing information.
The folks on this blog are knowledgable, but just talk about everthing without knowing how it is all connected.
Most blogs appear to be more hip to the world as it is in real time.
A few here are somewhat hip to how the current events are manipulated and then reported as ,news.
We must keep telling them the truth…
I never have a problem with people who disagree,
only those who refuse to investigate and learn for themselves.
I would like to open a book and lead them to the big picture.
It realize 13+ years ago, when I had my ahah moment, about the illuminati, it seemed so kooky. Not so, anymore, the movement with its agendas are happening very quickly, ever moving toward its push toward a one world government.
I think it was Ghandi who said…
First they ignore You…
Then they laugh at You…
Then they fight You….
Then You Win…..
I pray we win the fight for mankind.
To do nothing, and not even spread the word, will help them accomplish their goal.
A lady I met recently , escaped many years ago from Communist Russia. She claims America is becoming very much like Russia was 25 years ago.
She had to exchange her identity papers with another girl at the time, to leave legally. She escaped with false papers to Rome, where they would not let her stay. She reunited with her family and was later sent on to St. Louis.
The bathrooms and public areas, and everything within their Russian apartment, were bugged. Their every word was heard. They were forced to lowly whisper and motion with their eyes to communicate. She was an eleven year old girl, at the time, and was terrorized by the practices of her Russian government.
Her father was a Jewish-Christian, who was a minister in her area.
In order to worship, they would meet at some home, or outside, where the parents ripped a page of the Bible and told to her to memorize it, for if they were ever found with the page, or the book, they would be punished..possibly killed.
She loves America, and the freedom she enjoys from living here, and all that America has done for her. She thanks God everyday for her life in America,
Many of our people do not even know what is happening to America.
The systems we have come to accept under this government are so entrenched in souls of these folks. They do not see how we are being stripped of our freedom. They do not see the duress we are living under and have come to accept as normal, since the Terrorist Act.
The powers that be have a large number of bloggers that attend the Bilderberg meetings.
Many are speckled throughout the Internet, as well.
I must kick the dust from my sandals, and move on.
I think I have accomplished what I was sent here to do.
STUDY LIKE YOUR LIVES DEPEND ON IT…. It does….
POOLMAN…
What other sites can one share info on?
I will visit you, if possible.
Please reply….
I am Your Friend in Peace and Joy….
Chris……
..
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By: Chris on June 11, 2013
at 10:55 PM
Interesting, Pfesser. I had often wondered your inspiration to pursue the practice medicine. I had no mentor on the path that I chose, and in fact I was pretty much first generation college grad white trash, which eventually led to nothing but payment due. 😉
However, I would like to think that my sojourn did spark an idea for my smart daughter to become a physician. Step 1 was yesterday. She said, “Dad, it was miserable and long.”
I told her, “Baby, even for the smartest of med students (she is), boards are meant to be miserable. Don’t lose sight of that fact.”
If my sweet daughter has a fault, and it’s also an asset that makes her so good, it’s that she is too much the perfectionist and driven. That’s a real nice quality to have – as long as it doesn’t destroy you in the process. But today, she was back to feeling good.
———
I can appreciate Chris and Poolman’s concerns, but I am a simple man.
I always want to ask many of those who worry so much about the environment and the like, “If we are killing ourselves, why are most of us living longer than we should?”
If you get right down to it, the bottom line of the strain of medicine is the geriatrics for the most part. Don’t mean to be lurid and ghastly, but in quiet whispers, we all know it to be the truth.
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By: Long Duc Dong on June 11, 2013
at 10:51 PM
Chris – actually I have a little second-hand experience in pharmacognosy – medications derived from natural sources and compounded by the practitioner.
Medicine has been a tradition in my family for several generations, and when I was about eight, I found one of my predecessor’s medical texts on methods for the preparation of herbal remedies. I showed it to my father. He told me, yes he knew about the practice – quite well, in fact.
In the 1940’s, HIS father – my grandfather – had developed “dropsy of the heart,” now known as congestive heart failure. It’s a generalized weakening of the heart muscle, usually from bad coronary artery circulation, often related to smoking or strong drink. The doctor, Ross P. Daniel, riding his horse, came to see Grandpa. He made the diagnosis and prepared a drink from the foxglove plant – digitalis – to strengthen the heart.
He came back several days later and examined the Old Man, who was now worse, and told his family, “Well, I’ve poisoned him. I gave him too much. He will live or he won’t.”
He did not.
Bad doctor? Bad medicine? Ignorance? No, not at all. Digitalis has a very narrow therapeutic index, which is to say, 2mg won’t do anything for you, 3 is just right, 4 will kill you.
And that is why we prepare digitalis in sterile environments, with scales and scientific instruments, and carefully assay the dose. So we can be sure the dose we give is clean, uncontaminated and accurate.
So you see, natural healing ain’t always all it’s cracked up to be.
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By: PFesser on June 11, 2013
at 10:19 PM
Chris, the mainstream does not promote whole health and neither do its institutions. Everything is set up as corporations would have it to better their bottom line, human welfare be damned. The accumulative radiation alone is killing us and plastics and other toxins in our water and food supplies only increase our agony and decrease our life expectancy. I just learned I should have said no to the electric smart meter they put on the house. This world is getting so superficially charged, it is often difficult to maintain a spirit of calm.
Add to that the chemtrail crap they release in the atmosphere in the name of controlling weather. Nobody needs ingest that much aluminum and barium. We wonder why our foliage is damaged and our own physical energy is zapped?
There are mountains of accounts where our government, in one of its multi-faceted personas, has stricken and poisoned its own citizens. We’re all just some of uncle sam’s personal guinea pigs. More than half of Americans are medicated with manufactured remedies doled out by our government’s approved and sanction pharma industry. It apparently kills over 60,000 per year and damages many, many more. Where is the outrage? It isn’t what the media hypes. We go bonkers over what they tell us we should. Terrorism as they make it out to be. It is something that rarely occurs and 9 times out of 10, one of our alphabet agencies incite and enable or let happen. That is how power mounts up when psychopaths are allowed to run things. There are way too many at the helm.
The true sciences have been hijacked to benefit industry that support and profit from their studies. Most college campuses have been cleared of their controversial personalities. The published research checked for industry approval. It is the same with news, censorship is rampant.
The internet has surpassed the campus, yet requires continual scrutiny. There is much more disinformation than good information to be found, but that is the nature of the beast. Seek and you shall find applies to the google, but it takes digging. We at least have that freedom to point these things out so far, as others have mentioned.
The swinging door between monsanto and the various administrations are well-documented and our FP has always been in the interest of industry, as we are it’s bulldog. I only wish all the bricks in this wall would break loose to help tumble this irreverent beast we’ve unleashed.
In my area of the country pharma and the war and tech industry has poisoned the underground water supplies. There are plenty of super fund sites out here. It seems ludicrous to have done so where water is so precious, but industry was allowed to operate as it so chose. Super fund site. Crazy name for a contaminated natural and necessary resource.
The world system has turned things upside down and until all is once again upright there is little time for rest. Carry on!
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By: poolman on June 11, 2013
at 9:38 PM
This is the Ancient Hypocratic Oath in large part.
It is a noble attempt to strive for..to LOVE AND CARE for one another at all costs.
I wish to share it..
THE CAPS ARE MY ADDED COMMENTS…
I will apply dietetic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm and injustice.
(PLANTS USED AS FOOD WAS THE NATURAL CHEMICALS USED TO HEAL FOR 5000 YEARS, UNTIL THE DRUG COMPANIES TOOK OVER THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION AND IT MADE IILLEGAL FOR DOCTORS TO USE NATURAL CHEMICALS IN THE PLANTS. )
( KEEPING THE PATIENT FROM ALL HARM AND INJUSTICE IS WHAT THE MEDICAL SYSTEM IS KEEPING THE DOCTORS FROM DOING. THE SYSTEM IS FAILING FROM MANY PARTS OF THIS OATH, FOR SURE, ESPECIALLY, AGAINST THE DAMAGE TO MANKIND FROM THE DRUG AND CHEMICAL COMPANIES INCLUDING….MONSANTO…)
I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect. Similarly I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy. In purity and holiness I will guard my life and my art.
I will not use the knife, not even on sufferers from stone, but will withdraw in favor of such men as are engaged in this work.
Whatever houses I may visit, I will come for the benefit of the sick, remaining free of all intentional injustice, of all mischief and in particular of sexual relations with both female and male persons, be they free or slaves.
What I may see or hear in the course of the treatment or even outside of the treatment in regard to the life of men, which on no account one must spread abroad, I will keep to myself, holding such things shameful to be spoken about.
If I fulfill this oath and do not violate it, may it be granted to me to enjoy life and art, being honored with fame among all men for all time to come; if I transgress it and swear falsely, may the opposite of all this be my lot.
—Translation from the Greek by Ludwig Edelstein. From The Hippocratic Oath: Text, Translation, and Interpretation, by Ludwig Edelstein. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1943.
PEACE….
Chris.
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By: Chris on June 11, 2013
at 9:28 PM
from Chris-
“ALASKAPI…
All the conversations on liberalism and libertarians are rhetoric. It is the nonsense the elite want us to babble about, while they take further control of natural resources and make us and the rest of the world 3rd world countries, beholding to them for our very existence.”
——————————–
Chris- I absolutely disagree with you. While I respect your right to think and feel as you do, I disagree on many, many fronts on multiple points.
I’ve read plenty about some of the ideas you have, mostly because I am interested in what other people think, but there are too many problems with sloppy causal-correlation-hasty generalization type stuff with most of it for me.
As for dismissing folks’ political/social orientations as mere diversionary rhetoric. No- I do NOT think so. The ideas which people have about self, society, personal agency, statism, and the like inform many, many decisions- public and private.
I would request you read this;
Click to access fisheriesifq.pdf
which is likely completely out of your normal orbit.
THIS is an extremely well thought out and biting overview of a set of policies which we live with here , everyday, in ways much more close to home in all ways than much of what else gets talked about here on the porch. The underlying attitudes and ideas which formed the law and the way this is all managed matter very, very much and none of it has anything to with the Bilderbergs.
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By: alaskapi on June 11, 2013
at 9:04 PM
PFESSER….
Since your expertise is in the arena of the health of mankind, I would suggest that you involve yourself in the scientific studies of the chemical poisoning of our food and water sources for the good of all mankind.
I would hope the good work you administered in medicine, during your lifetime, would encompass a current concern for your fellow man, and include leaving a legacy of knowledge, and work tward the betterment of the state of health for all mankind.
Being a Doctor, having taken the hypocratic oath, it should be certain you would take a stand against the slow death and eventual genocide of millions of people the Monsanto poisonous business practices will AND ALREADY HAVE PRODUCED.
Does the hypocratic oath declare you will do your best to save lives, by keeping them from harm and injustice. Neither are you give a deadly drug to anybody who asks for it? How about the unsuspecting, who do not want the deadly drugs, are you suppose to allow it as a doctor?
This subject is one you should not have to think twice concerning in reference to making a decision, after having reflected on the comments and information provided by the porch dwellers on M&H.
I do not understand why an educated person, in the medical field, would not have enough knowledge about chemicals and GM plants and the effects on the human body, to make a decision on whether a chemcal company is good or bad.
I do study the science brought forth by Dr. Mercola, Dr. Sinatra, and many experts in their fields in regards to Monsanto and GM seeds and plants.
I would hope you could look into the subject more deeply, if you truly care for mankind.
I am scratching my head on this….
Peace…
Chris
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By: Chris on June 11, 2013
at 8:27 PM
FYI – …”I’m (Alan Grayson) introducing a bill that I call the “Mind Your Own Business Act”. This bill prohibits our government from spying on us, or collecting data on us, unless there’s probable cause that you have committed or you will commit an act of terrorism or similar criminal offense.
I submitted this provision as an amendment to the House Rules Committee today. I am attempting to attach it to the National Defense Authorization Act, which will come up for a vote in the House later this week. If you wish to show your support for the Mind Your Own Business Act then go here:”
http://mindyourownbusinessact.com/
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 11, 2013
at 8:21 PM
Wanna see where Hussein’s medical hegemony is headed?
Glad Grandma is having such a bang-up experience with HusseinCare; she seems to be in the minority. I just spoke to my ex-sister-in-law. Her health insurance (She is fifty, unmarried) just went through the roof; her employer had to pass most of the cost down to the employees, so she had to drop it and has none now. No, she has no illnesses of any sort. Sound as a renminbi.
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By: PFesser on June 11, 2013
at 7:49 PM
gato opined: “This makes no sense whatsoever. A “brat” is a “horse”, of whatever color?”
gato – “Horse of a different color” means “something totally separate and different.” It’s an American idiom.
And that is a horse of a different color from “American idiot.”
God this is so easy that it almost, but not quite, takes the fun out of it. As another idiom (For your education, there will be three.) would go, “like taking candy from a baby.”
Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
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By: PFesser on June 11, 2013
at 7:43 PM
How the hell should I know? Is that polite enough? 😀 Apparently, you’re not familiar with the John Hughes teenage bopper movies of the ’80s. I just thought it worthy for this worthy blog.
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By: Long Duc Dong on June 11, 2013
at 7:36 PM
How to Know the Government is Watching You
http://juanitajean.com/2013/06/11/how-to-know-the-goverment-is-watching-you/#comments
Is your state one of the 15 states against Citizens United? And why not?
http://truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/item/18020-the-big-momentum-against-citizens-united-rolls-on-delaware-is-15th-state-to-call-for-its-reversal
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 11, 2013
at 7:11 PM
What does the “Duc” part mean? And please put it as politely as possible.
Thank you.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 11, 2013
at 7:01 PM
Fester… This makes no sense whatsoever. A “brat” is a “horse”, of whatever color? Not your best. Look again at my comments about dealing with issues, and your position about how we should all do that – and then respond to those comments, or not. So far, you haven’t.
Gato
BTW, as long as you insist on referring to the POTUS as “Hussein,” I will continue to address you as “Fester.” The instant you have some other idea in mind, I’ll join you. Really. Not kidding.
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By: gatodicima on June 11, 2013
at 6:59 PM
Actually Sidney,
You’ll note that questioning had nothing rude or nasty, nor was intended to be insulting other that to specify if you can’t answer those questions with reason and differentiate why y’all apparently hold one group to a completely different standard than another, you’re rank hypocrites and primitive propagandists.
However, in your special case, I make exception. Not only do I find you to be illiterate, ignorant and simply stupid, I find you Sidney to be an abject coward. And your real beef is, you don’t like being busted for it. 😉
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By: Long Duc Dong on June 11, 2013
at 6:56 PM
gato opined: “Any attention is better than no attention at all, isn’t it? Just like a toddler.”
Well, a toddler should be excused, because he can’t help himself. A sixth-grade brat, well, that’s a horse of a different color, isn’t it?
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By: PFesser on June 11, 2013
at 6:39 PM
Chris –
“Obviously, In regards to Monsanto and the GM seeds, and the stopping of labeling the poisons, you do not have enough information, come to the only rightful conclusion against Monsanto.”
–You are right; as I have said, I don’t have information, or personal experience with Monsanto. Therefore, honesty would dictate no opinion, wouldn’t it?
“I honestly find it rather strange that you would not be up to speed on most subjects, as the scholar I see you to be.”
–Appreciate the compliment, but nobody can keep up with everything.
“Since you cannot see the evil of Monsanto, do you owe allegiance to the company ?”
–No.
“Being in the Medical field, you possibly are an ardent backer of Monsanto, who is also closely related to the drug companies.”
–Possibly, but not actually.
“Are you a Monsanto stock holder?”
–No.
“I also know that doctors get monthly or quarterly kickbacks from the individual drug companies , for the scripts they write under their license numbers….”
–You are mistaken. That would be a felony.
“This drug pushing amounts to hundreds of thousands of dollars in a doctors pockets, paid for by drug companies.”
–As above.
“Doctors are Legalized Drug Pushers…who are subjected to drug selling, or possibly loosing their licenses…”
–Again, you are mistaken.
“A pharmacist once explained this to me…”
–A doctor is explaining it to you now.
“Monsanto and its affiliates companies are heavy into the drug manufacturing business, as well.”
–I was not aware of this.
“Under either of these circumstances, it would explain your reluctance to make negative statements concerning the vile corporation, Monsanto.”
–It might, but it does not.
“Why would an intelligent professional or anyone, not take a stand against a company who is promoting the slow death of human beings, with their poisons?.”
–They would, if they knew what they were talking about. I do not. Nor, I suspect, do many others. I choose to remain silent about that of which I am ignorant. A good policy.
“I do notice when I make statements against chemical, and drug companies PFFESSOR….. you deflect by changing the subject, or comment on someone else’s statement, and just outright refuse to answer my comments.
That is really funny to me.”
–It shouldn’t be. Refusal to indict someone or some-thing you know nothing about is a virtue.
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By: PFesser on June 11, 2013
at 6:38 PM
Fester – The questions are not over anyone’s head, nor is anyone “afraid” to answer them.
When someone chooses to post, using a juvenile version of an “Oriental name,” which we all know is meant to imply the possession of a large male organ, I would think that you – proponent of civilized discussion that you present yourself as being – would be the first to suggest to that person that doing so is not such a good idea, and not conducive to eliciting any civilized and adult response. Well… Gee whiz. THAT isn’t happening.
You’re either for adult conversation, or you’re not. I suspect you’re not, after all, no matter what you’ve said, and I’ve known that for a long time.
Any attention is better than no attention at all, isn’t it? Just like a toddler.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 11, 2013
at 6:34 PM
PFESSER…
Obviously, In regards to Monsanto and the GM seeds, and the stopping of labeling the poisons, you do not have enough information, come to the only rightful conclusion against Monsanto.
I honestly find it rather strange that you would not be up to speed on most subjects, as the scholar I see you to be.
Since you cannot see the evil of Monsanto, do you owe allegiance to the company ?
Being in the Medical field, you possibly are an ardent backer of Monsanto, who is also closely related to the drug companies. Are you a Monsanto stock holder?
I also know that doctors get monthly or quarterly kickbacks from the individual drug companies , for the scripts they write under their license numbers….
This drug pushing amounts to hundreds of thousands of dollars in a doctors pockets, paid for by drug companies.
Doctors are Legalized Drug Pushers…who are subjected to drug selling, or possibly loosing their licenses…
A pharmacist once explained this to me…
Monsanto and its affiliates companies are heavy into the drug manufacturing business, as well.
Under either of these circumstances, it would explain your reluctance to make negative statements concerning the vile corporation, Monsanto.
Why would an intelligent professional or anyone, not take a stand against a company who is promoting the slow death of human beings, with their poisons?.
I do notice when I make statements against chemical, and drug companies PFFESSOR….. you deflect by changing the subject, or comment on someone else’s statement, and just outright refuse to answer my comments.
That is really funny to me.
Peace…
Chris
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By: Chris on June 11, 2013
at 5:56 PM
Sidney – Actually, Long Duc Dong has some pretty good questions. Over your head, or just afraid to address any of them?
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By: PFesser on June 11, 2013
at 5:41 PM
Long dong silver…….NO, nobody wants to explain anything nasty, rude questions. You come to this board to be an ass. And your doing that quite well.
Please don’t feed the trolls, especially THIS DICK.
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By: sidney18511 on June 11, 2013
at 5:25 PM
WAIALEALE..
If the jailing of people speaking their peace would have taken place 200 years ago, our founding fathers would have called this oppression. .
That is the exact reason we declared our independance. We wanted freedom of oppression.
OUR FOUNDING FATHERS WOULD HAVE CALLED that which we are experiencing….TREASON.
We have been warned throughout our history to be vigilant in order to protect our uniion.
But, because it is done by these corporations, it is ok. ??
We have lost our freedom, if no one sees this an act of oppression.
It looks like Iceland will take in the young man. They are pretty strong on freedom, in Iceland.
The wikki leaks guy went there, I understand.
Peace…
Chris
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By: Chris on June 11, 2013
at 5:25 PM
Chris…isn’t it amazing how the GOP pulls the wool over the eyes of their followers by saying that they want to “shrink government”. Sounds so good to them doesn’t it? They think that this shrinking will save their tax dollars. What they don’t comprehend is that they will still pay taxes, but it will go into the pockets of the 1% who are playing them for dupes.
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By: sidney18511 on June 11, 2013
at 5:21 PM
Hey Righteous Cynthia or any other of you pious progressives. You want to really exchange discourse without insult? You say you do. Let’s see how truthful and honest you really are.
Maybe you can help me understand why it is leftists that I find such rank hypocrites; Lori, Gato, Aunt Liki, DeLurker, and a few others come to mind.
I’ve got a million questions for any of you but will only trouble you with a few of the easier ones. Perhaps you’ll take a stab at any of them:
(1) Why did the Bush tax cuts lead to the financial crisis of 2008 according to you and the media you love, but by 2012 the very same tax brackets pertaining to the middle class if not approved would have caused a Depression according to Obama and the media?
(2) According to Obama, why was it unpatriotic for George Bush to accumulate $4,100,000,000,000 of national debt in 96 months, but Obama accumulated $6,200,000,000,000 of national debt in 51 months and there is silence from the Left?
(3) Why is waterboarding three thugs, including the mastermind of 9/11 by the name of Khalid Sheik Mohammed, worthy of a trip to the Hague for the POTUS and ruining the United State’s reputation across the globe, but President Barack Obama has killed an estimated 4,100 people alone in Pakistan with drone strikes including women and children, and there is no demands that Obama be tried in the Hague for war crimes nor charges that Obama is also damaging the U.S. reputation across the globe?
(4) Why was GITMO so bad under Bush but okay under Obama? And if GITMO so bad, where is your scathing criticism of Obama still housing prisoners on M&H?
(5) Where is your criticism of Barack Obama who now defends surveillance programs he opposed as Senator and campaigned against while first running for President?
I’ve got many more that really are probably beyond your time and expertise, but if you can answer just a few of these demonstrating you’re not a person of duplicity and double standard with a gift for the non sequitur, I’ll be most impressed.
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By: Long Duc Dong on June 11, 2013
at 5:17 PM
CYNTHIA…
This subcontracting of all of the Departments of American governement is part of the corporations plan to disassemble the U.S. ( just like they buy up small corpanies and sell off the pieces before closing the companies down and oursourcing our jobs, leaving us with no company and no jobs.)
The government is being decompartmentalized, and disassembled, just as our Constitution is being set asid, at eery turn. .
We are becoming the United States of Corporations.
I remember hearing under the Bush Administaration, immediately after the passing of the Patriot Act, that a privately owned Arab Company was contracted to provide surveilance and security of our New England easterly shoreline, instead of the Coast Guard, which is normally given that responsiblilty.
What is all this nonsense we are being subjected to.?
Do any of you ever come to any conclusions about what is happening to our beloved country?
Peace…..
Chris
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By: Chris on June 11, 2013
at 5:10 PM
Exactly Auntie Jean! Sounds pretty fishy eh? LOL That is why I said he is a paid operative by someone who has the most to gain by this “SCANDAL”… Damn sure SOMEONE is paying him. Time will tell…
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By: lori on June 11, 2013
at 5:02 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Let me get this straight. We’ve got this 29 year-old “kid” who gets a job with the super secret something or other government agency for three months. He has lots of experience reading James Bond type spy stories and playing computer games. He finds out that he “knows” and/or has access to a whole bunch of stuff. He romanticizes and envisions himself the big super hero on TV, etc.
But…….in real life, it’s different than running to mommy to tattle on what the neighborhood kids did that was naughty.
Now if he had the same job for three months with say Monsanto and “leaked” anything that could be construed as “patent infringement” or maybe a big pharmaceutical company with a 17 year patent precluding cheap generic manufacture of any of its patent protected drugs …… well, I think the first thing the corporation would do would be to send some goons to break both his legs.
This “kid” got himself a tiger by the tail. When all is said and done, he won’t have to worry much about his next job. He may very well get free room, board and medical care at gov’mit (read taxpayer expense) for the next 30-40 years. (China and the U.S. may have differing political philosophies but they do have reciprocal extradition agreements.)
Picture this dichotomy. A company (Monsanto?) develops a product based on largely government financed university R&D research grants, applies for and receives a patent to sell the product. The patent is issued and protected legally by the government as company proprietary rights. That’s how it is in the here and now.
Back up a few hundred years to George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, both of whom owned large plantations and slaves to work them. Rhetorical question. What do you suppose their words would be TODAY regarding National Security secrets laws to protect the citizenry from enemies both foreign and domestic; and patent laws protecting the proprietary information secrets of large corporations.
Aloha! Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 11, 2013
at 4:58 PM
NSA – Why have we outsourced a portion of our national security to a private corporation? If you do not trust the government to do the job why would you trust a corporation? I understand Booz-Allen-Hamilton made a profit of 1 Billion plus last year. How much more did this cost the tax payers? At least we have some control over the government but we certainly have no control over a private corporation.
There are those who wish to shrink the government but by simply outsourcing to private corporations how does that shrink it. Privatizing has been proven to cost more so what is the point?
http://www.npr.org/2013/06/10/190453537/booz-allen-hamilton-a-major-player-in-intelligence-community
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 11, 2013
at 4:39 PM
Chris – sure. But I also know there are always two sides to a story. And every time I have been absolutely sure that one side was evil and the other angel, and I had the opportunity to subsequently hear the other side – it didn’t sound so one-sided. That’s all I’m saying.
I’ll stay out of the Monsanto pool, for now.
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By: PFesser on June 11, 2013
at 4:18 PM
PFESSER..
We are still fighting the battle that the small guy had during the industrial revolution, when he took his invention to the patent office, only to have his patent stolen. This happens yet, today, by those who do not have the many thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars to invest in order to secure patents on their ideas.
Once again, the rich get richer, and the poor get to do the work of rich.
What a deal..
Peace..
Chris
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By: Chris on June 11, 2013
at 4:17 PM
I understand your point Chris, I do. In a perfect world we wouldn’t have corporations that are = to people in our courts eyes. We wouldn’t have K street lobbies, we wouldn’t have perpetual elections, we would have publicly funded elections. But we don’t . We need to work with reality fi we are going to achieve anything.
I threw a couple of dollars occupy Monsanto’s way and wish them the best. I do. But honestly they need to get much more organized, they need to control a better more organized message, and most of all, not make perfect the enemy of the good if they are going to succeed.
I appreciate organizations that drag MY Party to the left on these types of issues. They are needed and welcome. Unfortunately, most times they over play their hands too. Then no one gets what they want.
Be careful of the conspiracy stuff. It’s not necessary to get the attention of the masses. That’s just my opinion. that and 5 bucks will buy you a coffee 😉 … good luck.
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By: lori on June 11, 2013
at 4:15 PM
PFESSER..
If one is proven to be less trustworthy by deeds committed, one should not be trusted.
To listen to one who has commited horrendous deeds is one thing, to believe in one that has committed horrendous deeds, is bad judgement.
Peace…
Chris
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By: Chris on June 11, 2013
at 4:10 PM
Gato, You’ve got it pegged; it’s what our country should be about. Sadly the “haves” are running the show and they could not care less about the “have-nots” unless they don’t show up to clean their mansions or raise their kids for them.
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By: Terry W on June 11, 2013
at 4:07 PM
Lori..
Because of the lack, of media coverage, up to NOW, of the seed modification process, and exactly what it entails, there is an abundance of misleading misinformation , in regards to the importance of stopping them.
The mainstream media, because of its lack of honest reporting of the entirity of the subject, creates only a minimal cloud of distrust for Monsanto.
The rest of the world appears to be more knowledgable on the subject.
The majority of our more intelligent people in America are foggy as to what the term GM really means.
The media a day or two ago, reported the FDA making statements discounting the dangers of the GM seeds, so as to mimimize the importance of Monsanto Demonstrations, in the eyes of Americans.
If the more educated are confused about the subject, due to the lack of good information, what conclusions are those without cable or satellite or internet suppose to believe?
The majority of the U.S. population are totally misinformed as to the full scope of the dangers of GM seeded plants and it’s impact on future generations.
This food poisoning will eradicate through various forms of Cancers and Heart Disease the majority of the world’s population. It is creating long painful deaths to those who have been ingesting these poisons.
Peace..
Chris
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By: Chris on June 11, 2013
at 4:04 PM
Cynthia –
“This is, for the present, a free country and Lori has the right to vote as she sees fit.”
Good point. And everyone also has the right to an opinion, and the right to express it, whether flattering to lori, you, me, or anyone else.
“However, I do agree with you to a certain extent of why people vote party line. Why in hell did those people vote Bush a second term?”
Or Obama a second term?
“Why did they vote Bachmann 4 terms?”
You got me there.
“Why did they vote the Tea Party in?”
Because they were frustrated with the direction the country was going, and the Tea Party was neither Democrat nor Republican, which they – and I – consider to be two sides of the same coin. Unfortunately, the Tea Party was co-opted later by the loonies. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t originally a good idea.
“Why did they think so highly of Palin?”
You got me there, too.
“Why are the Republicans so good at lining up all their followers to vote against their own best interest?”
Funny question. If you remember your history, that has been said about the Democrats for the last forty years, until they got it together about seven years ago.
“Why did you think the answer was Ron Paul?”
He’s not The Answer; he has his faults, too. Fortunately, they are trivial when compared to those of everyone else running in the last two elections, in my opinion.
“They did because you/they have the right to think as you/they believe is in you/their best interest.”
Agreed.
“Or do advocate telling people what to think?”
I advocate that everyone express his opinion and, – and this is a big one – everyone keep an open mind. You don’t see that much, I’m afraid, which was of course, the whole point.
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By: PFesser on June 11, 2013
at 3:46 PM
also too Chris, please hear my heart when I say I welcome your interest and attention you have given to this matter. I too am interested. I have a little more nuanced opinion than yours, but none the less still interested. It goes without saying M&H have been gracious enough to welcome us all in to talk about whatever floats our boat, no matter the content.
I was just suggesting that perhaps you wouldn’t feel so alone if you joined in one of those organized anti Monsanto sites as well.
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By: lori on June 11, 2013
at 3:44 PM
Chris – suppose that every word of what you say about Dr. Franklin is true. Does that make what he said untrue, or less wise?
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By: PFesser on June 11, 2013
at 3:32 PM
Chris, please forgive me but please do a google search for CNN, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, ABC Monsanto reporting.
I think you will find the “main stream media” IS giving attention to this issue. Now, the question is, are people listening? Is it enough attention? That is a different matter entirely.
There are organizations, facebook pages, twitter hashtags specifically dedicated to anti Monsanto efforts. You might feel better if you join in those discussions. Stay calm and organize if you want to make a difference! It has been my experience the conspiracy approach is seldom helpful.
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By: lori on June 11, 2013
at 3:27 PM
Helen Imma thinking you should apply! LOL LOL But seriously!
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/06/11/1215398/-Help-Turn-Texas-Blue-One-Blog-Post-at-a-Time
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By: lori on June 11, 2013
at 2:46 PM
PFesser.
Hidden history on Ben Franklin says he was a pedophile, and thief of the many patents that came across his desk at the patent office which he worked at or ran during the industrial revolution. ( that is why He is known as the
” Father of Invention” )
Most of the history we have been offered over the recent ( 100 years ) has been slanted by the educational textbook publishing owners , to whitewash that which makes individuals weary of the real men that these names represented.
Franklin, as well as most of the founding fathers had dual citizenships with the mother country, and some were simultaneous members of the House of Commons.
Their posts and citizenship were never denied after their so called break from England. ( one revolutionary was a Secretary department head, while having a position in the British House of Commons at the same time.
Not sure who ? ).
Much of our world’s history in the last 100 years, has been tainted and falsified. many history officianados like the older books, as much has been erased, by simply not mentioning occurances in current publications.
Franklin’s London home was owned and kept intact long after his movement to America. Thousands of bones were found under his basement floor, long after he was dead and gone. ?..? There was speculation that some other owner of Franklin’s home had been a laboratory doctor or student who performed autopsies and buried his subjects there ..?
Not sure, but, there is still a possibility that Franklin had been involved.
I believe he was a member of the Masonic Order, which back then, was an off shoot of another secret organization, The Knights Templar. Correct me, if you actually know that he was not a member of the Masons.
Much of the far fetched information I refer to is in documentaries, several of which are from the History Channel and PBS.
The Internet appears to be narrowing down the amount of listings and references available to study the subjects I google. That was not so, a year and more ago. What is that all about? I do have copies of most of the documentaries revealing the information., but what is to become of this information for the future students of history?
Peace…
Chris
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By: Chris on June 11, 2013
at 2:11 PM
Senate votes 82 – 15 to proceed to debate on #immigrationreform bill. Let’s keep the momentum going! OFA
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By: lori on June 11, 2013
at 2:01 PM
Gatodicima..
Amen…my hat is off to you.
You are absolutely right on Monsanto.
Please read what I commented on the,
a few moments ago.
Monsanto is always at these secret meetings, that the media does not cover.
People march, are arrested, and still no mention in the mainstream media.
The march against the Monsanto Protection Act was worldwide in 400 some cities, with some Two Million Marchers, with arrests and people hurt by police, but, still very little, if any, mention in the mainstream media.
See how much power they have?
Please read my previous comment.
Peace..
Chris
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By: Chris on June 11, 2013
at 1:11 PM
ALASKAPI…
All the conversations on liberalism and libertarians are rhetoric. It is the nonsense the elite want us to babble about, while they take further control of natural resources and make us and the rest of the world 3rd world countries, beholding to them for our very existence.
I spoke of the Bilderberg secret society, a few days ago.
Check out the photos on the link below, at meeting that took place in The UK last week end.
There were I believe, 130 delegates from 21 countries, composed of prime ministers, heads and past heads of states, as well as, chief executives of the most powerful corporations. ( Monsanto is always included on the guest list. )
Their agenda this year is to utilize the most advanced technology to achieve their goal of world domination. That means they will be sending drones to watch and possibly kill their foe, viewing us in our homes and sending out electro magnetic waves to control our minds, sending radiation to kill us with Cancers, and other diseases, while taking our monies, and freedoms and rights away.
Most of the population We will see this agenda take place, without knowing this was their plan. The majority are being blinded from the truth, by listening to the planned confusion being injected by the media.
The Bilderberg agenda of 2005, ( look it up ) has been realized, as of 2013, while the majority gaggle over each detrimental accomplishment that negatively impacts America and the World..check it out for your self.
Read on the Bilderbergs..the secret society that NEVER has mainstream media coverage. These are the gatekeepers of the elite.
This IS what is really happening in secret.
That is why nothing is ever accomplished no matter what party is in power.
The elite run the world, and always have..even in our country.
The coast to coast broadcast of Saturday night with two investigative reporters stating that the model of this NWO is similar to the Nazi plan.
( my studies say the New World Order are the money Banksters who funded and empowered the Nazi regime. I say they never went away, just the group’s name changed. )
These Bilderbergs should be scrutinized and studied, not the political rhetoric on which party is better. Nothing of any great importance changes, no matter which party either steals, or legitimately wins the election.
On this iPad, I will not be able to add wiki on the Bilderbergs, or I may loose all that is written. I will list the wiki link for the Bilderbergs, on my next blog.
Wiki states that the Bilderberg is a secret private group consisting of people of influence. It includes one-third of its invited guests from government and politics, and two-thirds from finance ( world bankers ), industry ( multi-national corporations ), labour, ( ? ) education ( dumbing down the world ), and communications. ( which is why WE the people never hear of this secret society…and why we should never believe any propaganda they condition us with through every media source.)
Through their ownership and control of the media, we are lead away from any information that brings focus to the conspiracy they are creating against …We the People.
http://www.infowars.com/photos-from-bilderberg-2013/
Peace…
Chris
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By: Chris on June 11, 2013
at 12:58 PM
How damn pinko and ignorant is the magnitude of one to make this kind of statement? Pfesser, can you imagine why anyone would ever think of seeking compromise with somebody this illiterate and dishonest? You’d do better to bargain with the devil. You think I’m joking when I call many of these stooges here Dear Leader material?
Good grief…quoting Vann Jones to boot – a self avowed Communist and so radical he was kicked off Zero’s Czar list when Jones record came to light out of embarrassment. Like that hag Anita Dunn using Mao as someone she admired before they cut her loose as damaged goods. How long before Obama’s commissars start managing this place? 🙄
I used to think many of these M&H people simply confused, unhinged and maladjusted. But their hypocrisy goes way beyond stupid. Their vision is not a Republic. It’s North Korea with Kimberly Jong Il as leader.
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By: Long Duc Dong on June 11, 2013
at 12:58 PM
Hi, Cynthia – And, of course, if one were really only so nobly interested in civil conversation, among adults, about “issues,” one might cease referring to the POTUS with the entirely disrespectful use of the President’s middle name… Wouldn’t one?
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 11, 2013
at 12:33 PM
(Not sure what went wrong but I have the cart before the horse.)
pf – So what! Did your mother never tell you the only person you have any hope of controlling is yourself? This is, for the present, a free country and Lori has the right to vote as she sees fit. Perhaps you can think of it this way you can cancel her vote.
However, I do agree with you to a certain extent of why people vote party line. Why in hell did those people vote Bush a second term? Why did they vote Bachmann 4 terms? Why did they vote the Tea Party in? Why did they think so highly of Palin? Why are the Republicans so good at lining up all their followers to vote against their own best interest? Why did you think the answer was Ron Paul? They did because you/they have the right to think as you/they believe is in you/their best interest. Or do advocate telling people what to think?
I read R’s blog. With one exception I have not heard one other say anything positive about Obama or condemn the GOP for anything yet. And they are trying their best to hold R responsible for everything Obama does and won’t be happy until they have R dancing the jig as punishment for voting for Obama.
You have admitted on several occasions you love to debate and have taken either side. I am not confused and I have been paying attention, thank you very much.
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 11, 2013
at 12:28 PM
ooops – With one exception I have not heard one other say anything positive about Obama or condemn the GOP for anything yet.
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 11, 2013
at 12:18 PM
Hi, Mageen – Wise counsel, I’m sure. I can sometimes get into the what-the-hell-we’ve-got-to-fix-this-right-now mode… And, other times I can be incredibly patient… It’s a mix!
Thanks for the reminder…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 11, 2013
at 12:14 PM
Hi, gatodicima! All of this ability to sue or not sue Monsanto was “born” with the invention of franken food, so the issue is bigger than the iceberg that hit the Titanic inasmuch as most of it is still hidden. This will be going back and forth for awhile and possibly resolved by the time our children have kids of their own. Its a long hike, so get some rest now.
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By: Mageen in Old Virginny on June 11, 2013
at 11:48 AM
cynthia opined: “pf likes to debate/discuss and will take either side of the issue just to do so”
No, Cynthia, you haven’t been paying attention. And the reason you are confused is because there are some – very few – people who are interested only in WHAT is right, not WHO. They understand that nobody has a lock on the truth, and that sometimes the Left is wrong and sometimes the Right also. Sometimes it means agreeing with one side, sometimes the other, sometimes neither.
Slavish adherence to party, instead of Love of What Is Right, is what got us where we are. I challenge anyone to find a single post by lori, for example, where she either: a) praises a Republican or b) criticises a Democrat. That kind of mentality is the problem, IMHO.
In the current debate about Hussein’s attacks on the Fourth Amendment, both the Dems and Repugs are wrong; Bush started it; Hussein could stop it, but he likes the power. Power corrupts, and students of history know that enslavement is always done the same way: manufacture a “threat” and tell the people you can “keep them safe” if only you will just give up your rights and give them more power.
The President does not swear an oath to keep us safe. He swears to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Nothing else.
Now, in the name of “keeping us safe,” the dupes on the Left and Right have given the Executive power that any tyrant would drool over. Our job is to take that power from them.
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By: PFesser on June 11, 2013
at 11:10 AM
Hey, Cynthia – Let me see if I’ve got this straight…
Monsanto (and, BTW, “santo” means “holy” in Spanish; in this case, we can only suppose that “mon” might mean “un-“…) refused to execute a written, legal, contract, promising NOT to sue farmers whose crops were “accidentally” contaminated by some of their “exclusive” and patented biotech seeds. The court ruled that a paragraph on the Monsanto website offered “sufficient” protection for the farmers against Monsanto’s going after THEM.
And THEN a court said that those farmers could not sue Monsanto if Monsanto’s stuff accidentally contaminated their own organic crops.
Is this essentially the gist of the situation?
Krikeys! Isn’t the real ISSUE here that the very stuff that those organic farmers worked for years to avoid having contaminate their crops “accidentally” got in there, and THEIR CROPS HAVE BEEN COMPROMISED?! Am I missing something here, or is this really total madness…?
How is this any different from a scenario of BP’s “promising” not to sue anyone along the Gulf Coast for improperly “using” any of “its” oil that they “accidentally” dumped all over the place? (You know – somebody might have just been waiting for the opportunity to kill fish or coat birds, and “improperly” seized this opportunity to do so…) And then the courts ruling that nobody along the coast could sue BP for damages caused by that oil, because BP had already been so nice to them…?
I have been a working creative professional most of my adult life, and have been party to literally hundreds of contracts involving copyrights of “intellectual property,” which are not dissimilar to protections granted in a patent. And I’m all for those protections. But, for heaven’s sake, if something I created “accidentally” damaged, or compromised, or destroyed, the valuable property of someone else, I would sure as hell expect to be sued by the owner of that property, for the damages my work had caused, “accidental” or not.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 11, 2013
at 10:57 AM
penny abrams – I believe you are new here. I appreciate your desire to be civil. I have been reading this blog from the beginning of M&H. IMO it has always been 10% politics and 90% social. On occasion there is an issue that gets people fired up and discussion takes place. This is the nature of this blog.
There have been people who have tried to change this nature and have been met with resistance, especially those who come to degraded and intimidate. Their behavior does not lend for reasonable conversation. There are others that wish to get into long drawn out debates and eventually declare themselves the winner. Others make statements as if it is fact yet give nothing to support it being a fact.
pf likes to debate/discuss and will take either side of the issue just to do so and is disappointed and critical that no one joins him. He has in the past assumed the role of self appointed moderator. pf on another blog admitted he comes here to shake up the “fat grannies” and “nags” and invited the others to join him. There are very few here he has respect for or considers to be his equal intellectually. I don’t understand why he insists on coming here, do you?
He is the person who teases the dog until it bites then declares it viscous and shoots it.
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 11, 2013
at 10:27 AM
WTG Cynthia! yes yes and yes..
and if you haven’t already, check out what Van Jones has to say about the pipeline on moveon.org a few days ago. We need to keep pushing the pile and putting pressure on the powers to be!
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By: lori on June 11, 2013
at 10:11 AM
… “Monsanto officials specifically refused to sign a covenant stating it would not sue the growers, but the court said the website statement was sufficient and would be binding.
(You can trust us..really you can!)
Monsanto filed 144 patent-infringement lawsuits against farmers between 1997 and April 2010, and won judgments against farmers it said made use of its seed without paying required royalties.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/10/monsanto-wins-lawsuit_n_3417081.html?ref=topbar
*****
Vokes’ allegations on Thursday against TransCanada, the Canadian company leading the controversial proposal to send tar sands oil from Alberta to the Gulf Coast via the Keystone XL pipeline, were sobering: a “culture of noncompliance” and “coercion,” with “deeply entrenched business practices that ignored legally required regulations and codes” and carries “significant public safety risks.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/11/transcanada-whistleblower-pipeline_n_3415701.html?ref=topbar
John Boehner has heavily invested in a bunch of companies that are connected with this Pipeline. He spread out the investments so that it would not draw the attention of the Ethics Committee. And John Boehner is trying to force this pipeline bill into as many bills as he can in the House….he would see a huge wind fall profit if this goes through
http://www.politicususa.com/2012/01/22/john-boehner-keystone-xl.html \
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 11, 2013
at 9:52 AM
gato: your starters would make me totally happy. i can hear the harps now. man…and it could b so possible…so possible. sad, eh?
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By: penny abrams on June 11, 2013
at 9:47 AM
pf: we can get together…extreme anythings to ultra conservative but first we must agree to some things. we have to start w/some agreement of some sort. for example:
we sit down to discuss (insert A topic)
we do not make personal remarks
we know, going in, that everyone will have to make some adjustment
and
we know we need to be patient…all of us
after that there will be weeding out of some topics. we recognize that there are some areas we will never agree…at least not this century.
who, in this blog, would refuse to sit down with those conditions? be honest.
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By: penny abrams on June 11, 2013
at 9:35 AM
Personally I think Snowden is a paid Rand Paul “contributor” operative.
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By: lori on June 11, 2013
at 9:03 AM
Politically Delurker,(because after all that is what we are talking about with ALL of these manufactured “SCANDALS”- is political posturing for the midterms) the dems are on firm ground going forward. The GOP wanted a distraction from the Obama agenda they got it. 😉
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By: lori on June 11, 2013
at 8:59 AM
I’m having a problem with the term whistleblower. The traditional definition of the word implies that the information revealed is about illegal wrongdoing. You can find a definition to fit your agenda, I guess. What this guy did is allegedly violate confidentiality agreements and regulations, and potentially gave away information that compromises the capability of the agency. I hope there is a trial.
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By: delurkergurl on June 11, 2013
at 8:54 AM
Delurker, I’m not surprised . Politically, Boner and company have no where to go. That is why I said what I did about Paul watching his Ps & Qs the other day. They made their bed in 2005 while you and I were jumping up and down SCREAMING at the top of our lungs NOOOOO.
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By: lori on June 11, 2013
at 8:49 AM
PS – I referred only to Republicans because they are the ones with the most to gain by screaming “SCANDAL!” Plenty of Dems are on board the stinking garbage barge along with them.
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By: delurkergurl on June 11, 2013
at 8:44 AM
The government is not SUPPOSED to reflect only the will of the majority. It is supposed to reflect the principles of the Constitution, and that’s a very different thing.
– which, by the way, states explicitly that the majority shall not go too far in forcing its will on the minority.
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By: PFesser on June 11, 2013
at 8:43 AM
Lori, I have seen several Republicans defend the NSA practices, including John Boehner this morning on GMA. While it’s gratifying to see the “scandal” card falling apart over this legitimate outrage, it’s a crystal clear sign that it’s that it will not change.
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By: delurkergurl on June 11, 2013
at 8:43 AM
lori: “Also too, according to the most recent polls most Americans are okie dokie with the Patriot Act and even more are ok with the NSA collecting our metadata and even listening in on our conversations, if it keeps us safe.”
“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”
(From the man who helped make the country whose freedoms you enjoy, Miss Lori – Mssr. B. Franklin)
Also from BF: “Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a Monarchy?”
“A Republic, if you can keep it.”
Hope to God the attitude above is not widespread, or we won’t keep it.
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By: PFesser on June 11, 2013
at 8:41 AM
exactly Gato. F&F!!!!!
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By: lori on June 11, 2013
at 8:39 AM
HI, again, Lori – For some reason, I’m leaping to the bigger picture of “what keeps us safe,” now that you’ve mentioned that phrase.
IMO, what would really do the MOST to keep us “safe” is dealing with some – or all – of the following:
Stop the heedless destruction and pillaging of our natural resources – our land, our water supplies, and our forests, our air.
Make sure that a majority of our citizens have real “work,” and can earn a living wage for themselves and/or their families.
Reduce the huge and ever-growing disparity between the “haves” and the “have nots.”
Make it a national priority that no citizen, of whatever age, ever goes to bed, or wakes up, hungry; make sure that our national food supplies are safe and healthy, and available.
Guarantee that every resident has access to affordable and high-quality medical treatment, from preventative care to urgent intervention.
Make sure that our young people are educated.
Treat every citizen with respect and dignity, regardless of race, gender, age, physical abilities, or sexual orientation.
Understand that the “free market system” will not function for the good of both itself, and society as a whole, without some social restraints applied to it. (And reject the idea that corporations are “people.”)
Make sure that every citizen has the right, and obligation, to vote, and that our government reflects the will of the majority.
That’s for starters!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 11, 2013
at 8:37 AM
Speaking of books Pi, all others, I shamelessly mentioned a good read the other day. I don’t know if you caught it. If so my apologies for repeating.
It’s called America 3.0 by James Bennett and Michael J. Lotus.
Talk about pushing my boundaries! LOL BUT let’s just say I have some, ahem, blood involved in that book. 😉 Check it out.
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By: lori on June 11, 2013
at 8:32 AM
oh, I forgot… afraid you are correct on the tool-to-keep-us-safe dealie,lori.
sad but probably how it is gonna shake out…
gotta go !
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By: alaskapi on June 11, 2013
at 8:29 AM
lori- I know! We did try! Often!
gotta go. weather still holding. too many things to do before it shifts tomorrow or the next day .
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By: alaskapi on June 11, 2013
at 8:18 AM
PFesser and anyone else who really wants to play around with ideas and look from a wholly different angle at a number of things , this guy dumps a whole heap of sacred cows on their heads, including some of mine 🙂
This one is a starting place-
http://web.inter.nl.net/users/Paul.Treanor/libertarian.html#conflicts
Watch your blood pressure whilst reading him but test your boundaries…
For all who are talking about the leak stuff- I’m waiting too but am also joining lori in asking where the hell are some/all of the folks who rammed through the legislation and programs that made this mess ?
This is from the authoritarian right, a place Mr Obama has governed from all too often regardless of all the hoo bobby crap about what a socialist he is.
Centrist philosophy has contributed to this.
gato- the whistleblower ? Waiting to hear more. Not impressed at some levels, impressed at others.
PFesser- be careful of Greenwald. Be real clear where you and he depart in ideology. He’s got some super duper blind spots. You’ll see them if you look. He’s not necessarily wrong but he’s often making conclusions based on “facts” which are not facts,
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By: alaskapi on June 11, 2013
at 8:16 AM
LOL LOL We tried to tell them Pi that Obama was a Centrist, but did they listen???????
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By: lori on June 11, 2013
at 8:13 AM
Yep Gato I agree with you. Also too, according to the most recent polls most Americans are okie dokie with the Patriot Act and even more are ok with the NSA collecting our metadata and even listening in on our conversations, if it keeps us safe.
So nothing will be done. What politician (especially National candidates) wants to be the one who TAKES AWAY tools that “keep us safe”? I am sure you can just sit in your chair and imagine what the campaign ads would look like. Nope not going to happen. I think there MAY be a little bluster about taking a peek at the Patriot act – maybe even renaming it, but essentially we are stuck with it.
This is the harvest the GOP reaps when they use their favorite political tactic of “keep em dumb and keep em skeerd”.
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By: lori on June 11, 2013
at 8:12 AM
pi – thanks again. Looks like I’ve got some work to do!
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By: PFesser on June 11, 2013
at 8:04 AM
NYC rally to support Snowden:
http://www.examiner.com/article/hundreds-of-i-stand-with-snowden-new-yorkers-gather-for-1st-u-s-rally?CID=examiner_alerts_article
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By: PFesser on June 11, 2013
at 8:03 AM
PFesser-
distinctions in libertarian thought are important.
The minarchist school has a lot of appeal to folks who would traditionally fall into basic conservative values and quite frankly a lot of left libertarian thought tracks that direction -but with very different notions of property, money, and the like.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minarchism
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By: alaskapi on June 11, 2013
at 8:01 AM
The judicial lynching of PFC Bradley Manning.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_judicial_lynching_of_bradley_manning_20130609/
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By: PFesser on June 11, 2013
at 7:57 AM
lori- I went and looked round at articles about Texas redistricting flaps. Holy moley! Texas has a different method for redistricting than Alaska. I’m not fond of ours but Texas’ stinks. Would no matter who was in the majority. Time to change the state constitution?
Had to laugh at your leftier than me dealie. I like having found someone who is at least on the same street as me… 😉
Cynthia, gato, James-
for you
http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/20130609/farm-flourishes-alaska-tundra
Mr Meyers is doing the so-called impossible and doing it well. He is a hero of sorts to a lot of us away from the half-the-state-population-all-in-one-place-in ANC-and-the-Mat-Su .
Please note the cost of fuel in his area and his remarks about housing viability. There is a whole nother bunch of folks working on cold climate housing here who are coming up with region specific designs which are pretty dang cool.
I have a friend who is working to get a farm going out in Bristol Bay who got to spend a week with Mr Meyers. He is as crusty as he sounds 🙂 but truly full of workable ideas and methods.
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By: alaskapi on June 11, 2013
at 7:56 AM
Morning, Lori – That’s a pretty darn good “definition” of liberal and progressive positions, IMHO – I like it!
As for the NSA “leaks scandal,” it seems to me that the only “secrets” that have been leaked are things that every member of Congress has known about – and APPROVED – for years and years. (The whole idea of having “national security” based on a bunch of activities known by only a few, instead of eliciting the cooperation of every citizen in same, seems to me like a pretty dumb idea overall.) To be perfectly honest, I have a problem with “secrets” in general, other than refusing to reveal the location or contents of birthday presents prior to their distribution on the appropriate day. In my personal life, I can’t think of a single “secret” that anyone tried to keep that (1) almost everybody else already knew, anyway; (2) ever did anyone any good by “keeping” it; and (3) wasn’t revealed sooner or later.
As others have mentioned here, anyone who lives in the contemporary electronically-connected world has very few “secrets,” anyway. The headlines on our computer home pages gradually evolve to feature more and more of the subject matter we once clicked on (lordy, I’m SO sorry I EVER looked up anything about Kim Kardashian…!); our cell phones know where we are at every moment; our banks have electronic records of every transaction we ever made; every on-line retailer we frequent knows what we last purchased, and has several ideas of what we “might also like”; and on and on and on.
Many are concerned about the “misuse” of this information, and that’s a legitimate concern. I happen to think that getting my “news” pre-filtered by Yahoo! according to what I last looked at, is a form of “misuse.” But nobody’s jumping up and down about that…
Everything was okey-dokey when we’d just suffered the horrendous losses of 9/11, but now that OBAMA’s “in charge,” democracy is suddenly under siege by our own government, and Al-Qaeda is just a wannabe… Maybe we should have given that possibility a bit more serious thought twelve years ago. And we have another excuse for our congress critters to get all worked up about the latest “scandal,” instead of actually doing anything… At least until the next Congressman is discovered behind a locked bathroom door handing over cash to an under-age member of the same sex…
The more I see, and hear, about young Mr. Snowden, the more questionable I’m finding his motives, the potential scope of his knowledge, and his behavior. He’s just a little too high on his “moral horse,” a little too bravely self-sacrificing, and a little too obviously full of his own importance, to convince me he’s simply done a noble thing for the good of the American people… And, of course, both he and Mr. Greenwald are hinting that Snowden may have even more “secrets” to reveal… Probably a record of everyone who frequented the office water cooler, when, how often, and how many paper cups each one used. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Oh, and this is certainly yet another example of the wonderful benefits of “outsourcing” government work to “independent contractors”!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 11, 2013
at 7:55 AM
pi: ““The “libertarianism” entry in Mark Bevir’s Encyclopedia of Political Theory holds the three types of libertarianism are right, left, and “consequentialist” as promoted by Friedrich Hayek.”
I have never read much on the theory of Libertarianism, I read Hayek’s “Serfdom” several years ago, and “Why I am Not a Conservative” – of course, conservative meant an entirely different thing back then and would be unrecognizable in what the ReBiblicans call conservative today. My politics are probably closer to Eisenhower, to wit: yes, the State has a role to play in people’s lives, but every program must be carefully thought out and provide benefit worth the expense. The Interstate system, started by Eisenhower, is the best example of money well-spent. Johnson’s War on Poverty is probably the worst.
Thanks for the link; when I get a little time, I’ll educate myself.
*********
Chris: Yes, young people DO get cancer, but without modern medicine, they would invariable die and be removed from the gene pool – having had no children. Once you get old, Nature and evolution don’t care if you die; you’ve already done your genetic duty. Hence, cancer is not selected-against in old people, and is primarily an old person’s disease.
**********
lori opined: “… still waiting for Boehner and Mike Rogers to call for full congressional disclosure and repeal of or at least reopen the PATRIOT ACT. Yeah still waiting.”…. &c &c &c…..
Perhaps they can hold hands with Diane Feinstein, who is vociferously defending the NSA domestic spying. I’d pay good American money to hear you criticize a Democrat even once…LOL LOL
By the way, we are on the same side on this one, except IMHO both the libs and conservatives in Washington deserve a thorough ass-kicking.
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By: PFesser on June 11, 2013
at 7:32 AM
Auntie jean an easy way to copy and paste a link.
Go to the page you want to copy. Place your curser (the little arrow thingie) in the address box at the top of the page. Click it, the address box will turn blue.
Press the Ctrl key (usually at the bottom left) then press the “c” key. You have copied the link.
Now go to the comment box you want to paste it to. Press the Ctrl key and the “v” key. It will paste the link your comment box. 😉 eazie peazie
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By: lori on June 11, 2013
at 7:23 AM
Yes you are right Auntie Jean Liberalism and Progressivism are pretty dang close. Both came out of the Age of Enlightenment and both are based on liberty and equality, social justice, equal rights, freedoms from religion yadda yadda yadda. The principles overlap in many areas. A Prof once explained to me – Progressivism mostly speaks to the changes needed to achieve Liberalism! LOL LOL I suppose that’s as good of explanation as any. Today both “labels are used interchangeably.
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By: lori on June 11, 2013
at 7:00 AM
Day 6 now since the Guardian first reported the NSA surveillance leaks.
… Still waiting to hear where the Tea Party rallies against the PATROIT ACT will be taking place. … Yeah still waiting.
… still waiting for Boehner and Mike Rogers to call for full congressional disclosure and repeal of or at least reopen the PATRIOT ACT. Yeah still waiting.
… still waiting to hear from the GOP about how wrong they were when they went after and attacked Russ Feingold as “un American” when he correctly predicted how the Patriot Act would be used and abused if put in place. Yeahhhhh still waitin…
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By: lori on June 11, 2013
at 6:46 AM
Hi Kitchen Crew,
Pi and lori, I always appreciate your comments and especially your links to informative stuff. As you well know, I have limited computer skills. I can FIND just about anything, often more than I wanted to know and get sidetracked onto something else. But I would have to back up about 20 years to get up to speed on how to do a lot of things, including posting links. I know, I know, if I really get in a bind I can send up a flare to computer geniuses like delurkergurl, brudda Peas or good old jsri to come to my rescue with help.
I have almost always claimed my status as a progressive liberal as far as political ideology goes which may or may not conform to any particular political regime “du jour” and certainly not to any totalitarian concepts of any stripe. I feel conservatives are way too tradition bound and especially consumed with power and money. And then the self-styled libertarians are all for which-ever-way-the-wind-blows-my-way-for-ME!
With two back-to-back family graduations, numerous graduations of the kids of friends and two family back-to-back surgeries for necessary but non-life threatening conditions, May and early June were a bitch! I’m giving serious thought to taking the summer off, stretching out in a lounge chair on the Dinky Deck with a nice glass if White Zin and my trilogy of historical novels about the slave trade, starting in Bristol, England to the Gold Coast of Africa to Central and North America. Ten generations of the same family. Ahhhhhh!
I would like to say something about the medical, scientific and technology PROFESSIONS. We have the dubious distinction of having had way more than our druthers with them recently. Father of one of the recent graduates and a daughter, our youngest son in PA had successful surgery for a fairly large painless, movable mass on his knee that turned out to be BENIGN! Whew!!! It took four pathologists putting their heads together to figure out just what the hell it was. A strange anomaly. He is sending us the pathology report, like we will be able to read it???? Since it was attached to muscles, tendons and even bone, the aftermath of the surgery to remove it was extremely painful. He is not a complainer, but we could hear the pain in his voice over the phone. He has kicked the walker and the oxytocin (sp?) two-week habit and gone back to work. This is the robust guy who hasn’t had any health problems since an appendectomy when he was a kid.
My husband had cataract removal and can now see (just a wee bit too clearly) that old woman he has been living with for lo! these 60 years – as well as dust on the furniture. I think I’ll tell the opthamologist to “Put ‘em back!!!” As some of you know, he has a chronic neurological condition that requires IVIG infusions at the hospital every six weeks. He has been getting them for over two years and no doubt they have kept him mobile and out of a wheel chair, thanks to medical research, up to the minute technology and superbly trained medical personnel to dispense it. Over time we have gotten on a first name basis with all of them. Besides being thoroughly professional, they each one ooze TLC and inspire confidence.
We have become aware over these past two years of just how much more coordinated and efficient the whole procedure has become. Imaging, blood work, physical examinations. Practically EVERYTHING is digitized now. Very little is done by hand except of course for the work the personal does with every conceivable instrument at their fingertips.
All of these medical manouvers are and have been covered at least partially by Medicare and private or supplemental health insurance. Naturally, we follow the statements and billing carefully. Thanks to Obamacare, the bills have been steadily DECREASING as the efficiency for the same care delivered has INCREASED.
I find it quite interesting that initially the conservatives and especially the extreme right dubbed the health reform legislation “Obamacare” in the belief that it would fail and be a blight on the record of President Obama’s administration. It is my opinion from this first hand knowledge that the legacy of “Obamacare” may very well go down in our history as one of many of the greatest advances ever in the well-being of our citizenry.
Aloha! Namaste. Shalom Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 11, 2013
at 2:27 AM
Thanks for the link Pi, that’s a blog I always forget to check, and I shouldn’t.. It’s a good one.
if you have time check out what the TX legs is doing about redistricting.. Ugggggggg , will it ever end? N/M unfortunately we know the answer.
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By: lori on June 10, 2013
at 7:55 PM
Yup Pi you are one of the very few people I have met in my political life that is SLIGHTLY further left than myself. LOL LOL But you are.. and I love it. I am finally not the only weirdo in the crowd! Having declared all that, I do self identify Liberal and surely do identify with Progressivism, which I think are like chicken and waffles. They are just made for each other! I find them all perfectly co-habitable, most of the time. 😉
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By: lori on June 10, 2013
at 7:44 PM
PFesser…
Not so, about Cancer being for old people.
I know that the medical system ( in America, for sure ) has been desensitized, teaching that old people do not count. They are on their way out, so do not do as much to save them.
Cancer is happening to our young people and the very young, as well.
Our foods are being poisoned. That is the main cause of Cancer…through drug medications and the chemical screwing up of our foods.
My then 27 yr. old son, Christian moved to Denver 10 years ago.
He had sinus trouble, and was sent to 3 oncologists, who could not figure out what his illness stemed from. (I thought his immune system had been compromised from Acetone and Poly Resins from the nail business he was involved in years before.)
They thought it was some form of borderline Leukemia, and of course, wanted to swing into the killing mode of chemo and radiation.
He did the chemo pills for a short time…and decided it was making him even more ill.
I first asked if there were any chemical or mineral dump sites, in Aurora, or the Denver area?
He said he did know of any. ( a few years later, I again viewed Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine, in which he mentions that within a few miles of Columbine High is a weapons factory, which dumps their uranium and plutonium outside of Denver..He also mentioned that our boys carrying the guns made of those same two materials were coming home with various forms of CANCER.
I sent him tons of info, that I researched.
I told Christian to eat organic, STOP the fructose MONSANTO poisons, no sugars and little or no grains.
Chris’s wife finally agreed that I was probably right with what I was telling him.
He went on a phase I diet from Doug Kaufman, and changed his lifestyle that much.
I also found in my studies that Denver has up to 27% less oxygen, because of the altitude. ( I also knew a Neurologist many years ago that claimed as a young student that IF he could put oxygen in a pill, he could cure all known diseases to man.
Cancer grows in a 60% oxygen environment.
If you subtract the oxygen level of Denver, from the normal range of oxygen humans, you get the condition that Christian was suffering from, borderline Cancer. ( now why couldn’t the 3 or more CANCER EXPERTS he visited figure this out? )
He later, went to the Mayo Clinic in Arizona to consult, because of the lack of knowledge of the locals in Denver. Before he left, I reminded him that IF he felt better in Arizona, and there were positive changes to his blood work, he needed to leave Denver to survive. I told him to check the levels upon returning to Denver.
The Mayo found blood work was high, but, within a normal level. It did not read at a Cancer level. But upon his return to Denver, it was once again high and indicated Cancer. ( Do not live in Denver if your immune system is compromised, or are prone to Cancer. I know I have a hard time breathing the entire time I am there. )
With the changes made to his diet..mostly veggies and fruits…no fructose corn syrup or CORN..or sugars…he and his liver are within a normal range.
I did not mention that his spleen was first removed 1 year before his blood work became alarming. It had grown to twice it’s normal size., and was about to burst. ( the spleen swelling was another mystery to the surgeon, which I accounted for, by studying a very simple anatomy book named Stephen Biesty’s Incredible Body. )
The red (?)blood cells are sent out to kill bacteria and usually die as soon as their job is performed. Since the fructose in the bloodstream and throughout the body was chemical and foreign, and unrecognizable by the body, the blood cells ran back to the spleen, engorging it with the build up of red blood cells,causing the swelling of the spleen to twice its normal size.
Why couldn’t the doctors even think this through.
Christian is doing fine, as long as he eliminates Corn and hidden sweeteners, and SODAS from his diet, and eats lots of ORGANIC fruits and veggies.
( Of course, he has little left of an immune system…so, he must stay away from bacterial infections, and anything that compromises his immune system.)
See…PFESSER…
I have personal knowledge of this poison. I KNOW HOW BAD MONSANTO GM CORN AND SEEDS ARE FROM MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.
I pray the rest of the world comes up to speed in this knowledge, or we will ALL die, young and old from CANCER.
Peace…
Chris
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By: Chris on June 10, 2013
at 7:44 PM
lori- here you go. best description. WC is pretty polite considering what a doofus the State comes across as here :
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By: alaskapi on June 10, 2013
at 7:40 PM
oh crap- I forgot that/the link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-libertarianism
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By: alaskapi on June 10, 2013
at 7:29 PM
I am a far , very far left libertarian – most closely identifying with the Steiner-Vallentyne school of thought. It is very, very different than a right libertarian POV.
I am not an anti-statist. I don’t buy that BS
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By: alaskapi on June 10, 2013
at 7:28 PM
http://www.politicalcompass.org/reading has complied reading lists of thought in all 4 main areas of political theory/thought.
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By: alaskapi on June 10, 2013
at 7:23 PM
PFesser- lori is correct that there are 3 basic libertarian styles recognized by political theorists. Within each style are multiple viewpoints as you undoubtedly know from the right side libertarian view, which includes minarchist thought ,anarchist thought , and the like.
Both left and right libertarian thought includes substantial numbers of anti statists – anarchists.
“The “libertarianism” entry in Mark Bevir’s Encyclopedia of Political Theory holds the three types of libertarianism are right, left, and “consequentialist” as promoted by Friedrich Hayek.[30]
Herbert Kitschelt and Anthony J. McGann contrast “right-libertarianism” with “right-authoritarianism.”[31]”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-libertarianism
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By: alaskapi on June 10, 2013
at 7:22 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Anbody here ever heard of St. Judes Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN? It has been operating for years, researching the causes of and treating children with cancers.
Aloha! Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 10, 2013
at 6:51 PM
gato –
http://www.dailywritingtips.com/is-%E2%80%9Cthey%E2%80%9D-acceptable-as-a-singular-pronoun/
Note the ref. to Chicago Manual of Style. That sits by my easy chair when I work. The use of “their” to refer to a singular antecedent is not technically grammatical, particularly in older texts, but in informal use it is quite OK.
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By: PFesser on June 10, 2013
at 5:51 PM
lori – thanks for the link. Interesting article; of course what it does is give you its definition of libertarianism and then tell you why its own definition is wrong. That is called the “straw man” argument.
Look: We need to find common ground. Not everybody on the Left is for a communist regime. Not everybody on the Right is for fascism (although some are). And, along those lines, no Libertarian I know is in favor of anarchy.
Most Libertarians are in favor of a small government and low taxes. They believe that every government program must show that it, on the net, benefits all of America, not just the people it employs. That’s Libertarianism. Probably the last president who took that POV was Eisenhower.
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By: PFesser on June 10, 2013
at 5:35 PM
Hey, Terri – That’s never going to happen, as we all know. Even an accusation of possibly being incorrect is apparently quite alarming to Himself, and must be dealt with at once!
It is also evidently necessary to include, at the end, some sort of gratuitous
“instruction” as to which subjects – if any – should more properly be the focus of the corrector’s study and attention.
Whaddya gonna do…?
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 10, 2013
at 5:23 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
This is a great day at M&H’s for sharing insightful info. I’m learning plenty!!! Sure beats reading the phone book! This is a piece I found pretty interesting so am sharing it with you.
These are excerpts for a June 3 New York Times Editorial entitled “On Smart Change in Iran Policy”. Intriguing idea. It will be interesting to follow and see where it goes. There is more than one way to skin a cat.
“The Obama administration has made a useful modification to its Iran policy by lifting sanctions on companies that want to sell cell phones, laptops, encryption software and other similar technology to ordinary Iranians. This should improve the ability of Iranians to circumvent their government’s unrelenting crackdown on dissenting opinion and communicate with each other and the outside world without reprisal.
“The decision, announced by the State and Treasury Departments on Thursday, [May 30?] is a major departure from the administration’s general approach, which over four years has been to increase sanctions in an effort to persuade Iran to abandon its nuclear program.
“The Obama administration has definitely not repudiated that approach…….
“The technology decision, which comes two weeks before Iran’s presidential election, inserts the United States into Iranian politics on the side of political freedom in a way the Obama Administration did not during the last election in 2009. That election was denounced as fraudulent by the Iranian opposition, which, using various social networking services and websites, staged months of protests that, in turn, triggered a vicious government crackdown.
“Just what impact the technology decision might have on the presidential election on June 14 is unclear…..
“This should have been done sooner. Tensions between Iran and the United States – over Syria and terrorism, as well as the nuclear program – will almost certainly get worse, barring some unexpected new policies in Tehran. But America will be in a stronger position if it is seen as standing with the Iranian people.”
Once again President Obama demonstrates his skill as a master politician.
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 10, 2013
at 3:13 PM
While we continue our national discussion about our privacy and personal liberties, it’s interesting to understand, at least for me, political labels. Here is an interesting article on right wing – Libertarians. A completely different beast from a left wing- Libertarian which is really three different parallel schools of thoughts. Right Pi? LOL Personally, I have many left wing Libertarian views. Humans are a complicated lot aren’t we???? LOL
http://www.nationalmemo.com/libertarianisms-achilles-heel/
Ok now I am really really done.. LOL maybe
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By: lori on June 10, 2013
at 2:59 PM
Jeez, PF, you know she got you. Just admit it.
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By: Terri in NY on June 10, 2013
at 2:23 PM
Chris – Sure, cancer and heart disease are the primary killers of Americans, but that could be because they are diseases of old people, and Americans as a group are aging rapidly. All old people die.
Cancer is not strongly selected against evolutionarily because it is a disease of old people. Once you have your children, nature couldn’t care less what you die of, because that doesn’t figure into survival of the offspring or the species.
Cancer of the soul? Now, that’s a different thing entirely.
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By: PFesser on June 10, 2013
at 1:40 PM
Nice try, gato, but you’re over your head. “Their,” while technically not correct according to the old rules, is quite often used nowadays to agree with singulars. Language evolves.
Stick with what you know – whatever that is.
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By: PFesser on June 10, 2013
at 1:32 PM
D’oh!
Mean IRS Manager Who Picked On Innocent Conservatives Is A Conservative, Not Trying to Holocaust America
http://wonkette.com/519132/mean-irs-manager-who-picked-on-innocent-conservatives-is-a-conservative-not-trying-to-holocaust-america
“In an official interview transcript released on Sunday by Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings, the manager said he and an underling set aside “Tea Party” and “patriot” groups that had applied for tax-exempt status because the organizations appeared to pose a new precedent that could affect future IRS filings.”
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By: delurkergurl on June 10, 2013
at 12:56 PM
Cynthia..
Good to see interest on the food issue.
It is really a serious one.
Most of America’s corn is Monsanto’s GM, which, if you check the REAL science, not just that which is being provided by Monsanto, you will find that corn and all it dirivitives..( along with other pesticides and Round-Up ) are causing most of the Cancers we are suffering from.
Cancer is now the number 1 cause of death in the U.S.A.
Heart disease used to be, but, now Cancer has taken over first place.
It was also in the news just this week, I believe on the BBC that 41% of the Brits will get Cancer.
That is a lot of folks with Cancer, when the disease was hardly found in the Egyptian Mummies. That means it is an environmental disease, brought about by and in, either our food, air, or water.
The EPA at its inception in 1977 was to regulate the safety of some 60,000 chemicals within the U.S. environment. It was reported in 2010 in the St. Louis Post Dispatch, it is now regulating some 80,000 chemicals.
20,000 new chemicals were added to the environment….in the FOOD, AIR, and WATER since 1977 in America. Is it no wonder our death stats have climbed for Cancer? ( We havealso lost 2 years off our life expectancy men..75…women….78…)
Corn in its current state of being genetically modified, is not considered a food, but rather a TOTAL chemical product.
Corn is suppose to be a grain, which the powers that be (MONSANTO) tells us that THEIR CORN is a vegetable. Actually, Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences says it is a veggie, fruit, and grain.
Monsanto’s GM CORN is far more dangerous than we might think. It is in EVERY PROCESSED FOOD ON THE GROCERY SHELF.
It is being currently being sold to us thoughout the grocery isles in the varouis forms stated below, in most of processed food products our people consume.
It is used as a grain and flour in totillas, as a vegetable ( corn on the cob, and in cans ), as a snack (pop corn ) as a breakfast cereal (corn flakes),as a vegetable (corn) oil, AND the most dangerous of all, in MOSTLY every sweetener in every prepared product we buy. ( even if you bake your own,goodies, you get GM beet sugar, if the package just states SUGAR
Real sugar is Pure Cane Sugar….(and we do not really know what we are buying if the labeling is not regulated by law)
Monsanto does not want to EVEN label their POISONS. LABELING would bring to light the fact that ALL processed foods contain the poisons they provide to us in America to eat, and it would become manditory for processors to state that on every item we consume.
tied into this discussion….
I am reading a book, The Magnesium Factor, which states magnesuim is a mineral required for the proper function of all body organs.
It states that when we ingest man made chemicals of most sorts, our magnesuim is depleted automatically.
It names sugars and stress as main culprits of magnesium deficiency,
It has 120 alternative names of sugars listed which also deplete the magnesuim from our bodies, helping to cause many of well known diseases we are plagued with today. ( names like natural sweetener,, barley malt, rice malt, lo-sugar, mannitol, corn anything, pure sweetener, etc.)
Most of the sugars mentioned ARE MONSANTO SUGARS FROM CORN.
There are some 77 pages of footnotes..in reference to the contributors of the book’s contents.
CORN SUGARS are mostly contributing to the obesity in America, for we are offered ONLY Monsanto’s POISONS on the grocery shelf.
CORN SUGAR IS ALSO LINKED WITH HEART DISEASE, WHICH IS THE #2 KILLER OF AMERICANS.
WE MUST STOP MONSANTO…
Peace…
Chris
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By: Chris on June 10, 2013
at 12:38 PM
pf: there was never a need to brandish…the editor and i discussed, sometimes we went to the publisher to discuss…we always came up w/a solution. it was not, however, that the editor had the final word. that was my point.
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By: penny abrams on June 10, 2013
at 12:30 PM
Fesser – In the second paragraph, change “they” to “he or she,” to provide consistency with the third person singular (“the author”) used in the preceding paragraph. Also change “their book” to “his or her book,” for the same reason.
Using “they” is unclear here. If, in saying “they,” you are referring to the publisher, that word is, indeed, commonly used as an implied plural, even though it is technically a singular noun. But, of course, since the word “publisher” appears in neither the quote to which you refer, nor in your response itself, there is no antecedent referenced.
Both editors and authors are bound by contracts with a publisher, even those working for pay on a freelance basis. Although specific terms may very contract by contract, it is the publisher who generally has the final word on whether or not a book is printed, distributed, and promoted. After all, it is known commonly as “the publishing business,” rather than “the editing business,” or even “the authoring business.”
In that sense, I think we can agree that it is, in fact, the publisher who most often has the final decision-making authority on all publishing decisions – even on whether or not to “pull” a particular book.
I hope that clarifies things a bit.
Also, may I suggest that you look for some more interesting way to end so many of your posts, other than a “statement,” followed by an unnecessary “question”?
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 10, 2013
at 12:29 PM
The only problem, lori, is that I don’t have a single registered firearm (and I have an arsenal), nor can I name a single individual who owns any registered guns whatsoever.
Looks like the gun-grabbers drilled a dry hole, eh?
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By: PFesser on June 10, 2013
at 11:59 AM
lori – It’s hilarious to see you try to spin the NSA domestic spying scandal as a left-right issue – with, of course, the Left in the, er…right.
Believe me, the conservatives are doing plenty of self-examination and saying to themselves, “We could have stopped this, and didn’t.” As a Libertarian, I find both of you culpable, with only we Libertarians saying, STOP THIS CRAZY TRAIN! when it could be easily stopped.
The erstwhile “nannies” on the left and the “daddies” on the right share equally the responsibility for this abortion called PATRIOT Act. One side wants a fascist hegemony, the other a socialist one. The only difference is how they plan to seize everyone’s rights. Not a nickel’s worth of difference otherwise.
Now, are we going continue to play sixth-grade blame games and let this abomination continue, or are we going to work together – Left, Right, Libertarian – and do something about it? I’m ready to roll up my sleeves. You?
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By: PFesser on June 10, 2013
at 11:57 AM
ok last post for today, I promise. LOL LOL But I couldn’t resist!
Watch out Virginians. The Republican party is gonna open those damn flood gates for the black helicopters to take your guns away! YIKES! Scary stuff!
[Before it becomes the law of the land, Republican Party of Virginia Executive Director Anthony Ready did what he does every year. He FOIAed the name, mailing address, birth date, country of citizenship, telephone number and date of registration of every permit holder in Virginia. The only piece of information they asked to have redacted was the permit holder’s Social Security Number.
This request was dated June 6, 2013 less than a month before the release of this information in this fashion will be illegal in Virginia.]
read all about it. 😉 http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/06/07/1214576/-Shady-government-tied-organization-making-list-of-every-registered-Virginia-gun-owner
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By: lori on June 10, 2013
at 11:54 AM
“as a published author, let me assure you that while the editor has a great deal to say, and edits freely, the author has the final word. ”
Yes, they can pull their book. Of course, depending on the contract, that could be a real problem, couldn’t it?
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By: PFesser on June 10, 2013
at 11:49 AM
my son has an interesting way of refocusing discussions; he asks, do we want to do an autopsy or do we want to decide what to do with the body?
while reviewing the autopsy might be of value so we don’t repeat mistakes, i think the goal is what to do with the ‘body’. after all, here we are now and we can’t go back anyway.
i agree with those who oppose the patriot acts, both of them; i agree that left or right any extreme is an obstacle to progress; i agree that our education of late seems to have ignored or given short shrift to classes in american history and government.
we can dismantle (i hope, and pray) the patriot acts. we can improve our education. its doable. it takes hard and persistent work and will take time, i grant you.
even extremists have rights (i’m trying to smile) and we must protect everyone’s rights.
i do think that the one thing we can do right now, all of us, this moment, is to receive whatever information there is and consider it BEFORE the anger and fear take over.
if you will recall the last weeks on this blog alone, you will see the trend to anger (partly out of fear) that is taking over what might otherwise be sane and logical thought.
if you pay sharp attention you will see the various politicos jockeying for power all seek that fear button and push it til it breaks.
of what are we afraid? someone might have more? we might have less? someone’s going to take yours? so you may as well take theirs first? really take away the gloss of fancy words and look for the meanings.
does it hurt you that the run-down school in the next town gets repaired first? or is it a sign that we’re ready to repair all the schools? if we don’t help the victims of storm sandy, will we help the victims of oklahoma tornados…or you when your frightening weather hits?
there is such a larger picture that we are losing. this nation is geographically rich, huge, full of opportunites, enough for all IF we all help one another. it’s such a simple fact of life.
the farmer’s grange, like the labor unions, started out with all good intentions, staffed by good people, working for the benefit of all. everyone got a shot. everyone could make a living.
it’s when a few had more and then misused that more that the problems began and the problems were of ‘separation’ of the classes of ‘most’ and ‘not enough’. it could’ve been enough and a little more. or more than enough and some more than that.
and we let it happen. it just doesn’t sprout. we let it happen by buying into the me first attitude.
were we ‘hip’ with fashion, did we jet set, did most of us ‘do’ broadway or read all the latest books or know what moules gribiche on the menu was? no. and that was ok. it was truly ok, with all of us.
i’m old enough to have lived in neigborhoods of returning veterans, small houses in rows (like the monopoly game), little yards; everyone sharing cars to get to work or do errands; baby sitting for one another so doctor visits could be arranged or emergencies taken care of; cooking for one another when someone was really ill or hauling in your neighbor’s laundry when it started to rain or everyone joining to put up one garage after another; block parties where the dads grilled the food and the moms kept count of the children. bucolic? yes. saturday evening post? yes. peaceful, yes. we argued politics with respect. we valued one another. altho we are not catholic my children were taught to play quietly on Easter sunday and that Christmas was a special holiday for some of their friends and we invited those friends to celebrate our holidays with us. it was a normal, respectful, way to live with neighbors.
we cared about one another. as humans. as sentient beings. it didn’t matter who john voted for, if his family was hungry how much could you stuff into your face without sharing? it was a natural reaction to share life with one another.
we have lost the value of life. of respect. it doesn’t matter who you are or how much you have or even if your name is monsanto at one time or another you will feel exactly like i have. and i, you.
i am asking all of you to give up the vitriol and find another way to express yourself. hate takes so much energy. anger blinds us in so many ways.
i hope no one is offended by my presuming to ‘guide’ you to what i see as a smoother and more joyful road.
in love and light, pennyabrams
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By: penny abrams on June 10, 2013
at 11:46 AM
Ut oh Hillary Clinton is now on twitter. A sign of things to come??? me thinks soooooo .. take a look at her profile! ;-D
Wife, mom, lawyer, women & kids advocate, FLOAR, FLOTUS, US Senator, SecState, author, dog owner, hair icon, pantsuit aficionado, glass ceiling cracker, TBD…
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By: lori on June 10, 2013
at 11:32 AM
Right on, Penny – Editors weigh in on grammar, punctuation, and so on (as The Lord of Erudition In All Things feels free to do here on a regular basis, with anything anyone else posts – and occasionally even Himself). A good editor will quickly grasp an author’s style, and evaluate accordingly. I’m sure James Joyce even had an “editor” for “Ulysses”!
And, as you point out, the best work comes out of a mutually respectful dialogue between author and editor – with the author having final say, at least until the publisher takes a look… Then there can sometimes be another interesting “dialogue”…
Have to remember that some people inevitably feel that the particular thing they are doing at the moment is not only the Most Important Thing In The Universe, but that they are also the absolutely most knowledgeable individual about that subject, whatever it is.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 10, 2013
at 11:26 AM
F&F Delurker.. I sure do… don’t think there is a snowballs chance in hell it will happen, buttttt I sure would like to see it happen.
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By: lori on June 10, 2013
at 11:14 AM
I do think it’s OUTRAGEOUS but it’s not a SCANDAL, KWIM? It’s been outrageous since the currently-screeching critters approved it, and as they repeatedly renewed it. The scandal spin sure seems to be working in my corner of the world, though. I hope we can get a handle on that but the media works against us. ZOMG! Cell phone data isn’t private? Uh – no – even your weather app knows where you are. Do these people think it’s a coincidence that ads are delivered that happen to match items you’ve been looking at recently? We don’t have privacy.
The Patriot Act and Citizens United BOTH need to go. I think it’s time to say “I told you so!”, don’t you?
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By: delurkergurl on June 10, 2013
at 11:08 AM
pf: as a published author, let me assure you that while the editor has a great deal to say, and edits freely, the author has the final word. everyone of my contracts reads that way. i would never give up that final word. grammar, structure, etc are all-important until they get in the way of the intent of the author. most often editor and i have debated and compromised. the final word? fat chance.
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By: penny abrams on June 10, 2013
at 10:59 AM
yeah I know Pi, different but still all the same.
Have fun outside! LOL
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By: lori on June 10, 2013
at 10:12 AM
different issues here lori. will see if I can find some info if I can sneak a bit of time (good weather , especially in the long light, means one MUST work on outdoor projects here since they stack up in all the not-good weather 🙂 )
gato- please note as you hunt round about the VRA case that each of the covered entities can opt out by meeting the law. also, that Congress in 2006 found problems still big enough to reauthorize the pertinent sections for 25 more years instead of their earlier 5 yr reauths.
and yes- hand in hand with redistricting fiascos… at least here it is.
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By: alaskapi on June 10, 2013
at 10:08 AM
Hey, Cynthia – LOVED the “revised” children’s books! And was extremely bummed by the now-and-then food varieties chart…
But thanks for both!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 10, 2013
at 9:38 AM
Hi, Pi, and Lori – I haven’t been paying any attention to the SCOTUS case involving Shelby County, but thanks to the two of you, I now am! Appreciate the heads up. I’m somehow thinking this is right in there with the vigorous “redistricting” activities that the right is (ever so quietly, but diligently and continuously) pursuing…
Remember when all the Real ‘Murrican Patriots really LIKED “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free…”? What on earth did they think was going to happen when that invitation was accepted, legally and not…? Did they think it actually meant “Give me your tired, under- appreciated Caucasian men, your poor WASPs, your huddled masses of European descendants, so long as they’re not Italian or Irish, yearning to be free…”?
I’m right with you, though, in suspicion toward Monsanto, and all the other big agribusiness corporations. The things that make me the most furious are their objection to even labeling GMO products, AND not allowing farmers to keep any seed, once they’ve bought the accursed stuff and have to use it. Refusing to allow that is like a dog breeder selling a bitch to someone, only on the condition that he/she then has to additionally give back, or pay for, any puppies she produces…
Engineered “high-yield” crops may, indeed, produce the higher yields they promise – but, most often, with the cost of greatly diminished nutritional value. So fine; you now need to eat four cups of “frankenwheat” to get the same true food value out you would get from one cup of the “old-fashioned” item – and at four times the cost, of course! Guess who benefits from that…?
Also, the biggest problem for most agriculturally difficult countries is usually a combination of depleted soil from over-farming, and LACK OF WATER. Although “drought-resistant” crops are touted, at some point, nothing will grow, anywhere, without sufficient water. I recently read a very interesting book by Jeffrey D. Sachs, called “Common Wealth,” in which he spends a fair amount of time talking about hunger, starvation, and what might possibly be done about it. Monoculture is a disaster, for many reasons, and there are endless ways to provide much more efficient irrigation, soil replenishment, and so on – just planting the same “high-yield” crop, over and over again, and losing vast amounts of water through evaporation and inefficiency, is a short-term “solution,” at best. Every home gardener worth her beans (such as yourself, Pi) knows that full well.
Anyway, it’s quite a thought-provoking book. Sachs is an economist, BTW, and may or not be a certified tree hugger!
Ironically, given this subject matter, we are anticipating our fourth straight day of rain around here in the northeast US of A…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 10, 2013
at 9:33 AM
Pi, all
RE: the SCOTUS decision in Shelby County, Alabama case.
As everyone knows, lol, I have been working with BGTX for the last couple of months now. After being out of TX for a few years I wasn’t aware until I became involved with BGTX of the changes that were made to TX law regarding how and WHO can assist people in the registration process.
In 2011 the TX legislature passed a law requiring people to become “deputized” in order to assist people in the voter registration process. A person needs to go through a rather long application process and then pending “approval” by the government a person then must take a 3 day class, held in the middle of the work week/day, only then, can a TX resident become a “voter registrar”. What a load of crap.. isn’t it? I hear tell there are lawsuits pending. Surely this goes against the voter rights act of ’65 … but in the mean time we are hauling butt to these “classes”…. grrrrrr
If anyone EVER questioned the need to vote DEMOCRATIC party line in ALL levels of politics there is a prime example.
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By: lori on June 10, 2013
at 9:32 AM
NSA Surveillance as seen through children’s books.
http://juanitajean.com/2013/06/09/oh-crap-its-almost-monday-morning-relief/#comments
http://www.upworthy.com/we-used-to-have-307-kinds-of-corn-guess-how-many-are-left?c=tkp1
Answer: Once had 307 varieties of corn – now we have 12
Check out how many varieties of vegetables we once had and how many we now have.
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 10, 2013
at 9:20 AM
Pi I have been thinking of you as I too await the findings of the SCOTUS decision in Shelby County, Alabama thing. Geeeze.. fingers crossed!
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By: lori on June 10, 2013
at 8:46 AM
Good morning friends!
I’ve been outta da loop for a few days and haven’t read many posts so if I am repeating what has been already said I apologize in advance!
It has been an interesting week watching members of the GOP base turn to the extreme left on issues we Progressives have been furious about for years! I distinctly remember being outraged May – 2006 when the USA Today reported the “National Security Agency had been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth”. And before that in 2005 when the New York Times broke the story that the NSA had been collecting data on American citizens without a court order. The Bush administration officials insist at that time, the collection was VITAL in breaking up terrorist plots, it also marked a new OVER EXPANSION of NSA authority – directly listening to American citizens.
Yeah, I remember being really pissed. I was also pissed when GOP’s in congress, TWICE voted to keep all this stuff secret secret… BUttttt I guess desperate times call for desperate measures for the GOP. When you know you are going down, throw everything you got at the wall and see what sticks I guess. Try and manufacture as much outrage and “scandal” as you can. But at what cost for your future candidates is the question?
Personally, I will REALLLLLY enjoy watching the GOP get their tightie whities in a knot trying to navigate their way through this national dialogue our President has called for. Politically, this is a far far far worse problem for the GOP than it is the Dems and their potential 2016 candidates. Paul better watch is Ps&Qs if he wants his base with him in the run up to the election. He will need their money & support. He can’t turn too much to the left on this issue. But Paul being Paul, like his Father, will indeed do just that.
This is not what a political advisor would call a “one issue vote”. Meaning, there aren’t many voters out their that will make this issue a litmus test for their candidate and even if they did – the Dem candidate will surely hold the same position. It’s a no net gain for sure and potentially a loss for the GOP candidate when it comes to their cred on “keeping the country safe”. Paul won’t be able to count on picking off Progressive voters for this issue, especially considering Paul’s horrid civil rights record. So if Paul loses his base by over reaching on this issue????? He is in big big trouble IMHO.
I’m popping my corn and watching! As usual the GOP is over playing their hand in their manufactured outrage and SCANDAL! LOL LOL I love it!
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By: lori on June 10, 2013
at 8:44 AM
Life is busy here in the short Alaskan summer so haven’t been by here for a bit.
Sure hope to hear from Helen and Margaret soon…
Congratulations James and family!Sending very best wishes for the new grand girlie and all of you.
PFesser-
there are tons of links at :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto
There are no really unbiased accounts of Monsanto and its products but attention to detail provides a decent picture if you read widely enough. Some of the studies and info provide specific criteria for judgment, others not so much but generally, as with other human endeavors, enough looking round makes the criteria obvious.
Yes, they are very aggressive. They are also firmly entwined in policy and law making as regards agricultural issues. One can argue they engage in “crony capitalism” at the least and prop up one side of an “iron triangle ” as well.
There are multiple issues of concern with their products, many of which we haven’t had a true public discussion about. If you track down the glyphosate info, you will see there are concerns about monoculture ( notoriously vulnerable in unaccounted for stressor environments), reformulation made necessary by resistant weed varieties, concerns about ability to cross pollinate across Roundup ready seeds and non-GMO seeds, etc.
Personally- I’m anti monolithic corporation having too much say in how the rest of us do business and one that sues endlessly about how they might be done harm whilst only trying to earn their lil bucks here and there tick me off big time.
BTW, when there are multiple conversations going on, it is not a red herring to bring up yet another point of conversation. Is only when there is a limited conversation and something is brought up to answer THAT that a red herring can occur.
lori- waiting for SCOTUS decision in Shelby County, Alabama case. Our dippo Governor joined the suit. Whatever happens will have huge consequences here.
Best to all.
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By: alaskapi on June 10, 2013
at 8:41 AM
James – congrats to you and yours. Your wife’s intuition that “something is wrong” bothered me greatly. I have had personal experience with something very similar to that; it turned out to be right. I always pooh-poohed “women’s intuition” but boy, sometimes it seems to be right on.
Changing gears: I ran across an article on Monsanto this morning. Guess you don’t notice things most of the time until you are looking for them:
http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/liberty-our-times/2013/jun/9/let-free-market-not-fearmongering-dictate-gmo-poli/
Seems pretty partisan, but makes some good points; personal “Monsanto” research goes on. So far, Monsanto seems to be a pretty big player with a real reputation for aggression. Hmmm…….
Changing again: I see that the govt has begun its smear campaign against the NSA whistleblower. Of course the first process is to turn public sentiment against him. (Remember how Clinton began calling Monica Lewinsky a “predator” – that’s a laugh – until he found out she had certain “DNA” evidence?)
Sometimes this “transparent” administration is really transparent as a windowpane, especially in revealing their baser instincts. I wonder if they will get him with a drone, before he is convicted of anything, since that’s now our official policy. I see that Michael Moore and Glenn Beck are BOTH raising hell. When two polar opposites like that join forces, or at least agree, it is possible – just possible – that we could repeal this crazy PATRIOT Act.
partial dup @ Rutherford’s
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By: PFesser on June 10, 2013
at 6:32 AM
Grandma pleaded: SpankMe!
No thanks, Granny; I don’t do sex games with the elderly; it’s too disgusting.
Then Grandma proceeds to wax eloquent about proofreaders: “speaking of proofreading…”
We’re not speaking of proofreading; only you are doing that. You are confusing proofreaders with editors. They are two very different creatures. Look it up. It’s in the dictionary.
And then goes on: “Few among us however would take the eugenics stance to hasten the extinction of any species including “Homo Sapiens” through either greed or ignorance.”
What? That whole sentence makes no sense. It’s just word salad; sounds like Sarah Palin. “Eugenics stance?” What the hell are you talking about?
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By: PFesser on June 10, 2013
at 6:17 AM
James..
Congratulations…
I will continue to pray for your baby girl.
God Bless Your Family!
Chris
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By: Chris on June 9, 2013
at 10:58 PM
Thanks all for the good wishes. Our grand daughter is beautiful. She had been crying and as I held her for over two hours, she fell asleep She weighs 6 pounds 14 ounces and has reddish hair.
Our daughter told us our grand daughter nearly died because the embylical cord was tied around her neck, and she came out bluish. Doctors told them something wrong with the placenta could have killed her too. Her head is a little small, but she does have nasal bone.
They are trying to get a urine sample, but the nurse couldn’t say why. She didn’t understand the code. The first attempt failed while we were there. Both parents are drained after having little sleep. We cleaned their house, took care of their dog who had been alone for ten hours and visited with our son in law’s parents after they arrived.
My wife is leaving again tonight to stay with a friend who had rotator cuff surgery six days ago. Tomorrow, we will be back in Omaha to see the kid and to help take care of the dog.
So far, the parents haven’t named the girl yet. Our son suggested a raffle to sell chances to name our grand daughter. Ha!
We lost a child too. I’m sorry for your loss.
After seven months of worry, we are happy and relieved.
Thank you again, everyone.,
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By: James on June 9, 2013
at 10:53 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Speaking of proofreading, we had a very dear friend for many years who was a proofreader for a major publishing house. Talk about a dream job!!! To sit all day and read great books, often before they were released, and get paid for it!!! One of the books our friend proofed was Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring.” Some say her book was instrumental in beginning the environmental movement’s awareness of the damage being done to eco-systems world-wide. It resulted, for one, with the banning of deadly DDT in 1972. This has expanded exponentially now to include other factors such as acidification and pollutagens in the oceans from land sources.
Who among sentient beings, in the sense of both Western and Eastern Philosophies here at M&H’s are not acquainted with the concepts and progression of natural evolution~mutations~extinction. Few among us however would take the eugenics stance to hasten the extinction of any species including “Homo Sapiens” through either greed or ignorance.
Perhaps SpankMe could benefit from a post-doctoral tutorial on the “Replacement”, “Assimilation” and/or “Hybridization Theories” into the sources of “Homo Sapiens” based on recent DNA analysis. Anthropologist, Geneticists and other scientific disciplines are still trying to figure out where we came from. So what makes us so cock sure we know where we are going.
Aloha! Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 9, 2013
at 10:41 PM
Gato and PF..
Here is link talking about French Study of RATs on GMO’s.
http://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2013/05/01
It speaks of splicing bacteria, and other foreign items to the fruits and vegetables. BAD ….BAD…Stuff..
Peace.
Chris
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By: Chris on June 9, 2013
at 10:41 PM
PFESSER…
Here is what can be found on Coast to Coast..
For Monsanto GMO’s
http://www.coasttocoastam.com/search/?search=Search&query=Monsantohttp://www.coasttocoastam.com/search/?search=Search&query=Monsanto
Please check out this info.
This is for everyone sittin on the porch swing…
Peace…Chris
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By: Chris on June 9, 2013
at 10:32 PM
often send, not sending
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By: PFesser on June 9, 2013
at 9:21 PM
Grandma opined: “An “editor” would not dare to tamper with the content of an author’s creative work. Often a writer uses colloquial language to express him/herself.”
You, my geriatric darling, are full of shit. Editors often rewrite long sections of copy, and they have the final say about what is published, not the author. They often sending large sections back for rewrites, with instructions on how it needs to look. Or, as above, they rewrite it themselves. That’s their job. If a colloquialism is appropriate, it stays; if not, then not. Editor’s call, nobody else’s.
Stick with what you know – whatever that is. I suggest piano-playing. You should be safe there.
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By: PFesser on June 9, 2013
at 9:20 PM
Gato….
And….
Here is an article from Food Inc.. Site..
I get emails from them..
It is from the Food Inc. Movie
This is concerning the King Korn Movie….
http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/06/05/diy-artisanal-high-fructose-corn-syrup?cmpid=tpfood-eml-2013-06-08-Bolivia
Peace…Chris
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By: Chris on June 9, 2013
at 8:29 PM
Hey, Chris – I’m not sure you need to do anyone’s homework for him or her, but if you’re willing, god bless. I did see that doc, “King Corn,” and it’s pretty appalling. No; let me put it another way, more honestly… It’s disgusting.
And we eat this…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 9, 2013
at 6:14 PM
Penny…
I am sorry for your misunderstanding about me.
I am a woman, not a gay woman.
Not that there is anything wrong with gay women.
If there was some type of misinformation, or misrepresentation, on my part, I apologize.
Peace…
Chris
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By: Chris on June 9, 2013
at 6:06 PM
Which version of the phone book, Auntie Jean? I have volumes by various publishers. Remember when they promised us a paperless world? lol. I think they only succeeded in making paper less valuable. Where would we be without our instant messaging? My google works as a phone book anymore, and this way I get the supervision of the government and custom marketing to aid in my searches. Can it get better than this?
Remember when phones were something you had to go find? It was a much bigger world.
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By: poolman on June 9, 2013
at 6:04 PM
PFesser…
I will check and see if there is any other info available, but, Monsanto is HUGELY powerful, and stop the advertising of anything negative towards themselves, and other chemical companies.
There is one documentary called FOOD INC.
The movie was on Public Television, a couple of years ago, until Monsanto, being a sponsor of public television, pulled the movie from the website, within a few weeks.
One could go online to watch it, before the Monster MONSANTO pulled e documentary, which is why it is very hard to find information against them, except online.
There are 5 major Multinational Agra food growers and processors. These
Corporations who grow and process most of the worlds foods. They ALL use the same poisoned GM seeded foods, with Roundup and pesticides and preservatives, which we ( average people ) are marketed in ALL the mainstream grocers.
Monsanto provides the corn (GM) which the chicken growers feed the baby chicks. They grow in ungodly crowded conditions, with no areas in which to walk, making the poor chicks legs weak. The abhorent conditions are shown in this documentary, with the GM corn making them sickly, yet, obese with large breasts to satisfy the consumers.
Our people are obese and just as sickly as the poor chickens…
We did not have the great numbers of obese people in America, until corn syrup was added to the sodas in the 1980’s.
Now, the majority of Americans are sickly and obese from the FRUCTOSE GM CORN SYRUP..
The problem is not only do we have GM corn, we have GM EVERY FOOD SOURCE….with no way to stop them.
The lady farmer in the documentary allowed the film crew to view her farm, knowing her contract with chicken growers would be cancelled once the documentary was released. Of course, that happened. THE CHICKENS ATE MONSANTO GM CORN as their feed. Beef was also shown, and we’re sent to slaughter sickly with the antiboitics they we shot up with, as well.
WE EAT THESE FOODS? IS IT NO WONDER WE ARE DYING FROM CANCER ? AND THE NUMBERS ARE EVER GROWING !!!!!!
I am reiterating some same info from above…
She allowed her farm site to be photographed, for the documentary showing the ungodly crowding of the chicks, the nasty conditions under which the chicks are raised, showing how the chicks grew so fat with large breasts that their poor little legs would not allow them to stand.
Our people have the same medical conditions, as the poor chickens and beef, having eaten this GM corn based and other GM vegetables and fruits.
Obesity is an absolute for ALL who consumption of the GM produced foods.
Look around. That is what is filling the grocery store shelves.
That is ALL that the average family can afford.
They took work and money away to devastate America, and the world in order to force them to die a long painful death, or, die of starvation, which is the norm in much of the world today.
20 % of our own American children go to bed hungry. What will happen to them, when all they are offered is the GM foods.. That is where we are heading. ( actually, we are ALL offered this poison, as a primary choice of foods )
PF..I will patch you into some info on Monsanto..I will look.
Most of what is to be found is farmers reporting..TO OTHER THAN MAINSTREAM MEDIA, as Monsanto does not let the negative info out of their hands and sue the organic farmers that come up against them..and put GAG orders against them, as well.
Peace..
Chris
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By: Chris on June 9, 2013
at 5:51 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
It’s gratifying to hear that the PFesser has at long last found gainful employment as an “editor”. It has been my experience that the “job” of a proofreader is to spot errors in spelling and occasionally syntax AFTER publication. It is not the same as grading classroom papers. An “editor” would not dare to tamper with the content of an author’s creative work. Often a writer uses colloquial language to express him/herself.
Any “editor” who would even attempt such a breach of professionalism would prompt instant dismissal by management.
Now, back to my reading the phone book, page by page. I’m up to the “G’s”!!!
Aloha! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 9, 2013
at 5:42 PM
I also say that grandchildren are our reward for allowing our children to live through their difficult years! I lost two preemies so I don’t say that lightly. Those were dark years but we ended up with three healthy children.
Prayers for you, James, and your family that all is well.
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By: Terry W on June 9, 2013
at 5:04 PM
Why not just look around on the web, like the rest of us do?
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 9, 2013
at 4:13 PM
James…
God Bless You, and your entire family.
I will pray for your family..
Peace….
Chris
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By: Chris on June 9, 2013
at 4:05 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Congratulations to James’ and his wife’s daughter and son-in-law on the birth of their child. It reminds me of our favorite refrigerator magnet.
“If we had known that grandchildren were so much fun, we would have had them first!”
Aloha! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 9, 2013
at 3:49 PM
Anon…
I type on an iPad, and sometimes spelling is corrected, sometimes not.
It is not always corrected. The same goes for punctuation, and grammar.
I just type away.
The contents which I attempt to communicate are much more important than the manner in which it is presented.
Anon….when I write my books, you may proofread for me.
I could hire you to do that.
This am before leaving for church, I wrote PFesser a good report on the info from the late night radio show….and the iPad swallowed it up….not yet to be found. ( George Noory )
I will rewrite the info hopefully today.
iPads are great tools for instant messaging, but not so for long notes and letters.
Peace…
Chris
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By: Chris on June 9, 2013
at 3:44 PM
Officials sought to quash or downplay public criticism of key firms and negotiations between the seed companies and foreign governments “over issues like patents and intellectual property,” Reuters said, citing the report.
As if marketing to U.S. consumers wasn’t enough, now Monsanto wants to bring GM foods to the rest of the planet – and make you pay for the effort.
According to cables, U.S. diplomats were acting as surrogates for Monsanto, which is the world’s leading seed maker, in foreign companies – this after the agri-business giant paid a $1.5 million fine for allegedly bribing an Indonesian official, in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Business Practices Act of 2005.
A cable from 2009 indicates that the U.S. embassy in Spain sought “high-level U.S. government intervention” at the “urgent request” of Monsanto to battle bio-seed opponents in that country, the Food & Water Watch report found.
The report was based primarily on cables sent between 2005-2009 released by Wikileaks in 2010.
This site compiles reports from others with commentary:
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By: poolman on June 9, 2013
at 3:27 PM
Monsanto certainly seems to have a poor reputation. Is there a recent documentary where one can get a (at least somewhat) unbiased report on this huge company?
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By: PFesser on June 9, 2013
at 3:02 PM
Hi, Cynthia – Somehow the idea of being able to “patent” seeds seems a little weird to me, although not entirely unfounded, but the idea of being able to prohibit a grower from keeping seeds from a crop he/she has already harvested, is even more weird…
How do they do that? Do Monsanto reps go around to every farmer’s seed repository and inspect what’s in there? (Actually, it’s not so difficult to imagine that happening, now that I think about it…) And, if they find some secretly-hoarded bunch of seeds, do they confiscate it? Do they say, “Throw that out, or we won’t give you any of our stuff”? It’s doubtful that any large-scale farmer – and that’s pretty much most of what’s left these days – would be able to keep enough seed for the next year’s crop, without some augmentation from somewhere. And I’m guessing that the contract any farmer has to sign with Monsanto, or any other large agribusiness supplier, includes all kinds of restrictions on what the farmer can’t do, along with what he or she must do. All of this has little to do with food, and everything to do with profit, as usual.
And, when you’re the only game in town, you get to make the rules.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 9, 2013
at 2:11 PM
Hi, Penny – You don’t sound that much like a “newbie” to me, must say! I’m sure you already know the wisdom of taking anyone’s description of “what things are like” on this blog, or any single poster’s characterization – including my own – of any other group of posters here, with several BIG grains of Kosher salt, and draw your own conclusions.
Seems like you’re already doing that, and doing it very well. I’m not worried!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 9, 2013
at 1:55 PM
pf: perhaps i didn’t make myself clear. what would be the point of a blog if all agreed? (there’s another term for that which i deem improper here.) even anger can be displayed, emotion, passion, also acceptable. however, nasty insults, name calling, derogatory labels, snide slurs, untruths…are all unacceptable to intelligent conversation/discussion/debate…even harangue.
at tender ages, from baby kakapoopoo to teen m-f***ing a-h is for the streets, for babies and teens, for moms whose kids have just dumped the last half gallon of milk on a thrice washed floor or for dads whose kid has just wiped out the yet unpaid for second hand car.
for intelligent, productive conversation we are short enough of words without limiting ourselves to smutty junk. there are times when i use those words, btw, but not if i want to be understood, nort if i want to understand.
my great grandmother said that one who uses unsavory language exhibits how limited their vocabulary is. lol…she was a divorced mother of (home schooled) three daughters who supported them as a musician, smoked and carted a soap box to the street corners of Boston exhorting people to support women’s suffrage. she was all of 5 ft and maybe weighed 100 lbs. let us say she was not run of the mill.
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By: penny abrams on June 9, 2013
at 12:18 PM
I believe it ignorant to believe that all digital messages have not been preserved for “national security” purpose. I believe where there is the capability there is the actuality. It has been documented by whistleblowers for some time now. That it has overflowed to mainstream is the same reason Bilderberg has. It can’t be denied, but needs to be controlled. Handlers. Marketers. PR. White wash.
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By: poolman on June 9, 2013
at 12:06 PM
once we left our own back/door yards we lost control of what we eat. the baker gets his flour from where? and how does he keep it? who inspects it for living animals? the green grocer’s suppliers grow the produce in what? where? how fresh is it? we know it’s picked for shipping so doesn’t mature sufficiently to give us the best nutrition. the fish industry? it’s all frozen. all. every last shred that u did not personally catch is frozen before u get it. the meat industry? and poultry? if u knew,u would never eat another bit of poultry again. i won’t even go there. how about the processing plants? wanna eat off their floors? u eat out of their machines. then there’s shampoos, toothpastes, mouthwash, deodorant…there’s a good one…specially the ones that stop perspiring…that’s really healthy. we haven’t even mentioned fast foods, movie house popcorn, lunchables…wow…that alone can ruin an entire generation…paper goods which either contain bleach or take your skin off and in any event wind up destroying rain forests. shall i go on? r all ur laundry products green? or r u polluting the earth and water along w/the rest of the world? r u a fanatic about separating ur recyclables and avoiding plastic as much as possible? do u drink bottled water daily? what do u do with unused medications? flush em down the toilet? where do u suppose that goes? and the thing is that if each one of us did what we were supposed to, as close as we can, it would make a shocking difference…shocking!
monsanto? a piddle in the puddle guys.
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By: penny abrams on June 9, 2013
at 11:58 AM
There is no agreement as to what the problem is. That is the problem. So folks, a lot of folks, like problems as they are, because it isn’t their problem… First they came for the Jews, mentality. All these poisonous waters can be followed to the same source, but that source is also the source of that holy paycheck and therefore we dare not reveal or disable it.
That’s the problem in a nutshell, and since all realms of nature operate in similar fashion and function it’s the nut we still fail to crack.
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By: poolman on June 9, 2013
at 11:57 AM
i am praying and vibing for ur baby and that ur wife’s forebodings r a result of worry and fatigue…and sending ur daughter waves of healing white light. keep us posted.
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By: penny abrams on June 9, 2013
at 11:46 AM
i’m sitting here shaking my head…what!
the whole deal here is the coming together of divergent opinions and goals to arrive at a compromise which is best for the entire country. that’s always been the road to take. that’s the job of the congress…state and federal. that’s how we get things done. i give a little,you give a little, no one gets all of what they want, everyone gets some of what they need. this is not rocket science. if you watch little kids play you’ll see it in action all the time. ok, one will agree, you can be the hero but then i’ll be the king…or some such deal. ok, i’ll help u keep ur military base in ur state, u help me get help on our corroding coast line. that’s a good thang folks. that’s how it gets done. each gives a little, each gets a little, the military folk don’t lose their jobs and the coast line is preserved. if neighbors are sharing a fence one will acceed on the color, the other on the material, they put up their fence, they each save money and they each have a fence. i’ll cut ur hair, u hem my pants. same deal. u’ve been making these deals all ur lives. y is this such a pothole now? this is the road. drive it, f’godsake, and get the job done. maaaaaaaaaaaan, wot wud u do if u had a real problem?
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By: penny abrams on June 9, 2013
at 11:44 AM
“besides the actual conversations are not being recorded. the data…phone #s and time on that # are.”
Boy, THAT makes me feel A LOT better…
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By: PFesser on June 9, 2013
at 11:35 AM
it would certainly appear that IRS employees are guilty of theft…of u.s. tax dollars in outrageous expenditures. that does not imply guilt of violation of other laws. no court would accept the guilt of one thing in the charge of another and, unless i’ve forgotten it all, would not even permit mention of a prior guilt declaration. i’m all for finding law breakers, trying them and making sure they pay the penalty. please note order of due process. first you collect the information to accuse, then you accuse, then there is a trial, then a verdict which is sposed to be carried out by the law. if we are a land of laws, which we claim to be, we do not try in public without proper data.
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By: penny abrams on June 9, 2013
at 11:27 AM
lollllllllllllllllll, your comment: “Good morning, Chris. Good morning Mr. Obama, Mr. Holder. (Since we know they are tapping all the phones and every blog conversation)” reminded me of the day my 3 year old first born came into the kitchen looking very worried. he told me that his little playmate from next door told him that jesus would shrink his thumb if he kept sucking it. i splained him that jesus was much too busy w/important things to worry about one little boy’s thumb.
besides the actual conversations are not being recorded. the data…phone #s and time on that # are. i dunno how many times you need to learn that one.
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By: penny abrams on June 9, 2013
at 11:20 AM
pennyabrams- By your own admission you are new to this game, so I’ll give you a little leg up:
Yes, theoretically it is the proper thing to do, to turn the other cheek and ignore attacks. But I am NOT new to the game, and Real Life experience shows that if you allow attacks to go unanswered, it only serves to embolden the attackers and they get worse. There have been some fine people leave this blog because the moment they suggested that there might be two sides to the argument, the Liberal-at-all-costs crowd started piling on them.
Just FYI – I don’t care much for bullies – man or woman. Mobs and mob mentality don’t scare me much either; I can take them all on simultaneously or one at a time; doesn’t matter to me — that DOES seem a bit of a problem for the few nags and bigots who call M&H home. If you perceive that as not being nice, sorry about that.
There ARE AT LEAST two sides to everything, and as long as I am permitted to remain here, contrary opinions will be heard. Attacks will be met with force, niceness and frank discussion met with the same kind of seriousness and respect. That’s just how it is. If and when I’m gone, the bullies can take over again; won’t be my problem then.
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By: PFesser on June 9, 2013
at 11:16 AM
how does one address only one of this blog group? i.e. if i want to ask a more personal question of, say, jeanne, how do i do that?
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By: penny abrams on June 9, 2013
at 11:05 AM
are you serious? are you out of your mind? or just deluded? u speak of ur wife, and ur a woman—today. o, wait…ok, i apologize. of course you can have a wife and be a woman. see what this crazy blog has done to me? i leapt before i even thought. o, chris, forgive me…i also ask forgiveness of ur wife. how stupid of me. o, gee, i am embarrassed, something that doesn’t often happen to me…to be so insensitive and i thought i was so liberal and accepting…i really did…i am! i never, ever really cared about a person’s color, ethnicity, religion or lack thereof, social or financial position—none of that—it was something we never learned growing up—that a person is prescribed by genitalia or heritage. sheesh. i always saw what was there and didn’t care…not one whit…and i don’t now. i’m sorry chris.
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By: penny abrams on June 9, 2013
at 11:03 AM
this is the first blog i ever spent time and energy on. at first i found it marvelous. specially my contemporary margaret and helen…where are they lately? hope they didn’t get my cold…it’s a terror, still.
then those who will be devious, insulting, and plain mean became very active. at first i responded. then, mostly, i stopped.
this is not how i imagined a blog to be; why lower myself to those who obfuscate and denigrate? i took hope and encouragement from those who said what i was thinking…but mostly they didn’t do what they said…they carried on ‘the war’ one way or another.
so is all this a comment on our society? is this pettiness the root of all our evils? beginnin’ to look that way.
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By: penny abrams on June 9, 2013
at 10:53 AM
PF. You’re such a big phony.
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By: Anonymous on June 9, 2013
at 10:23 AM
Pussy Anonymous asked: “PF. Please explain why Chris’s posts are not subjected to the same spelling/ grammar scrutiny as others.”
If you are nice to others, they will be nice to you. If you are a bitch, they will take your head off. Right now I make my living as an editor, and your English skills are so poor that it’s just the easiest way to nail you. Laziness, I suppose…
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By: PFesser on June 9, 2013
at 10:10 AM
Congratulations Grandpa James and Grandma James! Hope all is positive and good news.
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By: Cynthia on June 9, 2013
at 9:58 AM
PF. Please explain why Chris’s posts are not subjected to the same spelling/ grammar scrutiny as others.
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By: Anonymous on June 9, 2013
at 8:59 AM
As James mentioned Monsanto does not allow a farmer to keep the seeds from this year’s crop to plant next year’s crop thus allowing him to save money. He must buy seeds each year allowing Monsanto to control the price and the supply. As Gato mentioned there is evidence Round-up may cause cancer. And you may be interested to know that Monsanto has invested in cancer treatment clinics.
You should see the movie/video King Corn for information. In the 70’s? Earl Butz felt we should pay farmers to plant rather than not plant. He wanted cheap food so there would be no hungry people. So farmers planted a variety of corn that can not be eaten but must be processed into high fructose corn syrup to be consumed. If you read the labels in your kitchen cabinets you will find most every thing contains HFCS. So Mr. Butz got his wish for cheap food but it is actually killing us. HFCS has been linked to obesity, diabetes and more??. The hamburger you eat and the soda you drink you’re really consuming corn.
IMO Monsanto controls a part of our food supply, along with Commercial Ag. We have lost the control over what we eat.
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 9, 2013
at 8:31 AM
I had already read the article, and also the comments from readers of Mother Jones who suggested it is time for liberals and conservatives to unite.
Nothing matters now. Our grand daughter was born about ten minutes ago. This has been a pregnancy filled with foreboding and stress. The specialist said “you just cant’ seem to catch a break.” He also said he had no clue about what was happening to the at risk baby. They were being checked every other day after last month.
Then, our daughter was potentially at risk. The baby decided to come early, and it didn’t take long. She is being tested for any worrisome conditions right now.
My wife said she woke at six this morning with the feeling of a disturbance in the force.
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By: James on June 9, 2013
at 8:15 AM
Wow, Cynthia – I hadn’t read the whole article. Absolutely the best thing I’ve read so far. Here is, IMHO the operative quote:
“This isn’t a argument about how tyranny is inevitable. It is an attempt to grab America by the shoulders, give it a good shake, and say: Yes, it could happen here, with enough historical amnesia, carelessness, and bad luck. We’re not special. Our voters won’t always pick good men and women to represent us. Some good women will be corrupted by power, and some bad men will slip through. Other democracies have degraded into quasi-authoritarian states; they didn’t expect that to happen until it was too late to stop. We have safeguards to prevent us from following in their footstep. Stop casting them off because you fear al-Qaeda. Stop tempting fate.”
Amen. Let Libertarians (like me) and their Liberal and Conservative friends come together to bring this abomination to an end. It means nothing less than the fate of our Republic.
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By: PFesser on June 9, 2013
at 8:01 AM
Cole Younger was not in my family tree, though people around here still repeat old legends about him and the James gang.
A member of the Hole in the Wall gang (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) is buried in our county. He lived here for awhile and had relatives. Johnny Carson also still has relatives in our county, and my father knew his grandfather “Kit.”
My mother’s side of the family were Viking enforcers in the Outer Hebrides A term (family name) Justice is still recorded in history.
My father’s part of the family was on the wrong side of the Salem Witchcraft trials.
Geneology can uncover many rascals.
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By: James on June 9, 2013
at 7:49 AM
I agree with Cynthia’s Atlantic Magazine quote.
I also agree with delurkergurl that killing or altering the Patriot Act would require the cooperation of people who voted for it.
I am not defending Monsanto. I am mentioning cause and effect,.
Tornadoes are reported more frequently than they once were so we now have more tornadoes than we once did, though we really don’t
More people have Alzheimer’s disease than they once did, but part of the upsurge is due to better reporting and longevity The connection is not necessarily all from Monsanto’s genetically altered seeds. That doesn’t mean some of the increase is Monsanto’s fault.
Monsanto fills a need, and they produce the seed because it earns them a lot of money. Not only can they sell the seed but they can sell the pesticides which protect the crops.
The price of a bag of corn seed was once $20 or $30, and now it can be over $200. Now, a farmer in effect buys a license to use the seed and can get into trouble if he/she saves some of the seed to plant next year’s crop. They used to do it with non-hybrid crops like soybeans and wheat.
The higher price is not entirely due to Monsanto, of course, The seeds, like modern cars are better and naturally more valuable than they used to be. However, companies like Monsanto make a ton of money,.
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By: James on June 9, 2013
at 7:36 AM
good post, Cynthia. Thanks for the info. It’s good to see the libs and conservatives in America working together for once. It’s critically important to do so; these frontal assaults on the Constitution are alarming to say the least. Terrifying might be a better word. And yes, it started with Bush-the-Lesser, but Obama can stop it, if he will.
gato – I’m not defending Monsanto; I don’t know much about it, but nearly everything, except maybe water, is carcinogenic in a high enough dose over a long enough period of time. What were the conditions of the experiment suggesting carcinogenesis? Can you point us to the data?
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By: PFesser on June 9, 2013
at 7:34 AM
I wrote before that the NSA spying may be legal and is in a different class than other administration scandals( without quotation marks). If we give the administration the benefit of the doubt, rouge elements have committed malicious acts while other parts of the administration have displayed incompetence and a broken chain of communication.
Given the administration’s poor record, the NSA’s collecting everything from private phone conversations to credit card records is a legitimate cause for concern. For example, are the judicial restraints legitmate or are they rubber stamps? As I wrote earlier, Mother Jones charges that a secret court opinion ruled part of the NSA action to be unconstitutional.
The IRS can’t even find its records of over spending for parties and conferences. Are we sure the NSA data is so secure that foreigners cannot hack into the storage vaults?
Delurkergurl cited Senator Marco Rubio who wasn’t upset about the revelations. I produced others who were. They, by themselves are not relevant. How the NSA operates and the safeguards it uses are relevant. We need to know how it can safeguard itself from an incompetent administration now and in the future.
Congress people have shown bi- partisan support for and concerns about the present operation, Discussion was muted because the eves dropping was secret, I heard on the news this morning that the entire House will look at this and discuss the pros and cons. That is what we need.
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By: James on June 9, 2013
at 7:17 AM
Well, Fesser, one of the things to know about Monsanto is that both their “weed killer” Roundup, AND their very own GMO “Roundup-resistant corn” (which is now 70% of the corn grown in this country) have both been found to be carcinogenic in lab-tested animals.
Now, why would they manufacture anything like that, and risk being in “a world of trouble”…? $$$$$$$, plain and simple. With enough money, you can fight that potential “world of trouble” for a very long (and nevertheless profitable) time. A company calculates its risk/profit margin on a product, and that often determines their decision.
I don’t intend to get into a long and detailed discussion about this with anyone; just thought I’d let you know.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 9, 2013
at 7:09 AM
…”For the national-security state, loosed of the Constitution’s safeguards, is a far bigger threat to liberty than al-Qaeda will ever be. Vesting it with more power every year — expanding its size, power, and functions in secret without any debate about the wisdom of the particulars — is an invitation to horrific abuses, and it renders the concept of government by the people a joke. The ruling class is trying to keep us ignorant of what it’s doing on behalf of us, because it doesn’t want us to object!”…
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/06/all-the-infrastructure-a-tyrant-would-need-courtesy-of-bush-and-obama/276635/
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 9, 2013
at 7:09 AM
Oh, sorry – I forgot.
Good morning, Chris. Good morning Mr. Obama, Mr. Holder. (Since we know they are tapping all the phones and every blog conversation)
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By: PFesser on June 9, 2013
at 6:59 AM
Chris – I have certainly come to be more wary of environmental hazards lately, but a couple of things come to mind: Firstly, I don’t know that genetically altered plants necessarily represent a looming monster. Remember, every plant and every animal has been doing the same thing since time began – altering its genetics to gain an evolutionary advantage. And they also have been altering their own DNA to protect themselves from the environment.
Secondly, not all things natural are benign, either. Ask Socrates about hemlock. Or tree frog arrow poison. Or “Loco Weed.” Or rattlesnake venom. I am bothered by the idea that we just need to return to nature and it’ll be all right. (not that you said that, but lotsa people feel that way)
Lastly, I am very wary of the idea that corporations are bad just because they are big. It’s all in the corporate culture – some are great, some not so hot. Don’t know a thing about Monsanto except they have developed seeds that produce some pretty amazing, hardy, disease-resistant plants. I don’t see what their motivation would be to take the risk of producing something heinous and releasing it. Sooner or later someone would figure it out and they would be in a world of trouble.
Thoughts?
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By: PFesser on June 9, 2013
at 6:57 AM
PFESSER…
Check this out on Monsanto’s Round-Up linked to the evergrowing numbers of Cancer and Alzheimer’s ..
Date: June 9, 2013 12:09:28 AM CDT
Subject: The Invisible Poison You’ll Eat Today – Monsanto ‘s Roundup..Linked to Cancer and Alzheimer’s
The GM seeds, and foods are doused with Round-up……Monsanto’s Poisons…
That is linked with Cancer and Alzheimer’s…..
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/06/09/monsanto-roundup-herbicide.aspx?e_cid=20130609_SNL_Art_1&utm_source=snl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20130609
From: “Dr. Mercola”
June 9, 2013 – Issue 2486
The World’s #1 Natural Health Website†
The Invisible Poison You’ll Probably Eat Today – Linked to Cancer and Alzheimer’s
You’re told it’s as “safe as aspirin,” yet a new report suggests it is perhaps the most important factor in the development of multiple chronic diseases and conditions that have become prevalent in Westernized societies – find out how to avoid it…
You’re Probably Forced to Consume This Toxic Poison Daily, But People in This City Aren’t
And that’s because, despite the campaign to deceive them, they were smart enough to say “no” to the misleading ads and editorials promoting a substance known to lower the IQ of your kids and is linked to brain damage, chronic fatigue, cancer growth and arthritic symptoms..
Check this site out…
Peace….Chris
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By: Chris on June 9, 2013
at 12:28 AM
Chris, again..
Here is some info on James Holmes…
He is pleading insanity.
Subject: NUTS is a legal way to eliminate him…after MK mind control made him kill those innocents.
The chemicals will kill his brain. They will eliminate their future competitors. He is one of the highest intelligent persons that they may have come up against them. He was one of 6 chosen out of 1000 applicants to this PHD program, he was accepted for.
HE WAS NOT INSANE??? When he applied..they would have found he was not stable a lot sooner than when they announced…many days and weeks after he was arrested.
He dad is a CEO and mathematician for FICA, who was to testify in Congress, within a few months of the Aurora Theatre shootings, in the LIBOR Scandal against the Bankers.
The Bankers set this up…
UNTIL THEY DID THE CHEMICAL things ON HIM, he was not insane. It was a neuro science program he was enrolled in, which has to do with the brain…
They do that to their opponents….wipe them out, discredit them..kill them???
A great program was on Geo Noory, on MK mind control, about a week ago.
Remember, the first words James Holmes said standing next to his car with 2 sets of gas masks and guns……”How did the movie end?
The one common denominator that most of the MK murderers had memory lapses of hours to 3 days, where they felt they had been used, and said they would receive phone calls and would either pack a bag, or just go as they were, not remembering what they had done during their memory lapses.
http://www.naturalnews.com/040680_James_Holmes_psychiatrists_insanity_plea.html
I pasted this from email..and used my iPad…hope it does everything right.
Peace..
Chris
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By: Chris on June 8, 2013
at 10:18 PM
PFESSER…
25 Years + ago I took some counseling.
I engaged in a lot of healing from several sources.
One tape, I listened to was on Mothers and Daughters.
It seems that because of the conditioning through the centuries, women treated their sons like kings on a pedestal, and were themselves conditioned to treat their daughters, not so well. This perpetuated the conditioning of the next generations, to create low self esteems, etc, etc.
Because women had low self esteems, from their conditioning, and were not deemed as important as men, by the societies they lived in, pthey passed the baton to the next generation..and on and on.
My Italian Mom babied my brother and created an irresponsible and helpless person in him, depending on women for everything throughout his life. I remember being sent out by her to beat up a boy, Dennis Martin, for continually picking on my 5 1/2 yr. younger brother.
I was at 12..sucked into this nurturing, protecting behavior, which she modeled. Her special treatment of him silently taught me that my needs were secondary to a man’s needs.
I found myself in a victims role…protecting, nurturing without expectations of my own needs being met.
With counseling, I learned to love myself in a healthy way, not use or be used, unless it was my own decisssion, and to demonstrate real love and appreciation of others, without grandiose expectations.
Women have been conditioned by society for thousands of years, to be subservient to men, and a lot of the anger and manipulation takes place because they have no other tools to work with, if they have not yet healed from the negative conditioning of old ancient societies of mankind.
It would help all of mankind if their women were seen in a different light.
I am sure the manipulation and anger from women creates an unhappy environment for the relationships between men and women.
Men must go through a lot of confusion and distrust of women, when women turn on them, as they move into the anger stage. ( the result of societal pressure and bad treatment. )
I try to see things from both sides. It is difficult whether one is a male or female, when one thinks about the history each has had to experience due to societal expectations, up to now. Dwell on that thought for a moment.
Peace….
Chris
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By: Chris on June 8, 2013
at 9:38 PM
gato said: “shear fatigue”
It’s “sheer fatigue.” Shear fatigue is a section covered in a “Strengths of Materials” course, and deals with fasteners that fail under chronic shear load.
No need to thank me. Pfesser is my job.
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By: PFesser on June 8, 2013
at 9:30 PM
First city in America to ban spying, drones, red-light cameras.
http://www.examiner.com/article/first-city-banning-spy-tech?CID=examiner_alerts_article
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By: PFesser on June 8, 2013
at 8:45 PM
delurker – I took the poll so I could see the results. They are running between 3:1 and 7:1 against the PATRIOT act, surveillance, phone tapping – every question. The only question I have is who the hell is on the :1 side? How can somebody be that ignorant of history?
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By: PFesser on June 8, 2013
at 8:36 PM
Chris – I had to chuckle at your comments vis à vis women/men. My older brother used to say that baby girls took in deceit with their mothers’ milk. LOL.
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By: PFesser on June 8, 2013
at 8:27 PM
POOLMAN…
I pray those on this site will check this out…
Thanks for your Post…
Excellent…
This type of information is the path for those who do not understand, to open their eyes to how the Morgans and other elitists have formed the civilization into what we have today, a lot of which could and would be better, if not for their greed, and power mongering.
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2013/06/07/nikola-tesla-calling-all-freethinkers/
peace…
Chris
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By: Chris on June 8, 2013
at 7:47 PM
Gato…….
And everyone…
What we say about others says more about us, than what we say about others.
When the subjects of men turns toward sex..
Do not address it, or, just minimize it.
Do not give fodder to the fire. Change the subject, or, expound on that which is being discussed.
Stick to the subject of conversations, , and you will be heard as a person and it will insure against future sexual defamations.
There is a male tendency of calling women on this site, gaggles, hags and such, but, with real information for thought, this can be turned around.
The guys like information to be tethered back and forth.
They see the big picture. Many of them probably like this as a site to discuss politics.
I think they see small talk as feminism. Men think in larger term of things, and not with a lot of emotion. A lot of them see emotion as a weakness, so they steer clear of any talk about such things.
Girls, I empathize with you concerning the negative female innuendos, but, I still understand the men.
Guys, negativity tward women will not make you happy campers in the end.
Remember, if Mama ain’t happy….ain’t nobody happy.
This is true in all your dealings with women in real life.
Smooz the girls, with all your charms.
It is that which you boys do best in life, which has created the historical aire in which you have controlled the world, up to this point.
Amen
Peace…
Chris
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By: Chris on June 8, 2013
at 7:34 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Yes, Poolman, you do have friends here who love you. You are a good man who wouldn’t harm a fly.
And yes, Chris, we retired out here in Hawaii from the East Coast 23 years ago. There used to be something of a hippie drug culture in Hanalei in the ‘60’s. It’s long gone now. Some of you may remember the popular trio of that time, Peter, Paul and Mary with their hit, “Puff the Magic Dragon.” It is generally understood that was a reference to marijuana in Hanalei.
Terry W, Wow!!! Cole Younger!!! There are probably a few gun slingers and cattle rustler swinging from my Dad’s family tree too, but I think they were careful not to record their names and deeds. One “squaw” was bad enough. There was one fairly prominent politician that his opponents would like to have hung though.
Anna Netrebko is something else, isn’t she. She appeared as “Adina” this past season at the Met in Gaetano Donizetti’s rollicking “melodramma”, “L’elisir d’amore”, (the Elixir of Love.) If you aren’t familiar with it, it is about a love-sick young peasant “Nemorino” who can’t get beautiful Adina to give him the time of day. An itinerant quack snake oil salesman, “Dr. Dulcamara” comes along and the gullible Nemorina buys a love potion from him. (A cheap Bordeaux wine.) With plenty of machinations all around, Nemorina and Adina finally get together and live happily after. The touching aria “Una furtive lagrima” (A furtive tear) has long been a signature piece for great tenors along with “Nessum Dorma” from Puccini’s opera “Turandot” (none shall sleep……), from Caruso to Pavarotti to Bocelli to the current American tenor, Matthew Polenzani. Check ‘em out on YouTube. Pavarotti’s “Nessum Dorma” has something like 26 million hits on YouTube.
Aloha! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 8, 2013
at 7:24 PM
Weigh in on the patriot act / surveillance issue.
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/polls/
Of course, killing it would require cooperation from the outraged people who authorized it.
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By: delurkergurl on June 8, 2013
at 7:14 PM
Marco Rubio missed a memo and didn’t realize he was supposed to be outraged..
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/08/marco-rubio-nsa_n_3408771.html
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By: delurkergurl on June 8, 2013
at 7:01 PM
Chris, no disrespect intended, but I thought you were a man, Thanks for sharing some of your life. You sound pretty tough.
Yes, you, Poolman Pfessor, and I share similar outlooks, though I don’t follow conspiracy theories very often.
You have to admit Long Dong has a way with words. He’s really a nice person.
Someone mentioned Cole Younger. He and the James gang were in our county for awhile. He expropriated a teenager’s horse and cut its fetlock after he returned it, The gang did odd jobs in return for food and shelter. Years later after his gang days were over and he left prison, he was a witness for the defense in a court case near our home.
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By: James on June 8, 2013
at 7:00 PM
Hi Gato, I think the whole bunch of them are unhinged. I cannot understand what they are doing here. The venom, though, is pretty excessive. I’m going back to happily ignoring them. Have a nice Sunday.
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By: Terri in NY on June 8, 2013
at 6:27 PM
Anal mousse, I’m not interested in what they have to offer. And I haven’t found any ladies to stay away from. Hopefully, that puts that delicacy to rest.
As to loser, well, I’m not the limp wrist that is toe sucker to the nags, bags and hags, am I Anal? That’s you. I am the enemy. Maybe you get off on chubby wrinkles – don’t know. I’m guessing you prefer a little tighter hole – probably your own worked over. What other kind of effete would prefer to have the old ladies work him over?
And as to the breasts and the hammer? No saggy ones for me. Why don’t you grab the hammer and come get me? 😛 Now the thought of that is appealing, Anal Mousse.
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By: Longest Duc Dong on June 8, 2013
at 6:18 PM
Hey, Terri – Maybe they will just work themselves into an exhausted frenzy, and get out of here, out of shear fatigue. But probably not. We are evidently just too much fun!
I was thinking it might be difficult to find a place into which one can just type and send some borderline pornography, and this seems to be it, for the time being.
How quickly a professed focus on politics becomes an opportunity for obscenity, huh?
“Grotto”
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By: gatodicima on June 8, 2013
at 6:14 PM
Amen Poolman to what you say on current and past educational trends dictated by the government.
Our society is being brainwashed in the thoughts of those who wish to control
Check this out..
http://www.infowars.com/
You, PFesser, James and myself appear to have many similar understandings.
Peace….
Chris
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By: Chris on June 8, 2013
at 6:12 PM
Ummm… I think I just asked a couple of questions. Don’t think there was any gnashing, or whining, or any of those other things you mentioned.
Okay; it was just a thought. Thought I’d give it a try; guess that didn’t work.
And, BTW, it’s not “Grotto” or anything like that; I’m sure you know that already. But, hey, do what you want, if it makes you feel better.
Glotto, Giotto, Flotto, Riato, Diato, Miato, Diato, Fiato, Liato, or whatever… Doesn’t matter one bit to me.
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By: gatodicima on June 8, 2013
at 6:07 PM
PFESSER..
You are right.
I feel women are most times more petty than men. Women are great dealing with details, which is totally different than the way most men think.
In the ancient history, the female….feminine were hailed as goddesses, as they were the bringers of life, and were honored as such. They were considered and revered as the highest of gods.
A movie I have on ancient religions pictures a V in a rock, as a ancient worship icon as a part of a holy ground for the worship of women.
Not so, with the coming of the Judeo-Christian teachings, and the way women had to walk behind the men in lots of cultures and religions.
(some of the old dead sea scrolls indicate that the most beloved apostle could have been Mary Magdalen..but, that information would have been removed by later churchmen, as, that would have put women ahead of men…and they could not have that. That information, BTW is NOT included in the Bible, after the Romans started killing off little sects of Christians amounting to some 100,000, before and after the Council at Nicea.
Throughout all of history, women could most times not ask men for their needs, they developed the ploy of manipulation to get men to meet their needs. Sometimes, to prevent physical and emotional abuse. Women have been brutalized throughout history, by men, and are still very petty to and among themselves.
(that forced women to become petty…right there..it became a rule for existence ) ( women actually were and possibly are 2nd class world citizens, at least in the minds and hearts of men, even though supposedly women control the majority of the wealth in the world ?)
Women in all cultures and religions were treated as less by the male dominated societies.
Women took a back seat to men.
This is subconscious learned behavior for women for thousands of years.
This petty behavior has carried over, since it has only been 100 years since women could vote. They have came only a little ways into their own, they are still not totally out that mode of behavior.
Maybe the closer women are to being in the 1% elite group, they kiss up and are even more petty, to keep the wealth In the family. ( so as to protect against divorce?) It has been taught as etiquette, in order for women to take a back seat to men and to give the men the pleasure of being in the primary position in the pecking order of things.
I never had but few close women friends, even though I am, myself a woman.
After being divorced and single many years, I was usually at singles mingles, in the corner speaking with the men on pertinent subjects, not snobby and sitting at a table alone, fixing my lipstick trying to be alluring to men.
That behavior was petty, and manipulating to me.
There was no place for pettiness in the business world? It was a man’s world. Women were not accepted as equals in real estate 37 years ago. I had to earn respect in the business.
Only 3 companies with women’s names in the title existed 37 years ago in St. Louis. There were so little women in the business, I remember receiving a standing ovation upon being accepted into the Real Estate Board, as a woman broker. That was a great surprise to me back then.
Even though I was petite and feminine, and emotional like a woman, I thought more like a man.
Today, women of age should concern themselves with the subjects that have real impact on our lives, and the lives of our posterity, not just small talk.
I still feel small talk is a real waste of energy.
It is nice, however, to plant, smell and speak of the roses.
It does add loveliness to our lives.
And, we women do add a lot of loveliness to men’s lives, and visa versa.
Peace…
Chris
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By: Chris on June 8, 2013
at 6:05 PM
Short dong,
You just can’t stay away from the ladies, eh? They are not interested in what you’re trying to sell. Maybe you can start hitting yourself over the head with a hammer. What’s the matter, didn’t your mommy breast feed you for long enough, loser?
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By: Anonymous on June 8, 2013
at 5:35 PM
Grotto, Why would we expect responses when you have no answers to our questions? I’d be shocked if I actually got responses.
What we typically get are wailing and gnashing of teeth or intense whining. Every once in a while you get deflection and obfuscation like your screed, or some flaccid attempt at intimidation. Most replies are third party. 😈
But answers? That assumes you understand the gist of the questions. You got to have some semblance of intelligence to respond coherently and understand the issues.
That’s in short supply here, so we correct the record and throw a few rocks out of boredom.
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By: Long Duc Dong on June 8, 2013
at 5:29 PM
To quote M&H: “I am tired of idiots.”
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By: Terri in NY on June 8, 2013
at 5:25 PM
Gee, whoever you are – Guess this blog just isn’t working too well for you these days. Darn! Hate it when this happens!
So… What to do? Well, you can keep hammering away at everyone here, if that works for you. Seems to do it for you all… although you may notice that you’re not getting too many responses from anyone other than your buddies. (Except for this one, of course! Sorry about that…) Whatever works for you guys is fine with me. You just keep at it. You’ve obviously got some demons with which to wrestle. You just hang in there.
I mean it; really.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 8, 2013
at 4:37 PM
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By: poolman on June 8, 2013
at 4:31 PM
Maybe it is the schools. Are we not the most developmentally controlled generation throughout history? Or should we call it marketing? Somebody’s interests are calling the shots.
“We suffer severe multi-generational distress when “education” is largely indoctrination aimed at inhibiting independent thinking. Students memorize dogma sanctioned by the PSQ [Power Status Quo] so they can pass standardized tests sanctioned by the PSQ. Students learning to think for themselves, learning how to distinguish truth from dogma—this will not do. The PSQ wants young minds regurgitating hive thinking in preparation for becoming obedient workers in thrall of authority, wingless and weighed-down by leaden dogma planted in their minds by PSQ ovipositors.”
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By: poolman on June 8, 2013
at 4:21 PM
Pfesser and James, preaching to the choir but…
The Nags worship at the Cult of Obama. They operate under feelings, emotion, and reflexive instinct being told what to say from the daily meme of the thought police, group think and herd mentality. I doubt they have an original thought or rational principle. They await the cue to be a part of the crowd.
Frankly, most of these women are unteachable – useful idiots and Dear Leader worshipers. They’re marionettes where somebody like the owner of this blog pulls a string and they respond with a canned line taught to them by their masters. They never question the line, no matter how ludicrous and easily proven wrong. If the results don’t lead where they like, they change the rules, the question, or marginalize the importance.
You ever read this Jim Wright they all idolize? He’s an insecure imbecile too afraid to leave his comfort zone where he can moderate the response. Tough guy Jim portrays himself as some former hard ass, the reality a coward without fact followed by a bevy of ninnies to build the ego. Jim spins a line about how he thinks the world should be. And they love him because he gives the weak women here what not what is, but what they want to hear to justify their own biases. He uses them, and they use him as some historical reference.
As example and support of your point, most of the leftists here are incapable of making the lamest attempt at explaining why invariably the cities with the strictest gun controls are also the most unlawful. Want a city with stringent hand gun controls: Chicago. Want another? NOLA. These two bluest of the blue cities are so unlawful, they are statistically more dangerous to live than Beirut, Baghdad or Kabul. Yet, these imbeciles can’t connect the dots. It’s like that Terri from NY stooge bragging as if somehow reducing the deficit from $1,100 billion to $800 billion, almost all of it due to a change in capital gains tax law, is an accomplishment worthy of admiration. You simply can’t compensate enough to overcome stupid.
We could have a cataclysmic event in this country that Obama was directly responsible for that killed millions, and it wouldn’t change their opinion of a favorable approval because they can’t admit culpability, guilt, or even naivety. And I’m beginning to believe you can be so dumb that you don’t know the difference between success and failure. I think large parts of this blog membership confirm that.
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By: Long Duc Dong on June 8, 2013
at 4:15 PM
Chris, the American Revolution was more than a skirmish. It was just one phase of a wider war. We and the Brits fought the War of 1812, and came close to another war over the Oregon boundry dispute. 54 40 or fight was a rallying criy around 1845.
Some of my ancestors came from England, Scotland, and Wales. I lived in the UK and we have seen much of the country from north to south.
Thus, most of my attitude toward England is positive.
I did notice the smell of pickled herring. odd.
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By: James on June 8, 2013
at 4:01 PM
My time isn’t wasted. As to my allotment, whatever quantity that may be is unknown, I still weigh it no matter. After all, we truly only have time and choose to whom we devote it. I still have friends here, though we may not believe the same. I just hope they all seek truth, as opposed to everything else that’s out there…
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By: poolman on June 8, 2013
at 3:53 PM
Poolman…
In your post on the declaration of independance, I see a lot of the original declaration being denied, today, by our own government in respect to the treatment of our own citizens.
I also see we are still involved in the very British connections we were breaking from in 1776. We STILL have the same British connections..
I still see us with the same umbilcal cord, having never been cut.
Our Presidents, kept us connected at arms length, and beholding with financial ties. ( most of the Presidents kept their dual citizenship to England.)
You will notice we always had automatic alliances to England. We have always been Allies with England.
We FEVER fought them as an enemy in ANY War, since the skirmishes of the American Revolution. Please let me know if I missed a war or two.
I see the U.S. currently as just another of the past and present 500 or so British Colonies. You can note the relationships and connections with past and current colonies of Great Britian…..the new or continuing Roman Empire…
We fight ALL the BRITISH BATTLES, all that they feel are beneficial to them, and we back the Corporations they back, and all their interests, as well.
Peace….
Chris
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By: Chris on June 8, 2013
at 3:42 PM
poolman – you are wasting your time. The nags want to talk about one accidental shooting, not something that affects nearly 300 million Americans. It’s called “red herring,” but this one is so dead it doesn’t even smell anymore.
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By: PFesser on June 8, 2013
at 3:11 PM
We seemed to have come full circle…
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
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By: poolman on June 8, 2013
at 3:02 PM
If God be for us, who can stand against us? Well, industry in collusion with our government is doing their damnedest to take us out, truth, according to their own information:
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By: poolman on June 8, 2013
at 2:52 PM
I am further commenting on why you do not know the information I speak of.
Check this site out..
This is on George Noory tonight.. Google in you area and find e station in your areas.. It is on the
He is an investigative reporter.
He will be speaking on the CIA and FBI and secret societies taking over and controlling the universe.
This is not far fetched…It is happening…
Ghttp://www.danielestulin.com/
………………..
This next site is…..Alex Jones…
He will be on George Noory tonight..
He has been studying the NWO for many years….
He will reporting on the secret societies and the Bilderbergs meeting for 2013.
They meet once a year, and accomplish their agenda on population control.
( not through birth control, only. )
It includes genocide thru food poisoning, drug killings, vaccinations,
All that I have told you on this site.
http://www.infowars.com/
Please look these sites over and listen tonight…
It is on late at night…so take anap today…
It comes on at 12 midnight ….St . Louis time…
Peace….,
Chris
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By: Chris on June 8, 2013
at 2:09 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Penny, my tall, handsome “white” grandsons are, ahem, what some would consider “heathen”.
Aloha! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace
jeanne
P.S. Got my smiley faces back – – – – I think. A long time ago I named my computer “Petulant Penelope” because she goes into a snit when I don’t do things EXACTLY her way.
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By: waialeale on June 8, 2013
at 2:01 PM
Penny..
Just because you are not in the majority, does not mean your knowledge is incorrect.
I believe it was Hamilton who said the ” sometimes the smartest man in the room is the most hated”
KILL THE MESSENGER….
The most intelligent are not in the majority. Just the opposite..
The masses are sheep lead to slaughter.
I pray you do not go to slaughter.
The only problem is the possibility of lack of action on the part of all of America, will cause us all to go to slaughter.
It is happening …..NOW
Peace…
Chris
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By: Chris on June 8, 2013
at 1:29 PM
Penny..
The problem is the CIA and FBI are obtaining information….not to help us, they are using this information AGAINST the American People..
That is what power does allow for in the end.
Peace…
Chris
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By: Chris on June 8, 2013
at 1:22 PM
Want to see how confused Terri from NY is? I know that being insufferably dumb helps too, but even the blind squirrel finds an occasional nut. I just figured by chance Terri would slip into being right once in a blue moon and still she can’t be dumb luck find truth. She defies even the odds.
Dear, a $700 billion annual deficit ($210 billion more than Bush’s last year), and that is with growth estimates that have now been readjusted for the second time downward so you can chalk back up another trillion by the end of the year, is not a reduction in the deficit.
I know you girls are really light at math, but even I thought you nags understood the difference between a “+” and a “-“. The fact of the matter is Terri and there is no dispute about these facts while Dear Leader Obama oversaw the only two debt downgrades in U.S. History, your Dear Leader is well on his way to having doubled the entire cumulative deficit of the Treasury all by his lonesome in less than six years.
That is a deficit so large that even if they withheld every dollar from every man, woman and business for an entire year, it would not eliminate the deficit. I hope Aunt Liki’s handsome grandsons are good for it, because they are going to get to pay for it. 😉
Now, about those outstanding tax increases that vaulted us to such lofty status? Well, I wonder. What do you Obama rubes know that Obama’s own federal reserve doesn’t? This will be way above nag paygrade, but we’ll try anyway.
http://www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/letter/2013/el2013-16.html
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By: Long Duc Dong on June 8, 2013
at 1:14 PM
see this from u chris?
“The uneducated amoungst us aware of the history of the CIA using All information, whether obtained legally or otherwise to achieve their goals.
So do not be surprised when you hear they are obtaining information of any type against our people, or any other targeted group or person.
That is what they do best.
Peace…
Chris”
u better hope so honey
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By: penny abrams on June 8, 2013
at 11:28 AM
jeanne: ;-)) how nice about ur grandsons. congratulations. and ur rite it doesn’t hurt that they are tall, white and (i presume) christian. all my grands went to public schools. two went to what is called a magnet school because it draws from all over providing the kid has a qualifying IQ. all my grands got into outstanding universities and are doing well. here’s the catch. the parents of these outstanding kids have been healthy, well educated adults, with sound relationships, who involved themselves in their kids’ educations and chose to live in better school districts. for the kid whose tummy is not full of oatmeal, fresh juice, milk and toast the day in the classroom is not so successful. for the kid who comes home to an empty house or not enuf parenting or discord or poverty of spirit as well as of food/clothing/medical care life is not so rosy. music? athletics? man, staying alive is challenge enuf. for the kid in between ours and what i just described, passing and getting out to work is sufficient in most homes. not for the nation. not for the kid, surely. we shortchange our kids something awful. they are worth so much more, they are capable of so much more. makes me very sad.
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By: penny abrams on June 8, 2013
at 11:23 AM
gurl – a child brought a load hand gun to daycare. No one was hurt fortunately. Just a kid whose parents are responsible gun owners by keeping their guns safe and out of the hands of their children. I assume they were protecting their 2nd Amendment rights but not their child’s right to a long life.
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 8, 2013
at 11:19 AM
chris: u r entitled to ur opinions. u r entitled to ur convictions. u r not entitled to label them truth without proof. the only proof u offer are books shown in parking lots by xtremists (left or right, xtreme is never good), references to extraordinarily conservative ideologues who espouse self created fables without proof of any kind. to be fair, not everything can be proven. i cannot prove how much i love my son, for instance. how? weigh it? show you a picture? i can neither prove nor disprove the existence of a superior power…god for instance. how does one do that? here it is, chris, in this box. no, proof means u can replicate…what it is u propose is true. or it can b replicated.
my only objection to what u say, chris, is that u insist it is THE truth. i don’t think u can prove it. any of it. he took u into a parking lot to show u this wonderful book? do u know how loony that sounds?
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By: penny abrams on June 8, 2013
at 11:15 AM
i started a reply about the patriot act and it flew away. i’m hoping it immediately precedes this. we were about to find out how bills get add-ons. so, the compromise, if made for the benefit of the electorate is a good thang. it enables the elected official who is supposed to represent his constituency to do so. so now the bill, w/its additions goes back for a SECOND vote.
there is NO WAY A BILL CAN ERUPT INTO BEING ON ITS OWN. your elected representatives must vote on it, your elected senators must vote on it and you find out precisely how they vote everytime! if some moron voted on that bill without reading it then he should be fired. immediately. if he read it and voted for it, we must then assume he agrees with it.
the partiot acts got overwhelming support. they gave away advice and consent, they gave away right of one’s own domain, they enabled a police state to work its official snooping anytime, anywhere and anyhow it chooses. your home can be entered, examined, and u’d never know. yes. true. all they need is suspicion that u r involved w/the ‘enemy’. well, lemme tell ya, the guy on the corner who keyed my car is my enemy, right? who’s yours?
so before u get ur knickers in a twist maybe you ought to know that big brother has been around far longer (i daresay) than some of you have been voting!
there is objection to data collecting (phone#s, for instance)? by whom? those who voted for the patriot acts?
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By: penny abrams on June 8, 2013
at 11:05 AM
Auntie Jean, I found a YouTube video of O Mio Bobbino Caro and it had the English translation for Netrebko singing the Italian. It’s always been a favorite of mine but I had not idea what the song was about. Thanks for sharing this.
As for genealogy I found out through a great aunt’s search for DAR membership creds that I’m related to Cole Younger on my dad’s side. I have quite a bit of info about my ancestors and some are great but Cole is a favorite. I don’t trade on the “greats” but I do enjoy being related distantly to a real live outlaw. “Six Degrees of Separation” plays into all our lives but it’s who we are and what we do with our abilities is more important than who came before us, related or not.
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By: Terry W on June 8, 2013
at 10:51 AM
Yet another gun “accident”.
Justin Stanfield Thomas Shot, Killed Accidentally By 4-Year-Old Son In Arizona
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/08/justin-stanfield-thomas-killed_n_3407551.html
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By: delurkergurl on June 8, 2013
at 10:17 AM
I agree with Terry W’s latest comment.
A new Gallup poll shows 58% of Americans disapprove of how the Obama administration is handling the IRS scandal, and 77% think it is either serious or somewhat serious.
Things could change tomorrow, but as of today, many of you are in the minority.
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By: James on June 8, 2013
at 9:53 AM
Gato, “people with lady parts” has me LOL. I don’t think of them as “naughty bits” the way I’ve also heard them labeled (Monty Python) but I laugh at both.
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By: Terry W on June 8, 2013
at 9:48 AM
Penny abrams, I am not making up fairy stories as the sources I have cited support what I wrote.
Glenn Greenwald of the Gardian quoted an FBI agent who said they were retrieving telephone and other conversations of the Boston bombers and that ” all of that stuff, meaning every telephone conversation Americans make with one another on US soil with or without a search warrant is captured as we speak.”
Assuming Obama and his staff were telling the truth that they knew nothing of IRS and other misdeeds until we all knew, the implications are dangerous. Rogue elements could do as they did to conservatives and us telephone conversations or e mails against anyone who ran afoul of them.
I didn’t like it when Bush was president, and I don’t like it now. We need more safeguards than we now have.
A fairy story is that everything is fine, and we have no need to worry..
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By: James on June 8, 2013
at 9:39 AM
Cynthia, Thank you, thank you, thank you. You put all the pieces of the puzzle in place and some of them aren’t interlocking! That’s a real challenge for puzzle people. I do, however, imagine that some nay-sayers in the Grumpy Old People party will cry “foul” at some, if not all, points. The shoes fit but they haven’t learned how to tie them and they will continue to trip over their shoelaces. Here Come the Clowns indeed!
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By: Terry W on June 8, 2013
at 9:37 AM
Sidney, I’ve only had the time to skim this wonderful blog but thank you for posting it. I’m going to share it with my “peeps” who are like-minded. The ones who aren’t wouldn’t believe it if Jesus presented it in power points! I love them anyway but they are a challenge.
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By: Terry W on June 8, 2013
at 9:16 AM
Auntie Jean…
I was not aware of your history. It is very interesting.
Your comment was not meant to be as racial as I had pictured…the black on white….(ink on paper)
I also was not aware of the property values of Hawaii.
i know supply and demand dictates all values.
The values must be very high with a such a limited amount of land with all the wonderful water, sky and beauty in Hawaii.
Do you live there on the islands?
Here are some that I found.
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/5-6608-Kuhio-Hwy_Hanalei_HI_96714_M73281-55487
Peace…
Chris
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By: Chris on June 8, 2013
at 8:27 AM
Michael Isikoff NBC news Officials: NSA mistakenly intercepted e mails, phone calls of innocent Americans”
The judges were upset, and Eric Holder promised steps would be taken to correct the problem.
The British are going to discuss with Americans whether or not we have been similarily spying on normal British citizens.
This supports my point.
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By: james on June 8, 2013
at 8:26 AM
Re Jean. My aunts all belonged to the DAR. even though the northern side of the family contained a few Asian genes. I don’t think it would have mattered to the local organization, but who knows higher up the chain?
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By: James on June 8, 2013
at 8:09 AM
The deficit is falling not because of any specific tax increase, but because businesses and people made a little more money, and they therefore paid more taxes. Spending for Medicare and Medicaid will be a little less than expected. The government got a windfall from Fannie and Freddie which make quarterly payments related to their net worth. They are worth more now because of accounting changes.
Projections depend on what the economy does, and deficits will probably return by 2015. This is a temporary lull.
DC decoder Politics unlocked and explained. May 15 2013
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By: James on June 8, 2013
at 8:03 AM
A Republican who gets it: Paul – “Retrieving California is the key to making the Republican party relevant again.”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jun/7/retrieving-california-is-the-key-to-the-future/
“I gave a speech on the future of our party and our country. Central themes of the speech included some of the lessons that I learned and shared in Silicon Valley about respecting privacy and the entire Constitution. In addition, I discussed my continued observation that we need to be a party of inclusion — a party that looks more like America.”
Right on, Brother! My guess is that this guy will be the next presidential nominee.
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By: PFesser on June 8, 2013
at 7:40 AM
I don’t have much time because we will soon be gone again. Chris, you might like Sofia Jannok’s singing. Google Sofia Jannok Thunder of the Three Heavens. which has just been released. Google something like Our Rights to Earth and Freedom Sofia Jannok at TEDxGateway. She discusses her new foundation to fight oppression of the indigenious people. The way things are going, we might say “we all are indigenous now.”
Mother Jones wrote “Justice Department Fights Release of Secret Court Opinion Finding Unconstitutional Surveillance.” The Justice Department was ready to file a court motion yesterday to keep secret a court opinion which determined the “government had violated the spirit of federal surveillance laws and engaged in unconstitutional spying..”
This began after Sen Ron Wyden D of Ore a member of the Senate intelligence committee complained about what he thought was improper government snooping. He and others couldn’t say much because the information was top secret.,
The court which authorizes requests “does so behind a cloak of secrecy…but EFF’s pursuit of this document shows just how difficult it is–perhaps inpossible for the pubic to pry from the government information about domestic surveillance gone wrong.
This is from Mother Jones, a liberal publication. Comments included those from people who echo Chris and Poolman about real threats, not scandals in parentheses. Some wrote that higher powers are trying to separate us according to party and ideology, but it is time for the right and left to unite to save our freedoms.
The Washington Post Wonk Blog “Everything You need to know about the NSAs’ phone records scandal” One writer in another section wrote that the scarey part is that this is apparently legal and approved by a majority of Congress, but no one knows for sure.
The other writer said the government probably is only noting the time, duration, and location of domestic calls, however the actual conversations are also retrievable if unused.
Consider the real scandals we face. They are examples of government incompetency and over reach. They are not imaginary as some believe. A frightening feature is that if our leaders are to be believed, they didn’t know what was happening until we the public did.
Therefore Obama’s and others assurances mean nothing, because they have proven they can’t control the government. The IRS has already shown it can target “enemies” for harassment, and no leader can stop them., .It is only a short leap to a place where rogues take actual phone conversations and use them for blackmail and intimidation. The American Civil Liberties Union and others fear that it wouldn’t have to happen. Even the suggestion would be enough to stifle investigative reporting or other activities deemed hostile to the government.
What if the Chinese or other groups hack into our system and used domestic information for their own purposes?
Spying is necessary of course, but now the cat is out of the bag, we need a debate to decide where the line is. This should not be a Republican or Democratic issue as Mother Jones commenters noted.
Someone asked why the Republicans are not trying to cut the budget. They are. The House has approved numerous spending bills, but the Democrats have defeated them. The news media has largely ignored their efforts.
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By: James on June 8, 2013
at 7:39 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
This is “old news” as of May 24, 2013 but I think it is still relevant. It is excerpts from an editorial in the Detroit Free Press with the title of “On Redefining the War on Terror.” I’m just now getting around to posting it.
“In an address remarkable for both its candor and its humility, President Barak Obama sought Thursday [May 23] to limit the scope of his predecessor’s global war on terror, pivoting from a full-court campaign of military pre-emption to a new era of proportionality and political engagement.
“Squarely confronting critics who have decried his administration’s unprecedented use of unmanned drone strikes and its continuing detention of suspected terrorists at Guantanamo, the president pledged to curtail both practices and called on federal lawmakers to facilitate the transition to a containment effort that relies less heavily on military force.
“He said Gitmo has become ‘the symbol around the world for an America that flouts the rule of law’ and warned that ‘history will cast a harsh judgment’ if the U.S. continues to imprison suspects indefinitely without prosecuting them before criminal juries or military tribunals on American soil…… [McCain, Lindsey, Boehner, McConnell, Cantor and other hard right-wing hawks, were you listening?]
“For Obama, Thursday’s address to the National Defense University was an effort to distance both his presidency and the United States from the open-ended war on terror then-President George W. Bush declared in the aftermath of the Sept.11, 2001, terrorist attacks…..
“He noted that five years have passed since ‘the premise for opening Gitmo – that detainees would not be able to challenge their detention – was found to be unconstitutional.‘ And he acknowledged that casualties inflicted on innocent civilians have damaged U.S. credibility with both the people and governments of strategically important allies.
“Among the most refreshing themes in Thursday’s address was Obama’s call for the expanding use of diplomacy and foreign aid, both of whose effectiveness has been grossly underestimated. As the president noted, current expenditures on foreign assistance constitute ‘only a tiny fraction of what we spend fighting wars that our assistance might ultimately prevent’.
“A single speech will scarcely bring about the sea changes Obama seeks. But the shift in focus and tactics that he outlined Thursday is both worthwhile and long overdue, and America’s long-term efforts to contain terrorism can only be enhanced by its swift implementation.”
Executive Orders can accomplish only so much. A continually recalcitrant congress for reasons of its own is working against the best interests of our country and by extension, the world.
Aloha! Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 8, 2013
at 3:16 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Chris, on June 7, 2013 at 11:00PM you wrote: “You are very funny, until the ” white” sticks out like a sore thumb.”
I assure you my use of the word “white” in quotes was not an attempt to be amusing. I used it advisedly. You are relatively new to this blog but most of the “Old Timers” here already know this. However, I will recap it for your benefit. I have noticed you are quite interested in the genealogy of the presidents. I too am interested in the subject in general and have had extensive professional genealogies of our families for many years long before Ancestry.com.
These “facts” would qualify me for membership in both the DAR (Daughters of the Revolution) and the Daughters of the Confederacy unless…….( I do not now nor ever have aspired to membership in either organization.) On my maternal side there were a Samuel Fuller and a Jane Lathrop on the Mayflower. Also an Arthur Middleton of SC was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a prisoner-of-war of the British during the War of 1812. There were numerous documented Confederate soldiers in SC and LA.
On my paternal side, my great-grandfather was “white”. However my great-grandmother was a “full blooded” Native American of the Arapahoe Tribe of the Sioux Nation. At the time they were known as “Red Skins”. Her “people” had a treaty with the U.S. government. At the “Sand Creek Massacre” in Colorado they rallied round the foot of the flag pole believing they would be protected by the American flag when they were attacked and massacred as “enemy combatants”. Men, women and children. The Arapahoe also fought along side the other Sioux tribes at Little Big Horn in what was then Montana Territory. The National Park Service maintains these historic battlefields and has web sites about them.
My Native American heritage might disqualify me from the DAR and Daughters of the Confederacy if you check their requirements for membership.
Now that that issue has been clarified, on a lighter note, you have mentioned that you have been involved in Real Estate for many years. I’m sure you have access to and would be interested in checking out Real Estate values on the North Shore of the island of Kauai, Hawaii, specifically those of Hanalei. (Uh, no. We do not live in Hanalei.)
Aloha! Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 8, 2013
at 3:02 AM
WAIALEALE..
I laughed out loud at your comment on all the complaints.
You are all very funny on this blog…
You are very funny, until the ” white” sticks out like a sore thumb.
I just want to say there a lot of other than white parents that are also proud of their children and grandchildren, as well.
Color does not even need to be brought into the mention of mostly any subject.
Sometimes a mother of another color has even harder times raising children with lower than average income, ( if any) when the welfare induced state chases abled bodied husbands and fathers from their family abode, because he cannot find a job, and sacrifices his involvement in the family to help provide state aid in order to feed and financially aid the family.
This welfare approach has also destroyed the American family, which is a large part of the majority of problems America faces today.
I do not like references to ” white ” as is even MORE defamatory to people of all colors, than the Rothschild’s mention is to the Jewish folks.
By the way, I am not a person of color, just a person who likes justice.
Peace..
Chris
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By: Chris on June 7, 2013
at 11:09 PM
Gato..
Possibly a lot of the current trend of violence in America also stems from living in a lied to society, where young men are disillusioned because they , as well as all of us are living a lie.
It appears to be mostly males…
It appears they are angry for some formidable reason. It should be investigated by the social studies departments in colleges and universities. The outcome should prove to be very interesting.
You see the diversion and confusion within this site alone, on all sorts of subjects. How bad is it for the young who should be full of hope for a new beginning, as the youngsters are usually full of hope, as in all past generations?
The young are most times also free of blinders in many respects, and see the truth more so than the old and tired, who have by now become the pillars of the establishment.
They may be seeing all that is happening around them and may have lost hope..We should pray for our young people, for they are our future.
I see….and maybe they see, we are told our country is free, when all we are free to do, is fail.
This could be a reason to be disallusioned. You think?
Something’s going on….in front of our eyes..
Peace and I pray for us all.
Chris
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By: Chris on June 7, 2013
at 10:45 PM
Lordy, Lurker… Another young white male…? With a gun, and/or guns? Do we really need to be spending tons of time looking for some other not-quite-white young males all over the world…? Shouldn’t we maybe start here? I don’t like to look at this as a guy thing… But what other conclusion might one draw? That’s all we see… Out of a couple of hundred “martyrs” with bombs strapped to themselves, who kill hundreds of people assembling for a wedding, or to pray, to have lunch, or to buy some vegetables, maybe one – ONE – is a woman.
Look at the “fighters” everywhere… Young men without families, without work, without purpose, without anything which might give their lives some meaning, other than “jihad,” with its promise of some future life, somewhere else, because they find nothing here… Faces masked; no identities; no individual voices; invisible…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 7, 2013
at 10:23 PM
Woohoo Grandma Jean!
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By: delurkergurl on June 7, 2013
at 10:22 PM
Terri in NY..
The uneducated amoungst us aware of the history of the CIA using All information, whether obtained legally or otherwise to achieve their goals.
So do not be surprised when you hear they are obtaining information of any type against our people, or any other targeted group or person.
That is what they do best.
Peace…
Chris
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By: Chris on June 7, 2013
at 10:22 PM
Ruh roh. Some former adviser to President Bush apparently missed the memo since he’s on Fox news right now defending the cell phone metadata searching. He’s yelling that there is no evidence the President abused his authority. The incredibly shrill LIBERAL(?) O’Reilly stand-in is about to have a stroke. (Where did they get her?)
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By: delurkergurl on June 7, 2013
at 10:20 PM
America lives up to her world-wide reputation as a perpetrator of evil:
http://www.examiner.com/article/obama-spying-on-all-americans-a-major-human-rights-violation
Similar headlines all over the globe. Americans have no idea how we are seen in the eyes of the world.
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By: PFesser on June 7, 2013
at 8:19 PM
Another mass shooting.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/07/santa-monica-college-shooting_n_3404689.html
Nearly 5000 gun deaths so far this year, and several are young children accidentally shooting other kids.
I know gun culture is a protected right but that doesn’t mean we can’t work on our gun culture, and our commitment to safe and responsible gun ownership.
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By: delurkergurl on June 7, 2013
at 8:10 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Penny, I think you will find this interesting, despite what the crepe-hangers moan and groan about the rotten schools, rotten parents, lousy teachers and rotten kids. I’m not sure what planet they are living on.
Our two grandsons graduated back to back from high school this year; one on the East Coast in a public school, the other on the West Coast in a charter school. They were both inducted into the National Honors Society in their respective junior years. One of them received a $1,000.00 scholarship from the local PTA. Because of their academic achievement and extra curricular activities (one in music the other in sports) they are off to well known prestigious universities in the fall with hefty scholarships. They have both been involved in volunteer work right along. Of course it doesn’t hurt that they are both tall (6’1” and 6’2”), handsome and young “white” males.
A proud grandma with bragging rights here!
Aloha! Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 7, 2013
at 7:47 PM
Penny,
There are many books and many, many experts who do nothing but study this elitist information, from all walks of life.
In order to understand, one must NOT cling to the propaganda we have been feed by the controlled media, and search out other information, and truths held by others around the world on this subject.
It is easy enough to do….You are on the internet…now..
Just google the elitists….New World Order, Federal Reserve System, Jesse Ventura, Conspiracy Theory…..( he was Gov. and is a Patriot and fromer Navy Seal ) He has a wealth of the same information that I have been learning of for some 13 + years.
When I first learned of the possibility of this as a truth, some 13 years ago, most were whispering and hoping no eyes and ears were seeing and listening. Fear was the main reason people did not share this info.
A highly intelligent man shared this book …The Biggest Secret… in 2000.
He did not want to speak in public, and walked us out to his car to show us the book. That was the aire in which this subject was refered to back then. Most average non deep thinking people really thought it was a kooky notion, nothing to believe.
As the years passed and those in the movement, gave information on radio shows..like Alex Jones, and David Icke, and many high ups in their respective fields began coming forth with their own colllaborative stories, backing this information, the word started getting out in various forms, relating to every system….worldwide…. and how it affected the financial, medical, educational,and food sources worldwide…….
I am sharing with those of you who know a lot, in your respective fields, but, yet have not learned this information.
There is a part of the human brain that does not want to accept new information, especially, when we think we might have learned everything in our early years of higher learning. Most people do not want to admit they could learn more. that is probably why the majority of Americans are dumb to this information. ( it is also scarry to most of us, as well )
Look it up on your computers…
I pray you all start looking into this before it is too late.
Some say it already is.too late..I pray not.
Peace and Joy…
Chris
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By: Chris on June 7, 2013
at 5:00 PM
Want to see how death sentences are handed down in the drone-terrorism campaign?
http://www.examiner.com/article/hot-blood-1600-deaths-haunt-former-drone-op?CID=examiner_alerts_article
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By: PFesser on June 7, 2013
at 2:54 PM
One more thing that has been bothering me. While the GOP gets hysterical about “scandals”, they seen to have lost interest in the deficit, which they had been touting as the most important issue facing the country. Since we are now experiencing the most rapid deficit reduction since WWII, they have lost interest. I guess their claims that the tax increases Obama insisted on would do nothing for deficit reduction have been proven wrong. You won’t hear that from them though.
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By: Terri in NY on June 7, 2013
at 2:00 PM
‘During a Thursday rant about news that the National Security Agency (NSA) had been collecting phone records from millions of Americans, Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-TX) seemed to be a little confused when he proclaimed that freedom of the press is “granted in the Second Amendment.”’
Submitted by a Southern assh*le hater. Especially thosw really, really dumb SAs from Texas.
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 7, 2013
at 1:57 PM
Delurker,
I agree it would be hard to change the Patriot Act, but if Congress can vote 37 times to repeal Obamacare, it should be able to give it a try. I blame the media in part for this latest faux outrage. They act as if this is the first they have heard of this, and why didn’t anyone tell them? Isn’t it their job to find out things for themselves, and then tell us? For what I understand this has been authorized by Congress numerous times, as well as being the subject of numerous hearings. Jeez…..
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By: Terri in NY on June 7, 2013
at 1:49 PM
chris…how come you alone have all this special knowledge? i find it interesting that people who ‘know’ about all the sub rosa activities claim knowledge that no one else has. makes me feel like i’m in one of those movies where the eyes in the portraits peer around the room and books full of panels slide open suddenly.(crashing organ chords in the background)
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By: penny abrams on June 7, 2013
at 1:36 PM
it is true that data collection is going on (verizon et al) which consists of phone #s and duration of calls but not what is said; that the patriot acts I and II are far more invasive than this collection of data and that to be able to hear the actual conversations on the phone, special permits r required and issued by a special court. cmon..there’s enuf wrong going on without making up fairy stories. at the risk of being rude, ur all getting very boring with this crap.
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By: penny abrams on June 7, 2013
at 1:32 PM
James, James, James.
Our mainstream 1% owned media is NOT covering ANY pertinent information as to REAL facts on anything, and are withholding information that might put themselves in a negative light. The 1% elite do not want the 300 million + to point blank know what they are doing, or we would otherwise stop the.
What better way than to slant the truth in their direction, than to not report in their stock controlled media companies.
That is why watching and listening to other reported foreign media gives us a better picture of the truth. ( the truth slips through now and again, before it is realized and again halted from their countries sources.)
I was once told by a publisher of a local paper, in reference to NOT printing the truth, after sending a reporter to the council meeting, and returning to print an eroneous accounting of what took place that evening, in regards to a TIF they were railroading through..
The publisher said “If you want the truth, print your own paper. Just because we are allowed the truth by our Constitution, does not mean every paper will tell you the truth”.
So that tells us we should believe possibly zero of what is printed.
Remember, the advertisers and shareholders determine what slant on the
news is taken by each media company. ( I said earlier, that it requires a 27% ownership of a companies stock, to control the company’s policies, and decisions.) that holds true for any corporation, including the media in all forms.
My Mom used to say “Believe little of what you see, ( your eyes can deceive you. ) and less of what you hear.” ( that includes print in any form. Study many different sources, before coming to any conclusions, and keep your mind open for new information to make even more endless studies. That is also a sign of one’s intelligence, not just memorizing information supplied from a paper or book handed to you and acclaimed as authoritative on any one subject. )
Peace..James and All..
Chris
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By: Chris on June 7, 2013
at 1:13 PM
Looks like Cory Booker is going to run for Senate.
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By: delurkergurl on June 7, 2013
at 12:54 PM
Terri, I can’t even imagine congress changing it, unfortunately. They voted for the laws that make this stuff legal, and like TPV said, if the administration weren’t using those tools they’d get smeared for that, too. It’s the same game as the “You mustn’t close GITMO!” followed by “You promised to close GITMO!” faux outrage.
Undoing the damage of the patriot act is going to be an uphill climb but we have to fight to do just that. Fear and paranoia sold the notion that giving up our freedom will make us free. SMH…
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By: delurkergurl on June 7, 2013
at 12:48 PM
Hey Gato,
This is all about smearing the Obama administration, plain and simple. Some people are deliberately misrepresenting the facts. If Congress wants to change this, it’s up to them.
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By: Terri in NY on June 7, 2013
at 12:03 PM
James, right on…
In regards to your statement on the singer in Sweden, who makes polical statements during her concerts, calling her government a regime.
My hat off to her, for standing up boldly to the evil being done to her people.
Every Government is politically run by the CENTRAL Rothschild Banks..throughout the world.
Rothschild said in a book he wrote in 1820, that if he could print a country’s money, he could control its politics. This is exactly what is taking place in all the countries with a Rothschild Central Bank, including America and The Federal Reserve.
That is exactly how the world is being controlled, with daily added harsher controls on the world’s citizens, with loss of rights, and the failing of each government having these Central Banks.
This control is taking place from within each of the secret societies they belong to and within each system, the Banks influence within each country.
They hide it well, but, it is finally being brought out by the Internet and shared information. Information, today, is not so compartmentalized by the localized reporting within each nation.
Do not take this as an anti-Semetic statement. Madoff (sp) did a lot of bad stuff to a lot of folks, even his own Jewish people. There are bad folks within each religion, doing their will and not that of their God.
This information has NOTHING to do with a religious group, and EVERYTHING to do with the brotherhood of man, which we all belong to.
We must stop this destruction of mankind on every level.
To stop the momentum, we must at least come to majority understanding of what is taking place.
It all starts with knowledge. Please, I beg you to study this subject and become experts, with all the intelligence and knowledge those of you on this blog site, profess to have in all your various areas of expertise, for all of our lives depend on it.
Open your minds to reality and truth.
Doing nothing will be the demise, of this greatly blessed nation.
Love and Peace..
Chris
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By: Chris on June 7, 2013
at 11:51 AM
Hi, Terri – Right. And I’m listening to the Prez at this moment, who’s doing a press conference in CA before meeting with the president of China. After some good elaboration on how people can sign up for the ACA, he’s answering questions about government information gathering.
Most significant reminder is that EVERY MEMBER OF CONGRESS HAS KNOWN ABOUT THESE PROGRAMS EVER SINCE THEY WERE INSTITUTED AFTER 9/11. So it’s all been fine and dandy, until now.
Go figure…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 7, 2013
at 11:39 AM
Just a note for the uneducated amongst us. The content of phone calls is not being recorded. A warrant for specific information must be obtained before access is granted.
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By: Terri in NY on June 7, 2013
at 11:18 AM
Just remember that you’re not meat until you are slaughtered; until that time you are a live animal. Don’t worry; it’ll move just a little bit – just nerves, that’s all…
Keep chewing your cud. The rest of us will try to protect you, as always…
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By: PFesser on June 7, 2013
at 10:51 AM
That’s good, Terry and Deluker: I’m sure you won’t mind then, if a bunch of guys in another town listen in to your teenaged daughter’s explicit conversations with her boyfriend and laugh about all the things they do in private. Or any of a dozen conversations you have every day that you would like to keep private.
Keep chewing your cud. Don’t look up, the stunning gun doesn’t hurt at all.
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By: PFesser on June 7, 2013
at 10:47 AM
Information mining is not news to me. Nor is the People’s View’s ironical description of hyprocracy while denying the Democrats’ own lapses. Republicans and Democrats are on both sides of this issue. Had these new revelations been revealed during the Bush administration, Democrats would have been as outraged as some Republicans are now. Hyprocracy on both sides is rampant. What else is new?
Amazon, Google and the others do collect information, but they do it for commercial reasons.
Our government can as just proven with the IRS fun, use information for political as well as security purposes.
Michelle Malkin wrote in “History Lesson: The crucial differences between Bush and Obama’s NSA phone surveillance programs ” “Under Bush, collection of purely domestic calls by special collections program was rare or inadvertent–by the New York Times own admission..
Under President…Obama massive blanket collection of data involving purely domestic calls placed by Americans to other Americans is the intended objective, not an accident,.” This was also done secretively as was declaring the Fox reporter an unindicted co conspirator.
LIberal Librarian should know that judicial oversight is a thin reed of support given the Justice Department’s judge shopping. Recent history,shows we have no guarantee that anything will be tried in open civilian court. The administration won’t even reveal the content of secret departmental e mails.
Even of it is legal, we need a national debate on information gathering, and the Republicans are by investigating real scandals ” sharing in the governance of the country”
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By: James on June 7, 2013
at 10:45 AM
Good article delurker. It pretty much sums up my take on this “issue.”
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By: Terri in NY on June 7, 2013
at 10:39 AM
Intelligence agency conducts intelligence. News at 11.
http://www.thepeoplesview.net/2013/06/intelligence-agency-conducts.html
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By: delurkergurl on June 7, 2013
at 9:59 AM
Our domestic press’s ineptitude and inattention should also be a scandal. Most of our information has come from foreigners or our government which outed itself.
Now, Reuters reports that “a misfired e mail from the US Internal Revenue Service employee in Cincinnati alerted a number of other Washington IRS officials that extra scrutiny was being placed on conservative groups in July, 2010, a year earlier than previously acknowledged, according to interviews with IRS workers by congressional investigators.
Transcripts of the interviews, reviewed by Reuters on Thursday, provided new details about Washington managers’ awareness of the heightened scrutiny applied to front-line IRS agents in Cincinnati to applications for tax-exempt status from conservative groups with words like “Tea Party” in their names.
Good morning, Mr. president. I hope you slept well,.,
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By: James on June 7, 2013
at 7:37 AM
Sen. Paul to Introduce Fourth Amendment Restoration Act of 2013
Jun 6, 2013
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. Rand Paul today announced he will introduce the Fourth Amendment Restoration Act of 2013, which ensures the Constitutional protections of the Fourth Amendment are not violated by any government entity.
“The revelation that the NSA has secretly seized the call records of millions of Americans, without probable cause, represents an outrageous abuse of power and a violation of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. I have long argued that Congress must do more to restrict the Executive’s expansive law enforcement powers to seize private records of law-abiding Americans that are held by a third-party,” Sen. Paul said. “When the Senate rushed through a last-minute extension of the FISA Amendments Act late last year, I insisted on a vote on my amendment (SA 3436) to require stronger protections on business records and prohibiting the kind of data-mining this case has revealed. Just last month, I introduced S.1037, the Fourth Amendment Preservation and Protection Act, which would provide exactly the kind of protections that, if enacted, could have prevented these abuses and stopped these increasingly frequent violations of every American’s constitutional rights.
“The bill restores our Constitutional rights and declares that the Fourth Amendment shall not be construed to allow any agency of the United States government to search the phone records of Americans without a warrant based on probable cause.”
At least somebody up there in The Hellhole is not asleep at the switch.
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By: PFesser on June 7, 2013
at 7:27 AM
Sofia Jannok, the noted Swedish/Sami singer could never sing opera but she does something most opera singers would not do.
Sometimes she will stop singing in a concert and say “enough of that., Let’s talk politics.” A critic said she is not an ethereal Swedish version of Bjork. She is a woman of steel.
Like Rush, she calls the Swedish government “the regime” and moves a step further to the “colonial regime” or “power” She shows by documented examples how the government has hoodwinked the people, and she tells them not to believe what the news media tells them.
She is mainly talking to and about her fellow indigenous people, but since our government is treating us like non-citizens, maybe she should tour in the US.
I read the Stonekettle version of Benghazi etc. My rants here with documentation unknowlngly proved him wrong. Some of his interior logic was also shaky.
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By: James on June 7, 2013
at 7:08 AM
Sorry – the news article had already advanced, so that was the wrong link. My bad.
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2013/06/06/dnt-man-has-22-kids-with-14-women.wtvf.html
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By: PFesser on June 7, 2013
at 4:32 AM
Nobody doubts that liberals are well-intentioned. Here are the fruits of good intentions without thinking to go along with it:
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2013/06/05/tsr-dnt-cho-suburban-pot-mom.cnn.html
What was it? 22, 24? kids with 14 women? Over $7500 a month to support those kids, paid for by the taxpayers?
Don’t get me wrong. It’s not this man’s fault – and what a man he is! The problem is the system which creates a man like him.
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By: PFesser on June 7, 2013
at 4:29 AM
Me again.
For some reason unbeknownst to me, my cut’ n’ paste jobbies don’t post on WordPress as typed and I don’t know how to correct them. No smiley faces. Bummer. Oh, well, you can decypher it I think.
Aloha! Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
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By: waialeale on June 7, 2013
at 2:12 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
I think most of us like to talk about those things we know the most about and are nearest and dearest to our hearts. And so you know me and my metaphor – – Grand Opera.
One time we attended a magical performance of the French opera of Camille Saint-Saens’ “Samson et Dalila” (In English, Sampson and Delilah). For many, many years, operas were performed on the stage of either big opera houses or in outdoor amphitheatres such as the incredible “Arena di Verona”, Italy. Chances are most of the audience was sitting way far from the stage so the emphasis was more on the music than the visual action. That changed with the advent of cameras and TV since there are close up pictures of costumes, sets, and facial expressions. The visual aspects became almost as vital at the auditory. Of course, operatic voices are trained to project their voices so that their sounds can be clearly heard in the very last row without microphones or amplification. They don’t have to carry around mics stuck in front of their mouths. Thus, opera productions changed, for the better I think. The old “stand and bark” mode was replaced with live action as well as the music.
True opera fans are perhaps the harshest critics there are because they know the music so well. It is still not uncommon for an artist to booed and hissed off the stage if he/she does not sing it right! I’m sure you have all heard the tired old expression, “It ain’t over ‘till the fat lady sings!” Those days are pretty much gone forever too now that most of them have personal trainers, not only for health but appearance.
As usual in the performance we saw, the company had imported the principle roles of the tenor, Samson and mezzo-soprano, Dalila. They both had magnificent voices!!! But he was a skinny little shrimp and his costume looked like he was wearing a nightshirt. She however was a very large woman who weighed probably 300 pounds. The confident way she carried herself indicated she was in much better shape to haul down the temple than her Samson was!
The story of ”Samson et Dalila” is taken from the biblical account by the same name. Only this is from Dalila’s point of view in keeping with the times. She is not necessarily the cold hearted villainess but was forced by the political powers-that-be to deliver Samson to his fate. She really did love him. The hauntingly beautiful (and seductive) aria is: “Mon coeur s’ouvre a ta voix.” (My heart opens itself to [the sound of] your voice.)
Here are some selections you can watch and listen to on YouTube at your leisure.
1. Maria Callas, the Greek mezzo-soprano, set the standard for many, many years that probably still stands. As you may remember she was for a very long time the mistress of the Greek shipping magnet Ari Onassis. He later married the widow of JFK, Jackie Kennedy Onassis.
2. Jon Vickers, tenor and Shirley Verrett, mezzo in a touching duet with English
sub-titles.
3. Jessye Norman in a powerful concert performance. One of THE leading mezzo
of recent times.
4. A current favorite, Olga Borodina.
Enjoy! Nighty-night and GOOD MORNIN’!
Aloha! Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 7, 2013
at 1:57 AM
An alarming example of confusion amongst the grazing herd. So why aren’t you ignoring me, chief? 😐 Or am I right and you are that stupid?
The use of anon is deliberate because you’re a rank coward. Now go get that stiff Jimmy “Peeler” Wright to fight your battles for you. Even that dink doesn’t roll over.
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By: Long Duc Dong on June 6, 2013
at 8:36 PM
Antipathy for you, Anon. Nearly overwhelming delight in your misery. 😛 Now if we can just bring Zero and his hideous hag for a wife down, I may indeed have to up the meds.
Try to think of yourself as life’s insufferable and sanctimonious punching bag. You make all of life’s frustrations bearable. Look at the bright side, Anon. Bags like you have made for 26 years of marital bliss to a good woman – say diametrically opposed to something like you and Wattle Jean.
Gobble gobble gobble!
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By: Long Duc Dong on June 6, 2013
at 8:33 PM
Hey Rinky-Dinky Ding-Dong. Time to cool off a bit. So it’s true. Your military experience is zero and all your petty posturing is nothing but a paper cowboy gone over the edge. Too bad about kissing off your meds. That’s dangerous if you have a family.
BTW, the use of anon is deliberate. It brings out your true color, – in spades, – and you reveal yourself as one really sick puppy and should be ignored.
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By: Anonymous on June 6, 2013
at 8:24 PM
Apathy for you, Tex. Nearly overwhelming sorrow for your wife and daughters. Hope you are providing massive life insurance benfits to them all to compensate for your unbearable inadequacy. I can’t imagine how you live with it.
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By: Anonymous on June 6, 2013
at 8:16 PM
Atlantic Magazine wrote that we should be grateful to the whistleblower who at some risk to himself/herself told the Guardian what was happening.
The New York Times wrote on The Opinion Pages “President Obama’s Dragnet” that on this issue, the president has lost all credibility.”
This law as implemented has bipartisan support and bipartisan opposition.
I have already proven grounds for investigation of the other scandals, and no one has contradicted me. One of these days something will resonate with the people, and then there will be h;;;; to pay. Maybe this will be the one.
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By: James on June 6, 2013
at 8:09 PM
There is no way to feel “inadequate” in this disease infested petri dish. It’s like carrying on a conversation with amoeba.
You think that’s my intent, Pet Rock? To posture? If I stroke out, it will be from uncontrolled hysteria still trying to figure out how the anonymous labial monologue can generate enough neuronal energy to type by kegeling.
Go do a good friend a favor, Anon, and get that useful idiot and blowhard Jimmy “Peeler” Wright over here. I want to demonstrate what overcompensation and inadequacy really look like. It amuses me to watch Peeler pucker.
Wattle Jean ain’t cutting it. Gobble gobble gobble.
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By: Long Duc Dong on June 6, 2013
at 7:44 PM
Pussy = sexism
Nags = sexism + ageism
Next? For sure there will be more. Teh prejudice is boundless. Teh hypocrisy is epic.
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By: Anonymous on June 6, 2013
at 7:42 PM
Yes, Jean, Omaha and Des Moines have nice little opera companies. The acoustics are pretty good in the Orpheum theater , the only one I have been in. I assume most Americans don’t know they exist.
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By: James on June 6, 2013
at 7:16 PM
It just dawned on me that LLD sounds a lot like Charlie Sheen when he was going through his little breakdown. “Scorpion King”? “Rambo”? WTF?
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By: Anonymous on June 6, 2013
at 7:15 PM
Sidney, that person seems a little overwrought to me. I already used documentation to prove that those are real scandals without quotes. As I wrote earlier the Verison wire tapping may be legal, but I think it Is dangerous, even if it is based on Bush era legislation..
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By: James on June 6, 2013
at 7:12 PM
LLD. Calm down, you’re gonna have a stroke! Better up those meds, Tex. And you’re scaring us so much, with all your macho posturing. Feeling a little, shall we say, inadequate? Overcompensating is a sure sign.
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By: Anonymous on June 6, 2013
at 7:01 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
My, my, it seems that several people here have become quite upset, angry and defensive about what they perceive as being blindly intolerant toward a wide variety of groups. I would like to clarify that if I may.
For the moment I will address only one accusation hurled willy-nilly; that toward the former Confederate States in the Deep South. I have PROOF that there is none. No basis for that at all. I am returning to well know and documented parallel cases in point to illustrate – Grand Opera.
The Western Deep South has outstanding, world class opera companies and opera houses that attract international superstar artists to perform for them. For example Houston, TX has its HGO, (Houston Grand Opera Company) housed in the Wortham Theater Center. (For one, HGO performed Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” [Don Juan] in February.) Dallas has its magnificent Windspear Opera House. I understand that even the former presidents Bush, both father and son, have attended some performances there.
Omaha, NE has a modest little opera company in their Orpheum Theater. Also in February they performed Mozart’s “Die Zauberflote” (The Magic Flute). I have heard that Des Moines, Iowa has its nice little opera company composed of local talent.
For the Eastern Deep South, people can always go to WNO, (Washington National Opera) at the Kennedy Center in DC for a world class operatic experience.
I won’t bore you by listing other Opera Houses in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Fe, NM, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Europe, South America, Asia, Australia, et al.
So when it comes to the performing arts, there is no such thing as prejudicial bigotry with respect to those who perform it or those who enjoy it as audience members. The Deep South has its Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN. Citing another proof would be the Bluegrass Music and Clog Dancing that compares so favorably with the Russian Bolshoi Ballet. I understand a student can earn a BA degree in Bluegrass Music at Morehead State University and /or East Tennessee State University.
If is not feasible for anyone to attend any of these performances in person, they can always watch them on PBS or YouTube online.
Aloha! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 6, 2013
at 7:00 PM
😆 😆
Hey, what about my time in the midst of all you butt dragging cud chewers?
Hey Bessy, I’m the fricking Scorpion King and Rambo all rolled into one. Thousands of kills behind enemy lines with my bare hands, my spear and my knife. Now prove me wrong while you prove little Jimmy ‘Peeler’ Dykes’ claims of bravery true as he dreamed in the kitchen and latrine duty, brick.
Peeler is as dumb as the rest of this group – just a louder gong. Tell him to get his feckless ass over here and I’ll demonstrate. And I’ll guarantee you he won’t venture from his comfort zone anymore than the rest of you freeloaders. He’s as weak as you man hating, Anonymous shrews – as gullible as they are dumb.
More Solyndra!
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By: Long Duc Dong on June 6, 2013
at 6:48 PM
Hope M&H will be posting soon.
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By: Terri in NY on June 6, 2013
at 6:15 PM
Ladies, I would like to introduce you to a wicked smart blogger who has a great post regarding all the “scandals” that only exist when a democrat is in the whitehouse. Check him out.
http://hisvorpal.wordpress.com/2013/06/06/this-day-in-stoopid/
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By: sidney18511 on June 6, 2013
at 6:14 PM
“Nags”=sexism. Nice to see you boyfriends defend each other. So cute! And Pfesser, nice to see you imitating your BFF!
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By: Anonymous on June 6, 2013
at 6:06 PM
Pussy anon: It’s a straitjacket, not a straight jacket. As in, “Dire Straits.”
Don’t thank me; professer is my job. I think of you and your alter ego as a bit of a project, anyway. heh. heh.
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By: PFesser on June 6, 2013
at 5:57 PM
Tell me, does “Jim” put up with hit-and-runs by pusses who hide behind “anonymous?”
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By: PFesser on June 6, 2013
at 5:51 PM
“I think the count is zero. Jim Wright doesn’t put up with trash.”
No, he’s just too much of eunuch to stand up and argue with a man, so he hits them with his purse and kicks them out.
At least M&H, who admit they are partisan, have the gonads to hear other POVs – unlike the Nags who frequent their blog and faint at the whisper of another way of looking at things.
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By: PFesser on June 6, 2013
at 5:50 PM
LLD — time to be fitted for a new straight jacket? Feeling a little impotent? Jealous of someone who is smarter and more articulate than you and served in the military? That’s okay,they don’t let people like you into the military. Now go crawl back under your rock.
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By: Anonymous on June 6, 2013
at 5:06 PM
To: Long Duc Dong on June 6, 2013 at 4:04 PM
And when and where was your heroic service? Oh that’s right, there isn’t any.
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By: Anonymous on June 6, 2013
at 4:08 PM
Jim Wright must be Wattle Jean’s incestuous son and equally as worthless and ignorant.
Is Peeler still dredging on about his military heroism? I guarantee Jimbo was peeling potatoes in the kitchen with Private Bradley Manning. They probably winged him off the ship for treason or attempted to frag his sorry ass. Code Red. Why do you think he’s so bitter and obnoxious about the military? 😈
Have you lovely ladies {snort} checked out the personal pictures with that Deliverance Hat on Peeler likes to wear?
Every time I used to enter that hole, I wanted to yell, “Squeal like a Pig!”
Peeler is the ultimate emasculated male feminist. No wonder this crowd loves him. Brow beaten squirrel sized gonads – the perfect feminized male for the man haters.
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By: Long Duc Dong on June 6, 2013
at 4:04 PM
Waving to all my buds!
If any of you are looking for an interesting summer read you might want to check out America 3.0 by James Bennett and Michael Lotus 🙂
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By: lori on June 6, 2013
at 2:58 PM
Whirled Peas, yes hyprocracy is rampant, but speaking only for myself, I didn’t like it then, and I don’t like it now.
Some of us have proven that the recent scandals are worthy of more investigation, but they were different from this news. The previous scandals were true incidents of incompetence or over politicization combined with obfuscation.
This one may be the product of a legitimate law properly implemented.,.
Glenn Beck warned about this over a year ago, at least it is what he said today. I don’t listen often enough to be sure. However, Democracy Now! Wednesday March 21, 2012 has an article titled “Exposed: Inside the NSA’s Largest and most expansive secret domestic spy center in Bluffdale, Utah”
Wired Magazine exposed the details of how the National Security Agency “is quietly building the largest spy center in the country.” Amy Goodman quoted James Bamford who wrote this is a “total information awareness program created during the first term of the Bush administration created during the first term of the Bush administration” but later killed by Congress in 2003 due to privacy concerns and public outcry.”
Its time for another public outcry until we learn if this state of intrusion is necessary and if the law needs to be changed. I’d like to know why the government needs to record all of our private communications. The American Civilities Union isn’t too thrilled either.
We are living day to day with a family medical problem, so I am more interested in that than in starting another debate.
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By: James on June 6, 2013
at 2:52 PM
To: delurkergurl on June 6, 2013 at 2:06 PM
Have you ever noticed how many of the cheap thugs here are also on StoneKettle? I think the count is zero. Jim Wright doesn’t put up with trash.
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By: Anonymous on June 6, 2013
at 2:45 PM
Stonekettle is back online. 🙂
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By: delurkergurl on June 6, 2013
at 2:06 PM
(Waving to Anonymous-the-Puss)
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By: PFesser on June 6, 2013
at 1:59 PM
Harry Reid says we should just all calm down. After all, it’s been GOING ON FOR SEVEN YEARS, WITHOUT ANYBODY’S KNOWLEDGE.
Boy, THAT should make everybody feel better!
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57588058/nsas-verizon-records-collection-calm-down-reid-says/
****************
Still no comments on this from the Nags? What’s the matter, girls? Speechless? That’s hard to believe…maybe you could just put it in a phone call – so the WHOLE WORLD can hear it.
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By: PFesser on June 6, 2013
at 1:57 PM
If pfesser were allergic to hypocrisy he’d be a dead man.
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By: Anonymous on June 6, 2013
at 1:23 PM
Flashback…
FF1: “Let’s call it the terrorist surveillance program. That would be a lot easier.”
FF2: “And more accurate.”
FF1: “Yeah, more accurate too. If you’re for the NSA wiretapping without going to the FISA court, I guess warrantless, then most likely you’re Republican. If you are against it, you most likely are a Democrat.”
Quotes from Fox & Friends 1/25/2006
What a difference 7 years makes.
.
😉
Peace ~ Δ
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By: Whirled Peas Δ on June 6, 2013
at 12:28 PM
Cynthia noted: “an amendment that would make it easier for troops to harass their gay comrades without fear of reprisal.”
I have to give you credit there; you DID leave out gays in your nauseating, bigoted diatribe. Congratulations, Archie Bunker; you missed one.
***************
Still no comments about Hussein’s latest attack on American citizens? Let’s see, the administration plans to use drones to kill American citizens without trial and now is using secret courts to give them permission to seize phone records for millions of Americans who have not been charged with any crime nor even suspected of any. No comments? gato got your tongue? Do you like Big Brother now?
Crickets from the Left, but then, hell, what do you expect?
Long Duc is right; we’ve taken it too easy on you.
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By: PFesser on June 6, 2013
at 12:11 PM
pf – WARNING: Protect your screen and keyboard. Reading this should cause violent projectile vomiting!
“A House panel on Wednesday approved as part of major defense legislation an amendment that would make it easier for troops to harass their gay comrades without fear of reprisal.
The amendment, introduced by Rep. John Fleming (R-La.), was approved by the Republican-controlled House Armed Services Committee by a vote of 33-26 as part of the fiscal year 2014 defense authorization bill.”
“Fleming’s measure would expand the “conscience provision” that already exists in defense law. It would protect discriminatory speech and actions and leave commanders with no recourse against prejudicial conduct when it occurs in their units.”
http://www.washingtonblade.com/2013/06/05/house-panel-adopts-conscience-amendment-to-defense-bill/
“now a racist, sexist, bigot of the first order (oh, and I forgot, a Christian-hater) who thinks that it’s quite OK – even amusing – to select out a group of people for criticism based on nothing other than their sex and ethnicity. Makes one want to vomit in one’s mouth a little, doesn’t it?”
pf – please add “freakin Southern asshole hater” to my resume. Thanks!
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 6, 2013
at 11:29 AM
pennyabrams – protect them from the paring knife? I dunno, perhaps the same way you protect them from her sharpened pencil, the point of her compass, her shirt that she could take off and strangle somebody, the paste she could stuff down somebody’s throat and strangle them, her shoes that she could beat somebody with, her ruler, her fingernails.
****************
No comments about our “constitutional scholar” and his latest attack on America? This bother anybody? Used a telephone lately?
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By: PFesser on June 6, 2013
at 11:25 AM
White Man ‘Discovers’ America
.
😉
Peace ~ Δ
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By: Whirled Peas Δ on June 6, 2013
at 9:56 AM
re: who does/did the most? who the hell cares? first of all, the sources quoted are/were written by the white male who insists he did the most good stuff; then there’s various periods of history…like when the seat of all modern knowledge was the iberian peninsula where the moors (who later attempted to convert or expunge anyone who wasn’t catholic) were the power. and there’s that lovely sentence in the movie…my big fat greek wedding…where the mother in response to the daughter who is worried that the man is the head of the household…mother says…yes, the man is the head but the woman is the neck. there were the amazon women. there were the wise (noodles, the abacus and fireworks and…)orientals…before there were a lot of others. there were the africans whose earthly knowledge made their survival possible. thruout the ages, the hebrew scholars and prophets (of varying races) were extraordinarily wise and today, israel produces more medical and scientific advances than any other society; there was the glorious period where arab mastery accounted for some amazing math and artistic feats. in any event, every person..every society…every period of history is built upon its predecessor (sp?).
so what. do we use what we have not to its best advantage? personally, i think, now that we are admitting women’s intelligence and capabilites, that we’re on our way. 😉
wot a dum quibble. dum, dum, dum. siiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh
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By: penny abrams on June 6, 2013
at 9:33 AM
pf: so no federal mandates, forget the knife in the kid’s lunch box and deal w/the crappy parents. how would u deal w/the crappy parents, by whose authority and how can u protect the other kids from the knife? i do not trust that the expertise which is claimed is sufficient. do i have to go with it a lot of the time? yeah, but i’m constantly on it. so far, nothing we’re doing is working right in education, right? wrong. there are things that work. we just need to use them. and i don’t mean smacking around…all that does is teach that physical power will always win.
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By: penny abrams on June 6, 2013
at 9:11 AM
Hey, Non – Indeed, we might even consider it a “cadre” of one…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 6, 2013
at 8:02 AM
“A sad little cadre”? Then you are right in your element. I guess they are all getting to you. The venom is a lot more vicious coming out of your mouth lately. “Grandma”=ageist, whites have produced more history=racist; “Hussein”=bigotry; the Steubenville victim was like “a pig on a spit”=misogyny. Look in the mirror, moron.
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By: Anonymous on June 6, 2013
at 8:00 AM
What a sad little cadre we have here. Two confirmed liars, who – even when given the opportunity to say, “I’m sorry; I made a mistake,” refuse do do so, and now a racist, sexist, bigot of the first order (oh, and I forgot, a Christian-hater) who thinks that it’s quite OK – even amusing – to select out a group of people for criticism based on nothing other than their sex and ethnicity. Makes one want to vomit in one’s mouth a little, doesn’t it?
***********
Speaking of socialist shortcomings. Now I see Hussein has decided to go for the whole ball of wax:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jun/5/nsa-seizes-phone-records-verizon-customers/
This “constitutional scholar” has just violated – no raped – at least two of the Articles of the Bill of Rights. That bother any of the NAGs? Thought not.
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By: PFesser on June 6, 2013
at 7:00 AM
YOU, my dear man, I find very humorous that you of all people making this statement:
“I am always offended by racism.
I am always offended by sexism.
I am always offended by age-ism.
I am always offended by bigotry.”
Deal with it!
I find you too funny to be offended by anything you have to say. I have dealt with you for sometime now.
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 5, 2013
at 10:01 PM
Cynthia opined:
“…offended by my comment address to Jean. I did not realize it would cause your precious little whitie tighties to twist in such a huge bunch.”
and:
“PS – have you ever thought about getting a sense of humor?”
I am always offended by racism.
I am always offended by sexism.
I am always offended by age-ism.
I am always offended by bigotry.
And you, by your comment, appear to be an age-ist sexist racist bigot. I don’t see any humour in that. If you find it funny, please enlighten us as to where the humor is.
Sorry if you are offended by my offense; you’ll get over it.
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By: PFesser on June 5, 2013
at 9:33 PM
pf – Bless your heart….I sincerely apologize to you for causing you to be offended by my comment address to Jean. I did not realize it would cause your precious little whitie tighties to twist in such a huge bunch.
Regarding Southern. That would be southern assholes; it is a hole different group. Although it is possible to be a member of the old white Christian MEN and the southern assholes.
“That is the most disgusting thing I have ever read on this blog – and that is a very high bar, my friends.”
I believe your friend, Won Hun Lo the pole vaulter, has out performed us.
Peace.
PS – have you ever thought about getting a sense of humor?
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By: Cynthia on June 5, 2013
at 8:01 PM
You have become incoherent. Time to pack it in, old timer.
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By: Anonymous on June 5, 2013
at 7:38 PM
Go whine some more, fan. 😆 Is this Mother Mary Anon?
Not weight jokes. Cow tipping. And rube, there’s Wattle Jean. That’s cow tipping at its finest.
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By: Long Duc Dong on June 5, 2013
at 7:29 PM
Weight jokes? How clever.
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By: Anonymous on June 5, 2013
at 7:04 PM
Now where is my boyfriend?
I readily admit, I may not have factored in the size of those same hips that have to be greased to make it into the elevator door. I’ve never lifted 400 lbs. of chewed bubble gum butt and gut.
Are you related to Aunt Liki by any chance, Anon?
Manly indeed for such a little man on his tiny keyboard. Just the thought at such a wonderful opportunity is almost orgasmic. All I’ve got to do is perform the cow tip to simulate the throw.
Bring your puppy. 😈
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By: Long Duc Dong on June 5, 2013
at 5:58 PM
I thought someone would comment on your links, UAWtradesman. They are funny!
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By: James on June 5, 2013
at 5:52 PM
Big talk from a very little man. Feeling manly typing away at your keyboard? I’m shaking in my boots… Wait, isn’t it time for your boyfriend to rush to your defense?
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By: Anonymous on June 5, 2013
at 4:58 PM
Good. Anything I can do to add misery to that miserable existence of yours, mission accomplished. I loathe lying hypocrites and cowards like you and given the chance, I wouldn’t kick you down the stairs.
I would throw you down the stairs.
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By: Long Duc Dong on June 5, 2013
at 4:43 PM
LLD. Nice to see you rush to the defense of your boyfriend! Doesn’t all the bile in your soul make you sick? It makes me sick. Don’t you have something better to do? Push an old lady down a flight of stairs? Kick a puppy? You’re a sick, sick person. A real hater. Go away.
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By: Anonymous on June 5, 2013
at 4:31 PM
Pfesser,
Never forget who you are generally dealing with here with this gaggle of hags. The bottom rung. The dumbest of the dumb. Man haters who love Obama because he’s the ultimate male feminist.
Poorly educated misandrists, poorly read, ignorant and mendacious propagandists (Da Vinci was gay? Let’s see the proof). Racists? :twist: The last gasp claim of the defeated foe. I hate Joe Biden worse than I do Barack Obama. We can put that charge to bed.
Virtually all of them are hypocrites of the worst sort, enablers of failure in Obama and that bitch of baboon he’s married to, who both excuse and enable fascism and dishonesty if it’s their side doing it. If they aren’t turning the blind eye, they are encouraging the bad behavior.
Frankly, they are sheer evil and should be treated as such. There’s is a win at any cost mentality, no matter what it takes with these goons. The days of compromise should be over. We should reciprocate, given the chance. Just win.
Then bring every possible jackbooted tactic to bear on their heads to give them a dose of their own medicine. Lie, cheat, stuff the ballot box, use the IRS to break them, kick in their doors and give their children over for indoctrination. Take their grown children by force and put them on the front lines of the battle. They protest, a trip to the dink to be forgotten.
These are the turds that refused to be flushed.
They can’t even manage their own lives. Why in the world should they be managing ours? Would you trust these dumb asses with a box of matches? If we had left civilization to these nitwits, you might have curtains in the cave, assuming we had survived.
You cannot reason with this level of abject stupidity. You might as well reason with the jihadists. These are Dear Leader mental midgets. And unfortunately, there’s obviously millions like them, explaining why America is swirling the bowl.
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By: Long Duc Dong on June 5, 2013
at 4:19 PM
Can you possibly explain the reason that four-fifths of this entire planet, and eighty percent of the history of humanity, do not exist for you…? And on what basis do you propose that “history” commenced only when Europeans began to write it down? Really…?
Give it a shot, sweetie. Oh, do convince us. After all, we’re just seventh-grade girls here, your designated audience… And probably seventh-graders are the only ones who might possibly think that some of your statements, such as this one, make any sense whatsoever, for about a nanosecond.
You can do that, right? Make sense to you? Isn’t that how it works? I’m sure you’ll let us know.
Oh, do inform us, and soon. We so await your erudite response.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 5, 2013
at 4:18 PM
The more one thinks about it, the more offensive are the bigoted, sexist, racist and age-ist attacks upon a single ethnic, age and gender group, identified specifically by name by the poster – old white men. That is the most disgusting thing I have ever read on this blog – and that is a very high bar, my friends. Three stereotypes at one shot; pretty good job. You left out Southerners; I expect that soon, though.
And then to attack someone who defends that group and points out their very important contributions to humanity… What is this world coming to?
You bigots should be ashamed of yourselves.
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By: PFesser on June 5, 2013
at 3:52 PM
Nonsense. It’s simply a statement of the obvious: Throughout recorded history, most of the accomplishments have been made by European – and white – and men – the folks that the liberal, politically-correct crowd just loves to bash. That doesn’t denigrate or demean anyone else; it’s just fact. If you don’t believe it, buy – and this time read, a history book.
You don’t like it much when you bite people and they bite back, do you, Pussy Anonymous?
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By: PFesser on June 5, 2013
at 3:22 PM
To all posters here: with his recent posts about white men, the Pfesser has proven himself to be a garden variety racist. There is absolutely no purpose in arguing with him. He is an ignorant bigot, and you cannot change a person like that. Yes, let’s all “weigh” textbooks as proof that the white race is superior. How stupid, how ridiculous, what nonsense. No attention should be paid to him. He’s beneath contempt for those statements and the rude and insulting manner in which he conducts himself. He’s despicable and he should be shunned.
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By: Anonymous on June 5, 2013
at 3:10 PM
People have been exchanging genes and information since “Adam and Eve” For example, scientists long thought the Chinese evolved their society in isolation until they found the mumified blond Europeans who lived in West China for several thousand years. Ancient Chinese histories refer to strange looking people.
. The Chinese, not the Europeans were probably the first to circle the world, around 1453,and they left colonies in scattered places. However, they decided to pull back and closed themselves from the rest of the world, relatively speaking. Europeans dominated the world by default. They weren’t superior to other cultures, but their wide- spread communication and travels spread their ideas quickly. Others built upon what came earlier during a cycle of western European dynamism which synergetically built on itself. That is why so many dead white men and women contributed to our modern society.
Moreover, far northern Scandinavians are closer genetically to Arabs than Japanese are to southeast Asians. Hispanics and many people in India are at least partly caucausian as are residents of the “Stans.” “White” people have made a disportionate contribution to modern society, and they have caused most of the recent major wars.
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By: James on June 5, 2013
at 3:02 PM
“lunches, not lunchs” is a correction in my own post.
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By: PFesser on June 5, 2013
at 2:38 PM
Did you really need to “correct” this…? While you’re spending your time making sure that an omitted “e” is properly placed in someone else’s post, most of the rest of us are questioning your personal take on “history,” as it’s been given us.
You present yourself as “Mr. Issues Guy,” along with all the other amazing things you’ve said you’ve done. What, exactly, is the “issue” here, with a possible typo? Done that yourself, haven’t you?
Stick to editing your wife’s publishing company’s manuscripts. I’m sure they’ll all be perfect. And, BTW, the Texas School Board has never, and will never, allow any “publisher” to dictate to them what they will, and will not, include in their curriculum.
They call the shots, and that’s because they buy the most books. At this point, I have to wonder what they actually DO with those books, since I’ve not seen any stats that indicate that Texas kids are the best educated kids in the country. Am I wrong about this? I know you’ll set me straight.
Gato
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By: Anonymous on June 5, 2013
at 1:45 PM
Cynthia – I’m not interested in arguing with you, either.
It’s fashionable to trash those “Dead European White Males;” it makes one look SO hip and modern and with it, but your world would be much, much different without them.
Just do an experiment for me: find an old school history textbook at a yard sale or somewhere and start tearing out the pages relating to white men. Then do the same with EVERYBODY else. Then weigh the two. You’d need postal scales to weigh the first one; the second you could use for a boat anchor.
Do the experiment. Prove me wrong. (I know, they WROTE the books…(eye roll)).
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By: PFesser on June 5, 2013
at 12:47 PM
lunches, not lunchs
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By: PFesser on June 5, 2013
at 12:38 PM
pennyabrams: “i don’t know what your point was”
I guess I wasn’t clear. Apologies. The point is that, yes, you check on services you get, but in reality you have to rely on the expertise of others. You don’t know if the phases on your power service are hooked up backwards (I do), because that’s not your area of expertise. (It is mine.) Yes, you can question the lineman and gestalt if he seems to know his business, but in the end YOU Have No Clue; you depend upon him.
It’s not just the poorly trained, poorly motivated, poorly paid, poor teachers’ fault. It’s the whole rotten system, from top to bottom – from wasting time on Federal Mandate compliance down to worrying about kids with paring knives in their lunchs who just want to peel an apple.
Do parents play a part? Yes of course. A silly question to ask; of course they play a part. We had shitty, drunk, abusive parents up in the hollers of West Virginia when I was growing up, too, but the system handled them – and their kids.
Not happening now.
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By: PFesser on June 5, 2013
at 12:37 PM
pf: i don’t know what your point was. when i was in school my parents respected my teachers and vice versa. there was no confrontational attitude on either’s parts. they worked together. by the time my kids were in school, the grammar school principal didn’t even know that jerusalem was a city and israel a country. the one really good math teacher was made head of the dept where he didn’t teach; the best history teacher was made a grade advisor and no longer taught; and the music teacher dragged my kid by his shirt down several tiers of the stands in the gym. and this was one of the better school districts in NY. far cry from when i was a kid. and what was my recourse? first i had to know what was going on, then deal with it, then hope i could make the necessary corrections. parents who didn’t pay attention never knew what was happening so they didn’t even know what issues needed addressing. teachers’ aids are not educated to teach. classes are too large. experienced teachers (who get paid more) are tempted to retire early so newer, lesser paid teachers can replace them. most parents are unaware of what is happening. when they find out, it changes. it changes because we have the vote for the board of education, for state officials in charge of education, etc.
like anything else in our lives, we must pay attention and address the issues…it takes immense energy…daily…but it is necessary for everyone in the community to work together. pros and amateurs alike.
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By: penny abrams on June 5, 2013
at 11:16 AM
Pfesser– when do you hold your next Aryan nations meeting, you miserable white supremecist?
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By: Anonymous on June 5, 2013
at 11:04 AM
Hi, Cynthia – And right on, sistah. The “history of the world,” as we are so often fed it in our culture, is written as if Arabs, Africans, Asians, Hispanics, women, and any number of other groups, never existed, and still don’t.
Math, anyone? Agriculture? Nursing? And that’s just off the top of my head.
Anybody still think, for example, that DaVinci – certainly someone most of us consider a genius – was just an “old white guy”? Well, he was… And gay.
Something to remember, IMHO, among so many other things.
Gato
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By: Anonymous on June 5, 2013
at 10:27 AM
when i need medical care i learn all i can about it so i can ask intelligent questions; i research the surgeon in hopes of choosing a good one; i am interested in her schooling and training; i pay for that expertise. when we hire teachers we look to see how cheap we can get them. who examines the schools or training the teachers get? when we need surgery we go for a consult…or should. who consults on what the teacher says or does? by law a doctor must be licensed and cannot affiliate with a hospital if he isn’t, cannot perform surgeries alone,nor can he even order them w/o consult by others in the hospital! where does that happen in the classroom? docs don’t get tenure. they do get sued.
so if you have a leak and have a plumber in the house you don’t watch to make sure the leak is fixed? you just pay him when he’s thru and say thankyou without checking first? that he did his job and cleaned up and put everything back? if your car isn’t performing what do you do? new car, built by professionals, isn’t working. now what?
having the label professional does not guarantee acceptable work. we must be ‘partners’ if we want a job well done. even more when it involves our children. if only so we can cooperate with teacher in achieving the goals laid out.
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By: penny abrams on June 5, 2013
at 10:04 AM
terri…very well put. i’m getting real tired of making political disaster out of every thing that comes down the pike. next, it’ll be what the obamas throw away into their garbage.
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By: penny abrams on June 5, 2013
at 9:53 AM
pf – I don’t have time to get into a pissing contest with you. I know old white Christian MEN write the history books in their favor. I know old white Christian MEN did not invent the wheel, domesticate animals, build the Pyramids, sail across the ocean in reed boats to mention a few accomplishments before there were old white Christian MEN.
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 5, 2013
at 9:50 AM
Sorry – needed to finish the thought: White Christian – and especially Jewish – men accomplish more on a good Thursday than the rest of those groups do in a year.
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By: PFesser on June 5, 2013
at 9:34 AM
Cynthia – I’m a lifelong atheist myself, but you have to be fair.
Poke fun at the white Christian men all you want, but the fact is, if you took all the accomplishments of, in your words, “old, white, Christian, Republican MEN,” out of the history books, the history of the world would be unrecognizable.
OTOH, if you took out the accomplishments of, again your words, “women, blacks, Latinos, atheists, gays/lesbians”, you would hardly notice the difference.
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By: PFesser on June 5, 2013
at 9:32 AM
Jean – Are you sure they aren’t looking for it to say “One small step for women, blacks, Latinos, atheists, gays/lesbians etc. and one huge giant super duper step for old, white, Christian, Republican MEN”?!
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 5, 2013
at 9:21 AM
Terri, I supported my Benghazi information with documentation. If I am wrong, please prove it.
Commentary “Report: Riots actually about the release of the blind sheik”
“USA Today reports that the riot at the US embassy in Cairo appears to have been planned well before the Egyptian media reported on the anti-Islam YouTube film that was blamed for sparking the protest.”
The report was announced on August 30 by Gamaa Islamiyya, and Egyptian terrorist group to call for the release of the blind sheik who is serving a life sentence for the first World Trade Center bombing.
“The protest was planned by Salafists well before news circulated of an objectionable video ridiculing Islam’s profit…said Eric Trager and expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.”
The video was used to inflame the people to enlarge the protest.
Commentary quoted from this article in USA Today: “Deadly embassy attacks were days in the making” Days of planning by hard line Islamist leaders helped whip up the mobs that stormed the US Embassy in Egypt and launched a deadly attack on the US Embassy in Libya that killed an ambassador and three others.
Eric Trager “Egypt’s Summer of Discontent” May 29, 2013 doesn’t address the riots, but he discusses the current situation in Egypt, and the article sheds light on his analytical skills.
New York Post September 12, 2012 “Attack on US ambassador planned for 9/11:report”
“US officials are increasingly suspicious that the murder Tuesday of the US ambassador Chris Sevens and three other American officials was not the result of a protest against an anti-Islam film, but instead was a coordinated terror strike timed for the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.” The “senior administration official” asked that his name be hidden.
I wrote incompetence and lack of foresight led to the attack. I did not write that our government deliberately let people die. The Pickering report, is flawed, in my opinion. He didn’t interview Hillary or the president, for example, and I don’t think he interviewed the thirty odd survivors/witnesses to the attack.
Yes, the report was highly critical of the State Department, and Hillary admitted she was responsible, but so what? Nothing happened to her, and she was in charge. How could she have not known this was a coordinated attack and not the fault of a video up to two weeks after the event?
At the very least, people responsible for this attack through their negligence should be publically scorned. That hasn’t happened yet.
Pickering recommended reprimanding midlevel employees, but we need to understand why Hillary didn’t know what was happening. Something is wrong with the communication structure of the State Department.
Thanks Chris.
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By: James on June 5, 2013
at 8:26 AM
oops
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=305272826272569&set=pb.133352176797969.-2207520000.1370437709.&type=3&src=https%3A%2F%2Fsphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net%2Fhphotos-prn2%2F969601_305272826272569_1526027878_n.jpg&size=295%2C395&source=timeline_photo_stream
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By: uawtradesman on June 5, 2013
at 8:23 AM
and a couple more
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=303669449766240&set=pb.133352176797969.-2207520000.1370438179.&type=3&src=https%3A%2F%2Ffbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net%2Fhphotos-ak-ash3%2F558146_303669449766240_302323429_n.jpg&size=429%2C371&source=timeline_photo_stream
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By: uawtradesman on June 5, 2013
at 8:22 AM
to true
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=306063276193524&set=pb.133352176797969.-2207520000.1370437709.&type=3&src=https%3A%2F%2Ffbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net%2Fhphotos-ak-ash3%2F182959_306063276193524_1268383973_n.png&size=648%2C494&source=timeline_photo_stream
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By: uawtradesman on June 5, 2013
at 8:11 AM
Auntie Jean – I remember the moon landing. I was lying on the floor at my sister’s house in Cleveland. Plain as day, I remember turning to her and saying, “What did he say?” Didn’t make any sense. “One small step for man? One giant leap for mankind?”
No big deal. He just was so excited that he forgot his lines. Happens all the time. LOL. Hell, most people wouldn’t be able to talk, let alone remember what to say.
Poor guy. They say he was the nicest fellow, and the best of the best, and the favorite among all of his astronaut-colleagues.
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By: PFesser on June 5, 2013
at 6:49 AM
pennyabrams – One of the reasons that our children are in last place – or nearly last – in every subject, when compared to children in other countries, is that our administrators spend their time on things like this:
“Josh Welsh, 8, a student at Park Elementary School in Anne Arundel County, Md., was suspended for the crime of chewing a Pop Tart into the shape of a gun and saying, “Bang, bang.””
“A deaf 3-year-old in Nebraska was targeted because his name in American Sign Language requires him to make a gesture that resembles a gun. A 5-year-old girl in Mount Carmel, Pa., was suspended from kindergarten for telling a friend she was going to shoot her with a pink Hello Kitty soap-bubble gun.”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jun/4/pop-guns-pop-tarts-and-deadly-pencils/
Yes, I know the Washington Times is a conservative paper, but I quote more liberal papers by far.
*********
I still remember my grade school. The principal, Mr. Barrett, would tour the playground during recess; the kids would crowd around him and he’d sit down and talk with them. I can’t count the times he’d say, “Who’s got a pocketknife?” And at least half of us would pull one out and he’d compare his with ours and we’d have conversations about the merits of the Boker or the Case, vs the Tree Brand. Talk about bonding; we loved and respected that man.
By the way, I still have my SCAT/STEP tests from the 3d and 6th grades. Our little grade school, ‘way up in the booger woods of Appalachia, ranked 96th percentile nationwide. Why? Because we didn’t waste our time on bullshit like who had a cap pistol or pocketknife.
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By: PFesser on June 5, 2013
at 6:44 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
The other night I mentioned two of our sons’ adventures with operatic arias. While I’m on the subject I also said that the music of Giuseppi Verdi (Joe Green in English) was instrumental if not pivotal in bringing about Italian unification from a bunch of little bickering City States. Well there’s more.
His “seria” opera “Nabucco” contains one of the most awe inspiring choruses in all of classical (elitist?) music. It is “Va Pensiero” also well-known as the “Hebrew Slaves’ Chorus”. (Audiences usually stop the action on stage with applause and demand an encore or two or more for this magnificent chorus.) You can Google “Nabucco” for the performance history and synopsis of the story line if you like. The opera is based on the historical biblical story of the Jews and “Nabucco”, (Nebuchadnezzar in English).
There are literally thousands of performances by a variety of artists, choruses and orchestras. I heartily recommend YouTube for “Verdi, Nabucco. Va Pensiero.Met.2002” if you can spare about nine and a half minute out of your busy lives to listen to soul stirring music.
This is quite an expensive opera to produce in order to do it justice. With a full symphonic orchestra of some 90 plus musicians strong, principal artists and a huge cast of singing actors all held together by the director of the stage action and of course, the maestro in the orchestra pit keeping everyone on the same page together for several hours without a hitch. Then there are the sets and costumes for a large capacity, full facility opera house. Stage hands, lighting technicians and now, high tech equipment of the latest design. A very tall order.
Uh, every one of the people involved is a professional with years of training and experience under their belts. Most of them are, gasp! Union Members! I don’t think it is too much for them to ask to earn a decent living wage for their efforts, do you?
Nighty-night or for you probably when you read this, GOOD MORNIN;’!
Aloha! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
I will shut up about opera for now – – maybe. And see, I can cut down on my prolix verbosity a little when I put my mind to it.
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By: waialeale on June 5, 2013
at 2:39 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
gurl, yeah!!! for the awards kids.
Here is a raging controversy worthy of a McCain-Lindsey, Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul investigation launch. I was ironing my f**kin’ embroidery embossed tablecloth and dinner napkins when I heard this on TV today. The damn thing is as big as a sheet. I got it in Nassau on a Caribbean cruise. I only use it for extra special celebratory occasions. It is a real bitch to iron.
Anyway it seems that grammarians are involved in a huge feud over Neil Armstrong’s famous line when he first walked on the moon. He said something like, “One small step for man, one giant step for mankind.” Some say he actually said, “One small step for “A” man,………” That would be better syntax than the generic use of “man” to possibly include woman. After all, history hangs in the balance!!! They are petitioning NASA for release of the original tape of his transmission for analysis in search of the elusive article, “A”.
Dramatic stuff, huh.
Aloha! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 4, 2013
at 10:27 PM
Awards ceremony time at school in these parts. WOW – the things kids are able to achieve! I’m impressed and looking forward to how some of them go forth and conquer the world!
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By: delurkergurl on June 4, 2013
at 9:04 PM
Lori,
No surprise. Every once in a while one of the TP members blurts out the truth. Discouraging, and you have your hands full trying to change things down there. Keep fighting and good luck.
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By: Terri in NY on June 4, 2013
at 4:25 PM
http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2013/06/texas-democratic-group-targets-dallas-tea-party-activist-and-comment-about-black-voters.html/
Terri another TP dog whistle, nay , freakin bull horn! LoL
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By: lori on June 4, 2013
at 4:13 PM
pennyabrams said: “it’s very tempting to blame the politicians, the teachers, the school administrators, TV, the movies blahblahblah for a lessening education. i’ll tell you who is most at fault. you. how many of you have read your kids’ text books, gone to every teacher-parent meeting,………
So………if you go to your doctor, have surgery, and are maimed, the problem is that you did not do your medical homework before undergoing the knife?
No, of course not. We do not do our own work in most areas of life because twenty lifetimes is not enough to learn it all. We sell our expertise in a field where WE are expert, and buy expertise we need in others’ fields. Think you could build your own car? Wire your own power pole? Fly your own airliner?
Then why is it that the admittedly-mediocre (at best) product of our school system is the parents’ faults? I send my kids to school, rather than homeschooling them, because the system tells me that THEY ARE THE EXPERTS.
Sounds good, but sorry, I don’t buy it.
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By: PFesser on June 4, 2013
at 1:58 PM
James, the facts you present about Benghazi are not right. I’m not going to dispute all them since it would be pointless. Do you deny that riots were going on that day in Egypt and Tripoli due to the video? You obviously select the ” facts” to believe depending on whether they make the Obama administration look bad. A very bad thing happened. The State Dept. claimed responsibility and is in the process of implementing all the recommendations in the Pickering report. That’s a lot different from assuming someone in the Obama administration deliberately let people die.
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By: Terri in NY on June 4, 2013
at 1:15 PM
James,
You are correct.
These scandals are highlighted in the media… to take our eyes off the big picture of what their next blow to the freedom of this country.
We are living in a constant motion picture, with the media directing how we think, and react, while another scene is beginning with the spotlight on another section of the stage.
Peace
Chris
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By: Chris on June 4, 2013
at 11:41 AM
Terry in NY.
I understand your frustration with what you feel is obstructionism on the part of the the GOP.
The GOP , along with much of the Dems are lobbied daily with millions of $ by the the big guys to get their way, which many times means getting the publics focus OFF whatever they are trying to accomplish.
It is part of the conspiracy that the still majority is failing to understand is taking place.
The constant buzz of rhetoric of confusion in all the politcal realm around here is connected. I pray you all will understand soon, before the boat leaves the dock…..so to speak.
Before it is too late, for doing and thinking nothing will sure be our demise.
Peace..
Chris
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By: Chris on June 4, 2013
at 11:36 AM
Penny..
I do not say ALL corporations are bad…just the largest ones.
That is how they got so bad…by being so big…..
The companies I am speaking of are the big corporations that are controlling this government, in ALL of its rule making.
I am not speaking of the small American owned companies. Those are most times not elitist, unless the smaller company is a subsidiary of a mother larger company.
The big guys get what they want in laws to protect their interests at our people’s detriment in the cost of our health, our environment, the loss of our jobs, loss of our older citizens retirement funds, etc.
They are in control by the mere nature of the amount of lobbying dollars used daily in Congress and the Senate. Check it out for yourselves or, see …………………..The Best Government Money Can Buy……………
Peace…
Chris
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By: Chris on June 4, 2013
at 11:13 AM
the company i use to take care of appliances is worker owned…after 5 years each person gets shares of the company…it produces a better company and a more secure future for their workers: our company fought for rights for our workers, sometimes even against the union, to get all of them fair perks. there are many companies like that. just ’cause you make a buck doesn’t make you a criminal.
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By: penny abrams on June 4, 2013
at 10:34 AM
it’s very tempting to blame the politicians, the teachers, the school administrators, TV, the movies blahblahblah for a lessening education. i’ll tell you who is most at fault. you. how many of you have read your kids’ text books, gone to every teacher-parent meeting, make sure homework is up to date, know all your kids’ friends and where they are what they’re doing and absolutely put your foot down that work comes before play. my kids got home from school, had a snack, a couple of hours to play and get their ya-yas out and then it was homework…BEFORE TV, without phone, without texting, without headsets glued to their ears. they brought their papers to me, their math to their father for checking. if they didn’t behave in school or had a complaint about a teacher, i asked them for the truth cause you can bet i’d be at school the next day to find out what happened, and they knew it and they knew it had better be the truth from them. we never dissed the teachers in their presence. we didn’t run interference if a teacher was unfair or there was a sudden load of homework. that’s life. life is not fair. the sooner they learn that, the better. by the way, my 3 offspring have, between them, 10 degrees and are all gainfully employed with children who are also earning degrees toward gainful employment. for those not academically suited. and not everyone is, there are vocational programs (not enough i think) to help them equip themselves to earn a living and be satisfied with themselves. they don’t do that if we let them laze away though. for everything there is a work ethic and a responsibility. (getting off my soapbox now…gonna lie down…i’m sick w/bronchitis)
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By: penny abrams on June 4, 2013
at 10:29 AM
james: you say
“Evan Thomas of Politico said Obama is “dishonest” and guilty of committing a “huge act of hyprocrisy” Newsbusters. Does that make him liberal, progressive, or something else? As I wrote personal inclination has as much to do with performance as ideology.”
you’re kidding, right? it makes him a politician. it also makes me want to gag that people can make accusations and not describe the ‘crime’ and prove it. saying it doesn’t make it true. defending it as carelessly as just saying it isn’t proof it isn’t either.
i truly believe that if obama were not a politician…first he wouldn’t be president; then he’d be bone honest but the career he chose makes that impossible; and that he is a principled man caught in a bind. no excuses. that’s what i think. doesn’t make him right or wrong. and guess what? he’s a human bean. he makes mistakes. he plans on stuff he can’t do or tries stuff that he should have done or like that. stuff happens, james.
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By: penny abrams on June 4, 2013
at 10:17 AM
james: you say
“Penny abrams, the terms have become interchangeable, though I agree there is a difference. AlterNet by David Sirola, a progressive wrote that Democratic politicians substitute “progressive” for “liberal” in news releases and speeches. Republicans say Democrats made the change because “liberal’ fell into disrepute.
“Most Democrats make no distinction between the two words. ” A perverted form of liberalism has almost completely snuffed out genuine progressivism.” I think they have created a hybrid.”
and i’m telling you that is simply wrong. the terms are not interchangable. the word liberal is derogatory to those who do not understand it. one does not have to agree to understand, by the way.
all democrats make a very distinct difference between liberal and progressive and conservative democrats. there are conservative democrats…those who lean more to the right than left of democratic center. a liberal, by example, is hot for the aclu all the time, the progressive considers the particular case; a liberal is quicker to raise taxes than a progressive;a liberal (as it were) rushes into the fray whereas the progressive looks it over first;in short, a progressive is as much a social liberal but more a fiscal conservative than a liberal. all of that is within the democratic party’s stand/platform, not as it would fit into another party’s.my very personal view is that the progressive no long is willing to play the old boy game where as the old style democrat is and the liberal never was.
my entire family, myself included, were staunch democrats. i left the democratic party late in clinton’s presidency because the dems were sitting on their bought-and-paid-for behinds, like the republicans, trying to look like republicans to keep their jobs. i got fed up. i am an independent.my brother argues i have given up my right to vote in the primary (my state has closed primaries) and i ask him…what have i lost? who’s there to get really hot for? anywhere?
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By: penny abrams on June 4, 2013
at 10:04 AM
Very interesting. Professor Noam Chomsky believes drone strikes are the “ultimate terrorism.”
http://rt.com/op-edge/drone-strikes-campaign-terrorist-679/
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By: PFesser on June 4, 2013
at 10:02 AM
I don’t have much time because I have to be gone again.
Gato, throwing up doesn’t accomplish any thing. Nothing changes except that you have a mess to clean. I am not being condescending. i am being phlegmatic. As you notice, i agreed with much of what you wrote.
I think both Haliburton and Solyndra are more than little boondoggles. I never wrote “little”. They are symptomatic of something bad in our government.
Poolman, yes, we have more than enough people to defend our country. But again, out of sight out of mind better lets us fight controversial wars.
Our leaders know attention spans are short unless we are personally affected.
Yes, Cynthia, our people at Benghazi were in a tough spot, and they knew it. 13 other attacks and security threats had occurred in the region. The New Media Journal ‘s list dates back to April 6, 2012.
Several weeks before the attack, unarmed Libyan guards employed by a British contractor warmed family members to quit their jobs guarding the Benghazi counsulate because there were rumors of a future attack.
“No matter which way you try to paint this event, it was a complete failure of not only foreign policy, but of diligence as to security for our diplomats overseas.”
National Review Online “Benghazi Eight Months Later” Ambassador Stevens and his predecessor repeatedly requested additional security during the spring and summer of 2012 when the before mentioned security threats were happening. “Ambassador Stevens sent a cable to the State Department on August 15, 2012 expressly requesting additional security because the Benghazi consulate could not withstand a coordinated attack. The requests were denied, but Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, observed in congressional testimony that Defense could have provided all the needed security if State had requested it.”
The Red Cross and Uk had withdrawn from the city because of the deteriorating security situation and the approach of the 9/11 anniversary.
Charman Dempsey said that if they had received a request, the military could have been there before the attack.
Obama was missing during most of the attack,Hillary didn’t seem to be around either. Secretary Panetta and Chairman Dempsey were awake during the entire attack. There was some confusion over who was in charge.
The Daily Beast Oct 12,2012 Are Budget Cuts to Blame for Benghazi Attack as Biden Suggested?” “Fact checkers take note: Biden’s suggestion that funding cuts may have undermined security at the consulate has been disproven–by his own administration. Eli Lake debunks.”
Congressional testimony : “But would more money have prevented the attacks?
Charlene Lamb:”No sir.”
A Marine detachment guarded the US embassy in Paris, but the Benghazi consulate had none. The Marines’ purpose is not to guard the embassy personnel.It is charged to protect documents. The obligation to protect the diplomatic corps falls to the host country.
Still, the Marines could have helped in an emergency.
The YouTube video is also a mystery. Why did the administration use that story for two weeks when people in Libya, including its president know it was untrue? Susan Rice contradicted the president on National television. This made him look bad.
The Russians, I think said that Ambassador Stevens was presiding over a gun running operation to the Syrian rebels. We don’t know if they know what they are talking about or not.
This is not a manufactured scandal. The men who died deserve answered questions so that we can correct mistakes which contributed to their deaths.
The IRS admitted they were treating conservatives and some others differently than others, so that is not a manufactured scandal either. The only question is how large was the operation?
Thanks for the good discussion. I have to leave in about a half hour.
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By: james on June 4, 2013
at 9:56 AM
I think, in general, many of the American people like and respect Barack Obama. They think he is fundamentally a decent man, so the attempts by the right to portray him as a corrupt politician don’t ring true and contradict what so many of us feel in our gut. I realize this is not something that can be quantified, but this is how it feels to me. I am totally frustrated by the obstruction of the GOP. We need to get things done, and so far they just say no to everything. I hope this comes back to bite them in the ass in 2014. And Lori, your optimism is always uplifting! And Cynthia, so glad you are back!
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By: Terri in NY on June 4, 2013
at 6:37 AM
Right on Cynthia! It would be easier to take the Repubs seriously if they weren’t engaging in selective outrage . Where were they when our embassy’s and consulate ‘s were attacked during repub admins?
We should always strive to do better in protecting our interests overseas. Having said that , this is just out – of – power partisan politics pure and simple. As usual the repubs have over played their hand and the American people have tuned them out. Obama & Dems poll numbers continue to rise while Issa and his merry band of clowns continue to tank. 🙂 life is good.
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By: Lori on June 4, 2013
at 6:24 AM
Cynthia, great post and I agree with all you said. We don’t need these manufactured controversies. Enough bad things will happen on their own but spending time trying to create scandals is an outrageous waste of time and energy when we need our Congress legislating, not wasting time “investigating.”
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By: Terri in NY on June 4, 2013
at 5:54 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
I would like to chew on the bones of the many partisan political misdeeds of the past with you “ad ifinitum- ad nauseam”. However, it seems to me that there is currently a more important consideration for the future. Since M&H do not, nor do any other blog that I know of require bibliographies in order to verify the authenticity of anyone’s source(s), I do not feel it is necessary to reveal those that are instrumental in determining my opinions as expressed here. Also so as not to get too prolix, I am only quoting selected excerpts. I am reserving my final opinion until I have gathered several other sources to compare with these two. As a progressive liberal married female, wife, mother and grandmother, I assure, you none of these sources will be from any Fox News organizations. I feel Fox is far too biased and doesn’t even try to be “fair and balanced”.
This first source is from a reprint of a May 26 New Your Times editorial. “The United States has about 180 B61 gravity nuclear bombs based in Europe. They are the detritus of the cold war, tactical weapons deployed in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey to protect NATO allies from the once-feared Soviet advantage in conventional arms. But the cold war is long over, and no American military commander can conceive of their ever being used. Even so, [in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief][ President Obama has put $537 million in his 2014 budget proposal to upgrade these bombs. When all is said and done, experts say, [whoever those experts are] the cost of the re-building program is expected to total around $10 billion – $4 billion more than an earlier projection – and yield an estimated 400 weapons, fitted with new guided tail kits so that they are more reliable and accurate than the current ones.
‘This is a nonsensical decision, not least because it is at odds with Obama’s own vision. In a seminal speech in Prague in 2009 and a strategy review in 2010, Obama advocated the long-term goal of a world without nuclear arms and promised to reduce American’s reliance on them. He also promised not to field a new and improved warhead.
‘But the B61 upgrade would significantly increase America’s tactical nuclear capability and send the wrong signal while Obama is trying to draw Russia into a new round of nuclear reduction talks that are supposedly aimed at cutting tactical, as well as strategic, arsenals….
“In addition to overspending on warheads, Obama has cut the Global Threat Reduction Initiative program, which reduces and protects from terrorism vulnerable nuclear material at sites, worldwide, but 15 % from 2013 levels. His budget is being rewritten by Congress, but in the nuclear area it is a disappointing and befuddling, measure of his priorities.”
This second source is a June 03 Associated Press release from Stockholm with the headline, “China boosts nuclear arsenal, think tank says.”
“China, India and Pakistan have increased their nuclear weapons by about 10 warheads each in the past year, and other nuclear states appear set on maintaining their arsenals, a Swedish think tank said Monday.
“At the start of the year, China had raised its number of nuclear warheads to 250 from 240 in 2012 as part of a process to modernize its defenses, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said. It added that China is ‘highly nontransparent’ when it comes to its nuclear arsenal.
“Institute researcher Phillip Schell said China might continue “the very slight process of increasing” its nuclear arms in the long term but that there is no sign the country will change its current policy of maintaining a credible deterrent with the smallest possible nuclear arsenal.
“Meanwhile, the United States and Russia continued their disarmament in accordance with the new START treaty that they signed in 2010. The U.S. reduced its number of warheads to 7,700 from 8,500, and Russia cut its arsenal to 8,500 from 10,000. [There is no mention of whether any of these are B61 or not.]
“However, at the same time, the U.S., Russia, France, China and Britain have all either deployed new nuclear weapon delivery systems or announced programs to do so, the Institute said.”
I apologize for the verbosity of this comment. I’ll try to watch it in the future.
Aloha! Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 4, 2013
at 2:14 AM
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By: poolman on June 3, 2013
at 9:28 PM
Hey, Cynthia – I’m so with you on all of this… Your post nearly re-broke my heart. Thank you for speaking.
From everything I’ve heard, Chris Stevens was a smart guy who knew damned well where he was being sent, and what risks were involved. (I even feel a little nervy speaking of him as if I knew him…) He evidently chose to be as “among the people” as he could be, and many in the country where he served loved him for his doing that. The others who died were probably equally committed.
And, yes, the thought of our sending our troops over there, with so little idea of what they were getting into, while throwing millions of dollars into private corporations, “outsourced” to provide pizzas and toilets, at great profit to themselves, is just appalling. Appalling…
How on earth did we let this happen? And how can we stop it from ever happening again?
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 3, 2013
at 9:17 PM
Terry, the comparison is that both companies cost the tax payers an inordinate amount of money. Yes, one was a successful company, and the other failed. I was looking at their cost to the government. I think Haliburton over charged the government for some of its services–profiteering..
New American blog “Obama Fundraiser is winner in Soyndra Bankruptcy Ruling”:
The failed company got a $535 million loan under a program started by Bush and continued by Obama. Combined losses for the tax payers was nearly $850 million. According to the IRS $341 million of that total would be tax write offs for the parent holding company. The legal deal helped the holding company, Argonaut Ventures “The deal gave the holding company’s net operating losses priority over the government’s claim on its loan.”
George Kaiser, is an oil billionaire
The liberal site, ThinkProgress.org observed that members of both parties profit by promoting government “subsidies and loan guarantees as a means of choosing winners in the completion for investment dollars and eventual market share…If a presumed winner also happens to be a well-connected fundraiser for a candidate or party, the American public may be understandably skeptical in regarding that as something as more than a coincidence.” Privately funded companies fail too, but they “do so at the investors, not the tax payers’ expense.”
Huffington “Solyndra Bankruptcy; Solar panel Company won’t pay back most of its $527 million government loan.”
SodaHead August 28, 2012 — Obama’s Bundlers’ Firm could profit from Solyndra bankruptcy”
The Walmart 1% “Solynddra Ruling: Tax payers get hit, Walton family gets tax breaks” The Walton-connected Madrone Capital company made money as did Argonaut Ventures.
“Normally, when a company goes bankrupt, the investors take the biggest hit, while the firms’ creditors get first crack at the remaining assets. “Welcome to Waltoln World where the rule is #1 the waltons always win and rule #2 is if the waltolns loose see number one.
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By: James on June 3, 2013
at 9:03 PM
I am tired of hearing about these supposed scandals – Benghazi, IRS etc.
For the party who believes in taking personal responsibility they do not do a very good job of practicing it. Benghazi – It was a tragic loss of four men. But Mr. Stevens knew or should have known he was not taking a position in a peaceful paradise. He had the option to say no thank you when appointed or resign when it became dangerous. And which party was so big on de-funding money to protection for embassies? I don’t think Stevens was an innocent choir boy over there. He knew what he was doing as did the other 3.
Unlike +5000 soldiers who had no choice but to go when ordered. And they went and went and went. They went unprepared for a war that was unnecessary or could have waited until they were prepared. How many wives/husbands lost their partner, how many children lost a parent? How many of those who returned missing limbs, head injuries, suffering from PTSD, or screw up from what they endured there do we have. For what so Bush could grow a pair, Cheney could make money along with all the defense contractors. All of them including the politicians used, misused and abused these soldiers and could give a flying fig leaf about them. They don’t even want to take care them because it cost money that could be put into their pockets. If Bush and Cheney had been held responsible for lying, being incompetent, etc it would have send a huge message to the world that we were not just a bunch of AHs. The next President and corrupted politicians would have known we were watching and holding them responsible for their actions and inactions.
IRS – Many of these applicants are abusing the 501[c]4s and should not have been granted tax-exempt status! If the shoe was on the other foot the Republicans would be say the IRS was “just doing their job”. Which they were/are unless you believe a 501[c]4s should not be granted to those applicants that are 90% political and 10% welfare.
But some people are just not happy unless they have something to bitch about and the Republicans are very good at bitching. They have little to offer to their followers but hate, anger and fear and something to bitch about. They can not stand that a Democrat is in the WH and for some especially a black Democrat. If you can not hear/recognize the dog whistles then you are either too young or did not grow up in the South. And some are whistling Dixie loud and clear. Some are doing what ever they can to destroy Obama’s presidency and us along with it.
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 3, 2013
at 9:00 PM
Who’s this we you’re talking about? I think we have more than enough manpower to defend our land. Now, if you’re talking to promote empire and police the world, no, and that is NOT in our best interest, yours or mine, unless you are part of the 1 percent and have been secretive about it.
That Halliburton Iraq money is totally disgusting.
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By: poolman on June 3, 2013
at 8:44 PM
Hey, Whirled – THIRTY-NINE BILLION DOLLARS?!?
Thirty-nine BILLION???!!! Absolutely beyond any human comprehension…
Listen up, James, and anybody else who might be considering this just some little “boondoggle”… This is the very definition of “war crimes,” in my book.
I can’t believe I’m about to throw up for the third time in a single day. This is an absolute obscenity… And, no, I have no intention of calming down, so any of you who are thinking of suggesting – with any of your condescending bullshit – that I should do so, or anything of that nature, just forget about it, because it’s not going to happen.
Absolute obscenity.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 3, 2013
at 8:24 PM
Remember when being a ‘war profiteer’ was a bad thing?
Cheney’s Halliburton Made $39.5 Billion on Iraq War
Peace ~ Δ ~ I mean it. Really.
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By: Whirled Peas Δ on June 3, 2013
at 8:00 PM
Gatodicima 6-3 2:39PM
My three favorites are this one, stonekettlestation.com and juanitajeans. So much good reading except when the “trolls” take over too much. I just skim over them and enjoy everything else. Usually don’t really comment……….just read a lot!
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By: CraftyLadyinIllinois on June 3, 2013
at 7:28 PM
There is no equivalence between Halliburton and Solyndra. Solyndra got a government guaranteed loan and then it failed. This happens to some companies. Who are you accusing of profiting from this bad investment.
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By: Terri in NY on June 3, 2013
at 6:32 PM
Gato, we know Haliburton was a Republican operation. I believe it was a boondoggle for the tax payers, not the investors. I should have been more clear. I was equating Haliburton with Solyndra which was a Democratic boondoggle that also cost the tax payers money. Since it went bankrupt, some investors also lost money. As you noted that didn’t happen with Haliburton.
I agree we ought to be sure we have the manpower before we enter a war. You know as well as I do that if more Americans knew the true costs of these wars, and their own family members were fighting, more would be protesting. Contractors help keep them out of sight out of mind.
I opposed invading Iraq. I supported bringing it to a successful conclusion once we were fighting, because our family members and others we knew were there. We let Afghanistan drift while we spent resources on a war of choice. Iraq is a circle….
I agree with your last paragraph too.
Good people died in Benghazi, and we need to know why.
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By: James on June 3, 2013
at 5:42 PM
Hey, James – EXCUSE ME, but Halliburton was certainly never “run by contributors to the Democratic party”! And it was certainly never a “boondoggle” for its investors, among whom was W’s vice-president, Dick Cheney, formerly on the BOD of Halliburton. Think they might have made a few bucks off that outsourcing project…?
We ought to think whether or not we have the military manpower to get into a war, before we take that step, unless we just want to pay a whole bunch of contractors, and their employees, to do a job (i.e. wage war) without the full support of the American people.
And did that effing “conflict” pay for itself? It did not. Is Iraq a functioning democracy today? It is not. And are we getting cheap oil from Iraq? We are not. China is. Boy; that whole thing was a big success, wasn’t it?
In theory, we never wage wars to make just a few people very wealthy. In practice, that is EXACTLY what we do, and more and more often. Disgusting. Good people die for the profits of those few. And the broken ones who manage to return, missing limbs and with their minds in disarray, find that their sources of support have been decimated by the very people who sent them there.
At least twice disgusting.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 3, 2013
at 5:20 PM
Halliburton may be a boondoggle like Solynddra and several other failed companies run by contributors to the Democratic party.
The Obama administration also outsources military services. Epitonma Rei Militaris wrote on May 9, 2013 that the US is preparing to withdraw most of its troops from Afghanistan next year, we are “leaving tens of thousands of contractors behind.” 110,404 contractors are still working in Afghanistan. 33,444 are Americans. The rest are Afghan or from other countries. “For every American soldier, there are 1.46 contractors.”
It was done during the Bush and Obama administrations because we don’t have the manpower to provide the size of a military force we need.
Unlike these things, the IRS abuse of power, and the Journalist abuse potentially directly affect you and me. The Bemghazi attacks killed four of our citizens, including an ambassador. The administration lied about it. The Russians say we were running weapons to the Syrian rebels. We don’t know what happened, and so far, no one has been punished. Congress is doing its job to find answers. So yes, BENGHAZI.
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By: James on June 3, 2013
at 4:26 PM
Great post, Gato! As for letting Jesus take on some of the big corporations I think there’d be a whole lot of tables turned over with money flying every which way. It might even make Faux News sit up and take notice. Buddha and Muhammed would be cheering him on, I’m sure. Money and Power are the only “gods” some of the big boys worship and they do come in handy when an election needs to be bought.
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By: Terry W on June 3, 2013
at 3:59 PM
Hi, Chris – Just a comment or two here… While I really respect what I sense as genuine sincerity and deep concern on your part for the state of the entire world, and the direction we seem to be heading – and actually agree with some of your points – I find it distracting when you throw out the term “elitists” to describe anyone who runs a company, and make statements such as (roughly paraphrased) “the industrial revolution was created by elitists to put men back into the middle ages.”
It seems to me that the truth is the exact opposite: The industrial revolution allowed the creation of a “corporate ownership” class, and not the other way around. Before the industrial revolution, those in power were, for the most part, titled landowners and powerful warlords. And it WAS the “dark ages.”
The industrial revolution, at least in Europe, offered the opportunity for thousands of people to leave lives of “service” in the wealthy households, and strike out on their own – as typists, factory workers, bus drivers, or whatever. (Many episodes of “Upstairs, Downstairs” deal very specifically how all of this affected British society, as do any number of novels.)
Secondly – and you won’t find me taking this position often, so heads up! – there have always been, and are, even today, any number of corporations who treat their workers fairly, who respect the contributions of their workers, and really care abut the quality of their lives. The number of those companies is far from great, but they’re out there… Henry Ford, for example, famously said he wouldn’t make a car his employees couldn’t afford to buy, and made sure their wages were sufficient for them to do so. Hardly an “elitist” position, IMHO.
There is a company called “Bob’s Red Mill,” a well-known producer of organic grains, stone-ground flours, cereals, and more. You can find their products not only in organic food stores, but in many of the major supermarket chains, as well. It was founded by a real “Bob,” Bob Moore, some time, I believe, in the 1960’s. When Bob turned 65 a few years ago, he decided that, to celebrate his birthday, he wanted give his entire company to his employees. And that’s exactly what he did; he turned it over – lock, stock, and grinding mills – to his loyal workers. So now every employee has a real financial share in the corporation. It now belongs to them, because Bob thought that was the right thing to do. Again, not exactly an “elitist” act.
Since we are now required to consider corporations “people,” thanks to the accursed Citizens United decision, I think we could certainly now evaluate their behavior on the same grounds we use to evaluate the behavior of human beings, much as we should ever be doing that. We can look at the actions of one corporation, and decide whether we think that corporation is heedless, irresponsible, greedy, and entirely self-centered… Or whether it is responsible, compassionate, generous, and forward-looking.
In fact, why don’t we just start to look at corporations the way we think Jesus might, or Buddha might, or Muhammed might, or by any moral values we consider important…? That would be interesting!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 3, 2013
at 3:24 PM
Whiled Peas…
You are correct, when you say:
Our current education system was developed for the Industrial Revolution. We need to stop treating students like widgets in a factory, processed in batches.
Chris’ reply is:
The U.S. public educational system was and still is set up to keep people working for corporations and thus, instills the idea in individuals that they must work for a company, or organization in order to sustain their livelihood.
The free enterprise system is the oposite. It is for a man to create his own livelihood through his own ideas and labor, with the sky being the limit.
We in America, actually are brainwashed into believing that hard work and persistense pays off in the end. Not So.
The industrial revolution…by the elitists created a society that put men somewhat back in the middle ages. They were dependant on the landowners…corporations to provide sustanance.
This same dependance on the industrialists helped create the financial crashes that we have experienced. They move manufacturing plants and eliminate American jobs, by merely taking their toys and setting up shop in other poor nations, FOR LOWER PAID WAGES, where they can inflate the economy, and eventually crash the new factories cities and countries economies, as well.
It seems to be cyclical, whenever they have all the pawns in place, and,it does not seem to have reason and rhyme to those of us who think all things are not connected.
The Federal Reserve BANKER, INVESTOR, CORPORATE OWNERS OF ALL CORPORATIONS…..12 MAIN FAMILIES ARE THE INDUSTRIALISTS. who control our governement and all of its systems.
That is what we need stop…to correct ANY and ALL of the Systems.
Peace…
Chris
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By: Chris on June 3, 2013
at 2:50 PM
Hey, CraftyLady – What are the three…? I usually hit Charlie Pierce first, then the latest incoming M&H emails, sometimes TOD, and I forget what else. Should probably put juanitajean on that list, too.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 3, 2013
at 2:39 PM
Oh, yeah, Terri – I completely forgot to mention any number of those “lucky” outfits to whom “the conflict” was outsourced, because they could do SUCH a better job than our silly old gummint could… Halliburton, Blackwater (or whatever they changed their name to, eventually), and the others. What DID happen to those millions…? (“Lost” millions of government dollars seems like it could be kind of a “scandal,” to me… But, wait! That was in the past; the IRS, the AP, and Benghazi, Benghazi! BENGHAZI!! are much more important, and people can still remember those, because we have John McCain and Daryl Issa reminding us about all that unprecedented awfulness on every available talk show…)
As we all know, the only reason the people who rooted for that procedure are now yowling about every dime that Obama proposes to spend, is because he proposes to spend a good deal of it on… Wait for it… Poor people! Black and brown people! People with lady parts! On schools! Commie medicine! And maybe even… OMG… On government infrastructure projects – that might not get outsourced! Oh, me, oh, me, oh, my… That uppity Kenyan socialist is SUCH an anti-Murrican…!
And he wants our guns, too…!!! To your shelters and barricades, Patriots! And lock up your children and your (primary-wage-earning) women, while you’re at it…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 3, 2013
at 2:30 PM
Our current education system was developed for the Industrial Revolution. We need to stop treating students like widgets in a factory, processed in batches.
Changing Education Paradigms
by Sir Ken Robinson, education/creativity expert.
Peace ~ Δ
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By: Whirled Peas Δ on June 3, 2013
at 1:52 PM
Hi Gato,
Don’t forget Halliburton! They had their own personal administration representative in the form of Dick Cheney. Funny how the same people who are so outraged at spending by the Obama administration turned a blind eye to the millions in cash that went “missing” in Iraq.
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By: Terri in NY on June 3, 2013
at 1:29 PM
Hi, Cynthia – You can bet it has “worked out well” for a FEW of us, one way or another: Those involved in the oil business. I’m sure they didn’t drum up this bloody “action” without making sure they’d get theirs.
Is there, or has there ever been, a single member of the Chinese military on the ground in Iraq?
Makes me want to vomit, or, in my particular case, throw up a bunch of hairballs…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 3, 2013
at 1:02 PM
.
As the kids are saying nowadays…
…this is EPIC!
.
GOP Report Warns Of Party’s Apocalypse With Young Voters
‘Closed-Minded, Racist, Rigid, Old-Fashioned’
.
😉
Very observant if you ask me. I guess the dumbed-down ones vote Republican already.
Peace ~ Δ
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By: Whirled Peas Δ on June 3, 2013
at 12:56 PM
Cyberbullying “involves the use of information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior…
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By: Anonymous on June 3, 2013
at 12:13 PM
Penny abrams, the terms have become interchangeable, though I agree there is a difference. AlterNet by David Sirola, a progressive wrote that Democratic politicians substitute “progressive” for “liberal” in news releases and speeches. Republicans say Democrats made the change because “liberal’ fell into disrepute.
“Most Democrats make no distinction between the two words. ” A perverted form of liberalism has almost completely snuffed out genuine progressivism.” I think they have created a hybrid.
He wrote that economic progressivism has traditionally used government fiat for social change. Liberals rely on bribery. “instead of first responding to the Wall Street crisis with progressive New Deal-style regulations, Presidents Bush and Obama opted for the liberal bribe theory.”
According to Sirola, I am mixing the terms as most Democrats do. Therefore, my use of the words is not unique.
I agree the Tea Party does not define the Republican party or vise versa. They are currently allied with the Republican party.
I’m flexible. What do you want to call them?
Evan Thomas of Politico said Obama is “dishonest” and guilty of committing a “huge act of hyprocrisy” Newsbusters. Does that make him liberal, progressive, or something else? As I wrote personal inclination has as much to do with performance as ideology.
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By: James on June 3, 2013
at 12:01 PM
This work out well for us!
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 3, 2013
at 11:55 AM
Stonekettle Station is currently down. I’m working to bring it back online as soon as possible. It may be several days.
JW
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By: Anonymous on June 3, 2013
at 11:41 AM
Yes, Pfessor, I have read about the Egyptians’ relationship with the Nile. Floods create fertile valley soil, and the Nile helped make the Egyptian civilization.
I mentioned Winnipeg’s giant leech lines on the Red River. They spread the water and relieve the pressure as you noted. Letting the flood cover a less concentrated area also slows the current around the river.
Since so many cities and businesses are next to rivers, we will not let the rivers roam free as nature intended. However, the Corps of Engineers is making new, shallow channels along the Missouri River and creating wetlands to slow the water flow. Letting the rivers flow freely is probably our best option, but millions of people and cities would have to be moved.
During WW1, farmers on one side of a river cut dikes on the other side to relieve the pressure and to keep their land dry. Of course flooded neighbors retaliated.
One other thing that interested me is that around 18,000 years ago when the Sahara was a savannah, people had learned to harvest wild grain almost as if it was domesticated. They ground the grain into flour. The people were beginning to settle down near the grain crops. They might have developed a civilization had not the climate changed. They moved away..
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By: James on June 3, 2013
at 11:25 AM
You gotta love the liberal mind: if you tell a lie and someone calls you on it, you’re not a liar; they’re a bully. heheeeeee…….
Onward.
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By: PFesser on June 3, 2013
at 11:10 AM
i repeat what a political analyst on msnbc says…lawrence o’donnel, i think it’s spelt
you are entitled to your own opinions. you are not entitled to your own facts.
a liberal is not a progressive
a progressive is not a liberal
neither are conservative nor are they fascists nor are they santa claus nor are they related to the english royal family with its american cousin senators and congresspeople.
a republican is not a tea party idealogue and vice versa.
you may call them whatever you wish but if you hope to communicate with others and to conduct a conversation/discussion, then you either need to use the words as defined in the dictionary or agree between you what words mean what. otherwise you may as well sing about tomatoes and i’ll grow music.
this probably explains why i find your statements often lacking logic. you use your own definitions.
if you wish to communicate with me, we must use the regularly accepted dictionary definitions so i know what you’re talking about. otherwise it’s just too frustrating for me.
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By: penny abrams on June 3, 2013
at 11:08 AM
The deliberate dumbing down of America is fact. Google it, Pfesser. There is plenty of documentation, even a website and book bearing that name. You might brush up on the ‘Protocols’ too, if unfamiliar. Forgery or no, they are prophetic and have been mostly implemented.
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By: poolman on June 3, 2013
at 11:05 AM
Wow. So many good comments, it’s hard to know where to start.
Chris – I don’t see the Dumbing-Down of America as a heinous plot by the elites. I think it’s a lot sadder than that: just a slow erosion of standards throughout the country in all fields – education is just one.
Of course the teachers are as slow as sleds. Years ago, smart women had two choices for careers: nursing and teaching. Now they have unlimited choices, and teaching has become so unpleasant and the classrooms so out-of-control that only the bottom of the class ends up as Education majors. My wife went to UVA in the ‘eighties, and it was well-known that, if you wanted to raise your GPA, you took some classes from the Ed. School.
But it’s not just incompetent teachers. Even good ones would be crazy to teach in the current atmosphere. As I like to say, Americans are willing to do absolutely anything to improve their schools, except what it takes.
James – I know you are an avid reader – have you ever read accounts of ancient Egypt? Every year they looked forward to the spring flooding of the Nile. They didn’t know at that time where the Nile originated; the Nile was considered a marvelous, magical thing, bringing fertile silt and depositing it over the croplands.
But notice, the floods were very shallow – there was NEVER any of this rooftop stuff. Why? As the Great River rose, it began to spread out over wide areas, completely preventing deep flooding. Of course the wide, but shallow, flooding exposed the water to hundreds of square miles of sunlight, promoting evaporation. An EE would think of it as a big capacitor, absorbing tremendous charge without elevating the voltage (depth) very much.
The Mississippi/Missouri used to do the same thing. Now we crowd it into narrow channels to prevent flooding of valuable land along the river, causing it to reach incredible heights during flood season.
We could stop this, but we have to be willing to accept 6″ of water once or twice a year over large areas. It’s not a tragedy; it’s nature doing what it’s supposed to, IMHO.
Thoughts?
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By: PFesser on June 3, 2013
at 10:53 AM
lori
We both enjoy the same blogs………….I start my day, every day, checking out these same three blogs.
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By: CraftyLadyinIllinois on June 3, 2013
at 10:48 AM
Pew Research Social & demographic Trends: “Gun homicide rate down 49% since 1993. Pace of decline slows in Past Decade.” “Despite national attention to the issue of firearm violence, most Americans don’t know that gun crime is lower than two decades age..”
31,672 people were killed by guns in 2010, and 19,392 of them were suicides. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided the information based on death certificates.
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By: James on June 3, 2013
at 10:34 AM
hmmm…this just posted elsewhere. Maybe we shouldn’t refer to the Brits as “subjects” after all…
“An overwhelming majority of British citizens want their country’s handgun ban repealed, according to the results of an on-line poll conducted by the Daily Telegraph, described Wednesday as the United Kingdom’s “most widely read broadsheet newspaper” by the Commentator.
As this column was updated Thursday, more than 14,900 votes had been cast in the unscientific poll, and of those, 12,603 support a repeal of the 1997 gun ban, an 84.35 percent vote. It far out-distanced votes for several other measures that Britons would like to see introduced in the House of Commons, according to the newspaper.
For anti-gunners on both sides of the Atlantic, it is a devastating rejection of the gun ban philosophy. The ban was enacted following the Dunblane school massacre. The Commentator noted, “While gun crime soared after the British ban in 1997, rates of gun violence have fallen, especially in British cities, following more spending by police forces into tackling gun crime. Police in England and Wales recorded 5,911 firearms offences in 2011/12, a reduction of 42 percent compared with nine years earlier, according to the Office for National Statistics.”
But the Commentator also said this:
“But statistics from the United States show that guns are used by citizens to defend themselves around eighty times more often than they are used to take a life. A recent study published in the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy concluded that there is a negative correlation between gun ownership and violent crime in countries internationally, that is, “where firearms are most dense violent crime rates are lowest, and where guns are least dense violent crime rates are highest.”
Ouch! Another nail in the anti-gun coffin.
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By: PFesser on June 3, 2013
at 9:54 AM
😦 we lost a good Liberal Delurker. Bare knuckle no holes bared honest to goodness ole fashion dem. I will miss him.
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By: lori on June 3, 2013
at 9:51 AM
http://juanitajean.com/2013/05/31/well-honey-you-might-be-on-to-something/
And of course a little something to whet our appetite’s while we wait for M&H and Stonekettle to post again. 🙂 I love love love this blog. But I might be a tiny bit bias. 🙂 enjoy!
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By: lori on June 3, 2013
at 9:49 AM
Senator Lautenberg died this morning.
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By: delurkergurl on June 3, 2013
at 9:40 AM
Twitter to snarky for you JSRI? Just curious.
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By: lori on June 3, 2013
at 9:31 AM
I think Jim Wright can be found on twitter. But if this is a new change, I’m sure going to miss his pointed comments since I have no interest in the twitter universe.
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By: jsri on June 3, 2013
at 9:23 AM
Good to know Delurker. Love Jim’s stuff. I’m sure we will see him again. 🙂
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By: lori on June 3, 2013
at 8:12 AM
According to whois.com, StoneKettle’s registration of his domain name expired on the 1st of June. I hope he re-registers soon, because I enjoy his blog too.
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By: delurkergurl on June 3, 2013
at 8:00 AM
I know Gato right? Lol it isn’t the messaging it’s the message stupid! LOL LOL
Well this will be no less than 3 REPUBLICAN reports that say basically the same thing. The party has been pulled so far to the right they have become irrelevant in National elections. Which, in turn was dragged the Dems right along with them. Much to someProgressives’ chagrin .
I’m not at all sure the GOP will be able to right their ship in time for 2016. In part because they won’t really start trying in earnest until after the midterms. New messaging or not! The Repubs do well with their base in off years typically, or at least since the Ronnie years and that wins elections. I suspect that will hold true this year too. So they wont tinker to much before then. at least in front of the cameras.
There was a special election in Ca-16 for State Sen. The dem did well and will eventually win the seat after the run off, but I sure as hell don’t like the margins. Having said that, it is a special , and they don’t necessarily tell the tale. But still I worry for midterms.
Bottom line we need to continue to put up good candidates, raise lots of money, and get organized to get out our base. OFA @ Barackobama.com is a good way to help that effort.
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By: lori on June 3, 2013
at 8:00 AM
Thanks, Lurker – Obviously, sometimes I just can’t let something go by, even though I know that NOTHING is EVER going to make a dent in some armor… Thanks for the support, and for bearing with me when I ignore my own – and your – wise counsel!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 3, 2013
at 7:59 AM
FDR started many farm subsidies to save agriculture and our food supply. Unlike other business people, farmers cannot set a price for their products. They must accept what the market sets. It is true modern farmers can now gamble on the Board of Trade or forward contract.
Farmers and multinational seed companies have been so efficient at food production that they have created surpluses and lower than profitable prices. Thus, farmers were paid not to plant a percentage of their land to maintain a price. Others could put their farms into a conservation program to help wild life and the environment. The government would pay them rent for a certain period, and they would have the choice of renewing the contract or re- farming the land.
Farmers had to follow strict rules, and the government checked frequently.
Now, that much of the world is getting richer more people are buying our, Brazil’s, Argentina’s, and other fertile countries’ food. More of our production is used for ethanol and other industrial purposes. The market dictates high prices to ration the grain.
Thus, farmers are no longer paid to set aside a portion of their land. The policy ended for us in the 1990’s. They do get subsidies if the price of grain falls below a profitable level, but the price has been profitable for some time. Europeans subsidize their farms too as insurance for a reliable food supply.
As others noted, many celebraties and other rich people parasitically feed on a system intended to help family farmers stay in business. Farm land is a good investment right now.
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By: James on June 3, 2013
at 7:47 AM
Hi, Lori – It always irks me when a political party – or much of anything else, for that matter, outside a pair of sneakers or a soft drink – yammers away about what it needs to do about its “brand,” or its “brand perception,” or anything of that sort.
They survey people, and the people say, “We don’t agree with your policies on such-and-such,” and the responding concern is not about actually possibly CHANGING those policies – god forbid – but about changing the public PERCEPTION of those policies. It’s sort of like a camel asking how people feel about camels, and when they are told, “We don’t like camels; we prefer horses,” they then start trying to figure out how they can best make the camel APPEAR to be more horse-like… While still remaining a camel, of course… (I’ve always loved that wry old saying that defines a camel as “a horse designed by a committee”…)
The GOP doesn’t really WANT its ranks to be filled with a bunch of gay-marriage-approving, non-white, female, independent-thinking, abortion-rights-supporting, immigrant-welcoming, trouble makers… But, since that’s how the population is heading, they’re kind of stuck… I suspect that while they’re so conscientiously contemplating their own navels about all this, they’ll continue even more industriously with their redistricting and voter-ID campaigns, with the belief that a “two-pronged approach” – trying to fool as many people as possible, and disenfranchise as many others as possible – is their best chance of hanging on to some control.
The Dems don’t do too well, either, when they try to do the same thing, by going “moderate,” or offering “compromise”… Progressives favor progressive policies; conservatives, conservative policies. And that’s about it!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 3, 2013
at 7:38 AM
New poll http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnzogby/2013/06/02/new-zogby-poll-scandal-chatter-doesnt-matter/
The thing I find most interesting about this poll are the cross tabs . Obama up with men, Republicans & older voters. Interesting…
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By: Lori on June 3, 2013
at 7:35 AM
U.S. Gun Deaths Since Newtown Now Exceed Number Of American Troops Killed In Iraq
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/05/31/2085371/us-gun-deaths-since-newtown-now-exceed-number-of-american-troops-killed-in-iraq/
———-
Gato, good job standing your ground against the bullying. I’d prefer you skip over them like I do – better for the blood pressure – but you’re holding your own just fine!
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By: delurkergurl on June 3, 2013
at 7:31 AM
Pfessor, the weather service guess is that St. Louis and much of the Midwest will average cooler and a bit wetter than normal through June 18.The outlook implies to me that a high pressure ridge over the Rockies, west will keep that region hot and dry. Eventually it may venture farther east.
Levies and dikes are a mixed blessing. Though they protect vulnerable property, they force a river to compact its water and thereby to flow faster than it otherwise would. One effect can be as with the Missouri River that a faster current will scour the bottom and deepen the river. In time, it will take the water table down with it.
An efficient dike system will contain a flood, but it can acerbate flooding down stream where levies are less sturdy.
So called wing dikes are constructed on the Missouri and other rivers to counterbalance some of the flood control projects. They are usually made of rock and extend perpendicular to the river flow. Such dikes sometimes have notches so water doesn’t back up behind them. They alter the flow and also create habitat for fish and other aquadic animals.
Winnipeg has a system of glorified leach lines for the Red River as it flows into Lake Winnipeg. The force of the flood is spread over a wide area.
Early settlers in our area used to cut dikes so flood water would drop nutrients and lighter soil on their land,
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By: James on June 3, 2013
at 7:28 AM
Lori, yes indeed, an interesting article. It confirms what I hear from my two sons.
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By: Terri in NY on June 3, 2013
at 7:16 AM
Penny abrams, Hillary Clinton once said she was a progressive, and for the purpose of my comment, I put liberals and progressives into the same category,. Obama is a liberal or progressive. In fact he joined or allied himself with the socialist New Party when he was in Illinois.
California is an example of a state controlled by Democrats with a liberal or progressive agenda.
Liberals control the executive branch of our government, and they hold a majority in the Senate. Since Obama is president, Democrats are generally regarded as holding power. These scandals were created by the party “in power” the Democrats.
Yes, the Tea Party is an important political force, and they helped Republicans get and maintain control of the House. They were also able to help keep and maintain Republican control of some states. More moderate Republicans wish the Tea Party would leave. But with all of their noise the Tea Party couldn’t even stop Obamacare which was one of their main issues. They have not been able to initiate much legislation because The Senate will defeat it, or Obama will veto it., As a minority in the government, the conservatives have mostly blocked or altered legislation. I agree the Tea Party is a powerful force, and that is why elements of the IRS targeted them.
The president controls the “bully pulpit.” not the Tea Party.
“if you are a fascist, you” are a progressive and vice versa. If you are a fascist, you are a conservative. Political orientation has less to do with fascism than opportunity and inclination.
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By: James on June 3, 2013
at 7:10 AM
Good morning friends! I trust everyone had a lovely weekend. I know I did.
Interesting read in Politico. http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/gop-youth-vote-report-92119.html
This is a rare statement but I am in total agreement with this Republican report. 🙂
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By: lori on June 3, 2013
at 7:05 AM
correction:
different” than” Jim Wright’s stonekettlestation.com
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By: CraftyLadyinIllinois on June 3, 2013
at 6:39 AM
To Cynthia on 6-2- 4:11PM
I have been wondering what happened to stonekettlestation.com too. I have had this in my favorites for a few years now and yesterday, when I clicked on it, something else completely different that Jim Wright’s stonekettlestation.com came up. Wonder what happened ??
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By: CraftyLadyinIllinois on June 3, 2013
at 6:35 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
As I said before, we are up high on a cliff overlooking the ocean. As much as we love the beaches, we wouldn’t want to live on one. Beside weather hazards, we didn’t want to spend our retirement shoveling sand outta the house that the trade winds bring in and/or daily hosing off the salt spray from the ocean fronting windows.
For the two weeks one of our sons was here, he stayed on CA time and so got up with the chickens. After he had his coffee and made his own breakfast, he took off down the trail to the beach for his morning swim. (I for one, slept in.) It is a very steep, rugged trail and pretty treacherous when it’s muddy. But it didn’t bother him. He met a young couple down there who were camping on the beach. Lots of tourists do that. They can rent the gear here. They got to talking as you do in such a beautiful and relaxed atmosphere. Turned out the pretty young woman is a soprano. He told them that his mom is an opera buff. So the day before our son left she broke out into “a cappella” song! She explained to him that it was about a girl who was in love with a poor young man. She had no dowry and they couldn’t afford to get married. So her dad devised a way to get her one through subterfuge and chicanery. Our son said it was the most beautiful voice and song he had ever heard! It attracted quite a few early morning beach goers.
I asked him if he could hum a few bars. He couldn’t but I had a hunch I knew what it was. Although I have several CD’s of that very popular aria, I dragged out my special favorite rendition of it on an old vinyl record by Eileen Farrell. Yep! We still have a turntable on our stereo.
Rewind to several years ago when another son, this one’s twin brother, was in Italy on business. I don’t remember whether it was Rome or Milan. No matter. He and a colleague were walking down the street and noticed a crowd had gathered around a group of street singers. This is a common sight in Italy. In fact, it is a well known understanding that Giuseppi Verdi’s music was a decisive factor in the political unification of Italy into a country from a bunch of feuding little City States. When his opera “Rigoletto” was first performed, the next day people all over the city were humming “La Donna e Mobile”.
Among the Italian street singers, there was a beautiful young woman who sang “a cappella” also. The other son was absolutely blown away! His recounting of all this was taking place over the phone. I ran by him a few of Verdi, Puccini and Donizetti’s well known arias, again over the phone, until he yelled, “THAT’S IT!!!!!”
Street and beach singers are not an uncommon occurrence. Talented young and often starving artists never pass up an opportunity to display their craft. Unofficial audition? They never know when an impresario might happen to stroll by with a fat contract in his back pocket.
And so, one son hears an aria on the street in Italy. A few years later another son hears the same aria on a beach in Hawaii. Both live in CA. What are the odds? Not so long after all. It is a small world and shrinking more and more all the time as people come together with common interests worldwide.
What was that aria anyhow you ask? Try checking out YouTube for any soprano worth her salt singing “O mio babbino caro” from Giacomo Puccini’s Triptych of one act operas, “Il Tritico”. The first one is “Il Tabarro”; second, “Suor Angelica”, third, “Gianni Schicchi”. The first two are “opera seria”. :Gianni Schicchi”, the title character, is the girl’s father and a loveable old rogue. It is an “opera buffa.” The libretto is taken from an episode in Dante Alighieni’s “Inferno.” If you are interested, you can also Google “Il Tritico” and read the synopsis of the opera’s story line.
Aloha! Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
P.S. Try YouTube of the soprano Russian Anna Netrebko singing “O mio babbino caro”. Her fiancé is the Uruguayan baritone Erwin Schrott. They have a young son and I believe she is pregnant again.
While you’re at it check out the YouTube of Anna Netrebko and the Spanish Tenor, Placido Domingo singing Franz Lehar’s “Lipen Schweigen Lustige Witwe” in German. Some of you will instantly recognize the music.
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By: waialeale on June 3, 2013
at 2:33 AM
Terry W.
I think we were told the farmers were being paid to NOT grow crops in order to stabilize prices of the crops. I aways wondered about that. It did not make sense.
I believe now…that Monsanto and 5 major food processors ( which process and grow most of our foods ) and Agri Growers..created this situation so that we would NOT have any small farmers in America,
We now are going to be FORCED to eat their Genetically Modified garbage and die, or…. starve to death.
The march against Monsanto, I understand, was in some 430+ cities worldwide. The mainstream media has not reported these marches, to any degree, for it would bring too much attention to how bad these seeds are to humans and the environment. I will post a Dr. Mercola site which speaks to this subject………very interesting.
They are pushing the GM seeds which have insect DNA, bacteria, and are full of chemicals.
Cancer is now the #1 killer in America. It took over #1 from Heart Disease, which is now #2.
Cancer is a Chemcially caused disease, all of which lowers the ability of the immune system.
Not to mention the Chemtrails, which are causing Cancers, by these same chemical companies.
Down with Monsanto and all the other Chemical Companies, like Dupont and Dow and all the drug companies, as well.
I will mention again, that we have lost some 2 years off our life expectancy in 2011, in America. …..cia.gov
American is number 49 in life expectancy in the world. There are 49 countries that do NOT readily spend as much money on the drugs Americans are prescribed. , and ALL 49 countries live longer than we do.
Peace..
Chris
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By: Chris on June 2, 2013
at 9:27 PM
PFESSER…
The life in Appalachia you describe is what is done to the poor in the cities.
The elite try to keep them dumbed down..uneductated, and down and depresssed by giving them a few crumbs at the bottom, which after a short or long while, the folks do not know they can do anything for themselves.
RIGHT NOW…we are loosing some of our middle class to this same depression. ( unemploymebt is actually somewhere around 20% or more, when you count who drops off the roles, is not on the roles any longer…)
The media does not report the truth, as you hopefully know.
The jobs they had hoped for are not to be found, and since they do not know that they may buy themselves a job. by starting their own businesses. .( some do..some do not ) many are slipping into depression, for NOT working.
( many who were educated in the school system think they must work for a corporation to survive, and when the jobs were outsourced, they became lost.)
SOME HAVE TAKEN TRAINING PROGRAMS BY RIP OFF UPPER CLASS OWNED NON FOR PROFITS AND FIND THAT EVEN WITH TRAINING, THERE ARE NO JOBS FOR THEM..within the fields of their training.
I knew a teacher that would have been hired by a local politican to set up a training program, but, decided against it, and would not implement it, since no guarantee of a job came AFtER the training. That only depresses the poor, MORE… who really want out of poverty.
I see the welfare system, and minimum wage jobs as a means of keeping the common uneducated man as a serf, and keep him living in the middle ages, beholding to the landowners.
Welfare handouts are a small crumb to keep the people believeing all is well, so the elite can continue to use their labor for a mere pitance ( sp ) And keep them in check, while insuring against a revolt.
Poverty could be eliminated through education ( maybe not so, with the failure of the public education system, which has to be on purpose.)
The poverty WILL NEVER be elimiated on purpose, The elite need the peons to do the menial tasks at lowly wages and to continue to be superior, and to have those to look down on. This also guarantees the elite stay the elite.
It has always been that way…GREED AND JEALOUSY ARE CERTAINLY THE MOTIVATORS..
Another somewhat connected.. ….interesting subject….
.
Actually, I am real estate broker, and pondered this next information some 20 years ago.
We, even in America..land of the FREE. do not really own the land in fee simple. as we are told. Actually, we can buy land, sell land, leave it to our children, but, in spite of owning the land or home completely, monetarily, if we do not pay the taxes, the government will take the land.
All the land in America belongs to the United States Government.
It is not owned in fee simple. What is that all about ???
So, the government owns the land when and if we stop paying the taxes…
They can also take it from its rightful owners when their buddies..the developers decide they want a shopping center, or whatever…The land can be taken under eminent domain.
The land can be taken by the government for a lot of other uses other than the roadways, Eminent domain….was intended for public use….now they can take it for shopping centers…and say it is for the good of the public, when the property is actually privately owned and not government owned at all.
I rarely see a rich person’s property..(trillionaire) taken by eminent domain, if ever.
To take land, the govenment must just BLIGHT the property and say it is not livable, or unsafe for inhabitants.
I believe, we have the SAME actual land rights in America.as the Russians on land ownership, after, the fall of the Soviet Union..( will check)
They could buy land, pass it to their children, they just could not sell the land..It belonged to the government.
See we are not much different on land ownership…in the end.
We can sell it and make a profit, if we do not owe taxes, and have it taken by the government in a tax sale. ( owe for 3 yrs ?) or have it taken by eminent domain.
Peace…
Chris
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By: Chris on June 2, 2013
at 8:53 PM
gato – whether one is a Lying Sack of Shit hasn’t a thing to do with whether her friends support her. You either are one or you aren’t; it’s not a popularity contest.
Here’s how it works: If you accuse someone of something heinous, it is up to you to prove it; it is not theirs to refute. If you can, then fine. If you cannot, then (adults, anyway) say, “I was mistaken. I apologize” and all is forgiven.
If you do neither, then you are a Lying Sack of Shit.
See how that works?
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By: PFesser on June 2, 2013
at 7:58 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Lots of interesting comments here today. gurl and Gato, oooooooo!!!!!!!!! Beautiful peonies all over the house and yard!!!!!!! I’ve never seen any out here. Probably they need a dormant season, ya think? We don’t have any rabbits or foxes either. Nobody ever bothered to bring them here. All we have is wild boars. I think I’d rather have bunnies.
Gato, of course you are definitely NOT a LSOS so chalk one up for you on the honesty side. I know for a fact that you are a talented writer and artist besides being a super nice gal. As for the LSOS who may have coined or plagiarized the phrase, I’ve run out of expletives for the moment.
Our son left and went back to CA yesterday. Sob. I’m up to my ears in laundry with CNN on in the background following the destructive path of the tornados. There isn’t much those poor people can do but hunker down and hope for the best. Thank God for the National Weather Service and professional meteorologists and climatologists who stay on top of it with the latest satellite tracking info and technical stuff way beyond my expertise.
We depend on NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association) to keep us informed and updated on any nasty weather coming up. For big bad stuff like hurricanes and tsunamis, they use robo calls for both land lines and cell phones. And of course TV and radio. On the beaches they have very, very tall towers with sirens that can be heard for miles, even up high on our cliff overlooking the ocean. The name of the game is get to higher ground and cover!!!!! To my knowledge we don’t have any amateurs running around with binoculars on ego trips. Too dangerous.
I have a fun human interest story I will try to put up tonight – IF I get the laundry finished. (Don’t bet on it!)
Aloha! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on June 2, 2013
at 7:50 PM
Terry W – Nobody is attacking the poor or “lumping” them. It’s just that when you set out to help people, make sure you don’t hurt them with your good intentions.
I grew up without much, in the middle of “Appalachia.” Nobody had much in the way of possessions, but we didn’t feel poor; we had about what everybody else did; we didn’t have to wear patches on our clothes and we had plenty to eat. I was never happier.
But the real poverty in “Appalachia” was a poverty of spirit, and that belonged to those who didn’t work, had never worked and never intended to do so. They raised their children on the dole, as they had been raised, had no skills and no ambition. All the result of well-intentioned govt programs to “fight poverty.” “Helicopter money” with no strings attached.
What the govt needed to be fighting was ignorance, and the poverty would take care of itself.
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By: PFesser on June 2, 2013
at 5:52 PM
Terry W– thanks for the tip. I’ll look for it. It’s probably available somewhere on the web.
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By: Terri in NY on June 2, 2013
at 5:48 PM
Penny, I loved your post. I’ve been wondering for years why farmers get paid for not planting when there are hungry people in the world. I can’t wrap my mind around corporations being able to move their factories overseas without paying a penalty. If we can’t make this country attractive enough for their overwhelming greed then let’s penalize them for going elsewhere. And to repeat a quote, “I’ll believe corporations are people when Texas executes one!”
Where we’re missing the boat on education is teaching to the test instead of instilling a desire to learn. We also can’t expect those kids to learn on an empty stomach. Even Jesus fed his apostles before he gave them the great commission to “feed my sheep”. They had been fishing all night and were hungry; Jesus knew they’d get the message more readily on a full stomach.
And, yes, the welfare queens and moochers are out there but they’re not the majority, they just give all the well-intentioned poor a bad name. Walk in their shoes and see how well you fare, I’d say to those who lump them all together as being bad.
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By: Terry W on June 2, 2013
at 4:54 PM
pennyabrams noted: “(smile) helicopter money…fun…big party time…but not the answer. like so many other programs we have, we address the symptom and not the cause. in education and health as well.
IF we just hand out money, no one learns how to make more, no one develops a strong enough desire to work at it, no one takes their own responsibility unto themselves. What we need is job training, ”
Precisely. We’ve already run this experiment. Simply look at those who win the lottery. Within ten years, probably 95% (I don’t know the exact number) are poorer than they were before.
Also look at those who represent the third, fourth, fifth generations on welfare. It’s a dead end, because they do not change their lives, and the only skills they learn from the experience are how to ride the system. That is not a criticism of the welfare recipients; it’s a criticism of the system that made them what they are. Not one person in a hundred is able to see the trap awaiting him and find his way out.
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By: PFesser on June 2, 2013
at 4:41 PM
Terri in NY, I just got an email from an area nursery I go to. They are advertising a product that repels deer and rabbits all season. It’s called Repellex Systemic Tablets. You insert one in the soil at the base of each plant and it makes the plant inedible to those pests. You can check it out at TheGardenGossip@sugarcreekgardens.com. Hopefully you can get it at a nursery near you. I’ve seen deer in my subdivision but the plants they’d want to eat are in my fenced back yard. Fortunately the bunnies eat stuff I don’t care about.
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By: Terry W on June 2, 2013
at 4:38 PM
jsri – I do understand your explanation. It was just a fairly short paragraph. I thought they did not like my copying their information. However, this computer is inhabited by an evil monster that is out to make life difficult. Tomorrow I get a new computer and wireless internet rather than dial up. My kids got tired of me bitching about it and my neighbors threaten to call the police if I didn’t stop shouting obscenities at the computer! So they all chipped in for my birthday. Hopefully it will be an improvement.
I haven’t had much experience with our health care system until recently to have an opinion. But I do know it cost money and dental is not much better.
The veterinarians have caught on to charging more as well. I understand having a horse’s teeth floated (filed down) now cost $150 plus the barn call of $45?. Last time was $50 and done by an equine dentist. The vets may have forced them out of business in NY as they have done in other states. I can not find one. And the strange thing of it is most vets do not like floating teeth as it is hard work. There is no winning!
Did someone hijack Stonekettle.com or is he now selling kettles?????
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 2, 2013
at 4:11 PM
Hi, Lurker – What sort of climate zone do you and your plants occupy? I’m in New England, as I think you know, where we seem to have gone – ZIP – almost immediately, from late winter to full summer, just like that.
Our peonies are mostly the basic “peony pink,” plus one white one, and one deep magenta one. We inherited four, and added three over the years. I take no credit whatsoever for their survival, other than my fervent hopes for their well-being as they were dug up, “heeled in,” and then hung in there for almost a month while some stonework was being completed near where they originally were, and once again are. Maybe the fact that I’ve worked this small patch of earth for almost twenty years, and it’s full of compost and all the potting soil from everything I’ve ever planted, helped some, but most of the credit goes to the great South American “worker guys” who took such care digging them up and giving the plants a good waiting place while they did their job. Plantsmen all, for sure!
We finally gave up our battles with the chucks and the deer, and got a small greenhouse in which we grow some veggies – mostly lettuces, pea shoots, a few Oriental greens (mizuna and tatsoi), radishes, small turnips, and no more than two tomato plants. Not a lot of room! But having salad from the GH, night after night for eight months, is a real treat. It’s very serene in there, too, even when it’s wicked hot. Sometimes I just go out and look at everything growing…
I’ve found that “giving up” is one of the great secrets of “successful” gardening. Over the years, I’ve noticed what works here, and what doesn’t, and I just go with what does. I love tea roses, and tried for years to grow them here. Just didn’t work. However, “Knockout” shrub roses are perfectly happy wherever we put them, so that’s what we have. We basically occupy a little niche carved out of some serious forest, with lots of shade, so ferns and heuchera and toad lilies and eupatorium and dicentra and andromeda absolutely thrive. (Hostas, too, of course, as long as we keep up with spraying them!) I’ve learned to love all of them for precisely that reason: They thrive here, and their doing so tells me a great deal about the part of the earth I am blessed to inhabit.
Most of these plants I’d never heard of before I moved here. For this part of my life, the Universe decided to give me rocks and shade, and I’ve learned to love them both.
Good luck with your berries! Now I’m thinking about making sorbet…! (Have to buy my berries, though…)
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 2, 2013
at 3:44 PM
Cynthia on June 2, 2013 at 2:15 PM
Cynthia:
There’s often a problem cutting and pasting from sites that have pictures or graphics buried in the text and if you are planning to copy to a word processing program like MS Word, the transfer gets cranky because it doesn’t know what to do with the diagrams or pictures. So you have to make sure that no non-text items are included in your cut or paste so you may have to give up trying to transferring the graphics. And it’s easier just to include a link to the original site. Otherwise you have to transfer the text in bits and pieces, copied in successive copy and pasteings.
BTW, for years my wife and I have had excellent health insurance and after retirement, a combo of Medicare and our health plan served us well. We’ve never had problems with payments, – that is until recently. We have several specialists we see on a regular basis and I’ve noticed that in recent submissions for payment, the health insurers are allowing much less than they used to. And at the same time, the doctors have upped their rates by a wide margin, almost doubling some of them, and we get billed for the missing chunk. These are not trivial differences and if we don’t pay there’s an implied threat the bills will be turned over to collection agencies. So much for the “greatest health system in the world”.
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By: jsri on June 2, 2013
at 3:20 PM
Hey, Terri – Kiva’s great, too. I tried to sign up a couple of years ago, and they were “full,” i.e. not taking any new lenders. Now that you’ve mentioned them, think I’ll head back there and see if I can get going with them.
HTG, I cannot think of one single better place to put $25.00!!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 2, 2013
at 2:45 PM
Gato, I envy all your peonies! What colors do you have? Mine are white. I must say that getting a peony to thrive after relocating it is not easy – good job! They are stubborn that way. I have my first batch of roses blooming. Divine! I love playing in the dirt, though much of my dirt is so riddled with tree roots that it’s tough work.After my husband broke his rototiller trying to help me out, we decided the perennials, annuals and tree roots were just going to have to co-exist. My rabbits don’t touch my sedum or hostas but I can’t grow black eyed susan because the rabbits mow them right down. I guess what they’ll eat depends on what’s available, huh?
Do you grow any vegetables? I have tomatoes, zucchini, brussels sprouts and 3 colors of string beans going. I picked up some strawberries that are supposed to bear fruit all summer. I hope we get a few!
Next weekend I’ll start my pots. Most will be flowers but I do a couple with herbs and hot peppers, etc.
Time for some laundry. Blech. There’s a party at church tonight so I’m off the hook for dinner. One of the activities is adults-vs-kids dodge ball. What could go wrong? 😉
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By: delurkergurl on June 2, 2013
at 2:29 PM
Americans pay more for medical procedures than other countries. They are typically prescribed more expensive procedures and tests than other countries whether they have private or national health care. A list of drugs, scans and procedure prices complied by the International Federation of Health Plans found the US was the most costly in all 21 categories and often by a huge margin.
Is anyone having a problem cut and pasting from sites especially the NY Times?
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 2, 2013
at 2:15 PM
If anyone is interested in microfinance, please check out Kiva.org. You can make a loan as small as $25, be repaid, and re-invest as often as you like. You can choose from small independent businesses from all over the world. I have done it for years, and I have even given Kiva gift certificates to my sons. Check it out, it’s really worthwhile.
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By: Terri in NY on June 2, 2013
at 1:12 PM
Hey, Penny – Just makes me want to get out there, find a fox, and squeeze her over my plants! Tried to get my husband to do the job, and, so far, he’s declined…
Done the cayenne, too. Best plan, as far as I can tell, is to do everything! Eventually, they get the hint… And go right next door to my neighbor’s yard, which makes me feel a little guilty, but not too much.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 2, 2013
at 1:03 PM
THIS is where i lose it. this is where i go absolutely bonkers. this is where i could do actual damage to that little shit and his entire farm and everyone on it. maaaaaaaaaaaaaan, i have no intelligent words to say at the moment. steam is comin’ out’n my ears. argggggggggggggh. let hungry starve so i can stuff my other bellies? ogodogodogod
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By: penny abrams on June 2, 2013
at 12:48 PM
to keep the rabbits away sprinkle dried fox pee. htg. any good nursery should have it. if not, go online. or, lacking that, try lots of cayenne pepper.
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By: penny abrams on June 2, 2013
at 12:39 PM
pf: i’m breaking my own rule here. you may surely disagree with anyone, think of them as lesser, wish you’d never even heard of them but, just as surely, you cannot hope to make a productive dent when you are so insulting. if you do not wish to make a productive dent, then keep it to yourself, please. almost none of what you had to say to jeanne had any bearing on anything other than a display of extreme rudeness. i thought you were brighter than that.
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By: penny abrams on June 2, 2013
at 12:26 PM
Hi, Penny A – Agreed. And I think Sachs’ proposals are meant to do just what you propose: Give people a START, one that enables them to continue on their own, and move toward the future. He doesn’t propose endless handouts, because those are demeaning and soul-destroying. He’s talking about doing the simplest things, like supplying people with bed nets, so their children have a chance of living beyond the age of five; about giving women some say in how many children they bear; about making sure that children can read and write. I believe he assumes that, given these basic tools, people will go on to make something of their lives, and do things that benefit themselves and their neighbors, and the world at large.
You are probably familiar with “micro financing,” giving very small loans to individuals (and we’re talking here about something like $50 US) to someone who wants to start a business. The Grameen Bank was the first to do this; many others have followed, with great success. And these are LOANS, not gifts, and their rate of repayment is astonishingly high.
The majority of the recipients of these micro loans are women. Each potential recipient is required to present a business plan, and agrees to pay back the loan on a regular basis. They are supported in both their application, and the implementation of their plan, by their neighbors, and by representatives of the bank. A woman, for example, who sells drinks and snacks on the street, might use her loan to buy a cooler, and possibly a small grill, so she can sell cold drinks and hot food. Her clientele increases; she makes more money, because her food is more appealing; she pays off her loan; her business expands. Her kids are no longer beggars; they spend their days in school, rather than on the streets. It’s good all around – REALLY good.
Again, we’re not talking about handouts here; we’re talking about giving somebody a chance, just the smallest chance, and seeing what they do with that chance. Almost all the time, they succeed.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 2, 2013
at 12:21 PM
pf:LOL what’s happening to boys is girls. finally education is realizing, and correcting, the gender biased view which has been prevalent in this country for years. for generations, girls had only to be cute, to be able to cook, to have a big pair of breasts and to never-ever outdo a boy. now, females are being considered (for the most part) as whole human beings with brains at least as good as boys. furthermore girls mature emotionally earlier so they begin to value their studies, ambitions and goals a tad earlier than boys. the female has always been more adaptable (from cave days anyway) and the male more worried about his ‘domain’ (also from that period) so the male must contend with another obstacle. nothing’s wrong w/our boys. they are still, generally, the wonderful smiley grubby explorers they always were, chafing at bits, puffing out their still bare chests…i love ’em…i love to watch them…watch their faces when they are ‘being a big guy’. the girls are simply getting their due shot at life. everyone will adjust and settle in. you’ll see. it’s wonderful. my 31 yo grand daughter has already conquered the world but still talks about bringing her babies to cuddle with me. it’s gonna be ok. she’s doing her doctorate in social sciences and her betrothed is a national park ranger and that’s terrific with them. different times, different roles. God be with them all.
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By: penny abrams on June 2, 2013
at 12:18 PM
whoa james. you posted the following:
“The quote from Babbit, I think should apply to anyone. “Progressives” are showing fascistic tendencies now, because they are in power. The Republicans have drifted that way too. Our founders knew human nature and set up our system of checks and balances to delay the inevitable”
I’d love to know where the progressives are in power. and where the republicans are in power. the strongest voices heard right now are the tea party. the republicans have caved to the tea party. the progressives are trying but where do they hold the balance of power? not in the house. not in the senate. i can’t think of one state where the progressive party rules.
um, and by the way, if you’re a fascist you’re not a progressive and vice versa.
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By: penny abrams on June 2, 2013
at 12:00 PM
Let’s just take a little poll here, shall we? Let’s see how many on this site consider me a LSOS, and how many consider you the same…
(Porch sitters: HTG, don’t even bother. You have so much better things to do, and you’re doing them…)
“Rocking” a boat is something done with the intention of tipping it over. Got that?
I said exactly what I meant. I usually do.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 2, 2013
at 11:53 AM
yes, we agree on a social safety net. but i wish to address one paragraph (which is a quote from sachs, i bleev):
““Extreme poverty exhausts governing institutions, depletes resources, weakens leaders, and crushes hopes – fueling a volatile mix of desperation and instability. Poor, fragile states can explode into violence or implode into collapse, imperiling their citizens, regional neighbors, and the wider world as livelihoods are crushed, investors flee, and ungoverned territories become a spawning ground for global threats like terrorism, trafficking, environmental devastation, and disease.”
absolutely extreme poverty does all that this statement claims. therefor we must not only cure that poverty but as we cure it, look to the future to prevent its repetition. history is prologue. (w.churchill)
the chinese have a statement, i don’t remember exactly, but it says if you give a man a fish he will eat now but if u teach him to fish he’ll be ok forever.
lol, obviously that’s not verbatim.
my point is, that while we feed the starving, we also give them a shot at being whole, self supporting, self satisfied individuals by giving them work…and if necessary the training to do the jobs which need doing. this country’s infrastructure is a joke…well it would be if it weren’t so dangerous. almost anyone can learn to mix cement, hammer a nail, etc. if we accord the honor due to those who teach our kids, care for our elderly, wait on us in restaurants, clean the streets, fix the traffic lights, run web sites, all jobs would be as honorable as they truly are and no one would flinch at a job because its the bottom of gutter work. no work is bad. and…no work is bad.
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By: penny abrams on June 2, 2013
at 11:51 AM
from penny abrams:
(smile) helicopter money…fun…big party time…but not the answer. like so many other programs we have, we address the symptom and not the cause. in education and health as well.
IF we just hand out money, no one learns how to make more, no one develops a strong enough desire to work at it, no one takes their own responsibility unto themselves. What we need is job training, analysis of why there are so many jobless, what we can do to resolve that issue and then:
there are those who are simply not able to provide sufficiently for themselves. take a family of two adults, two children, living in a two bedroom apartment/house. the dad is a porter at the local airport. mom, who must tend to the young children during the day, cleans toilets at that airport at night.getting to work requires a long walk and a bus (fare). what more can they do? dad takes the kids to the laundromat with him in the evenings to do the wash. mom embroiders beautifully and takes in whatever embroidering jobs she can get. she is especially grateful when she gets wedding veils to embroider…they pay more than other embroidery.
how can you say no to educating their kids out of that life position? how can you say no to new shoes that fit them, or to the orthodontist or eyeglasses or a movie and ice cream or a new dress for once, not always a salvation army special?
i would forego something so they could have a little more. those of you who say to look to God for the truth most assuredly would forfeit a little for that family.
we need to let go of the big bugaboo stories of welfare queens and hootchie mommas and drunk fathers and shiftless parents. those are in the tiniest minority. we need to look at one another as fellow humans, all brothers and sisters, according to God. i mean if you’re pushing God do it all the way. in my religion one of the things we are responsible for is the care of the earth, skies and water…in addition to one another. very specifically stated.
what it will take is common sense. let go of the stupid politics. the seductive quest for power. just common sense. if we help that family, those two youngsters will achieve adulthood with a trade, a way to earn their livings and take care of their parents! they will not be on any aid, they will not wind up in trouble because they will have a healthy self image and a way to feed their families.
this is not rocket science.
no tax deals for exporting jobs, no tax benefits for major corps whose profits are soaring, no pay for not producing, a corporation is NOT a person, those who make more must pay more (you want a family on 25 thou a year to pay taxes? from where?), and all government officials live like the rest of us—same pension deals, same health coverage, same perks.
who of you would work for that? thoughts, please.
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By: penny abrams on June 2, 2013
at 11:38 AM
gato opined: “You apparently think that anything you say is a “challenge.” Not so. Your comments are only your comments; few consider any of your remarks a “challenge” worth any response.”
No, not at all. It is simply that the convention in all times and all places, is that He Who Asserts Bears the Burden of Proof. If you make an accusation and it is disputed, it is the accuser’s burden to prove his case.
If you fail to do that, then your reputation for honesty is in question, and people will begin to refer to you as a “Lying Sack of Shit.” LSOS, for short.
You think about that.
And while you’re thinking about it, just FYI, the phrase is, “whatever FLOATS your boat, not ROCKS. You rock a chair; you float a boat.
Thanks are not necessary. Professor is my job.
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By: PFesser on June 2, 2013
at 11:25 AM
I think the bigger scandal regarding the IRS is that so many people/organizations have gotten away with misusing and abusing the 501 [C] 4s.
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 2, 2013
at 11:17 AM
Congressman Stephen Fincher (R-TN) really wants to cut food stamps … a lot. He rants from the House floor that the poor should starve, and we shouldn’t spend “other people’s money.”
Fincher is also a farmer, who gets $3.5 million in subsidies from the federal government. And the Farm Bill that House Republicans—including Fincher—support would increase farm subsidies by $9 billion while cutting food stamps by $21 billion over the next ten years.
“We have to remember there is not a big printing press in Washington that continually prints money over and over”, Mr. Fincher said during the debate. “This is other people’s money that Washington is appropriating and spending.”
Translation: We can’t give money to “those” people we have to keep it for “us” people.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/05/23/1211259/-Biggest-GOP-foodstamp-foe-gets-huge-farm-nbsp-subsidies
Ever wonder why so many of these politicians are farmers? I wonder how many actually get their hands dirty. (well..hands dirty….as in actual dirt/soil!)
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 2, 2013
at 10:59 AM
You apparently think that anything you say is a “challenge.” Not so. Your comments are only your comments; few consider any of your remarks a “challenge” worth any response. I think you might comprehend that, at this point. But evidently, you don’t. So be it.
Bluster away, honey pie. Whatever rocks your boat…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 2, 2013
at 10:23 AM
James – I know you are a certified wx observer. Have you seen the predictions for St. Louis? Almost 41′
Do you have any thoughts about the role of the levees in the flooding that comes year after year?
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By: PFesser on June 2, 2013
at 10:21 AM
Hi, Terri – I’m about forty-five minutes from White Flower Farm, and, indeed, it’s a lovely place, catalog, too. Haven’t been there for years, since I’m much closer to Hollandia Nurseries, which is a totally amazing place. Think it’s the largest nursery in CT.
For some unknown reason, I’ve never seen a single bunny around here. Always wondered about that… We have endless deer, who just stroll along our roadways and through our yards, chewing happily as they go, and woodchucks – or, as my husband likes to call them– “groundchucks,” kind of a cross between groundhogs and woodchucks. We spray ALL THE TIME with “DeerStopper,” or some equivalent, which seems to work. (If we don’t do it, most everything gets a buzz cut the minute we’re not looking.)
The good news seems to be that, once they find things unpalatable a time or two, they (the deer and the chucks) change their “feeding paths,” and look for other routes with tastier goodies. Bottom line: We live among them, and they, among us, and we all do what we can to get our particular needs met,
hopefully with some mutual respect, a maximum of survival, and a minimum of destruction…!
As I think about it, I believe that our wandering off into talking about gardening, and our particular lives, really does have some relevance to the bigger issues discussed here. The more we share about what matters to us, the more we understand each other, and the more we find in common, the better off we all are…
All the snarking, and jousting back and forth, in which I have so gleefully taken part this morning, has not come from my best self. My best self has responded to you, and will now get her tushy out there and water the greenhouse!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 2, 2013
at 10:13 AM
Terri, challenged to produce proof of her accusations, said: “Sorry, I don’t “do” things because you order me to. And I wasn’t talking to you anyway.”
That’s what we all expected.
I’ll keep track of that one, too. You’ll see it again. Thanks for making it so easy.
Onward.
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By: PFesser on June 2, 2013
at 10:11 AM
Penny abrams, I have Googled Mona Charen. She graduated from Columbia University with honors, and she earned a law degree from George Washington University. She was Nancy Reagan’s speech writer in 1984. She later wrote speeches for Jack Kemp.
She started her syndicated column in 1987, and over 200 newspapers carry it. She has written two books and has been a Pultizer Prize judge. She was a commentator on CNN for six years.
Mona is married with three children.
Her lead was in my opinion, overwrought because it was an attention-getting device to persuade people to read her column. She cited facts and spun them to show that our government is creating a fascist state.
I agree that using the IRS to hurt people in a way that diminishes their political power and intimidates them to be still is fascistic. So is the way our government spied on news people and how the EPA plays favorites. That is fascism or at least authoritarianism according to the definition I posted. It is the use of power to damage or destroy opponents.\
Obama seems to be even more detached than Ronald Reagan when Iran Contra nearly took him down. Remember, Obama said he learned about the IRS scandal the way we did, through the news. And that is after frequent meeting with the IRS chief over two years.
We now know the IRS actions were more wide-spread than a few rogue workers. At least 88 were involved, and the trail leads to the Washington DC office,
I’m giving Obama the benefit of the doubt in assuming he did not know what his underlings were doing. Whatever the situation, we are living with a dangerous situation. People we hired through our tax money are actively by their own admission hurting other citizens who have done nothing wrong.
That is what I meant by “COULD”. I don’t think we can let the perps go unpunished. We need to see that our government can police itself and that it is worthy of our trust. Many people already fear their own government. Imagine how it will be if the IRS and journalistic spying confirm their fears.
Alternatively, the people who did this will escape, and the practice will be institutionalized. Someday, Republicans could do the same to Democrats.
I mentioned Ukraine because it is an interesting country. Its people work hard and they are well-educated. The communist legacy and modern graft combined with socialistic tendencies have created distrustful people. No one really knows how much the average Ukrainian earns. Theoretically most should not be living middle class lives but they do because they work under the table.
Thanks to the recent sluggish near-recession, the underground economy is expanding in many countries, including the US. If we combine as we have with a revived distrust of our government, we will resemble Ukraine more than we do now.
That is why I think we need to understand what has happened and at least fire the people who did this.
I agree it is immoral for us to attempt to control other countries unless it is in self defense or persuasion.l .
I hope you pink eye heals fast and that you feel better. I just got two phone calls as I typed this and have to leave within the hour.
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By: James on June 2, 2013
at 10:08 AM
Hey Gato,
I love peonies, so lush and beautiful! I’m having a problem with rabbits. They have gnawed on all my sedums and nibbled on the hostas. They are awfully cute though. By the way, do you anywhere near White Flower Farm? I love their catalog.
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By: Terri in NY on June 2, 2013
at 9:51 AM
Hey, Terri – Seems we’ve got a united front going here! HTG, I swore I was going to extricate myself from Liberace’s sink hole right this minute, and I haven’t quite done it yet, darn it! I’m close, though…
Thanks for the reminder about the outside world, my yard and garden, and so on. On these beautiful warm summer days, the temperature in my greenhouse pegs out at more than a hundred degrees, so a lot of watering is required. And I do it; no problem. I inherited a bunch of peonies when I moved in here, twenty years ago, and they’ve thrived, even after being unearthed and moved at least twice. And today I think they’re ALL going to bloom, all at once. And now, for a few weeks, we will have peonies everywhere – out there, in the house in vases and floating in bowls of water… And then they’re done. It’s a glorious time.
Know how some real estate ads like to mention “mature plantings”…? I never realized how much that means until I found myself in the position of actually having them, and having worked on helping to make them so, these twenty years later. Kind of like “mature women,” IMHO.
Have a lovely day, friend!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 2, 2013
at 9:35 AM
If you don’t remember what you posted, tant pis. Wrinkly bottoms? Sagging thises or thats? Descriptions of those with whom you will or will not play your alleged sex games? No “amateurs” or “seniors,” for various reasons?
You can bloody hell produce your own “documentation” for your garbage, sweetie pie. It’s nobody’s job but your own.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 2, 2013
at 9:21 AM
Sorry, I don’t “do” things because you order me to. And I wasn’t talking to you anyway
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By: Terri in NY on June 2, 2013
at 9:12 AM
Terri in NY opined: “And for the record, I remember all his underwear references, even if he doesn’t.”
That’s good – then you should be able to produce them. Do it.
Don’t worry; I’ll remind you from time to time if you forget…LOL
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By: PFesser on June 2, 2013
at 9:09 AM
Hey Gato, as usual you have my support. Love all you write, especially your responses to ” it.” He doesn’t stand a chance! And for the record, I remember all his underwear references, even if he doesn’t. Hope your garden is doing well in the warm weather.
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By: Terri in NY on June 2, 2013
at 8:48 AM
what other countries do is up to them, period. short of a military attack on our territory, we have no right to dictate nor do we have a right to try to force another government to do what we want. we can use boycotts, we can use trade and politics and our own friendly allies to try to convince them, but that’s the most we have the right to do. the same applies to all other countries. period. that’s it.
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By: penny abrams on June 2, 2013
at 8:47 AM
james: yes, of course, all points of view are allowed and should be examined, i think, BEFORE coming to a solid unmoving conclusion. i still don’t know anything about the mona lady, her affiliations, her past political history, like that. have you googled her?
today i don’t have the time, am part of a surprise party for one grandson and picking up his bro at the airport (part of the surprise) and stuff like that…and i have a nasty sinus infection and conjunctivitis. not a good time for me. but u-kno-wot-happens.
i am going to reprint a paragraph you wrote in your last post. it is typical of things u post and is just as confusing to me as prior statements of yours. if you could explain this, i would be pleased. here it is.
“I think she is overwrought to get attention for this column, though recent actions COULD lead us into authoritarianism. I believe the perps must be fired and scorned,for the good of the country and so a majority doesn’t actively mistrust our government. We could easily turn into Ukraine.”
What?
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By: penny abrams on June 2, 2013
at 8:44 AM
Oh, honey pie, sugar plum, “boy,” if you’re so bored with this, just STOP TYPING. That’s my call.
Go do something useful. You’ve heard of “useful,” haven’t you? It’s right there in the dictionary, between “usable” and “useless.” Check it out.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 2, 2013
at 8:40 AM
gato – look, sweetheart – do you really want to continue this dance of death, or would you like to get onto more interesting things? I’m bored, but as you and Grandma well know, I have infinite patience. It’s your call.
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By: PFesser on June 2, 2013
at 8:24 AM
Hey Auntie Jean,
Ditto on what Gato wrote. Count me amongst those who would much rather read one of your witty posts than ten of the Liberace of Pedagogy’s
(thanks for that, Gato!) boring stories of his his balsa wood plane. Apparently he can’t even fathom why calling the POTUS “Hussein” and “Boy” is offensive. Keep on posting, and we’ll keep reading.
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By: Terri in NY on June 2, 2013
at 8:22 AM
Obviously the only thing I’ve posted over the past few days that caught your laser-like attention was the phrase “pee pee poo poo.”
So, here, knock yourself out: “Pee pee poo poo kaka wee wee doo doo.” Have at it. It’s a real pleasure being an “embarrassment” to you, I must say.
And we’re all so glad to be reminded, once again, how rigorously you stick to discussing “issues,” and abhor personal attacks, Mr. “Wrinkly Bottom/ I Don’t Play Sex Games With Amateurs/You Said ‘Panties’ First.”
My apologies to everyone else for wasting your time on this garbage. Just hit “Delete.” That – and only that – is what this exchange merits. I take full responsibility for my part in it. I will now do my best to stay out of this sinkhole for the foreseeable future.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 2, 2013
at 8:10 AM
Cynthia…
It is funny you are speaking of the poisons in our foods.
I just open this email from Dr. Mercola this morning.
Read this.. And you will know why… You are reporting the news you did on antibiotics in our food sources.
Now these same ole, same ole bad guys are at it still…..
Monsanto and the 5 major food agri food producers are the alliance mentioned.
No wonder, even the vegetables are growing little look alike tumors within the veggies…themselves from the DNA changes of the GMO modification and the chemical poisons in the fertilizers and pesticides and herbicides they are being sprayed with.
Check this out.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/05/29/codex-front-groups.aspx
Peace, Chris
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By: Chris on June 2, 2013
at 8:00 AM
gato – nobody has mentioned “pee pee poo poo” except you. Are we projecting again? Let’s see. First is was an accusation of fascination with “panties” – which, upon research, nobody had ever mentioned except for you; then it was another topic which escapes me right now, again unmentioned by anyone except you, now it’s “pee pee poo poo.”
God, girl, sometimes you are a real embarrassment. What’s the matter, not a reader? Not up on current affairs? Maybe you could look at the pictures; after all, pictures in books are your specialty, aren’t they?
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By: PFesser on June 2, 2013
at 7:45 AM
Good editorial on Constitutional abuses by our top cop, Mssr. Holder:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/may/31/holder-the-horrible/
I think he is a really bad guy. The Times is a conservative paper, but the article is pretty even-handed. It’s pretty hard to skew the absolute truth.
What gets me is that, even though the Liberal press is horrified by Eric Holder’s blatantly ILLEGAL behavior, for the most part rank-and-file liberals are just shrugging their shoulders and saying, “So what?”
I’ll tell you so what. It is up to us, the liberal element, to take these kinds of abusers to task, no matter which party they work for – and in Holder’s case, it should mean jail time. That’s why the Republicans are in so much trouble; they refused to clean their own house. Dems are starting down the same road.
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By: PFesser on June 2, 2013
at 7:33 AM
I scanned the comments yesterday, and since we will soon be gone again, I don’t have time to re read anything. My memory may have muddled them, but this is how I remember the posts.
The issues are also interconnected as we know.
Cynthia’s cod piece comment was disturbing to me. My head replayed Cameo’s Word Up, as Bush and then Obama performed with the red cod piece.
I think we are headed for a train wreck.
She mentioned the effect of medicated food and drugs in Puerto Rico in other places. Besides girls maturity dates, I believe there were feminizing effects on some boys.
Gato discussed Sach’s writing that capitalism is not fragile. I think capitalism is a basic human instinct. More people prosper under capitalism than in other systems. I agree socialistic mitigation of capitalism through safety nets is necessary.
She also mentioned that Chinese and other developing countries with people anxious to live in the middle class as we do are buying and using more resources to better their comsumerist lives. If the Chinese and others adopt more capitalism at the expense of socialism, even more of their citizens will be able to live like us.
She also wrote as I have that ultimately most wars are fought over resources. The world has a finite resevour of energy which more countries are scrambling to buy. The Chinese, for example are working very hard in Africa and other places to control access to energy and minerals they will need later.
Many of those societies are multiplying and will need even more resources than they need now. They are evolving from motor scooters to cars.
As a result, the world is pouring more green house gases into our atmosphere. Granted the human-caused global warming theory has been proven to be misunderstood, but long-term change in the composition of our air can’t be good.
Our genetically altered food and heavy use of antibiotics is also bad, but what choice do we have? Conventional food production will not provide enough for an expanding middle class let alone preventing starvation. Conventional agriculture requires more energy than the no- till farming which genetics and pesticides make possible. No- till also reduces erosion, and such fields are sequester sinks for carbon dioxide. More importantly, genetics feed more people.
We have been pouring our money into the Middle East and other oil rich countries as our oil reserves are depleted. However, now, thanks to fracking and our huge natural gas reserves, the tables are turning. We may soon become a net exporter of energy. Our use of natural gas is lowering our green house emissions. Some OPEC nations already worry about what our new energy wealth will do to their countries. We are already an OPEC of food.
Penny abrams noted that we don’t have a right to control other countries. They have as much right as we do to better our lives, even if strains the world’s resources, To consign them to poverty while we enjoy what we have would be immoral.
So what do we do?
. .
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By: James on June 2, 2013
at 7:26 AM
Hi, Auntie Jean – I doubt anyone was offended by your using the phrase “ménage à trois.” It was perfectly appropriate, in my opinion. Of course, your using it was seized upon as yet ANOTHER “excuse” for going into one more “pee pee poo poo” line of commentary, as it seems almost anything can be for some. (Lordy; one could post something like, “I love my children,” and the reply would be, “There you go again, you wrinkly old spanky-bottom. Why can’t you stick to the issues, fooey, fooey, papalooey, LOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!” Or something like that…) And, it just happened, as usual, just now…
And, of course, in the meantime, you, Cynthia, myself, and others, are in discussion about food supplies, harmful additives, their effects on human beings, poverty, and so on… And we’ll keep it up, even as Mr. Righteous blows off his selling of hormone-laced cattle as just one of life’s little lessons… Nothing worth discussing there, of course. (Professed scholarship, or experience, without conscience, is, in my opinion, of no value whatsoever to anyone…)
I love reading your long, thoughtful, and intelligent posts – and I’m not the only one. You’re a wise, involved, witty, and erudite human being, far as I can tell – and that’s terrific!
Here on the East Coast we are enjoying an absolutely crystalline, still, and perfectly beautiful, summer morning… Hope you are having the same.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 2, 2013
at 7:14 AM
My apologies to the ladies on the board, but this is pretty funny:
Any man who has not learned this lesson will have a short, unpleasant marriage. LOL
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By: PFesser on June 2, 2013
at 6:38 AM
Look, Grandma – I think you need to get a few things straight, and then we won’t waste any more time – something that, at your age, I would think you would find appealing.
Firstly, it’s not your blog – you haven’t the least say as to who is welcome and who is not. Nice try.
Secondly, everybody but you has caught on: if you are nice, others will be nice. If you are not, they will slap you across your saggy face – or, since you seem to be fascinated with spanking, across your saggy ass.
Thirdly, it is much more pleasant if you can stay somewhat on-topic. I know that, as a piano player, you haven’t done much in life – and I only speak for myself here – but tedious descriptions of your daily bowel movements when traveling, not traveling, sitting, standing, riding in the car are not that interesting. How about posting something related to the topics at hand? Maybe you could first read about it or something. Frankly, nobody gives a rat’s ass what time of day you are up and about, whether you believe in spanking children, or your personal interpretation of, “ménage à trois.” This is a political blog. I know your Boy is not doing well right now, and I am truly sorry about that – I voted for him, you know – but his problems are of his own making, and I’d like to discuss them, not your other fascination with “diapers.” (sorry about that, too – maybe you are into “ageplay?” Look it up.)
And, forgive the anality – I’ve been doing some editing for a publisher lately – but for God’s sake, lose the exclamation points!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s like laughing at your own jokes.
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By: PFesser on June 2, 2013
at 6:19 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
I would like to clarify a couple of things that some of you may or may not know. Because of the time zone difference, as often as not I put my comments up about 8:00-9:00 PM-ish, our time. So I am NOT up pecking away on my computer in the middle of the night, your time. I have other activities to occupy me during the day and rarely have time to respond to anybody, even briefly off the top of my head. My more thoughtful comments are composed in the evenings.
I sincerely regret if anyone’s sensibilities were offended by my use of the French term, “menage a trios”. I could just as easily have used “ménage a quatre” or “ménage a cinquieme”. The literal translations of the words are “ménage “ – “household” and “trios” – “three”. However, there are many, many idiomatic meanings to the phrase. In English usage, it has often acquired a sexual connotation. In the context in which I used it, I was referring to three individuals who consistently frequent and, shall we say, are “squatters” on free and open internet sites, (“households”) where they would not be welcomed or even permitted elsewhere. Since one of the “squatters” has persisted in using nasty sexual innuendos toward those with whom he disagrees or tries to rebut comments not addressed to him, he acquired the nickname of SpankMe. As usual and repeatedly, he attached a sexually demeaning intent to the name. Actually, the original aka was of that of a mischief and disrespectful little boy who was asking for a swat across his diaper. I do not now, nor have never subscribed to corporal punishment. But I have to admit that on a few occasions when our boys were little I did on rare occasions deliver a short whack in the rear when all other methods of behavior modification failed. And guess what? They grew up!!!!! Of course I am grossly prejudiced because I love them very much, and they are now fine, responsible men of whom we are exceedingly proud!!!!! They are gentlemen. They even open and hold doors for ladies! They would never, never, ever find anything amusing about neuro-degenerative disorders or illnesses; no more than they would joke about cancer, heart disease, stroke or diabetes.
Cynthia (aka fondly Cyn to me) and gato, your comments on food, food additives and ethnic diets are quite thought provoking. If I may butt in with my comment, it has been our experience in a number of travels to Asian countries, that you almost NEVER see obesity on the streets in either adults or children. We saw MacDonalds, Burger Kings, Taco Hell and Pizza Huts cropping up here and there too but certainly those fast food chains bear little to no resemblance to the origins of their native countries. Naturally we were interested in partaking of the local cuisine as much as possible. As far as we could tell, the food was usually cooked in open kitchens, woks and such, by healthy methods and consisted mostly of fish, vegetables and fruits. Meats were not a high priority. Another attractive feature is that the presentation is an art form in itself. Beautiful and appetizing!!! Some were almost too pretty to eat!
You might be interested in a study I am involved in. Google “Multiethnic Cohort Study”. It is an offshoot of PLCO I have also been involved in for years. The graphs depicting the differences between the BMI of males, females and various ethnic groups is quite illuminating. If you can find it, also check out the “Intake of Cooked Meats and Heterocyclic Amines in the Multiethnic Cohort.”
I have always used these salutations on the internet to denote my identity and basic philosophy of hoping for peace between peoples world wide, rather than conflict and war. Much of it begins with mutual language comprehension reflective of each of our points of view.
Aloha! Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
P.S. Remember the old adage, “Imitation is sincerest form of flattery”? I sincerely doubt if this puerile parody is intended as such:
“By: PFesser on June 1, 2013 at 4:37 AM” “ no mas, te. kaflooie, farfalonus, leggo my eggo”
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By: waialeale on June 2, 2013
at 2:13 AM
Cynthia – My wife and I have discussed for a long time about the “problem with boys” in this country, and wondered if it is hormonally related. There seems to be a tremendous breakdown in boys’ ambition, even in areas where boys have traditionally been strong, like math, the girls are just mopping the floor with them.
One theory relates to phthalates in the clear plastics in containers. From what I’ve read, they seem to have a significant estrogen-like quality. The problem is that with hormones it only takes microgram quantities to cause profound effects.
I don’t know much about the Dept of Agriculture, but the idea of their allowing growth hormones in cattle gives me the willies.
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By: PFesser on June 1, 2013
at 7:48 PM
Thanks Gato. I agree with much of it, but I don’t have time to explain why right now. Maybe later.
Al, you have been stalking ME. I didn’t call you a name. I suggested you might like to do something instead of grouse and express anger.
Cynthia (4:03PM). I agree our children are being dumbed down.
The quote from Babbit, I think should apply to anyone. “Progressives” are showing fascistic tendencies now, because they are in power. The Republicans have drifted that way too. Our founders knew human nature and set up our system of checks and balances to delay the inevitable.
I read about our being saturated with corn.
We never gave our livestock antibiotics. They roamed on the range and drank water from a lake. Over use of antibiotics is dangerous. Besides what they might do to the environment, they also cause germs to evolve an immunity to antibiotics. A movement to restrict antibiotics is afoot.
Yes, I have read Mona’s columns for a number of years. She is sharp. I also like Andrew Sullivan and Kathleen Parker. I also like Maureen Dowd, even when she is wrong, her column is fun to read.
I hope Long Doc Dong is all right. It sounds bad down there, doesn’t it.
Omaha is about 400 miles, more or less from St Louis. If you made it to Omaha, you could meet our soon to be born grand daughter
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By: James on June 1, 2013
at 6:20 PM
HI, Cynthia – I think I do know those things… Most of the antibiotics go to livestock, and we’re all full of corn syrup…
Another really scary thing is that the population of China, for example, is doubling every ten years. And, as that’s happening, they’re getting wealthier. And, the wealthier they get, the more they want to eat more beef, and pork. (Witness the offer to buy Smithfield Products, biggest pork supplier in the US of A.) And the real irony here is that the traditional “Asian diet” (mostly rice and grains, lots of soy, plenty of vegetables, a bit of oil, some seafood, and tiny bits of meat) has given that population low levels of heart disease, cancers, and on and on and on…
And now they want to eat like US…?! And we’re going to help them do that?
Well… Things change. Many here are eating less meat; growing our own vegetables and/or buying locally. But that’s a luxury. And all that organic stuff is expensive. (A Whole Foods Market just opened five minutes from my house. I yearned for it, for years. And, now that it’s here, I see that I will not be shopping there, except for special treats – and after I’m sure Trader Joe’s doesn’t have it!)
I am well aware that a working (formerly “middle class”) family, with two parents holding two jobs each, and with hungry kids, is not going to have the time or energy to buy the bulk dried beans, soak them overnight, and then whip up some basically nutritional meal, with a side of rice, when what their kids really want is a pile of McNuggets with sauce. And it’s cheap!
Our “poor” are at the top of the poor pile… When I think about families in Darfur, or the Syrian refugees, I am hard-pressed to imagine what they go through to get a bucket of water. And, of course, it’s so often the women doing that…
So many of the young men are out, weapons at hand, masks over their faces, trying to be men, with no jobs, no way to support their families. When they have no work, no education, no hope, what else can they do…?
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 1, 2013
at 6:14 PM
Kind of like “just following orders,” eh? (“Oh, it’s all exactly the same.” And you bought that? I’m so surprised…)
Ninety-five percent of “them” are treated that way; and a few are not. Check out Niman Farms, for example, and I’m sure there are others. Niman raises beef and pork with no hormones, no “shots,” no nothing other than making sure their animals spend their lives wandering around eating grass (the cattle) and kitchen scraps (the hogs), and whatever other healthy nutrients the Nimans choose to provide to them.
Raising an animal, knowing you are preparing it for death, is a sacred honor. My bet is that the Nimans give that some thought, and always have. And you…?
Given that you so often present yourself as having had some personal, and often extraordinary, involvement with just about any topic that comes up here, would you care to relate what – if anything – you’ve learned from this particular experience?
I’m actually interested in what you might have to say about this. And I hope (lord knows why) that you will be serious.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 1, 2013
at 5:37 PM
Years ago I remember a claim – In Puerto Rico chickens were the main meat source and they were given steroids and growth hormones in order to keep up with demand. They found the girls were reaching puberty at a much younger age then ever before. I see young girls these days and I have no idea of their age…usually younger than they look. I believe there is a relationship. From family history – girls kept a diary and one thing noted was when they got there period. Many were in their mid to late teens.
In King Corn video – Colorado is the “feed lot” state. In 2007 92.9 million acres were planted in corn. If people demanded grass feed beef instead of corn fatten beef these 92 million acres would be planted in grass and cattle grazing on it. Beef cattle can only be fed corn for something like 150-170 days. After that time the corn causes their organs to fail. It also causes a very fatty meat. Corn is not a natural feed for horses, cattle etc. Grass is their natural feed!
This country is facing a sh*t load of problems. Far more important than why Obama’s blue tights and red cape were at the cleaners. An investigation should be started as to why Bush packed up the super duper gold fringed cod piece when he left leaving Obama without!
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 1, 2013
at 5:26 PM
gato – nope, just sold ’em. Next time I saw the vet, he assured me that was the standard around the country, and that 100% of them were treated the same way. I just took him at his word, but thinking back on it, it might have been a mistake. Live and learn.
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By: PFesser on June 1, 2013
at 4:58 PM
James – I didn’t know you were a Mona Charen fan! I’ve followed her since the ‘nineties. She is One Sharp Cookie. Ditto Kathleen Parker. About 90% of the time I like Andrew Sullivan, too.
Do you remember that columnist from the ‘eighties….can’t think of his name. His dog was “Catfish.” Died I think in Russia from an infected heart valve – (but enough about socialized medicine). He was always explaining to non-southerners what a “tar arn” was…crap…Lewis Grizzard! Remember him?
My wife and I are flying our Cessna out to St. Louis to visit an elderly radiologist relative in a few weeks. I don’t know how far you are from there.
Heard anything from Long Duc Dong? Looks like OKC and its environs got hammered again.
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By: PFesser on June 1, 2013
at 4:55 PM
Fesser – And while you were “wondering,” did you sell your steers to some processor? And did you mention their having their shots?
Just curious about when “wondering” becomes “conscience” for you.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on June 1, 2013
at 4:49 PM
Hey, Whirled, and fellow porch sitters – This idea (“helicopter money”) makes a lot of sense to me, mainly because, as stated, it’s “…largely agnostic about the root of our problems.” A lot of people seem to spend a lot of time trying to sort out and define the philosophical and/or political “reasons” about the causes of what’s happening, and all the while, people are getting poorer, people have no jobs, and people are hungry, sick, and dying. THOSE are “the problems,” IMHO.
The bottom line is that poverty – whatever its “causes” – is a killer: of lives, of souls, of hope, of productivity, of consumption, of “progress,” of security, of almost everything that matters to us humans.
Here’s a quote from a collection of essays assembled in a book called “Too Poor for Peace?” (edited by Lael Brainard and Derek Chollet), and cited in Jeffrey D. Sach’s book, “Common Wealth.”
First, “Extreme poverty exhausts governing institutions, depletes resources, weakens leaders, and crushes hopes – fueling a volatile mix of desperation and instability. Poor, fragile states can explode into violence or implode into collapse, imperiling their citizens, regional neighbors, and the wider world as livelihoods are crushed, investors flee, and ungoverned territories become a spawning ground for global threats like terrorism, trafficking, environmental devastation, and disease.”
If that’s not an accurate description of what we’re seeing, I don’t know what would be…
And, add to that the fact that the highest rates of population growth are occurring in areas with the highest poverty rates, the most rapidly diminishing natural resources, and the least access to the most basic human needs: elementary medical care, access to clean water, fuel, and food; education, decent roads, commerce, communication, and so on. We’re talking here the entire land-locked middle of Africa, most of the arid and mountainous areas of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Waziristan, the other “stans,” and – without irrigation – a good part of the Middle East. (Are they fighting about “politics” in Darfur? No; they’re fighting about WATER.)
Second, on a slightly more hopeful note, maybe, this, from Sachs himself, in the above-mentioned book: “A… view, very popular in Sweden and some other social welfare states, holds that precisely because capitalism is so turbulent, a social safety net is vitally needed to win the public’s support for an economy in constant flux. The argument goes that without social insurance, the public would be likely to demand protectionism and non market guarantees of employment.”
Let me repeat that: “…precisely because capitalism is so turbulent, a social safety net is vitally needed to win the public’s support for an economy in constant flux.” Please note that Sachs is not saying that capitalism is a “bad thing,” or that a social safety net is a “good thing,” or vice-versa. He’s merely saying that the social safety net seems “necessary” for capitalism, with its insecurities and turbulence, to flourish. Makes sense to me. How can anybody be an “entrepreneur,” and start her own business, when she hasn’t been able to afford to feed her kids breakfast…?
Sachs also adds, a few paragraphs later, “Capitalism is not a fragile reed that will collapse with the slightest investments in social insurance.” He contends that capitalism is strong, flexible, and robust, and in need of far less “protection” from “social programs” that many insist it does. He contends they are wrong.
Sach’s premise, as I understand it, is that, unless we take some immediate steps to bring millions of people out of abject poverty, there can be no “progress,” anywhere, for anyone. (And he’s an economist by training, BTW.) These steps are not expensive… It might cost around $62/year/person to supply anti-malarial bed nets, the simplest of medical care, family planning tools, information about how to increase the yield/acre of grains, information as to how to collect rainwater for use in crop irrigation during periods of drought, access for children to a school that teaches basic reading and writing, and so on.
Poor people are desperate people. They, like all of us, will do anything and everything they can to survive. They will take down the last tree for firewood; they will kill their neighbors so their own children might survive; they will do anything they can to get the last bucket of water from the only well within fifty miles.
And which of us would do differently, in such circumstances…?
Gato
And… I HOPE THIS IS DEALING SIGNIFICANTLY ENOUGH WITH “ISSUES” FOR SOME AROUND HERE…!
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By: gatodicima on June 1, 2013
at 4:46 PM
Cynthia – re: antibiotics.
About ten years ago I bought about a dozen steers at the farmers’ market to feed over the summer. As soon as I bought them, the vet came over to me and said, “Do you want your steers to have their shots?”
I said yes.
I thought the bill was a little high, but when I got them home I was floored. They had all had growth hormone, antibiotics, various vaccines, etc.
They sure grew fast, I’ll give them that, but I wonder about that meat to this very day.
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By: PFesser on June 1, 2013
at 4:42 PM
Do you know if you were to run a DNA test on a strand of your hair it would show corn DNA in it? In 1970, the average amount of high fructose corn syrup consumed by Americans was 0.6 lbs; in 2000 73.5 lbs. The odds of a first grader (2007) developing type II Diabetes in their lifetime: 1 in 3. Do you know the amount of Federal subsidies paid to corn farmers between 1995 and 2005 – $51,261,278,801? – King Corn
Do you know who/what is the largest consumer of antibiotics? Livestock farmers. The use of antibiotics and steroids rot the feet of dairy cows and breeding for large utters is very hard on their systems resulting in much shorter lives. Their bedding and mature is then spread on the fields. So where are those antibiotics and steroids going in the environment?
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 1, 2013
at 4:04 PM
This is very interesting. Chomsky on how we are “dumbing down” our children and grandchildren and workers.
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/16651-noam-chomsky-on-democracy-and-education-in-the-21st-century-and-beyond
This statement if a reality – “when fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and waving a cross.” Just who is trying to bring fascism to the US? Surely not those damn flag burning atheist liberals!
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on June 1, 2013
at 4:03 PM
James on June 1, 2013 at 2:03 PM
James I know this will come as a shock to you but I don’t recall mentioning your name in my last post to someone else so why are you contacting me? I’m trying desperately to ignore you and you force yourself into the conversation. . It would be good for this blog if you didn’t do that again. Why don’t you set up your own blog, then you can pick and choose whomever you wish to respond to and you could also ramble all you want.
Al B
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By: Al B on June 1, 2013
at 3:43 PM
whirled Pea’s helicopter money just might work. Give the money to the people and not economic interests. Then, tax some of it.
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By: James on June 1, 2013
at 3:26 PM
penny abrams on 6/1/13 @12:22p
“…unemployment is too high and until we can resolve this, the financial situation will continue to deteriorate…”
Hi Penny,
Here’s an idea who’s time has come.
Helicopter Money: Print Money.
Mail Everybody a Check.
Fight unemployment by giving money directly to American families.
Ben Bernanke himself famously argued years ago that a central bank should never run out of tools for fighting deflation and depression because, as a last resort, it could always drop cash out of helicopters. That would be fun to watch, obviously, but mailing checks would be a lot simpler. And even though it sounds a little insane, it becomes a more and more compelling idea the more you think about it.
The best thing about helicopter money is that it’s largely agnostic as to what lies at the root of our problems. As long as you think there’s some level of excess capacity in the economy, putting cash in the hands of households will help. Most obviously, if people had more money they’d buy more stuff. That means more jobs making, transporting, and selling the stuff. But not everyone would spend all of their helicopter money. Lots of families would use it to help pay off debts already accumulated, which would help speed the process by which we climb out of the debt hole of the boom years. Prosperous families without debts would just save a large share of their money. Increasing the size of the savings pool should drive borrowing costs down for firms that want to expand, while pushing up the value of stocks and other financial assets.
PEACE ~ Δ
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By: Whirled Peas Δ on June 1, 2013
at 2:37 PM
See how its done Al? Civility and no personal attacks. You should try it.
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By: james on June 1, 2013
at 2:03 PM
So far, a combination of capitalism and socialism has improved the lives of more people than any other economic system.The Scandinavian countries have created a Capitalism-welfare state hybrid, which is different from a true socialist state.
The Chinese are discussing giving the private sector more control over its destiny than it has now..The implication is that they believe capitalism will make their economies stronger than with socialism.
I agree, what other counties do is their business unless it affects us. We are getting so interconnected we are in some ways virtually one nation already. I agree, our form of government is for us to decide.
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By: james on June 1, 2013
at 2:01 PM
Auntie Jean:
I apologize. Sorry to leave you hanging out with a supertroll in hot pursuit. Things get a little dicey around here on weekends and things get a bit overwhelming so I can only respond when I have a few minutes between appts. It’s a shame that some people have nothing but time on their hands, no job, no initiative, nothing but political interests, and do nothing that might remotely benefit others, but spew plenty of hatred of those less well off than themselves.
I look for good influences in life to support. Our primary care physician is a good example. She is committed to a local free clinic where she does at least two evenings every week helping those who are hurting financially and physically. And she never complains about people she deals with, instead compliments them for working hard to get out of their sinkholes. Though it has nothing to do with other community services I’m involved in, I still support the clinic whenever I can.
Meanwhile, I have no interest in dueling with Doogie Howser the “LOOK AT ME! ME! ME!” medic. Nothing he says or does is of any interest to me.
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By: Al B on June 1, 2013
at 1:45 PM
Thanks Pennyabrams. This is what I have been hoping for. I didn’t post this because I agreed with the article. I thought it was a good discussion point.
I checked Wikipedia for a definition of fascism.One is the “conception of the state as all-embracing, outside of it no human or spiritual values can exist… Thus understood, fascism is totalitarian…” The definition didn’t refer to private property, but unlike socialism, private property is permitted.,
I consider National Review to be a legitmate counterbalance to liberal sources which are allowed here.
Mona Charen is a conservative writer who sometimes discusses Jewish issues. I agree, this is only her opinion based on her interpretation of the facts. Her column includes facts subject to her interpretation, IRS did target conservatives and other groups. The EPA treated “green”s differently than others, and the Justice Department retaliated against a Fast and Furious whistle blower.
“Pin up” is her way of expressing disdain for the press who largely ignored transgressions until one directly affected them.
I think she is overwrought to get attention for this column, though recent actions COULD lead us into authoritarianism. I believe the perps must be fired and scorned,for the good of the country and so a majority doesn’t actively mistrust our government. We could easily turn into Ukraine.
I support term limits, but I also worry about the bureaucrats who make careers of government work. Without long term representatives, they might unduly influence lawmakers because they would hold the only institutional history. What do you think?
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By: james on June 1, 2013
at 1:37 PM
yeh, he is a terrible man but less terrible for most of his constituency than his opponent. this is why i’ve been on a totally unsuccesful crusade to write in your vote. write in john smith or chaim yonkel, it doesn’t matter. we are voting for the lesser of the evils and the more we do that the more we get only evils…from all parties. i would fire every one of them, including the few i like, and start all over again with term limits! major term limits!
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By: penny abrams on June 1, 2013
at 12:32 PM
james…challenge…the national review has always been conservative, so it represents the conservative point of view. it is not fact. it is a point of view/opinion and surely is agreed to by many and disageed with by many.
i am not familiar with the person you quote. is this person also a conservative? i would guess yes because the president of the united states of america was referred to as someone’s ‘pin up’.
there are many forms of government which suit people of ‘different stripes’. some do better with what is nowadays called communism, some with socialism, some with a form of tribalism, etc. that’s for them to decide.
as is it for us to decide our form of government. right?
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By: penny abrams on June 1, 2013
at 12:28 PM
OK, i’ll give it a shot. let’s discuss someTHING of importance to us all. but i must make rules. with what i’ve been reading here, there have to be rules.
1- no personalizing the issue
2- no personal attacks
3- you can state as fact only what you can prove
4- opinion is NOT fact and certainly allowed but not claimed as fact
5- this is a discussion, not an attempt at proseltyzing (sp? too lazy to look it up); it is a sharing of opinion and thought and what/how to make it better for ALL.
on this basis a topic discussion would make a nice change.
let me start with what is a fact. unemployment is too high and until we can resolve this, the financial situation will continue to deteriorate, if only by standing still.
thoughts, please
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By: penny abrams on June 1, 2013
at 12:22 PM
Lori,
I’m hopeful McConnell will be defeated.. I hear he is not popular in his own state. I’m crossing my fingers that voters have had enough of him. What an unpleasant guy he is, and so much obstruction has started with him.
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By: Terri in NY on June 1, 2013
at 9:52 AM
❤ Lori! Here's another good one.
http://www.momsrising.org/
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By: delurkergurl on June 1, 2013
at 8:57 AM
This makes a Liberal smile. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/05/28/1212144/-KY-Sen-PPP-Senate-Majority-PAC-Poll-Shows-Alison-Lundergan-Grimes-D-Mitch-McConnell-R-Tied
Unfortunately I don’t think it’s going to happen but it sure is a nice day dream! Lol lol Can you just imagine a Senate without the resident turtle? LoL
You’re welcome Terry! I too was surprised. They seem like a great bunch with lots of determination and pretty well organized! Fingers crossed they can make enough noise to get things done in the fall.
Have a great weekend all… I’m off to the pool.
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By: Lori on June 1, 2013
at 8:44 AM
Thanks, Lori. I just signed all those petitions. I couldn’t believe that some of those companies give a discount to NRA members!
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By: Terry W on June 1, 2013
at 8:21 AM
National Review Online May 21, 2013. “When Fascism Comes to America”
A Sinclair Lewis character said “when fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and waving a cross.”
Mono Charen wrote that if liberal members of the press ( or anyone else including residents of the porch) has no second thoughts about “their pinup in the White House, there is truly no hope for them. They will have proved themselves utterly corrupt. And we will have learned that when fascism comes to America, it will wear a broad smile and cal itself ‘progressive.””
Someone here should challenge that statement, but he/she will likely offer tacit agreement by ignoring it.
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By: james on June 1, 2013
at 7:58 AM
A good organization http://momsdemandaction.org/ never under estimate the power of a Mom! I wish them the best of luck.
Thought of you Delurker!
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By: Lori on June 1, 2013
at 7:36 AM
I was gone most of yesterday, and I have things to do today.
My eye doctor told me that Obamacare is so pernicious that she would go gray if she thought much about it. She also said that with IRS provisions, one might want to consider having major treatment in a foreign country if de facto rationing occurred. She was merely speculating.
CNN reported that the IRS documents implicate at least 88 IRS employees.in admitted IRS malfeasance. IRS officials visited the White House at least 157 times in three years. They visited Bush only once during a similar time span. The visits may have concerned implementing the IRS part of Obamacare, but we don’t know what happened.
Meanwhile, in California, according to Forbs, an official twisted the facts to hide a possible increase in insurance rates as high as 146% for some people in parts of California.
Why did Obama not learn of the IRS scandal until he “read it in the papers.” Where was he for seven hours of the Benghazi attacks?
Why aren’t you discussing these issues? The obvious answer is that Obama is not a white Republican like Bush. Your willful ignorance is striking,.
I have to spell it out for the slow of mind. I am not comparing anyone to Nazis. I am comparing inattention and rationalization. After WW11, General Eisenhour forced Germans to tour a death camp they with the same attitude Gato display in our discussion. It didn’t personally concern them, so why should they worry? The Germans were sickened as some of you sicken me.
This site has “more tools than I have in my garage” They are non- functional. They cannot discuss politics so they attempt to bring any one who ventures outside of their bubble down the their gutter level.
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By: James on June 1, 2013
at 6:55 AM
“Gee, where’d the lil’ “menage a trois” go?
God, Grandma, is sex all you think about? First spanking, now ménage…tsk, tsk.
While I’m thinking about it, where’s the little ménage à trolls? I guess lori is still lying on the pavement with all those big airplanes running over her, being a runway model. Gato is still looking for something relevant to say – and of course Grandma is thrashing about, trying to remember what sex was like, so she can gross us all out………..or was that, “remember what she had for breakfast?”…….
Try reading the paper, Grandma. This is a political blog, remember? There are lots of articles in the papers or on the Web that would be good fodder for discussion. Maybe you and Al B Darned could do a little book report or something
no mas, te. kaflooie, farfalonus, leggo my eggo
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By: PFesser on June 1, 2013
at 4:37 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Gee, where’d the lil’ “menage a trois” go?
Aloha! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean.
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By: waialeale on June 1, 2013
at 2:28 AM
Wow, has this place ever become an intellectual desert! pennyabrams is right on the money. It’s like throwing a dog into the chickenhouse and closing the door. All you hear is a bunch of old hens squawking. Does anybody read the news or have a decent on-topic comment?
Gato @ 9:58 – can you summarize a little? Your thoughts are scattered over the countryside. I don’t think anybody can figure out what you are trying to say. How about 20 words or less?
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By: PFesser on May 31, 2013
at 9:47 PM
Terri, That does make me feel better! I can’t imagine a guy with his name spelled with an “i”. My middle name is a family surname, Jay, so I guess the people targeting me thought they had it right.
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By: Terry W on May 31, 2013
at 5:36 PM
usually people put down others ’cause it’s the only way they can feel ‘worthy’ or ‘superior’. the pity of that is 1-it doesn’t work; 2-it doesn’t change the truths; 3-it uses up the energy and time required for each of us to learn where we might fall a tad short. i find it easier (when it’s just snark) to ignore it. sooner or later,kiddos, the music stops if no one is dancing. i’m sitting.
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By: penny abrams on May 31, 2013
at 4:44 PM
Lol lol love u auntie jean! I knew u would ” get it”!
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By: lori on May 31, 2013
at 4:05 PM
Terry W–if it makes you feel any better, I get the Viagra and “enlargement” emails too. I guess the “I” doesn’t make that much difference!
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By: Terri in NY on May 31, 2013
at 2:49 PM
Me again.
There used to be a couple of guys that had a talk show. I won’t reveal their names. They always signed off to each other with: “WIYFW and HBMT.”
Translation: WIYFW: Write if you find work.
HBYT: Hangin’ by my thumbs.
Mind if I indulge in a little plagerism once in a while? I do it all the time with Webster’s big Unabridged Dictionary spellings.
Aloha! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 31, 2013
at 2:39 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
OMG, lori, u dn’t tell me bot yr hubby’s bunion surgeries. How’s he doin’? Hobbling along?
Aloha! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 31, 2013
at 2:26 PM
❤
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By: lori on May 31, 2013
at 1:27 PM
It is confusing with the “y” or the “i”. I wish my mom had been more forward thinking when she named me even though it was after a female ice skater. I’ve gotten over my angst at being addressed in the mail as Mr. but I could do without the viagra come-ons, etc. My youngest granddaughter was named after me but with the “i”. She’ll have a much easier time of it, name-wise.
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By: Terry W on May 31, 2013
at 1:20 PM
Oops terry! Sorry… That’s the only typo or grammar error I feel the need to correct! Lol lol
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By: lori on May 31, 2013
at 12:52 PM
🙂 thanks Terri, it’s true we friends, in many senses of the world, on the porch can and do inspire each other to do many things don’t we? Many of us know each other ” personally” others more distantly. We know our kids names or husbans’s bunion surgeries, and maybe our painful past. But we all came here to connect. We are ” friends” . New and old we have come together. That fact apparently annoys 3 people. Apparently enough to spend lotsa time disrupting the forum M&H have provided. That’s ok! Lol lol somehow I think “we” will survive. A tiny tiny tiny group of old white men will NOT intimate us.
We lost a porch dweller last year. She too was a grandma, maybe even had a wattle, or not. In the final years of her life she suffered from side effects of strokes but she was smart and kind and loving. We mourn grandmakatie and we will heed her advice. SCROLLLLL BABY SCROLLLLL..
Why ANYONE would want to mock our tiny tiny tiny little community is baffling. But apparently we ha e 2or 3 out there that do…. So be it… That is there problem right?
Namaste…
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By: lori on May 31, 2013
at 12:40 PM
Lori, I’ve been deleting a lot without swallowing the bitter pill the citizens of Crazy Town are prescribing. Reading them isn’t worth my time. I do, however, look forward to your replies and the replies of all the other positive adults on the porch for my daily doses of fun and real info. You even inspire me to look up words on which I’m hazy. Oh, and a pedagog is a dogmatic teacher – so now I’ll be singing “Who Let the Dogs Out” under my breath when I see some of those posters appear.
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By: Terry W on May 31, 2013
at 12:05 PM
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BLi-JHxCYAA8M7R.jpg.
One pic, don’t want to clog up M&H feed. You can find more on hash tag BGTX … C u there
Xo
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By: lori on May 31, 2013
at 11:55 AM
“Liberace of Pedagogy”!!!! Gato, that is so perfect! That’s his name for now on. Best line in weeks…
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By: Terri in NY on May 31, 2013
at 11:52 AM
Good morning friends,
Unfortunately I don’t have any info on last night’s BGTX event in Austin … yet 🙂 I’m sure I will hear something later today. I will post it then. I do have some great pics of @sheriffgarcia firing up the Houston crowd a couple of days ago! I know one of my favorite M&H posters will be interested in those. Heavens knows she has been on the struggle bus being a resident of the Houston metro area. I will post those soon girl friend. Be sure help is on your way. LOL LOL
RE all this legal stuff. I didn’t threaten anyone. No more than one threatens one not to rob a bank or they will be arrested. Cyber laws are written and on the books. If people break the law they can be charged. There is no such thing as anonomously harassing someone anymore. It has been explAned to me it is just like the ” real world” . If a person goes to a cafe every morning and is consistently harassed, either by verbal assaults or physical assaults. If they are threatened, or physically or verbally intimated ( think slashing tires, writing on their car, spreading rumors, true or false that embarrass the person etc) it is a criminal offense. People can NOT harass others.Also too if it doesn’t rise to the level of criminal there is civil court.
Being a general PITA and trolling sites with non stop postings for the purpose of disrupting isn’t a crime. People are free to make an ass out of themselves all they want…. Why those type of people feel the need to behave in that manner is beyond me. But THAT is where the delete button comes in handy.
Ok…. So on we go…. 🙂 I’m still enjoying a wonderful vacation with my fam cor another two weeks or so…..So my Internet access is limited… Love yinzs all… Keep calm and carry on.. I’ll post @sheriffgarcia ASAP. 🙂
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By: Lori on May 31, 2013
at 11:17 AM
Someone cited a source telling us that Obama care will bring down California insurance rates. Wasn’t it wonderful that the insurance program would lower rates and prove the critics wrong?
I bought it and praised what competition would do. I was wrong. Rick Unger of Forbes also fell for the “sleight-of-hand” and made himself look gullible.
Forbes “Rate Shock: In Calfornia Obamacare to Increase Individual Health Insurance Premiums by 64-146%” Peter Lee, executive director of the California exchange gave misleading information to paint a rosy picture.
I’m not whining about anything. I was only suggesting tit for tat.
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By: James on May 31, 2013
at 10:27 AM
Hi, Auntie Jean – I’m sure that I’m not the only person who’s noticed that James, Chris, The Anonymite, sometimes Al B, and sometimes our own Liberace of Pedagogy, seem to have found endlessly fascinating common ground among themselves – or, at least, some “topics” on which they each feel they can weigh in, from their varied perspectives. (Plenty of space for the swapping of “personal attacks,” too, much as they all posture their indignant objection to same.)
In a later post this morning, James replied to someone, ” ‘I know you’re tired of it!’ Good.” I think that pretty much sums up the whole idea.
Far as I’m concerned, they can just soldier on as long as they want. They’re not gonna be done until they’re done… And as long as my “delete” button is still functioning, they can just keep at it until they tire of each other… And that could be sooner than we think, since – at least as far as I can tell – there’s not a “sagging and wrinkly old crone” in the bunch, at which they can lob their usual collection of insults. But, hey! I could be wrong…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 31, 2013
at 9:58 AM
and i’m gonna stamp my foot and whine ’til i get aaaaaaaaaaallllllllll the lollipops. rofl
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By: penny abrams on May 31, 2013
at 9:55 AM
Cynthia,
I believe you are right..The plan has always been to make us less and less happy with our government. How else will they ever get us to the point of enabling th to call Marshall Law and take our Sovernity (sp) away and set the Constitution aside…when the New World Order takes over, as it is doing throughout the world.
i will post some sites that will bring this more to light in your thinking.
I will try to do this tommorrow, or tonight..
Peace.
Chris
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By: Chris on May 31, 2013
at 9:50 AM
Anon…
We do elect Presidents…but, we elect that which is presented to us by the elite owned media.
Some poor Schmuck from some back roads would never have a chance of becoming President, except if you were well connected to the FAMILY…
Peace..
Chris
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By: Chris on May 31, 2013
at 9:41 AM
I know you’re “tired of it.” Good!
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By: James on May 31, 2013
at 9:37 AM
Then that other person threatening legal action is also being a crybaby eh? Where is your similar post to that person? hyprocrite.
I have already proven I can take it and give back in kind.. I also don’t think that other person has legal grounds to do anything. I know I have to spell things out for someone such as yourself. But to make it clear. If that other person has any chance of carrying out her threats and wins, you are next.
Until that unlikely day, I will continue to send back anything you care to pitch.
Are you sure we still have freedom of speech in this country? Ask Eric Holder, and ask the IRS.
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By: James on May 31, 2013
at 9:35 AM
sheesh james, don’t u ever get tired up there on that podium? i’m tired of it.
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By: Anonymous on May 31, 2013
at 9:27 AM
James. We have freedom of speech in this country and some of us choose to use it. What’s the matter, you can’t take it? What a crybaby! And don’t flatter yourself that anyone would be bothered to “stalk” you. Instead, it’s you who seems to be stalking the regular posters on this site. Get a grip and grow a pair.
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By: Anonymous on May 31, 2013
at 7:59 AM
Al, you are obviously stalking me. You even bragged about eves dropping on another blog. Virtually everything you have written is a personal attack, and it has been documented.. This is also true of another person.
Someone else here has threatened legal action against another person. The prospect of such an action never entered my mind before that. I don’t think one has grounds to prosecute a case related to anonymous writers. I haven’t even done any research. It is a waste of time. However, if I am wrong, and that other person proves this sort of thing is actionable, I have a good lawyer who has also been our county attorney.
I am not threatening you. I am not trying to find your true identity. I did share my past as a warning I usually don’t talk about that stuff in real life.
Jean is right. I don’t play “fast and loose” with schadenfreude. I would turn ( on a dime) on my own mother if she betrayed me. I wouldn’t be physical or use any form of violence. I would use words as I did here once.
I have already felt and expressed schadenfreude here as Obama’s castle of dreamy promises collapses. it would be a pleasure to see you in court.
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By: James on May 31, 2013
at 7:01 AM
PF. Somehow you managed to once again tell us a long boring, pointless, self-aggrandizing story. I think your real nickname should be Mr. Douchebag.
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By: Anonymous on May 31, 2013
at 6:53 AM
“How’s this for a topic? Are you really Doogie Howser?”
Funny you should say that. When I was just out of residency, beginning my first job, the office staff gave us all nicknames. The oldest guy was “Arnold Palmer,” because all he ever talked about was golf. (He later won the state pro-am). The brand newest guy was “The Donald,” because all he talked about was money, and he never seemed to have any. (I told him his problem was his extravagant “wife-style,” but I don’t think he got it. I was “Doogie Howser.” (sp?) Never saw the show myself; since college (more than 30 yrs ago), I probably haven’t watched 100 hours of network TV.
Now, Al B. You have, once again, made it personal. Whatsamatter, big boy, don’t read much? Not that up on current events? The easy way is to just read the Google News headlines; that should give you a leg-up. You run and catch up; the rest of us will walk slow.
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By: PFesser on May 31, 2013
at 6:18 AM
Chris, please stop with the nonsense about all presidents being related. Here’s a news flash, we elect our presidents, there’s no secret plan to get all members of one family to “rule” us. You are embarrassing yourself and wasting our time.
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By: Anonymous on May 31, 2013
at 5:59 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Careful, Big Al. The one and only word that James has not played fast and loose with in the past is his use of “Schadenfreude” or in his ancestral languages: Norwegian, “skadefryd”; Swedish,”skadegladje”; and Finnish, “vahingonilo”. Even if one of his cohorts in the Romper Room crosses him and triggers a memory from his own military unit, he could turn on him on a dime just as he did with his own brother.
But I’m not worried about you. I know you can take care of yourself, hands down.
Aloha! Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 31, 2013
at 2:32 AM
Thanks Chris. I will check it when I can.
I will be gone much of tomorrow, Our unborn grand daughter is waiting day by day. The specialist decided not to induce birth yesterday, and the next bench mark is early next week. He says he has no idea how this will turn out. it is occupying more of our time.
Conspiracy or not, the connections sound interesting.
My wife and I live next to the Great Plains. Its true, we have tornadoes, blizzards, floods, drought, wind and dust, but we rarely have earth quakes or hurricanes. We have traveled and lived in other countries, but we still chose the prairie. The Heartland is home.
Al/Rose. Note that I am also playing “fast and loose” with “prairie” Parts of our landscape, might better called a savannah. “Rose” is another example of “fast and loose.” “Stalker Rose’ suits you. Cut, past and put it “in your Funk and Wagnall.”
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By: James on May 30, 2013
at 11:25 PM
Just words, Al, or is it Rose?
Eidetic better describes my memory before my head injury than photographic or any other technical description, so I use it with the qualification I mentioned.
I looked it up just now
Web definitions: “Eidetic or photographic memory is popularly defined as the ability to recall images sounds, objects in memory with extreme accuracy,”. I couldn’t reproduce a memory as accurately as a photo as I already wrote, but Eidetic describes my memory as it was extremely accurate .I already explained it Cut and paste what I already told you and read it until my message sinks through your skull. Most are not so intellectually crippled as you are.
You are becoming Wiley Coyote to my Road Runner or stalker Rose to Charlie Harper. For someone with such a good mind, your performance here must embarrass you. You are self-aware to notice what has been happening aren’t you?
When will you be displaying your fine mind, or do you only take it out in secret?.
My wife and I contribute financially and help with our church food pantry. Cudos to you for community service.
Does your caregiver do community service work with you or does he/she just watch?
Does your caregiver sooth your petulant childishness when it overwhelms you? You really are an entertaining diversion–Rose.
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By: James on May 30, 2013
at 11:10 PM
James…
They use anyone they can. If an ususpecting person comes onto the National scene through popularty, they either dance to the tune, to create aire of congeniality and contentment in America, or, their demise would take place, in one way or another.
Actually, ONLY their bloodlines are honed for the job of messmerizing and controlling the masses.
I have right here, a schematic of the related bloodlines of 25 of the last and ONLY 44 Presidents. These guys were anywhere from Father/Sons to 1st to 10th Cousins, from one to 6th generations removed.
With the net and the availiablilty of shared information, through ancestry.com and geni.com; the, information is growing and being shared throughout the world.
The throne keepers have insured the power and kept it ALL in the family.
Some contend that all of US have bloodlines to England.
Many of the early Presidents, even after the revolution and inception of this new United States of America, NEVER gave up their British Citizenship. In fact, many still traveled back and forth to the motherland. Benjamin Franklin owned and continued throughout his lifetime, a home in I believe, London.
I have yet to log into Ancestry.com…My oldest son has researched on the site
I have not even a minute possiblity of being related to any of thest Presidents
Possibly, many of you do on the East Coast.
My brother ( 1/2 ) is suppose to be related to either Jackson, or Johnson.
The story was told through his Great Grand Father..a mountian man in Kentucky back in the middle 1950’s. They all lived to be 98 to 102-105 years old. My mother remarried the Kentucky man…soewhat unlikely for an Italian lady.
.
THIS IS FROM THE NET…RESEARCH FOR YOUSELF…
As discovered by BridgeAnne d’Avignon, a 7th grade student, all the US Presidents except for Martin Van Buren are related. At ten years old, d’Avignon discovered some genealogy software her grandfather owned, and decided to use it to try and find out how many United States presidents were related. What she found was very impressive.
http://www.omg-facts.com/view/Facts/50326
There are lots of info for your inquisitive minds…..to investigate..
.
This show above is confirmation from NBC …CBS…..on many of the Presidents relationships….and tells of Obama is aware and confirmed the relationships of his ancestry.
I am linking you to a couple of items that may explain part of what I have found:
Click here: Presidents of the United States morphed in sequence. [VIDEO]
This is interesting……morphing and showing the family resemblences of all the Presidents.
Below is a link from an historian, once on Oprah..before Pres. Obama was elected in 2008.
http://knowledgeisking.ning.com/profiles/blogs/all-presidents-are-blood?xg_source=activity#.UX7ZyWt5mSM
Peace…James…and All
Chris
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By: Chris on May 30, 2013
at 10:13 PM
James on May 30, 2013 at 5:07 PM you said “Its true, I played fast and loose with editic, but I like the term better than “photographic.” I use words to suit my own purposes.”
James, did you notice that I cut and pasted your words exactly? So what else are you playing fast and loose with James? Just curious since it’s a bit difficult separating the wheat from the chaff in your endless, droning harangues while you “use words to suit my (your) own purposes”.
Did you notice that I cut and pasted your words exactly and even put them in quotes?
BTW I found my way home after being out most of the day doing community service work. Actually it’s not one job it’s several that add up to more than a day’s work. See. I actually wasted time reading your feeble insult
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By: Al B on May 30, 2013
at 9:18 PM
Pfesser
How’s this for a topic? Are you really Doogie Howser?
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By: Al B on May 30, 2013
at 9:16 PM
Chris – “PFESSER,,,
I am awaiting your response to the link you presented yesterday.”
I link I presented? Do you mean one YOU posted? I’m sorry – which link was it?
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By: PFesser on May 30, 2013
at 9:08 PM
Al B
How about something on-topic and not personal? Any topic – your choice.
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By: PFesser on May 30, 2013
at 9:05 PM
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By: poolman on May 30, 2013
at 8:59 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
You are so right Terry!!!!! When we retired out here in “Paradise”, we thought we had left all the natural and man-made disasters behind us. Little did we know! A year later we got hit with a Level 5 hurricane that trashed the island. At least we did have ample warning to prepare as much as anyone can for such a calamity. We were without electricity and power for two months. It took a very long time to recover and we still sweat out hurricane season every year.
Thank God! for Civil Defense, fire and police protection and in the case of our hurricane, the military. They provided us with MRE’s and were enormously helpful with debris removal. But mostly, all of us could rely on friends and neighbors helping friends and neighbors, sharing what we still had and giving moral support, even a few laughs from time to time.
We don’t begrudge a single nickel of the taxes we pay every year, confidently knowing those services are in place and ready to go whenever needed.
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 30, 2013
at 8:04 PM
There can be disadvantages to living in many different places: tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, droughts. We can’t all live in the ideal places and many places that are ideal most of the time have times when it’s anything but! We just have to be aware of how best to be safe during natural disasters. That phrase “I never promised you a rose garden” comes to mind. But remember even rose gardens has thorns and black spot!
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By: Terry W on May 30, 2013
at 6:20 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Skipping on through the pages of the phone book, I just want to say I pity the poor people in “Tornado Alley” who have to contend with truly awful and treacherous weather conditions every single year about this time. Global climate change is no doubt contributing to the frequency and intensity of such incidents, often without warning. Having driven across the country coast to coast innumerable times before air travel made it so much faster and more convenient, I always and still do feel it is most unfortunate for the people to have to live there; either through economic necessity or family tradition and ties. The region is similar to the godforsaken Russian Steppes. In my opinion it and much of the “Plains States” personify this: If the world needed an enema, that is where they would insert the nozzle.
Penny Abrams, I find your comments thought provoking. I am learning how to “text” and the new language of Twitter and such. Your comments are useful and helping me to learn this new skill. It is the wave of the future and where the action is, even now as we speak. Thank you.
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 30, 2013
at 5:34 PM
If we assume you are right, Chris, where do Obama and George Soros fit into your view of the world? Who comes next?
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By: James on May 30, 2013
at 5:13 PM
Anon, your life is “so boring, the voices in your head are snoring.” Ha!
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By: James on May 30, 2013
at 5:11 PM
I was reacting to Jean’s attempted insult. I decided to irritate you with a long story instead of retaliating in kind.
Big Al, I already know what Savant means. You are a prime example.
I found the Wikepedia article you must have used. I already knew its contents.
Another term is nnemonic (sp) memory. No one can store everything. Conscious recollections are not exact duplicates as a photo is. Few if any people are truly editic. Certainly not I on my best days.
Memories are active reconstructions which approximate the original. The key to remembering well is development of superior coding strategies. It can be subconscious and the result of natural talent or lots of training.
A few people with Asperger syndrome and Autism sometimes have fabulous memories.
I fit the pattern of training strategy. When I studied, I put myself into a specific emotional state . When I was taking a test, I returned to that emotion, and there the material was like a page on a screen. I never got all of the words, just enough for the information I needed. What ever was happening, it gave me a lot of time to party in college.
I remember this from an abnormal psychology class. You and Jean made me think of things I had not thought of in a long time. Thanks for the memories.
Its true, I played fast and loose with editic, but I like the term better than “photographic.” I use words to suit my own purposes. For example, I got into trouble in basic training because I refused to say “chow hall” and “barracks” when the former was obviously a cafeteria and the other a dorm.
Besides, I worried about your absence during the last day. I was afraid you might have gotten lost on your way home. I knew this would do it and we would know you made your way safely home.
.
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By: James on May 30, 2013
at 5:07 PM
PFESSER,,,
I am awaiting your response to the link you presented yesterday.
In regards to Nixon taking the U.S. off the gold standard in 1971, that took place only after they killed Kennedy. He wanted to get rid of the Federal Reserve System.
The killing allowed them to print money wildly and the statement that every administration has participated and continued this practice, is because the killing was coup and theyained control of the government, and have had puppets run the govt. for their gains.
The Federal Reserve and the whole bunch of puppetier bankers have controlled the U.S. govt. after they killed Kennedy.
That is why they made Bush in charge of the CIA and eventually made him President.
Bush spoke of the NWO in a speech in I believe 1977..google this as well.
I will try to find it on the net and put it up for you, if possible.
Peace..
Chris
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By: Chris on May 30, 2013
at 4:11 PM
James! James! James!
Your eidetic memory has failed you big time. You see, the term suggests that those endowed with the characteristic never forget anything. Yet you have already told us of your special talent before on this site. Did you forget? How could you?
Oh yes, I also remember about your swollen brain. You told us about that before too. However, if you were truly eidetic, why is your case not noted in the literature? So far they’ve identified only 2 possibilities and even those are surrounded by big questions.
And you also failed to tell us that researchers in psychology poo-poo the idea, even the person who headed up the Artificial Intelligence lab at MIT. I think his name might be Minsky or something like that. You might want to Google his name. If you do quote him, quote him accurately please. I wouldn’t want to have you explaining the essence of plagiarism again.
While you’re at it you might also look up the term savant. And the archetype is not Dustin Hoffman.
Big Al
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By: Al B on May 30, 2013
at 3:41 PM
James, why do you make everything about you? Get over yourself, Mr. blah blah blah.
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By: Anonymous on May 30, 2013
at 3:34 PM
Yes, the sequester is the law. I described in part, why.
Anon, don’t be so hard on yourself. You will find a fact sometime. I have faith in you. If I didn’t know better, I would think you were cyber stalking me.
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By: James on May 30, 2013
at 3:02 PM
Hopefully these skunks at the garden party will become bored talking to themselves and they will leave. I have never seen so many pointless, long winded, factually challenged, misinformed, total b.s. posts in my life. Zzzzzz
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By: Anonymous on May 30, 2013
at 2:48 PM
james: the sequester is the law.
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By: penny abrams on May 30, 2013
at 2:40 PM
Interesting article in The Financial Intelligence Report.
“What (was forseen) in the final days of the Carter administration is no longer an arguable and distant threat. The real, inflation-adjusted median income of the average American has plunged to levels not seen since the early days of the Eisenhower administration.”
Again, only a portion of this rests on Hussein’s plate. It really started when Richard Nixon took the US off the gold standard in 1971, removing all restraints on the unbridled printing of money by the Federal Reserve. Every administration since that time has participated.
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By: PFesser on May 30, 2013
at 2:37 PM
Hussein is President Obama’s middle name.
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By: James on May 30, 2013
at 2:04 PM
Who is Hussein?
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By: Anonymous on May 30, 2013
at 1:56 PM
Moreover, the sequester was the president’s idea as advisor Gene sperling admitted on Meet the Press. Obama hoped it would be such a threat that it would force Congressional Republicans to “roll over.” He swore that he would block any attempts to stop it.
As the Hill noted, Obama and his defenders lied that the sequester was the Republicans’ idea. An e mail instruction from a USDA employee suggested that any cost cuts should be made in such a way that the results would not contradict the Democratic meme that the sequester would be hurtful.
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By: James on May 30, 2013
at 1:36 PM
pennyabrams –
Sure, sometimes you have to spend more than you earn – but that should be rare, because it means going into debt and debt has a cost, called interest. And when you go into debt, you should be constantly aware of that cost, and only do it when you need to – not to fund trinkets or big-screen TVs. Only in times of DECLARED war, IMHO, should our govt go into debt.
Secondly, the “sequester” does not cut anything. It is a reduction in the planned INCREASE in spending. So, suppose you make $30,000 and spent $40,000 last year. Then you decided to spend $60,000 next year, but decided that was a bad idea for someone so much in debt, so you cut your PLANNED budget to $50,000 instead of $60,000, that is not a budget cut. It is a reduction in irresponsible borrowing.
And Hussein is not the worst offender, in my opinion…
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By: PFesser on May 30, 2013
at 1:17 PM
Chris, two small quibbles. The number one reason for war, in my opinion is to control resources.Any banking machinations are ultimately contests over resources. We have been fighting over stuff since we battled Neanderthals.
Islam does have legitmate reasons to be angry with the west, but they started the war over a thousand years ago. This intermittent conflict has lasted a very long time. Our values are more conductive to freedom than are radical Muslims. Therefore it is important that we win or at least maintain a stalemate.
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By: james on May 30, 2013
at 12:47 PM
PFESSER…
This is my take on the reported link below….
These conclusions, by the author, I believe are true.
The information is representative of that which I hold as a truth. When I began studying this subject, I was also shocked and thought ” this cannot be true”
This is your original link:
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175704/tomgram%3A_andrew_bacevich%2C_the_eternal_war/
Numerous thinkers, historians and investigative reporters, such as the author of this article have made public the various elements of the NWO agendas and what they are currently manipulating us to do, along with the rest of the world.
The article itself does not attribute the wars to the NWO…but, in reality…our govt IS run by the Bankers, Corporate Owners..(Bankers )
PFESSER….After reading this article…..Does any of this make sense to you?
Addressing the article….
I remember hearing on Public Television that to bring a nation out of poverty, ithe nation must be able to utilize its own natural resources.
(that loss of the ownership and use of our natural resources IS taking place within our own nation. It is also taking place around the world, as I write this. The Multi nationals..(NWO) are buying up and killing, or nearly killing some landowners for mineral rights, and lands. I have some intimate knowledge of such happenings in my State)
They are big guys with clout and much power, even overflowing into our educational systems. They are behind the scenes creating major destructive news events, just in the last year. I connected the dots in one particular case, for sure. ( The part about natural resources is absolutely true in the article.)
Follow the money and watch who is utilizing the natural resources of any country. OIL seems to be a major factor in the NAMELESS WAR we have been engaging in for the past 12 1/2 years.
One of their main agendas is to control the world’s natural resources. To take control of any nation that is rich in ANY resource IS one of the top two reasons for the NAMELESS WARS that have been going on…which seems like, almost forever.
The number two reason for warring is to establish a Central Bank in that particular nation. ( to take control of natural resources… gold, diamonds, water, uranium, plutonium, cobalt, silver….etc…..( bankers need gold and silver. see the link between the warring for natural resources and the bankers? )
Oil has been a big concern of the elite…They make the most $ returns for their investments… from the oil, as well as, the bankers…gigging the world governments, and citizens on interest.
AND THAT IS HOW THEY PLAN TO CONTROL THE WORLD..
They create nameless wars…change enemies in the middle of a war, in order to accomplish a widespread number of agendas, within a great number of countries, while the world’s population NEVER really understands what is really happening.
This last warring for 12 1/2 year is for controlling the middle eastern oil….and to establish the Central Banking System which will enable them to control the printing of the money and thus, control each countries politics.
They have villianized the Moslems, who are mad because we have invaded them…. The NWO will villainize any country, they are attempting to overrun. Their corporate owned media will back them with unfounded information, whatever it takes.
They have made the United States of America their policemen through the United Nations. We do whatever they tell us to do. We march into hell for every hellish cause they send us to.
Recently on CNN…a General in a Congressional Investigation was being questioned by a Senator..He was asked when he would go into a war action. He stated that he would answer the call from the United Nations.
The Senator restated the question 3 times, all of which were answered in the same way. The Senator said ” You would go to war without the Congress voting and approving the war…and only on the command of the United Nations? ”
He stated…YES. that is how the military rolls…We are not even in control of our military.
The statement in the article on “our empire of bases and private contractors” refers to the corporations who are making tons of money from our warring, while allowing for the establishment of the Central Banks. It also refers to the ruling of our govt. by the corporations.
THE ENDLESS WAR…will lead us to the vilification, and make enemies of the last 3 nations that are not controlled by their Central Bank…
( in 2000, there were 7 nations not having a Central Rothschild Bank )
It will extend itself to attack these nations, as well.
Those last 3 nations are IRAN, CUBA, and NORTH KOREA.
The NWO owned media has focused on and is constantly posturing and indoctrinating our minds in the direction of a future war against these nations, especially, Iran. They probably have an abundance of some sort of natural resource, as well, hey… ?
Watch this utube video……this is only one of many sites…
He is rather unprofessional…but…lots of folks are seeing the light…
That is good for America…But, is also dangerous..
The bad guys are ready to incarcerate the masses, through Homeland Security Instead, our govt. should there be a stopping of the NWO and protecting us from these criminals..
Taking out the IRS and the Federal Reserve would create such a backlash result.
Both of these entities are not part of our GOVT. They are quasi-governmental, and privately owned…
Remember, that this information is very hard to prove, except for actually studying the history, because these guys control many of the companies and entities…they use to constantly cover up their dirt.
Pfesser and others…look into this further…
PEACE…
Chris
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By: Chris on May 30, 2013
at 11:46 AM
I used to have eidetic memory. It was a big help in school, because i didn’t have to study much. I could take mental photographs of pages. A head injury which knocked me out and made my brain swell took it away, but I still have a reasonable memory.
I attended the University of Iowa, and my MA theses was irrigation in Nebraska during the 19th century. Holt County Nebraska was my center. Towns, were more interested in irrigation than farmers because farmers could move and towns couldn’t. Several specific technological dispersal points developed, to spread irrigation technology and information.Most were traceable to the Mormons.
Towns squabbled until the drought of 1894 intersected with a depression. They united to survive. Reports of a rain maker in Colorado interested them. It seemed to rain where ever he went, and he was moving east. A delegation met him near Akron, Colorado and he accepted their terms. He would come to Holt Country as soon as he met previously scheduled obligations.
Once in Holt County, he fired cannons of chemicals into the sky, and everyone waited. It rained, and grateful citizens held a ceremony and offered him the key to the city. Rain continued, and they told him he could turn it off any time. Over four inches of rain fell, and rivers flooded.
The locals grew angry and as rain still fell, he fled the area ahead of tar and feathers.
Pfessor mentioned unintended consequences which cause wars. The rain maker’s narrow escape was another unintended consequence.
One more was Jumbo, the artesian well in northern Iowa. A well digger scrimped on the casing and other materials. The result was a raging cauldron of water which flooded the town and countryside. Newspapers as far away as France reported the carnage.
My wife and I own the 500 acres of land we began to farm in 1973. We live in and own our Sears Roebuck house which we bought in 1981.
I hadn’t thought about this for a long time. I remember more than I thought I did.
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By: james on May 30, 2013
at 10:24 AM
walllllllllllllllll i don’t think i can love my enemies but i can sure ignore them when they go beyond reason.
another comment:
fiscal responsibility is the use of money to produce needed results…no more, no less. it is NOT one person’s/party’s opinion.
it has been my experience that sometimes one must spend more than desired in order to get to the goal which may, and usually is, down the road. not immediate. example: taking aspirin for a headache is fine, good, the right thing to do UNLESS u keep getting headaches. then the headache is no longer a now and then happenstance…perhaps too little sleep, an allergy, an upset tummy. what you’ve been doing isn’t working. now you must find the cause and treat the cause. otherwise all that aspirin is a waste AND can result in further harm from too much aspirin. the sequestration is too much aspirin. cutting education funding is hammering on the aching head. what do we need most?
jobs. jobs provide income, a market for goods, get people off the (tax funded) aid progams and enable people to pay off loans and maybe even invest in something…like a home for instance. jobs make it possible for companies to progress. jobs bring more revenue to the govt.how do we provide more jobs?
there are many ways, most require financial investment WITH oversight. repairing the country’s sagging infrastructure is a very good way; investing in training people for the jobs which will become more and more available and necessary like in the green industries is another. investment in research and development for new products which will suit the upcoming generations.
sweden nationalized everything! completely took over major companies and businesses. invested money, oversaw its use and within two years the govt got its loans back WITH interest, and the country was perking along once more. jobs. the people had jobs.
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By: penny abrams on May 30, 2013
at 10:12 AM
Penny, the Bin is a private area of my (non)blog that I set up for more personal conversations among some of us who have been friends here for years. Since it’s less public we don’t have to be quite so careful about how much of ourselves we reveal. It’s nice not to clutter up this place with stuff nobody cares about, and also not be subject to sneers and disdain from people who think just because you have a conversation in public it’s fine to jump in the middle of it. (I wonder if people who do that online also do that at restaurants?)
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By: delurkergurl on May 30, 2013
at 9:57 AM
Pfessor, I agree with your comments about Japanese motivation for war. One unintended consequence involved a Mormon’s cow. The Sioux Nation was friendly toward the US because both sides were empire builders. The Sioux considered the US to be like them.
In 1854, a camp of thousands of Indians met to receive goods the government had promised, to trade and exchange social connections east of Fort Laramie. A train of Mormon wagons passed nearby , and a lame cow followed. A young man killed the cow, and his friends helped eat her.
The Mormans complained at Fort Laramie, and the army sent a detachment to settle the dispute. Someone fired a weapon, and in the battle no one wanted, the Americans were killed.
The Sioux traveled across the region urging Indians to kill white people. The next year,(connection or not) the Spirit Lake Massacre wiped out most residents of an iowa county and Indians killed even more people in Minnesota. Chief Inkapaduka later helped plan the strategy which killed Custer and his army. He was the Osama bin ladin of his day.
The resulting bloody war killed thousands of people, and it started over a cow.
Penny, our three churches operate a food pantry. it continued during our flood when many volunteers were themselves homeless. Our territory has expanded to fifty miles north and forty miles south because our area is thinly settled..
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By: james on May 30, 2013
at 9:46 AM
pf:well of course i agree of BF’s appraisal of older women altho i do not accept much of his reasoning. we are great because we have had time to find out who we are, because we have learned to love ourselves (if one doesn’t love one’s self how can others be expected to?), because we have learned more valid values than foisted upon us in our innocent youth (like the importance of one’s waist size) and because we know that a woman needs a man the way a fish needs a bicycle. do not misunderstand. i like men. when my husband died, it wasn’t long before i realized that i missed the male presence in the house…having virtually nothing to do with sexual activity…having everything to do w/the male philosophy, the male lens, the male reaction…his maleness. i have always had male friends. but, contrary to what mr. franklin suggests, i do not need a man to be complete and we are neither more nor less grateful for sexual favors than a man.
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By: penny abrams on May 30, 2013
at 9:40 AM
Penny, Thanks for touting the feed the hungry effort. My church collects non-perishable food items once a month and that’s divided between two food pantries in the city. I volunteered at one for a few years and I realized that those organizations need money more than a few cans of cream of mushroom soup! I couldn’t easily carry all that I could buy for $25 so writing a check was and is my choice. The people who run the pantries can buy in bulk the stuff they need. And we also have free or reduced breakfast and lunch for kids in my suburb. It serves the purpose of feeding their bodies but also makes them teachable. You can’t learn if you’re starving!
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By: Terry W on May 30, 2013
at 9:34 AM
in my neighborhood, its called The Backpack Kids; i am sure there is an equivalent in every neighborhood; usually affiliated with a large church or the mayor’s feeding program. the children are fed breakfast and lunch in school and for weekends and holidays go home w/a backpack of food stuffs. one can only hope it gets shared with the child who lugs it home. for something like $50 you can feed one child for the school year. also if your place of worship doesn’t collect food weekly perhaps you’d like to suggest they do. the thought of hungry children actually gives me a stomach ache and i hope it does the same to all of you. please contribute to feeding our children…and since the meals on wheels has been severely reduced, you might consider helping feed the elderly as well. major supermarket chains (here its publix) also contribute. u might even check and see that ur supermarket does likewise. we can take care of each other better than we are doing. please help feed the hungry.
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By: penny abrams on May 30, 2013
at 9:12 AM
what is the Bin?
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By: penny abrams on May 30, 2013
at 9:04 AM
lollllllllllllllllllll, i hafta tell ya ldl, ur a kick in the pants. u persist in insults and disgust at the very presences u seek by constantly returning. o, well………
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By: penny abrams on May 30, 2013
at 8:59 AM
Couple of things: I’m a bit of a (very) amateur historian vis à vis WWII, but mostly the battles and weapons; don’t know very much about the lead-up. My understanding was that, after the Japanese invasion of China, the US put a financial chokehold on Japan – froze their assets, blocked their access to oil via multiple methods, etc. Japan was really in a bind. As I understand it, they had not much choice if they wanted to keep their wars of conquest going. They thought that if they could deal a huge blow to the Pacific Fleet, we would roll over.
That’s a great example of how a miscalculation has led to war. How many others have thought we were soft, and wouldn’t fight?
re: Bachmann – I gotta tell you, James – I think Bachmann is about as loony as they get. She is to my eye the perfect example of the scrambled thinking that occurs when you don’t separate your religion from your politics. The Left – quite correctly, IMHO – points to her as a perfect reason why you should vote Democrat – or at least, not vote Republican. People like her are just killing the GOP – not because the Dems would ever vote for a Republican anyway, but because people like me – who would typically vote GOP – won’t vote for her.
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By: PFesser on May 30, 2013
at 7:38 AM
I have Korean in laws. Don’t mess around with Koreans. Blacks didn’t like Koreans, because they thought Koreans were economically crowding them.
Some societies have better values than others. During our flood, several towns and many houses were abandoned. Few, if any people looted the buildings which escaped the flood, even though they were largely unguarded and unoccupied for months.. Some spots, including part of our land were under water for over five months.
Yes, the history of Japan and WW11 is complicated. The Japanese used the West as their development model, and they copied us, even to being a colonial power. They felt slighted when an arms agreement in the 1920’s restricted their arsenals. The Japanese also had other grievances as did the Germans. That’s not to say we shouldn’t have defeated them in war.
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By: james on May 30, 2013
at 7:22 AM
Yes, Pfessor, we are still here. The storm looked spectacular with lots of flying debris. RV’s blew over at a camp ground, windows blew out in the town north of us and an auto dealership building was destroyed. I was recording the storm from our porch when a close spark of lighting made my right ear ring as it flashed. I’ve been struck by feeder bands, and my camera has popped. My hair has stood on end, but a ringing ear is a first.
Michele Bachman’s resignation is a good thing for several reasons. She barely won the last election against a rich opponent. He planned to spend even more money next time. Michele’s departure may mean Republicans keep the seat. The festering administration scandals may also help the Republicans, though it is too soon to know yet.
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By: james on May 30, 2013
at 7:11 AM
Chris noted: “The communities toting guns are less likely to loot or be looted.”
Sure – why do you think the looters went after the Korean/Vietnamese businesses during the Rodney King riots? Simple – it never occurred to them that those short guys with the funny eyes would fight, AND WERE ARMED. The found out differently, eh?
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By: PFesser on May 30, 2013
at 7:01 AM
So, James – I just got out of bed – is your part of the country still there? It looked pretty bad when I retired. I don’t know if I could be a wx reporter/storm chaser in that part of the country. I’d be afraid my house would be gone when I got back home…
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By: PFesser on May 30, 2013
at 6:57 AM
Good morning friends,
Good ole Michelle never fsils to amuse does she? Terri is correct I will miss her special kinda crazy! ( so will My Party lol)
Tine believe it or not you and our other fellow MNions were the first people I thought of when I heard the news. Hopefully our guy has a good shot this time around. Considering it was within 5k the last election imma thinkin we have a good shot. I know thst is a race that will be getting a lot of my attention and $. Fingers crossed!
Penny, of course youre right. Im sorry for sounding cross. But a girl is entitled to a little bit of fun too once in a while? Arent we??? We cant b good all the time. LoL
Ill keep you guys posted on how the event in Austin ( bgtx) goes today. Twitter should be all a flurry with live action civerage. I will be following right along with ya! i think the hashtag is just #BGTX … Ill check and correct it fir ya.
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By: lori on May 30, 2013
at 6:28 AM
Love your proposal, Auntie Jean! (Had to look up “eidetic,” though. Only 6:55 am around here, and I’ve already learned something…)
I have a number of those “formal night” cruise portraits, myself. My parents always enjoyed a vacation where the kids were never more than eight-hundred feet away from them. Every now and then we thought we might just buy a copy of the one we thought was the silliest – no matter who was in it – and send it off to our friends. My other favorites were the ones taken when people were returning from the “pirate ship adventure day,” red as newly-boiled lobsters, with their hair in braids and beads, holding what was left of an umbrella drink…
Your enjoyment of life is always delightfully apparent… Thanks for sharing!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 30, 2013
at 6:02 AM
Auntie Jean,
You rock! Great start to the day. Glad all is well with your family.
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By: Terri in NY on May 30, 2013
at 5:47 AM
Oops!
That’s me – but how could you tell?
Aloha! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam.
Auntie jean
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By: waialeale on May 30, 2013
at 2:35 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
I failed to mention the name of the cruise ship on which my original and only avatar photograph was taken. Over the past 25 some odd years, we have taken a number of cruises. Several on Holland America Line, a couple on Princess Cruises, two on Royal Caribbean, four on Uniworld River Cruises and of course the infamous Viking Windstar sailing vessel from Istanbul down through the Greek Isles in the Aegean Sea to Crete and then back up again to Athens. You can’t expect an addled Old Broad like me to remember on which one that photograph was taken. It was not mandatory anymore for passengers to dress for dinner, but it has been a long standing tradition and customary on cruise ships.
Perhaps the “terrible-twos-trio” could assemble in their Romper Room and Google each cruise line to ferret out which itineraries we took. As a self-professed speed reader with his eidetic memory, one of them could whip through all of them in no time. Then they could play McCain-Lindsey and launch an INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATION by demanding the passenger manifests for the suspected cruises. These amateur Sherlock sleuths could no doubt subpoena the photographers’ records for all the pictures taken on each cruise, thus revealing identities. It would keep them busy and serve to keep them out of bars and off street corners for quite a while.
BTW, I am curious to know which of the “terrible-twos-trio” has the most sterling qualification to do a better job than President Obama is doing by virtue of native intelligence, sterling scholastic credentials, political experience, expertise in economics, foreign affairs; certified health both physical and mental and impeccable moral integrity. Just as most Americans and other people around the world do, rather than sitting on his duff criticizing every little thing that comes along and dwelling in the past, President Obama is doing his job on a daily hour by hour basis and working toward solutions to the universal problems in life of the human species on this earth.
One of the “terrible-two-trio” can’t seem to hold a job for long whether in “medicine”, “engineering”, “aeronautics” or “college teaching” after matriculation at East Armpit University. Another is exceedingly proud of an “A” he got in a debating class at Western Ag College with a major in “Irrigation”. The third is a proud graduate of Oakie Dust Bowl Prep with no visible means of support since.
So I am curious. Naw. I’m not curious at all. I wouldn’t be so ill-mannered and rude as to ask because that could be construed as being petty.
I have a few admirable qualities and I enjoy life. By the same token, I am certainly not now nor have I ever been qualified to be President of the United States!
Aloha! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
P.S. Whew! We have passed a couple of potential crises in our family the past few weeks and life is great!
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By: Anonymous on May 30, 2013
at 2:31 AM
Chris, history is much clearer when we can see the official documents. Many events wouldn’t happen if we had transparency from government. Transparency goes counter to the nature of government, however. They MUST be held accountable. It starts at the top. It is the only way trickle down works. This national security secrecy crap is just protecting the criminals running the farm. The whole power corrupts thing plays out every time. Every single time. It’s the nature of the beast.
I wasn’t sure if you were familiar with the McCullom memo. It shows we provoked the Japanese to attack us. There is also a book by Stinnett, you might google it. The world wars are not recorded accurately for the most part with what we were taught and is still told in school. The FOIA has brought out much truth, but most Americans aren’t concerned beyond Friday. This system depends on that and instructs the media to give us plenty distractions to keep our eyes off of the ball. These tactics are tried and true and have never had such overwhelming results as they enjoy now with our nonstop entertainment sources.
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By: poolman on May 30, 2013
at 1:42 AM
No,
Japan would not attack the mainland of America in WWII, because we in America had too many guns. They feared that.
Chris
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By: Chris on May 30, 2013
at 12:25 AM
Wrath of God time. My returned from helping with the food bank as a small thunderstorm developed overhead. Now a tornado on the ground is moving straight toward us. Since it is 5o miles away, we aren’t too worried about that one.
This is my rainbow as long as no one blows away. Busy night. I have to report this stuff. It is as dark as late evening here now.
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By: james on May 29, 2013
at 7:00 PM
Was there also a rainbow, maybe a double rainbow at that? If not, there should have been and a chorus of orphans singing the song from Annie, “Tomorrow” the day before.
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By: Terry W on May 29, 2013
at 5:56 PM
Chris, My dad taught me “if you can’t say something good about someone, don’t say anything at all.” It’s easier said than done but I do try. Many times I hesitate to respond to the nay-sayers because I get slapped down with ugly retorts. I do want to respond to the positive posts like yours. We need to love our enemies but they do present a challenge.
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By: Terry W on May 29, 2013
at 5:51 PM
– a bright light on the govt’s adventures, not the hosts! LOL
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By: PFesser on May 29, 2013
at 4:43 PM
Chris – I thought you might enjoy this:
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175704/tomgram%3A_andrew_bacevich%2C_the_eternal_war/
I will tell you this without fear of controversy: the two things this govt, and in particular this administration, fear are: 1)the armed citizen and, much moreso, 2)the Internet – which is why they so desperately want an “on-off switch” for it. (their words, not mine – it’s in case of a ‘national emergency,’ you know…)
Kudos to our hosts; it is the ‘net and blogs like this that continually shine that bright light on their adventures, sending them scurrying for the darkness like their cousins, the REAL cockroaches. (hmmm….maybe I got that backward….)
Anyway, I look forward to comments on the article. It’s a little long. Enjoy.
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By: PFesser on May 29, 2013
at 4:41 PM
Sorry Chris, you’re wrong. Japan did attack the U.S. You have heard of Pearl Harbor, haven’t you?
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By: Anonymous on May 29, 2013
at 2:22 PM
PFESSER…
Fear only comes from a society that does not have guns.
People who have bad agendas, do not go to the neighbor with a gun, to act out their deeds, but rather to the one who is not a gun totter..
It was said that Japanese Official once said of WWII, Japan did not attack the U.S. because they feared us all having guns.
The communities toting guns are less likely to loot or be looted.
Chris
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By: Chris on May 29, 2013
at 1:57 PM
PFESSER ..
What you say is right.
Just connect the dots. It is a planned scheme to create the illusion of false prosperity. Not really so.
Chris
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By: Chris on May 29, 2013
at 1:49 PM
I have a suspicion about who might be in the 1%, but I’m not speculating, Chis.We certainly aren’t there. We own a little stock–about $250 in dividends each year. I won’t get anything from my Coop; stock until I die. Our investment is in our 500 acres more or less of farm land. it will feed us no matter how the farm is valued. I remember how it was when we were poor and trying to pay for it all.
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By: james on May 29, 2013
at 1:07 PM
Chris, I’m sure smoke and mirrors were flying about the Bush administration too. The normal manipulation we see now was there too. Some of the relative prosperity was supported by illusory bubbles during both the Clinton and Bush administrations. However, the economy was healthier than it is now. It may have been anemic, but it was a recovery. We were in peril at the end of Bush’s administration, but I am speaking of the middle years when we were more prosperous than now, and most people who wanted work could find jobs.
I believe the first bail out law was necessary. A record amount of money fled normally safe money market accounts as investors took money to US treasuries which dropped yields to zero. Financial firms were unable to sell their debt, or raise money to avoid going bankrupt. Since they are interconnected, world financial institutions also slid into a panic. They also held tricked out bad mortguage packages which were becoming valueless.
I remember the ashen faces of Congressioal leaders as they left a meeting with adminstration officials. They looked as scared as if they were told aliens were invading. By the way Paul Krugnan once said we need a space alien attack to unite us all to solver our problems.
Bush consulted with Obama and he agreed we needed a rescue. Obama didn’t spend all of the TARP money. He replaced that plan with his own stimuous which wasted money.
I liked your response to the mockery of your not knowing who Paul Krugman was. Very classy.
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By: james on May 29, 2013
at 1:02 PM
re: sinkholes. Remember the guy in Fla whose bedroom floor collapsed and both he and his bed went down the sinkhole and he was killed?
God help me, but the first thing I thought of was, “See?! What your mother told you about there being no monsters under the bed that were going to swallow you was WRONG!
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By: PFesser on May 29, 2013
at 12:47 PM
PFESSER..
I heard on the news, yesterday, that only 50 % of the American population own stocks..
Looks like lots of folks are possibly NOT investors in anything except staying alive.
I saw on this blog someone said to be careful to not allude that there were of the 1% group. Is that so? And who was that ..? Anon?
Peace…
Chris
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By: Chris on May 29, 2013
at 12:46 PM
James..
The middle Bush Years was part of the smoke and glass, as well.
The simulation was a movie.. We were the stars.
The United Stares of Corporations were busy creating a false war and maintaining the appearance of the need to do so, with fear of Terrorists, while they were the terrorists. Wars always stimulate economies.
The Federal Reserve and Treasury Dept. were printing and throwing money all over the place to cover the fact the government was busy setting aside the Constitution, taking our rights away…for our own good..
The banker, investor corporations were robbing our babyboomers retirement funds and lending to companies and businesses in Asia and China, building manufacturing plants for the great numbers of newly bought out American companies, while outsourcing our jobs, and further devastating the American economy.
In 2008, we were abruptly awakened from the utopian dream to find that the many previous years of affluence, was crashing around us.
The whole mess was scripted and planned. They have us so mind controlled, we cannot remember the last hit they gave us, for we are constantly being barraged with new attacks, a new one every day.
Peace..
Chris
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By: Chris on May 29, 2013
at 12:39 PM
PFESSER..
Great analogy on how to use your money to invest.
Most average families are not able to save ANY money for anything.
First, one must have a little extra to invest to get a return.
The poor have a very hard time just paying for the family’s basic needs to survive.
It would be nice if they had an extra few dollars to invest.
It would probably be WONDERFUL for the average single parent to not be so stressed out on a constant basis, so as to be able to think long term about saving or investing, instead of daily putting out fires on which utility may be turned off, mor what bill to pay next Friday.
People can invest in their longterm future, when they. without grinding daily longterm stresses, like where their family’s next meal may be coming from, or how will they have the money needed for their child’s lunch tommorrow, or their class pictures, or how to replace his worn out tennis shoes with a new pair, when this weeks finances do not allow for such a luxury.
I say, it is easy to sit on the porch and discuss the world’s problems, and how people could spend their money in better ways, and save and invest, when we have no real daily stresses of our own, except deciding what to have for dinner and remember to write a check or two and mail them, and sit and read a while, or take a walk and enjoy the day.
I just heard in a commercial, ONE in 5 children in America does not know where their next meal is coming from.
Think about others who might not be as blessed as you. Not every person is your particular financial status.
They may not have had the money to invest and secure their future. They may be struggling day to day, just to just survive.
We would have to walk many miles in someone else’s tattered shoes in order to really understand their daily struggles.
Peace…Chris
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By: Chris on May 29, 2013
at 11:50 AM
Hey guys !!
I just heard on the radio…
A narrowing group of Banks have reported a $40 BILLION PROFIT for the first quarter of 2013..
( I WONDER WHO THOSE BANKERS ARE ? Ha !)
The same report stated that 50 % of the Banks are not doing that well, but rather, the same as they were doing last year.
See how the information comes in, eventually, backing what many call conspiracy theories that are REAL and not just theories.
Peace…Chris
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By: Chris on May 29, 2013
at 11:11 AM
Penny..about not knowing the economist by name or otherwise..
I do not claim to be the Carnac the Magnificient.
I do not know all things, even though I do happen to be enlightened on a lot of subjects, thanks to my creator, who gives me all I need to know.
Ask him for the TRUTH and he will meet your needs.
He will also fill your emptiness, and concerns about every little meaningless thing that appears to consume a lot of folks these days around here.
When we know ourselves and accept ourselves, it does not matter when another is not perfect, for we can accept others, as they are.
I remember hearing, what we say about another person, says more about us, than it does about the other person.
Take heed, porch dwellers.. ME TOO.
I find the most important leasons I learn, are from the words coming forth out of my mouth, and back into mine own ears.
Peace…Chris
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By: Chris on May 29, 2013
at 11:03 AM
Chris, I agree about the smoke and mirrors. Even with the disembling and obfuscation, the middle Bush years were better than what we have now.
I agree about Florida and coastal regions. About ten thousand years ago, over ten thousand people lived where the English Chanel and the Baltic Sea are now. The land gradually sank under the ocean as ice caps melted The Dutch are preparing for possible water problems now.
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By: james on May 29, 2013
at 10:48 AM
PFESSER..
It is not Obama, alone who is responsible, but, the Banksters, Corporates, Rothechilds, who print the money at their will, and control the government and all it’s goings ons, and all the wars we become involved in, to put forth their agenda.
Look at the the Bilderbergs and their agendas and see how remarkably familiar they appear to the topics of buzz we deal with daily, and complain about, but, cannot seem to do a thing about.
http://www.prisonplanet.com/bilderberg-2013-agenda-domestic-spying-diffusing-social-protests-war-on-syria-and-iran.html
James,
Numbers are simply smoke and glass.
They are manipulated and are relative to whatever the intent is by its producers.
The unemployed have been up to and maybe more than 25%…unlike the reported highest percentages.
You can hardly believe what is EVER reported on the media.
My son just discussed the sinkholes in Florida with me this morning. I saw recently on TV, due to weather changes, ALL coastal American cities in the
( when ? ) may simply disappear ! I told him, we should either not believe the stories we are bombarded with on the main steam media, or…. We should really take heed to the information….as it may be REALLY happening.
Peace…Chris
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By: Chris on May 29, 2013
at 10:33 AM
pennyabrams: don’t clue her in! I want to see her stamp her foot! It’s so cute…
**********
re: buying on the Damned installment plan. It’s really the ruination of the country, IMHO. Consumer debt is at an all-time high, and the gub’ment keeps encouraging more and more. At least they are honest and taking their own advice…LOL
Remember lay-a-way? You don’t see that any more; you commit to buy something and make payments; when it’s paid-for, you take it home. My ex used to say that the anticipation of saving up and buying something was more fun than when you actually got it.
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By: PFesser on May 29, 2013
at 10:20 AM
lori: o, i have worked to change laws and been quite successful at it. i don’t know wot law u refer to but that’s ok. i am amused because i am a very visual person and can see the cackling and hand rubbing and utter delight on the part of the trolls who, in the final assessment, are just that. trolls. poor thangs.
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By: Anonymous on May 29, 2013
at 10:13 AM
No love lost over Bachman from me either,Tine, but stormy weather is still here with flash flooding, tornadoes and wrath of God stuff
.Does that mean God knows I like storms?
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By: james on May 29, 2013
at 10:06 AM
pf: yeh, same ole, same ole. if u have money u can afford to take advantage of sales which necessitate buying a caseful of something at $120, saving $60 but if u don’t have the cash, it could wind up costing you $128 (bought on time). part of this is learning what to buy. ex: a young woman cleans house for me. she and her husband, working 4 and 5 jobs between them, bought a speed boat on time. why? the truck, car and dirt bikes weren’t enough? to pay for on time? with interest. one might say, well they’re entitled to some fun. no. no one is entitled to anything they cannot pay for except for necessities. those who r unable to pay for their necessities need help. period. if i could live that way, if my grown offspring can live that way, if my grands can live that way, why can’t anyone else? on the other hand, there are those who, thru no fault of their own, never seem to get ahead. single payer for medical and topping profit for pharmas/insurance would help us all.
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By: Anonymous on May 29, 2013
at 10:06 AM
I would just like to point out that as soon as Michele Bachmann quit, the sun came out over Minnesota after many, many days of rain. ‘Tis a message from Heaven, methinks! 🙂
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By: Tine on May 29, 2013
at 9:58 AM
anon: ur missing the point. those who have huge amounts of money, the 1%, control huge amounts of money and therefor much of politics and everything else. there r those who, tho rich, are not part of the 1% (prolly like lori) and who r beneficent (prolly like lori); there are those who r willing to sacrifice some things in order to help the general public…none of these is part of that 1% referred to. you may also have given more than ur budget allowed for when moved to do so. hopefully we all have.
btw, honey, ur messages would be much better accepted w/o the vitriol. really. u obfuscate ur point.
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By: Anonymous on May 29, 2013
at 9:55 AM
Pfessor, I read about that in college. Ben was an interesting man. I think he also wrote something like Techniques of Farting and How to find a good prostitute.
I vote True..
You might look up the Hell fire Club. Old Ben and the British leaders knew how to have a good time.
Women dressed as nuns whipped men, and fornicated with them. They offered occult sacrifices to Satan too.
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By: james on May 29, 2013
at 8:49 AM
pennyabrams –
My cousin sent me this today; I thought you might enjoy it:
http://grammar.about.com/od/classicessays/a/franklinmis.htm
Now we know why Franklin was much revered for his wisdom! LOL
James, R, Long Duc – What say you?! True or false? I just about spit out my coffee on the part about the fluids heading south! LOL
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By: PFesser on May 29, 2013
at 8:16 AM
pennyabrams observed: “altho usually i avoid stupid, silly, inane and wasteful exchanges, i must admit…maybe it’s my age showing…i’m getting more and more amused at all the threats to cease and desist and to never talk to u again. it’s sort of like the school playground. another form of this conversation takes place early teens when one kid yells at an other, “o,yeah?” and the response is “yeah!””
Right on, Sista! Silly, isn’t it?
But, what do you expect from a trio of sixth-grade trolls?
I know how my cousin Edna, the second-grade teacher, would have handled ’em! LOL.
Onward!
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By: PFesser on May 29, 2013
at 7:48 AM
I agree, Pfessor, this goes back years. I mentioned fiscal irresponsibility too. Yes, the unfunded Medicare plan hurt us, but so did the housing bubble which mainly Democrats fostered. They, including Obama played a role in driving us to the fiscal cliff. Many Republicans, were culpable too.
Whatever recovery we have is achieved largely on the backs of the poor and unemployed as Rieche noted.
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By: james on May 29, 2013
at 7:47 AM
Long Duc Dong –
You had me laughing about the Olan Mills portrait. I hadn’t thought of that; how true, though.
Have you seen these?
http://listoftheday.blogspot.com/2007/09/great-olan-mills-photos.html
I love, “B52’s – The Early Years”
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By: PFesser on May 29, 2013
at 7:43 AM
Jean. I have nothing to fear. I would have a better case than most people still remaining here. I don’t plan to do anything. It’s silly.
In fact some one impersonated me for a few days. That might be actionable if the statue of limitations hasn’t expired.
Don’t confuse fear with boredom. My wife and I do have a good lawyer, but for me these threats and counter threats are diversions for you to avoid discussing real issues. If my case was as weak as yours I would probably react as you folks have.
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By: james on May 29, 2013
at 7:39 AM
Good morning friends,
YES Terri that is great news! But of course she has that nasty little FBI investigation to keep her busy in her spare time.
Just wanted to thank M&H again for allowing me the privilege to spend time on their porch. I am truly appreciative of your hospitality.
Auntie Jean I know:) But I am not playing a game. I don’t want to have to do anything. I didn’t ask for it or prompt it but I sure as hell won’t stand to be cyberstalking and cyberbullied by 2 disgruntled irrelevant posters. BTW I think you’re beautiful and I love ya to death.
I’m off with my daughter to do some yoga! Lol lol I think I need to find my zen!
Keep fighting the good fight!
Namaste
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By: Lori on May 29, 2013
at 7:33 AM
Chris and James –
Fiscal irresponsibility is not just Hussein’s home turf. The bubble generated by the Fed was largely done during Bush’s administration, and his new, unfunded Medicare drug plan – that we absolutely cannot afford – was the height of irresponsibility.
And then the elephant in the room, of course, is the two wars. Their expense would be bad enough, but they were done “off budget” – basically on a credit card.
It is naïve also to believe that the current market rally (which is numerical, not real) is anything other than Milton Friedman’s words coming true: Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon. Hussein’s minions have been printing a ton of money. The money supply has been more than tripled under Hussein’s administration, and now the REAL inflation begins.
The govt, under Greenspan changed how it calculates inflation; if it were calculated under old rules (like, say, under Jimma Carter) it would be >10%. The prices of stocks inflate just like the price of a gallon of milk; it takes more money to buy the same stock these days. It’s all an illusion.
This mess is not all Hussein’s; every prez back to Nixon had a hand in it. It’s just that his money-printing will bring it to a head – soon.
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By: PFesser on May 29, 2013
at 7:32 AM
Terry, Michelle Bachmann doesn’t thrill me either.
Detroit is not doing well. Michigan Radio: “Detroit financial crisis” “Could the DIA be forced to sell art to pay creditors?” “Detroit is in a big financial hole, and the man in charge of righting the ship wants to know what can be sold.”
May 13, 2013 “Kevyn Orr report shows grim picture of Detroit’s finances and services.”
Obama, as president takes little credit or blame for Detroit. It runs itself.
Robert Reich wrote for Huff Post Business on March 5, 2013 that the real median wage is 8% below what it was in 2000, and unemployment remains higher than what we saw during the Bush years.
The stock market is high because corporations have become more productive as they have been investing in technology for which they get tax credits. “As a result, corporations can do more with fewer people. This means higher profits, at least for the short run.
The high unemployment rate which is higher than the official number is helping maintain the high price of stocks because labor is now at a disadvantage. It is a buyer’s not seller’s market.
Globalization also contributes to the higher stock prices. “American companies have been expanding and hiring around the globe where markets are growing fastest…even when the American market is lackluster.”
The Fed’s easy money policies pushed investors into the stock market because bond yields are so low.
“All of this spells widening inequality in America because people who invest the most in the stock market have high incomes. Those who rely most on wages have lower incomes.”
Rarely before in American history have public policies so radically helped the most fortunate among us, so cruelly harmed the least fortunate, and exposed so many average working Americans to such widespread insecurity.”
As you will note in my comments to Chris, our position is still inferior to that of the Bush years. Our present economy, while improving suffers from one of the longest slow periods of recent history. Why?
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By: james on May 29, 2013
at 7:26 AM
Chris, the record shows a recovery during the Bush years
. For example, The New York Times columnist Edmund L. Andrews wrote on July 9, 2006 under the headline “Surprising Jump in Tax Revenues is Curbing Deficit”
“Tax revenues are climbing twice as fast as the administration predicted in February, so fast that the budget could actually decline this year.
The main reason is a big spike in corporate tax receipts, which have nearly tripled since 2003, as well as what appears to be a big increase in individual taxes on stock market profits and executive bonuses”
Republicans argued that the revenue growth proved their tax cuts, especially the one on stock dividends would help the economy and eventually increase tax revenue.Democrats claimed that the overall revenues had barely climbed back to the level of 2000 and that the government had borrowed trillions of dollars against Social Security.
Red State “Send this Chart to your Bush Hating Friends Who are Voting for Obama shows the monthly unemployment rate during the Bush years. It was 4.2 in January, 2001, surged to 6.0 in late 2002, was 5.7% in Dec, 2003, 4.9% in Dec 2005, 4.4% in Dec, 2006, 7.8% in Dec. 2008, 9.9% in Dec, 2009 and in Dec. 2009, the unemployment rate was 9.9%., it was down to 8.2 % by June, 2012.
Granted, many of the jobs created during the Bush years paid less than those lost through NAFTA, but you could say the same about new jobs during the Obama administration.
Another problem, was of course spending. Once Democrats gained control of Congress, the money flowed out pretty fast, though Republicans were profligate too. Deficits didn’t seem so bad to them until Obama was elected.
Ossama bin Ladin knew the US was teetering on the brink of recession as Clinton prepared to leave office, and he assumed the attack would take us over the edge which it did. The recession worsened after 9/11 as indicated by the 6% unemployment rate in December, 2002.Bush and his staff either managed the recession well enough to let the economy recover, or they were very lucky. Maybe God liked them.
Obama would love to have Bush’s numbers.
Just so you know. I think you are a smart man and the person who mocked you for not knowing who Paul Krugman is was just throwing a cheap shot.
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By: james on May 29, 2013
at 6:57 AM
More good news! Michelle Bachmann won’t be running for Congress again. (I will miss her special brand of crazy.)
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By: Terri in NY on May 29, 2013
at 5:49 AM
The Obama economy is chugging along in a really positive direction. The stock market is up, consumer confidence is up, housing prices rising, Detroit doing well. All good news! Thank you President Obama!
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By: Terri in NY on May 29, 2013
at 5:46 AM
James….
I do not believe the economy recovered under Bush.
It went to crap.
Remember, the Trillions it cost and was adding up..dollar on top of Trillions.
Then, the Financial Bust of 2008 when he banks were failing and of course we were unaware of the extent of the damage..until the $760 Billion Dollar Bailout…which actually became 1+ Trillion….when the smoke cleared.
ALL this in early 2008….BEFORE Obama got elected….and the bailout in Sept. of 2008.
Peace…Chris
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By: Chris on May 29, 2013
at 1:50 AM
PFESSER..
Great analogy on how to use your money to invest.
Most average families are not able to save ANY money for anything.
First, one must have a little extra to invest to get a return.
The poor have a very hard time just paying for the family’s basic needs to survive.
It would be nice if they had an extra few dollars to invest.
It would probably be WONDERFUL for the average single parent to not be so stressed out on a constant basis, so as to be able to think long term about saving or investing, instead of daily putting out fires on which utility may be turned off, mor what bill to pay next Friday.
People can invest in their longterm future, when they. without grinding daily longterm stresses, like where their family’s next meal may be coming from, or how will they have the money needed for their child’s lunch tommorrow, or their class pictures, or how to replace his worn out tennis shoes with a new pair, when this weeks finances do not allow for such a luxury.
I say, it is easy to sit on the porch and discuss the world’s problems, and how people could spend their money in better ways, and save and invest, when we have no real daily stresses of our own, except deciding what to have for dinner and remember to write a check or two and mail them, and sit and read a while, or take a walk and enjoy the day.
I just heard in a commercial, ONE in 5 children in America does not know where their next meal is coming from.
Think about others who might not be as blessed as you. Not every person is your particular financial status.
They may not have had the money to invest and secure their future. They may be struggling day to day, just to just survive.
We would have to walk many miles in someone else’s tattered shoes in order to really understand their daily struggles.
Peace…Chris
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By: Chris on May 29, 2013
at 1:31 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
lori, I think we’ve got the “terrible-twos trio” in a panic about internet security and their IP addresses. They are very excitable anyway. They keep hoping for us to react with anything they think they can use as possibly incriminating so they can claim they have “WON!” Their Little League team is way, way, way outta their bush leagues if they want to try and play in the majors this time. All we have to do is tweak their egos a little from time to time and they fly off in all directions. Unfortunately, we have already gotten to know them a lot better than we ever cared to!
Wouldn’t one of them just LOVE to know the where and why of my avatar. A clue, (read another trap.) Taken by a professional photographer on board a cruise ship. The gown and jeweled shawl are another whole story I’ll tell you about in the Bin sometime. You have already heard the one about the cartouche pendant and Alexandrite ring.
Things are lookin’ up all over for our family!
Aloha! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace;
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 28, 2013
at 11:29 PM
Ohhhh thanks Tex! Harrassing me about my physical appearence. Noted! Any other presents for me? Or are we done? I can go all night! Ive got nothing but time.
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By: lori on May 28, 2013
at 9:26 PM
Vendettas? {snicker} Lori, I wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire, much less make the effort to look you up.
For one thing, if that profile page any indicator and that you, your own pillow cries at night. You need a new gravatar on that profile page of yours. Get one of those Glamour pics to spruce you up, or something. Maybe that can bring out the plain.
No wonder you got time to be a political zealot.
Like Aunt Jingles. Get you one of those fine Olan Mills portraits from 1974 to portray as your gravatar. 😈
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 28, 2013
at 8:58 PM
Lovely post, Lurker – I got some flowers into the ground this afternoon, while it was raining lightly, and then it started to rain harder. The newbies couldn’t like it more… Columbines, and nasturtiums, in their new places, with so much great dirt into which they can extend their roots, and blessed with the softest and gentlest rain possible. The Universe can sometimes be wicked hard, and sometimes incredibly kind. Today was very kind around here; hope it was for you, too.
When I think about growing things, and how much they give me… All the snarky comments that show up around here mean… Nothing.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 28, 2013
at 8:09 PM
Hi friends. Hope you all had a relaxing and well-spent weekend. I’m still recovering in terms of laundry and whatnot but enjoyed time with friends, good food, great sangria, and my garden tools. It’s tremendous to spend time unplugged in joy of nature and loved ones. Feeling springy, finally!
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By: delurkergurl on May 28, 2013
at 7:36 PM
Lol lol auntie jean oppppppps ! Pls forgive me.
Love ya lady.. Hope all is well in it world!
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By: Lori on May 28, 2013
at 7:14 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
lori, you should take care not to reveal that some of us here are part of the 1%.
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 28, 2013
at 7:11 PM
Another story from Twitchy: Eric Holder arrests self in DOJ sting. releases self after forgetting to read self his Miranda rights.
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By: James on May 28, 2013
at 7:11 PM
Sarah Palin, Huffington and Travis Smiley say Eric Holder has got to go. I’m amazed1 Obama has brought us together.
It is odd that a recent poster claimed these scandals were mostly created by the Republicans and even if there was wrong doing, it doesn’t personally affect us.Her view which some others hold doesn’t conflate with the news.
Anon wrote that we think failure to debate… is supposed to be a character flaw. I think the ladies and Al are using good judgement as that story indicates. The props are being knocked from their views as we write.
We have a hobby. It is winning arguments with progressives.
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By: James on May 28, 2013
at 7:02 PM
LMFAO. The women here aren’t willing to debate exclusively on the terms of the R(utherford)at pack’s terms and that’s supposed to be a character flaw. Even after being ordered to do so! Da noive!
Get a hobby, boys. Chronically disrupting friends isn’t an attractive trait.
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By: Anonymous on May 28, 2013
at 6:29 PM
Crickets!
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By: Lori on May 28, 2013
at 6:21 PM
We now have vendettas! Yes…. Got anymore for me tex or are u done?
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By: Lori on May 28, 2013
at 5:50 PM
🙂 love it…
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By: Lori on May 28, 2013
at 5:44 PM
That’s makes the false assumption we care what you think or would give thought to your advice. All I require from you is your dislike and disgust of me. 😎
There is one thing that might get me to leave this board, Terri. Feast on this offer. Let you get back to being a mushroom and croaking toad, content in your little pond here of imagination and the proverbial frog. I’ll even make a weak stab at convincing the rest of your adversaries here to leave y’all alone in your colossal ignorance. Frankly, you’re useless to your cause but I have no personal animosity towards you Terri besides the general loathing of Obama’s sycophants.
When this useful idiot and crusader Lori bends over to kiss Rutherford’s ass on his blog, profusely apologizes for her malicious intent to damage him, admits to her personal idiocy for doing so, then I might be convinced to leave all you sad sacks alone.
Trust me, there is absolutely nothing edifying about most of you. Not only would I not miss you Terri, I wouldn’t know you were gone except the world might become a bit brighter as you graced me with your permanent absence.
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 28, 2013
at 5:39 PM
i thought someone didn’t want to respond to me, and yet that comment was odd. That person wrote I don;t think several people here can defend their points of view. Thanks to past experience I know they can’t.
Before Chris comments, Pfessor, your second paragraph is the same as what I wrote. Water seeks its own level. Thus, as Chinese and other countries’ wages rise companies will find it more profitable to hire elsewhere. Textiles, for example have worked their way down the chain as wages rise to make their manufacture less profitable from one country to another. As wage structures become distorted moving jobs back home becomes more profitable.
We bought mostly “consumer” instead of production goods with the last stimulus. Rich Dad Poor Dad.
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By: James on May 28, 2013
at 5:35 PM
Penny I appreciate your amusement I do. It is insane, childish, and all the other things you assert. But sometimes enough is enough and laws take over.
If you don’t like the law penny? Work to change it changed. Until then, it is what it is.
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By: Lori on May 28, 2013
at 4:58 PM
u never heard of paul krugman? i assume u r now embarrassed since u said u wud look him up. o, chris………..
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By: penny abrams on May 28, 2013
at 4:52 PM
altho usually i avoid stupid, silly, inane and wasteful exchanges, i must admit…maybe it’s my age showing…i’m getting more and more amused at all the threats to cease and desist and to never talk to u again. it’s sort of like the school playground. another form of this conversation takes place early teens when one kid yells at an other, “o,yeah?” and the response is “yeah!” i repeat, if u stop dancin’ the music ends as well. meanwhile, keepin’ yer mouth shut leaves a question as to lack of intelligence…opening it often ascertains just such a case. siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh
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By: penny abrams on May 28, 2013
at 4:50 PM
Ohhhhh nooooo someone doesn’t think we are collectively able to defend our Point of view!
I’m not sure I will survive! Because hisssss POV meant soooooo much to me! Ugggggg willI I ever have a meaningful life after this revaluation ???????
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By: Lori on May 28, 2013
at 4:45 PM
You might be surprised gato. People on the Rutherford blog insult each other, but they also share a mutual respect and affection.
We are here because we want to be after reading some people’s intolerance and blindness to the truth,. it has nothing to do with notoriety. it would be fine if you ignored us. Other people lurk and read the comments. Our views would then be unopposed . Yours would still be inside of your heads.
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By: James on May 28, 2013
at 4:32 PM
Hi Gato,
Aside from the cold temperatures I had a really nice weekend–a three day visit from my younger son. Thanks for asking. Hope you had a nice one as well.
I agree with all you say, and will once again try my best to ignore them but dang, they make it hard.
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By: Terri in NY on May 28, 2013
at 4:23 PM
Yes, Terry, I am good at slinging mud. I am not begging anyone to argue with me. I am making a point. My point is that you collectively are unable to support your views and you change the subject with insults and other extraneous comments to hide that fact. You are trying to recreate the terrain.
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By: James on May 28, 2013
at 4:22 PM
Lol lol Gato would you be suggesting we ignore the trolls??? Lol lol what a novel idea!
I wif ya girl! Xo
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By: Lori on May 28, 2013
at 4:20 PM
Rutherford – so, are you saying Hillary will make a run for it in 2016? She’s looking pretty tired these days, and she will be how old – close to 70?
I certainly haven’t ruled her out; it will depend on whom the GOP fronts; another Sarah Palin and I’d give Hillary Ramrod a look. Hell, if she was in Russia – not that they elect women – she would be considered a baby at 70, so we’ll see.
Re: Benghazi – that looks pretty bad from here; I think somebody really dropped the ball, at the very least. Hill is trying to fall on her sword, but the damned thing keeps pointing at her boss.
What do you think about the Eric Holder problem, where he signed off on the ruse to pilfer James Rosen’s emails and then “forgot” it? Maybe he’s got a variant of Kurt Waldheim’s problem – Waldheimer’s disease – makes you forget you were a Nazi.
Holder forgot he’s a lyin’ sack of feed.
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By: PFesser on May 28, 2013
at 4:19 PM
Hi, Terri – Hope you had a good holiday weekend. If I may jump in here, I think the reason people post where the general tone is not what they represent is because, in places like here, they can stand out a bit, and get some much-desired attention. I haven’t seen the “Rutherford” blog, but I’m assuming it’s on the right-wing side of things. There, they would be just two or three among many. Here, they can present themselves as anomalies, and trouble makers, and get people to jump up and down and focus on them. They get attention!
I often recall something said frequently by a radio talk show host, who dealt in “self-help,” and who often pointed out… “Children would rather be praised than punished. But they would also rather be punished than ignored.” So, being ignored is the worst thing that could happen.
Here, they get lots of attention. On a blog of like-minded individuals, they would not.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 28, 2013
at 4:16 PM
Al, “minority” is an acceptable definition of ethnicity. For example, The Center for Disease Control and Prevention refers to “racial and ethnic minority populations.” The news media uses “minority” to indicate race and ethnicity. Macmillian Dictionary also includes “a part of the population that is different in race, religion, or culture from most of the population.” Minority is often about race. You don’t get out much do you?
Why would you refer to Rutherford as a minority liberal? You might have meant he was a minority on his own blog. if you did, you were clumsy and left the sentence open to other interpretation. It is your problem and sentence, not mine.
I am a speed reader and I type fast. I don’t proofread. Therefore, I make many spelling mistakes. I might leave a few for you to find, rather like and Easter egg hunt. Point them out as often as you want. I could probably find some that you miss. Quonset huts. ( hootches).
I’m not leaving for a while. Why don’t you try discussing something worth while, such as the IRS scandal or climate change? So far, you are a one trick pony.
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By: James on May 28, 2013
at 4:16 PM
Lol lol Terri, doesn’t matter what or how he thinks he is hiding . He isn’t. It’s ALLLLLL good. Let em go. 🙂
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By: Lori on May 28, 2013
at 4:03 PM
Hey Anonymous at 3:41, that’s not a very good disguise. We all know who it is. I guess you’re a little worried about Lori’s warning. Feeling a little nervous?
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By: Terri in NY on May 28, 2013
at 3:57 PM
Chris –
Even Krugman says that you must never disrupt an economy by paying outsized wages. If the Chinese worker is making a buck a day and you then pay him fifty, it disrupts and destroys the whole local system, which will collapse. Wages have to rise with productivity and have to do it gradually.
The US is actually getting the short end of the stick in the long run. We are running a horrific balance of trade deficit, with a net transfer of goods to us (which wear out) and net transfer of money to the Chinese (which they use to buy American companies and land, which do not).
Kyosaki (sp?), who did the Rich Dad/Poor Dad series made a very strong point in his books: The poor dad bought consumer goods; the rich dad bought things that earned a return. Same money spent, vastly different outcomes.
Thoughts?
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By: PFesser on May 28, 2013
at 3:51 PM
Chris, I wish this blog had more of you. You make some good points.
As you know the Bushes, Reagan, and later, Clinton were champions of free trade via NAFTA. Their motives were pure, and intended to create mutually advantageous trading arrangements. Poorer countries prospered as our jobs flowed there. The world became virtually the same as a our states. Money and jobs flowed where the most profits were. Poorer countries grew richer, and middle classes thrived to buy more of our products.
Unfortunately, the world economy headed toward the mean. As other nations worked their way up, we sank down. There are signs that as wages rise and foreign countries become less competitive, companies are sending the jobs back home. Money is like water. it flows to the lowest place. In this case it goes where the highest profits are attainable.
Multinational companies also profited with wider markets and new customers.
As we know, Wal Mart is a powerful multinational company which puts stringent conditions on potential sellers. They did the same to China. Chinese factories were forced to improve their facilities and methods to qualify for the coveted Wal Mart contracts. A Chinese official credited Wal mart with helping force Chinese to be world traders.
Romney may have sent jobs to Asia, but so did his predecessors. As I mentioned, this process has existed for years.
I think trickle up would be worth a try. Some undeveloped countries in Africa have helped their local economies with small business loans and micro loans. Intrenched interests would make it hard to implement.
I agree, spending on infrastructure helped the economy during the Depression, but the Depression didn’t really end until the ultimate stimulus, WW!1 came along. Paul Krugman once said facecously, I think that we needed another world war.
Our recent stimulus failed because too little money went toward infrastructure or enabling businesses to prosper. It supported local governments when it should have entered the private sector. in Nebraska, for example, stimulus money let county and state governments retain employees they might have laid off.
Clinton’s surplus was the product of luck as well as skill. We reduced military spending after the Soviet Union fell, and the internet boom made a lot of money. Prosperity off set a tax increase . Moreover Newt and the Republicans forced Clinton to support smaller government spending. He signed the welfare reform act for example.
The economy was already failing before Clinton left office. 9/11 was a terrible blow. However, the Bush economy did recover, in part because of the tax cuts. After they were implemented, the New York Times commented on the government’s unexpected windfall.
I do agree with most of what you wrote.
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By: James on May 28, 2013
at 3:49 PM
Well see Terri that is the real ? isnt it? It Is curious unless it is purely to harass ? Idk but it is odd.
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By: Lori on May 28, 2013
at 3:46 PM
Sure am glad to hear about all lori’s money – maybe she can spread some of it around. A One Percenter!
Earn that as a model runway, with all those big planes running over you, Buttercup?
Or was that a runway model?
I thought all the Dems were part of the 99%…my, my, my…hypocrites all. LOL LOL LOL
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By: Anonymous on May 28, 2013
at 3:41 PM
I don’t get it. They (we all know who they are) think almost everyone here (apart from themselves) is dumb, uneducated, old and uninformed. Yet here they linger, practically begging someone to engage with them. Why not return to the nirvana known as Rutherford’s blog, where manly men who know of what they speak have scholarly conversations and laugh at us. (Thanks for that tidbit James. You’re pretty good at slinging mud yourself). I know I could do with a lot less insults and long boring posts. Here’s a bit of free advice for Tex, PF, James, et al–you might be happier elsewhere. I know I wouldn’t miss you.
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By: Terri in NY on May 28, 2013
at 3:35 PM
James
You seem to have serious reading and comprehension problems. You have no idea what the word ethnic means and you seem to be obsessed with your interpretation of the word that you have chosen, not what the word I used truly connotes. If you had more than third grade reading skills you’d realize that someone asked me what Rutheford was and I answered that the host was a “minority liberal”. Minority is not “race”. How you translate that into an ethnic pejorative is mind numbing and seems to be your problem not mine..
But I note that you also have a spelling problem. Those huts you hunkered down in were “Quonset” huts not the garbled mess you created. There. I put quotation marks around “Quonset” to make it stand out, not because I wanted to avoid being accused of plagiarizing it from an overwritten Wiki article.
James, give it up. You’re boring the hell out of people and I’m beginning to be as nit-picky as someone else on this site.
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By: Al B on May 28, 2013
at 3:19 PM
Hey Auntie Jean,
In my younger days, I saw my brother figuratively ingesting page after page of a rather large reference-looking tome. I asked him what he was reading. His response: “The dictionary…and the zebra did it!”
😉
BTW, he has a phenomenal vocabulary today.
PEACE ~ Δ ~ Namaste
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By: Whirled Peas Δ on May 28, 2013
at 3:15 PM
Hi, Chris – Some pretty good points in here, IMHO.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 28, 2013
at 3:00 PM
James,
The problem with what you to say is that there cannot be such a great gap between the rich corporate owners and the slave paid workers.
Krugman, I thought I read, is for a higher minimum wage. Bad?
I said earlier, the companies and the jobs Romney and his cronnies bought up and took to China, was for them to use COOLIE LABOR with COOLIE WAGES. The average worker in China, and Asia earns 99 cents an hour..
Remember, how Romney said he would bring the jobs home to America?
He is the one who took the jobs to Asia..for the 99 cent hourly wages.
What would he have paid our workers those same wages to be competive in the world labor market.
I will give a scenario of the very rich and how they use the tax BENIFITS.
I am not speaking of the small AMERICAN business man making a few million a year. I am speaking of guys like Romney who look down at labor..and collect $150 Million, quarterly, for stealing people’s jobs after they buy up the company and put some 100 to 1,000 workers on the jobless list and on the states unemployment doles.
They helped get us to the financial condition we have been through for the past 5 years. People cannot pay housepayments with NO income.
We lost hundreds of thousands of jobs, just here in Missouri.
What is wrong with the trickle up effect, as opposed to the trickle down effect in economics?
If there is MORE money in the economy for the common man to spend, it helps the WHOLE of the economy.
On the other hand, if you give a rich man money…he is usually tight as a drum with it. ( most rich do not spend much money..they save it…in foreign banks to avoid paying further taxes )
The other side of the arguement says give the corporations tax breaks and welfare, and they will help trickle up the economy.
The fact is that they take their new found money and set up sweat shops in Asia and use human sweat at penny prices to make their money multiply even more. All e while they make huge profits, and sense the sweat shops are not in America, they pay NO taxes to America…which further destroys the American lifestyle, and leaves the tax burdens on those middle class (left)
A lot of rich people hold onto their money. They use the tax savings to keep their lifestyle intact, or savings?
Evidently that is true, or, they would be broke jokes like many of PAST MIDDLE CLASS citizens are today.
After the crash of 1929, in order to stimulate the economy, infrastuctures were replaced or built, which improved America, and put labor back to work, which over some years brought our country and economy back from depression. We spent our way out of depression… That is how it works.
Spending our way out of depression really worked, even after the Bankers robbed us, and made some rich people commit suicide, back then.
Clinton left the country not only with $0 deficit, but, with a surplus, by having our Government spend our way out of the negative, from the Pappy Bush spending?
The stimulus of Obama in the first few months of his administration, was like one small drip in the ocean. His plan was to replace infrastuctures which, he could not get the Congress to act on and approve. ( currently, the bridges all over America are in the process of collapsing ). That is what Obama meant which was needed to spend our way out of recession. He is and was right.
Chris
I am not enamored by him so much, after I realized we were all used, by him and, or, the NWO…and he is a Bush cousin on his Mother’s side.
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By: Chris on May 28, 2013
at 2:57 PM
There is a novel idea–debating the phone book. Maybe Jean could win the argument.
I cited a potential political debate, but so far, there are no takers. I wouldn’t even need to be involved.
Surely people of your linguistic and logical skills could create a coherent discussion. It appears that you can’t do it, and your only recourse is to bring the discussion down to your level. People away from this blog are laughing at you.
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By: James on May 28, 2013
at 2:56 PM
Mornin’ Congenial Gang,
It’s only 9:30ish AM here so I checked in to see what if anything is new and of interest. With the exception of few lib’ral updates on what’s really happening in the real world, I would rather read the phone book, page by page. Yawn.
Aloha! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 28, 2013
at 2:38 PM
Your threats are amusing. They’ll especially hang me for correcting your spelling errors as personal threat and intimidation. 😈 Every English teacher in Tejas will become openly terrified of the red pen.
I would enjoy making the acquaintance and proliferating your suit through the cosmos with you as representative of ‘Turn Texas Blue.’ 🙂 That’s called the harsh law of exponentiation, buttercup.
Ain’t the internet grand?
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 28, 2013
at 2:17 PM
Gato, speaking for myself, I don’t give a dm about the true identities of anyone here, nor will I try to find them out. You could be Bill Clinton in disguise for all I care. I just want good political discussions which seem to be in short supply lately.
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By: James on May 28, 2013
at 2:12 PM
Gato.. 🙂 truth
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By: Lori on May 28, 2013
at 2:10 PM
Hi, again, Lori – I don’t think we’ve gone anywhere!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 28, 2013
at 2:09 PM
You’re welcome Al B. There you go again with the personal attacks. Of course I know of Bill Mauldin. I also remember to put quotation marks around someone else’s words or at least cite the source.
And why do you think it is important to mention Rutherford’s ethnicity?
Do you have another problem besides we don’t know about?
So far you have shown us little about yourself besides your ability to throw mud.
I mentioned Rutherford’s and gato’s comments about the scandals. Lets see you defend one of them.
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By: James on May 28, 2013
at 2:07 PM
Hey, Al B – I used to LOVE Willie and Joe, and Bill Mauldin! (Not that I still don’t; I just haven’t thought about them for a long time…)
When I was a kid, maybe twelve or thirteen, I found that my parents had a book of his cartoons. I knew nothing about “war,” or anything like that, but I thought those two were the coolest guys ever. Eisenhower was the first President I really remember, and I knew he was a General, and the whole idea of “war” seemed so glamorous and “manly”… And there were Willie and Joe – a couple of grunts full of resignation and wit and sarcasm, as well as the courage I assumed all soldiers and sailors had. They really opened my young eyes and mind…
Also, since, even then, I knew I was an artist, I was really drawn (no pun intended!) to Mauldin’s powerful B&W graphic style. He was terrific, all around.
Thank you for reminding me of all of them!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 28, 2013
at 2:04 PM
Gato, we will return. The porch has seen worse by a hell of a lot better. NO worries. Just let them have enough rope and they will eventually incriminate themselves.
This isn’t my gig, not my rules. However the Internet is governed by laws. If a person breaks em ….. Oh welllllll… Game on…
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By: Lori on May 28, 2013
at 2:03 PM
Chris, Paul Krugman is an economist. Roughly speaking, he supports the Keynesian theory that when an economy fails, governmental pump priming through massive spending and borrowing will make the economy recover. Once economic health is achieved, spending should decline and maybe taxes rise to pay for the deficit and to prepare for the next recession.
One of his complaints about the Obama stimulus is that the US didn’t spend enough money. He also has exchanged testy words with Estonia and Lativa because they opted for austerity to recover from the recession. They suffered greatly, but now their growth rates are pretty high.
Google will show you a lot of Paul Krugman.
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By: James on May 28, 2013
at 1:58 PM
Hi, Lori – Pretty busy day around here, eh? Interesting wikipedia info about “cyberstalking,” although I must say it kind of makes me nervous thinking how “they” might be able to actually find the “real person” responsible for doing that kind of thing, when it happens. (I know; I know; I know… More is known about all of us than we can even imagine…)
You just look at all the stuff going on here; how a little group of buddies go back and forth with each other, congratulating themselves on how they’ve put someone else in her or his “place;” how their latest snark is just the cleverest thing ever; and – much like the Red Queen in “Alice In Wonderland” – now taking the position that this is somehow “their” blog, and the rest of us are just meddlesome trouble makers in their kingdom. Oh, sigh…
Fortunately, this is a big “porch,” and any one group can take up a bit of space, and it doesn’t stop the rest of the posters from keeping their own.
Your Texas news is exciting; the way the implementation of Obamacare is going in CA is exciting. I’m trying to keep focused on things like that – although I do slip up every now and then, I will admit!
I don’t like potty mouth language, and I especially dislike snotty remarks about anyone else’s supposed physical characteristics, but I really don’t care if somebody chooses to call me a seventh-grader, or a third-grader, or “just” someone who only drew pictures for books, or anything else they may come up with. There’s a wonderful phrase, used in many twelve-step programs: “What somebody else thinks of me is none of my business.” It’s a good one… Although I have sometimes taken great pleasure in being “insulted” by someone whose behavior I respect not at all. It can be very satisfying to learn that I’ve been added to some fool’s S*** List! Means I’ve been doing my job.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 28, 2013
at 1:54 PM
James:
I want to thank you and Pfesser for having such conspicuous avatars. They make skipping and skimming so easy. Actually. since there’s really nothing to skim, it’s mostly skip.
BTW James you come off sounding like a sad sack. In case you have no idea what that means Google it. And while you’re at it also look up Willie and Joe or Bill Mauldin.
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By: Al B on May 28, 2013
at 1:52 PM
Ha Ha! anon. I believe you will soon ready to cross the border into incoherence.
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By: James on May 28, 2013
at 1:50 PM
James,
I am sorry. I do not know of Krugman? Who is he?
I have my opinions. I have a lot over the years, but, never heard of Krugman.
I will have to google him.
I always give my knowledge and opinion. I will tell you where to go for information, when it is something I learned recently from others.
For older information..years ago, I sometimes forget where it came from
Chris
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By: Chris on May 28, 2013
at 1:47 PM
LOL thanks Terri! I ‘ve slept with a guy for over 30 years now that knows a thing or two about the law, even more about bizness. I guess it pays off eventually! LoL LOL
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By: lori on May 28, 2013
at 1:47 PM
James: this is you–Blah. Blah. Blah. Blah. Go away.
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By: Anonymous on May 28, 2013
at 1:45 PM
Terry, would you like to discuss Rutherford’s comments? LIkewise, no one seems interested in defending gato’s proposition that the scandals are largely partisan creations. The two posts are opposites.
Throwing mud and threats seem to play to your strengths. Lets test your analytical skills. I suspect knowledge of Obama’s short comings is not your strong suite but maybe you will prove me wrong.,
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By: James on May 28, 2013
at 1:39 PM
Hi Terry. No one that I have read has yet effectively “let them have it.” We are still waiting. Maybe you can try.
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By: James on May 28, 2013
at 1:24 PM
Lori, are you actually that foolish or is it an act? I also have no interest in communicating with you, and you will notice I haven’t.
You posted a link which referred to cyber stalking. Anonomous, vaguely fits the definition. I did not actively attack her. She stalked ME, and I retaliated. I repeated a quotation which has nothing to do with you.
So “wise up.” This had no connection to you. “I’m thinking this will sink into even your (thick) mind.”
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By: James on May 28, 2013
at 1:21 PM
Hey Lori,
No apologies needed. Your restraint has been admirable (I can’t say the same for myself); but I enjoyed you letting ’em have it. Total support for you from me.
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By: Terri in NY on May 28, 2013
at 1:19 PM
James I will put u on warning too. I have no interest in communicating with you either. I am not posting anonomously. So wise up. If I have something to say to a person I will. So knock off the pseudo connection between me an anon.
I am assuming that since you have so much disdain for me you will also too find no reason to communicate with me. I will return the favor in kind.
I’m thinking this will sink into even your mind.
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By: lori on May 28, 2013
at 1:11 PM
Re Lori’s link “A cyber stalker may be anonymous and may solicite the involvement of other people on line. ” I had no idea you were so famous, anon. Impressive.
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By: James on May 28, 2013
at 12:57 PM
Forbs Magazine “Unexpected Health Insurance Rate Shock-California Obamacare Insurance Exchange Announces Premium Rates.” Rick Unger wrote that “for sthe2.6million Californians who will receive federal subsidies, the price is a good deal LESS expensive…’
It is too early to know how the exchanges will work, especially considering claim lag, but if they work, it will be due to the insurance companies inability to raise premiums because of the competitive nature of the exchanges.
Chris has alluded to monopolies, I think The California exchange is eliminating insurance monopolies and the competition brings down prices. I hope it continues to help our family members in California.
In the long run, we have the same problems Paul Krugman discussed.
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By: James on May 28, 2013
at 12:49 PM
Ok…. Dusting those nasty little flakes from my shoulder now… god that can be so annoying… And on we go 🙂
Sorry porch dwellers but enough was enough.
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By: lori on May 28, 2013
at 12:42 PM
Ironically I just ran across this info. The part about the criminal wanting to ” control” their victim was interesting, but difficult to prove I suspect. Unless the perp would be so stupid as to admit their intent? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberstalking
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By: lori on May 28, 2013
at 12:31 PM
Yes, Chris, I generally agree with you. I’m not sure about a flat tax because it may be unfair to the poor, but we may need something like it to save our selves.
Even Paul Krugman has written we cannot sustain our present course. Doug Ross @Journal Feb 5, 2013.
Krugman wrote “Eventually we do have a problem. That the population is getting older, health costs are rising…there is this question of how we’re going to pay for the programs. THE YEAR 2025, THE YEAR 2030, SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAVE TO GIVE…” “We won’t be able to pay for the kind of government the society will want without some increases in taxes…n the middle class, maybe a value added tax…So the snarky version which I shouldn’t even say because it will get me in trouble is death panels and sales taxes is how we do this.”
Krugman’s comments read a little like yours, don’t they Chris?
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By: James on May 28, 2013
at 12:25 PM
Lori, And Donald can get them as many clown cars as they need. I even have an extra clown costume complete with the big yellow shoes if he needs it.
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By: Terry W on May 28, 2013
at 12:16 PM
Thanks Terri I will!
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By: lori on May 28, 2013
at 11:59 AM
Hi Lori, if you haven’t already read it, check out Paul Krugman’s last article about Obamacare. He’s very optimistic that rates will go down as well.
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By: Terri in NY on May 28, 2013
at 11:55 AM
LOL Terry! A bunch! And didja see where Trump has requested admittance. Good grief, this just gets better and better!
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By: lori on May 28, 2013
at 11:52 AM
I agree, James.
Obama Care should be revamped or scrapped and the entire Medical System,American Style should be scrapped, as well. We are in for lots of BAD changes..Our mecical system needs a complete overhaul, from what is being taught as protocol in the schools…by the drug companies, for a beginning.
Alternative medicine should be the first protocol, and minimal drug therapy as as a back-up….like most of rest of the world’s medical systems.
That is why America was like number # 49 in life expectancy in 2010…cia.gov.
We should have a single payer system..Most of the rest of the world has this system. Taxes are high…but, the doctors live on much less, go into medicine to help people, and appear to be quite happy. This system we have just makes money. It does not heal any one.
We do need insurance for those working poor…(some have 2 min. wage jobs and, have No insurance) The current Obamacare is going to finish off the middle class…Then we will ALL be in need.
Chris
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By: Chris on May 28, 2013
at 11:49 AM
Amen Terri! Obamacare has had a great week! Nothing like success to shut the nay-Sayers right up!
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By: lori on May 28, 2013
at 11:49 AM
It is reported that healthcare premiums in California are going down as they work to implement the Affordable Health Care Act. This is a good omen.
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By: Terri in NY on May 28, 2013
at 11:47 AM
PFesser (what a stupid name)– You and your moronic values judgments about who is and isn’t ‘t qualified to comment are unintentionally hilarious. Don’t you have something better to do? And if you’re an “adult,” then I’m the Easter bunny! Go back to whatever rock you crawled out from under.
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By: Anonymous on May 28, 2013
at 11:40 AM
Didn’t misunderstand a thing Tex. Use your handy dandy google search and look up Internet bulling and harassment . Don’t cross the line. Your playground name calling and shock jock like language may intimate others. Not me. There are laws for a reason. And if all else fails there are civil suits that don’t yield much but can sure as hell take up a lot of time and money. I have both. Might be helpful to stay current in such things, just a thought.
The Internet world is a changing Tex . There is no such thing as a big bully being able to hide behind a big scary name throwing fire bombs, or threatening, stalking ( going from site to site for purpose to harass or intimidate a person) individuals in complete antonymy anymore. Nor can we expect to blog in complete privacy especially when you advertise your blog on a Facebook profile and twitter! Lol lol
We are done now. The world is a big enough place for both of us to exist without exchanging another word to each other. 🙂 I plan on doing just that.
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By: lori on May 28, 2013
at 11:29 AM
You know, now that I think about it, our little trio of sixth-grade trolls is very disruptive here, isn’t it? The adults are constantly trying to talk about grownup stuff – politics, different points of view, corporate responsibility, etc, and then the primer-school trolls come in and start biting the adult posters’ ankles. And always with totally off-topic, personal sh*t…
I think the adults in the room should just ignore them.
BTW, Rutherford – I think you should apologize to pennyabrams. She’s a tough, bright gal, with a world of real-life experience – not just what she saw in drawings in a children’s book.
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By: PFesser on May 28, 2013
at 11:26 AM
If you gave that as an “answer” on a FOURTH GRADE quiz, you’d be given an “F.” Your opinions on the aptness (or cleverness) of your own analogies are of very little interest, and have nothing to do with responding to the question asked.
And this is the last I’ll be saying about it.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 28, 2013
at 11:25 AM
Ever notice how those two asshats (Pfesser and Tex) never feel obligated to be the grammar/ vocabulary police when Chris is posting? Selective outrage as usual. And sorry, James, you’re just a moron. Blah, blah, blah. Go away, the whole sorry lot of you.
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By: Anonymous on May 28, 2013
at 11:18 AM
Lori,
I am not a reveation nut. I do have a spirtual connection with the Creator.
I am seeing the world events unfold, like many around the world.
The numbers are growing that have this knowledge. It is not a conspiracy theory, but, rather, a real conspiracy taking place against all mankind.
Hopefully, you and the other blind folks will have the covering over your eyes removed.
One does NOT have to be a Christian to see what is happening. Many people are beginning to see the truth, who are not at all Christians.
The story of man unfolds…
Look at some of these websites for yourself.
Lori, If you like Bill Maher, he is aware of what goes on. Watch him..he is reporting this..more than any of your MANipulated NEWS like Fox, etc.
Karen Hude… ( past legal council..and many other whistleblowers to the World Bank in 2007 ) was on Coast to Coast radio…… this past weekend, stating all that was in the article that POOLMAN shared the link to….in one of his previous comments..
Check that out.
Karen Hude… says the Alternative news sources are at least equal to, and better than the reported information released by the elite owned media.
She says they are continually attempting to accomplish their agenda and either not reporting, or covering up , whatever they want to downplay.
Just as alternative medicine is downplayed and is in most cases better than Western Drug Medicine, that NEVER cures anything. ( it only treats symptoms )
If there is not a conspiracy, why would the Corportations Bankers…etc. go to such ends to keep ANY NEWS from YOU and I.
Monsanto forced FaceBook to stop all posting of the pictures of children with signs in marches around the world…..which have autism…linked to pesticides..and other chemicals in their foods and in their vaccinations,
Their parents are marching, to protect their children from harm and other children, as well, from future nerve and brain damage.
Why would a company try to cover up this NEWS…of marches taking place around the world ??
NOT one mainstrea media.. has covered these marches.
Does that not ring the bell of cover up….AROUND THE WORLD ?
Thank your lucky stars that people have cameras on their cell phones, and the internet to share information, or, we would not be receiving ANY information on these worldwide marches for governmental controls on food labeling of the poisonous genetically modified foods.
If there was no danger of modifying or using pesticides in the seeds of our foods, why are they fighting so hard against all the marchers, to NOT LABEL GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS ? Such a collusion taking place against mankind.. and why is there not coverge of the massive marches in all the major and many minor cities of the world?
How could you NOT come to the conclusion that Conspiracy is taking place against the human race?
GM veggies and fruits and grains are causing tumors, even to the insides of vegetables. Our meat sources are mostly sick from eating these modified grains, when they go to slaughter. They eat the linings of our stomachs, as well.
That is why so many antibiotics are given to these poor sick cows and chickens, before they get to our tables. Where do you think the growing numbers of human tumors are coming from…? The AIR.?
The poisoning is taking place from within from our foods, water supply, environmental airbound chemicals, doctor induced drugs, everything we ingest, put on our skin, hair, face; everything we come in contact with.
We are being poisoned from every which way.
Watch ..FOOD INC,
.
Read more…and see more on the net…other than the mainstream media who owes their allegiance to the larger than life corporations, like the Chemical and Bio Food Producers…
If anyone wants to talk about losing one’s rights…We do not have the right to know what is in the package of food we are about to eat…
We will also, soon have the guns taken away. as well. We must not restrict guns, for once that happens, even to a slight degree, they willl force the issue to an even greater degree, under the guise of protecting its citizens.
Peace Love..Joy….Truth and Light…
Chris
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By: Chris on May 28, 2013
at 11:16 AM
Lori, I loved your take on Boner and his merry band of clowns. I had a theme song for the Party That Just Says NO! during the lead up to the nomination of their two candidates for Prez. and Vice Prez. It’s that old classic, “Send In The Clowns” and I also like the music we all associate with the circus whatever its name is. How many do you think they can cram into a VW Beetle?
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By: Terry W on May 28, 2013
at 11:09 AM
A lawsuit, hey? 😈 Have you misunderstood the purpose of exchange on a blog? What are you going to sue me for, Lorrri? Mocking your abject stupidity?
Guilty as charged, your honor. She’s a clown on a dunk tank and the balls were free.
So here’s who I’m going to call as my first witness concerning intimidation and harassment. Rutherford Lawson – I believe you know the man’s real name, Lorrri.
And we’ll see if a judge likes you meddling in a man’s private business, Lorrri.
Take that as your official legal warning, snot nose.
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 28, 2013
at 11:05 AM
gato questioned: What’s the reason behind your fascination with seventh-graders, especially seventh-grade girls?”
You’re right; the three of you are really more like sixth-graders.
Thanks for correcting that. I’ll use that analogy from now on.
Care to try for fifth?
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By: PFesser on May 28, 2013
at 11:05 AM
WP Opinions Michael Gerson “The Unwelcome role of the IRS in Obamacare”.
“As the implementation of health care reform moves forward, Congress may need to take another look at the law anyway. The unintended consequences of Obamacare now seem unavoidable: higher premiums in employer plans; additional burdens on a Medicaid syetem already struggling with quality issues; cost overruns in Medicaire that will drive out providers; a perverse incentive structure that encourages businesses to dump employees on the exchanges while discouraging the young and health from signing up, eventually raising costs.”
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By: James on May 28, 2013
at 10:46 AM
anon. I think I am getting to you. We don’t have an exalted view of our own opinions, we disdain the blindness of yours. Your case is weak, and it shows. You may be bored. I’m not. Eivor Trollabundin.
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By: James on May 28, 2013
at 10:21 AM
Lol lol Gato, don’t ask! Lmao
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By: lori on May 28, 2013
at 10:11 AM
What’s the reason behind your fascination with seventh-graders, especially seventh-grade girls?
I hope you have some answer other than something that makes me really sorry I asked…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 28, 2013
at 10:05 AM
lori – why would Long Dong want to communicate with you? He doesn’t speak seventh-grade.
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By: PFesser on May 28, 2013
at 9:56 AM
No one that connects their Facebook page to their WordPress blog can expect they will remain anonymous Tex. get over yourself.
And take this as your official legal warning. You harass me or attempt to intimidate me in any way I will not hesitate to slap a lawsuit on you so fast your head will spin. I have no interest in communicating with you. Leave me the hell alone… Get it? I have the time and means. SO don’t tempt me.
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By: lori on May 28, 2013
at 9:49 AM
James, this is just for you. Blah, blah, blah, blah. Why don’t you and your boyfriends go back to your wonderful “Rutherford” blog and leave people here the hell alone. Are you all so lonely that you need to bother people who have no interest in you and your exalted regard for your own opinions. Pathetic and soooooo…….. boring.
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By: Anonymous on May 28, 2013
at 9:46 AM
Lori,
If you’re going to out the “biggots”, you got to at least get the spelling right. Come on sweetie! Raise that Wattle Jean bar up a notch or two.
We don’t spell it Texxas.
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 28, 2013
at 9:37 AM
Aunt Jean,
Answer me a question. While I was over there on that you call home, the diving instructors that took us out on this chartered boat mentioned the public schools in Hawaii are the absolute worst – even worse than L.A barrios. Suck ass schools deluxe.
These California guys, free spirits like you, were mentioning they can’t get their kids educated anywhere on the islands, money be damned. They also told me don’t get hurt on the islands – the medical care is damn near primeval.
What is it with all these young kids leaving school about 1:00 PM in the afternoon every day? These weren’t high schoolers but younger elementary and middle school kids.
You fire dancers have year around schooling and shortened days?
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 28, 2013
at 9:34 AM
Anon, am not better than anyone else, even on this forum. I am better than YOU. That actually was Rutherford. You were wrong again. It is nothing new for you.
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By: James on May 28, 2013
at 9:21 AM
rutherford: until your last lines i was delighted and eager to respond to your remarks. then u got snotty and very disrespectful about us old gals. that’s childish and minimizes the reasonable comments u made. y do u do that? do u really think that we just get old? along with those years come experiences which result, often, in real wisdom. i find all this nattering about old and female is getting way too irritating. i’ll accept apologies.
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By: penny abrams on May 28, 2013
at 9:16 AM
We got it Chris. You are an Armageddon Christian that is cock sure the world is going to end unless our ways are corrected . You and your small but oh so informed fearful conspricy group of ex Ron Paulbots biggots are here to show us ignorant sheeples the way to righteous and the proper methods to obtain good information that has not been MANipulated . ( btw who exactly does write the non MANipulated info? Turtles? If it’s turtle writings, that I would be tempted to read. ) Because , of course , you and only you know how to use google search. Yadda yadda yadda sheeples, yaddda yadda ignorant … And let’s throw in one more partisan sheeple for good measure.
Got it Chris, thanks for the info. I’ll b sure to send you and your special little group an apology note when the NWO comes to take me away! Until then spare me Lord!
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By: lori on May 28, 2013
at 9:13 AM
blah, blah, blah I’m so smart, blah blah blah, I am superior, blah blah blah I’m better that everyone else, blah blah blah I hate women; blah blah blah, me me me. You’re boring us, please go away.
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By: Anonymous on May 28, 2013
at 8:07 AM
My lord Bill Maher is funny. This was his tweet this morning. LOL LOL
“Syrian war turning into clusterf@@@ of all clusterf@@@@- and John McCain wants in! Now! Thank U Jesus for that man never becoming president”
And gotta love Bob Dole saying he and Ronnie would have a difficult time in today’s GOP! #truth
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By: lori on May 28, 2013
at 8:04 AM
My lord Bill Maher is funny. This was his tweet this morning. LOL LOL
“Syrian war turning into clusterfuck of all clusterfucks – and John McCain wants in! Now! Thank U Jesus for that man never becoming president”
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By: lori on May 28, 2013
at 7:54 AM
Auntie a jean, all,
This is a follow up article to the discussion we had last week or so concerning Michigan. I had wondered out loud what the Dems in MI were going to do about the former Sen Showing interest in a run for the Gov! Well I guess I have my answer.
kudos to my Michigan Dems!
http://www.eclectablog.com/2013/05/michigan-democrats-coalesce-around-gary-peters-for-senate-and-mark-schauer-for-governor.html
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By: lori on May 28, 2013
at 7:45 AM
R – great post. Yeah, I think the blog owners are asleep at the switch – that is, whoever they are. It would be neat to have access to that information and see what the real story is. The “two old gals commenting on politics” meme is pretty imaginative, though.
On your comment: I think there is a real divide in this country (think so, PF?). Good article in the Washington Times that identifies it perfectly:
“The notion that the federal government is too big and too feisty appears to be entrenched in the public mindset. At the moment, 54 percent of Americans say the federal government today has too much power, according to a Gallup poll released Monday.
And behold the partisan divide: 76 percent of Republicans but only 32 percent of Democrats agree that the government has too much power. There’s also growing uneasiness.
While tea partyers and other liberty-minded folk have been criticized in the recent past for fearing their rights could be imposed upon, the idea has taken hold of many Americans.
“Do you think the federal government poses an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens?” the Gallup pollsters asked. Forty-six percent of the respondents said yes; 60 percent of Republicans and 25 percent of Democrats agreed with that.
The fear appears to be growing: Just 30 percent felt that way in 2004, and the numbers have lingered above 45 percent for four years.
What most troubles the public? Gallup asked this question during an identical poll in 2010; respondents were uncomfortable with “the government’s having too many laws, being too involved in citizens’ lives, threatening freedom of speech, imposing health care laws, and being ‘socialist’ in general.”
So, Rutherford, I’ve seen the little histogram where you self-report your position on the left-right scale; where do YOU fit in the article above? I would put myself pretty far toward the Republican position, tho’ I’m much on the Libertarian side of the scale.
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By: PFesser on May 28, 2013
at 7:42 AM
Pi we can only hope! LoL 🙂
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By: lori on May 28, 2013
at 7:23 AM
It’s going to be an interesting watch this week to see what Boner and his merry band of clowns do with the immigration bill.
They have really got themselves in a pickle. If they pass it with a path to citizenship the racist Palin wing nut base, that has been tripping over themselves to embrace that neo-fascist anti immigration group in the Uk last week , will have kittens! But Bohner knows if his congress & Party have any hope of not totally becoming irrelevant they HAVE to pass something!
It is going to be an interesting week friends! I’ll bring the popcorn! For my Country, I hope they pass a good bill. But I must admit, the Progressive partisan in meeeeee will be enjoying Bohner’s FAIL!
Sent from AOL Mobile Mail
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By: lori on May 28, 2013
at 7:22 AM
Just in case you missed it anon, you are a weak and intellectually blind woman. You should listen to Trollabundin.
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By: James on May 28, 2013
at 7:05 AM
Blah blah to you, anon. As I wrote, you would have been crying like a baby.
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By: James on May 28, 2013
at 6:58 AM
Al, the fact is I influenced you to reveal yourself as a plagerist.
You stole someone’s words without credit. Of course you applogized. You were caught. At the very least you revealed yourself to be intellectually undisciplined in the same manner as when you generalized from in fuzzy information when you tried and failed to embarrass me.
Since you are too obtuse to connect the dots, I will spell it out for you. I moved to a new base with problems. Everyone was afraid of the bad guys, and the officers wanted them stopped. No one would speak up. They committed a crime, and I filed a complaint.
Our leaders wanted something physical to happen to me so they could press heavier charges. I didn’t know that. I became a pariah because everyone was afraid to associate with me from fear and their suddenly deciding I should not have filed a complaint.
We lived in six man quansit huts isolated from the main base. Two men also filed complaints, though I was the only witness. They went into hiding at night and came to work each day. One of the men moved out and took the “house key.” They came at night, fifteen or twenty of them, as they tried to persuade me to recant. I taught myself to wake angry and made them believe I knew martial arts.
This lasted for four months. Their connection to you is the almost nightly verbal confrontations and my reaction to them. They knew they couldn’t leave marks, but just as you failed to control yourself by stealing another’s words, they slipped up. Use your imagination about what happened.
I had an anger problem and still was trying to understand what had happened. I spoke to the Vet Center in 1980. A combat veteran counselor told me I had survived the equivalent of light combat. He considered it “light:” because it had only lasted four months. He asked me why I filed a complaint when I could have been silent. That angered me.
“You don’t belong here you fascist. We’ll get rid of you.,” in grad school brought it back as people like you do now. They were unfit to polish the shoes of the men who attacked me. They did it to save and preserve themselves. The anti- war people were well-meaning fools.
Most people in the real world have little or no knowledge of my adventure. I save it for people like you who bring it all back. And I sit in judgment. The rest is locked in a little mental compartment no one opens. Would you or would you not have done what they did, or would you have stood up for me? Would you have been strong enough to have survived as I did? I think you would have been too weak. Phil Colins, “In the ‘Air Tonight” describes our little adventure. Even the dialogue is not far off.
I don’t care if “Rutherford” was a set up or not. His comments were spot on. Most of you are too blind to cope with the truth, so you ignore it. Anon, from what I know of you, you would have tried to kill me. Had you been in my position, you would have curled into a fetal position and cried your eyes out.
Al, you made a curious comment about Rutherford., You wrote that he is a minority liberal. What does his race have to do with anything? His race is irrelevant and yet you mentioned it. Was that another “lapse” as your accidently stealing words was?
You have revealed yourself to be an intellectually and probably physically weak man. I’m happy to have played a small role in influencing you to reveal part of yourself.
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By: James on May 28, 2013
at 6:56 AM
James here’s one of your brilliant posts: blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
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By: Anonymous on May 28, 2013
at 6:19 AM
PF You’re such a mean spirited little man. Don’t you ever get tired of bothering people? Nobody cares what you think or write except you snd your boyfriends. Here’s some advice: shut the f— up!
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By: Anonymous on May 28, 2013
at 5:49 AM
Rutherford’s post is a set up.
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By: Anonymous on May 28, 2013
at 5:33 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
We have two grandsons graduating from high school soon and are both are off to prestigious universities in the fall. We have also been getting a flurry of graduation announcements from kids we know all over the country – literally. That is hitting our bank account hard! Damn elite over-achievers, just like our sons, DIL’s and grandkids. But in our experience and that of most of our circle of friends and acquaintances – pretty typical. We are exceedingly proud of each one of them! Did I mention that they are ALL really, really nice well mannered kids and a bust up to have around. If we could bottle and sell all that energy, we would be billionaires many times over.
Here’s another example outside our family. We have old friends from the pretty rural Deep, Deep South. They were here just before our son came out, and the surgeries, etc. They have two sons about the ages of our grandsons and brought one of their cousins with them. Her brother’s boy was born premie at 6 1/2 months and has had developmental problems all his life. But with lots and lots of love and support, he is in college and doing well. Not on the dean’s list but in there! These folks are not wealthy by any means but are well educated and enjoy traveling when they can. A joy to be around! Anything but the stereotypical rednecks and hick hillbillies we are exposed to at M&H’s.
We are exceedingly proud of our sons and DIL’s and know the future is bright in their hands the way they and the grandkids embrace life and all the wonderful experiences ahead of them. There are two whole generations of people all over the country just like them that will help to make this an even better world.
Aloha! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 28, 2013
at 2:54 AM
Good comment, Rutherford. Many of this group prefer nonsequitars. Some like anon or gato don’t care unless it directly affects them.
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By: James on May 28, 2013
at 12:26 AM
Anon, I gave a speech for the Memorial Day ceremonies this morning, and my fellow American Legionaires read it in two other towns. They asked me to include county war stories which I did. Afterward, others who had been in the honor guard shared stories. One of my jobs is to collect oral histories.
We published a local oral history book last year. Another local organization published a military history book this spring. The Omaha World Herald published a Cold War history which includes one of my stories. I also helped the University of Northern Florida with an oral history and they told me copies of the collection are in the Smithsonian Institute. We need to preserve these histories.
When I meet people such as yourself, I ask , who would have tried to hospitalize or kill me and who would not? Many of you remind me of that time. My harping on it also irritates you which is good.
What misstatements have I made? I’d surely like to read them. So far they seem to be coming from you.
I suggest you Google Eivor Trollabundin on YouTube video.
Al B, I did it once, and it is enough for me– satisfying. Your free will has been returned to you. Ha! You might like Trollabundin too. Or “You’re so vain…”
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By: James on May 28, 2013
at 12:22 AM
It’s been quite a while since I’ve visited here and I must say I’m disappointed to see no new articles since April.
We’ve got three non-scandals brewing and not a word from Helen or Margaret making a proper defense.
First Benghazi — the Ambassador knew what he was getting into — why didn’t he get the hell out of Benghazi on 9/11 when he knew he’d be a sitting duck? We all know this is a witch hunt against Obama and a preemptive strike against Hillary’s 2016 run.
Second, the IRS “scandal” — a bunch of Tea Party groups pretending to be something they’re not when they apply for 501C4 status and the Republicans get their panties in a knot because a totally appropriate profiling was going on.
Third, Obama, the toughest SOB yet on homeland security clamps down on leakers by going after AP phone records and again the hypocritical GOP screams 1st Amendment violation — like they ever cared about the first amendment before!
I know the demands of a blog are tough for you gals as you progress through your senior years but unlike me, you’ve got a devoted liberal following depending on you to keep it real.
So c’mon — get back in the game!
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By: Rutherford on May 28, 2013
at 12:04 AM
Anonymous (puss with no name) and gato.
That is selection # 3. Not math majors, huh?
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By: PFesser on May 27, 2013
at 9:43 PM
Sorry,
iPad Mistake?
Fortune 500 companies are these :
Follow the money..see who makes the most money.
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2011/full_list/index.html
Chris
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By: Chris on May 27, 2013
at 9:12 PM
I would invite a look at how to follow the money.
Check this out the Fortune 500 Companies and the $ amount of business and the amount of profits they make.
Note: the Bankers and Credit Card Companies profits appear to be the highest.
http://www.google.com/search?q=princess+diana+harry+and+james+hewitt&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari#biv=i%7C399%3Bd%7CyLDck4QUDTacAM%3A
Follow the money and study who has it and how are they extruding it from us.
Chris
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By: Chris on May 27, 2013
at 9:07 PM
saw it lori 🙂
wondering?
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By: alaskapi on May 27, 2013
at 8:33 PM
Me, too, Anonymous Person, re Al B…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 27, 2013
at 8:05 PM
Al B — you have a fourth choice. Ignore those who aren’t worth paying attention to, and keep posting. I’m interested in what you have to say.
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By: Anonymous on May 27, 2013
at 6:37 PM
Poolman,
Your reference to revelations…Is also correct and applies to the worldwide commerce of the elite who control and manipulate us for their own good.
You are also correct…..It is important to stay in the light…God’s Light, in order to escape the punishment coming.
The evil will have its day and pay its own pay.
Great and very important info to study and reflect on.
Also, porch dwellers, read the last several paragraphs.
http://www.biblestudytools.com/revelation/18-4-compare.html
This important info on the NWO….goes even beyond the truth of what is happening, but, reaches back in Roman history…..and beyond the immediate future of Mankind….
Thanks, Poolman
Chris
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By: Chris on May 27, 2013
at 5:22 PM
Curious tweet M&H!
What was that all about?
Peas did u c it? Anyone?
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By: lori on May 27, 2013
at 5:05 PM
Al B Damned opined: “You are truly a skilled but annoying nit-picker. Knowing that, you should understand why I have no reason to engage you. ”
The way I see it, you have three choices: 1)engage constructively, 2)engage destructively – as you have been, 3)do nothing. If you do 1), which I hope you do, I’d like to hear what you have to say. If you do 2), we will continue to get nowhere and waste precious, limited time. If 3), that’s too bad. IMHO, my loss and yours.
Entirely your call.
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By: PFesser on May 27, 2013
at 4:35 PM
Thanks Pfesser. You are truly a skilled but annoying nit-picker. Knowing that, you should understand why I have no reason to engage you. BTW, perhaps you should take up the confusion with my cousin about which plane he flew during WWII because I believe he might have flown both and no matter which, he referred to his flights across Europe as “bird-dogging”.
Oh Damn, I forgot. You can’t ask him. He’s been gone more than twenty years now. How inconvenient of him. (Did you notice my senility creeping in here?)
And I’ve forgotten what did you do during the big war.
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By: Al B on May 27, 2013
at 2:52 PM
POOLMAN…
You are 100% correct. Karen Hude, is also correct; the past counsel for the World Bank. Karen Hude is very knowledgable concerning the Federal Reserve System and the mafia world bankers.
Porch dwellers, it is time to learn some new tricks…at least learn about the bad guys tricks. They thrive on your ignorance to sustain their power. How else can they control 314 million people in America?
I understand that martial law maybe on its way, especially if public demand is made to eliminate the income tax, and or the federal reserve system.
Have you all heard that the government has bought some additional 100 million rounds of ammunition, to add to the stockpile.
I heard earlier, a month or so ago we had some 250 million rounds of bullets….add the two numbers..
We have stockpiled 350 million bullets in America? Why do we need so many bullets? Except to use against our own citizens.
We certainly do not require that many bullets to defend the nation, for we have missiles to do a lot of the dirty work. Bullets would be used for ground work in defending, or, to attack a foe. ?
Much good information…POOLMAN
Chris
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By: Chris on May 27, 2013
at 2:48 PM
Hey, Whirled – Laughed out loud at “Museum Accomplished.” Love it!
And a happy Memorial Day to you and yours…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 27, 2013
at 2:36 PM
Not to be left out…
…our 46th VP of the USA:
Dick Cheney Vice Presidential Library Opens In Pitch-Dark, Sulfurous Underground Cave
According to officials, the subterranean library will permanently house the archived records and artifacts of Cheney’s vice presidency and will include more than 2.7 million photographs, thousands of razor-sharp stalactites, 4 million documents offering a legal basis for torture, scalding-hot green smoke wafting out of the cave walls, an original manuscript of the Patriot Act, hundreds of sick and hungry cave bears, and 15,000 audio recordings from Cheney’s private meetings.
“The Cheney Museum offers a firsthand look at the life and work of our nation’s 46th vice president,” said head curator Jonathan Luddom, a 7-foot-tall blind cavern dweller with third-degree burns on his face and limbs. “From the Hall of Obfuscation, to the Pit of Yellowcake Uranium, to the interactive waterboarding exhibit for kids, this library is a stirring tribute to who Mr. Cheney is and what he believes in.”
Δ
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By: Whirled Peas Δ on May 27, 2013
at 2:27 PM
Hi all,
As along as this thread is still active, here’s a little something I ran across.
Some notable features of the
G.W. Bush Presidential Library:
– Exhibition of the best Bush effigies from all around the world
– Tastefully done oil-on-canvas painting of a nude Laura Bush
– Free “Museum Accomplished” button handed out to all visitors after making their way through just the first of 25 rooms of the museum
– A replica of Saddam’s nuclear warheads
.
😉
PEACE ~ Δ
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By: Whirled Peas Δ on May 27, 2013
at 2:20 PM
Hi, Al B – Weighing in on the “Hindenburg Issue”… Obviously, the original was “the” Hindenburg, and I am sure you are glad to be soundly brought to task on THAT!
However, in the case of suggesting that someone, or something, else has similar characteristics to that original, it is my opinion that you were correct in using “a”… Because suggesting that similarity certainly does not make that person, or thing, into “the” Hindenburg, would it?
That would be like saying that referring to someone as “a” tiresome and self-important blowhard is erroneous in its failure to distinguish the person, so described, from “the” tiresome and self-important blowhard.
But, now that I think about it…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 27, 2013
at 1:24 PM
“I’d guess that qualifies you as a Hindenburg.”
Actually, there was no “a” Hindenburg. Only “the” Hindenburg; it was unique -unlike the Aeronca Grasshopper and Cessna Bird Dog, of which they made many.
***************
I guess aircraft identification is not your game, huh?
I know, let’s have a spelling contest!
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By: PFesser on May 27, 2013
at 1:02 PM
Pfesser
If your super intelligent response suggests I’m a supercilious gasbag, I’d guess that qualifies you as a Hindenburg.
pax tecum
Al B
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By: Al B on May 27, 2013
at 12:20 PM
rofllllllllllllllll ah, james, james, james…u constantly give me chuckles. your leaps from one mis-statement to another make the non sequitors at the bridge tables in the senior care facilities sound like briliant deductions. don’t stop james. i look forward to my daily laugh. reminds me of when my kids were little and trying to prove a point they forgot by the time they got there. ty james. lolllllllllll
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By: Anonymous on May 27, 2013
at 12:12 PM
my late husband was a tanker in the philippines during WWII. he was a 90 day wonder. he served, came home, worked his tail off for us (his family) and, altho he would not have been in the military by choice, said that we have to serve our country. he never carried on about his service,never took any un necessary benefits for it, simply declared it his responsibility to defend his country. in our own ways, ther rest of us served our country doing volunteer work, knitting for the soldiers, etc. there are things we do because they must be done. period. no rewards. no brownie points.
on the other hand, if one believes that what the country is doing is really wrong, then you fight it. you don’t join it. you pay a penalty usually for that but it’s honest living.
your educated vote is the best tool you have. hatred is your worst enemy, especially for thosewho harbor it because in the long run it is the hater who loses. hate uses up the energy one needs to accomplish their goals.
the foolish nattering that some of u use constantly is about as affective as a tiny ant dashing thither and fro ’til it’s exhausted.
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By: Anonymous on May 27, 2013
at 12:06 PM
Chris, I think the main reason people cannot accept that others have MANipulated™ them, is they believe mankind to be inherently benevolent, whereas history provides the evidence that human nature isn’t naturally so. Our natural desire is self preservation and if anticipating a threat we tend to form plans to best eliminate the threat. We easily succumb to group think and feel security in numbers. Others have learned well how to corral us. Similar to James’ herding example. Most of the folks I meet watch main stream media and believe it to be news rather than the state narrative mind melding which is controlled by money that greases the gears. Psychopaths are at the helm. They need us to support their system, but insist on squeezing us in every way possible and preferably by believing it to be our choosing. There is a huge belief that our opinions and votes matter, where in the large scheme they only serve as potholes and speed bumps in this wide highway to hell. There is the call to “Come out of her, my people…”
There is a battle taking place, but the MSM won’t tell you about it. You must dig for other sources and discern their knowledge and intent. The first step is in accepting that evil does exist and can operate on an organized scale. The second is to determine to seek its source and stomp it out.
A former insider at the World Bank, ex-Senior Counsel Karen Hudes, says the global financial system is dominated by a small group of corrupt, power-hungry figures centered around the privately owned U.S. Federal Reserve. The network has seized control of the media to cover up its crimes, too, she explained. In an interview with The New American, Hudes said that when she tried to blow the whistle on multiple problems at the World Bank, she was fired for her efforts. Now, along with a network of fellow whistleblowers, Hudes is determined to expose and end the corruption. And she is confident of success.
http://www.thenewamerican.com/economy/economics/item/15473-world-bank-insider-blows-whistle-on-corruption-federal-reserve
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By: poolman on May 27, 2013
at 12:04 PM
PFESSER
I say you are correct in all you say. You just haven’t connected the last few dots to come up with A total picture.
When enough of theinformation we are barraged with comes in, ( the truth..mostly bad stuff we do not want to hear ) you will finally get the big picture on what I say.
Poolman gets it, and James appears to understand a large amount of the information.
The problem seems to me, MOSTTIMES the MORE a person is educated, it is that much more difficult to embrace any NEW information, other than that information which has been taught him or her, sometimes reaching back many decades earlier.
One of my friends has 2 Masters Degrees, one of which is in Education. I spoke 10 years ago on the dumbing down of America, and she argued till the cows came home. She felt I was not qualified to even have an opinion on the subject.
Today, with the failing of NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND, it is accepted knowledge that Public Education..and much of the private, too, has been a recent past failure, she is more inclined to at least understand what I am saying.
She argues any NEW information and eventually, sometimes as soon as a week or so, says she knows the information as fact, and wants to move on.
I laugh at her, clinging so tightly to her prison of information in her head.
I believe some can be educated and free thinkers, thinking outside the box, and some of us are self taught, being able to delineate between the truth and lies. Some of us cling to the information taught many years ago.
Some cling to the indoctrination of the schools they attended, and speak big words, and fluff them like peacock feathers, which at times say absolutely nothing. ( some on this site seem to light up at such bantering )
I do believe it is hard to break out of the…..I was taught this and I will cling to this information, because I was taught this for 60-80 years.
Chris
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By: Chris on May 27, 2013
at 11:18 AM
Al B Damned –
Stop being such a damned supercilious gasbag. You are obviously smart and well-read, such nonsense is beneath you. It’s embarrassing. Show us some of your experiences and contribute to the discussion a little.
******************
New topic: time to criticise the GOP. Super article in The Atlantic on the current GOP’s woes, the most important of which is that it is in denial: “We lost because we weren’t conservative enough” and foolishness like that.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/06/how-to-save-the-gop/309306/
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By: PFesser on May 27, 2013
at 11:07 AM
TIME OUT FOLKS!!
Please be informed that, henceforth, I am not responsible for any posts that have my name attached to them. It is all because James is now in control. He stated quite clearly that he knows how to control me and any annoying posts in my name may be the outcome. So if you are put off by anything posted using my name, James is the one to complain to.
Of course it might be too early because James will probably be too busy enrolling in the Iowa Writer’s Workshop and soon will be able to spread his mind managing technique to the whole world. And, who knows, perhaps there’s a movie script in there somewhere (you know, minds vs minds instead of minds vs computers that is more standard movie fare). Perhaps he can become wealthy and famous at the same time.
All good thoughts going your way James.
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By: Al B on May 27, 2013
at 10:53 AM
Chris (and anyone else aware), here is more insight into who and what controls us all. Except for those ‘axis of evil’ regimes, of course. Peeling back the layers…
We could always discuss the role of the Trilateral Commission, Council on Foreign Relations, and the Bilderberg Group, in shaping the current policies leading us into the control by the NWO. I think those are the three best known and most instrumental.
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By: poolman on May 27, 2013
at 10:03 AM
Morning, Auntie Jean, and another 10,996 (not including myself) Porch Dwellers – Certainly was a flurry of posting this morning! (Delete, delete, delete, delete, delete, et cetera…)
Interesting that such a small group has managed to find such common ground, and seem to consider each other endlessly fascinating and amusing – even with their fairly wide range of styles and “specialties.” Thank goodness they have each other.
I think we’ve all digressed somewhat from “politics” recently – except for Lori of the Endless Energy and Commitment (you go, girl!), and all you others who keep on top of their local issues. I think that’s wonderful. But I also enjoy hearing so many of the personal stories here; reminds me of what a broad range of experience and perspectives we can bring to each other.
Today we’re finally anticipating a seasonably warm day (and were spared getting the THREE FEET OF SNOW that descended on upstate New York and Vermont yesterday). I’ll be making cotton candy and “sno cones” for our Community kiddos, and having a long talk with my brother, the Nam vet. Looking forward to a good day – and wishing you all the same!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 27, 2013
at 8:05 AM
I fit somewhere between you two. I think the current administration is conspiring to change public discourse.
Our severe storm kept me awake, because I report these things. The legionaires like my speech, and my wife thinks I should read it. If I do, three hours of sleep will make it interesting. I’m too tired to comment further.
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By: James on May 27, 2013
at 7:43 AM
Chris – thanks for the POV. I don’t really see it as a vast conspiracy by big corps; I just see it as a natural erosion of personal freedoms as govt’s do what they have always done – seek more and more power. And it’s not that Hussein is evil or that his supporters are – they are just naive — so embroiled in the Hooray for Our Side! meme that they cannot even criticise their Boy. Hell, they can’t even SEE what he’s doing, let alone criticise it. For the record, IMHO GW Bush was worse – if that’s possible. Hardly a hardshell right-wing position, is it?
I laugh when the naifs like Aunt Liki-Liki can’t get outside the tunnel-vision of Liberal vs Conservative And The Liberals Are the Good Guys and the Conservatives are Evil. They don’t see that this unflagging party/ideology loyalty is how they have become the Useful Idiots, as Long Dong says – sort of Judas Goats for the rest of the country.
Me? I mistrust both parties and find the current leaders of the Conservatives to be as disgusting as the Libs. But, without fail I find the Cons to be more honest and willing to concede points well-made. Liberals? Never!!! It’s like arguing with your seventh-grade daughter. The only thing they can come up with is, “Well — well — you’re one of Them Damned Conservatves! SO THERE!”
Not so. Not even close. It’s not a question of right and left. It’s a question of right and wrong.
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By: PFesser on May 27, 2013
at 7:02 AM
PFESSER..
Sorry, I did not answer your comment sooner.
Your information and question just restates my opinion and that of many, much more knowledgable than myself, that we live in a police state.
The trained authorities are taught what to do, and whom to act upon. They are told who is the supposed enemy. The enemy IS whomever is a threat to the NWO. The Police and Military THINK they are serving their govt. and are actually, they serve those that are controlling us.
A friend of mine bought a cheap seat to Mexico, a few years ago. ( maybe 8 years ago ) When she got to the airport, she found that her passport had expired. She was told that she could leave the country without a problem, but, would have a tough time re-entering the U.S. She was forced to lose her ticket price and re-apply for a passport.
I told her, at that time, it appeared that “WE ARE PRISONERS IN OUR OWN LAND.”
Just before this, illegal alliens were crossing the borders from Mexico, and our border patrolman was being charged with murder, for telling the illegal drug trafficker to halt, which he did not heed, and was shot. ( he may still be in prison, for this charge ) Nothing was being done to the illegal Mexicans entering illegally, but our own citizen COULD NOT ENTER without a valid current passport.
We ARE prisoners here…in many ways…all the time being told we are FREE.
I believe many of the freedoms we once enjoyed are now a mirage.
Due to the dumbing down of Amerca, young people are unaware of our early history, and do have enough information to weigh against their lies. We all all being herded like cattle to slaughter.
Chris
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By: Chris on May 27, 2013
at 12:19 AM
Check this out.. On GMO,s and Morgellons Disease…caused from GMO’s.
This is from Hawaii. Go to the center of this comment.
The march against Monsanto is worldwide, in every major city, with arrests, etc.
Now Facebook is not allowing ANY pictures of children holding signs in the marches against Monsanto….anywhere in the world.
Monsanto knows people will react emotionally to the site of children, and will take to heart, and think about the future protection of the species.
These worldwide marches have yet to be reported in any major new media reports, in spite of the large turnouts, including the many arrests being made.
The Internet is the only source of broadcasting of this and ANY other really important stories. if it were not for the net connecting the world at a moments notice, we would not ever hear this.
It makes me wonder what else has been withheld and minimized.
We must repeal the Monsanto Protection Act.
We must repeal this law to insure the well being of the world’s future generations.
Because the mainstream news hiding this information from the public, it appears to most of the uninformed masses as such a minor issue, which is what Monsanto is counting on.
Click to access Morgellons%20Disease%20-%20Another%20GMO%20Nightmare.pdf
The same reasoning ….
“out of sight , out of mind ” was used by Bush during the Iraq War, when he restricted the photographing of our dead soldiers returning from Iraq to America.
REMEMBER…..
this way…it de-sensitized the mass numbers of Americans to the fact that OUR BOYS WERE ACTUALLY DYING.
Of course, the families grieved, but, the general public was not reminded daily of OUR losses. If our losses would have been more visual, we would have stopped the bloodshed, which also killed some 2 MILLION innocent Iraqi women, children and civilians.
Chris
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By: Chris on May 26, 2013
at 11:19 PM
So, Jean is Long Doc Dong right that you other people’s work for your blog? For shame! At least you and Al have something in common besides rank elitism and fuzzy thinking.
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By: James on May 26, 2013
at 11:11 PM
Jean, please share stories about the traps you set and sprang. Are they real or are they in another dimension.
I remember one such trap when you suggested dropping the A Bomb was a mistake and we should have sent our troops into Japan. I produced a government report with an estimate of a horrific number casualties on both sides. without the bomb.
Do you remember when you argued that the hostility of in and out groups was environmentally based and I proved that genetics played a role because mutual suspicions had survival value?
You also had some difficulty discerning the events leading to the Magna Charta. You seemed to confuse Robin Hood with something else too.
Occupy Wall Street was a howler.
There were others, and each time the trap snapped back on your face, not mine.
Do you seriously think factual disputes are decided by popularity polls? What is wrong with you? Consensus of opinion drifts further toward the progressives? My god!! With your standards, two and two could become six if a majority voted for that answer.
Tonight,you have been hit by a stupid stick.
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By: James on May 26, 2013
at 11:01 PM
Good evening Congenital Diseased Gang,
Set traps. 🙄 Good grief, Great Granny Nookie Nookie…what side of the rainbow you working tonight?
Do you still have that useless blog where you copied material from other sites and posed it as your own? That was the largest, stinkiest pile of dung since the Jurassic Era.
Aloha! Baloney! Salami! Lego My Eggo!
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 26, 2013
at 10:51 PM
Out of that dank mouth of yours, anything is possible. I was going to leave but…
Then Aunt Liki Liki had to go and make challenge. Now I’m all fired up to put it to the test.
Pfesser, you sexist bastard you. Can you picture Aunt Liki Liki in combat? 😆 Maybe as Frankenstein’s Bride with that doo. Them titties may sag low enough to count as a mastectomy.
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 26, 2013
at 10:40 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
This is not the first time I and several others have set traps that “extreme right wing believers” have walked right into. And I’m not talking about luring our wild boars out here with loaves of bread soaked in cheap wine so that they went voluntarily into the traps that tripped and locked after them. These boors continue to expose themselves of their own volition in their own words, adding to the documentation of their extensive resumes.
There are well over 11,000 followers of M&H’s. Since this is primarily a political blog, most of those people are no doubt voters. By the standard of any statistical poll, and considering the margin of error being + or – 5, every time the trio of Pfesser/akaHeather, James and/or Tex Taylor/aka Mammy/aka Long Duc Dong put up a comment, the consensus of opinion tips further and further in favor of progressives. Fortunately for us all, the vast majority of well-informed conservatives do not necessarily share their points of view.
11,000+ to 3? I rest my case.
Thank you, gentlemen, for your service to our country.
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 26, 2013
at 10:37 PM
Yes, Chris the rancor is coming from others. Al and anon for example. Al’s hostile attack on me and others was rancourous. So was anon when she accused me of being dangerous. “My” side is also holding its own and winning the nastiness battle, but the other side also has a history of frontal attacks.
You will notice most of my attacks have been reactive. I thrive in this atmosphere but I prefer civility.
Poolman and I have known each other for a long time on line, and I don’t remember exchanging any harsh words with him, though we often disagree.. He is a good man. I shouldn’t write that for fear that he be tainted. You and Poolman seem to have similar beliefs.
I felt bad that the two of you were trying to be rational while mud was flying about. I hope you keep writing here.
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By: James on May 26, 2013
at 9:36 PM
James….Where are you saying the rancor is from?
Poolman and myself,, or elsewhere?
No Ill will is meant to come from me. I love our nation, just not what is being thrown on our citizens, by our rulers..
Poolman loves his country, I am quite sure.
Is the rancor you are speaking of coming from others comments?
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By: Chris on May 26, 2013
at 9:19 PM
Gato, stories of my past and others that I didn’t tell were a warning. My determination kept me physically and financially alive–sisu if you will. Therefore speaking only for myself, I will still be around next year or maybe the year after if I choose. I have been polite to you, and I have and will continue to treat others as they treat me. You may notice that I even agreed with one of anon’s comments.
I don’t necessarily agree with all of Chris’s comments, but he makes a lot of sense. if you want a fetid swamp, Google Sistertoldjah, “Tales of the #Thugocracy;Oh, so that’s why they raided Gibson Guitar.” The feds raided Gibson Guitar in 2011 for illegally importing illegally harvested wood from Madagascar. No criminal charges were filed but Gibson had to pay $350,000.
Rival,Martin &Company used the same illegal wood and wasn’t raided or charged. The apparent difference was that Gibson donated money to Republicans and Martin & Company gave to Democrats. “…after the iRS scandal and the news that the Obama people had been targeting conservatives since 2008. if this is true, much stronger fetid winds are circulating around Washington DC than here.
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By: James on May 26, 2013
at 7:45 PM
Al Be Damned opined – “One cousin was an Aeronca Bird dog pilot flying in Europe and more than once came back with his plane looking like Swiss cheese.”
The Aeronca light observer was a Grasshopper. The Bird Dog was a Cessna.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessna_O-1_Bird_Dog
************
Grandma begged: SpankMe!
No thanks, I don’t do sex games with the aged; it’s disgusting.
And please go back and re-read my post; I believe I said women had not been in COMBAT IN THIS COUNTRY (Which, by the way, is not Israel, just in case you forgot) until recently; being a nurse, a WAC or a WAVE is not combat, is it?
…and then, after a couple of lies, tried to conflate mythological female warriors with real ones. FYI, just in case you forgot, the Amazon and Oiorpata women were myths. You really must get that Aricept, honey; you can’t tell fact from fantasy.
And nobody is in a “war on women.” Just a war on stupidity. Fortunately, for stupidity warriors, there is still plenty of work to do.
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By: PFesser on May 26, 2013
at 7:42 PM
Al B Damned
– enjoyed your extended missive. Life goes on.
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By: Anonymous on May 26, 2013
at 7:13 PM
Anon…
You are allowed your opinion. Everyone has one, but, if you follow the money trail, it leads to the real truth about who is doing what to whom.
How about Facebook prohibiting children holding signs in marches against Monsanto?
I will repeat myself for the ninetieth time, Monsanto and the Corporations OWN the Controlling stock of EVERY LARGE CORPORATION….EVERYWHERE (only 27% stock ownership in any company is required to control the business practices of ANY Corporation )
They buy up every mom and pop company everywhere, and keep the name intact….We and the rest of the world think the company is the same old one we all have been using services and products from for 50-60 years. NOT TRUE.
The NWO are the Corporation bad guys who are truly out to destroy everything on their agendas list.
See for yourself. infowars.com. Lots of other sites, as well.
Chris
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By: Chris on May 26, 2013
at 6:42 PM
Hey, Auntie Jean – Halfway through this very cold (for us) holiday weekend. HIgh of sixty-two degrees today, with 20-25 K winds. The stalwarts in our Community dutifully showed up for our “beach party” with our coolers, our beach chairs, and wearing our winter parkas… Not kidding! Once again, tradition and intention trump good sense…
As for the stinky, fetid winds circulating around this site recently, I’m just going to hunker down until it all blows over. Can’t be long now… The more the posts, and the more bizarre they get, the closer we inevitably are to some sort of (at least temporary) “finale.” Feh! Annoying, and nothing more.
Best to you!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 26, 2013
at 5:55 PM
Okay, Al B – I’m going to follow your suggestion and not bother. And, as was anticipated, the whatevers are back to talking about cellulite and other weird s***. My “trash” file is filling up rapidly!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 26, 2013
at 5:37 PM
Aunt Liki Liki
Now that’s the kind of fire in the sagging breasts and cellulite cheeks I’ve been waiting for on this absolutely fabulous blog – you go, girl! A real test and be done with all this chatter of the kitchen.
Let’s get to it.
Since we don’t stand a chance, can I pick the subject?
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 26, 2013
at 5:05 PM
Ah, the creme dela creme. A misuse of the rubber stamped logical fallacy commonly used by nags, hags and bags of unknown purpose. Well Miss Masters, glad to make your acquaintance.
Mary Masters… she’s a vegetarian
(Mary Masters, Mary Masters)
Mary Masters.. will outlive all the septuagenarians
(Mary Masters, Mary Masters)
Oh, she loves me so
She hates to be alone
She don’t eat meat
But she sure like the bone
The stench of your red herring waffles through my screen like a used French whore, Mary Masters…
😈
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 26, 2013
at 4:57 PM
Chris, you and Poolman wrote good comments. Its too bad the rancor overshadowed them.
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By: James on May 26, 2013
at 4:42 PM
I have heard of the Amazons, Jean, and the stories are likely based on fact. Some of the European mummified bodies near West China were women buried with weapons and in Siberia, I believe a grave contained a woman with a war horse.
Those people predated and may have operated around the Silk Road. Viking women were also warriors.
Jean, I don’t remember your ever winning a discussion with me. I made that claim once, and you wrote in effect “bring it on.” I waited and waited.
You are out of your league when you tangle with “these poor excuses of mankind.” Pfessor or the man of many names would wipe the floor with you. So would Rutherford.
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By: James on May 26, 2013
at 4:39 PM
Rutherford is a good man. I consider him an e friend though we often disagree politically. He also has liberal allies whom I also like. Most have largely fled for the tall grass after the scandals.
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By: James on May 26, 2013
at 4:25 PM
Amen!
Amen, Poolman to your comment on the noblest of deeds, for one man to lay down his life for another.
God says, when all is completed of one’s life “Good Work, Friend.”
God Bless You, All ! God Bless America !
May the God of All Ages Have Mercy on Us !
May God Bless America, in spite of Us All.
Happy Memorial Day to You All !
And Happy Memorial Day To All Those Who Served Us Well.
Also, We Give Tribute to All Those Who Served Us, and are now Gone From This Earth !!
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By: Chris on May 26, 2013
at 4:25 PM
Another thing, Ab. we were not defeated in Vietnam We forfeited.
General Giap, I believe said the North won the war on America’s college campuses. Another man told Ted Koppel, I think that the allies won most of the battles, but it didn’t matter. We had negotiated a Korean-style stalemate, and the Democrats abandoned South Vietnam by stopping funding. So don’t tell me we were defeated.
I wrote a speech which I am supposed to deliver at a Memorial Day program tomorrow. The American Legion head was supposed to deliver it, but the papers say I will. I need to ask about that. Most of my focus will be on WW11, not Vietnam.
Sidney, Sidney, you dirty little man. What are you doing tomorrow? Giving a speech? I thought not.
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By: James on May 26, 2013
at 4:21 PM
Al, I thought you understood that my frequencies to Vietnam were because it was “my” war and was a defining part of my life.
I interviewed WW1 veterans on up for a local history book we wrote, and I heard some stories of the Indian War. Some of them did share their adventures. The Indian fighter had freely discussed his experiences to the locals including the WW1 veteran who remembered from his childhood. The WW1 veterans I knew also shared stories.
A good friend( also my fire bombing partner) had been one of the first to scale the cliffs at Omaha Beach, and he also survived the Battle of the Bulge. His experiences were gruesome but he often talked about them. A WW11 pilot and another who had been a prisoner of war also talked.
I know about Afghanistan and Iraq because our niece, her husband, and our children’s classmates served there. We also put together care packages, and some of the troops also told stories.
Our daughter was doing a project for History Day in school. Her topic was the Holocaust. An organization put us in touch with a survivor. She had a set speech lasting less than a half hour. We talked awhile and I mentioned some of my experiences. She decided that I would understand and ditched the prepared speech. She talked about her experiences for nearly three hours, and used graphic detail.
As a result, we helped her get her story on Steven Speilburg’s oral history, and we gave her a copy for her children and grand children. She had never told them what happened and she thought they should know after her death. We remained friends until she died. She wanted our two families to stay connected.
I have discovered that if I tell one of my stories, many veterans tell theirs.
I told you before that I had unusual experiences. I was a token veteran guest on NPR’s Talk of the Nation Science Friday. The panel discussed a psychological deprograming program for returning Iraqi and Afghanistan war veterans. I was exhibit A. One of the men said I was a perfect storm. I represented the type of people they were trying to help. It wasn’t that my experiences were so ghastly. My living through the bad times with little or no support and my welcome home maximized any psychological effects I might have. They generalized my experience onto the Vietnam generation . many of whom were further damaged by the mood of the anti war segment of the country,
I also told you the atmosphere on this blog created flashbacks to the past. It is how I cope. if you don’t like my allusions, be nice to each other, especially to people who disagree with you.
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By: James on May 26, 2013
at 4:08 PM
gatodicima on May 26, 2013 at 3:28 PM
Gato:
You can go there if you want to but you’ll get heartburn because the host is a minority liberal and lets the vermin of the world walk all over him. I’d guess they’re tired of whipping him because he’s too easy and come here because they have a field day without restrictions. I’ve been thinking of posting on Jim Wright’s Stonekettle Station because he allows the vermin entry but then cuts them off at the knees and sends them packing. Though his posts get a little long, his logic and experience are unassailable and the vermin tie themselves into apoplectic knots when they can’t get their way.
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By: Al B on May 26, 2013
at 3:57 PM
Hi Congenial Gang with three exceptions,
On this Memorial Day, many people are in thoughtful reflection, others are out hunting Memorial Day bargains and others are having get togethers and barbeques.
But here at M&H the brickbat contest continues. I cannot resist commenting on SpankMe’s usual blatant sexism showing again, or more like male chauvinism as well as his provincial American Exceptionalism. I don’t remember exactly when, but in the last day or two he alluded to women being in combat for the first time here in the US, implying that only hairy-chested he-men have ever done the fighting. Throughout history there have been Women Warriors. Of course he carefully eludes his own draft dodging and therefore lack of personal experience in the service.
Cases in point, I’m sure he never heard of the “Amazon” in Greek history and mythology as related in Homer or the “Oiorpata” described by the Greek historian, Herodotus. Archeologists have unearthed evidence of “Oiorpata” a number of times in burial mounds.
And then there is Florence Nightingale, acknowledged as the founder of nursing (Red Cross?) during her work in the Crimean War. The battle field nurses in every war are far too numerous to even mention. Then there were the WACS and WAVES during WWII. Israel has had unisex conscription since the inception of that country after WWII. So there is nothing new about women in the military or even combat.
It is usually the hairy-chested he-men wannabes who do all the TALKING about doing the fighting while their sweet fair damsels in distress swoon at their heroic deeds.
With SpankMe’s vast experience and interest in S & M porn that is also a staple of his professional career on his resume, he should find this quite titillating. There is one tale about either the Amazons or the Oiorpata who cut off one of their breasts so they could draw their bows more easily and have better aim with arrows.
And so there are plenty of Women Warriors here on this blog. If those three poor excuses for manhood, want to have a “War on Women”, we’re ready for them in politics, history, science, technology and any other field of intellectual endeavor. They don’t really stand a chance except in their own self-deluded minds.
Aloha! Namaste. Shalom Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 26, 2013
at 3:53 PM
Jesus christ James. You are an asswipe. An asswipe that needs a life. Go find one. Some place else.
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By: sidney18511 on May 26, 2013
at 3:46 PM
Al, I didn’t actually control you. I influenced your behavior. As you know, northern Europeans tend to be less demonstrative than southern Europeans. They also tend to require wider interpersonal “boundries”.
An Italian visiting her teacher daughter in Sweden discovered that when she stood too close to Swedes at parties, they remained polite, but they retreated slightly to maintain their “space.” She discovered that with trial and error, she could “herd” Swedes from one side of the room to another and even to specific corners.
I learned that if I repeatedly did something irritating, people who liked or tolerated me politely rolled their eyes. To others, it was like fingernails on a black board. It became the equivalent to herding Swedes.
I have been learning more of my heritage and noticed that the mutation for blue eyes was a good way to trace prehistoric human movements etc. I often mentioned blue eyes because I am naturally enthusiastic, and to elicit a response. I once directed a similar effort toward at Finland. It also produced a response from someone who denigrated Finland. Why, she asked should anyone care about such a small insignificant country? I of course made that person’s ignorance about Finland look silly.
I expected someone to follow suit with eye color. You took the bait and actually found and quoted information about blue eyes. You exceeded my expectations, and your accidently plagiarizing Wikepedia was a bonus surprise. It was childish and beneath me, but giving elitist deep thinkers their comeuppance once in awhile is fun. Vanity can be your enemy. That was my idea of a joke, and it made me chuckle.
More later..
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By: James on May 26, 2013
at 3:38 PM
Hi, there, Mary Masters – Good name!
And who the heck is this famous “Rutherford,” and do I even want to go there…?
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 26, 2013
at 3:28 PM
My name is Mary Masters. Looking forward to seeing my credit report tough guy. You hide your name and Rutherford published his. Your straw men are looking pathetic and sad. Lonely, like you.
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By: Anonymous on May 26, 2013
at 3:08 PM
Hi, Al B – And special Memorial Day greetings to you and all your fellow vets, and thanks for all you did.
Looks like we may be in for possibly a few days of copious, and somewhat incomprehensible, “remarks” from some who feel they have gotten themselves in “control” of this blog… So brace yourself for a whole lot of “grins,” LOLs, endless exclamation points, potty jokes, snide remarks, attempts at “wit,” and so on, for a short while.
My guess is, that when they get tired of strutting and preening among themselves, congratulating each other on their brilliance and wisdom, and hoping we’ll all jump up and down and be unhappy, they’ll move along to some other venue, and give that a try.
Like a mild case of food poisoning, it can be very unpleasant, but it usually doesn’t last long…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 26, 2013
at 3:08 PM
james on May 26, 2013 at 10:23 AM – you said in a message that seemed to be aimed at me
I managed to change your behavior recently.
You are the second person to react as you did.
Really????? How?? Tell me Swami James how I changed because I’m really puzzled and might want to change back to whatever I did before.
BTW James, you seem to be unaware that this country was also in wars other than Vietnam where we got our tails kicked? There was an especially large and costly one that I recall taking place in the 1940’s in which every male member of my immediate and extended families served before peace was finally declared. All were volunteers, some two dozen, including my dad and an uncle. They served in just about all services except the Coast Guard. Most came back but two I barely knew are in cemeteries in France because they did not make it beyond Omaha Beach. And some of the assignments of those who survived might not mean much to you but, collectively, they made the difference between using English as your native tongue instead of German or Japanese. Some served in the Pacific Theater, in places like Aleutians, Solomon Islands, Guadalcanal, and New Guinea, while others found action in North Africa, and in the European Theater at Omaha Beach on DDay, the Battle of the Bulge, and the Liberation of Paris. One cousin was an Aeronca Bird dog pilot flying in Europe and more than once came back with his plane looking like Swiss cheese.
Most were in the Navy and served on the Battleship North Carolina, Destroyers Hutchins and Buck, Cruiser Indianapolis, – but not the final voyage, Carrier Saratoga and 2 jeep carriers, submarines Wahoo, Silversides, and Queenfish, and at Navy bases like Quonset, New London, Norfolk, San Diego, San Francisco, Alameda Guantanamo and Pearl Harbor.
And none of them bragged endlessly about or tried to exploit their experiences. They simply came home, got discharged, got jobs or went to school and only after most of them passed away did we get an inkling of what they went through from others who served with them. The war was essentially over when I enlisted so I escaped without breaking a sweat.
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By: Al B on May 26, 2013
at 2:52 PM
** GUFFAW ** From the behind the mask of an ANONYMOUS poster on a feckless blog. That must have been an attempt at parody. On second thought, this one is so dumb, they wouldn’t understand parody.
Anon, I’ll give you one thing. You’re so mindless you don’t even know when you’re shooting yourself in the foot.
Why don’t you provide your name and I’ll demonstrate why this Lori is such a two bit piece of shyte for good humor? How about, brave soldier? 😀 We’ll start with publishing your credit report for fun.
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 26, 2013
at 2:47 PM
In case you didn’t know, anon, you would have been suspended or at least given a stern warning on a moderated forum. You and your earlier troll charges are dripping with irony. You are fun when you get angry. Don’t ever change.
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By: James on May 26, 2013
at 2:29 PM
“What’s it all about Al(fie)?”
Temper temper, anon. You’re just jealous because you can’t win an argument. Tony Kanaan just won the Indianapolis 500. Maybe if you work really hard, you will do better too,
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By: James on May 26, 2013
at 2:20 PM
Oh for pity’s sake. How is discovering the name of a person who didn’t feel the need to hide it such a drama inducing event? It’s not like anyone sent a federal agency to see him. Why is whoever discovered the not secret of Rutherford’s name worse than the shyte James does in his relentless efforts to control and judge other people? What a two faced arse.
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By: Anonymous on May 26, 2013
at 2:04 PM
Yikes! Some folks bring pleasure when they show up. Others when they leave. [disclaimer: I didn’t originate that]
Wishing all a blessed memorial day, in whatever form or fashion it manifests in your personal realm. For all who have passed on in noble service. The greatest sacrifice we can make as humans is to lay down our life for another to live.
And now, I’ll go. 🙂
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By: poolman on May 26, 2013
at 2:00 PM
Oh fi
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By: Anonymous on May 26, 2013
at 1:59 PM
Nice work, Lori – Great work by you and your cohorts!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 26, 2013
at 12:54 PM
I believe I will. No need to scurry. I just post it on Rutherford’s blog, then answer it here. 😉 You’re the easiest of all to figure out.
Strange how not only the link but the reference was also skipped in text. Must be slipping keyboard too…
Al B.lowhard, it did not surprise me that you were on faculty at a Tier IV university – your solipsistic style reads like a substitute posturing as intellect; the mutual respect of the most lame the dead giveaway.
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 26, 2013
at 12:21 PM
The infamous MarKKKos Moulitsas. How bottom dwelling does one have to sink to not remember, “I’m numb. Screw ‘um.” Mr. MarKKKos? Numb to the deaths of Americans in Iraq hung off bridges, burned to death; not even military personnel.
A troll by the Nazi think police and rank propagandist is defined as one demanding of complete party mentality – the early stages of tyranny.
Like I said, Pfesser. There are at least two straight out of the Mein Kampf mold on this blog – not smart enough to be of much help to their cause but willing accomplices nonetheless. However, you get a large enough number of them and even a million dumb jackboots can create a formidable mob.
If memory serves, this is the same Brownshirt that attempted to have fellow leftist Rutherford outed because he didn’t succumb to their demands of ideological loyalty, Der Fuehrer NARAL.
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 26, 2013
at 12:04 PM
I failed to mention Tumblr as another up dated alternative to unmoderated WordPress blogs to check out If you haven’t already.
It’s just 2013s answer to the ever changing world of social networking sites. Instead of the long rambling – letter to the editor – ole style blogs Tumblr is more representive of the way most people around the world community with each other today. Quick precise POV sometimes accompanied by a video, picture or cartoon. ( not that M&H was any of those boring things when they were on wordpress of course lol lol )
Ok …. I’m off to have some family fun. Hope you do the same.
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By: lori on May 26, 2013
at 11:22 AM
memory tends to lay a golden patina on ‘the ole days’. we were also poor altho no one knew it ’cause we were all poor. there was nothing and no one to envy.
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By: Anonymous on May 26, 2013
at 10:51 AM
or…david vs goliath…pick the hawkest hawks and have em go at it.
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By: Anonymous on May 26, 2013
at 10:49 AM
I agree with anon’s comments about change. She might have added the expanding internet culture which is making an increasing number of people over the world interconnected.
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By: james on May 26, 2013
at 10:27 AM
Thank you for your service Al B.
Your response to Pfessor is essentially “Of course, you know this means war!” Bugs Bunny frequently quoted Groucho Marx with that line.
“Shallow thinkers” with truth defeat deep thinkers every time. Then come the angry slurs and insults. I was here before I found the other site. Honolulu Sal warned me then about the name calling. And she was right.
I managed to change your behavior recently. You are the second person to react as you did.
I’m not at war with anyone, including you.
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By: james on May 26, 2013
at 10:23 AM
chris: many good things have happened as a result of change. bigotry is now a crime and one may be charged with it…if you were a member of a minority you would have seen that big time. preschool programs have done a tremendous job of preparing otherwise totally unprepared kids for school. the glass ceiling has a major crack in it; more religions are acccording their women the resepect they deserve; there is better, altho still not good enough for me, protection for children; there is aid for battered women; meals on wheels is a major help to poverty ridden elderly; stem cell research is producing fantastic results where it is allowed and funded; there are many more innoculations which pay off majorly…like the ones against shingles and flu.dental care has gone waaaaaaaaay beyond cavities. the computer has brought every great library within everyone’s reach and if its in german, tell the computer to translate and it does. nothing is finished yet, improvement is available for everything but we make strides daily. and that’s a good thang.
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By: Anonymous on May 26, 2013
at 10:16 AM
chris: possible? anything is possible. probable? no. i think that 1- kent opened our eyes to a lot of things (my older son was there at a later time to demonstrate…i think it was the following year…so long ago): 2-people are quicker to anger and act on that anger now, partly due to the economy, partly due to more anger in general so an act like that against people would be rebutted more quickly: 3- the politicians have learned that in order to keep their jobs/power that they cannot physcially attack the protestors with any success. but i do believe that a lot of worse stuff goes on ‘behind the curtain’ and for that reason we must be vigilant and make sure we read all points of view and then work it our for ourselves. i.e. i got phone call, recorded, this morning warning that a white woman of about 70 in a blue dress was walking around in our area and she was dangerous and if we see her, dail 911 what the hell is that! is someone trying to jam up 911? it’s hard to believe anything these days.
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By: Anonymous on May 26, 2013
at 10:06 AM
gato…i couldn’t agree w/u more. wotever is ur thing, is good as long as it doesn’t hurt someone else. i’ve never been an acquirer, nor do i measure me or others by wot we have or have not and while i surely have much more than is necessary, i could (and often do) share it easily. ur rite again about wot pleases/satisfies each of us. i have two relatives which will take it wotever it is if its available. even one baby glove from no one knew who. there are things sometimes i wish i had. but its ok, really, that i don’t. lol. as a result i’m often seen as an intellectual old lady who did not keep up with the times cause i don’t know of a designer or top money making actor at the time. i don’t care is wot it is. strikes me funny. life is so much easier if u find ur own path and just chug along it. smiling as u go.
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By: Anonymous on May 26, 2013
at 9:55 AM
the costco we use has much, much better qulaity than sam’s and the people who work there love it. their cooked chickens and their bags of shrimp are far superior to sam’s. and their orchids are to die for.
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By: Anonymous on May 26, 2013
at 9:44 AM
PFesser on May 24, 2013 at 4:30 PM you posted the following: Al B. We can start over, if you wish. Clearly you are educated and have some experience above the usual; I think it would be fun to discuss some things with you – as long as the personal stuff doesn’t start. At that point, I match tit-for-tat, and I don’t lose. Ever.
My response:
Short answer: – Won’t happen.
Long Answer: – I’ve been a fan of this site almost since its inception although I usually choose not to comment. And you’re correct, I’ve had some experiences beyond the usual including a number of administrative and faculty positions in higher education that many might recognize. However, I’ve also been retired for a couple decades, happily leaving all that behind. As a former university faculty member, you should be aware that universities are among the most political enterprises in the universe. Knowing that, you can appreciate why, as a consequence of all the turf protection I’ve seen, I’ve developed an aversion to the seediness of political posturing and why I have no interest in reopening that can of worms.
Also, I have a high degree of respect for most of the posters on this site especially those for which you have shown no respect at all. I’m not sure how or why all the name calling started and I have no interest in knowing, but your disdain for the age and sex of the majority is obvious and I have no interest in trying to adjust to such an indefensible attitude. But if you are looking for approbation, you have attracted a circle of followers who have migrated to this location (think Swamp People) who are more in agreement with your stand than I would ever be. However, they have managed to pollute the site with an extravagant measure of rancor and bitterness that is slovenly at best. So, it doesn’t take a great deal of intuition to understand why the scroll wheel on my mouse malfunctions so often.
I’m already aware of your refusal to lose so I’m not about to challenge you. In truth, I really don’t care. Your attacks on people on this site and your currying of the favors of shallow thinkers on other blog sites painted your picture for me a long time ago. And, while I actually gave temporary thought to your idea, the effrontery of your final words above was the deal killer. I’m completely at ease with what I have accomplished in life so I’d prefer to enjoy whatever is left of my time. Unfortunately, your friend LimpDuckDong (sp?) is most likely scurrying around right now trying to find where I plagiarized all those multi-syllable words he doesn’t understand. After you show your winning tits and tats I’m sure he’ll set me straight.
And best wishes to all fellow veterans on this special Memorial Day
Al B
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By: Al B on May 26, 2013
at 9:33 AM
Morning friends, I thought some of you might be interested in this.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/05/25/1211718/-TX-GOP-Agrees-Texas-Will-Be-a-Battleground-State
As it says, finallllly we agree on something! Lol lol
Also too , be sure to read and participate in the comment section ! Markos keeps a tight watch on trolls which makes the space an enjoyable experience to share and discuss ideas with like minded people. Obviously there are 10000s of places like this around the web. that just happens to be one of my favorites. There are many more.
Sometimes it’s just nice to discuss politics with people who are knowledgable and interested in discussing and learning 🙂 , if indeed that is your agenda.
MIOV ! Nice reminder. That event is just lovely, every year, it never disappoints.
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By: lori on May 26, 2013
at 8:31 AM
Greetings, porch dwellers! It is Memorial Day weekend around here. There will be a televised concert held on the National Mall and some parades. Arlington Cemetery is getting the expected heavy traffic of visitors. Rolling Thunder is in town. There have been, unfortunately, some traffic accidents on the interstates approaching D.C. between two wheels and four wheels. Progress southbound on 95 yesterday was slower than a butterfly flies due to such accidents. Three solid hours to Richmond even after switching over to old Route 1. The botanical gardens in Richmond were astoundingly good medicine for whatever ails you! Return trip northbound on 95 was a piece of cake. Just wanted to remind the rest of the world that there is life beyond conspiracy theories, especially on a special set of days like Memorial, Independence, Veterans, etc. Cheers.
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By: mageen in old virginny on May 26, 2013
at 8:00 AM
An impartial observer would conclude we are lapsing toward fascism. The latest series of scandals is rooted in the government’s favoring chosen groups and harassing the non-favored people. if this practice is institutionalized without firing the perps, the day may come when conservatives use the same tactics against liberals.
The Germans did slide into Nazism without a fight. The Romans also abandoned their republic.
I agree with Penny abrams comments about “it takes a village.” Jay Leno has joked about his the neighborhood tattled to his parents when he did something wrong.
However, the society is perverting that concept into a system of youth indoctrination. Recently, a liberal commentator said we need to spend more money on schools. We don’t because parents mistakenly think they “own” their children and once they disavow themselves of that notion they will support more spending on education. That is a fascist concept;
Wars do settle disputes and change the geopolitical landscape. However, I like the “what if nobody came to the war?” poster. We know the WW1 story of how some German soldiers began singing Christmas carols and the allies joined in. Both sides declared a truce and decorated a Christmas tree. They played soccer and exchanged gifts and stories. For a time, they pretended to shoot at each other when their commanders visited.
The Bolshevics also used subtrifuge similar to how the Nazis and Flangists operated. Many of their “useful idiots” died Labor Unions are now complaining about Obamacare. They want changes or repeal because they suddenly realize they were also “useful idiots.”.
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By: James on May 26, 2013
at 6:48 AM
Recently, two people have ironically written “troll”.
I once moderated a message board, and I joined in another heavily moderated blog.
The rules included the following:
No name calling
No personal attacks
No changing the course of a current discussion. Create a new thread.
If someone breaks a rule privately contact the moderator. Don’t respond in kind.
Don’t exchange insults through private messages.
If something is presented as fact, support it with documentation..
Violation of any of these rules and some I have forgotten was grounds for suspension or banishment.
Of course, part of the charm here is there are few rules, but definitions remain the same.
The current discussion passes.
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By: James on May 26, 2013
at 6:23 AM
Absolutely, Pfesser. I don’t just think it is possible; I think it probable that fascism of some type will evolve in America, possibly in our lifetimes, and it will be met with wide approval in many blue states.
We already have a soft tyranny in many quarters, and this latest IRS scandal + the AP scandal that these mindless nitwits not only excuse but enable, is the latest proof that America ripe to be led. You watched a police state in Boston some weeks back, and the neighbors willingly complied to being marched out of their house in the name of safety. Frankly, I found that far more frightening than two idiot brother Islamists hell bent on killing Americans.
People forget that the Nazis never received but a third of the popular vote. But the Nazi party was lead by the activist posing as party zealots – this Lori and Wattle Jean remind me of the propaganda readings you can find from ’33 – complete useful idiots for the cause.
Guarantee you they would approve of a Gestapo if it were the right kind of Gestapo; once in a real position of power no problem with a federal agent kicking in your front door for not having the right political opinions.
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 26, 2013
at 1:10 AM
Chris – this just came in from a friend of mine.
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/05/annals-of-the-security-state-more-airplane-stories/276018/
As a private pilot with an absolutely perfect record, I find this quite disturbing. Are we headed toward a totalitarian regime? Read the above and YOU tell ME.
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By: PFesser on May 25, 2013
at 10:07 PM
Chris questioned: “This same action of Kent State, by our government is possible when we object to anything, coming forth in the future. Do you think? ”
I try to carefully avoid the “conspiracy” stuff, but I will say this: I believe that – in exactly the same way Germany slipped into totalitarianism in the ‘thirties, we are heading down the same road. The Internet and a much freer “free press” keep the bright light on the jackbooted thugs, and I think our chances are much less than pre-WWII Germany, but the idea that it could never happen here is probably the most dangerous meme of all.
That’s precisely what the Jews said, too. And to answer your question, yes, I think it is very possible – made all the more likely by the masses’ opinion that it is not.
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By: PFesser on May 25, 2013
at 9:48 PM
Gato noted: “If one looks at the “happiness quotients” of various cultures, throughout history and today, it is interesting to note that “happiness,” to the degree it can be measured, is rarely dependent on the amount of “stuff” people possess. ”
How very true. When I was growing up, I suppose we would be considered “poor” but we didn’t know it. Everybody around us had about the same. We had a stable family, plenty to eat, work to do in the garden and hay fields; we kids roamed the dirt road looking for compadres to share a game of softball or basketball. I was very lucky to have a quarter to spend.
Now I have more stuff than my grandkids can dispose of, but times have never been as good as they were back then.
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By: PFesser on May 25, 2013
at 9:35 PM
pennyabrams noted: “reading all this about war and what happened to people we know brings home the experience i had 7 times. my 3 kids and their 4. when they asked, “who won?” or said proudly, “we won” i made sure to tell them there are no winners in a war. it’s a very difficult concept for a little person.”
Did you ever see “War Games” – abt 1982/83?
[after playing out all possible outcomes for Global Thermonuclear War]
Joshua: Greetings, Professor Falken.
Stephen Falken: Hello, Joshua.
Joshua: A strange game. The only winning move is not to play. How about a nice game of chess?
The only winning move is not to play. The world needs to adopt my patented formula, and it would stop: any time a war is on, all national politicians on both sides enter a lottery, and the winning ten percent of them must lead a platoon into battle.
Gives a whole
newold meaning to the idea of being “decimated.”LikeLike
By: PFesser on May 25, 2013
at 9:25 PM
This Monsanto caused world delema of GMO’s is part of the Agenda of The New World Order.
They and all the major Corporations are the New World Order.
Wake Up America !!!!
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By: Chris on May 25, 2013
at 5:24 PM
Participate in person or spirit. A day against evil…
http://rt.com/news/march-against-monsanto-gmo-776/
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By: poolman on May 25, 2013
at 2:18 PM
Penny, you are right. The system should be a lot better. There is NO good reason for NOT “fixing of ALL our broken systems” .
The repairs to our sytems will, however, probably NEVER happen.
Think about all the people in even our recent past, and all the past effort that have been spent in vain.
The results have never been positive, in spite of every effort made to this point. The problems we have were addressed many time before.
I know it is hard to wrap your mind around the reality, because we were always taught , if one worked hard with good intentions, one could accomplish that which is necessary to create a better world.
One thing overlooked is the fact that we do not control that which IS.
There are those far and near who have greater influences than the majority.
Making elitists like Romney ( who makes something like $150 million every quarter from his ownership in Bain Capitol ) understand how average people live, and what their small needs are, is like impossible.
Their agenda is not that which WE the people have in mind for our lives.
They only think of themselves…no one else counts.
Absolutely ….Lots of money gives delusions of grandeur., Absolutely
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By: Chris on May 25, 2013
at 12:19 PM
You have a point, Chris, only next time it may be by drones.
Most societies are like us or want to be to a point. They want to live as we do. They play our music and watch our movies and television shows. They wear our clothing styles and they drive cars. Like many of us, they can’t get along without their cell phones, smart phones or computers.
Look at some of the One Direction fan videos. The mostly girls, even Turks or Thias, could be living in in the United States. They also communicate with each other. An amalgam of cultures is developing across the world, and they are becoming one super imposed on their native attitudes and values.
Even the poor nations want to be like us because our economic and social model as faulty as it is is the best system to send the most people to the middle class. They may hate our guts, but they want to be us.
I have been in some of those countries. We live frugally because we once had to. Now it is habit.
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By: james on May 25, 2013
at 12:19 PM
This same action of Kent State, by our government is possible when we object to anything, coming forth in the future. Do you think? Penny, PFesser, and all ?
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By: Chris on May 25, 2013
at 11:53 AM
Amen, PFesser and ditto to You Penny on the Demonstrator Comment .
The intent of the demonstrator is to save lives…That was also honorable with the intent to save lives, for our students at Kent State when they were gunned down by our own government. Chris
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By: Chris on May 25, 2013
at 11:51 AM
PFesser,
It is bad enough, the Walmarts are paying their employees little, but, also demands for lowest prices in the goods they buy to distribute, creates the situation that pays the manufacturing employees in China and elsewhere , the lowest pays on the earth. China’s average plant worker makes 99 cents an hour.
The Walmarts of the world….and all the corporations, have taken our middle class MANUFACTURING jobs to countries where the pay is a few pennies on the many dollars which we were once paid. ( which sustained our middle class lifestyles )
This practice of LOW PAYS FOR MANUFACTURING! AND MERCHANDISING, STILL makes these corporations more profits than ever before in the world’s history, with the CEO’s making record bonuses, while our country is dessimated with lack of good paying jobs to maintain middle class life styles.
The Corporations CONTINUE to demand the U.S. citizens to be the largest consumers of their products, while devasting our labour force, and making their highest profits….in history. Chris
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By: Chris on May 25, 2013
at 11:38 AM
Hi, Penny – I’m not sure what percentage of the people who “boycott” WalMart carry their commitment to the nth degree and only “buy American.” And I certainly understand that many people can only afford to shop at the WalMarts of the world, in order to feed their families. And I’m not going to suggest that people who buy chips and sodas should be buying rice and dried beans and cooking them at home, themselves. Most of them probably have neither the time nor the inclination to do that – and those who do are probably already doing that anyway. Besides, it’s none of my business what somebody else chooses to put in his or her mouth.
But one of the things that DOES frequently irk me is how we are exhorted, 24/7, to BUY MORE STUFF. We have to buy stuff, because we are a capitalist economy. (And before anyone jumps on any high horse here, to accuse me of making moral judgements, that’s not what I’m doing. I’m trying my best to just point out what seems to me to be a fact: we are capitalists, and lots of us are damned proud of that.) Our economy is based on “growth,” and “growth” requires, by definition, that we acquire more and more of everything, regardless of real “need.” Do I “need” three dozen tee shirts, or six handbags, or umpteen pairs of shoes? Of course not. And have I bought them? Of course I have… Or at least I did.
Since we are very accustomed to our particular kind of society and economy, we often tell ourselves that all societies are like us, or want to be – and there may be some “truth” in that thought. But that “truth” is relentlessly bolstered by those who make the most profit from our being so. Not all societies in history have been like this, and some are not now. We usually label them “backward,” or “developing,” or “emerging markets.” But that is only our perspective.
If one looks at the “happiness quotients” of various cultures, throughout history and today, it is interesting to note that “happiness,” to the degree it can be measured, is rarely dependent on the amount of “stuff” people possess. More often, a high “happiness quotient” is connected to stability, family and social connections, the opportunity for meaningful work, living in a fruitful, relatively predictable, and generous natural environment, the strong potential for our children and grandchildren to thrive and be healthy, and the belief that we are connected to, and embraced by, some power greater than ourselves.
We, a pair of New England WASPS, have a dear friend who was born, and still lives, in the West Indies. On the surface, our lives could not be more different. He’s a Rasta. He has a steady job for the local communications company, and his “savings account” is his fourteen goats. As he pointed out, they provide him with milk, and if he needed extra money, he could always sell one or two. I think his entire “wardrobe” could fit in one of our carry-on bags. His son, and his mother, both live within walking distance of his house. He grows most of the fruits and vegetables that he eats. He is surrounded by lush tropical foliage and volcanic mountains of great beauty. On the weekends he works in his garden, hikes the mountains, and plays dominoes. He has friends he loves, and who love him. He and his neighbors work continuously to make their neighborhood a better place to live for all of them.
So, a while ago, my husband and I were wondering, “How come we love this dude so much, and how come he seems to love us equally?” And what we have in common came to us: We are all satisfied, basically, with our lives, and we all feel that we generally have everything we need. Our needs are met in very different ways, but they are met. He does not envy us, nor wish to be like us; nor do we fantasize that we might be happier living full-time on an island in the West Indies. We’re good with where we are, and he’s good with where he is, and that’s our common bond. We respect each other, and love spending time together, even if it’s only for a few weekends a year. (I’ve tried to convince him to get a computer, so we can email, to no avail, so phone calls are it…)
If it weren’t such a cold and rainy day, I’d probably be outside grilling something, or planting something, but this is what the Universe has given us around here, today, and I’m going with it…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 25, 2013
at 11:31 AM
I would love to read old interviews. We do have notes from my great great grandmother’s college memory book from around the Civil War
. Someone wrote “Do you remember that night when we walked down to the river for an interview, and two figures stepped from the shadows? I won’t bore you with the story, since you already know. But when the evening is warm as the sun sets, think of me and that evening.” I wish I knew the “rest of the story.”
I agree too much reliance on “it takes a village” produces dependency. It does take a village of neighbors and others though.
We hired a local man and his family to help us hand weed our soy beans. He also was a Vietnam veteran who died of cancer which might have been due to Agent Orange.
We know Vietnam era veterans were mistreated, but my big mouth gave me my own private “parade.” I met a flight attendant on the plane back to the US and civilian life. We knew someone in common, and we visited so long she put me in first class so we could talk in her off time. She told of her travels, and I discussed some of my adventures.
As I left, she gave me a Disneyland balloon and wished me luck. Then, all of the passengers gave me a standing ovation. It blew me away., I didn’t know what to feel.
I tried to find her years later to thank her for her kindness. I did in 2004, but she had died of cancer around 1977.
Remembrance sunday, Once I was a soldier. on YouTube video. No one will look, and it is your loss, not mine.
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By: james on May 25, 2013
at 11:28 AM
I think Costco has changed and now is closer to Sam’s club in terms of the way they treat employees. It has been recently, maybe a little over a year, but they got rid of a lot of employees and hired new ones for less pay and offer few full time positions. They have gone the way of the rest of corporate America. My BIL went to work for them a year ago and was complaining about the requirements and conditions and lack of adequate help and training. The last shopping trip I made there I found there were not as many deals as there once were. I could match or beat prices at the much closer Kroger for food items. Some things are still a better value, if the larger quantities are desired.
I agree they were a better choice, but emphasize the were. Gas prices are generally a little better, but unless you are shopping there often, the membership fees make the prices equal or a little more. Gone are the 16 and 18 dollar per hour card and cart checker jobs.
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By: poolman on May 25, 2013
at 11:03 AM
Subject: Real interviews with ancestors in 1841
How would you like to have *first hand* interviews with your ancestors in 1841?
Real primary information…. straight from the mouths of our ancestors!
Archive CD Books has obtained an extremely rare set of records. There are *thousands* of interviews similar to the one below.
_______________________________________________________
Robert Johnson, aged 11
(Works in a tobacco factory in Chester)
How long have you been at work?
Two years and a half.
What is your work?
I turn the wheel, and pick and spread the tobacco-leaves.
Do you think it hard work?
Not at all hard.
Is it healthy?
Yes, I have always found it so. I had some swellings lately. About the neck, but I am much better.
Do you think the work you are engaged in brought them on?
No, I don’t think so.
How many hours a day do you work?
We go to work at seven a.m. and work till six p.m.
Do you work overtime?
No, never.
Do you go home to dinner?
Yes.
What wages have you?
2s. a-week. I give all to my mother for my food, clothing, &c.
Have you sufficient food and good clothes?
We have bread and butter at breakfast, and potatoes and bacon for dinner, and in the evening we have tea or coffee and bread and butter or we have bread and milk. I have very poor clothes, scarcely more than what I have on, except a shirt or two.
Is your father alive?
Yes, he is a skinner.
What wages has he?
I think from 16s. to 18s. a-week.
Were you ever at school?
Yes, at the free-school.
What were you taught there?
I learnt very little there though I was a year at school, and have been a year at Sunday-school.
Can you read?
No, not yet.
What is taught in the Sunday-school?
Spelling, the Reading Made Easy, and questions on religion.
Is your cottage comfortable?
Yes, I think so.
Have you knives and forks and a table-cloth at dinner?
No, we use a spoon and our fingers.
Is there a clock in the house?
No.
How many beds are there?
Two beds, they are in one room.
Does your father say daily prayers aloud for the family?
Yes, every night before we go to bed.
How do you employ yourself after work?
My father reads when he does not work over-time, and we walk out, if not kept at home by my father, who gives us a lesson very often.
How do you spend Sunday evening?
We stay at home; my father won’t let us play; both he and my mother often read aloud to us.
Can you read?
No.
Can you spell your name?
No, I can’t.
Are you inclined to learn?
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By: Cynthia on May 25, 2013
at 10:40 AM
Terry – I am saddened to hear about your friend who suffered from Agent Orange exposure. Many years ago, my Dad was teaching one of his classes at a local business college (in Ohio), and suffered a massive heart attack. He was kept alive until the ambulance arrived by one of his older students ceaselessly giving him CPR. He later found out that the student was a vet, who’d learned his medical skills in the Army… And he, too, had been exposed to Agent Orange. I don’t know whatever became of him, but I have never forgotten how moved I was by that, and how outraged at what had been done to him. “We” may have made him very ill… And he saved my father’s life.
Whew – I haven’t actively thought of that story for some time. This is, obviously, the perfect weekend to let it be in the front of my thoughts…
On a completely different subject (gardening!), may I recommend that you get yourself one of those little portable “garden seats,” if you don’t already have one. They are absolutely wonderful! I got myself one when I broke my foot last summer, and was in a “boot,” and then a brace, for all of June, July, and August. (Not fun…) Thought, at the time, I wouldn’t “need” it after I was healed, but now I hardly do anything in the garden without it. It weighs next to nothing, and you just plop it down wherever, and sit on it. You can even get them with little pockets on the sides for your tools. I got mine from a place in Canada called Lee Valley Tools, but most of the large gardening catalogs carry some version, or several. Give one a try, if you haven’t yet…
Not that I’m likely to be doing any gardening today. The temperature has gotten all the way up to forty-six degrees here… And still raining!
Oh, well!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 25, 2013
at 10:32 AM
but that’s not what ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ means. example: when i first lived in the virgin islands, every kid on the street or in class belonged to every adult. the youngster could be scolded for sassing or told to put his hat on or to carry this for me or given a candy bar or a pat on the shoulder…every kid…and every kid knew that (s)he was being watched over by every adult. as that changed so did the crime rate and joblessness. the kids knew they could get away with stuff they never could before. being kids, especially teens (bless ’em), they faced down authority every shot they could. the didn’t hold jobs they had worked at before because they lost respect and work ethic.
the village is responsible to set good examples, to make sure that child starts out the day w/a fully tummy, that he gets to school, etc. that’s our job as the adults. protect and encourage our youngsters.
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By: penny abrams on May 25, 2013
at 10:24 AM
reading all this about war and what happened to people we know brings home the experience i had 7 times. my 3 kids and their 4. when they asked, “who won?” or said proudly, “we won” i made sure to tell them there are no winners in a war. it’s a very difficult concept for a little person. i stuck to it. it’s true. the costs are too great. do we accede to the would-be conquerer? prolly not. but there is still no winner. even the ecology suffers greatly. i recall a poster one of my kids had on her closet door. “suppose they gave a war and nobody came?”
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By: penny abrams on May 25, 2013
at 10:16 AM
gato…re big box stores…but u notice that those who holler loudest against these big business ‘rip offs’ r the ones who consistently shop at sam’s for instance and they do it because they couldn’t affort what they’re buying somewhere else. we use costco as well but we did use sam’s before we had a costco. it was that or reduce the amount of fresh produce, meat and cleaning materials we could buy.
there are american made products which are even cheaper, and green, which my partner and a few of his friends are trying to publish in a small newsletter so buyers are aware. do people look for them? hardly.
how many anti big boxers insist on american made cars or fridges or anything else?
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By: penny abrams on May 25, 2013
at 10:00 AM
And there in nags and gentlemen, summarizes the problem with Leftism, from incorrigible kids, to failed public schools, to amorality, to complete dependency on somebody else. Teach them to be wards of the state dependent on benevolent Barack from the cradle, and they’ll grow to dependent, never weaned from the teat.
Or to put it another way, why are we surprised when we give our kids to Rome, they become Romans?
Leftism=statism=failure
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 25, 2013
at 9:56 AM
pf: u state ur point succinctly and with great logic. it appeals to those who earn ‘enough’ and resent helping anyone else. it even sounds sane to me.
there are a few salient points though that you ignore.
1- there are people who are absolutely not competent to earn enough for their family of 4; these people could work two jobs and never have what they need. there are reasons…insufficient gray matter (which applies to a helluva lot of people), illnesses, physical impairments. surely you would not allow those people to go hungry and live in boxes.
2- there are others who go thru a tuff time; personal disasters, financial decline in the country/state; a tornado that sweeps away everything they ever busted their tails for. surely you would help them get back on their feet.
3- there are people who take jobs which benefit society but don’t pay enough to live…for a family of four…and in some instances even for the one worker. i’m thinking of teaching, for instance, in poverty struck areas or doing more pro bono medical work than salaried. when a couple of my grands graduated college there were no jobs. they did volunteer work. they were more fortunate than most, ’cause we helped them financially. but there were others doing the same, living ‘at home’ and having a very tough time eating.
so we need agencies that will sort out, triage, and tend to the needy. the agencies we now have are doing a piss poor job, i grant u. there r those who will stiff the system. so if you want to say, let’s straighten out the agencies and find a remedy for those gaming the rest of us, i could…and do…go along with that. but to throw away the baby with the bath water can only make it all worse.
besides
there is the humane side…dontcha think?
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By: penny abrams on May 25, 2013
at 9:46 AM
wow…never though you would ‘voice’ my feelings, pf…but u did
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By: penny abrams on May 25, 2013
at 9:22 AM
absolutely no disrespect intended, nor felt…but the soldier alone could not accomplish all that that poem says…alone. it takes a village to raise a child and a nation to protect its autonomy w/all that goes with. let’s not over dramatize our heros, but recognize that the greatest honor we can do them is to mimic their honest devotion to duty.
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By: penny abrams on May 25, 2013
at 9:20 AM
Sorry for the spacing on the CS Lewis quote. I copied the formatting, too.
Terry W – There is absolutely nothing wrong with shopping at Sam’s or WalMart. I remember reading about ten years ago that best estimate was that those two stores contributed about 20% per year to increasing US productivity – through their low prices – thus freeing their customers’ money to be used for other things. Basic Econ 101.
For poor folk, like many here in this very poor county in rural Virginia, WalMart’s low prices sometimes mean the difference between being able to feed their families or not.
Boycott WalMart? Nonsense. Honestly, the naïveté is astounding sometimes.
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By: PFesser on May 25, 2013
at 9:16 AM
Lori, thanks for the info. Costco is about twice as far from me as Sam’s but I’m going to check it out the next time I need something I usually buy at Sam’s. I’m feeling fine except for some low back issues which I have to baby at times. Having had both knees replaced I can’t kneel so I’m having to bend over to do any gardening. It is so gratifying to see the results that it’s worth whatever I have to do to make my flower and herb gardens look good.
Weather here in St. Louis is perfect this weekend for what I need to do. Some spotty rain is forecast but I can work around that.
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By: Terry W on May 25, 2013
at 9:12 AM
Gato, You are right about honoring the living, the ones who survived. We don’t do nearly enough to make their homecoming a healing process, physically and mentally. I was happy that my brother didn’t pass the physical for Viet Nam because of something with his eyes. A dear friend and high school classmate did go. Sadly, he recently passed away and the cause was something he’d been dealing with since then – he was exposed to Agent Orange. I saw him and his wife at our 50th high school reunion and had no idea it would be the last time I’d see him. He seemed fine then but I guess it finally caught up with him. I pray my grandsons won’t have to see battle. At least it’s a voluntary option now although for kids who can’t find a job it might be a necessity.
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By: Terry W on May 25, 2013
at 9:05 AM
Terry, costo provides 82 percent of their health insurance as opposed to 42 percent from Wally and SAMs world. Costos average hourly pay is near 16 $. The other company $12. I could go on and on but I’m sure you get the point. Costo understands and values the middle class. They understand without a strong middle class in this country we alllll fail!
Enjoy your weekend hope your feeling better.
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By: lori on May 25, 2013
at 9:04 AM
Lol lol Gato I don’t pay any attention to trolls.
To each their own…. Have fun alllll! I know I am… 🙂
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By: lori on May 25, 2013
at 8:53 AM
I guess I knew that but didn’t realize Costco is better at paying their employees fairly. I do sign a lot of petitions which hopefully helps.
As for shopping I won’t be. What I will be doing is trying to tame the jungle my yard has become over the past few years when I was either recovering from chemo or knee or hip surgery. It’s supposed to be cool and just a bit of rain here in St. Louis so I’m good to go.
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By: Terry W on May 25, 2013
at 8:50 AM
Good one Poolman.
Shopping for us is an economic, not political decision. We would have to make a fifty mile one way trip to shop at Cosco. Wal Mart is only 30 miles away.
As for getting static, it won’t come from me, gato. I don’t give a dmn where you shop. its your business, not ours.
My first planted sweet corn, onions, and peas are up, and I have another pound of onion sets to plant. I’m tired and its muddy–a good combination.
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By: James on May 25, 2013
at 8:31 AM
C.S. Lewis on the crusade against WalMart: (not really, but it’s appropos)
“Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good
of its victim may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live
under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies.
The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may
at some point be satiated, but those who torment us for our own good
will torment us without end for they do so with the approval
of their own conscience.”
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By: PFesser on May 25, 2013
at 8:30 AM
HI, Terry – Many people feel that Sam’s and Walmart’s treat their employees like garbage, and so choose not to support them. (I am among those who feel that way.) Fortunately, we have a nearby Costco, as well, so that’s where my “big box store” money goes. Besides, Costo has really good stuff, especially their “Kirkland” store brand, and Walmart and Sam’s tend toward lower-end goods.
(And my finger is already hovering over my Delete button, in anticipation of the inevitable rebuttals, and perhaps another “lecture” about minding my own business… Of course, where I choose to shop is PRECISELY, and literally, “my own business”!)
Hope you have a nice holiday, shopping or no shopping!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 25, 2013
at 7:55 AM
Why not shop at Sam’s or Walmart? I must have missed something.
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By: Terry W on May 25, 2013
at 7:47 AM
Hi, again, Lori – Interesting remarks on the flawed wisdom of the “intelligentsia” and the “academics,” especially from someone who so proudly presents himself as being one…
Evidently not even a holiday weekend can be allowed to go by without a “lesson”!
Hope you enjoy yours – the holiday, not the lesson – where you are…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 25, 2013
at 7:38 AM
Yikes Gato! I remember many many of those kind of summer holiday weekends. I have spent most of my life as a Yank! Lol lol
Although a little cloudy this morning it’s meant to be warm all weekend here. But no matter I hope you have a wonderful weekend doing exactly what you want to be doing. Xo
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By: lori on May 25, 2013
at 7:38 AM
Good reminder, Lori… Although it is FORTY-TWO DEGREES, and raining, this morning here in New England, so I’m not sure how much picnicking we’re gonna be doing today… Grrrr….. Maybe just curl up in front of the wood stove…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 25, 2013
at 7:27 AM
lori – Here is what Thomas Sowell, world-renowned economist, has to say about the silly crusade against Wal-Mart:
The Crusade Against Walmart
THOMAS SOWELL (2005.05.09 ) POLITICS
The latest liberal crusade is against the Wal-Mart stores.
A big headline on a long article in the New York Times asks “Can’t A Retail Behemoth Pay More?”
Of course they can pay more. The New York Times could pay its own employees more. We could all pay more for whatever we buy or rent. Don’t tell me you couldn’t have paid a dime more for this newspaper. But why should any of us pay more than we have to?
According to the New York Times, there is a book “by a group of scholars” due to be published this fall, arguing that Wal-Mart has an “obligation” to “treat its employees better.”
This can hardly be called news. Nothing is easier than to find a group of academics — “scholars” if you agree with them — to advocate virtually anything on any subject. Nor is this notion of an “obligation” new.
For decades, there has been lofty talk about the “social responsibility” of businesses or about a “social contract” between the generations when it comes to Social Security. Do you remember signing any such contract? I don’t.
What all this pious talk amounts to is that when third parties want somebody else to pay for something, they simply call it a “social responsibility,” an “obligation” or a “social contract.”
So long as we keep buying this kind of stuff, they will keep selling it.
In order to make such demands look like more than just the arbitrary notions of busybodies — which they are — some of these busybodies refer to the official poverty level, as if it were something objective, rather than what it is in fact, simply an arbitrary line based on the notions of government bureaucrats.
According to the New York Times, Wal-Mart’s average employee earns an income that is above the poverty line for a family of three but below the poverty line for a family of four. What are we supposed to conclude from this?
The fashionable notion of “a living wage” is a wage that will support a family of four. And, sure enough, the New York Times finds a Wal-Mart employee who complains that he is not making “a living wage.”
How is he living, if he is not making a living wage?
Should people be paid according to what they “need” instead of according to what their work is worth? Should they decide how big a family they want and then put the cost of paying to support that family on somebody else?
If their work is not worth enough to pay for what they want, is it up to others to make up the difference, rather than up to them to upgrade their skills in order to earn what they want?
Are they supposed to be subsidized by Wal-Mart’s customers through higher prices or subsidized by Wal-Mart’s stockholders through lower earnings? After all, much of the stock in even a rich company is often owned by pension funds belonging to teachers, policemen and others who are far from rich.
Why should other people have to retire on less money, in order that Wal-Mart employees can be paid what the New York Times wants them paid, instead of what their labor is worth in the marketplace? After all, they wouldn’t be working for Wal-Mart if someone else valued their labor more.
Nor are they confined to Wal-Mart for life. For many, entry-level jobs are a stepping-stone, whether within a given company or as experience that gets them a better job with another company.
Think about it: What the busybodies are saying is that third parties like themselves — who are paying nothing to anybody — should be determining how much somebody else should be paying those who work for them.
It would be devastating to the egos of the intelligentsia to realize, much less admit, that businesses have done more to reduce poverty than all the intellectuals put together. Ultimately it is only wealth that can reduce poverty and most of the intelligentsia have no interest whatever in finding out what actions and policies increase the national wealth.
They certainly don’t feel any “obligation” to learn economics, out of a sense of “social responsibility,” much less because of any “social contract” requiring them to know what they are talking about before spouting off with self-righteous rhetoric.
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By: PFesser on May 25, 2013
at 7:22 AM
gato@9:15 – Well spoken. One of my favorite quotes of all time comes from the WWII Supreme Allied Commander, Dwight Eisenhower:
“I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity…
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.
This world in arms in not spending money alone.
It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.
The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities.
It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population.
It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals.
It is some 50 miles of concrete highway.
We pay for a single fighter with a half million bushels of wheat.
We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people.
This, I repeat, is the best way of life to be found on the road the world has been taking.
This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.”
Dwight David Eisenhower, 1953
The whole speech, which is not very long, is at:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9743.htm
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By: Anonymous on May 25, 2013
at 7:15 AM
Found the following statements whilst web surfing. Tried but did not get the name of the author. However, the meaning made sense to me. Exactly perfect for Memorial Day.
“The fallen will be remembered. All of us, whether we knew any of the fallen or not, are bereaved. We remember them and miss them not just because they died in service to their nation and the principles it is founded upon, but because they lived with their own joy in service to humanity. It is said that the more special someone was the longer they will be missed and remembered. They were, and are, all very special and we will remember them always.”
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By: mageen in old virginny on May 25, 2013
at 7:11 AM
Good morning friends!
Don’t forget as we shop for our holiday picnic supplies this weekend to shop COSTCO instead of SAMs club or Walmart!
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By: lori on May 25, 2013
at 6:34 AM
I’m moved. Thanks for the good thoughts for everyone who served. I’m up now fulfilling another job as a storm spotter. One of the best feelings in the world is being alone in the middle of a strong storm.So far,there is no tingle up my leg or hair standing on end. i get nervous when that happens.
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By: James on May 25, 2013
at 3:35 AM
Keep fighting Chris! Here’s some more ammo. This guy really tells it like it is:
Maybe enough folks are getting the big picture. Maybe.
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By: poolman on May 25, 2013
at 1:43 AM
Hinted? Hell, I didn’t hint. I told them you should have paid royalties to borrow others information and claim it as your own, lightweight. Good to see you’re still perusing a real blog, however. Not this bunch of sheeple.
Now the next time you attempt to take James to task, who by the way has a real dry wit that you aren’t smart enough to pick up on, you better be using your information or we’re going to stomp your idiocy again.
Busted. Flat as a pancake.
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 24, 2013
at 9:43 PM
That’s beautiful, Cynthia… I think I addressed that myself, in my own way, in my just-sent post.
War sucks, IMHO. It’s just not the kind of activity the Universe wants us to do, ever. A total waste of lives, resources, and the best parts of our souls. We cannot kill others of our kind without killing a bit of ourselves, and we all know it, whether or not we admit it. And unless every single one of us is willing to put our lives and souls on the line in the way we ask our soldiers to do, we will never know what it means to do so.
Wishing you and all the wonderful porch dwellers here a thoughtful and meaningful weekend. It’s a joy for me to share this space with you all.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 24, 2013
at 9:15 PM
Oh, Auntie Jean… Maybe the fact that the weather around here is so cold and “unseasonal” (a mere forty-seven degrees as we approach this designated first weekend of summer in New England) is making me feel a bit wistful… My heart went out to James… Maybe my head, and so many of your wise warnings, told me I shouldn’t, but my heart sent me there. And so I went.
My brother (also named James, interestingly enough) is a Nam vet, too, and this is a part of his life he’s never been able to share with any of us, even though we’ve always been a very close family… He was “only” on a Navy destroyer, off the coast, lobbing bombs from a distance, and saw hundreds of Vietnamese – real people – running down the hillsides in terror from what he’d been ordered to aim at them. He’s still a little deaf from loading those bombs. I think it was the worst thing that ever happened to him, and it changed his life forever.
We have so little idea of what our wars do to the people we send to enact them… They come back, having seen and done things most of us could never imagine seeing and doing, and we give them so little help when they return. If there is anything we might do this coming weekend, it would be to remember that.
Memorial Day is not for the dead. We trust they are at peace. It’s for the living among us, who need our understanding, our love, and our help.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 24, 2013
at 9:05 PM
James – to you, and those like you, who served, and especially to those like my childhood friend Joe’s father, Joe Senior – who tells me he hasn’t had a single night without nightmares of Omaha, Bastogne or other places he served and was wounded – since 1945.
Happy Memorial Day
And thank you, from those of us who served, those who did not, and from the women, who – until VERY recently – of course never served in combat at all.
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By: PFesser on May 24, 2013
at 8:45 PM
Cynthia –
And when the war is unjust – or wrong – it is the demonstrator, not the soldier, who saves the lives of thousands of soldiers
Who is his real best friend
By keeping that soldier’s government – which does none of the fighting –
From throwing his life away
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By: PFesser on May 24, 2013
at 8:33 PM
James… Let the Universe hold you in her arms, and bring you peace. She will. I promise.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 24, 2013
at 8:32 PM
It is the soldier, not the reporter,
Who gives us the freedom of press.
It is the soldier, not the poet,
Who gives us the freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the campus organizer,
Who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the soldier, not the lawyer,
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the soldier, who salutes the flag,
Who serves under the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag
Who allows the protester to burn the flag.
Charles M. Province
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By: Cynthia on May 24, 2013
at 8:08 PM
Congenial Gang,
I hope some of you will take a few moments of quiet reflection this Memorial Day Weekend. And I’m not talking about the flag wavin’, gun totin’, rah-rah boys who never served in the Armed Services or saw combat.
Memorial Day is significant for me as just that. My brother enlisted and was in WWII for three years in North Africa and Sicily. He was wounded in Sicily by shrapnel in the leg once and sent to a MASH type field hospital for three weeks and then sent back to the front lines again. I have all his military records as kind of a historical chronology. After all these years, I can still do the math with no typos.
After 387 front line fighting days, he was killed on the Anzio Beachhead in Italy on May 23, 1944 at the age of 24.
Aloha! Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 24, 2013
at 7:31 PM
Troll
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By: Anonymous on May 24, 2013
at 7:30 PM
anon, we went through that years ago when I was here. The nephew wrote that by the accepted definition I was not a troll. People like you were by personally attacking me.. For instance, we were having a cordial “conversation” and you interrupted the mood….like a troll.
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By: james on May 24, 2013
at 5:41 PM
IRS Scandal Conservatives Plan To Starve the Government Pays Off
“The more we learn about the IRS vetting of conservative groups, the less it looks like an abuse of power than something much more mundane—a beleaguered agency with too few resources to handle its work-load.”…
…“I’m afraid Seib is right. As it’s currently playing out, the scandal probably is sapping confidence in government. But how we got to this point is no accident. It was the plan all along.”
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/113280/irs-scandal-conservatives-plan-starve-government-pays
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on May 24, 2013
at 5:39 PM
I don’t hold grudges, gato. As I told someone here before, I get flashbacks when people like Al B attack, and then, I am fighting ghosts besides the on line attacker. It energizes me.
I wouldn’t want to trade places with you either. I have adapted though I fixed myself with duct tape and electric fence wire, and I don’t hide much. I am not a victim. i am a survivor.
.
I belong to Vietnam Veterans of America and one of my letters to the editor was printed. James is my given name. I don’t hide behind fake names.
I don’t drink, smoke or take drugs. I use storm chasing, music and learning new things instead.
I don’t like being around many Vietnam veterans because it feels like a pity party sometimes. I wrote a speech for the American Legion’s Memorial Day service but I won’t be there. Our daughter and son in law need us more.
I discovered Gato beat me to it, with a definition of sisu but you might as well read this too.
Al B, sisu is a Finish concept which roughly translated means perseverance or tenacity.
Someone wrote “it is the inner fire that Finns call upon when strength seems spent. Because of sisu, we find it possible to do almost anything except betray our honor or compromise our ideals. Sisu is extraordinary endurance.” its more like a feeling than a word. Our family has it.
Sisu and my stupid promise after the girl and her father died to live a good life so their lives would have meaning carried me through many rough spots.
If you are really curious about the culture, or at least the music, Google Sofia Jannok and Kristian Anttila Thunder of Three Heavens YouTube video. Sofia is a Sami and Kritian is a Finn living in Sweden. Sofia is wearing a sun ring. It is a symbol of the sun and moon.Her family still herds reindeer. Her song Irene also on YouTube is a joik, one of the oldest music forms in Europe.
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By: james on May 24, 2013
at 5:36 PM
Trolls will be trolls. Don’t feed them. Word.
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By: Anonymous on May 24, 2013
at 4:47 PM
Hey, Al B – Maybe I should have looked up Alta Vista, and it’s Friday night of a designated “holiday weekend,” (not that means too much to me, except that my brother is a Nam vet, and I do want to remember that)… And I haven’t looked it up.
No worries; I’m not planning on giving much of anything. I do enjoy your posts, and hope you will not give up, either. Like all of us, I’m sure “James” has his own issues, and has to do his own homework. I’m sure he’s doing his best. If I see a moment when I can be kind, I will be. I’ve often been accused of being a Pollyanna… But, know what? Being so has always served me well, for almost seventy years, so I’ll go with that.
I’d rather be me than “James,” any day. I’m grateful that I am tasked to deal only with my own demons… The Universe asks no more of me – and no less – than that.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 24, 2013
at 4:37 PM
Al B – We can start over, if you wish. Clearly you are educated and have some experience above the usual; I think it would be fun to discuss some things with you – as long as the personal stuff doesn’t start. At that point, I match tit-for-tat, and I don’t lose. Ever.
Interested in exploring a little, or want to bag it?
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By: PFesser on May 24, 2013
at 4:30 PM
chris. u really believe all that kakabali? really? wow. logic? honey, i think u don’t know the meaning of that word. but i gotta give u this; u constantly amaze me. (shaking head and chuckling)
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By: penny abrams on May 24, 2013
at 4:01 PM
gatodicima on May 24, 2013 at 1:43 PM
Confession time.
I knew about the lowercase definition. But I was tweaking James a bit to see how he’d respond. As you probably know after reading his meandering posts, James is totally devoid of humor. He neither senses it in the writing of others and nor uses any in his posts. Obviously, it’s not in his genetic makeup.
I feel that life is often just too funny to see nothing but the bleak side. On the other hand, I have less time to look here for humor anymore. I have plenty to do to keep busy and at my age it helps forestall the inevitable. I thought the reference to Alta Vista might be a tip off that I’m not exactly a stranger to computers and search engines.
Thanks for your response and keeping up the tradition of people of action defending this site. Many of us here have been through much of what you are experiencing here and appreciate your contributions. Keep up the good work.
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By: Al B on May 24, 2013
at 3:37 PM
Penny,
The IRS is aquasi-governmental agency. It is not actually a part of the U.S. government. Their main office is in Puerto Rico. They picked that location intentionally. They also cannot be audited. What part of our government has set itself up for not allowing for self or outside audits by Congress?
We know nothing about what they take in yearly, or every 10 years, or NEVER.
They only report the Dollar amount they say they spend every year. In that light, the amounts reported, is totally irrevelent.
The IRS is otherwise intertwined with our United States Treasury Dept, along with the Federal Reserve System. The Federal Reserve System is ALSO not part of our government. They are private bankers..non govt affiated, but, regulated by laws…lobbied by themselves.
So basically, these two entities the IRS and The Federal Reserve System are NOT part of our government.
The taxing system was set up to fund the private Federal Reserve banks, after the FRAct of 1913. The income tax law was passed 6 months before, in anticipation of funding their banks.
We should repeal both laws…
This country will NEVER be solvent, as long as we pay ousiders to print our money, and THEN pay them to borrow from our own tax collected monies.
I would say this is the greatest rip off of the past 200 years.
Evidently, I am not the only one knowing this, as the buzz is becoming an outcry and scream.
We are one hundred years into this lie…and rip-off.
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By: Chris on May 24, 2013
at 1:55 PM
Hi, Al B – I found “sisu” on Wikipedia (lower case, not in caps), where it is described as a word of Finnish origin, loosely translated in English to mean “having guts,” or “grit.” Also implies not just momentary courage, but long-term commitment to hold to one’s position or principles “against all odds.” No quotes needed here, because this is my own summary. So when somebody says he has “a truckload” of it, maybe that’s what he’s talking about.
Somewhat helpful…?
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 24, 2013
at 1:43 PM
James on May 24, 2013 at 6:30
A few years back I started seeing a lot of cars with bumper stickers or rear window signs with SISU on them and wondered what that was all about. I thought it might be Southern Iowa State University or Illinois or Indiana or Italy or or Iceland or something like that, so I searched Alta Vista to find out. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much there to get excited about so I left it “as is”. Of course I’ve been known to be ill informed before but, luckily, there’s always someone here to remind me of my shortcomings.
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By: Al B on May 24, 2013
at 12:32 PM
Penny abrams,You are right. We probably don’t read the same news. If you relied mostly on the main networks, you would not understand what I am writing about. Check the Drudge Report.
One link is titled Holder OKd seizure of Fox Reporter e mails”
Another is “IRS Official on paid vacation after taking the fifth.”Directly involved in IRS target letters show,”
“Strassel ‘conservatives became targets in 2008,” “Pelosi Blames Bush” “Holder to investigate…Holder.”
Betsy’s Page “Cruising the Web” More of Holder.
The IRS was also targeting parents who adopt children.
Scott Johnson published a letter about a part of the IRS regulation law that the agency may have broken.
:Pundit & Pundette “oops; Lerner may have blown invocation of the fifth
What is your problem with the logic? People break rules at work and lie about it. They should be fired or otherwise punished.
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By: James on May 24, 2013
at 10:32 AM
Gato, I know it wasn’t intended as a challenge but it will be welcomed as one. The conspiring has already started, I’m sure. You can tell me I’m right later – LOL! 😉 Love your spirit, lady.
Have a great weekend!
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By: delurkergurl on May 24, 2013
at 10:15 AM
Hi, Penny – I think there are just so many insults and “hurt feelings” twirling around that those immediately concerned are just going to have to sort it out themselves. Your best move is probably to just step aside and let them go at it until they’re done…! No cookies required – and that leaves all the more goodies for you and me…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 24, 2013
at 10:02 AM
Hi, Lurker – It certainly wasn’t meant as a challenge; just in reply to something somebody else said. (I know – any reply whatsoever carries a certain risk!) Agreed; ignoring is the best policy… I keep reminding myself of that, and I think my success rate IS improving…
Gotta say, though, that whenever someone tries to rub my nose in something, they can only succeed if I’ve already let my face get two inches from the mud!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 24, 2013
at 9:58 AM
Gato, you said “I doubt that you, or anyone here, will ever really be able to “control” the ongoing dialogue; there are just too many participants to allow that to happen for long.”
Please don’t issue such a challenge. They WILL take you up on it, with pit bull intensity. They will take bizarre pride in it and brag about it and rub your nose in it. It will reflect badly on them as the bullies that they are, but they don’t care and it won’t minimize the wreckage.
Please just don’t even read them at all. They’ll continue to do what they do but at least they won’t enjoy it as much.
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By: delurkergurl on May 24, 2013
at 9:38 AM
gato…got any cookies? let’s give james a cooky and sit him in his own corner and go on in peace
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By: penny abrams on May 24, 2013
at 9:27 AM
oyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy james………….what? WHAT ???
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By: penny abrams on May 24, 2013
at 9:25 AM
re james: somebody help me here. i did have to struggle w/courses in logic in college, i did not shine in that area. but i feel like i’m merrygoround when i read james’ messages. what?
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By: penny abrams on May 24, 2013
at 9:22 AM
No problem, Al B – I’m only as “mixed up in this” as I let myself be. (I didn’t exactly “swound” at your eye color info, no offense, but I’m invariably impressed with your posts, linked or not.)
It’s stuff like the know-it-all’s picking of any available nit that inspired me to tear up my season pass to the “Six Farts Over Kentucky” theme park…!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 24, 2013
at 9:21 AM
james…i suspect we do not watch the same channels or listen to the same stations or read the same papers
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By: penny abrams on May 24, 2013
at 9:20 AM
Well I tried to post a specific diary but it won’t let me. So scroll to the last page and then page 5 . Enjoy!
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By: lori on May 24, 2013
at 9:17 AM
Terry , all, this will explain what battleground tx is all about! Don’t forget to join us on twitter and Facebook! http://battlegroundtx.com/
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By: lori on May 24, 2013
at 9:00 AM
Response to: Gato on May 24, 2013 at 6:34 AM
Sorry to get you mixed up in this mess but I know little about eye color and was trying to find something simple on the net that would explain it. Mostly I found stuff that went into voluminous detail so I tried to find a site that was a bit simpler. I’m sorry I couldn’t find anything that talked about the inherent greatness of having blue eyes or fair skin, which seems to be the fixation of one poster on this blog. With the exception of my wife, I don’t always meet hordes of people with these characteristics who fill the bill.
However, I was about to relearn an important concept, i.e., self-education on the Internet can be chancy (not a great revelation there). But the biggest problem is that “he-who-knows-all-about-everything” immediately picked at me and hinted at plagiarism because the link I included for the site was cut off in the transmission to WordPress. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize it because I don’t spend an inordinate amount of time going over my own posts. But I’ll be more careful next time in order to avoid further puzzlement over responses.
Al B
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By: Al B on May 24, 2013
at 8:34 AM
gato, I never wrote that you insulted me, though you did imply that I was “sick.” I found Al B personally insulting. Otherwise, you were cordial to me. Arguing with you was a pleasant experience.
Look back at the archives. There was a time when several of us so virtually controlled the discussion, that a character named Juneau Joe made multiple posts often with links to as he explained maintain a liberal presence. Someone wrote they wished he could be stopped, but I defended him.
Whatever happens, here or elsewhere, I always have a good time. I hope you enjoy yourself too.
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By: James on May 24, 2013
at 7:56 AM
James – I am not sure what you found so personally insulting in any of my remarks directed to you, but that’s really not my concern. As you have surmised, I have chosen to depart from a particular area of the “kitchen.” Fortunately, many other available “rooms” still remain, and I will frequent the ones I choose, as may we all. I doubt that you, or anyone here, will ever really be able to “control” the ongoing dialogue; there are just too many participants to allow that to happen for long. If a few posters end up chatting primarily only with each other, so be it. Enjoy!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 24, 2013
at 7:39 AM
Oh sorry Terry, I should be more clear.
Thanks Gato for the catch!
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By: lori on May 24, 2013
at 7:38 AM
Hi, Terry – BG stands for “Battleground,” and the website is http://www.battlegroundtx.com. Check it out; they’re on the move! (Info from Lori…) Maybe even send them a few bucks, if you’re so inclined.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 24, 2013
at 7:21 AM
In other words, gato, if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. That happened once before . Several of us virtually controlled the comments because folks like you left in disgust.
And another thing, during the time when people threw “troll” at me, Richard or whomever the manager of this site is named, wrote that by the standard definition, they not I were the trolls because they were personally insulting me.
I once moderated a message board and knew the rules.
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By: james on May 24, 2013
at 7:18 AM
You write about BGTX and I’m assuming the TX is Texas but can’t figure out the BG.
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By: Terry W on May 24, 2013
at 7:16 AM
anonymous,
here are two more stories since you are so interested. Someone and I were joking about explosives after I told him how we blew out the bottom of a lake to revive a spring. Someone like you told me he finally had me. He was reporting me to the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
I called their office and told about our “conversation” They told me to check with the FBI, so I did. The FBI was bemused and told me to check with the Department for Homeland Security. The district number they gave me was wrong. I checked Information and called the number they gave me. It was the phone number of a safe manufacturing company in California. That was why “heck of a job Brownie” didn’t surprise me.
FEMA told us the definition of flood – prone was being changed, and many of us would be required to buy flood insurance whether or not we had recently been flooded. I took issue because highways and high railroad trestles acted as dikes. FEMA reps replied it didn’t matter. They were not dikes. Therefore, we had to buy flood insurance, though many of us had not been flooded in over fifty years.
I was polite because we were dealing with errand boys and girls who were tasked to answer all of our questions before leaving. I waited until developers and others who would suffer real financial hardships with the new rules had their say.
Then, I began again. People left,but still we talked. Someone told us he was locking the building but we could get out through the handicaped door. Only I heard it. So, we were locked in and I didn’t tell the FEMA people how to get out. We wandered around for over twenty minutes before they found the door.
After our flood, the FEMA district officer admitted I had been right. The flood didn’t operate as they had expected.
That, like my other exploits are common knowledge. I didn’t say I had high moral standards, but I do have standards.In some ways, I have also defeated you in previous political arguments and unlike you, I don’t initiate personal attacks. I do respond to them.
I also found looked up Al B’s explanation in Wikipedia and found it as Pfessor did.
A local newspaper had an article about red hair yesterday. The writer’s discussion was almost exactly what I had learned about blue eyes.These things provide a way to infer our prehistoric history.
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By: james on May 24, 2013
at 7:06 AM
gato, I treated you with respect as you did me. Surely you recognize the difference between our discussions and Al B’s failed malicious attempt to humiliate me. You would have reacted as I did.,
Just so you know, you have lost the argument, so far. You failed to counter my documentation and tacitly admitted I was right when you wrote that it didn’t matter if there was wrong doing, because it didn’t affect you and me individually.
And another thing. “you” collectively send people like me into unusual situations. And yet, if we do our jobs and return, you don’t want to hear what we did. You implied I should be ashamed.
Combine that with your curious detatchment from events which affect the country but not immediately you, and I wonder who is sicker.
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By: james on May 24, 2013
at 6:39 AM
HI, Al B – Any visit to certain amusement parks “under the porch” here, however brief and/or well-intentioned, may quickly cause an irritating skin rash, tinnitus, nausea, and projectile vomiting – nothing too serious, but hardly worth the bother. Previous visitors generally recommend avoiding the area entirely, if at all possible!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 24, 2013
at 6:34 AM
Al B, i have a good vocabulary. You might look up sisu.I inherited a truck load of it..
penny abrams, You confuse JME. I was sharing information we see on the news.Haven’t you watched the same shows i have? So, why do you think I have information you do not have? Lois Lerner took the fifth. Now, she has been suspended with pay. Why do you suppose that happened?
One can be incompetant or immoral within legal bounds. We don’t know who, if anyone has broken laws, but by the IRS’s own adminission they treated citizens unequally,.We do know they have broken an implied pact of fairness.
Such people deserve to be fired at the very least so others or they don’t repeat their transgressions. Obamacare, as I mentioned will involve the IRS even more than it is. The current culture leaves more room for mischief.
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By: james on May 24, 2013
at 6:30 AM
I don’t claim to know everything, Al B Damned, but the few things I have to look up, I have the honesty to use quotes around them. You should, too; otherwise those less generous than I might suggest you were trying to plagiarize and claim the information as your own.
You wouldn’t do that, right? Think of the seventh-graders! Why, Gato nearly swounded at the mere sight of your, er…erudition!
“Never lie to the Internets” – Ancient Chinese proverb, and all-round good idea.
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By: PFesser on May 23, 2013
at 9:55 PM
Here almighty know-everything-in-tedious-detail-person, I’ll save you some trouble.
They’re probably simple enough to understand by the average reader.
http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/V/Vision.html
Click to access eyecolor.pdf
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By: Al B on May 23, 2013
at 9:42 PM
“the view that eye color is polygenic, determined not only by the pigmentation of the eye’s iris, but also by the scattering of light by the turbid medium of the stroma”
… Rayleigh scattering in the turbid medium of the stroma. Wikipedia – “eye color”
“The iris pigment is melanin, and for darker eyes, the color varies from light brown to black, depending on the density of melanin in the epithelium (located on the back of the iris)”
In humans, the pigmentation of the iris varies from light brown to black, depending on the concentration of melanin in the iris pigment epithelium (located on the back of the iris) Wikipedia – “eye color”
Yep, you’re right, Gato – Al Be Damned is a veritable wellspring of original information, sure enough…LOL. Want me to find the rest of his little missive?
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By: PFesser on May 23, 2013
at 8:07 PM
Per James high moral standards, it is time to report his multiple confessions of firebombing. Society is at peril if we do nothing, as he has taught us. The authorities will have no diffulty identifying him with the detailed stories he has told and the cybler footprints he has left.
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By: Anonymous on May 23, 2013
at 7:28 PM
WONDERFUL, Lori! I’m thrilled… We who live in a decidedly forever-blue state have it easy. You’re doing great stuff!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 23, 2013
at 3:40 PM
Hey, Al B – Let’s both be careful… I have also been alerted, privately, to watch out for “James,” with a warning that “the worst is yet to come.”
And, bingo, there came some of it, almost right on cue: The relishing and defense of the firebombing, and, in particular, the hideously graphic description of a girl and her father burning to death in a truck… Sounded like an excerpt from a “Dexter” script – although I think even the fictional Dexter would have shown more remorse.
And he thinks you have “a crush” on him…? Run, do not walk, in the opposite direction… That’s my plan. This is not a healthy puppy.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 23, 2013
at 3:39 PM
Sorry James. Actually I once had an interest in Ophiology. That’s the only reason your random maundering catches my eye.
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By: Al B on May 23, 2013
at 3:36 PM
james…the irs, fbi and cia have had all the access they want to our medical histories since congress passed the patriot acts 1 and 2. if u read what u sign at ur doc’s office, u’ll see that if the office does not release ur medical history when asked to, they will go to jail. the congress, my friend, did that under g.w. bush. i suspect they had access before that but the (hilariously named) pat. acts only made it ‘legal’.
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By: penny abrams on May 23, 2013
at 3:27 PM
Dreams do come true Penny! LOL
BGTX is just in its infant stages. We already have surpassed GOP Texas on social media sights and we are barely 90 days old!
Face to face one person at a time we are making a difference and the good people of Texas are as hungry to talk about it as we are to share information. Just last night as I was taking a cab to dinner our Cabby started a conversation with me as they often do to boost their tips. He ask how I pass the time now that I am a recent empty nester. I shared how politics has always been an interest of mine and told him of some of my recent projects. The man could not get enough information on BGTX. He even pulled our cab into a parking lot so he could write down names and phone numbers of people to contact so he and his family could join the cause and register to vote! It is happening , one good person at a time.
yes we can!
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By: lori on May 23, 2013
at 3:25 PM
Pusillanimous. My, my. James. That’s a very big word. Was that on your pseudo Mensa test? I’m impressed.
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By: Al B on May 23, 2013
at 3:24 PM
james u confuse me. first u say we do not know if people have broken laws and in the same sentence u say we do know and they should be punished.
how is it that only you have the information you ‘share’ with us? where do u find it?
and how is it u have managed to do precisely what u wish in this repressed, suppressed, nwo, over-controlled society?
tis a puzzlement.
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By: penny abrams on May 23, 2013
at 3:23 PM
Penny abrams, we don’t know if laws have been broken or not. We do know people broke the rules, and it is wrong to let them get away with it. They will only do it again.
gato. if we are European, we are cousins. Yes, we have enough complex regulations that our officials may not have done anything illegal, but using the IRS to treat one group better than another is wrong and dangerous. Consider what would happen if people trusted the IRS less than they do now. We might end up like Ukraine.
The IRS will soon have access to our medical histories for tax reasons. It will provide more opportunities for unequal treatment.
Between you and me, I think Al has a crush on me.
Now, I am back to work.
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By: James on May 23, 2013
at 3:04 PM
Al B. The someone I mentioned was Jean, or whatever her name is now. She admitted on this blog that she had smuggled olive seeds, from Greece, three, I believe. She told how she did it and complained that the olive tree wasn’t blooming. She asked if anyone knew about such trees.
I attended a wedding and met a government official with knowledge of smuggling. He told me to call a number in Hawaii, which I did., The person I spoke to said they would certainly like to speak to Jean though they likely wouldn’t press charges against a little old lady who had committed such a minor offense.. I had no intention their knowing her identity, though it might have ben fun to imagine a phone call.
I told how she described the way she did it, and the man said they planned to change searching procedures to prevent it from happening again. Jean her self had described the seeds as contraband. If she didn’t want people to know, she should have kept quiet.
I am proud of the fire bombing. It helped us get a bridge as I explained previously. No one was in danger. It was on a long driveway four hundred feet from the house. In case you didn’t read that comment, let me remind you that we had made so much noise on TV about the bridge that the county decided to comdemn our land for a new road. My wife mentioned our lawyer. I told the county engineer I had seen violence in the service and was not afraid to be killed or injured if the county blocked our road. We would own the county after the lawsuits. The engineer knew our lawyer. The engineer decided we would get the bridge. Someone told us it was a miracle the DOT gave us the bridge.
Fifteen or twenty people worked together, and our story was written in a local history book. I am also proud of what we did. We have a bridge.
I was in charge of medical supplies after my promotion to Ssgt. Before that, I turned in an extortion ring which our officers wanted to stop. They were not my buddies. Everyone was afraid to testify. They used me as bait to catch them, because they wanted something bad to happen so they could press heavier charges against them. The squadron lost control. The men tried to kill me three times, and they made me a 1/12 per cent disabled veteran because they tortured me by twisting my arm in unnatural positions and smashing my thumb to frighten me into not testifying.
I became a pariah because everyone was afraid to associate with me. An office pool bet on whether and when I would be hospitalized or killed. That lasted four months. Thanks in part to me, over the next year, the evil doers disappeared one by one. Most had bad discharges. Some entered jail. I helped rescue one of the leaders after a serious accident. The left side of his face had been sliced down to the bone, and teeth. He survived and later was given a bad discharge, but that night was satisfying for me.
I could also tell you about the man and his daughter who were trapped in a wrecked truck. The fourteen year old girl was relatively uninjured, but her father lapsed in and out of consciousness. We talked to her to keep her calm, and she told about her life. Then a fire started, and we couldn’t put it out.
“No NO Please,” screamed the girl, and her father revived enough to beg that they be shot. No body had the guts, so we let them sizzle like steaks on a frying pan.. They sort of gurgled near the end. I promised myself that I would live a good life to give meaning to their deaths. I have.
I also helped save a life.
I promised a girl with spinal meningitis she would be fine when she said she was afraid to die. She died within two hours. We tried to save a newborn baby, but we failed that too.,
A year after my adventure with the extortion ring, I got mad. I refused to cut my hair, and on one occasion, I shook my fist in a major’s face. Nothing happened to me because I realized my officers were feeling guilty.
I am no hero. I was just doing my job. I shared some of this as a warning. If you want, I could tell you about real heroes.
I don’t always behave normally, because my experiences changed me.
For example, how many people would tell a government officer about Jean’s olive seeds?
I know all about eye and hair pigmentation. I also know recessive genes cause blue eyes. Saying I am a mutant is a bit of self mockery. I am studying my genetic heritage and am interested in various ethnic groups which our US history text books virtually ignore. I am if nothing if not enthusiastic.
My blue eyed comment was a little joke. While I don’t like Jean, I have nothing against gato. She seems to be a nice person.
You really should stop lurking at Rutherford’s blog and join. He could use the help before we ate you alive.
I had mocked Jean after she dumped on me. I told her she must have attended a special school or she was growing senile. She countered that I was pretty stupid. I told her I had once passed a Mensa introduction test.
If you are going to make charges, you should get your facts straight. The test was in a magazine. it was a scam. I passed the test, and the company told me that for a small charge I could take another test which would make me eligible for a test to get me into Mensa. I may not be the brightest person around, but I am not stupid.
I’m, flattered that you are so fixated on me… a crush perhaps?
You don’t seem to be unable to counter my opinions, so you attack me personally. gato is more of a man than you, pusillanimous little worm.
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By: James on May 23, 2013
at 2:52 PM
Hi, James – Well, you seem to have found a bit of spare time today, that’s for sure! Again, you present your POV very calmly… And I continue to disagree with much of it. (And please don’t think your presenting them more aggressively would be likely to be more “effective”!)
We have so many laws and regulations that ALLOW much of what has been going on: secret subpoenas, IRS “investigations,” snooping on reporters in the name of “national security,” and so on. You don’t think the GOP has used government powers, whenever it could get its hands on them, to “persecute” liberal groups over the years…? Of course they have. Both sides do it, and will push the envelope(s) as much as they possibly can.
IMHO,if we liberal/progressives fall down in any area, it is our reluctance to get on the Moral Outrage High Horse about our personal selves, often enough, and stridently enough. We will certainly do so about what we consider social injustices, but it takes a lot for us to be “personally insulted.” We are much more likely to say, “Well, you may have a good point, there,” rather than, “How dare you say such a thing to me?” And I consider that to be a shortcoming only in terms of riling up the media and the populace, not as a flaw in character.
BTW, I am afraid you will have to decide whether or not to you wish to consider me a “cousin” based only on my posts, and not on any of my physical characteristics. None of those traits should be internet material, in my opinion – unless we were part of some “Blue Eyes on the Web” blog!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 23, 2013
at 2:42 PM
My goodness, Al B! What a lot of stuff you know (and I’m not being sarcastic)… And I’ll bet you didn’t just look it up on google ten minutes ago, either.
Gato (probably, to some degree, everybody’s “cousin”…)
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By: gatodicima on May 23, 2013
at 2:25 PM
James.
What’s this fixation about blue eyes? You’ve been all over the blogs about your innate greatness as a carrier of a blue eyes gene, – passing yourself off as a sort of Nordic Superman. Actually, that makes you a recessive mutant James and we all know enough to stay away from mutants, especially those that show up on blogs or in horror movies. FYI James, your distinction is in your head only.
There is no luster or bluster for having certain eye colors. Eye color variations, as seen by an observer, rely on lighting conditions. Present scientific knowledge supports the view that eye color is polygenic, determined not only by the pigmentation of the eye’s iris, but also by the scattering of light by the turbid medium of the stroma (the stroma is an interlaced fibrovascular layer of tissue circling the circumference of the iris). The iris pigment is melanin, and for darker eyes, the color varies from light brown to black, depending on the density of melanin in the epithelium (located on the back of the iris).
Also affecting eye color is the cellular density of the stroma. The appearance of blue, green, and hazel eyes results from the scattering of light in the stroma alone, not because of some special pigments, like those seen in birds. Therefore, eye color may vary depending on the lighting conditions, especially for lighter-colored eyes. No specific blue or green pigments are ever present in the human iris or ocular fluid.
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By: Al B on May 23, 2013
at 1:32 PM
From Pfesser: Man Found in Debris Field, With Big-Screen Television in His Arms and 41 Bullet Holes in His Chest. LOL LOL LOL
Funny Pfesser. But How about an alternative interpretation? Sounds like the gun nuts assassinated someone and then planted the TV in his arms.
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By: HoHoHo on May 23, 2013
at 1:29 PM
James:
You’re all over this site complaining about the government snooping into other’s records yet you just admitted a few days ago on Rutherford’s (Comment #175 at Rutherfords May 20, 2013), that you reported someone to FDA investigators for bringing three olive seeds into the country after a trip abroad, creating heartburn in your victim but no action.. Also, aren’t you the one who firebombed your Bumbutt, Iowa neighbors simply because they disagreed with you at some sort of public meeting? Don’t you think firebombing should be reported to the local authorities?
But then I thought PTSD until I remembered your heroic service in ‘Nam” as a medic. Oops, make that working in medical supplies. And how you were held down and had your thumb smashed with a hammer while being threatened with bodily harm, not by the Viet Cong, but by your own buddies because you ratted them out about something trivial that most of us can only guess about.
You’ve also revealed somewhere along the way that you were recommended by your Commanding Officer to become a Mensa candidate which makes us wonder about your inconsistent hypocrisy? Oh, now I remember, it’s part of your character.
Gato, be careful.
Al B
.
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By: Al B on May 23, 2013
at 12:54 PM
One more thing, gato. What color are your eyes? Are they sky blue like mine, so I can call you “cousin gato”?
Pfessor, there were no looters up here in our flood either. Even several towns abandoned for four months were not robbed.You big screen TV comment was funny.
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By: James on May 23, 2013
at 12:28 PM
Gato, I like “sanguine.” It has a nice ring.
Neither of us is afraid to speak out. However, there may come a day when it is not possible. “No man is an island” and governmental decisions do affect us whether or not we are paying attention.
For example, I did not especially favor the Vietnam War, but a government far away sent me a “greetings” letter. I escaped the draft by joining the Air Force, and when I returned, my fellow citizens discriminated against “me” because I had served.
Black friends told me the joys of driving while black and I watched a white woman say she liked one of my black friends because he was almost as Biden said about Obama, “clean and articulate.”
I have already mentioned the discrimination some of my Finish/Sami relatives suffered. Around 1906, someone actually sued to have a Finn deported under the Asian Exclusion Act. Even now, Sofia Jannok, a Swedish/Sami singer is mocked behind her back for being a mongoloid mongrel.
“…thoughtful man…” Ha! I think more than is good for me. I have also been around. I have seen in other countries the ease with which freedom can slip away. I lived in the military authoritarian society for four years. I was responsible for thousands of dollars worth of equipment, and I did well, but I wouldn’t want to live in such a paternalistic society.
I met a Ukrainian who said these scandals remind him of home when the Soviets ruled.
Its ironic in a way. I earned a MA with thesis and nine hours toward a PHD in four semesters with a 3.75 cumulative average.. I was told that if I wanted employment in the North I should lie and say I had been on the road for four years. Several veteran friends transferred to law school. I was so angry and dropped out. I promised myself that insofar as it was possible, I would never let others determine my destiny.
I farmed and became one of the freest, richest men I know.
You can see a pattern. I don’t like discrimination. I also believe if we let our government escape with few repercussions, they will only do more later. We need the hearings to find the miscreants and at least fire them. Maybe then others will think twice before repeating their mistakes.
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By: James on May 23, 2013
at 12:21 PM
The following is worth a listen, imo. Not sure how many here are fans of Chomsky. I have disagreed with some of his positions, but I can’t argue against his reasoned and valid points here. Give it a listen if you have 26 minutes to devote to truth.
Abby Martin interviews Dr. Noam Chomsky.
Imagining a purple Texas… 😉
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By: poolman on May 23, 2013
at 12:17 PM
Hi gato,
I’m sorry for the delay. Residual lightning damage on our phone line sent our computer off line. I am also working so I don’t have much time. Thus, I have read nothing you or anyone has written since I was last here. I am concentrating on your May 22 comments.
There no way to rationalize the IRS scandal because the agency has admitted it and appologized.
The IRS scandal has become more wide- spread than you portrayed it because the hearings and reporting has revealed more information.. Fox 19 website learned that at least 300 organizations suffered in Cincinatti alone. They also learned that the managers were connected to Washington DC. Two of the supervisors quickly retired, one took the fifth, and another will testify later.
The IRS did more than ask questions. The chair of True the Vote, for example said they are still waiting for approval, and after their early encounters, they and the family business were audited. A major contributor to Romeny in Idaho claimed he was also harassed.
The issue is that the IRS singled out several groups for unequal treatment. They denied organizations tax exempt status because they were conservatives, pro lifers, or supported Israel
National Review Online “The Real Voter Suppression of 2012” “Indeed, sefveral conservative groups I talked with said they were directly impacted by having their non-profit status delayed by either IRS inaction or burdensome or intrusive questioning. At least two donersw told me they didn’t contribute to True the Vote… because after three years of waiting the group still didn’t have its status granted in time for the 2012 election.”
According to Jack Coleman of Newsbusters, a Politico reporter told Bill Press on his radio show that the IRS foot dragging probably affected the outcome of the election. I don’t necessarily agree with that, but a picture emerges here.
Someone in the IRS perhaps as part of a conspiracy denied a group of people the rights afforded to others because of their political beliefs.
Even more problematic is the president and major authorities knew nothing. Either they are lying or they are too detached and incompetent for our good.
They also unwittingly support the Tea Party thesis that our government has become too large and unwieldy. How do you explain the recurring pattern of these scandals? How can our leaders be as clueless as we are?
Your original premise is based on unwitting dishonesty. I think you are honest, but merely didn’t give it much thought. The duty of the party in power is to protect itself from political enemies during scandals, etc. The duty of the party out of power is to attack the insiders and take advantage of every form of weakness they can find.
Therefore both parties are doing their jobs, and we need investigations.
Suppose Obama was president during Iran-Contra or Watergate? Both scandals took a long time to gel, and the political exchange was not unlike what we have now. Would your attitude toward those President Obama scandals as it is toward his real errors?
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By: James on May 23, 2013
at 11:49 AM
james: your whole comment re obama’s transparency is toro poopoo. what this admin did is legal. u may not like those laws. then change them. u may believe that reporters have protection that no one else has for acts which endanger the country…then work on getting it for them. u may not like that anyone’s records can b subpoenaed (sp?) but there r laws which define in wot instance this may happen. those laws were followed. i agree that 1-freedom of speech (and reporters and their sources) must be protected. but u can’t yell fire in a packed theater and u can’t endanger the nation. that’s the line. it has always been the line. when it isn’t used, u wind up w/illegal arms sales to terrorist nations and army colonels getting involved in double agent spy activities and other disasters. just for once, can u drop the politics? and see the event? and what it means to all of us…all of us? sheesh.
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By: penny abrams on May 23, 2013
at 9:21 AM
deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep breath-2-3-imaging texas, turning blue, deeeeeeeeeeep breath, hold…seeing w turn blue………man wot a dream
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By: penny abrams on May 23, 2013
at 9:10 AM
Wow. Oklahoma looks pretty bad. It’s really something, though, to see all the Americans pouring in from all over the country, helping clean up the debris. Really makes you proud.
The first thing one notices, though, is that there are no looters in this crimson-red, gun-toting state.
Probably a very low-yield occupation around those parts. I can see the headline now:
Man Found in Debris Field, With Big-Screen Television in His Arms and 41 Bullet Holes in His Chest. LOL LOL LOL
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By: PFesser on May 23, 2013
at 9:04 AM
Easier! Hi there! It’s been a long time!
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By: delurkergurl on May 23, 2013
at 8:47 AM
10 year old girl accidentally shot and killed by a 14 year old boy.
http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/state-regional/article_3ead8600-c386-11e2-990e-001a4bcf6878.html
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By: delurkergurl on May 23, 2013
at 8:45 AM
Haven’t been here a while and just read about your losing your dad, PI. Not the easiest thing to go through. Please accept my sincere condolences.
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By: Easier on May 22, 2013
at 9:54 PM
Daughter, pastor, El Paso. It all becomes more clear – pastor of the Lickin’ Lesbian Lost Souls of El Paso. ♫ Proud to be an asshole from El Paso. ♫
Molly Ivins is dead. Damn, she was as ugly on the outside as she was on the inside.
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 22, 2013
at 8:02 PM
My daughter’s a pastor in El Paso and she has shared with me that many in her congregation wish their city was in New Mexico instead of Texas! So, not everyone in Texas is brain-dead and in lock-step with the Repugnicants.
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By: Anonymous on May 22, 2013
at 7:43 PM
I can’t resist responding to this! I figured out long ago that the Tea Party folk got it all wrong – they weren’t all about tea bags, it was douche bags. You know “t” and “d” can sound alike. So D Bag Party works for me.
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By: Anonymous on May 22, 2013
at 7:40 PM
Thanks Delurker!
Wtg Gato! Everything helps! It will happen . Most say by 2020. We already have Dallas Austin and SA . Watch out Houston and EL Paso here we come. I ll keep the lights on for ya for when we need boots on the ground. Lol lol
Auntie Jean Good to see you tonight. Hope all is well in your world tonight.
Enjoy your weekend all! My holiday has already begun.
Namaste
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By: lori on May 22, 2013
at 7:15 PM
Clearly deluded. Molly Ivins is dead and with her the the Dimocratic Party of the Great State of Texas. Wattle Jean next up on the road to perdition…oxygen bottle and all. Yeehaw!
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 22, 2013
at 5:08 PM
Hi, James – When “the press” is bought and paid for, there’s not much freedom left. Am I afraid to speak out? I think you know the answer to that question.
And do we take the risk of being “compromised”? Of course we do; anyone who speaks takes that risk. Usually, it’s no big deal. Somebody else’s idea of “compromising” me usually means next to nothing to me. There may be a whole lot of brouhaha about something or other for about ten minutes, and then it goes away. Am I likely to say, “Oh, no! Oh, no! You have challenged me and my sources, my opinions, my computer, my email messages, whatever… Therefore I am attacked! And you’re a bad person!” Not likely.
If I’m “sanguine” (and that is such an interesting word, meaning both “ruddy,” and “optimistic”; I’d thought it meant “passionate.” Evidently it doesn’t mean quite that), it’s because I see this stuff come and go all the time. There are ten minutes of hysteria, and then it’s gone…
Stop and think for a moment – and I sense you are a thoughtful dude – what really matters to all of us on this planet? And I mean not only those of us in the US of A, but in Dubai, Senegal, Pakistan, Waziristan, Tokyo, Ireland, Tibet, Canada, Tahiti, Indonesia, Aruba, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and wherever… What matters is being able to provide for ourselves and our families; having meaningful work; having food to put on our tables; thinking that our lives may possibly have some significance; being able to help our neighbors, when they need help; hoping that we won’t trash the entire planet and its so many generous resources; being able to envision a future for our children; and so on. In that context, and that IS the context, what do these “scandals” really mean…?
They mean, in the big picture… absolutely NOTHING. These are ego battles, pure and simple, period. The extinction of a single species, whether a microscopic bug, a tiny fish, or a large mammal, has more planetary significance than any bunch of posturing that may go on in Washington, or London, or Jerusalem, or Teheran, or Kingston, Jamaica.
And that’s the way I’m seeing things these days.
You go do whatever you need to do to make your life, and the lives of your loved ones, more sacred. i will do the same.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 22, 2013
at 4:29 PM
Thanks, Chris. It is frightening if one thinks about it.
Three amens, uawtradesman !
Here is more Gato. Thanks for hanging in there.
You mentioned doctored e-mails in passing. I forgot to respond. Hot Air About those ‘doctored’ Benghazi e-mails May 19,2013. Jonathan Strong at National Review debunked the charge of Republican e-mail tampering. Steve Hayes of the Weekly Standard wrote that he and Jon Karl of ABC News referred to summaries of the e mails for their stories. Karl inaccurately quoted from one e-mail which may have been due to faulty note taking. “While this is significant, the email in question exists and has the same core content as the email quoted by Karl–there was no wholesale fabrication.”
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By: James on May 22, 2013
at 3:52 PM
Lori,
In reality,
You prrobably, actually may be considered more dangerous than the terrorists. Take into consideration that we may be the ones terrorized by some of those within the government . Think about that.
You folks who like suspense, drama, and mysteries ….think beyond your comprehension. You may be able to come up with the mysteries we are being plagued with.
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By: Chris on May 22, 2013
at 3:41 PM
James,
Your info further backs what I have been saying about Big Brother, whch is not regoginzed as the NWO or Illuminati, but is..
Every piece of legislation is influenced and controled and being enacted to take every Consitutional riight away. And worst of all, they try to make it sound like it is for our own good.
It even looks like drones will and are watching us as well.
We already know how we are in constant view on the net.
We must get the word out and change people’s obscured vision of the reality we are living in in America and the World…
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By: Chris on May 22, 2013
at 3:26 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Pi, I am so sorry to hear of your dad’s passing. That is such a big wound to the heart. In time it will heal, but it will leave a life long scar. I lost my dad many, many years ago. I still miss him. He was the solid rock anchor of the family. When he was gone, I realized I wasn’t ready to be the elder generation endowed with wisdom. I’m still not. But now I know just how much he loved me and how much I loved him. That can never change.
My heart goes out to the victims of the Oklahoma tornados. The aftermath and recovery is going to take a long, long time. They will need lots and lots of help. I know the American people will rise to the challenge. President Obama already has and will continue to do so.
On a happier note, my husband and youngest son in PA are both back home from the hospitals after back-to-back successful surgeries, Monday and Tuesday. As they say, they are resting comfortably. Their conditions were not life threatening but potentially quite debilitating. The prognoses are positive for both of them.
We are exceedingly grateful to their outstanding teams of medical personnel. Highly professional, well trained with impeccable credentials in high tech facilities, they worked together with astonishing precision. Above all, they were invariably cheerful, kind and understanding. If you have to undergo such painful events, it would be impossible to put yourself in the hands of finer people anywhere.
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 22, 2013
at 3:24 PM
Hey, Lurker – Lori inspired me, as so many of you do. For a while, it seems to be more fun to smack back, and then (hopefully! eventually!) we realize that our doing so doesn’t mean bupkis. And then we get on with doing what needs to be done. Yay for that. And yay for women with souls and brains and guts, and some guys, too, like Al B. (Where are you, Dude? We love you.)
It’s been a good day for me, both here, and in my Community. Thanks to all of you for your support.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 22, 2013
at 3:00 PM
Thanks for looking, Gato. I agree some opinions are influenced by extraneous experiences etc.
Here is my opinion. It may not foreshadow the end of the world as we know it, but the scandal is important. Jarid Polis web site of a Colorado Democratic representative dated May 16 has with another Democrat and a Republican introduced The Telephone Records Protection Act which requires court approval when the government demands telephone records.
“The Justice Department’s seizure of the AP’s phone records–likely without the sign-off of a single judge–raises serious First and Fourth Amendment concerns.” Apparently the Justice Department can seize records through administrative action.
What about NBC reporter Sharyl Attksson? She says her work and personal computers have been compromised. She first noticed something wrong on Feb 2011 when she was reporting on the Fast and Furious scandal. No one knows who tampered with her computer , but coincidentally, the Justice Department also spied on Fox News reporter James Rosen and two other colleagues.
The Justice Department was apparently spying on Rosen’s parents, too.We don’t know how many others, if any are being spied on.
At the risk of piling on with the global warming the “science is settled” lists of supporters, I’m providing a short list.
ABC’s Cokie Roberts Acknowledges Obama’s contempt for the Press, Blasts ‘Presidential Propaganda.” She said the administration has overstepped constitutional boundries with Rosen and claimed the over reach was appalling. Al Hunt was also critical.
James Goodal, the lawyer for the New York Times Pentagon Papers case against Nixon said Obama is worse than Nixon. Chuck Todd also crticized the administration. He said “they want to criminalize journalism.”
Newsbusters has the stories.
I do enjoy the irony of this, because, these people are normally liberals. Why do you suppose they are so angry?
And why do three House members think legislation is needed to change the rules?.
One factor which moves beyond your or my opinions is that sneaking looks at reporters’ e mails etc will damage freedom of press. it will make more people hesitate if asked to be interviewed for fear of repercussions. Reporters may not pursue stories they believe might endanger their careers. That is a fact of human nature.
So, I ask you, why is your sanguine attitude at variance with the people I cited? What of concerns about people’s becoming afraid to speak out? What do you know that they don’t?
More later. I have to get back to work.
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By: james on May 22, 2013
at 2:37 PM
another list for you to donate to Gato
http://www.teaparty911.com/info/locations/texas.htm
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By: uawtradesman on May 22, 2013
at 2:17 PM
Nobody will ever need to be shushed in the Bush Library…
and everyone is shushed in the Obama administration…
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By: uawtradesman on May 22, 2013
at 2:11 PM
LMAO…. the most transparent administration takes the fifth(after trampling the first)
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By: uawtradesman on May 22, 2013
at 2:06 PM
Hey, Lori – HTG, I’m going to get off this keyboard any second now. Really!
Went to the website, signed up, sent money, and forwarded the site to a good GF whose daughter just moved to Austin. They’re definitely blue, and, if they haven’t known about you already, they sure will now!
This is SO MUCH BETTER than wasting my time (and all of yours) smarting off in response to some of the jerks who post here. Thanks for so often reminding me to keep my eye on what really matters. Woman, if Texas can turn around, it will be a blessing for the entire country, and that’s the truth.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 22, 2013
at 1:41 PM
Alaskapi, I’m sorry to hear you lost your dad. Mine died 35 years ago during surgery on an aneurism. I was able to get to the hospital before his surgery which helped. For months afterwards I’d think of something I wanted to tell him the next time I saw him! Hard to let go. It also was something of a blessing that he didn’t live to see my mom fade away with Alzheimer’s taking over her life. She was “gone” for several years before she finally died. I do have a short video my brother made of her when she was first in the nursing home so that my grandchildren who never knew her can see her. – Terry
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By: Terry Waggle on May 22, 2013
at 1:32 PM
Lori & Gato, your enthusiasm is refreshing and contagious! Waste time here w/ bullies, or walk away laughing at them while you work to further their irrelevance. While you’re getting things done, they can continue their wiffleball strikeout contest by themselves. It’s an easy choice! 😉
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By: delurkergurl on May 22, 2013
at 1:26 PM
Sorry about that Gato. I am on my phone on a train and service is spotty.
Its battlegroundtx.com. BGTX
🙂
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By: lori on May 22, 2013
at 1:25 PM
Hey, Lori – I think you posted a website a while ago, but I’ve lost it. Can you post it again? When I googled “BGT,” all I got was “Britain’s Got Talent.” Not what I wanted at this particular moment!
Congrats on being on Cruz’s s*** list. Sometimes we are best defined by who our enemies are…
You go, grrrrulll…!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 22, 2013
at 1:09 PM
Lol lol Gato, i have one or two BIL like that myself!
As far as helping turn TX blue? Come on down stay with me and we will not only work to turn TX blue we will paint the town red!
Seriously though if u could see how well organized and sophisticated BGT is you would see why Cruz and the TX GOP as a whole called us a bigger threat to TX than terrorists!
We are running strong candadates, registering voters and using microtargeting to reach our people. We WILL flip TX, I promise you that.
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By: lori on May 22, 2013
at 12:44 PM
Hi, Lori – Me again. So… What they’re really so upset about is that the IRS had the chutzpah to ask them what they were really intending to do, eh? And then let them do it, anyway.
Well, as for myself, I know I always get really indignant when somebody lets me do whatever the hell I want, if they also have the unmitigated and unsupervised gall – prior to letting me do it – to actually ask me anything about what I might be up to. Can hardly think of anything I feel threatens my “rights” more than that. I think I should be granted special dispensation just because I say I should, don’t you? I mean, this is AMERICA (flag, free speech, flag, patriotism, flag, liberty, freeeeeeedooooommmm!!!).
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 22, 2013
at 12:41 PM
Yup all true Gato, and dont forget no one of the conservative groups applying for tax except status was turned down. Not one! Now there is the real scandal.
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By: lori on May 22, 2013
at 12:33 PM
Hey, Lori – Great! Any place or way we from, say, CT, can lend our support, since we can’t get there in person? (At least I can’t; but who knows? You may have a busload of New Englanders there…)
“Keep calm and organize”… Best reminder ever.
Good luck from up here! (My brother-in-law, currently living somewhere between Godley and Joshua, near Ft. Worth, and definitely on the “red side” of things, will probably be getting in touch with me soon, to remind me how wrong I am about everything…)
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 22, 2013
at 12:33 PM
Hi, James – I did take a look at both the sites you suggested. Both seem thoughtful and well-written, and make their points, without resorting to name-calling and scatological, puerile innuendoes – things which inevitably reduce, or render completely impotent, the impact of presenting any point of view.
And that’s the whole issue, I think: Point of view. It’s kind of like the “glass half empty or glass half full” thing. Two people, inevitably influenced by their own personal experiences, their own life situation, and their own beliefs of how life “should be,” can look at the same situation, and draw entirely different conclusions. Is one “right,” and the other “wrong”? Often hard to say. And, equally often, the answer to many things is “all of the above.”
As for the “IRS scandal,” how much of a “scandal” is it, really? Let’s say that a local IRS office receives a hundred new applications for tax-free status, and ninety of those are from groups whose names indicate the possibility of a particular political bias. If the IRS office decides to query those groups “equally,” based on the number of applications, they will naturally be questioning nine possibly “conservative” groups, and only one other group. It is my impression that this is not far from what actually happened. Also naturally, conservative groups can certainly use this to cry “foul,” while not also noting that their applications were, by far, in the majority. (Oh, look! There’s almost some “math” in here!)
BTW, these groups were just asked questions; nobody was subject to an audit or anything like that.
As for the “AP scandal,” I believe that the records were obtained through a legal subpoena. Yes; it was “secret.” I don’t think that’s illegal. Maybe not prudent, but probably not illegal. The justification for that was that “national security issues” were possibly involved. Maybe they were; maybe they weren’t. And all the leaker, who altered an email or two, had to say about his doing that, when he was caught, was “Oops; my bad.”
As for Benghazi, I have to say that the embassy and consulate attacks under previous administrations resulted in many more deaths, and I can’t seem to recall any surge of demands for “explaining” any of those. Maybe I just wasn’t paying enough attention… But I think I would remember three or four months of strident calls for “Special Inquiries” and “Congressional Investigations” about at least one of them.
IMHO, the real problem comes when anyone, or any group, with an “agenda” takes something that happened and immediately extrapolates it into a sign of some larger something – a sign of a “culture of arrogance,” or a “sign of rampant oppression,” or “denial of citizen’s rights,” or whatever. Not to say that any of these recent happenings are unimportant, but, in my opinion, they are much LESS important than the incredible damage that is being done by cuts due to the accursed “sequestration” (which included cuts to embassy security, I must add), which are causing great suffering to far more many people, for example, than the IRS’ questioning a bunch of applications for tax-free status. Has anyone actually been hurt by those inquiries, other than the egos of a bunch of conservatives…? Heck, if I formed a group and applied for tax-free status, I would EXPECT to have to answer hundreds of questions!
I’ve seen exactly the same thing happen in my own small community. A few members of our governing board decided to recommend a certain course of action on a community issue. When brought to the community as a whole, their recommendation was soundly rejected by literally a ten-to-one majority. In response, the original proponents managed to unearth A SINGLE PHONE CALL allegedly made by one resident, who is also an employee, and used that to waste everybody’s time for weeks, trying to institute some “code of employee ethics.” That, too, was rejected, fortunately.
Many über-conservatives like to take the position that they’re being “oppressed,” and “unfairly attacked.” The truth of the matter is that they swept into Congress in 2012, and managed to grab on to what I consider to be an inordinate amount of influence (especially since they were all newbies), thanks to a party that doesn’t quite seem to know what it should be doing at this point. (In what other organization would the newest employees be put in charge of company policy…?) They make plenty of noise, and usually it’s all about how their opinions are being “ignored.” Hardly!
And that’s about as thoughtful as I can get at this moment.
Lordy! I’ve been endless…!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 22, 2013
at 12:26 PM
Will Hailer, the new Executive Director for the TX Democratic Party will be in Austin May 30 to talk about how we are turning TX blue at all levels! Come join us! Remember to stay calm and organize!!!! See you there . 🙂
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By: lori on May 22, 2013
at 12:15 PM
I did, sissy. You never responded to my challenge. You ran and hid and you’re still throwing pebbles in a gun fight. But you keep on imagining how powerful your punch.
That’s what losers do when it’s all they got. Your facts may sell amongst the weeds here who take their talking points from the taller weeds. But some of us are looking at you as just another anonymous slug in need of a salt shaker.
Anger? 😛 Don’t flatter yourselves. You’re a series of punching bags – yours the fullest of hot air and the most fun to roundhouse. Good for the heart.
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 22, 2013
at 12:10 PM
Sorry for your loss PI…
and sorry they let Anon out of the cage….
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By: uawtradesman on May 22, 2013
at 9:44 AM
Good morning, gato.If you have time, you might Google NewsBusters or Betsy’s Page. Betsy Newmark is a teacher. As the Iowa Nice man said we should “spend more time on what” we ” don’t know.
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By: james on May 22, 2013
at 9:22 AM
Long Duc Dong –
The seventh-graders and bigots haven’t figured out how the game is played, so I’ll give them a leg up:
Sensible posts, on-topic, will get sensible posts in return. (vis à vis the textbook comment, responded-to with a comment on text prices. Comments on wild pigs, responded to with, “Auntie Jean” and comment on wild boars in the ‘states.)
Insults get responses in kind. It ain’t that hard, because they ain’t that smart or well-informed. And then there is global thermonuclear war – we haul out the MATH!
So, seventh-graders and bigots, you wanna try to get back on topic, or do you want to keep trading seventh-grade girl insults? (You might emulate pennyabrams, chris, alaskapi, james if you want some good examples of how grownups behave. I know you can do it. There’s a good girl…)
Cordially, PF
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By: PFesser on May 22, 2013
at 8:52 AM
Hi, Terri – I keep hearing these weird scratching and grunting noises coming from under the porch… Kind of sounds like a possum or something down there… Maybe we should set up the Hav-A-Harts – what do you think? (I’d hate to have to call Animal Control…)
And, remember, there might be more than one!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 22, 2013
at 8:28 AM
cynthia…and all: yeh, well, in simpler terms…if you stop dancing to that tune, the music will also stop. a sentence i delivered many times to my offspring whilst they were dealing w/their own teens. i remember taking deep breaths and telling myself the same thing many years ago when my kids were teens. or the first time (and last) each threw a fit on the floor. stepped right over ’em and walked away. man, did that stop it cold. when there’s no pay-off they quit. easy, eh?
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By: penny abrams on May 22, 2013
at 7:51 AM
Yes, Long Duc Dong, you told me so. Throwing bombs does get attention. In their way several of the others are passive bomb throwers when they post distorted or untrue information. it is a recipe for a time as interesting as a mud fight.
The blue states do earn more money and thus pay more taxes on average. One reason is their states tend to be more thickly populated and host many national and international businesses. A liberal commentator, who’s name I don’t remember was so enraged by Bush’s victory, he advocated that the blue states secede.
Our cities tend to be financially healthier than many red cities like Chicago, Detroit or Stockton. The Heartland’s unemployment rate has also been lower than the national average during the recession.
You might like to google Iowa Nice on YouTube. “so stop worrying about what we know and spend a little more time on what you don’t know…One more thing, You’re probably watching this on a computer. Any guesses of where it was invented? New York, MIT, California…Think again…”
I reread the Think Progress “Crazy’ Benghazi Witch-hunt.” Gop aids are criticizing the House Republicans partisan witch hunt over Obama…arguing that the party should focus on more substantive issues such as lessons learned and how to recalibrate diplomatic security. That sounds Nixonian.
An un named man stated that reinforcements could not have been sent to Benghazi in time.
The Blaze produced another un- named man who stated reinforcements could have been sent before the second phase of the attack had ended. I love Anonymous. He/she is as fleet footed as Santa. How does he/she find the time to visit so many places? is Truth on vacation?
Sharyl Attkisson: Deployment of counter terror response team to Benghazi ‘was ruled out from the start.'” Anonymous stated that “we behaved like idiots.” “I wish we had sent FEST.” “The foreign Emergency Support Team is described as the government’s only inter agency,on call, short notice team poised to respond to terrorist incidents world wide.” Deployment was “ruled out from the start. “That decision became a source of internal dissent and the cause of puzzlement to some outsiders.”
At that time, no one know how long the attack would last,and some said FEST might have paved the way for an FBI investigation,.
At the very least, we need to know who the idiots were. Think Progress disagrees because Obama is not Bush.
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By: james on May 22, 2013
at 7:50 AM
Nice diversion, buttercup. Sweet of you to come to his defense. Do I detect a little man crush? No need to get all huffy. Now why don’t you mind your own business and let the big, bad LLD, Tex, or whatever he’s calling himself these days speak for himself? I think we’re all waiting for his nice, long rambling rant full of insults, bile and misinformation. So predictable, the two of you.
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By: Terri in NY on May 22, 2013
at 7:40 AM
anon opined: “Nice of your little friend to rush to your rescue. Sweet. Why not answer the questions instead. Oh, that’s right, you can’t. Have a nice day. Oh, and is Pfesser your real name?”
No, Puss, it’s not. But it is the same handle I’ve used since I began posting on the Web years ago, so any and all who respond to those posts know it’s the same guy, not some “anon” puss in the fog.
Whatsamatter, little boy, scared of the big, bad Duc Dong? Or are you a little girl? Or maybe without a thorough physical we couldn’t tell…?
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By: PFesser on May 22, 2013
at 7:31 AM
Nice of your little friend to rush to your rescue. Sweet. Why not answer the questions instead. Oh, that’s right, you can’t. Have a nice day. Oh, and is Pfesser your real name?
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By: Anonymous on May 22, 2013
at 6:23 AM
L-Dong, you must be a pretty scary guy. I see that when you wax eloquent, those with opposing views scurry for the cover of “anonymous,” rather than standing up to be counted.
As you so very accurately pointed out, it’s a form of taking the 5th, isn’t it? Rather analogous to this administration’s IRS, which certainly publicly reveals the names of those it
persecutesprosecutes; it’s just unwilling to step up to the plate itself. Feh.LikeLike
By: PFesser on May 22, 2013
at 6:08 AM
By the way, Tex, you might want to see someone about your rage problem. All that hate can’t be good for your health. Just looking out for you, buddy.
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By: Anonymous on May 22, 2013
at 5:53 AM
Well, tex, I guess your best defense is a good offense. Major fail on your part. As I said, selective outrage. Thanks for proving my point. Next time, try to come armed with fact, not insults. You are a sad little guy, aren’t you?
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By: Anonymous on May 22, 2013
at 5:46 AM
.
Houston, We Have A Solution
“…for far too long Texas’ major export has been douche-bags!”
LDD proves it.
.;)
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By: Anonymous on May 22, 2013
at 3:16 AM
You still haven’t answered a one of my questions. Kind of hard to defend the indefensible, hey coward? Quid pro quo if we’re going to debate. Time to step up, little man.
An enabler of murder, deceit, jackbooted thuggism, and liar – useful idiot extraordinaire, Think Progress useful idiot extraordinaire to boot. You going to take the 5th too, Mr. Anonymous?
Who coined the war on terror, a-hole? Which you mocked until Bammy became Pres. Who called Benghazi a side show last week? We’re now eight months into it.
Allahu Akbar – find out today, the Ft. Hood Shooter, the same one Obama can’t bring to call himself Muslim or terrorist has drawn $300K in salary since killing 13. Congratulations on your war – Bostonians sure thank you.
And GITMO? That same GITMO you have also conveniently forget that Dear Leader promised to close? Where’s your outrage now, punk? Pentagon requested another $450 million in improvements to GITMO. You want to preach to me about double standards and selective memory, rube?
—–
Now when did Obama decide Benghazi terrorism again?
Because two weeks after the fact, Dear Leader stood before the United Nations and stayed on cue to tell us a video was responsible. Do I need to find the video to get you to answer a question, Goebbels? Or is Obama that confused, that deceitful, or just stupid?
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 21, 2013
at 10:36 PM
Wrong again. And I notice you didn’t answer the question. Please supply an example of a Bush administration official calling an embassy attack an “act of terror.” Obama did it the next day. I’ll wait, and remember, no screaming when you come back.
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By: Anonymous on May 21, 2013
at 8:08 PM
Anonymous, I noticed you didn’t take a stab at those questions I posed to you. So let me rehash history once again as you missed it the first time, because your moral outrage seems to end about the time the cat’s got your tongue. Cindy is one of the real bottom feeders and bleating sheep here, so it would be a waste of time to even address her idiocy – you might as well coach a brick.
Let me demonstrate your false equivalency.
The Bush Administration never denied the attacks on its diplomatic missions were terrorism much nor did they try to blame them on an anti-Islamic video. They even blamed Al Qaeda for the attacks. No Ambassador ever died while crying for help. The military was never told to stand down during an attack, leaving four Americans to die.
In fact, you hypocrites on the Left never even made the attacks on embassies like the ‘green zone’ an issue while rooting for American deaths in Iraq to score political points. That was good news in your book. Yes, you’re that despicable.
Had there been any equivalency to Benghazi, you’re asking me to suspend disbelief that you POS screaming to take Bush to the Hague wouldn’t have made issue of Bush misleading with lies? After all the WMD talk which you still dredge up? You’re not even a good liar, Anonymous. You’re a Media Matters puppet with a stick up its ass reading the talking points.
————-
The Obama Administration fell all over itself to deny Benghazi was an act of terrorism to save an election after Obama claimed Al Qaeda decimated, found a convenient scapegoat and wanted to sweep it under the carpet, put a man in jail where he still resides under false pretenses, and lied about the reasons for more than two weeks, including in front of the U.N., where fortunately for you dregs, the lapdog Obama media covered up until after the election.
Now the whistleblowers are setting the record straight as to just how corrupt the Obama Administration really is. And there’s much more to come.
So if Benghazi “a long time ago” as you and Obama’s lackey spokesperson wish and much ado about nothing, why did they send Susan Rice out on the circuit to clearly lie about the reasons if this was just a repeat of history and Bush such a convenient scapegoat? Why didn’t they just say ‘Bush did it.’?
It’s the coverup, Milhous. Remember?
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 21, 2013
at 7:49 PM
Tex, your reading comprehension needs a littlebwork. how about you provide some examples of the GOP holding hearings about all the embassy attacks during w’s presidency. Take your time.
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By: Anonymous on May 21, 2013
at 7:19 PM
No Tex – you don’t like what we have to say and YOU have returned to make the most outrageous statements. You are the one who is doubling down on YOUR preexisting beliefs….not us.
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on May 21, 2013
at 7:09 PM
As is false equivalency and selective fact, and selective memory yours.
Care to demonstrate when and where these requirements were duplicated?
(1) An ambassador was left to die as he cried for help and was ignored.
(2) The military called to stand down for rescue while the mob lasted eight hours.
(3) A video marketed as excuse for two weeks when it known the next day Ansar al-Sharia the perpetrator.
(4) A President who went to bed and left the next day to campaign in Las Vegas.
(5) A Secretary of Defense who frantically yelled as to the reasons, “What does it matter?”.
Oh, and the maker of the video? Still in jail.
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 21, 2013
at 6:52 PM
Anon, it might be easier to take the Republicans seriously if they had given a damn about the numerous embassy attacks during the Bush years. Selective outrage is their stock in trade.
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By: Anonymous on May 21, 2013
at 6:22 PM
OMG! No more Mother Jones! No Broadway! No Hollywood!
One thing I think Red States desperately need to do Pfesser is start their own Wall Street and move all red transactions to Dallas, TX, Omaha, NE, Atlanta, GA. Hell, I don’t care where. Just get it out of that s__hole called the Rotten Apple. Why the hell do we need Manhattan to conduct financial transactions? We could turn that off and in a month watch NY suck wind. Same with D.C.. I’m laughing now that NY has lost so much business, they’re advertising how ‘friendly’ a business state they are. 😈 Matter of time before the worm turns. Matter of time.
I always said my biggest fear is the fear these libs lose their fear of red states, lest they move down here and screw up our states like their states. They are like locusts, never leaving the field until brown before moving to the next green pasture. They already ruined New Mexico and Colorado bailing out of bankrupt 3rd world CA.
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 21, 2013
at 6:21 PM
Long Dong – I know, let’s have a spelling contest!
No, wait a minute, that’s the wrong movie…
Where was I? Oh, here we go – let’s have a mutual boycott and see who starves out first. This should be fun. The blue states can swear off ever getting any coal, oil, electricity, wheat, barley, beef, pork and water from the red states.
Then the red states can swear off getting any paper with writing on it from the blue states.
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By: PFesser on May 21, 2013
at 5:51 PM
THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION FINALLY FINDS A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT IT CAN GET BEHIND: Top IRS official will invoke 5th Amendment.
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 21, 2013
at 5:43 PM
In other words, “trolls” makes ignorant readers twice as ignorant as before the “trolls” appeared. I may have found something in ‘Mother Jones’ I can actually agree.
Man, how desperate and poorly learned does one have to be to derive their basic tenets from Mother Jones? That’s like learning their calculus from Sports Illustrated.
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 21, 2013
at 5:39 PM
Baaaahhhh… Come on girl, come and get some.
Told you so, James. Critical thinking is beyond them – sheer reactionary instinct. Like roaches when the light turned on. The lowest of low information voters. 😆 Probably a multitude of Obama phones in here.
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 21, 2013
at 5:30 PM
Something I found interesting…more about trolls then the climate change issue
…“Internet researchers at George Mason University recently found that when it comes to online commenting, throwing bombs gets more attention than being nice, and makes readers double down on their preexisting beliefs. What’s more, trolls create a false sense that a topic is more controversial than it really is.”….
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/05/video-meet-climate-trolls
…“In the context of the psychological theory of motivated reasoning, this makes a great deal of sense. Based on pretty indisputable observations about how the brain works, the theory notes that people feel first, and think second. The emotions come faster than the “rational” thoughts—and also shape the retrieval of those thoughts from memory. Therefore, if reading insults activates one’s emotions, the “thinking” process may be more likely to be defensive in nature, and focused on preserving one’s identity and preexisting beliefs.”…
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/01/you-idiot-course-trolls-comments-make-you-believe-science-less
And more:
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/03/denial-science-chris-mooney
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on May 21, 2013
at 5:16 PM
Thanks Gato. You have me at a disadvantage because I don’t remember exactly what you wrote and I don’t have time to check. As I recall you wrote that Republicans were turning nothings into false scandals, and I snarkily asked if you meant Michele’s bangs or the president’s golf score.
I maintain that the IRS, Benghazi, and AP scandals are serious threats to our freedoms and we need to identify the culprits and truly punish them, at least through firing. As for Benghazi, I was in the service and we were taught responsibility for our fellows. The commander was doubly responsible for everyone under his/her command. Four men died, and we still don’t know what led up to their murders. It was a sad day when as Susan Rice lied about the movie, the Libyans and Russians’ stories were more accurate than hers. We need an investigation because these are important issues.
Your racial comment irritated me because I have black friends who have suffered discrimination, and the Finnish/Sami side of my family escaped discrimination by declaring themselves Swedes. As I wrote, I thought you were being thoughtless not racial.
I don’t see it now, but I read a Think progress link from Cynthia. I have a problem with that group. Several years ago, I wrote letters to the editor declaring global warming was more complex than just Co2, and the little cowards sent mocking letters to me without valid return addresses.
One of its points was that the Republican attempt to ramp up a scandal might backfire. Maybe so, but you do what is right regardless of the cost. That was a phony argument. I have no doubt that some Republicans are after political gain, just as Democrats would be, but we still need answers and steps taken to prevent repeats.
So what I want to know is were you using hyperbole and joking when you wrote this was much ado about nothing, or were you serious? I like friendly arguments, and I am loaded with sisu.
Just so you know, I like Poolman, Pfessor, and He With Many Names. They are intelligent and care deeply about their families and communities. You might get along in another context.
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By: James on May 21, 2013
at 5:08 PM
Yes, Blunt is a disaster! I live in MO and I let him know my stand on various issues. I get a pathetic form letter back from him telling me why I’m wrong to care about any given issue. I guess if I had big bucks to contribute to his campaign he’d listen to me.
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By: Terry Waggle on May 21, 2013
at 5:07 PM
Hello, Unnamed Poster – Maybe James should take a look at this while he’s preparing to remind me of what I said about this (among a few other things) a while ago. Thanks for posting it.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 21, 2013
at 4:38 PM
GOP Aides Mock House Republicans’
‘Crazy’ Benghazi Witch-Hunt
. 😉
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By: Anonymous on May 21, 2013
at 4:17 PM
Perfect call, Whoa! Can’t believe they keep rising to the bait…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 21, 2013
at 4:17 PM
Hey, James – I’ve forgotten what I actually said (other than the “take down that uppity black SOB” part), so maybe you could refresh me.
I’ll do what I can!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 21, 2013
at 4:16 PM
Gato, I made a serious charge about your claim the Obama administration scandals are insignificant and largely the products of Republican partisanship. I mildly mocked you and asked for documentation to prove what you wrote. I have been back, in part to read your answer. Please prove what you wrote or admit you can’t.
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By: James on May 21, 2013
at 4:04 PM
Geezus Whoa,
You’re even lamer than these usual broads posing as intellectual here like Gonzo. You know, for a psychologist, you seem to be a little light in the loafers of basic psychological understanding – say like the definition of basic four letter words that aren’t vulgar. Let me help you out. For instance:
Why would I answer fact? 🙄
You don’t answer facts. You answer lies, you answer innuendo, speculation, distortion, you even attempt to answer while formulating your own hypothesis. You accept facts. FACTS ARE FACTS. There are so few facts posed here by most of you, I would have to dig to China to find them.
As to humor, you gotta be funny first. Pfesser is funny. James is funny. You’re not. You’re humorless and dank. Even Aunt Liki Liki and gaBozo try to be funny. Take their lead.
But I’ll tell you what. Here is your moment to shine. Take down the irascible LDD. Why don’t you put the freshman psychoanalyzing aside for a minute and demonstrate to the rubes one FACT here that I’ve provided that you find untrue, then prove it untrue as I have done to several of the bogus claims presented to the crowd of thought police.
Do you know that for a sociopath, not a one of you superior intellects has even challenged my assertions that all of you lefties who frequent this board are bush league, mendacious lightweights and really lame propagandists? Low information voters par excellence.
All I’ve heard in response when I call you on it is I’m mean, or I am ugly, or I am reprehensible, or please leave. So what? I’m just playing the lefty game.
So quit whining and running for cover third party preemptively, tacitly waiting to be blasted by me. That’s too easy for me. I want you to join your sister’s struggle.
Let’s see what you really know. What do you say, Whoa? Give me something of substance to chew on. Can’t you be as brave as the rest of these sisters? They’re not throwing up their skirts. Well, maybe Terri. 😆
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 21, 2013
at 4:03 PM
Mountain snow is important to more than skiers. It compensates for normally dry summers as melting snow flows onto the plains and other low spots. Our Missouri River flow depends in part on snow in the Northern Rockies.
Record mountain snow and then rain caused our epic flood.
Scientists have been able to seed clouds for rain. The Chinese do it now, I think. When I was stationed at Ellsworth AFB a year long cloud seeding experiment was in process.
Cloud seeding did not cause our drought. Our weather operates through cycles and feedback systems. The Heartland tends to have a drought every 18 to 23 years. Another cycle of about 90 years also produces even more extensive dry spells. According to ISU extension climatologist Dr. Elwyn Taylor, we are moving toward the apex of that cycle around 2014. Until that time, our weather will fluctuate extremely as it did in the 1930’s and also the 1890’s.
After 2024, we will enter another calmer phase.
Dr. Taylor estimates about 8% or so per year of climate change is caused by humans.
About 600 and 1000 AD droughts let the Nebraska Sandhills blow free as the sand dunes they are, and the short grass prairie spread almost to Wisconsin. Relatives of the Black feet Indians who lived near Mitchel, South Dakota moved to North Dakota.
Two paleantologists in Oklahoma discovered that five thousand years ago, Indians and buffalo moved out of the southern plains because it was too dry.
El Nino and La Nina as we know, are heat transfer cycles which affect our weather. The North Pacific Decadal Oscillation and North Atlantic Decadal Oscillation are two other long term cycles which affect our weather.
The London Met Office. Norweigian researchers have shown the earth has maintained a fairly stable temperature since about 1998. James Hanson and Alex Jones, both warmists admit the studies are correct, but they say they are only temporary lulls. However, even they have to admit that the climate models predicting frying weather are too simple because there is much we still don’t know. Greenhouse gases are logically a source of climate change, so why though we continue to pour record amounts of the stuff into our air has our climate fluctuated instead of steadily rising? Because outside and planetary influences we poorly understand are driving our climate.
The sun is another major player some scientists have until now discounted. The Little Ice Age came with the Mauder (SP) minimum which was a drought of sun spots. Our latest sun spot cycle has been weak. It and our current weather may be connected.
The sun may someday cause us even more trouble than it may be doing with our weather. An 1850’s astronomer, witnessed a solar flare so intense it burned out telegraph wires and kept telegraph machines running even after they were disconnected with power sources. Some operators were burned. We are so dependent on electronics here and in space, another such flare would be catastrophic.
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By: James on May 21, 2013
at 3:52 PM
Hey, Whoa – I understand. I don’t expect to “win,” and I don’t spend much time on it, all in all. Think I need to give a bit more thought to how my responding may cause everybody ELSE here to waste their time reading my replies! Thanks…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 21, 2013
at 3:51 PM
Gato
You’re wasting your time trying to reason with or humor a sociopath like LDD because it’s common knowledge that sociopaths never answer facts; they always attack the messenger. Also, sociopaths are unfeeling and lack concepts such as shame, guilt or remorse. Their brain wiring is short-circuited and they can’t make the neuronal connections to process emotions or assimilate contrary information..
Just watch LDD make my case by his response to this entry.
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By: Whoa on May 21, 2013
at 3:30 PM
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By: poolman on May 21, 2013
at 3:22 PM
Hey, Cynthia – Thanks for the info. I googled it, too. (Probably should have done that before making my comments…) Not sure, at this point, that I want to get deeply enough into meteorology to examine how much of that snow-creation is for skiing, and how much is to guarantee a significant melt for overall water needs…
Also have no idea whether or not cloud-seeding has any bearing on the ever-increasing greenhouse effect… But it is hard to imagine that doing so, in one state, in one single country, can really have the impact that global use of fossil fuels, pollution, deforestation, and all that other stuff I mentioned, has…
BTW, have you ever wondered why one of the frequent attacks on the porch involves the assumption that we don’t know anything about math…?
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 21, 2013
at 3:22 PM
Hey, Nat So Hong – I would certainly encourage you to do everything you can to remove yourself from any “Blue State Utopia” as soon as possible. Why, you could start right now by removing yourself from this blog!
Of course, one of the reasons they’re not fighting looters in OK is because both local law enforcement officers, AND THE NATIONAL GUARD, are all over the place. And, in addition, I’m sure they are mostly good and decent people, as well, and in a state of total shock. The devastation is overwhelming, even to those of us who only see it on TV…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 21, 2013
at 3:06 PM
Hey Chris, word of advice to apparently a nice guy trying to be reasonable with unreasonable, dimwitted and shallow people. You’re a much nicer guy than I am.
When you read garbage like this:
You might want to ask them a much more reasonable scenario if they are prepared for a Gestapo on every corner or a Soviet commissar managing their affairs? Because both of those started under the banner of taking personal property for the sake of government assistance, using their own version of IRS to punish their enemies, monitoring phone lines and letters (now email) by their justice department, shaking down public companies to pay for ‘Human Services’ like Obamacare…etc.
Most you’ll read around here are a series of false narratives, mendacity, rank propaganda, and moral equivalency.
Those I’ve listed are occurring as we speak in the U.S.. courtesy of Dear Leader and his New Brownshirt Review and need no speculation.
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 21, 2013
at 2:54 PM
Man, you got to really be a skunk to piss on the deaths of dead children from a natural disaster to become political ideologue(s), but then I forget federal government is progressive’s religion and Obama is Dear Leader as millions starve – some of you would actually make better citizens for North Korea because you damn sure don’t understand a Democratic Republic.
Well actually, that conclusion is a real non sequitur if one thinks about it. Because if no state is in a position to handle damage themselves, then joining all states into a pool of shared resources would only exacerbate the problem.
That’s why I’m trying to encourage liberals that hate our guts, many on this board, to help me find peaceful solutions to split the country up.
You gals really don’t get math, do you? It’s like your climate change. You can’t even answer the most simply questions like if AGW for real, why was the global climate warmer during the Middle Age, why did Al Gore by a ocean front beach house if the seas rising, and why has the world not grown measurably hotter the last 15 years as emerging countries economies grew at such a huge rate (see China and India).
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14527-climate-myths-global-warming-stopped-in-1998.html?full=true
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 21, 2013
at 2:41 PM
Gato – they are seeding the clouds for snow. I just googled it. I do wonder if it has some affect on the drought in the mid-west.
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on May 21, 2013
at 2:38 PM
Chris – I am sorry but I can not keep up with you. Perhaps it is the medication I’m taking. I do agree we have a problem in this country but disagree with the “who and what” that is causing it. I think you missed my snark regarding OK. And as stated I do not believe in messing with Mother Nature. We have difficulty solving the problems we have created for ourselves without trying to control Mother Nature.
That said, I have been breeding unicorns for some time now. I have been successful in breeding pastel colors. I am now attempting to miniaturize them as I feel there would be a bigger market for mini-unys. Must run, I have a uny-mare foaling that needs my attention.
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on May 21, 2013
at 2:31 PM
One of the very biggest bogus lies going, and it is easily provable in that if that were truly the case and leftists really believed that, liberals like you whose idea of charity is federal government taken out of a collective pool would be screaming to high heaven at the injustice.
But let’s assume you’re correct, Gunko. You should be the first then to demand a lowering of the federal tax rates. You wouldn’t want us red staters ripping your off any longer because it’s a statistical fact that liberals and personal charity are pretty much mutually exclusive.
And we red staters would then happily take care of our own, which we will end up doing anyway for the most part in Moore, OK. You’ll note unlike those bastions of blue state utopia, they aren’t fighting the looters too.
That’s my dream. To be totally removed in any shape, form or fashion from blue states even if it means secession. More and more people are finally starting to come to that conclusion that the U.S. is broken, the politics corrupted, the media lapdogs for leftism, and we need to be split apart for irreconcilable differences.
Trust me, sweetie. We don’t want to be a part of your world anymore than you do ours. Why don’t you join me in coming up with people solutions so that we don’t have to share with each other anymore?
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 21, 2013
at 2:30 PM
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By: poolman on May 21, 2013
at 2:20 PM
Chris – I fear you are not taking Cynthia’s very good advice to pause, breathe deeply, and repeat…
I would guess that most of whatever “cloud seeding” that goes on is for the benefit of AGRIBUSINESS on the West Coast, not for the “elites” who want to ski in the Rockies. It’s easy enough to “make” snow, if it’s needed; I’m not aware that anyone has figured out how to “make” rain. (Besides, the “elites” can ski any damned place they want, as I’m sure you well know.)
It’s not “cloud seeding” that is causing the increase in global temperatures; it’s the ever-greater amount of CO2 and methane in the atmosphere, caused by the rampant use of fossil fuels, pollution, livestock waste, deforestation, and on and on and on.
Give things a little more thought, please – don’t let yourself fall into the Wingnut Pit…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 21, 2013
at 2:12 PM
Hey, Chris – And, interestingly enough, the states that receive the most Federal aid, in any form, are almost all “Red”! Go figure…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 21, 2013
at 2:03 PM
Cynthia,
Man has done lmuch to affect global warming…and even more drastic climate change is occuring from the cloud seeding mostly on the West Coastline..to provide Colorado with snow for the elitists and their 1000 + gatekeepers..to ski…let us give them some fun..while we kill the rest of the poor Bas…rds
The cloud seeding in the West causes most of the tornado conditions in the Midwest. Sure, these areas are prone to these weather conditons,naturally, but, the numbers are outrageously high, due to the cloud seeding.
The Good Friday Storm of two years ago, April 22, 2011, that wiped out parts of St. Louis and damaged the Airport. It was one of 92 tornadoes hitting a 5 state area..ALL IN A 24 HOUR PERIOD.
I am certainly aware of how… Weather Modification Inc. is doing this cloud seeding. An unauthorized voice interview took place off camera, and is on UTUBE where a worker describes how all this is taking place.They are in South Dakota, and are hired by water sheds, Cities, and States to do this to our people, unknowingly, to the public, without recourse.
It is just another means of creating genocide to the American public, even without a vote….WHO OF YOU WOULD VOTE TO WIPE OUT OUR CITIES? None of us would do such a dastardly evil to each other..
Hopefully not you, Cynthia, from your statement about Oklahoma. It did not sound promising.
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By: Chris on May 21, 2013
at 1:26 PM
Alaskapi – very sorry to hear of the loss your dad. Life is a series of passages and the loss of our parents is one of them. As hard as it is to lose your dad to a heart attack; losing them to Alzheimer’s would be worse. I lost my mother when I was 30 and my dad at 40. Suddenly we find ourselves as head of the family before we are ready to accept that position…scary.
As I approach my 71st birthday I view death differently than I did younger.
Death is just another passage we must make.
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on May 21, 2013
at 1:02 PM
Cynthia, I guess we should not pay any taxes to the Federal Govt. if we do not services from them..Then we should make arrangements to take care of the individual states. The most pork goes to a very few states…not the many.
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By: Chris on May 21, 2013
at 1:01 PM
Chris – please take a deep breath…let it out slowly repeat as necessary.
FEMA is not, was not, never ever meant to be a FIRST RESPONDER. The local and state resourses are the first responders. The federal comes in when the Governor asks for FEMA to help. Now since the OK Senators were soooo against help for NY and NJ there is a part of me that says “Oklahoma, take care of yourselves”. But that thought passed quickly. Isn’t the Republicans who say you should not depend upon the government for help…pull your selves up by your own boot straps…be independent…take care of it your self. Is that the world we should live in?????
I don’t believe any state is in the position to handle the damage all by themselves so we all need to help in the form of the federal government. That is those taxes the IRS steals from us. Don’t you wish those corporations who play their games to avoid paying taxes paid their far share of taxes. How will the insurance companies pay for the damage with out having to reduce their CEO’s bonus? Of course this is just a normal climate change cycle; man has done absolutely nothing to affect the change, right? Personally I have always felt it is not nice to f*ck with Mother Nature. She has a way f*cking back.
Have you considered moving to Somalia? I understand there are no taxes, EPA, FEMA, IRS, FDA, HS, Federal Reserve and I doubt any banks to interfer with your being independent and totally self sufficant. However I would strongly suggest packing several AR15’s and lots of ammo. Perhaps a missile or two. A tank would be nice for traveling about, as well.
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on May 21, 2013
at 12:19 PM
Yes Chris, I am aware of the evil in our midst. We are mostly complicit because we have been trained to accept it as the way it is and therefore has to be. It plays into our lesser of two evils philosophy and the ends justifies the means actions. Google the five monkeys experiment for a probable reason. As a society, we have a history of assassinating prophets and peacemakers. I also find most confront the following dilemma:
Yet the individual is handicapped by coming face to face with a conspiracy so monstrous he cannot believe it exists. The American mind simply has not come to a realization of the evil which has been introduced into our midst. It rejects even the assumption that human creatures could espouse a philosophy which must ultimately destroy all that is good and decent.
Attributed to J. Edgar Hoover, but likely from one of his underlings. Keep fighting!
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By: poolman on May 21, 2013
at 11:41 AM
Poolman, Hurray, YOU are the man after mine own heart.
I am charmed by your knowledge.
You are getting it. Read my past comments on the NWO.
This is all part of the control and genocide program we are under, here and potentially around the world by chemical and DRUG companies.
The Food and Drug Administration is the name of the administrative agency they created for themselves, to have total control of their very own interests. Why do you think those two nouns are lumped together and administrated by one agency? Because the drug and chemical companies were to control and benifit from its inception. They control our food production, and drugs, which is the main causes of us losing two years from our life expectancy.
Another major issue arising… The IRS…SCANDAL….
It is actually connected to the discussion on evil Monsanto.
Poolman, you appear to me to be enlightened. Please say you are aware of the connection of the dots, between these issues.
A man named Sheldon Richmond ………was just interviwed on a local fm radio station, 97.1, in St. Louis.
I just heard, we can pull this up on the net, listen to the interview.
Check it out. I will listen again, and again.
He is speaking on America getting rid of the IRS forever, and for good, for the IRS, robbing our people.
Google him. We need to keep and spread the word around..
And while we are at it, we need to get rid of the Federal Reserve System, as well.
Both the Chemical countries controlling our food sources, and the IRS BANKERS Harassing and robbing Americans ( they are not part of our GOVT. and cannot be audited……just like Monsanto is extricating and setting themselves apart from being sued by our poisoned citizens, with the Monsanto Protection Act. Both, Monsanto, and the IRS are evil, and serve the 1% ELITE Bankers, ( investors in these chemical companies, are the same money people who run the IRS and ARE the Baners ) They have never had a history of giving service to the people, or the government, just themselves.
BTW…let’s get rid of FEMA…..Glen Beck just said from a broadcast, in Moore..they were NOT the absolute first responders to help in the Moore, Oklahoma, 2 mile wide tornado, that wiped out the complete town clean, and devasted the grade school, there as well.
These discussions must escalate order to bring light to these practices THAT DO NOT WORK in our society, in order to eliminate them from our lives. OUR discussions must continue in order to make it happen.
I am sure this action of creating discussion, alone, could cause Homeland Security to put us all in FEMA camps under Bush’s Homeland Security law. We need to get rid of that law, TOO.
( See how they lobby and legislate laws in pairs to insure the fulfillment of their agenda……like the income tax law was passed in June, and Federal Reserve Act of 1913, in December. We have been treated as Serfs since then. )
Just another law to limit OUR Constutional rights.
in studies made, America is NOT any safer with all the shoes taken off, and flyers disrobed, since Bush created the chaos and terrorized us after 9/11. (the IRS is listening ) they do persecute and set up both sides for public scrutiny for whistle blowers.
Another Subject…
Why do the schools call off school for inclement weather under snow storms, but, never call off school when a community is under A tornado warning ? This lack of action, puts our children in jeopardy of losing their precious little lives. This very loss just took place in Moore, Okla. WOW…!!!
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By: Chris on May 21, 2013
at 10:49 AM
Alaskapi, do you think making a video or some sort of photo story of your father and mother for the next generation would help? It would also let the next generation remember. It helped me, and eventually, our grand daughter will be able to “meet” her ancestors. I wish I had more which could help.
Just so you know. When we had our big flood, Pfessor and Delurkergurl offered to send a financial contribution to our food pantry which had been overextended. Though some of the volunteers were refugees they still came to work. They may get tired of my harping on it, but it meant a lot.
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By: James on May 21, 2013
at 10:28 AM
Thanks Mageen. I appreciate your encouragement. Thanks to the parent’s work schedules, my wife and I will be doing a lot of baby sitting. My wife has already purchased some little skis so our grand daughter and I can ski together when she reaches three or four.
The specialist is worried because our grand daughter’s head is growing too slowly, though her brain seems fine.
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By: James on May 21, 2013
at 10:17 AM
Thanks for the good thoughts Alaskapi. Good thoughts back to you.
Penny abrams, I know I was stating the obvious. I did so because Lori and maybe others appeared to think the meaning of Obama’s poll numbers was more significant than was.
A Washington Post/ABC poll released today showed 56% said the IRS use of higher scrutiny against Tea Party groups was deliberate. 74% said these actions were illegal. 45% think the administration is covering up, and 42% believe the White House is being honest. 55% of Americans believe the administration is attempting to cover up the facts of the Benghazi attack.
I wrote the polls wouldn’t matter much if they were more unkind to the administration which this one is.
I was playing the role of the cartoon “Obvious Man” because at least one person seemed to need it.
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By: James on May 21, 2013
at 10:10 AM
Thank you all. It has been some weeks now and I don’t have to sit down and just breathe , literally and figuratively, quite so often.
Figuring out where my feet are without my Pop’s steady presence at my shoulder started when he started to slip behind the cruel veil that Alzheimer’s drops over its victims so I’m getting used to it all some now. Yes, lori- I am very much a Daddy’s girl. Always have been. I love my Ma to pieces but my Pop was my compass.
I am grateful he slipped away before he suffered anymore but I miss him so.
James- I hope the very best for your lil grand and her folks. Sending very best wishes.
I do know about the reindeer project. The Saami peoples were the best part of much of that history- there were some very dark chapters there.
PFesser- Alaska has been particularly cold and nasty this year so far, across most of the state. My part of the state has set various records as have many other places. ANC area is usually warmer, drier, and sunnier than we are in the short spring-summer. They are just now getting over 50 deg during the day. They’ve been running about 10-15 deg cooler. Us too but we are ahead of them by about a week or 10 days. ( Counting days of *good* weather is pretty silly, eh? We all do it here )
Fairbanks is worse this year than just about everywhere. Friends in Bristol Bay are still dealing with 30 deg days which makes getting ready to fish shortly a lot more work.
We are very jealous of the few short months of long light and mild temps so it has been cabin fever hell for so many so far.
I was deeply sorry to see/hear of the terrible tornado damage in Oklahoma. I hope all who visit here from that area or who have family and friends there are safe and sound.
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By: alaskapi on May 21, 2013
at 9:23 AM
james: well, duh…u said…the Obama poll numbers are just another example of group think. People exposed too long to biases similar to theirs internalize what may not be true.
yes, that’s what polls are. a lot of people are asked the same question and what the group thinks is what the poll is. hence, if a poll shows that, for instance,87% or the people think that orange juice is delicious, then chances are that it is.
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By: penny abrams on May 21, 2013
at 9:11 AM
gato…u r 1 funny person…ty for my morning chuckle
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By: penny abrams on May 21, 2013
at 9:08 AM
i got it!!! i know who long duc long is (or wotever his name du jour)!!! a frustrated, failed drill sargent! there ya go! phew and i thot maybe he was an escaped whackaloon. nah, just a failed drill sargent.
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By: penny abrams on May 21, 2013
at 9:03 AM
James, about your soon to be grand daughter: pre-natal screen tests can be strange, to say the least. I’ve known at least a few shocked people who had twins although the ultrasound declared only one baby. All pregnancies develop in their own way. A finding of too slow growth in one test can be reversed in another later on. Also, just how big is the head expected to be? If its too big, there will be a C section. Just you all hang in there and believe the best!
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By: Mageen in Old Virginny on May 21, 2013
at 9:02 AM
Alaskapi, I am very sorry for your loss. 😦
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By: delurkergurl on May 21, 2013
at 8:42 AM
alaskapi – sorry about your father; I lost mine long ago, my mother in the ‘nineties. It really gives one the sense of a book’s being closed. Now my two oldest sibs are approaching the great mystery. When my Dad died, my oldest brother said that there was nothing like the death of a parent to make you feel like a link in a chain.
My buddy’s daughter lives in Anchorage and says this has been the coldest, most miserable spring since she moved there about fifteen years ago. How’s it at your location?
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By: PFesser on May 21, 2013
at 8:09 AM
Alaskapi, I’m sorry. We lived through the same condition. I have no words of comfort, except that I have been where you are.
My wife and I recovered from the flood, but some things are still missing. We have been busy with the food pantry and with our historical organizations. I still write, and people seem to like my stories.
We have been stressed by the prospect of our new grand daughter. At first, doctors were certain the girl had Down’s Syndrome, so we made preparations. Our daughter took a new blood test which gave a 98% chance the baby did not have Down’s Syndrome.We were relieved for awhile, but now the baby’s head is growing too slowly, though her brain seems fine. First she had no cartliage in her nose then she did. Now, she doesn’t.
The doctor told our daughter and son in law “You can’t seem to catch a break.” A specialist says he has no idea of what is going on, though he has theories. Birth may be induced on May 29, or it may not. We will wait and see.
Its good stress, but our daughter has just been promoted to manage another therapy site beside the one she already runs.We will be doing a lot of baby sitting.
You may remember I wrote about my distant Finnish and Sami relatives. Did you know that during the 1800’s, the US introduced reindeer to parts of Alaska? Native Americans were hunters, not herders, so Sami people moved in to help teach them new skills.Some are still in Alaska.
Sami have a culture somewhat between the Plains Indians and Inuit. Like other indigenous people, they are one of the oldest races on earth. Sami and Finns also carry some Asian genes. They have been exploited and persecuted too. You of all people writing here might appreciate Sofia Jannok (A Sami) and Kristian Antilla Thunder of Three Heavens on YouTube video. It is good therapy when I think of our unborn grand daughter. Maybe it will help; you too.
I wish I had words for you, but I don’t .
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By: james on May 21, 2013
at 7:29 AM
*Nice to see you Pi. I’ve been in your shoes. It hurts and sucks. For a Daddy’s girl, the world is never quite the same when their Daddy passes. I hope peace comes to you quickly. Love & light.
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By: lori on May 21, 2013
at 6:13 AM
Good morning friends,
Doesn’t feel proper to talk about politics today . Today is a day to count my blessings, hug my kids and husband, reflect on what is really important. I’ll be back when it feels right.
Nice to see you Pi.
namaste.
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By: lori on May 21, 2013
at 6:07 AM
Penny, that is what I spoke of.These are really bad guys.
They are part of the huge big picture of the NWO.
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By: Chris on May 21, 2013
at 2:59 AM
And UAW!
Good to see you! And as usual, Pffftt! on what you said. 🙂
Hope all is well with you and your special gal .
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By: alaskapi on May 20, 2013
at 9:52 PM
Hey James! Hope all is well with you and yours.
Lost my Dad- he was spared the indignities of Alzheimer’s stealing his whole self by his heart saying enough is enough. Knocks the wind out of me , this getting used to world without him in it, ya know?
You guys all over here gettin a tan? 😉
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By: alaskapi on May 20, 2013
at 9:48 PM
Hi Alaskapi. I’m glad to “see” you again. Uawtradesman. Your “lying SOB” line was worth the visit back here.
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By: james on May 20, 2013
at 9:12 PM
and Chris
Talking heads are just that- talking heads.
Watch em, read em with this at hand.
https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/
Inspect your own arguments too.
We often don’t “hear” the ones coming out of our own mouths…
And correlation does not equal causation…watch that one!
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By: alaskapi on May 20, 2013
at 9:09 PM
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas.php
This one is tougher to navigate than gov track but you can get plenty there.
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By: alaskapi on May 20, 2013
at 8:40 PM
Chris-
go here :
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/
With some practice you can find what you are looking for.
I disagree pretty entirely with your “whys” of things but have similar concerns on the “whats.”.
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By: alaskapi on May 20, 2013
at 8:39 PM
The primates are up to their usual:
What else could you expect?
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By: Anonymous on May 20, 2013
at 8:18 PM
Good to be back, Pfesser! I read that you were handling the flotsam and jetsam without trouble and actually growing bored with the task at hand.
Figured you could use a few laughs while you conducted the roach stomp on the breeders.
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 20, 2013
at 7:58 PM
Smells like a chicken farm around here. The strays arent potty trained. Please stop feeding them.
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By: Anonymous on May 20, 2013
at 7:57 PM
gato opined:
“Grotto”
(Oh; and… “panties.” Almost forgot!)”
Having memory issues, are we?
1) “Grotto” came from somebody else, not me. 2) You and that darn underwear – always losing it! (I had a girlfriend like that once. Ahhhhh… great memories.)
Maybe the Aricept is being recommended for the wrong person. LOL LOL
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By: PFesser on May 20, 2013
at 7:54 PM
The hanging or the Taliban? That’s not a dream, Gunko. That’s a hope. I don’t necessarily want Terri permanently damaged. Just covered to mask the stench.
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 20, 2013
at 7:51 PM
Terri in NY opined: “And take the perverted PF with you. You two seem to amuse each other.”
Now you have gone and hurt my feelings.
Besides, I’m not the one who can’t find her underwear.
Welcome, Long Duc Dong! Rush Limbaugh always said the problem with liberals is that they have no sense of humor. God was he right! Glad you stopped by; now we are having fun!
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By: PFesser on May 20, 2013
at 7:47 PM
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By: uawtradesman on May 20, 2013
at 7:33 PM
hey Gato…the phrase isn’t
“We’re going to nail that uppity black SOB; nail that uppity black SOB; nail that uppity black SOB…” it’s
“We’re going to nail that lying SOB,nail that lying SOB,nail that lying SOB….”
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By: uawtradesman on May 20, 2013
at 7:28 PM
LDD- now you have really hurt my feelings…
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By: Terri in NY on May 20, 2013
at 7:11 PM
Long Duc Dong, maybe in your dreams…
Why don’t you and Fesser just do the mind meld and become the one “thing” you most likely are…
Remind me to spend most of the evening writing back and forth to myself, and thinking that I am/we are hot stuff… It’s SOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! worth doing!!!!!! God, but I’m amazing…
Grotto
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By: gatodicima on May 20, 2013
at 6:22 PM
Oh no, not you lovely Terri. You deserve to be handed over to the Taliban. You’re not worth the price of the rope.
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 20, 2013
at 5:37 PM
Hi, Terri – As WTF said, one can advertise only about ten percent of one’s accomplishments, lest others (such as my poor self, one who “only makes drawings in books”) become sick, and potentially suicidal, with envy…
But thanks for reminding me of my other accomplishments… (Hey, “Nobel, Schmobel”… After the first one, the rest hardly matter, right?) And the skating’s just for fun. Somebody international organization wants to honor me, what can I do? Just trying to set a good example for all the young people who worship me… It’s the least I can do… My burdens are without bounds…!
Glad you enjoyed. I had fun doing it. (Far too much “fun,” maybe!)
“Grotto”
(Oh; and… “panties.” Almost forgot!)
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By: gatodicima on May 20, 2013
at 5:35 PM
To: “Whoa” is Me: on May 20, 2013 at 4:04 PM
You’re welcome, Sigmund Jr.. It was purposely done. I thought the hanging was an especially welcome add on. For your pencil neck, I would tie a bow knot. 😉
As did you supporting my case in ignoring the question(s) posed to you. Of course, you’d have to be a disciple of Dear Leader and his massive failure to support what you support anyway, so I wasn’t shocked. You can go back to burying your head.
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 20, 2013
at 5:33 PM
Gato, you made my day! But you forgot to mention your Nobel Peace prize, your Olympic gold metal in figure skating, and the blue ribbon you won for making the best apple pie. You’re too modest.
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By: Terri in NY on May 20, 2013
at 5:03 PM
the Obama poll numbers are just another example of group think. People exposed too long to biases similar to theirs internalize what may not be true.
For example, the accepted science held that some of my ancestors, the Finns and Sami were unworthy of the rights and privilages of true Europeans, because they were obviously Asians. Its true they are genetically different from most Europeans and the Sami especially carry up to a third Asian genes, but they are true Europeans.
Sofia Jannok and Kristian Anttila Thunder of Three Heavens YouTube video illustrates their music and show Sofia, a genuine Sami.She has slight Asian traits, but how could one say she is not European? No one will google it, but it is your loss not mine.
The old science was wrong about those people, and the Obama poll doesn’t mean much now. I would say the same if he was falling in the polls. it will mean something in 2014.
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By: james on May 20, 2013
at 4:40 PM
To: Long Duc Dong on May 20, 2013 at 3:29 PM
Thanks for making my case. You nailed it without even knowing how you did it,
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By: Whoa on May 20, 2013
at 4:04 PM
Okay… How about I “accuse” you of talking about people’s wrinkled posteriors, and giving specifics about the various groups of people with whom you “will not play sex games,” and people who “plead” for you to spank them… Any of that sound familiar…?
Actually, I just got back from flying a few of my closest gerontologist friends out to Hawai’i in my custom 747, which I built myself, just in time to find Auntie Jean wandering along the Liki Liki Highway, followed by a pack of wild boars who, I must say, seemed quite inebriated on cheap wine. That Auntie! What on earth are we going to do with her..? She actually asked me if I could provide her with a few algebraic exercises, just for “fun.” (Poor thing; guess she’s forgotten about all your “math” warnings.) She should just stick to the daily “Puzzlers” in her local paper!
Fortunately, I was able to reach her just in time to share with her that article from the North Carolina Medical Journal. So glad you pointed that out to all of us! Since all went well, it was a relatively quick trip, and I got back just in time to groom my unicorns, see how the mechanic was doing on the repairs to the Rolls (have to keep an eye on her, all the time), do a few edits on the latest chapter in the book I’m doing for Monsanto on genetically-modified foods, and put the last coat of patina on the sculpture that the Guggenheim has requested. (They’re so tiresome; you can just never give them enough! I’m sure you know what I mean…) Just a typical day!
Fortunately, I then had a moment to really enjoy the recent posts here, especially the ones that use a made-up Oriental name to make a pee pee joke! hahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ROFLOL!!!!!!!! That’s just too clever! My goodness; I’m sure nobody’s ever thought of that before. And I must say that all my Asian buddies – and there are so many – especially enjoy that kind of thing, if they have any sense of humor at all! You all just can’t stop, can you? We have a local Thai restaurant (which I started with the grandson of the head of the Thai government, who has been my very special friend for SOOOOOO long, I must add) called “Long Thang.” Isn’t that a riot? I knew you’d like it! You’d be amazed how many members of the gun club really enjoy a nice steaming bowl of pad thai! Gets them even more “ready to fire,” if you get my drift!
Well, great to hear from you, as always. Time to head to the theatre, where my opera opened last night. It’s going pretty well, except they can’t seem to get it quite right unless I conduct, myself! What are you gonna do?
You can’t be too careful with that welding – and watch out for the lemonade near the new laptop. Those things aren’t cheap – and who has time to fix the keyboards oneself…? We can’t do everything!
“Grotto” (That’s so cute, too!)
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By: gatodicima on May 20, 2013
at 4:03 PM
LDD, Mammy or whoever the f’ you are: why don’t you crawl back under whatever rock you have been hiding under. We deserve to be hanged? You are a sorry excuse for a human being. And take the perverted PF with you. You two seem to amuse each other.
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By: Terri in NY on May 20, 2013
at 3:54 PM
My 3:14 comment was responding to Whoa.
As for the GMOs, 8 EU countries have banned them, with Poland the latest. India farmers have been committing suicides due to Monsanto and there are similar results in SA and Africa. The company is evil and is in bed with our leaders.
The difference is that nature knows balance and allows all organisms to coexist. As for toxins, I think man has leg up on nature regarding their distribution. Google Camp Lejeune, Fort McClellan, or just Superfund sites, to get an idea what we’ve been doing to ourselves.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Superfund_sites_in_the_United_States
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By: poolman on May 20, 2013
at 3:47 PM
Just so you know, given the comments about altered genes. I am a blue eyed mutant. A Danish geneticist discovered a single mutatation for blue eyes was born north of the Black Sea eight to ten thousand years ago. Since the gene tends to be recessive, the first blue eyed baby waited until two parents had the gene.
The mutation was obviously successful. Some districts of Estonia, for example have almost all blue-eyed residents. Of course in some parts of the world, blue eyes are regarded with suspicion of the evil eye.
So, Gato, do you have blue eyes? Could I call you “cousin Gato” if you did? What about you Whoa?
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By: James on May 20, 2013
at 3:35 PM
Hey Whoa…
Let me add another sociopathic moment to this “fine” blog of intellectual giants.
Do any of you mature
sheeplegeniuses care that five departments of Obama’s sleazy government are either breaking the law or lying or both (State [Benghazi], Defense [the harassment issues], Justice [monitoring of phone lines], Treasury [corruption at the IRS], Health and Human Services [shaking down companies to pay for PR for Obamacare])?So Whoa, if me calling you on the transparent, pathological lying, rank and ridiculous propaganda, selective memories, duplicitous hypocrisy, and mindless stooge like enabling of massive failure and corruption makes me a ugly, ugly sociopath? I wear that badge with honor. You diagnosis that conclusion in your completion of Psych 102 this summer.
The only decency and self-respect on this board are the people that call you out on how most of you profane the name of good citizen. There are a handful of them. But most of you are reprehensible and the worst sort and bottom feeders.
You deserve to be ridiculed. Actually, you deserved to be hanged and would have been in a better day.
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 20, 2013
at 3:29 PM
I skimmed the Jim Wright article Cynthia posted. He didn’t attempt to reconcile the IRS’s Lori Lerner’s aplogizing for the agency’s targeted discrimination against conservative groups with his own bias..
He was right that established organizations were accepted. The small start ups had to jump through more hoops.
To Whoa, As my uncle used to say to his horse, “whoa Nellie!” I minored in psych and my daughter is a therapist, so I know projection when I see it.
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By: James on May 20, 2013
at 3:21 PM
ach…well…blount of MO…that man is a disaster
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By: penny abrams on May 20, 2013
at 3:19 PM
chris: ty, i look frward to the bill #s. unless i have forgotten it all, i believe that one can put addendums onto bills or make amendments to bills (i fgot the proper terminology) IF they are accepted but there are no bills within a bill so there would be no bill # if you’re referring to an amendment. when a bill is signed, it must be signed as tendered; no one can take out some parts of it; which is why some good bills have died. there were bad amendments made.
as for the poluted foodstuffs u refer to, there is some varied disagreement as to the benefits or damages due to modified foods/seeds. the final answer is yet to be formed…if you follow science’s way. if u want to point out that our supervision of the health of foodstuffs is insufficient, i don’t know how anyone can argue against that. i do think u jump to concluclusions as yet unfounded.
of course the healthiest food is grown locally, picked when mature and ripe and eaten immediately after harvest or as soon as possible. the market demands more though. bananas in the winter, apples in the summer, eggs all the time. fruit that looks good when it’s on display is usually picked before it is ready so it ships well.no one forces the public to buy it though. buy local and fresh. eat as close to the ground as you can find. no processing, nothing exotic like mushrooms or asparagus and certainly no fish that you haven’t caught ’cause it’s all been frozen. all.
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By: penny abrams on May 20, 2013
at 3:16 PM
gato opined: “I’ll be honest with you… Every time I find myself writing “pee pee, kaka, poo poo, panties, panties, panties, wee wee,” I at least have the good sense to hit “Save As Draft.”
Ah, no you don’t. You have been accusing others of using “panties” inappropriately on this blog for several months now, but can’t seem to find any posts mentioning such unmentionables other than your own.
Projecting much?
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By: PFesser on May 20, 2013
at 3:15 PM
Sometimes we elect them to the highest office.
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By: poolman on May 20, 2013
at 3:14 PM
So, LDD, should we refer to you as Long Duc or Duc Dong? Or is Duc your middle name and we should call you…well, you know…Long Dong – as in “Silver?”
You have to let up, man. I can’t get a damned thing done; I’m laughing so hard all the time; I burned myself welding last night, chuckling about Auntie Liki Liki. Don’t know why that is so funny…LOL
Oh, speaking of LD Silver – Auntie Liki-Liki, I just received my North Carolina Medical Journal. There is a great article on their “Silver Alert” program – a system set up for seniors with Alzheimers, who are wanderers. Thought you might be interested. You can look it up: “Analyzing State-Based Silver Alert Programs: The Case of North Carolina.”
Caution: Here there be MATH.
********
Chris – I never worry much about genetically altered biological material. Remember, every cell of every organism on the planet is – over time – constantly mutating to gain some advantage in the game of life. It’s pretty hard to imagine toxins more potent than nature has figured out for itself.
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By: PFesser on May 20, 2013
at 3:12 PM
I wonder why the sudden reappearance of the sociopaths on this site and then
I recalled this from a Psych course somewhere.
Chronic Antisocial Personality Disorder – often begins in childhood and
continues throughout adulthood. There are ten general symptoms:
Emotionally immature
Self centered – look at Me! Me! Me!
No sense of guilt
Incapable of learning from experience
Total lack of a sense of responsibility
Can’t form meaningful relationships
Constantly displays antisocial behavior
Impervious to punishment
Incapable of controlling impulses
No moral sense
People with this disorder may exhibit criminal behavior and you
are left to wonder constantly how that will eventually play out.
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By: Whoa on May 20, 2013
at 3:05 PM
Gato, ” a few incidents that are basically almost without any real significance…” Really? Which incidents would they be? Michele’s bangs? The President’s golf score? Surely you don’t mean four dead men and lies about a YouTube video. What about the IRS or the AP scandals?
Did you watch Dan Pfeiffer attempt to defend the administration with more lies and obfuscation? What is your opinion of Bob Schieffers’ asking Pfeiffer why he was on his show? Did you know the Washington Post gave Lois Lerner four Pinocchios? What about the latest spying of a Fox news reporter?
Your opinions are as valid as mine if you can prove them. I’d like to see you try. That possibility may persuade me to visit again.
However, I have a friendly hint for you. “We’re going to nail that uppity black SOB” is beyond the pale. You’re attributing racist motives to people, most of whom you have never met is also a form of racism. One might imply you were projecting your own motivations onto others. I don’t believe you are a racist, just thoughtless.
You weren’t writing about me, but my ego is fine. When I was here after the 2008 election, I predicted how it would be in an exchange with Honolulu Sal, whom I liked. We agreed time would tell. it did. Everything except inflation was worse than I predicted. I feel good about that.
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By: James on May 20, 2013
at 3:04 PM
Hi, Terri – It’s difficult for me to understand how someone could write something like that (although it does have some sentences with actual subjects, verbs, and predicates), take a look at it, and decide it would be a fine idea to hit “Post Comment.”
I’ll be honest with you… Every time I find myself writing “pee pee, kaka, poo poo, panties, panties, panties, wee wee,” I at least have the good sense to hit “Save As Draft.” 🙂
I mean, what’s the POINT…? This isn’t a porn site; most people here are trying to have an exchange of ideas, and maybe a few laughs… Maybe all of that is someone’s wildest sexual fantasy; who knows?
Not only does it remind me of the toddler toilet room, but also of the possessed Linda Blair in “The Exorcist,” peeing on the floor during her parents’ dinner party. (Of course, she was only seven or eight years old, and had a pretty good “excuse”: She was theoretically possessed by the Devil… These chumps are only “possessed” by their own stunted imaginations and a total lack of self-control.)
Makes you wonder what the “wife” might be like, if, in fact, “she” exists, or even knows about any of this.
As Auntie Jean reminded us: Anything we write stays on the internet FOREVER… One can only hope that some day, these posters will be trying to impress someone who matters to them, or trying for some position – you know, like TEACHING, for god’s sake – and all these posts, with their salacious, infantile, and distasteful comments, will be unearthed. The Universe has its ways…!
I’m sure it’s all fun for them now, and they think they are hot s***, but they won’t when that happens.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 20, 2013
at 2:58 PM
What an ugly, ugly person you are.
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By: Terri in NY on May 20, 2013
at 12:37 PM
😆 You got the Oklahoma right and then didn’t get a damn thing right after that, Aunt Liki Liki. I loved Hawaii, am Protestant, my wife still “lives” in Tulsa, didn’t enumerate a damn thing about Hawaii and just enjoyed it, what we did you physically unable to do so, so you wouldn’t understand if I had enumerated what we did. My wife doesn’t come from money and certainly not big oil money.
As to the avowed racist part, I can prove that wrong. I disdain Joe Biden, Wattle Jean, Grotto, and Aunt Liki Liki even more than I do Barack Obama and his butt faced, onion booty wife.
As to the multicultural stuff, can’t answer as I have no idea what you mean and neither do you.
You guys need to quit lurking when you peruse Rutherford’s blog and step out of the kiddie pool. You nags, hags and bags have got to be collectively the absolute dumbest sheeple on earth and it’s like stealing a pacifer out of the mouth of babes.
Come on over Aunt Liki Liki and we’ll put that supposed accumulated knowledge of yours to the test without moderation. You’ll get hammered, beehive, and wouldn’t last 10 minutes. 😈
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By: Long Duc Dong on May 20, 2013
at 12:11 PM
FYI, Sec 735 of the Monsanto Protection Act was slipped into the bill at the last minute by Senator Roy Blunt (R MO.) who wrote it in concert with representatives of Monsanto. (“Copied it” might be a better translation)
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) is the one trying to get it repealed..
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By: Anonymous on May 20, 2013
at 11:56 AM
Penny, I am still searching.
The one bill sec 735, was hidden within the Budget, in the potential govt shutdown in March of 2013. This was also known as the Monsanto Protection Act. A Dem. Senator is working to hopefully repeal it. It is a very bad bill.
It allows for, I believe, NOT LABELING OUR FOOD SOURCES containing Genetically Modified Seeds, which have pesticides, possible insects, and bacteria, in the seed itself, which is being studied and have been linked to many new and existing diseases, for which we have NO cures.
In the genetic modification process, according to studies revealed by Dr. James Mercola, and many experts; it is merely the splicing of two plants to make a new better one, but rather, in actuality, it is infusion of chemicals in the DNA of the plant to totally change the plant to something else completely.
Have you noticed over the past 10-15 years, the fruits and vegetables have no taste, or had metal or a chemical taste?
Monsanto is the evil one who does not want the GMO labeling, as the public of more informed people are aware of the sickening affect on the general health of the public. That was a point I mentioned earlier in the Medical System Failures of America. People will not eat such things and eventually cause these practices to cease, if it is known worldwide.
Germany was one of the several Eurpean countries in the EU, which has been fighting Monsanto on the use of GM seeds, for a long time. I believe I read somewhere, that Monsanto finally won. Germany will be forced to use the GM seeds, I believe.
In America, the small farmer is almost extinct. The food products we eat come mostly from 5 major huge Agri-Corporations. They grow, process with more chemicals, and package, and market them to us.
All of them use Monsanto’s GM seeds. Originally, the main seed was GM corn. It is is used (all chemical ) to sweeten ALL processed foods. ( it is linked to every death causing disease we in America and throughout the world suffer from. ). These chemicals are not real, but a type of plastic, and our bodies react negatively to these. They do not serve the body as food, nor, does the body recognize it as food, and the immune system begins attacking the body, itself. There are many auto-immune diseases from the use of the poisons. ( Dr. Mercola has much scientific studies on this and many subjects, as well.) I have been studying this for the past 13years.
Monsanto have been suing small organic farmers, under the premise that the NON GMO seeds are interfering with the growth of the their GMO seeded veggies and fruits. THEY ACTUALLY ARE WINNING THE LAWSUITS.
In essence, they basically have made it against the law to grow organic old seeds, which Is the only real food on the planet. They place the former CEO’s of Monsanto and other chemical companies like Dow, etc. as top officials of the FDA, the USDA, and the EPA, to rubber stamp the safety of their poisons, so the genocide of our people goes on and on.
From this food GMO standpoint, I know people will lose in a lawsuit against Monsanto, but, the actual show of Bill Maher this weekend, stating Obama signed into law a bill not allowing anyone to sue A drug and chemical company; I will have to further investigate.
I did take Mr. Jim’s word on this, on Maher’s program, having not seen it myself. From prior experiences with the way his mind assimilates and concludes information, I will have to confirm the original statement I made, Penny.
He has been known to hear one thing and report a completely different piece of information. I will look further into this. Chris
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By: Chris on May 20, 2013
at 11:27 AM
@Cynthia, love love love Jim, thanks for the s/o to all here.
@ PI 😉
@ Terry, yup, da losers are in an uproar! **** Dusting off our shoulders***** LOL NEXT…
@ Gato, people are entitled to their own opinions but not facts.
Obama’s polls are rising, stock market is at an all time high, deficit is tumbling downward, job market is improving, we have healthcare for all, and immigration bill is drafted, foreign war/s are ending.. WORD…
and on we go FORWARD.. 😉 Stay calm and carry on all.. love Yinz all to pieces..
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By: lori on May 20, 2013
at 11:25 AM
Not sure, Penny, I will try to find it.
A friend said so from a Bill Mahr (?) show this week end. I wiil try to locate it.
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By: Chris on May 20, 2013
at 9:58 AM
Poolman. I agree with you. I voted twice for President Obama.
I wonder what is going on. Is it the right going after the left? Is it the left blatantly carrying on, completing the agenda of the Bushes?
It appears possibly so to me.
After the first election of Obama, did he not choose many prior Cabinet members of Bush? I recently heard that Presidents depend heavily on their Cabinet to provided information, in regards to their decision making process.
In reality, the Cabinet could at least, influence the running of the presidency, at best, run the Presidency, if they would decide to conspire and collaborate.
The whole gang of past and current Presidents appeared like kissing cousins at the dedication of the Bush Library…( after all the 13 years of ongoing accusations and delineations between the Parties, with their opposite Ideologies, it appeared to be very strange site ?)
It looked that both sides were in complete harmony,
President. Clinton, Older Pres. Bush. ( what reverence was shown between them…..no matter how wide the gap of ideology has been between them. ) (remember, how they traveled, smiling, and collecting monies for the hurricane victims of Haiti ? when it was such an unlikely scene to behold?)
I am starting to see how the crazy rhetoric between the parties are continually carried on, deflecting the “bad guys” focus back and forth like the playing of a tennis game, to have their real agenda ALWAYS met in the end.
The lack of transparency is always going to be the reality.
We are not living in the government we thought we had as children.
We live in a shadow government. That is how I see it.
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By: Chris on May 20, 2013
at 9:50 AM
Hi, Auntie Jean – Wow! Great post!
I do notice that when some people get frustrated they go back to telling us (once again) with whom they will and will not “play sex games,” and get into lots of capital letters and exclamation points… Almost as if their keyboards have somehow gone awry… Maybe they have.
It’s like having a peek into the child care center’s toddler bathroom.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 20, 2013
at 9:40 AM
Two year old shot himself with an unsecured gun. The baby is expected to recover (this time). No mention of charges in the article.
http://courier-tribune.com/sections/news/local/child-accidentally-shot-when-he-finds-gun.html
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By: delurkergurl on May 20, 2013
at 8:24 AM
oooooooooooooo, someone took mammy off the teat too early
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By: penny abrams on May 20, 2013
at 7:58 AM
chris..what is the number (s) of the bill(s) you say obama signed re suits against pharmas and allowing deadly poisons into the food chain? i would like to read those bills. apparently, if they exist, congress allowed them on the floor and voted for them. there should be both house and senate #s for those bills. please find them and let me know. thanku. penny
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By: penny abrams on May 20, 2013
at 7:50 AM
mammy? you’re the funniest one here! ty for a big morning guffaw
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By: penny abrams on May 20, 2013
at 7:35 AM
Auntie Liki Liki pleads –
SpankMe!
No thanks, I don’t play sex games with the aged; it’s too disgusting.
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By: PFesser on May 20, 2013
at 6:59 AM
HI, Lori – I hope you’re right!
My husband was watching “Face The Nation” yesterday, all about the “scandals.” A collection of Republicans full of indignant, moral outrage, spouting off about how these things are the “greatest scandal since Watergate,” the “rights of the American people,” and how all they want is “the truth.” I could hardly stand it. They should have just run a subtitle loop saying, “We’re going to nail that uppity black SOB; nail that uppity black SOB; nail that uppity black SOB…”
I’ve recently been experiencing similar activity here in our small Community. One or two individuals have had their egos bruised; things didn’t go the way they wanted, so they are full of the same kind of “moral outrage” over a few incidents that are basically almost entirely without any real significance. And everyone else is dragged into spending hours in pointless discussion, unable to determine any real course of action (because none is really required), and truly important issues are completely ignored. Makes me want to tear out my hair…!
Of course, if something is “on television,” some people are going to think it matters – and it does… About as much as who just got eliminated on “Dancing With The Stars”…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 20, 2013
at 6:52 AM
Lori,
Good to see Obama’s poll numbers up. I think most Americans see the attempts by the right to hype so-called scandals as just one more way to obstruct and distract from the failure of Congress to accomplish anything.
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By: Terri in NY on May 20, 2013
at 6:11 AM
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By: poolman on May 20, 2013
at 12:29 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Gato, anyone who owns a website or blog with a hit counter knows this. Only the owner can access it. My website has been up for well over a decade. Although it is inactive now on my part, I still get hits on it. But if I click on it, it shows where from, what time and for how long. Click on that hit and a wealth of information drops down. You would be surprised just how much. About the only thing missing is the e mail address. Even if someone posts as “Anonymous”, the location, IP address et al pop up. So folks, whenever we put anything up on the net, it is out there in cyberspace for all eternity.
The potty mouth clowns who have put in an appearance at M&H’s from time to time over the years, lack the skill, are too inexperienced and/or cheap to have their own website or blog. Beside, probably nobody would visit them anyway. They go around mostly to extreme right wing sites, cut ‘n’ paste “commentary” and then try to pass it off as their own. No originality or creativity possible with the obvious exception of their unsophisticated, coarse and crude remarks. I have yet to see one single concrete recommendation of any merit.
Your dossier on SpankMe is almost complete. According to him, his wife is a published author and has a small publishing business so she is able to support him in almost the style to which he feels he should be accustomed.
This is the dossier on “Mammy” aka Tex Taylor. He is from Oklahoma, his “wife” lives in Texas. He is a “devout Catholic”. I seem to remember something about his “wife” coming from “Big Oil Money”. A while back he and his “family” with a grown daughter came to Hawaii for some reason I don’t remember. He didn’t like anything about it. Too many trees, maybe? He came back and enumerated everything that he absolutely “knew for a fact” was wrong with Hawaii. Just like SpankMe, he is an avowed racist and sure didn’t like the multi-racial, multicultural aspects of our society.
One of the major freeways in Honolulu is the “Liki Liki Highway”. In the Hawaiian language it is pronounced “Leeky Leeky”. So that is what the reference to “Grandma Liki Liki” is all about. ha. ha.
These two “men” as well as a couple of others from their “adult” blog appear to be financially dependant on the women in their lives, having no visible means of support of their own and an excessive amount of time on their hands to play on their computers. It might explain their hostile attitude toward strong, capable and intelligent women in general and those at M&H’s in particular.
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 19, 2013
at 11:06 PM
Isn’t bed time for you two boys. Or are you waiting for the Viagra to kick in first?
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By: Cynthia on May 19, 2013
at 9:40 PM
Aunt Liki Liki ———Heeeheeeeeeheeee…..ho…..ho…..eeee….haaaa…..haa…..Stop it, Mammy! You’re Killing Me!
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By: PFesser on May 19, 2013
at 9:27 PM
My buddy Pfesser and I go way back. And I can indeed confirm you’re speaking to a legitimate M.D. and pilot when you speak to my old buddy; IP addresses notwithstanding.
As to the spanking? Well, maybe the Pfesser is here because I’m guessing there’s about a hundred tons of cellulite tush to spank. Landing here is like a soft moon landing, craters and all.
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By: Mammy on May 19, 2013
at 9:26 PM
grandma pleaded: SpankMe!
No thanks; I don’t play with the aged; it’s too disgusting.
gato – thanks for enumerating all those accomplishments; it doesn’t cover ten percent of it, though. I do know how those things grate on those who haven’t done anything beyond drawing in books, so I try to keep most of it quiet.
poolman – LOVE your avatar. So true, so true…
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By: PFesser on May 19, 2013
at 9:23 PM
Now you’ve gone and hurt my feelings. And I was going to buy a cookbook too.
No, that wouldn’t be right either. Ask Matt. 😉
I found that comment pretty humorous, Aunt Liki Liki. Especially since your gravatar would indicate you haven’t been laid since Elvis and the picture probably dated too. You got to loosen up a little, girl. Smell that mountain air and slide the walker naked across the beach.
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By: Mammy on May 19, 2013
at 9:20 PM
It sure would help if our government didn’t keep so many secrets. Most of what they do is secretive and kept from us. One of the main reasons I voted for Obama in 08 was his promise time and again to give us a more transparent government. Alas, it proved to be lies. He has gone in the other direction entirely. This administration has gotten more secretive and upped the threats and mistreatment of whistle blowers. That makes the acts of this one woman very heroic. Not only does she live with constant death threats, but she started a whistle blowers organization to help those who do the right thing and has worked tirelessly to defy the evil warlords.
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By: poolman on May 19, 2013
at 9:00 PM
lori-
🙂 loved it . laughed!
Meeter Greeter/Cynthia-
yup.
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By: alaskapi on May 19, 2013
at 8:10 PM
pfesser I would like to introduce you to Tex Taylor
Tex this is pfesser
There now you know each other!
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By: The Meeter Greeter on May 19, 2013
at 7:47 PM
HI, Auntie Jean – Are you suggesting that what’s-his-name is writing back and forth to HIMSELF, under different names…? Oh, my goodness… Well, that kind of makes sense, now that I think about it…
One would almost HAVE to have more than one “personality,” in order to have actually done all he claims to have accomplished: building his own airplane, flying around all over the place, thirty years in the medical field, performing so many ultrasounds, so many years of “teaching,” reading so many books, having proctologist friends all over the world, taking care of so many teenagers for so many years (even having a friend whose son has Aspberger’s, even though I think that was just “special” for me), having a new laptop, going back to school, and just generally knowing everything about almost everything, among other things.
Well… If you’re right, that certainly explains everything!
BTW, I made a pork chop for my husband tonight, and I drank the cheap wine! Not quite your wild boar program, but I thought of you, anyway…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 19, 2013
at 7:06 PM
Mammy? Is dat you?
I don’t know who you are, but you write well, and are funny as hell. Auntie Liki Liki? I just about spit lemonade all over my new laptop!
As for “anon’s” notion that you are rambling, that’s BS for sure. I haven’t seen such concise writing since my old buddy Donna left here for parts unknown.
As a newbie, though, I see you are getting the treatment from the bigots. Ignore them. They can’t stand to hear a different POV. As Bierce said, “Bigot, n. One who is obstinately and zealously attached to an opinion that you do not entertain.” LOL.
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By: PFesser on May 19, 2013
at 6:30 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Not to worry, gang. The names may change with the familiar “Sock Puppets” from SpankMe’s “adult” blog (read porn site), but the IP address #’s remain the same.
You’ll be happy to know that our wild boar have been trapped once again with the lure of bread soaked in wine. They are on their way to the imu for the Tropical Garden Luau Feast. Yes, gurl, all it took was the cheapest wine on the market. No expensive imported French wine for them! The dumb animals wouldn’t know the difference anyway.
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 19, 2013
at 6:26 PM
Jim Wright has explained in detail the seriousness of the IRS Scandal!!!
The IRS Scandal: Tempest In A Teapot
http://www.stonekettle.com/2013/05/the-irs-scandal-tempest-in-teapot.html#comment-form
*Read Douglas Barnes’ comments as he clarified a few of Jim’s points. (Jim may have changed them by the time you get to this.)
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on May 19, 2013
at 5:20 PM
Penny, I want to clarify my last reply – it wasn’t you I was targeting as cranky. I just realized it might appear that way since it was a “reply to Penny”.
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By: Terry Waggle on May 19, 2013
at 4:49 PM
I think “mammy” sounds a lot like a poster who was here a while ago. I think his name was “Tex” something. Mammy sounds just like him.
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By: Anonymous on May 19, 2013
at 4:47 PM
Some of our contributors – you know who you are – remind me of the tv ad where the older kids are comparing how their younger siblings have it so good, nothing like they had it at their age. Then a little sister looks up from her iPad and asks her brother if he’s eaten today because he sounds cranky. I think some of the posts have been too cranky for their own good, not to mention the good of solving any problems we have.
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By: Terry Waggle on May 19, 2013
at 4:45 PM
The sheer inanity of the magnitude of that statement of an anonymous poster appearing on this bodacious blog is parody in and of itself.
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By: Mammy on May 19, 2013
at 3:55 PM
First, there’s no diversion there.
Diversion would be changing the subject, obfuscating, deflecting. projecting, or transparent lying – take Lori there; 2nd string cheerleader, weak propagandist and math flunky who apparently never left high school. I picture a chunky monkey with big pink bows in her hair telling the other 2nd stringers the she won Miss Teen as a 14 year old.
Diversion is a lefty tactic like what’s the definition of is, or let me be clear, or what does it matter, or vast right-wing conspiracy.
As to enlightenment, you falsely assume that I think you capable of enlightenment. I don’t. 😈
I think you’re useful only as the bulletin board I stick these post-it-notes of retort. When you and I carry on a discussion, try to think of yourself as the tool – an apt description of you ability.
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By: Mammy on May 19, 2013
at 3:49 PM
Where did this Malcontent Mammy come from? Or is this perhaps another incarnation of one of the usual suspects?
Sounds like a candidate for Romper Room for the five and under set. OOPs, sorry. RR went off the air almost 20 years age, long before Mammy dribbled out from whether Mammy dribbled from.
I haven’t seen so much ignorant and incoherent rambling since I mistakenly clicked a link taking me to Rutherford’s blog.
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By: Anonymous on May 19, 2013
at 3:33 PM
Mammy, nice diversionary tactics, but I don’t need you enlightening me about anything. I was objecting to the personal insults you have been hurling since your sudden appearance here.
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By: Terri in NY on May 19, 2013
at 2:49 PM
“Distortion by a big player” IS a “market phenomenon.” In fact, it’s one of the market’s very favorites.
What else would you call it?
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 19, 2013
at 2:39 PM
Tests are great..Penny, but, once you take them…..it opens up the door for further treatments, which usually means drugs.
There seems to be an increase of Preventative medicine doctors.
I understand on the mainstream news it said that 40% of people use some types or mostly alternative medicine…Once again, because DRUGS do NOT HEAL ANYTHING. People seem to be catching on.
Common therapies of cutting and horrendous no ending piling up of one drug ..then another never to CURE , just to get rid of the symptom created by the first drug..and it goes on and on..Sometime people are taking 15 drugs, when they may have just been short of a simple mineral like Magnesium.
Ask foe a complete blood test..Tney used to call it a smac or smack test.
Then, replace whatever you are short of. That usually works, unless there is infection I the body.. Ask your doctor.
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By: Chris on May 19, 2013
at 2:13 PM
Penny,
The wheels and the cogs of government run with NO ONE behind it , with no one even elected. The government runs itself with the interests of the few.
I was told TODAY that President Obama signed into law a bill prohibiting lawsuits against the very chemical and drug companies killing our people with chemical, pesticide ridden veggies and fruits, GMO poisoned seeds for foods and grains, exploding fertilizer poisons, not to mention the drug type chemicals that kill 100+ Thousands of our citizens…mostly the elderly, who are unable to even speak or act on their own behalves.
The law will legally allow for genocide, without recourse from the populus……WoW!!!
They were already killing patients and food consumers with chemicals and drugs, but Obama signed into law..the last word against his people, sending them us to future death sentences. I understand that Obamacare will actually have a board which we must each face sometime in the furture in order to continue any medical services for each disease or health issue. Is this true?
I voted for him twice….but, what is he doing to us?
The medical system needed a complete overhaul on the protocols used for treatment, as they do not work on most every disease treated with a drug, but, now, there is NO RECOURSE…WoW!
Even though we need a complete Medical System overhaul, the new Obamacare will only insure the insurance companies will get even richer overnight, utilizing the same NON working protocols which have been cincreted in place…and now with no recourse, when they kill or maim our citizens..
The new Obamacare, along with the new law not allowing for lawsuits against Drug and Chemical companies go hand in hand in the agenda of the NWO, which is to eliminate 90% of the worlds population.
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By: Chris on May 19, 2013
at 1:59 PM
Mammy, I believe you are right about the decline of Detroit. I was born there.
It appears that the failure of education, possibly, along with the corporations pulling out for China, leaving a devasted economy, and the additional influx of poor from the south, trying for a positive financial change created e mess in Detroit.
I blogged earlier on …how in 2010, according to Michael Moore, there were 310 murders in Detroit, and 1 mile away…across the bridge in Windsor, there were ZERO murders for that year. (and they have MORE guns per capita in Canada than America)
Penny stated that the people have a different value system than Americans,
In her reply.
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By: Chris on May 19, 2013
at 1:28 PM
I like you Penny. Every family needs that one soul willing to be
laughedlaffed at, at their expense. Like an old, flatulent, loveable hound. I mean, who can’t like somebody so confused to be childlike in old age?Look at Auntie Liki Liki. Pick a wrinkle and love it to the core is my motto.
But now to be fair, it would be unfair of you to accuse me of lumping Commies and Jews into the same degree of unredeemable feminists. Frankly, I find the male feminists the absolute bottom of the barrel, but the appearance of the female feminist so generally repulsive, it’s a tough sell either way.
There’s many a great Jew, some of them the most respectable people on earth. And Commies? Well, any sensible person would much prefer to deal with a Commie sincere in motive and intent than some fawning Obama feminist wearing the progressive, man hating label.
You think back to Bela Abzug, Ann Richards, Stanley Ann Dunham, and the insufferable Molly Ivins. Fortunately, Satan had to call them back to the forked-tongue lair for eternity when their useful idiot time was up, but they did indeed leave a legacy of saggy bags and ball burning.
And history has proven that the most miserable existence of them all is that legacy of misandristic leftists.
Ironic, isn’t it?
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By: Mammy on May 19, 2013
at 12:45 PM
finally, in this world, everythingi is the fault of the Commies, or the Jews, or the feminists. you made me laf, mammy…its the elderly feminists? who are at fault for the total lack of education in this nation? ok, honey, i’ll gladly take that label and what goes with. by cracky, girlies, we done it again! tain’t no end to our abilities.roflllllllllll
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By: penny abrams on May 19, 2013
at 11:42 AM
Penny, due to the deficiencies of progressive group think and its predictive historical failure, patience is always an assumed prerequisite. Hyperbole is required when reason and logic are not in abundance to make a point that even progressives capable of digesting. I will be glad to explain further.
To expand, U.S. public education is a massive failure and has been for at least 40 years. It is getting “progressively” worse for a multitude of reasons – the most alarming being poor preparation derived from poor parenting skills as evidenced by progressive urban conclaves.
It’s not to say that there aren’t some saints for public school teachers and all public school kids are incorrigible, or that a child can’t still get a good education in some (note the some) public school systems with careful oversight by interested parents. But the public school system when considered as a whole while considering the results, is a national disgrace like Obama, like Detroit.
The public school system is broken, much of it rank propaganda and misandry evidenced by the lack of critical thinking skills demonstrated by some elderly feminists on this very board, and a colossal blunder in the use of scarce resources.
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By: Mammy on May 19, 2013
at 11:01 AM
So, let’s review. Stock market up, deficit falling, job market improving, poll numbers climbing. Immigration bill drafted.. yes we can!
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By: lori on May 19, 2013
at 10:42 AM
Good news Obama poll numbers are up! 😉
#nicetryrepugs
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By: lori on May 19, 2013
at 10:26 AM
mammy, your hyperbole is confusing. did u say u were against education at all? or public education? try to be patient with me. i’m one of those aged progressives. just trying to keep up, yanno.
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By: penny abrams on May 19, 2013
at 10:21 AM
ok…i am on medicare-when i see a doc and (s)he says everything’s fine, i’ll see u in 3 months i always ask why? ok, i’ll see u in 6 months. why? if everything is fine, there is no chronic condition, why do you see me in 6 months? ok, in a year. there is one orthopedic practice in town that owns its own mri. everyone who goes in there has an mri. everyone. except me. why, i asked. when tests are ordered i always ask, why?
of course not all docs r piggies. we don’t have to be either. ask why that test is wanted, what are the downsides, what is the procedure if the suspected ailment is confirmed. you will find that 1-its often to satisfy ins. companies; that a good clinician can tell almost as well w/o the expensive tests as with them; nothing can be done if it is, indeed, (for instance) arthritis. so why the test? sometimes those tests are very tough on the system. i’m told now that there are digestive ‘oscopies’ that are no longer done after a particular age because they are so hard on the system.
like w/education, take a proactive part in your medical care. the only difference between the doc and u is that he went to school. but u know ur body. and u can think. and now, w/computers, there is much to learn so u can ask intelligent questions. all decisions should be joint with you and your doc.
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By: penny abrams on May 19, 2013
at 10:18 AM
Terri – I don’t believe anybody has mentioned “welfare queens” except for you and gato.
Maybe that’s like gato’s fictional “panties.” When you find them – and your “welfare queens” – let us know.
Onward.
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By: PFesser on May 19, 2013
at 10:00 AM
Terri,
You’ve obviously confused the word venting with vetting.
Consider my approach the reciprocal to a progressive axiom in believing if they throw another’s money at a problem via a bloated bureaucracy of the inane, it will fix it. Public education is without any real argument one of the most obvious failures of Liberalism. The return on investment at the hundreds of billions spent wouldn’t be worth the heat of the burnt currency. You couldn’t do much worse vis-a-vis the bang for the buck if you simply burned the schools to the ground and reverted back to sticks and stones.
I was just hoping if I buried a few
useful idiotsfine but confused people with indisputable FACTS, something might stick and repair part of their own personal problem of never being right about anything of importance.Why would you want to remain comfortably numb in your idiocy of Leftist group think when you could actually learn something of relevance besides how to hide behind the mask of failure amongst the failed?
Time to step out and see the world as it really is.
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By: Mammy on May 19, 2013
at 9:59 AM
penny abrams – all points well-taken.
I don’t know what drives the Texas textbook thing. As for the ED gouging, it is just human nature that anyone is going to charge whatever the market will bear. If the govt will pay $1200 for an ED visit, that’s what they will charge. Why do we do so many CT scans? Since I have read them for thirty years, I can tell you: 1)fear of lawsuits and 2)because they will be paid for. So there is no incentive whatsoever to conserve resources or be frugal with the medical dollar.
In the ‘fifties, I remember my Dad grousing to the LMD about $5 for a penicillin shot when I had a cold (not effective, BTW, but we didn’t know that then). It was supply/demand in its purest form. We never went to the doc unless we needed it, and certainly not to sex our babies and get a picture. (not available then, but you get the idea)
BTW, our poor ultrasound techs were getting worn out by the ED at night; I simply stopped them from telling the mom the sex of the baby; the word got out in the community and our after hours U/S visits went down by 25%. Of course the administrator didn’t like it, but hell, that’s how it goes…LOL
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By: PFesser on May 19, 2013
at 9:55 AM
pf: two things struck me about your most recent post. 1- just because there is govt money there doesn’t mean the ED or anyone else has to gouge as much of it as possible: 2- the state of Texas determined which book would be required…could it possibly be as a ‘favor’ to a particular publisher who just might kick back a little to a political campaign?
just ’cause its there doesn’t mean we have to eat it.
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By: penny abrams on May 19, 2013
at 9:42 AM
Hey Gato,
I agree with all your recent posts, and admire your patience in addressing some of the more ridiculous assertions. I think, though, with PF we have a garden variety bigot. His “welfare queens” posts are really offensive, and coupled with his ageism and misogyny, we have a truly toxic brew. Ick.
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By: Terri in NY on May 19, 2013
at 9:39 AM
In my experience, the best teacher of econ is Thomas Sowell. A couple of years ago I spent most of a week’s cruise lying in the sun and reading his text of economics. (Not as boring as you might think!) He has a good basic summary here, about twenty minutes’ read:
Click to access BASICECONOMICS.pdf
By far his best quote, IMHO is:
“Economics is a study of consequences of various ways of allocating scarce resources which have alternative uses. It is not a study of our hopes and values.“
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By: PFesser on May 19, 2013
at 9:37 AM
o, well, then auntie you’ll enjoy hearing about the dinnertime we all sat down to dinner, plus one. each of us assumed he was the friend of one of our kids. i asked him if his mom knew where he was. he assured me she did. he ate his dinner, thanked me and prepared to depart. i offered to walk him home. no, ty, he lived right there, waving a hand. we never saw him again. no one knew him. we never knew how he landed at our dinner table.
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By: penny abrams on May 19, 2013
at 9:32 AM
i’m somewhat amused that i remind u of a bunch of dead women. thats ok. i’ll b there one day, as will we all.
the slapping…not so much my thing. i was born with ‘the mother look’ so that suffices.
no one should take…nor give…guff. no one. a little guy is also entitled to respect. even one wifout no teef.
i.e. when my kids were able, i left their clean clothes neatly folded on their beds for them to put away. i would not go into their drawers not would i walk into their rooms without knocking. they learn by example.
by the way, i am seeing a negative pouncing on the elderly here. too bad. that’s always a major sign of poor self image, and self expectation that one will perform badly or appear stupid. and usually, then, one does.
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By: penny abrams on May 19, 2013
at 9:26 AM
gato – all the examples we are discussing have a common thread: the distortion of the free market by government interference.
The reason that the bankers push debt on – by definition – inexperienced students is that those loans are always at the top level guaranteed by the govt. The unscrupulous bankers know that if the student defaults, the govt will bail them out, so they distribute large loans willy-nilly, without doing the due diligence they would if defaults actually cost THEM money. That’s what caused the housing loan crisis, of course.
re: gunshot wounds. Actually, GSWs represent a small proportion of ED visits everywhere; most are “walk-in clinic” things like snotty babies and vag-itch that could be better handled by the LMD (local medical doctor), but of course, without any financial incentive to wait until regular business hours, most non-paying folks just go the ED whenever they feel like it.
Since the ED is set up and staffed for EMERGENCIES (get it? Emergency Department?), using the ED to treat vag-itch or get your baby’s sex determined at three in the morning is not very cost-effective. But who cares? The government pays for it. (And since the government doesn’t make a good or service, any money they pay comes from you, the taxpayer. Thanks; YOU are the reason I have been able to retire to play student again.)
********
The Texas textbook-content problem is a horse of a different color. Because of its size,Texas has for a very long time basically dictated what is – and is not – acceptable to the rest of the country’s primary and secondary schools. Not a market phenomenon; again a distortion by a big player.
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By: PFesser on May 19, 2013
at 9:23 AM
in this world, we have the best medical care, the worst delivery system of that care. what to do? single payer like every other civilized industrial nation of the world. that caps outrageous profits for the pharmas and the insurance companies. major cost.
our educational system lacks a great deal up to but not including the major universities. why? because we do not prepare our teachers well enough, we give them stupid make-busy crap to do when they could be really teaching, we do not demand enough of our children and we send too many of them off to school insufficiently fed and without the home support they need. that’s the biggest problem we have. how to educate the parents and make it possible for them to do their job in education.
as for how to solve our problems…it is very difficult. it takes dedication, determination, self sacrifice and constant, constant awareness.
we must limit terms to 2 for the senate and 3 for the house; we must learn everything we can for every election and elect the one who speaks for the people. elizabeth warren comes to mind. we must learn all we can about the bills on the floors of both the national congress and our state houses, exert pressure for the ones we deem beneficial and fight the bad ones.
we must make sure we take care of one another. with all the riches of this land, there is not one sane reason anyone should go hungry, without medical care/education or without shelter.
one o’ these days God is gonna come down here! Like Mom used to say…do I have to come down there????…when we were misbehaving.
frankly, chris, i think your biggest job is to learn to think and not to accept the slogans of the very people working against you.
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By: penny abrams on May 19, 2013
at 9:17 AM
Gato, I understand your comment.
I appreciate your years as an illustrator.
I was in real estate for many years.
That still did not explain what really went on behind the scenes of the real estate business and what influenced the prices or lending practices.
Your experience was not the actual content of learning materal of the bookss that school used, or information.
Corporate powers dictate the information content of the textbooks, which was not your end the work you performed for the corporations.
They use us all, to the ends of making money and gaining more and more power with every dollar made.
I explained how in 1895, the 8th grade graduating test was so difficult, even our College Seniors and some Masters would have a hard time passing today.
That is a sure indication of the dumbing down of the educational system in America in more than 100 years.
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By: Chris on May 19, 2013
at 9:09 AM
Pervfesser is not a physician.
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By: Anonymous on May 19, 2013
at 8:25 AM
I was addressing Chris’ contention that somehow textbook publishers “control” the content of texts for their own – or “the Banksters”‘ – nefarious interests. With textbooks, as with most everything else, I would assume the price is based – at least theoretically – on what the market will bear, as market people always like to point out is one of the many reasons “the market” functions so wonderfully…
As for the availability of all those college loans “for unbelievable amounts of money”… Aside from government loans, who profits from all of those? The lenders, of course. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t bother. Again, “the market” at work…
Gato
As for all those moochers and slackers getting free ambulance rides and ultrasounds, texting all the while, why didn’t you just come out and say “welfare queens,” and just get it over with? We certainly need THAT to be brought up again… A great part of the ER work, at least in large metropolitan areas, is done on gunshot wounds. (And, no, I haven’t practiced medicine for thirty years myself, but know plenty of people who have, and in those very ERs.)
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By: gatodicima on May 19, 2013
at 7:42 AM
gato – how about textbook PRICES? Your experience is with younger readers, you said, but you should see prices for college texts. My son paid $250 for a college algebra text last fall. My wife says the inflation in college costs is the easy availability of college loans for unbelievable amounts of money – inexperienced college students will easily sign on the line for a lifetime of debt.
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By: PFesser on May 19, 2013
at 7:09 AM
Chris – having practiced medicine for over thirty years, I like to think I have a little insight into the “medical” end of things.
Medicine was quite affordable in the ‘seventies. But slowly the govt began to pay for things and distort the supply-demand balance. It was all predictable – anytime someone comes in with basically unlimited money and starts buying goods and services, they drive prices up. (Friedman)
Then, as people began to complain about prices, that same government stepped in to control the prices THEY had driven up, with the usual result: higher prices, as well as the added taxpayer burden of the cost of their attempted enforcement – which is astronomical.
Want to know where your tax money goes? I’ll tell you: young, unmarried, pregnant women, who have figured out that if they come to the ER and tell them they are spotting blood, they will get an ultrasound, so they can tell the sex of the baby – free, by the way, paid for by YOU. Or three hundred-pounders with knee pain (???) who, lacking a car because their “man” has it, come into the ER via ambulance ($1800). When the ambulance doors open, there they sit, upright on the gurney —– TEXTING. This is not conjecture; it’s personal experience. Oh, and by the way, when they get ready to go home, they go the same way – by ambulance.
These price distortions are yours courtesy of your govt. Now they have passed a law called Obamacare that will really do the job.
I retired from medical practice last July, BTW. If all goes well, I’ll start MBA school this fall – yep, I plan to exploit the inefficiencies of Obamacare from the other side – the management side. As Willy Sutton would say, that’s where the money is.
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By: PFesser on May 19, 2013
at 7:05 AM
Oh, one other little thing: Throwing “textbook publishers” in there with the bankers and corporate oligarchs… Most of my professional career has been in publishing, primarily as an illustrator, and I have worked on literally hundreds of textbooks, mostly for beginning readers.
Rather than dictating content, the publishers for whom I worked were inevitably deeply concerned about whether or not the Texas school system (first among many) would be likely to “approve” the content of any book – because Texas was such a huge purchaser. If Texas didn’t “like” something, and was consequently unlikely to place an order, nine times out of ten whatever they didn’t like didn’t get in there. Used to drive me crazy… “Texas” wouldn’t like a black first-grader depicted with dreadlocks and beads in her hair? No way she was going to appear – even if eighty-percent of the African-American first-graders in Brooklyn thought that was the coolest hair ever… As always, the Big Bucks called the shots.
So much for the hidden manipulations by “textbook publishers”…!
Gato (again)
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By: gatodicima on May 19, 2013
at 6:56 AM
Auntie Jean – I appreciate your “go slow and fix it incrementally” approach, with each person contributing a little, but if you have an old house to renovate, the first approach is to decide what category it falls into: a fixer-upper, where some incremental cosmetic work will be just fine, or a major rebuild, where the floor sills have to be replaced, the swayback roof replaced and the tube-and-knob wiring completely torn out.
While it is very tempting to try the fixer-upper approach first, sometimes an honest assessment reveals that’s not the house you have. One might call it pessimism, or one might prefer my terms: objective, realistic observation. We’ve been trying the patchwork, incremental, “optimist” approach since “A Nation at Risk” came out in 1983. That’s thirty years ago. How’s that working for us? I think Mammy’s little chart reveals a lot.
So which do you, in your heart of hearts, really think we have in America – a fixer-upper or a complete rebuild?
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By: PFesser on May 19, 2013
at 6:47 AM
Well, once again, Chris, no real argument with you about the unrestrained “influence” of pharmaceutical companies, and the degree to which they influence our medical system – but still maintain it’s all to make money, and not to establish some “New World Order.” (Ever see the film, The Constant Gardener”? If not check it out…) Any arrangements that allow them to sell more and more stuff is fine with them – and they’ve already got that. I couldn’t help but notice that the “value” of pharmaceutical stocks soared, the moment the watered-down version of “Obamacare” was originally passed.
As for Dr. Piecznick (interesting name, BTW), his biography on wikipedia quotes him as saying, “I turned to fiction because it allows me to address reality as it is or could be.” Sooo… When reading his material, I think it only makes sense to wonder which thing it is he’s doing in any given piece: Describing “reality” as it IS, or as he thinks it “could be”… (He also claims that Sandy Hook was a hoax; that bin Ladin died of Marfan syndrome years ago; and that Gaddafi is still alive… Oh, well…)
And do “…forces in any presidential administration creative their own narratives independent of the truth”? Of course they do; so do most of us, at least from time to time. No news there… Although I must say it’s hard for me to imagine Anderson Cooper as a covert mouthpiece for the CIA…! (Maybe Brett Baier, but Anderson Cooper…? But, hey, that could just be me…)
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 19, 2013
at 6:45 AM
Hi, Auntie Jean – Lovely post; I really enjoyed reading it, especially first thing in the morning!
Nice to be reminded of the existence of the good in so many of us, especially since I’m about to head off to attend a Board of Directors meeting here in my Community – a Board which I feel has gotten a little, shall I say, “headstrong” about some Community issues recently. They’ll now be getting a somewhat more compassionate approach from me this morning, thanks to you!
Have a good day…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 19, 2013
at 5:48 AM
I highly regard your intelligence PFesser..
I said earlier that the 3 systems in our country are dismal failures. In America, The Financial, Medical and Educational Systems leave a lot to be desired. They are controlled …all of the by corporations…. Bankers, Textbook Publishers, and Drug and Chemical Companies.
They are the United Corporations of America, better known as the old-new world order.
The first President Bush mentioned this unknown NWO in a 1977 speach, I believe the year was right. New World Order…which was a puzzling reference to me and lots of other folks, who now make reference to his speech.
PFesser, I know you are in Medicine. I respect those who have given their life to the practice of medicine, however, the system is run by chemical and drug companies who are killing more than 100,000 people every year with their poisons. They have merely desensitized the medical field to the deaths they are creating, by simply saying it is the condition or disease, so as to take the possible blame and focus off of the manufacturers and the ones administering them to unsuspecting patients.
I never see a real cure from a Doctor prescbing drugs. They merely treat the symptoms. You know that is the description of the agenda of the medical system.
Old country doctors used plants.
A doctors case was on antique roadshow…from 1900. The doctors bag contained something like 260 herbs and plant tinctures.
Those doctors back then actually treated with real medicine …and actually treated and cured many of the ailments and not with the half plant and mostly man made chemical poisons we have had since the AMA was taken over by the chemical companies. There were Cancer cures early in the 1900’s and possibly before.
Now with the ever growing numbers of chemicals in invironment, the Cancer number s just keep growing. I believe the number one killer of humans in America is Cancer….not so, when the chemical.invasion was less.
I understand the majority of the heads of the FDA, EPA, USDA, and more of the government agencies that are suppose to protect its citizens are current, past and future drug and chemical ccmpany CEO’s. That is why we are being subjected to at least 100,000 + deaths in the ongoing genocide of our people. They know this is happening and still continue the marketing and blinding of our doctors to push their drugs.
I often question why the petty street drug pusher gets years and years of prison time, but, the drug companies and licensed people who administer some of the same drugs, with some of same negative results to its addcts (patients) bear no responsibility.
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By: Chris on May 19, 2013
at 1:48 AM
Chris here explaing more about the NWO
this Steve P. is a past assist. sec of state..telling of mind control…
Check out coast to coast.
These are real live govt officials…blowing whistles.
Listen in your time zones..
Google his website very interesting…..
Mike Adams natural news is another excellent site for truth…check it out for yourselves
From: “Nightwatch@CoasttoCoastam.com
Date: May 18, 2013 12:
Subject: CoastZone – CIA & Mind Control
May 18, 2013 Coast Insider Audio
CIA & Mind Control:
Filling in for George Noory, John B. Wells welcomed psycho-political thriller author Dr. Steve Pieczenik for a discussion on the CIA and mind control. Techniques used in 1950s and 60s involved breaking down an individual’s mental and physical capacity through sleep deprivation and decreased food intake, he explained. Pieczenik likened this method of enhance interrogation to torture, calling it unethical and ineffective. “It’s much easier to make friends with [the person being interrogated] and create a relationship than to create… an empty brain which you then manipulate,” he said.
Pieczenik suggested that prominent news anchors, such as Anderson Cooper, engage in a kind of mind control as they get their so-called “scoops” from the CIA. People in the covert world have no qualms about disseminating disinformation through the media, he revealed, noting that forces in any presidential administration create their own narratives independent of the truth. Pieczenik lamented the lack of accountability for government officials. He recommended listeners empower themselves by learning about pressing issues, questioning the official stories, and doing what they can to pressure legislators to affect change.
Pieczenik also spoke about his work as a psychiatrist and political scientist in the U.S. government, role in the Iranian hostage crisis, and how he assisted in the collapse of the Soviet Union. In addition, he echoed Mike Adam’s (news guest) warning against women getting preventative bilateral mastectomies based on a BRCA genetic test, noting how there is no correlation between the occurrence the BRCA gene .
Q
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By: Chris on May 19, 2013
at 1:11 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
I’m a little late crashing the educational issue party but…….
Gurl, Penny, Gato, both Terri/ys, Al B and others, I think I am on the same page with all of you regarding this multi-faceted topic. Anytime we start generalized extrapolations beyond our own knowledge and experience, we fall into the usual old trap of provincialism with the resulting xenophobia toward anybody who’s “not like us!” Penny, as a fellow octogenarian who has been around the block a few times too, I can certainly relate to your experiences. Having raised three sons into respectable adulthood (whew!), I was always astonished as to how much food they and their friends could put away. After school or coming out of the pool, they were like a thundering herd coming through the door. I must have made gallons of Kool-Aid long before it acquired such a sinister reputation. We sure couldn’t afford cans or bottles of soft drinks for that mob.
Our youngest son had a friend that caught the same school bus. Pretty soon the kid started showing up – earlier and earlier – at our front door for them to walk together to the bus stop. One time our son was still having his breakfast and I asked the kid if he had had his. He shook his head and said “Uh-uh”. So he came in and thus began the morning ritual of having him with us for breakfast every morning for years, often on weekends too. It was similar with our older boys. I just automatically set a few more places at the dinner table on a regular basis for whoever showed up. Also we rarely went anywhere without a car full of kids.
As you know gurl, I am strongly outspoken on a liberal arts education in addition to math and science, having had my own grad level education in both. But music was my first love. I never taught in a classroom, but I have taught private lessons in my home forever, starting as a sophomore in high school with 17 beginner students after school and on Saturdays for 50 cents a lesson. (They were my own music teacher’s overflow of students she sent to me.) The very best way to learn a subject well yourself is to try to teach it to someone else! (Did I mention I have been giving my 15-year-old granddaughter piano lessons over the phone from 6000 miles away? For free. It works!) How many of us stop and think about how early childhood music education on the piano or any instrument influences eye-hand coordination? Useful in sports such as baseball and golf. There is also plenty of math in music. Further, there have been many, many studies about babies who have listened to Mozart that indicate better and more rapid brain development. Even before they are born babies, respond to the mathematical precision of Mozart’s music.
In later years, with limited time for teaching, I preferred to concentrate on young adults who were more advanced. But I did take a few kids who showed an aptitude and promise for music. For some young families, my going rate was out of the question. I would have taught them for free but most people feel that nothing is of value unless you pay for it. So I only charged $10.00 a lesson for those kids. Even so, $40.00 a month could strain a tight family budget. Often, one parent or both sat in on the lessons rather than just dropping off the kids. Hey!, some of the parents got a music education too in the bargain, giving them a bond of common interest to share!
And so, here we are. There are those out there who are pessimists that think people and the g’mit and everything else is no damn good. There are many, many more of us who are well aware of the shortcomings we all have. But we are optimists who try to do our small part to improve our little corner of the world around us. Occasionally we have some gratifying success.
Aloha! 😉 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 18, 2013
at 10:39 PM
Mammy – that educational spending chart is really something, isn’t it? Goes to show that the simple-minded approach (Just throw money at it!) doesn’t, by itself, get the job done.
That’s why all the stakeholders need to sit together and work out the answer. And, IMHO the worst answer of all is, “There’s no problem.” My house is filled every evening with teenagers and recent HS graduates. Believe me, there is a problem
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By: PFesser on May 18, 2013
at 8:59 PM
penny abrams – your comment about respecting elders and taking no guff from the young’uns reminded me of my Aunt Mattie.
She has been dead several years now, but when she was in her ‘nineties, several of us family members were having, I think, Thanksgiving dinner at her house. She was completely coherent and very talkative. We were all having a good time, except her daughter – in her ‘seventies – kept shushing the old lady up and making smart comments to her. It was pretty embarrassing.
As conversation continued, Aunt Mattie slowly stood up and walked around the table, as if she were going to the kitchen for something.
She walked over behind her seventy year-old daughter and, from behind, slapped her right across the mouth. “I’m still your mother, young lady!”
I wanted to kiss the old gal right there. Go get’m Aunt Matt!
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By: PFesser on May 18, 2013
at 8:52 PM
Hey Mammy,
Why don’t you stop insulting people? I have no idea what your problem is; or maybe I do, you’re just a miserable human being who’s got a big mouth. Maybe you should find somewhere else to vent.
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By: Terri in NY on May 18, 2013
at 4:52 PM
Gato..I agree most heatedly.
For now, if you do not wish to believe the NWO..that is fine.
We all see this unfold. I will be sad if not enough people study this theory backed wtth historical truths.
Please I beg you all to study and then make your minds up. The truth will set you free.
Go to infowars.com
George Noory….David Icke..If you do not agree with their historical findings, believe what ever you will. The dots will begin to connect.
The main problem with us humans, we do not lreadily accept new found information that our brain has not accepted as a truth.
Learning and opening our minds is not easy, especially as we grow older. We have a tendency to cling to the more comfortable memorized information from our youth.
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By: Chris on May 18, 2013
at 4:06 PM
See this comment, Grotto?
I would like to demonstrate to the class how incredibly clueless “you are” with this facade of intellect you pose. Let the class keep score of this one.
{Hi, again, Penny – Agree that other countries, overall, probably spend more on education than we do, given the government sponsorship of higher learning.}
Learn something of use for once besides your penchant for pedanticism.
http://mercatus.org/publication/k-12-spending-student-oecd
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By: Mammy on May 18, 2013
at 3:59 PM
“Grotto”…?
Do you have some specific problem, or is it just more of a generalized condition?
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By: gatodicima on May 18, 2013
at 3:54 PM
{You’ve basically contributed nothing, except a gratuitous attack on someone who spends much more time than you do on offering something of interest here}
No wonder you find Great Grandma interesting. “You’re” the one most boring and infatuated with your own voice from the looks of it. What exactly do you contribute of interest here besides a caricature for dull, grotto?
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By: Mammy on May 18, 2013
at 3:48 PM
Actually, Chris, much of this DOES make sense to me… But I stop short at the “New World Order” thing. In fact, it seems to me that the wealthy are perfectly happy to have things going exactly as they’re going, and only hope (and make every effort) to make sure things get even more so.
Here’s my prescription for the downfall of any “civilization”… Have an ever-smaller percentage of very wealthy individuals in control of government, resources, business, and so on – living in walled compounds, surrounded by an ever-growing populace of ever-poorer, unemployed, hungry, religious fanatics with guns. Sounds like Iraq, or the West Bank, or even Egypt, doesn’t it?
(Does anyone remember the French Revolution…?)
As for what to do, try the following: Think small. Buy local, and buy only what you need. Help your neighbors. Share with those less fortunate. Teach children. Support the arts. Support alternate media. Hound your congresspeople. Don’t quit.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 18, 2013
at 3:15 PM
Gato read the comment made to D Girl..
It answers your comment as well.
Peace and Joy ! Just bathe in the truth …
We cannot fix everything, but acknowledgement is the first step to changing the world’s reality.
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By: Chris on May 18, 2013
at 3:03 PM
I Not sure what we can do, to fix our problems…..
I know EVERY system this country is engaged in currently is on the side of failure, and been so for many years.
The Educational System, is declining throughout the country, and failing mostly in vulnerable poorer sections of each city. For the past 12 years, with Bush’s implementation…..of his program…..NO Child Left Behind….every child got left behind. We were as of 6-7 years ago, behind the Chinese in Math and Science. I am sure those statistics have inproved since then.This decline even includes our Ivy League Schools, as well, according to a study.
In the Medical System,, we have the worst medical results for our longevity for having spent the most money in the world. In 2010, according to CIA.gov, was #49 in life expectancy. That IS pretty bad for the supposed best country in the world. Not acceptable. We should be adding alternative, ancient methods to westernized drug therapies. All this time the drug companies continue to make ungodly profits.
In 2008, America’s Financial System incurred the greatest loss at one time since the crash and great world depression of 1928. The recent 2008 crash has reverberated throughout the world, and many countries are still teetering on their own financial collapses. ( we may be included in this group of failing countries, and our government may not be telling us )
Even with the crash, Bankers and financiers and corporations have consistently claiming the highest profit margins, and paying failing Bankers and CEOs the highest amounts in paychecks ever received.
All these failures are transspiring in America, and the rest of the world, while the 1% elitists survive and thrive, gaining the most and highest profits in their corporations histories.
I am not sure what to do, except make everyone aware and helping to connect the dots, as the media whitewashes the brevity of the course Americans are on.
Does any of this make sense to you?
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By: Chris on May 18, 2013
at 3:00 PM
WARNING: Bad language, truth in messaging…
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By: poolman on May 18, 2013
at 2:44 PM
Okey dokey, Chris; there you are…
Are you actually DOING things in an effort to combat this New World Order about which you are concerned…? Is anyone? Or is it your opinion that we (all over the world) are all just stuck with it, and that’s always been the way it’s been.
Of course, it probably wasn’t “this way” prior to the invention of money, which came well after human beings were organized into communities, or societies, or tribes, or any of the other ways we group ourselves together…
Just a general reply would be of interest; not TOO many details, please!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 18, 2013
at 2:13 PM
amen, and amen again…u mention food en passant but the fact is the kids require huge amounts of food. they are growing visibly AND inwardly. cells, neurons, all that good stuff is still developing well into their teens. also that pat on the shoulder, the smile, the reminder to do their work shows some one cares. yes! parents should have training. the two most important roles we play are.. mates and parents and there is no training nor is there a manual. hell i can call the cable company and get help…who helps the parent?
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By: penny abrams on May 18, 2013
at 11:02 AM
here ya go…a perfect example of the lack of respect for others and one’s self…as i mentioned in a prior post
this is from mammy
From the quality of your posts, you damn sure wouldn’t know your voracious readers. You’re boring as hell too. Senile and rambling is no way to go out…
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By: penny abrams on May 18, 2013
at 10:43 AM
pf: i’m going to treat your question as tho u meant it. i believe what has happened is that we have lost respect for one another and for ourselves. all of us. when we lose respect we are able to hurt others…in all the ways we are now doing…from sniping to war to deprivation of necessities.
i am a doting grandmother (soon to be an equally doting great grandmother 😉 ) but would never allow a sassy lip from one of my children or theirs or my husband or my now life-partner or you. i deserve respect, i demand it, i earn it and i will have it. period. i also give it.
when i hear how some youngsters speak to their elders i could choke. when i see a kid go ahead of an older person, or sit when the elder stands or take the last whatever when an elder is present, i often comment, i am always appalled. that’s manners.
the other thing we have lost respect for is the knowledge that accrues. you cannot live, for instance, 83 years and not have learned a great deal even if you didn’t want to. you learn something new every day if you’re not careful.
i have (advanced, as in PhD) physics student-grands who tell me, patiently, about space. quantum! they assure me. i smile. i tell them about buck rogers. they’re puzzled. what we know now is only the beginning. buck rogers was a fantasy and now we’re buck rogering all over space. who knows what’s next?
Life is a series of cycles. in the islands (west indies) where i lived for 20 years, the saying is…once a man, twice a baby.
we tend to our babies and their needs, and when they are grown, they tend to ours. and so on.
somewhere we lost the long view. the down-the-road view. we think NOW without planning for tomorrow. i don’t know why. maybe we’ll learn that next. i hope.
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By: penny abrams on May 18, 2013
at 10:34 AM
the usa can kill every single person in this world something like 7.3 times; foreign aid in the billions; new education equipment in countries which r killing r own people but we can’t afford whatever is necessary for a sound education here at home. it simply does not make sense. throwing money at buildings and fancy stuff isn’t education. education is really top training of faculty, enough faculty, incentives for those who are especially able to teach, AND (altho i don’t know how to go about this) parent cooperation. our children are our greatest resource, they need our protection and cultivation…like a lovely garden…keep away the pests and let them flourish. what ( doesn’t) happen in so many schools is shameful.
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By: penny abrams on May 18, 2013
at 10:17 AM
When we talk about people being on welfare, on the dole, claiming disability I think we need to examine how they got there before passing judgement. What is often overlooked or ignored is that we, the taxpayers, are paying for the health care of people who go to the ER for things we go to our doctors for. They can’t afford the insurance or co-pays to do what we do. The problem is our health care costs go up because the health care facilities and doctors aren’t going to eat those costs. It’s what makes Obama’s health care plan make sense even though so many will not agree. We have too much self-interest in our Congress that it could be made into a movie titled “Show Me The Money!”
Oh, and to get back to why people are on welfare. They can’t find jobs to support themselves and their families, it’s as simple as that. There are some who work the system and spoil it for everyone else but not all are like that. I’d like for the people who claim we’re a Christian nation to show me how we live Christ-like lives, how we care for the “least of these” as Jesus instructed us to do (Matthew 25:37-40).
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By: Terry Waggle on May 18, 2013
at 9:38 AM
Chris, you’ve said a few things I agree with. I believe you when you say you aren’t any of the Tourette-plagued weeds that have turned up before. I can’t get behind how you connect some of your dots but you’re earnest you think.
Auntie Jean, you have the most fascinating stories. I’ve encountered a lot of people who could be mellowed with good bread and great wine but I hope you’re using the cheap stuff on the boars! 😉
I think the “American education is a disaster” meme is overblown, lazy and misdirected. Yes, we have education rules that are stupid. Our standards haven’t been effective. Many of those things can be fixed if we quit bitching and start helping.
IMO, we’ve forgotten the value of a liberal arts education. We have lots of math and science, but are forgetting humanities… world religion, applied history (though I despised it at the time), etc.Our issues as a country are more about our culture than about our systems.
I can’t extrapolate what happens in my community to the whole country but here are my anecdotal truths. My children are good, smart, compassionate kids. Many of their friends are brilliant, or creative, and determined. They’ve had some friends who struggle in school or life, and those tend to need someone to care because their parents are absent in one way or another. We acquired a few bonus kids as a result. A smile or a wink here and there, impressive volumes of food, and someone to ask if they’d done homework or needed help made a big difference for all but one. I’m still working on him!
Most of my kids teachers have been quite good. Some great. Some sucked. The worst of their teachers really needed to retire. Results with even the poorest teachers were a lot better when we were PRESENT.
In my community, the truth seems to be that we need to be less selfish and look out for and help each other. We need to understand rather than judge. We need to help rather than criticize. And we really, really need to raise better parents.
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By: delurkergurl on May 18, 2013
at 8:02 AM
Auntie Jean – I don’t know if your species of wild is anything like we have here, but they are dangerous, bad boys – all the more so because they are very smart. My wife mentioned to me that she’d read somewhere pigs kill more people worldwide than any other animal.
They are also carnivorous. (Or, I guess omnivorous is a better word.) We had an older lady pig-farmer come into our ER about three years ago who had been trying to remove a dead piglet and was attacked by the sow. She had huge chunks of meat out of her arms, legs and torso. She came within a hairsbreadth of bleeding out. If her husband hadn’t heard her scream she would have died for sure. A former acquaintance who is a boar hunter told me they would eat you, “everything except hair and teeth.” Brrrr……
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By: PFesser on May 18, 2013
at 3:50 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
We have been invaded by wild boar – again. They are mainly nocturnal and come down from the mountains. They root around, dig up plants and generally make a big mess of people’s yards. The first time it happened to us we didn’t know any better so we called in the “Mountain Man” to take care of the problem. He showed up in his pickup truck wearing a red plaid flannel shirt, jeans and boots with a rifle slung over his shoulder. We told him where we thought the wild boar was, down in one of the deep ravines of our property where we were growing tropical flowers – heliconias, gingers and such. They have foliage that grows up to 20 feet high. It was literally a jungle down there!
He took off down the trail into the ravine. After a while we heard “Pow! Pow!”. Before long he came trudging back up with a bloody wild boar slung over his shoulders. That pig was UGLY!!! It had beady little eyes and tusks that curled up around to his cheeks. Some local people have told us that the tusks occasionally grow so long that they actually puncture the skin of the boar’s cheeks.
The man was a bloody and muddy mess himself. He dumped the carcass in the back of the pickup. I asked him if he would like to at least wash his hands off with the hose. He looked down at his hands, shrugged, wiped them on his jeans and said, “Naw.” Our “Mountain Man” proudly told us that he made sausage out of the pigs and he would bring us some. Uh, we thanked him but declined his generous offer.
We have found a better and more humane (and sanitary) way to take care of the wild boar problem. We have a friend with long experience dealing with them on his extensive property that abuts the mountains. He says he “communes” with them. He traps them. He soaks loaves of bread in wine and then lays out a trail leading into cages. The wine soaked bread makes them nice and mellow. Once the boar goes docilely inside the cage
for more, it trips shut and locks behind him. Then our friend takes them down to a Tropical Botanical Garden that has a nightly luau and hula dancing and music performance show. Naturally they have to have the traditional pig baked in the underground imu oven. Head, snout, feet, tail and all, wrapped in ti leaves. So course, they always welcome any wild boar they can get.
We have been to many a lulu over the years, both the big public ones mostly for the benefit of tourists but also more authentic ones in private homes. They are always festive occasions. Personally though, I don’t care for kalua pig. I think it is tough, stringy and tasteless. However, I do love the many other customary and genuine Hawaiian dishes served.
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 18, 2013
at 2:23 AM
Gato,
I am not the person you think. I just joined your blog a short time ago.
I am a semi retired real estte broker of 37 years, from the St. Louis area.
I hit the wrong key where my email address was blank on one comment, and it showed up as anon. which I quickly corrected.
I was raised in a household of, and at one time a staunch Dem..never a Rebub. now, I am not sure ?
I feel that the two party system has been taken over by the same ONE source.
The GREEN Party.. Follow the money trail and see that our government has been usurpted, or may have been set up in this manner from the beginning, leaving the commoner to believe that we were free, when in fact we have been controlled by the elite few ,who started this experimental government we call a democreacy.
I believe we are being lead to the water to drown in the One World Government, where the U.S. is the NWO policemen.
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By: Chris on May 18, 2013
at 12:48 AM
Thank God for those teachers.
Most of them are gone, I know. There will always be those who care about their students, but, maybe, not as many now as before.
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By: Chris on May 18, 2013
at 12:28 AM
Mammy – Try spell check. And then leave Auntie Jean alone, please. You’ve basically contributed nothing, except a gratuitous attack on someone who spends much more time than you do on offering something of interest here.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 17, 2013
at 11:25 PM
{My husband and I are voracious readers; books, both fiction and non-fiction; newspapers, magazines, road signs and the backs of cereal boxes}
Great Grandma waialeale,
From the quality of your posts, you damn sure wouldn’t know your voracious readers. You’re boring as hell too. Senile and rambling is no way to go out…
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By: Mammy on May 17, 2013
at 11:20 PM
To discuss the growing number of disability recipients.
Chris here….
According to a report, there has been 195 months of increases in the number of those collecting disability in The United States.
There has been a 12 million increase in disability recipients just in one month. from March, 2013 to April, 2013.
Below is a link to the article. .Somewhat interesting…but somewhat slanted incorrectly against the disabled.
http://www.naturalnews.com/040363_Social_Security_disability_welfare_secret_program.html
I say, Sure there are those who abuse any system, but that does not include the majority.
(I would also say the Corporate Trillion Dollar Welfare recipients outnumber any group of peasant individuals, who might defraud our government. The elite write into all the tax laws allowing themselves to pay nothing, or very little taxes, in relationship to the real American Taxpaying Citizens.)
These guys are the first to cry someone is not paying their share, or complaining about seniors taking off the dole, when THE ELITE are the ones who receive the greatest amount of dollars in welfare
Why are there are a growing number of ill and disabled persons in America?
Do you think maybe the ever growing numbers are being created by doctors and their illnesses induced by legal drugs..What about the continual posioning of our people by the chemicals in our environment, as well as, , in our food and water sources, GMO’s, pesiticides etc.
All this poison, which our government fails to protect us from is causing us to lose 2 years off our life expectancy, according to cia.gov. in 2010, and causing us to die earlier, while creating most of the chronic illnesses we suffer from?
Why would anyone NOT understand why we have such a growing number of disabled people?What is wrong…with the reports of the information used in this artic
Mainstream media is trying to say we need to stop helping the disabled and just let them die.
I believe this is the goal of the NWO, to eliminate 90% of the world’s population. What better way to do so, than to either starve people OR WITHDRAW ANY FUNDS TO KEEP THEM ALIVE, WHETHER IT BE FOOD, HEALTHCARE. or, any form of life sustaining subsidy, like disability funds.
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By: Chris on May 17, 2013
at 10:00 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Terry Waggle on May 17, 2013 at 5:03 PM, Yes! Robin William and Jack Nicholson would be perfect for “W” and Rove. Too bad Orson Wells isn’t around anymore to play Cheney. With a skin wig to make him look bald, Wells could be Cheney, hands down. Can’t you just visualize him with the famous Cheney sneer? Who do you think would be best for the Three Stooges; Ashcroft, Rumsfeld, and Wolfowitz?
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 17, 2013
at 7:54 PM
pennyabrams – 83 and a lifetime in the school system! Hell, why are we yammering on about it? You’re who we need to ask what to do!
So, tell us, why is it so different now? What has changed? We all have our opinions, of course, but you have seen it both ways and lived through the changes. What does it look like from your side?
BTW, you remind me of my cousin Edna. Dead several years now, she was a second-grade schoolteacher into her ‘seventies, and a local legend. She flew airplanes in the ‘twenties and ‘thirties, once ran a cat house, so I’m told, rode all over creation on the back of a Harley, and then settled down to teach school. You can’t mention her name in the community but what somebody has a story to tell.
After she retired, she tried substitute teaching for a while, but it didn’t work. She told me, “Jim, I couldn’t teach these days. I touchmy kids. When they’re good, I hug ’em, and when they’re bad I spank ’em.” LOL. God, my house wouldn’t hold the pairs of shoes she bought for the little holler kids, and out of what little salary she made, too.
Thanks for bringing back a good memory of a great teacher.
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By: PFesser on May 17, 2013
at 6:24 PM
In a perfect world we would allow gentle touching when kids needed reassurance or encouragement and a firm hand to separate fighting kids without harming either one. But this isn’t a perfect world or a perfect country. I’m a Methodist and our denomination has adopted a Safe Sanctuary Policy mandating that there will be two SSP certified adults, who are not related to each other, in any situation where our children are involved. It makes it harder to man our Sunday School and VBS but it’s worth it. It protects the teachers as well as the students in case of an accusation. It would certainly take the pressure off our teachers if we could provide teacher aides in every classroom to make sure no boundaries are crossed from either side. But it’s easier to cut corners when our money is concerned and we all lose out as a result. Education should be more important that Prisons for Profits.
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By: Terry Waggle on May 17, 2013
at 5:44 PM
my son teaches in a high school on long island, n.y. i taught religious school. many of my friends were teachers and some of my kids’ teachers and i became friends. to me, the bottom line is common sense.
when my son started teaching, he was teaching kindergarten and one little boy dissolved as his mommy left the room. my son bent down put his arms around the child and gave him a hug. don’t worry, buddy, he said, mom will be back real soon, and took him by the hand to lead him into the room. he was told later that he must never touch a child. now that’s just plain stupid.
oth, a music teacher hauled that same son down the rows of a bleacher and slammed him against the wall when he was 8. u can bet i was there that afternoon and promised her that if she ever touched a child of mine again, her teaching career was over. one way or the other.
so where is the line? what rules do we put into use that guide both teachers and parents as to appropriate touching. we’ve had to teach our little ones to scream out for help when a stranger touches them. that’s sick but true.
i believe there is a middle line, a place we can reach agreement. punishing by physical force will never be acceptable to me.
i cannot believe that there isn’t a reasonable path to follow.
mayb we start at home by making sure the kid is telling the truth when he complains about a teacher.
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By: penny abrams on May 17, 2013
at 5:19 PM
I’m happy to hear your husband has enjoyed teaching English. I had a bad experience with student teaching in a small western Ks. town. The principal did not back up the teachers and it was every teacher for her or his self! I ended up working as a secretary in a Supt.’s office while my husband got his Masters and PhD. I loved English but not teaching it to kids who didn’t want to learn. As I see it the lack of parents’ involvement is key and leads back to Head Start programs, Parents as Teachers. etc. We have too many kids raising kids. We’re cutting off our nose to spite our face when we cut programs that help the poor.
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By: Terry Waggle on May 17, 2013
at 5:15 PM
I missed that program this morning and I won’t argue with anything you wrote. I do remember hoping we wouldn’t start the war in Iraq and then thinking that this was the best recruitment device that Al Quada (sp? I can’t remember what’s the right way to spell it) could have asked for. We did them the biggest favor by coming on like gang busters to take out a ruler who wouldn’t tolerate their antics in his country! And we were able to do it for fabricated reasons. Sounds like a Hollywood dream movie. Now you all can decide who plays the leads. Maybe Robin Williams as Dubya and Jack Nicholson as Karl Rove. Williams can be goofy enough and Nicholson has just the right evil edginess. As for Cheney I’m at a loss right now so could use some help.
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By: Terry Waggle on May 17, 2013
at 5:03 PM
In support of teachers: my husband has been a high school English teacher for 38 years. He stills loves teaching. What he does not love is all the paperwork and administrative work that detracts from actual teaching. I know many of his colleagues, and they are all (or almost all), wonderful dedicated people who work many, many long hours often in the evening and on weekends. Many also use their own money for school purposes. Many teachers feel besieged by unfair criticism and blame for poor student performance that is often the result of poor school attendance, lack of parental supervision, and lack of student responsibility. Both school administrators and parents often try to place blame for their own shortcomings on teachers. In spite of this, most teachers love both their subjects and their students.
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By: Terri in NY on May 17, 2013
at 4:35 PM
Anonymous on May 17, 2013 at 2:43 PM
I’d guess the nuns at the school my older brothers attended never got the message, but that was 80 years ago. My wife’s experience was more recent, about 25 years ago. No wonder my parents sent me to public school where, unfortunately, my first grade teacher was a wannabe nun. But perhaps I was not the best pupil either.
Gato: Teaching is such a private and personal undertaking. It is also a lot of fun, but hard work, and nothing can match the satisfaction of seeing a student of any age have an “Aha!” moment.
It is a shame, and sometimes an embarrassment, that many of today’s teachers are so uncommitted to the job. On the other hand, I’ve seen both sides of this situation and I’ve been fortunate enough to have seen more good than bad, including much that was spectacular.
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By: Al B on May 17, 2013
at 3:54 PM
Amen..Amen…Amen… War Department…
All the Bush guys you have mentioned have comittted war crimes against all of humanity, and lied and mislead and committed treason against America’s citizens, as well.
It is interesting how treason is addressed in the Constitution..and other documents of our building of this nation…read it…not enough is mentioned.
Because the bad guys are part of the elite, they will never come to any punishment. ( even Grandpappy Prescott Bush was charged with treason for aiding and abetting the Nazis, making profits from the enemy in World War II.
In the 1940’s..He was only charged a million dollars by the US government, left to go about his business, to grow his profits further. That was the only punishment he received.)
President Obama, after his first election, said to just look forward, instead of prosecuting the Bush Administration for the atrocities incurred during the false wars we were pushed into.That was to cover up for the genocide they committed, and continue to be committed.against the peoples of the 4 countries they were attacking, just to set their central banks…
I just heard on 97.1 FM…St.Louis this morning early by a conservative talk host, that the Moslems have killed more people recently, than in any time in history? I ask where is he getting his information?
There were more than 2 million innocent women, children and old persons killed in Iraq, alone, in the past 10 years, under the guise of freeing Iraq from the perils of Saddam…
What was the real reason Bush switched enemies? The media and the White House created the war, for what reason? Didn’t any of you think about how this invasion took place, when it was being presented through the media?
What was that all about? Well, I told you all, it was to crush the soveriegnty of Iraq, in order to secure and insure the set up of the Rothschild Central Bank in Iraq.
With most of the UN not being in accordance with the call for War by Bush, no wonder we in America are still subject to being attacked at every chance.
We cannot continue to attack and occupy every country we invade, without experiencing counter-attacks which we then call insurgents and terrorists.
We are the insurgents and terrorists..when we invade another country.
Why is this being overlooked, even by our entelligencia.
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By: Chris on May 17, 2013
at 2:48 PM
Al B, in convent schools no nun was ever allowed to touch a student for any reason inasmuch as it was deemed a possible display of partiality. I do feel for your wife, though. I also taught but only briefly inasmuch as it was really, really hard to deal with the increasing politics being played in every school among the faculty, the school department, etc. If it weren’t for that ***p, I would have continued teaching as I certainly did like it in general. The old Greek philosophers had it right. Hold school out in the open under a tree.
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By: Anonymous on May 17, 2013
at 2:43 PM
Hi, Al B – Once again, a powerful story, and beautifully written…
Thank you!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 17, 2013
at 2:08 PM
Gee, Chris… Now you’re going all humble on us, and I feel GUILTY for being such a smart mouth!
Actually, you are generally pretty modest in your posts, which makes it even harder to take your theories as well-thought-out and seriously researched. My husband considers me somewhat of a conspiracy theorist myself… This just happens to be one that too quickly goes into the implausible, IMHO.
Also, I believe that greed itself is enough of a motivator; a plot to take over the world seems a hardly necessary addition. For many, the acquisition of great wealth seems to lead only to an ever more driving compulsion to acquire more and more of it, for its own sake…
BTW, I am taking you at face value here, even though I sometimes have the nagging suspicion that “you” may be an “alternate personality” of another of our more wily and opinionated posters… He’s evidently been known to do that before – a real blogging hydra who, whenever one of his “heads” gets severely whacked, another one appears in its place.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 17, 2013
at 2:07 PM
Sorry, Gatodicima…
and Guys and Gals…
My spelling of Rothschild..may be wrong, but, the information is correct.
I read so much…I sometimes miss on the spellings of names and places..
Check out wiki…and see for yourself…Learn about the Rothschilds..
There are about a zillion pages attributed to the family, who stll controls the banking system all around the world.
I may not as schooled as several of you, but, I am self taught.
The books you may have read in your education may not be correct, or, you may not have gained enough information. I am sure you have learned much in your education. College is to teach us to research and learn further.
That is the problem with our college students and grads. have today. The schools have the gaul to insinuate the graduates will be all knowing after graduation.
Learning is a lifelong process. We must never close our minds to the possiblities of things.
When we close our minds, we are dead, in the truest sense of the word.
Chris
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By: Chris on May 17, 2013
at 1:43 PM
How to retain good teachers – not!
My wife was a grade one teacher for many years and her daily routine was to greet every student at the door each morning. In so doing, she would take them by the hand or touch their arm or shoulder as a welcoming sign. But she had an ulterior motive for doing so. That brief encounter allowed her to determine if the student was tense or relaxed, whether they were alert enough and ready to learn, even what he or she had for breakfast. If the child was tired he or she was directed to a place where one could put one’s head down and relax and if the child was hungry, she’d have an energy bar in her pocket or some sort of snack to tide them over until lunch. Then the real teaching began.
However, one day late in her career, a second grade teacher had to use force to break up a fight to separate a bully from his victim. The mother of the bully threatened to sue the school department so the school committee (none of which had ever been in front of a class) passed a resolution demanding that all teachers refrain from touching any student, regardless of the circumstances. I think you’ll see where this is going.
Shortly after this incident, the superintendent was visiting the schools and when he saw my wife greeting her class and told her that such activities were disallowed. His warning was followed by a letter of reprimand, – the only one she ever got in her career. She took the letter to heart but the students were puzzled and several parents wanted to know if she was mad at their children.
A couple years later, she retired.
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By: Al B on May 17, 2013
at 12:45 PM
Can I have an amen!
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By: War Department on May 17, 2013
at 12:07 PM
Hey, Penny – That’s the way Chris spells it, with an “e” in the middle…!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 17, 2013
at 10:53 AM
Someone needs to shush Cheney, Rummy (and that idiot Bachmann). Such faux outrage and so hilarious coming from the poster children for lies, crimes and scandal. Those dudes along with “W” should have been tried in The Hague for International war crimes. And now the war-mongering, bomb,bomb,bomb Iran crowd is worried about the President having war powers that they gladly watched Bush use as he took us into an unprovoked war in Iraq? Really ??
What a giant waste of time and tax-payer money to hold all these ridiculous scandal hearings when there is not, nor has there even been a scandal. And don’t you know, there will be yet another useless hearing about the war powers.
Rove and the Koch Brothers have instructed the alcoholic Boner, his pal Cantor and the useless McConnell to continue to ride the faux scandals and make sure they do no law-making. They are desperate to direct the conversation away from gun control, immigration reform and jobs creation.
Not that the Koch Baggers in congress care anymore, but the deficit has now been cut in half so they have suddenly stopped using those stupid deficit clocks as back-drops for their TV appearances. It is not necessarily a good thing because the deficit was cut taking away programs that are needed by the working poor and middle class.
Wonder if Michelle Bachmann’s weekend impeachment voices are the same ones she hears in her head during the week. A mini-me idiot Palin, for sure.
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By: Co Blu on May 17, 2013
at 10:03 AM
oddly enough i agree w/u pf. i would never allow a teacher to hit my kid; there must be fair, a nd enforced, requirements for a teacher to be able to teach and for t he hiring and firing of teachers and for school administators to be able to administrate and for parents to be able to work with the system but lacking a parent’s cooperation, there has to be a penalty to them; there should be s ome sort of honest and fair way to rate a teacher. tenure may be good (like in sports so the hurt kid isn’t played) but if a teacher is burnt out or isn’t good, they should not keep their job. that’s a tuffie. the respect once given to teachers got lost somewhere. i think we need to find it again. i worked my wotsis to the bone for years on our public schools. at 83 i’m entitled to sit back…can’t stand anyway…the present parents should be screaming!!!
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By: penny abrams on May 17, 2013
at 9:46 AM
gato: u guys r funny today…roth e child, huh? lawdy, lawdy
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By: penny abrams on May 17, 2013
at 9:37 AM
obama and eisenhower related? i love it. rofllllllllllllllllllllllllll
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By: penny abrams on May 17, 2013
at 9:35 AM
I decided to revisit after reading counter to a delurkergurl anecdote about a boy killed by a gun. I read fast and may have missed some details.
Here is my counter. The Mail Online reports that three men invaded a Houston home and after a brief scuffle, they stuffed the man into a broom closet which unbeknown to them had a gun. The man waited until he thought the bad guys had left.
The man discovered one of his assailants down stairs. The two exchanged gunfire, and the suspect is now in the hospital with two gun wounds. Anecdotes are fun but by themselves, don’t prove much one way or another.
Geneticists have discovered that everyone from Europe with the possible exception of Finnic people and Basques is related to the same ancestors who lived a thousand years ago..Thus, Obama,who is part European is related to us if our ancestors lived in Europe or Africa.
That means, anonymous, you and I are cousins. If you have blue eyes as I do you are my mutant cousin. Blue eyes came from a single mutation north of the Black Sea eight to ten thousand years ago.
I don’t intimidate anyone. I’m a nice guy. I merely learned back in the service to do what one has to do and accept the consequences.I have inherited sisu from my Finnish-Sami relatives. Our family reeks of it..
The rest of the story about the fire bomb is that the state and country wanted to close our road and destroy the old bridge. We and the neighbors made so much noise on television and made the county and state look so bad that they decided to condemn seven acres of our land for a new road bypassing the bridge as revenge. No one told us, and we didn’t know until we saw surveyors putting flags on our property.
I tore down the flags and ordered the men off our property as my wife threatened to call the sherrif. The County engineer soon visited and told me how it would be.Then, I told him politely and matter of factly that I had seen violence in the service and wasn’t afraid to die or kill. I would peacefully block them until I was hurt or killed. In light of the already adverse publicity, my wife said the law suits would let us own the county.We had a good lawyer, a family friend who had argued a case before the US Supreme Court.The county engineer knew our lawyer.
The engineer decided on the spot that we would get our bridge. Someone at the DOT told us it was a miracle that the state built another bridge and reopened the road. I’m proud of what we did. Sisu rules.
Just so you know, “I told you so.”
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By: james on May 17, 2013
at 9:15 AM
PF–Your constant denigration of the US education system doesn’t wash. Yes, there are many problems, but we still have many of the best universities in the world here, and the students to fill them. My solution: treat teachers like the professionals they are; pay them well to attract the best and brightest to the teaching profession; foster cooperation between teachers, parents and administrators to create small classes, good learning conditions and opportunities for students to learn. Turn off the IPhones, video games, and televisions and encourage reading. Public education has made this country what it is today, and it is one of society’s great equalizers.
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By: Terri in NY on May 17, 2013
at 8:50 AM
Once again the Hussein administration goes after free speech on campus.
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424127887323582904578485041304763554-lMyQjAxMTAzMDEwNzExNDcyWj.html?mod=wsj_valetbottom_email
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By: PFesser on May 17, 2013
at 8:27 AM
anon – We had a system like you describe once, and our students led the world. Now we have the system we do, and they are at the bottom. Are you “down” with that?
We are like the cat who loved fish, but hated to get his paws wet. We are willing to tax ourselves into poverty to build new school buildings, conform to gub’ment madates, pay superintendents over $100k – some over $300k, but we are NOT willing to do what it takes.
So we get what we have. I’m “down” with that; I sent my kids to private schools. You like what you are getting from public education? If not, what is YOUR plan?
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By: PFesser on May 17, 2013
at 8:15 AM
Yes, PF, let’s have an education system where teachers are free to discipline students however they want (parents, are you down with that?); there is no legal recourse for disputes, and teachers cannot belong to unions and therefore can work long hours for low pay. Sounds just dandy. What could go wrong?
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By: Anonymous on May 17, 2013
at 7:50 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Slow news day. We are fresh out of politically manufactured scandals, tired ole prolix conspiracy theories and pondrous punditry.
My husband and I are voracious readers; books, both fiction and non-fiction; newspapers, magazines, road signs and the backs of cereal boxes.
Years ago when we were living in PA, I caught yet another book sale at our local library for ten cents a book. I was like an alcoholic in a liquor store. I came out of there with an armload of books. There was a trilogy of novels that intrigued me. They turned out to be some of the best books I ever read.
When we were moving out here we had to watch our weight. Not BMI so much as what was going into the container of our furniture and household goods going through the Panama Canal. The moving company charged by the pound. As anyone knows, the weight of a carton of books can add up pretty fast. We had to jettison lots and lots of books. That was hard. It’s sorta like old friends you know you are not likely to see ever again, but you still hate to throw them away. I did pack up that trilogy in a carton though along with other lighter items. But somehow that one carton got lost in the shuffle and never made it out here. It was the only loss or damage we suffered in the move.
In discussions with my husband and friends over the years, I have talked about those books as to how they relate to our world today. So months ago I decided to track them down if I could at Amazon and reread them. Naturally, they had been out of print for a long time. Believe it or not, Amazon found them – albeit used – and I ordered them. (It wasn’t easy for Amazon. There is not too much demand for them.) My husband and I are very much enjoying them once again. Although they are fiction, the author has done her homework in research as to historical accuracy. I have checked other sources many times to make sure. The books span ten generations or more in one family.
I would highly recommend them to anyone interested in some fine summer reading, perhaps extending into long winter nights. They are real page turners! FAIR WARNINGS! The initial book is 1176 pages long. The second one, 782. The third, 236. Published in the 40’s and early 50’s the dialogue language is anything but “politically correct” but a reflection the common parlance of the times. It is also often quite graphic.
In re-reading them, I do feel that humankind has been and is making a little progress since the occurrences that transpire in the stories. We do need to have a better understanding of the origins of those events in order to move forward.
The author of the books is Marguerite Steen.
1. “The Sun is My Undoing.”
2. “Twilight on the Floods”.
3. “Phoenix Rising”. (This edition printed in Great Britain. The title in the United States is “Jehovah Blues”.)
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean.
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By: waialeale on May 16, 2013
at 9:48 PM
penny – IMHO, everybody with a dog in the education hunt needs to get together and solve the problem. That means a new organization completely – a coalition, if you will. Not talk about it, solve it. And anybody who obstructs the problem gets thrown out.
That means the teachers have to set their own standards for ability – they will know how to judge themselves better than anyone else. If you don’t make it, you are not in the club. No BS, no union featherbedding.
The politicians will have to take the mandates and other shackles off the system, so it can concentrate on teaching, not compliance.
The administrators have to agree upon standards for themselves, and be ruthless in cutting out the deadwood.
The parents have to agree that their children can be disciplined and made to comply with the rules. That could mean many things.
The lawyers have to agree to not interfere.
This is on another planet, by the way. Ain’t going to happen – not here. Too many people with too much ability to disrupt the system. Maybe, at least, we can serve as a negative example for other countries.
Thoughts?
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By: PFesser on May 16, 2013
at 9:19 PM
Just received this from a doc friend of mine. Though some of you might appreciate it.
The Battling Boys of Benghazi
(Author unknown (but appreciated))
We’re the Battling Boys of Benghazi,
no fame, no glory, no paparazzi,
Just a fiery death in a blazing hell,
defending the country we loved so well.
It wasn’t our job, but we answered the call,
fought to the consulate, and scaled the wall.
We pulled twenty countrymen from the jaws of fate,
led them to safety, and stood at the gate.
Just the two of us, and foes by the score,
but we stood fast, to bar the door,
Three calls for reinforcement, but all were denied,
so we fought and we fought, and we fought till we died.
We gave our all for our Uncle Sam,
but Barack Obama didn’t give a damn.
Just two dead SEALs, who carried the load,
no thanks to us — we were just “bumps in the road.”
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By: PFesser on May 16, 2013
at 9:07 PM
The Kermit Gosnell of blogs….
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By: Mammy on May 16, 2013
at 8:21 PM
I thought he was going to say that it’s a trick question. Of course he can’t prove Obama is related to Eisenhower, because he still hasn’t seen his birth certificate! Your answer is better, Gato. You nailed it. 😛
“They are all from 2nd to 10th cousins., from 2- 6 generations removed”
Yes, like most of the planet. SMH
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By: delurkergurl on May 16, 2013
at 7:47 PM
Hi, Anonymous One – You’ve posed a very interesting question… But I think you’re probably going to get – if you get anything – something like this: “Dwight Eisenhower” wasn’t his real name. His real name was Melvin Albert Roth-E-child, but in an effort to spread their influence, the New World Order and the Banksters arranged for him to be adopted by another family, and eventually have plastic surgery so any family resemblance to the Roth-E-childs would be cleverly obliterated. While he was supposedly acting as a General, he was really in constant contact with the Banksters, and following their every order to arrange for the war to go as they wished, for the advancement of their own Evil Purposes.
“Barack Obama” is actually the son of one of “Eisenhower’s” many illegitimate children, all of whom were secret members of the New World Order, taking their instructions from the all-powerful Banksters. (The whole “Kenyan Muslim Socialist” thing is just a clever distraction.) Many years of chemical pigmentation were employed to make “Obama” appear to be bi-racial, in yet another effort to confuse the dumbed-down “sheeple” who compose the majority of United States citizens… And the end of the world is nigh…
Or something like that…!
Be interesting to see what is presented…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 16, 2013
at 7:09 PM
Chris, please prove one of your assertions. For instance, explain how Barack Obama is related to, say, Dwight Eisenhower. Looking forward to your reply
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By: Anonymous on May 16, 2013
at 6:49 PM
Penny Abrams, retired school teacher talkin’ here. Once upon a time the majority of teachers were simply people who knew a little bit more of everything and did not even have a degree. A lot of them were lucky to have a high school diploma. But By God and Turnips you had to respect them or else pay for it. Then “Normal Schools” came along. They were teachers’ colleges and I will never get over that “Normal” thing! Such schools could be only two years in order to get a certificate to teach. Then came the four year colleges of education and universities, et al. They were supposed to turn out a way better batch of teachers. Well, they sure did hit the mark with some of them. Now take Taiwan for instance. Teachers are not just respected there but revered. Girls and boys want to become teachers. Why? Here’s the deal. Teaching was for so long in that culture in the hands of so few people, usually upscale types, not just financially but in social standing. That is, they were just close enough to the powers that be in order to have some clout or the ability to somehow convince others that they did. What they taught was also dressed in mystique and no, not the perfume! Learning, places of learning and even the yen to learn were considered big karma deals. The society was also on a tight rein. Freedom of expression did not have the same claim to fame as it would in Western civilization. Manners were on the courtly side and a huge deal. Anybody see where this is going? When I was teaching the classrooms were grossly overcrowded for years and years after the Second World War. School construction and renovation just couldn’t seem to keep up. The classrooms were cattle cars. Believe me, that doesn’t help the Teacher or the process of learning. We literally grew to fast to catch up with ourselves and frankly we are still paying for it with what kids learn and how they learn.
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By: mageen in old virginny on May 16, 2013
at 4:58 PM
Margaret and Helen, I just want you to know that I linked to your blog in my post today about my own Grandma named Margaret. She raised me to be a good liberal, and even though she’s gone to the dark side it gives me hope that you two are out there telling it like it is. Keep up the good work! I look forward to many more hilarious and insightful posts to come.
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By: War Department on May 16, 2013
at 4:24 PM
Note to : penny abrams
Penny I’d prefer not to mention the name of the university I attended in the Boston area because the mighty pfesser may demand that I give the name so he can investigate whether I ever really went there. Actually, their alumni office lost me several years ago and that’s afforded me relief from weekly phone calls. In truth, it wasn’t in Boston but was on the fringes. Also, I didn‘t finish there because I had just gotten out of the Navy before enrolling and the obnoxious preppy undergraduate lifestyle irritated me no end.
One day in my second year I spotted a gorgeous young coed crossing the campus who was being harassed by upper classmen who turned on me when I intervened. They threatened to keep me from graduating by destroying any mandatory chapel attendance records that had my name on them. After I threatened to make sure they were left gumming their food until graduation, they let us go. Later that day I found the beautiful your lady in one of my classes and we got married after she graduated and we’ve been together ever since.
So my academic record there had a lot of minuses but all were counterbalanced by the only positive. I later went to a couple other universities including the grad school of one of the oldest in the country. But again, it will have to remain nameless to protect its reputation
Al B
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By: Al B on May 16, 2013
at 3:08 PM
Penny and PFesser..
In an artilce I just read on Chris Mathews being disappointed in Obama…
I answered….:
Why is Chris disappointed in Obama?
Is Chris not in tune wth reality?
Why are we, the American Public, always discouraged by what their
government does, because it is and always has been be governed by the royal
bloodlines.
Most Presidents ARE of the same bloodline. They are all
from 2nd to 10th cousins., from 2- 6 generations removed. Kennedy
was not…They fixed that..
They never gave up their power and control of the United
States of America, since the skirmish… war for Independence.
Our ruling by democracy is a joke. We are really is a Republic…run by a few, for the good of the few.
We can see that no matter what we want as citizens and vote
on….…in the majority, we get a few crumbs, but, we never get what we actually want and voted for..
The guys, who sit in the White House, are puppets of the
real controllers. It is a family business, but, we will never be told of this….or?
Chris and rest of the mainstream media are controlled to the
greatest degree…or they are fired.
There is not a two party system, only a mirage. They pit this group against another group, and while the argument goes on, they get their agenda of stealing from our pockets to further control us, while diminishing the few rights we have.
They have destroyed our history books, so that we will
forget what our rights are under the Constitution were.
They have DUMBED DOWN our children and destroyed our school
systems, as their main agenda to have control of the masses and make us not be able to think
and do anything without them, and their corporations, and control and influence.
They treat us like dumb sheep.. Go here….do this…think
this…watch this….listen to this..
This is how we are brainwashed into not even being able to come to an intelligent understanding of what is happening to us, or our country.
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By: Chris on May 16, 2013
at 3:05 PM
penny, I think we Liberals all agree, including Obama the centrist, LOL, that Gitmo needs to end.
Obama renewed his campaign promise just a few weeks ago by saying: “I’m going to go back at this,” “I’ve asked my team to review everything that’s currently being done in Guantanamo, everything that we can do administratively, and I’m going to re-engage with Congress to try to make the case that this is not something that’s in the best interests of the American people.”
The problem of sending the poor bastards home (for at least for 86 of the 166 detainees) is that we believe, although “safe enough to be released” we have nowhere to send them. For many of these individuals, their home country will not take them or might torture them, meaning the U.S. has to find an entirely different country to release them to. Sooo back to square one.. What do we do with them?
There are other two options of course …1, we can hold civilian trial or 2, military tribunals – both were blocked by Congress, which passed legislation barring the federal government from funding trials for Guantanamo detainees or buying a prison in the U.S. to house them.
Obama has done all he can by executive orders. SOOO…..SURPRISE we need congress to engage and become part of the solution! Fingrers crossed we can get this done PDQ
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By: lori on May 16, 2013
at 12:59 PM
James, are you taking a break from intimidating your neighbors with fire bombs? Welcome back.
James | April 21, 2013 at 9:03 pm
***, when we had a bridge dispute, and a woman was blocking the construction of a new bridge by refusing to sell twenty feet of property for an approach, two of us fire bombed her driveway to frighten her.
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By: Anonymous on May 16, 2013
at 11:37 AM
pf: re education. u r a cupla years older than my older son. i remember one day, when he showed me a paper for hi school, asking him where the verb (in a sentence) was. he asked…u mean the ‘doing’ word? i told him he was mine half an hour daily ’til further notice and i taught him english. i also went to school to find out what the hell was happening. it goes back to the schools teaching our teachers and further.
we lived in an excellent (by comparison) school district…on purpose.
i think the problem with education…well the main one…is the attitude of both educators (who too often take a superior and confrontational attitude) and those outside that community. i have a son who teaches. he loves hi school kids, he’s probably a very good teacher, but he knows everything. he’ll tell you so.
i don’t know how it happened. we seem to have lost respect for the educatior and education. i cannot fathom why. we pay the people we trust with our greatest and most precious resource, less than we pay those who create those idiotic commercials we are inundated with.
respect. i think that loss of respect is the root of most of our problems today anyway. if parents would insist on and cooperate in more thorough education rather than cheaper, flashier and more fun then that could go a long way.
the hard truth is, as i told my kids when they moaned about times tables, not everything is fun and most stuff is very hard work. that’s ok. that’s our journey so suck it up and get going. with it all, my three adult children hold 8 degrees amongst them and are highly successful at their chosen careers and with their families. some of us are just very lucky, including teachers and other parents.
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By: penny abrams on May 16, 2013
at 11:29 AM
for sure. guatanamo must be closed. waaaaaay overdue. send the poor bastards home. enough of being like them. too much.
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By: penny abrams on May 16, 2013
at 10:49 AM
PFesser,
I would say they dumbed me down. I was born in 1946.
This has been going on since then.
I barely know where to put a comma.
The system agenda does not allow for the time necessary for the assimilation of the information to take place within the mind ? What do you think ?
PF, what do you think about the IRS in the news, in regards to the information I gave earlier in my postings? I did mention the IRS is not part of our government, and how they come to be, and how they fit into the grand scheme of things in controling our govt.
The IRS are the Bankers who instituted the 14th amendment, which was never completely ratified, by all the states. ( that was in June of 1913 )
Income tax is not legal. It was merely the means to fund their future bank.
The IRS harassment to the Tea Partiers is just a tip of the iceberg. It has continued throughout the last 100 years. There are horrrific stories of what they have committed on any of their business opposition ( how about Monsanto being taken to court by the W. Texas fertilizer company, only to have that tremendous explosion, which lost more lives than most out of war happenigs, to only be pre-empted by the Boston Marathon Masacre.
The elite, industrialists decared a greater power over us, one, to never give up.
You will note, that the elite ( I am not speaking of anyone making a mere million or several a year; I speak of ernings of billions, and trillions
One barely ever would hear their names in the news, ever
Later that year ( Dec. 1913 ) the Federal reserve Act was pushed through Congress before the Christmas Holiday. That set up the Central Bank of the U.S.A. with the Rockafellas at the helm. That is why our government is not by the people and for the people. It has been operated as a family company endeavor.
Also NOTE: The gatekeepers and elite always name themselves as philanthopists, but when Rothechilds,are checked on wiki, it stated the current Rothechilds are creating a list of the philathropy endeavors it is involved with. Why were the names not available? Probably because they OWN the majority of ,orgs with which they milk the public out of their hard earned monies.
Chris
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By: Chris on May 16, 2013
at 10:47 AM
LOL LOL yeah Peas I think they attribute it to him because he was an Emmy Award-winning producer and writer for the NBC series ….The West Wing (and played the role of the President’s father in flashbacks) and creator and executive producer of the NBC series Mister Sterling.
Loved that show.. 😉
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By: lori on May 16, 2013
at 8:52 AM
Top o’ the morning to you, James! Good to “see” you! Maybe we should get Tex and Noah together over here and have a little M&H reunion!
Returning briefly to the “education” thread… I am editing a book for a small publishing company and was confused about the use of commas in a particular place. Not much available on the Web, so I went downstairs to my library and pulled out an old grade-school grammar book. Copyright 1952. The former owner’s name is in the front, listing his grade as 8.
Here is what eighth-graders learned in 1952:
Chapter 1: Studying a Simple Sentence
Studying a Compound Sentence
Reading a Poem With Others
Using Adjective Clauses
Using Adverb Clauses
.
.
.
Chapter 7: Roberts Rules of Order
Organizing a Club or Group
Secretary’s Minutes
Using Predicate Adjectives
Learning about the Position of Adjectives
Using Prepositional Phrases as Adjective Modifiers
Learning about Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Adjective Clauses
Using Participial Phrases as Adjective Modifiers
Correcting Dangling Participial Phrases
.
.
.
Chapter 9: Reviewing a Book
Studying Co-ordinating Conjunctions
Using Correlative Conjunctions
Using Conjunctions Correctly
etc…
Hell, I’d wager dollars to doughnuts that 99% of graduating seniors from today’s public high schools can’t even spell those chapter titles, let alone tell you anything about what they mean.
You know, the first procedure for a drunk to get dried out is for him to admit he’s a drunk. Now, tell me again how the teachers are better these days, the standards are higher, and the American public-school students are doing just fine?
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By: PFesser on May 16, 2013
at 8:52 AM
Mornin’ all.
Great to see some old faces return 😉
and regulars…keep on keepin’ on!
lori – 5/16/13 @ 5:53am
A poignant quote by Lawrence O’Donnell…
Hi lori,
Not sure about Lawrence,
but that quote comes from:
The West Wing
PEACE ~ Δ
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By: Whirled Peas Δ on May 16, 2013
at 8:43 AM
To the people I like, I hope life is treating you well.
To the two who contributed to our food pantry a year or so ago. It is still feeding people. Thanks again for the help.
To those I dislike and who once tried to vote me off the site, I have returned for one reason and will not checking in to read the comments.
I TOLD YOU SO!! Events have proven me right and you wrong. Shame on you.,
“I love the smell of” vindication “in the morning. It smells like…victory.”
Even Chris Mathews tingle is weakening.
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By: james on May 16, 2013
at 7:14 AM
Mssr. O’Donnell is right as far as he goes, but he needs a little history lesson. The slaves were freed by a Republican president. Democrats traditionally opposed all civil rights for blacks, trying to keep the South as much like it had been as possible. The South was called the “Solid South,” because it was solidly Democratic, and its representatives staunchly defended the apartheid-like separation of blacks and whites. There were white-only drinking fountains, restrooms, restaurants, etc, as you well know – all defended by Democrats. (You should see “42” – the Jackie Robinson story – it is amazing!)
In the ‘fifties, it was Republicans who championed civil rights legislation and were fiercely opposed by Democrats, until Kennedy – later Johnson – got religion about civil rights and the civil rights laws were passed.
In fairness, of course, that was the traditional Republicans, who were traditionally liberal. The Democrats, who wanted to keep everything just like it had been, were conservative.
Nixon, in trying to court Southern votes, infamously began his “Southern Strategy.” That began the process of driving a good party (the GOP) off the rails, where it is today – basically dying in the gutter.
It’s a shame, really – the ReBiblican party is now controlled by lunatics like Sarah Palin, et al. They wonder why there are so many Independent and Libertarian voters now; I can tell them: they are former Liberal and Moderate Republicans who just had enough and quit the party. I hope they wise up; a one-party system benefits nobody, (ask the Albanians) and that is where we are heading.
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By: PFesser on May 16, 2013
at 7:03 AM
If I’m posting this stuff at 5:30 AM it just MIGHT be one of those kind of days. LOL LOL
A poignant quote by Lawrence O’Donnell on the history of conservatism and liberalism in America:
What did liberals do that was so offensive to the Republican party? I’ll tell you what they did. Liberals got women the right to vote. Liberals got African-Americans the right to vote. Liberals created Social Security and lifted millions of elderly people out of poverty. Liberals ended segregation. Liberals passed the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act. Liberals created Medicare. Liberals passed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act. What did conservatives do? They opposed them on every one of those things every one. So when you try to hurl that label at my feet, ‘Liberal,’ as if it were something to be ashamed of, something dirty, something to run away from, it won’t work, Senator. Because I will pick up that label and I will wear it as a badge of honor.
So as BGTX continues it’s steep up hill battle to turn Texas blue. Once again I will be sustained by the fact that we are giving voice to the millions of Texans who have to date, gone unheard and uncounted!
Go ahead make my day, call me a Liberal. 😉
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By: lori on May 16, 2013
at 5:53 AM
Just a little update on Battleground Texas!
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/15/targeting-texas/
We are kicking off another registration campaign on the steps of the Capitol tonight! Come join us!
Yes we can!
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By: lori on May 16, 2013
at 5:10 AM
PF. You are a creepy pervert. Just so you know, no one here has learned anything from you. You just an annoying person who has nothing better to do but foist his unwanted and useless opinions on people who don’t like or respect you. It’s pitiful. Get some help. You’re making a fool of yourself.
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By: Anonymous on May 15, 2013
at 7:01 PM
grandma opined:
“SpankMe!”
Sorry, I don’t play sex games with the aged; it’s too disgusting.
further: “…never heard of the famous quote attributed to either William Shakespeare or Sir Walter Scott depending on the point of view, “Oh, what tangled webs we weave when first we practice to deceive.”
I prefer William Claude Dukenfield’s qoute: ‘Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.’ However, I have plenty of time, and I rather enjoy annoying the pigs.
“And what I said about leaving this site, I lied. Will never happen.”
Forget where you were going? Try that gingko-Viagra; my mother-in-law swears by it. Or if you just got a little lost, they have GPS tracer wristbands for wander-ers, too.
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By: PFesser on May 15, 2013
at 6:40 PM
sorry, typo. Html should have been ““
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By: PFesser on May 15, 2013
at 6:28 PM
Adding to the meltdown of Hussein’s second term, I see that the “detainees” at Guantanamo, after (some of them) being held for eleven years without charge or trial, have begun to “act out,” in the words of the guards. They have developed this innovative cocktail of feces, urine and blood which they throw on the guards whenever possible.
They are also on hunger strike, most of them, but some are being strapped to chairs and force-fed through nasogastric tubes forced down their throats. Of course, the Ensure they are being fed is hypertonic and causes their shrunken, starved stomachs to react, vomiting up much of it. And Ensure is not designed for long-term nutrition, so they will probably die anyway.
Jesus God, cannot the American people see what we are doing – not only to these unhappy prisoners, but to ourselves? This is not the way good guys behave; this is how dictators, despots, Hitlers, Germanys, Pol Pots act. This is how South American strongmen act. If you behave like a certain kind of man for so long, you become that man. Just look at what we are doing, with the whole planet looking on. What does that make America, now?
And just where is habeas corpus? I don’t want to hear that, “It doesn’t apply; they’re not American citizens.” bullshit, either; habeas corpus predates the Magna Carta, and boys, 1215 was a long damned time ago.
To be fair, he didn’t start this mess, but It is time for Hussein to “produce the bodies” and show cause why they are being held, and either try them or release them and then close that Cuban hellhole.</strong?
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By: PFesser on May 15, 2013
at 6:25 PM
gato: that’s what i was saying; the builder, the sewer designer/builder/cleaner…everyone’s job is important and every job well and honestly done is a badge of honor.
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By: penny abrams on May 15, 2013
at 4:17 PM
Hey, Lurker – See your point, and agree that kids are fast and always a total handful. Same time, seems that knowing that would be all the more reason not to leave a loaded anything around the house…
But, okay, they’re going to give the parents a break… The parents must be beside themselves with grief already. So thanks for pointing out that there are a couple of separate issues here… Not sure I totally agree, and appreciate your point of view, all the same.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 15, 2013
at 4:17 PM
it is very common for one who does not have the true info, the solid facts, to focus on something the picayune and to bring something else into the conversation. i find it easier just to say…i don’t know that much about x or that’s not what i understand or could u splain me.
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By: penny abrams on May 15, 2013
at 4:07 PM
Hi, Penny – “Our” builder, with whom we’ve been doing stuff for more than twenty years, knows our house better than we do. And he CARES about it, and about US, which is a totally wonderful thing.
He is as much a class act as any “intellectual,” any scholar, any anything. He is an expert in his field(s), knows his work matters, treats his clients with respect, and expects the same from us – which he gets.
I’m old enough to have plenty of “Whole Earth Catalog” stuff under my belt – remember that publication…? Their motto was, “Everything comes from somewhere; everything’s got to go somewhere.” More important to remember now, than ever, IMHO.
I never knew the importance of curtain drains, retaining walls, alternate septic fields, and so on, until I owned my own property, and had the opportunity, many times, to deal with our local Building Department, Zoning Department, Zoning Board of Appeals, Department of Health, and so on. Life goes on just fine, until your septic tank gives up the ghost. And then you don’t need a lecture; you need someone with a front loader who knows what he’s doing.
It long ago occurred to me that there may be two kinds of women in this world: Those who love construction, and those who don’t. I’ve found myself to be in the former category. And I have all respect for those who show up and haul the big rocks, dig the big holes, and work their tails off from 8:00 am until exactly 4:00 pm, with a one-hour break for lunch, during which they open up their lunch boxes, talk on their cell phones, and listen to the local rock and/or Latino radio station, and maybe lie in the sun for twenty minutes, if there is some, before they get back to work.
These guys have made my home what it is, period. (Well; I helped a bit…)
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 15, 2013
at 4:03 PM
yes, al b, it does. its just a year ago we drove up for our 60th reunion. that was our last long drive,ty. it is a fantastic school, a gazillion times larger than when i was there. unhappily none of my children, nor my grands, wanted to go there. o, well. at least one nephew graduated and a niece is there now. what school did u attend in boston?
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By: penny abrams on May 15, 2013
at 3:59 PM
Gato, the fact is that little kids do stuff and they’re very fast. You can’t have your eye on them every second. Everyone’s gotta pee sometime! That’s why gun owners should own the responsibility for making sure kids can’t get their guns, and should be held responsible if they don’t do so.
It isn’t a given that there wasn’t adequate supervision in the home, though I suppose if it’s in the article then they probably have reason to suspect there was not. To me that is 2 separate issues to evaluate – not one and the same.
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By: delurkergurl on May 15, 2013
at 3:48 PM
Hey, Auntie Jean – Glad you’re planning to stick around… It would be a lesser porch without you!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 15, 2013
at 3:36 PM
Hey, Lurker – And they are “trying to determine if there was adequate supervision in the home”? Is somebody joking here? Doesn’t one child shooting another kind of indicate that there wasn’t “adequate supervision”?
Good lord…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 15, 2013
at 3:17 PM
11-year-old fatally shot by 4-year-old
http://tbo.com/news/lake-city-police–year-old-fatally-shot-by–year-old-b82492119z1
I suppose the 11 year old should have been armed.
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By: delurkergurl on May 15, 2013
at 2:41 PM
Hey, Al B – YOUR typo is forgiven! 🙂
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 15, 2013
at 2:34 PM
OOps!!
Make that Final Exam?
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By: Al B on May 15, 2013
at 2:29 PM
Auntie Jean:
If this were a quiz, I’d pick Sir Walter Scott.
Will this be on the final eam? If so, I’d like to make sure I’m correct
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By: Al B on May 15, 2013
at 2:27 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Gato, as we have seen the riposte of your epee was much more decisive and effective than the clumsy cudgel. Unfortunately poor SpankMe never heard of the famous quote attributed to either William Shakespeare or Sir Walter Scott depending on the point of view, “Oh, what tangled webs we weave when first we practice to deceive.”
And what I said about leaving this site, I lied. Will never happen.
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 15, 2013
at 2:02 PM
Hi, Terri – Thanks to you, and the fine Mr. Al B, for your understanding and – if I may add – support.
When asked this morning whether I wanted to discuss “issues” or “typos,” I almost just whipped back, “Typos, please,” because I’ll be darned if I can see any “issue” around the proper use of accent marks in another language!
The remarks that have been addressed to Auntie Jean are repulsive.
I’m going to do my best to stick to appropriate use of my “Delete” button, and save my energy for discussion with those whose positions actually interest me, as do the posts of the vast majority of porch dwellers here.
Best,
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 15, 2013
at 1:46 PM
Hey Gato,
I enjoy your back and forth with Mr. Know it All, especially since you always win and he becomes hysterical. Unfortunately, he then becomes both nasty and offensive when you or AJ gets the best of him. He’s such a sore loser.
Al B, would love to hear from you more often. I enjoy your posts.
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By: Terri in NY on May 15, 2013
at 1:09 PM
Gato:
You never have to apologize for being correct. We’ve seen nit-picking behavior by contributors before on this site and they never seem to get the message so they never understand when to quit. One thing I learned very early in my teaching career is that you should never take on a subject that you are unprepared for or ignorant of and attempt to make arguments either for or against it. There is always someone in the audience who may have better information and present you with an unanticipated learning opportunity.
BTW penny abrams: I was attending a college in the Boston area at the time Brandies University was just starting. Never in my life have I seen an institution of higher education become a top tier school in such a short time. It still holds that status today.
Al B
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By: Al B on May 15, 2013
at 12:53 PM
Father arrested and charged with five counts of second-degree child endangerment after his 4 year old kills his six year old neighbor with a unsecured gun.
http://theimmoralminority.blogspot.com/2013/05/father-arrested-and-charged-with-five.html
“This is the kind of gun laws that we need to enforce all over the country.”
Yep.
“And in my opinion NOT just for parents who allow their guns to fall into the hands of children, but also gun owners who do not sufficiently lock their guns away in their homes to keep them out of the reach of burglars who may steal them and use them in crimes or sell them on the streets to other criminals.”
Yep.
“In my opinion the purchasing of each and every gun by an American citizen should bring with it a whole slew of responsibilities, and potential problems, that would make the purchaser think long and hard about whether they needed that gun at all, and just how many guns they were willing to take responsibility for.”
Yep. Gun owners should be responsible gun owners. Responsibility & responsible.
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By: delurkergurl on May 15, 2013
at 11:01 AM
gato: precisely…society needs all of us, from the sweatiest laborer to the ‘kewlest’ intellect; we need all jobs to be done; any job…absolutely any job well and honestly done is equally honorable.i cannot imagine what we do without that stone mover or the plumber or the teacher in ‘the little red school house’ or the mom stringing beans and on and on. and the dreamers. the dreamers save us i think.
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By: penny abrams on May 15, 2013
at 9:58 AM
“Which brings me once again to you, SpankMe.”
Sorry, I don’t do clinical medicine. Nor do I play sex games with the aged. It’s just too disgusting.
BTW, Grandma, I thought you were going to be gone a while. What happened, forget about it?
More Aricept. Maybe a double dose. Or maybe some of that new combination drug, Gingko-Viagra. So you can remember what the F you are doing…
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By: PFesser on May 15, 2013
at 8:56 AM
You still haven’t got it right. It’s not “épee´”, either.
You are being intentionally obtuse. That was a typo. The accent aigu goes over the second “e,” not in the space.
Want to discuss typos or issues? I’ll take it easy on you; I promise no math.
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By: PFesser on May 15, 2013
at 8:50 AM
Hi, Auntie Jean – Yep; we knew that was you…!
I’m sure that all will be relieved to hear that I am finally done with the “Accent Mark Skirmishes.” Got a little carried away there…
Sometimes the lecturing is just intolerable, and I forget my Delete button… Sorry for my part in taking up anyone’s time with that “ordure”…!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 15, 2013
at 8:30 AM
Oops! That Anonymous is me, but how could you tell?
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 14, 2013
at 11:25 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
How wonderful to see you again after all this time, greytdog. I’m so glad everything is going so well in your life and business. But don’t be a stranger around here, OK?
Thanks gurl and lori for your quick update on Michigan politics. I am interested – in local and state politics anywhere because they usually somehow wind up in Washington one way or another.
Al B, I always enjoy your infrequent comments. Well written and cogent. There is nothing quite like the voice of experience from inside the heart of our present discussion. It is refreshing to read something by a well rounded individual who knows what he is talking about.
Gato, as of late this afternoon, it was:
Gato – 5
SpankMe – Minus 22
But who’s keeping score?
I am reminded of a routine and successful medical procedure I had a while back. From where I sit at my advanced age, ANYONE under the age of 50, looks like a teenager to me. The very young doctor who was to perform it came in. His demeanor was quite professional. Nothing puerile about his manner at all. He sat me down and carefully took me through the reasons for the procedure. He then told me of the prognosis as well as the possible adverse side effects that could occur, such as sudden death.
Before I signed the consent form I looked at him very seriously and asked, “You have done this before, haven’t you?” He thought a moment then grinned and said, “Well, I’ve read about it!”
And so, I am also reminded of the Hippocratic Oath that all physicians take to do no harm. It has been my experience that no well trained licensed doctor would presume to render medical advice of any kind, least of all outside his specialty. Further, it is not only unethical but illegal for a physician to dispense prescription drugs or even recommend them to a patient without a thorough personal examination and medical history.
Which brings me once again to you, SpankMe. You have been candid in providing M&H’s readers with a clip of the airplane kit you build with your own hands and piloted with the proper credentials. You have also, upon request, given the name of the University where you taught physics. However, you have never enlightened us as to your qualifications to practice medicine when you waxed so freely about your career as a physician or exactly what your specialty was. Were you a neurologist or geriatrician, competent to prescribe Aricept to a patient you have never seen? If so, I find your bedside manner to be abrasive and anything but warm and caring. I would certainly not welcome a consultation with you. In reply, you may call me Mme. Jeanne.
Anyway, as some of you know, we have a few important events coming up in the next few weeks so I really, really, really, really, really have to get busy.
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: Anonymous on May 14, 2013
at 11:22 PM
PFesser..I agree. You are right on with your information on the schools
The school system you describe is replicated all over America..
There really is a higher power… giving the lead to influence that which goes on in the boardrooms and the Superintendants offices.
In about 1990, a man was hired from California…to a suburb of St.Louis, as new Superintendant. He was an outsider…He quickly raised his salary from $45K to $95K…pushed a 30 Million Dollar bond isssue…to cause a tax hike to tear down buildings, that merely needed some resoration. ( they required new windows on several buildings and a new roof on one grade school building ? They took pictures of the damaged ceiling on the inside of one building, needing a new roof …while lieing and plotting to raise taxes)
They had several milllion dollars, in the coffers to pay for the repairs, but, because of influence from the money people from outside the community, and a bit of selfishness from designers and builders…the agenda chosen was to tear down the old buildings and pay milllions on rebuilding each building, while the children lacked in real teaching and education, and later, was threatened with dropping sports and music, if ANOTHER tax hike was not adopted.
They held a school district rally and question and answer time.. to raise taxes in a local Baptist Church., and told the people attending, who were furious at the thought of raising their taxes..that if God’s name was used in vain..that they would be removed from the premises, immediately.
Was that a set up, or what…?
The minister is having to answer to whomever his God is…That was a blasphemy…to use God to get what they wanted, and make money in the name of God. Shame on that Minister, wherever he is. ( I actually saw evil in the guy’s eyes, as he stood at the pulpit that night. )
This was a lower middle class neighborhood and school district.
( the same church had used the year before, the same Gale & Associates for the restoration of their bulding…now, they were all together in pushing this bond issue down the citizens throats.)
These situations are put on by a much larger corporate influence.
Check out the Bildebergs ( spelling ) The attendees show up at yearly secret meetings..that event, not even the media reports.The list is very secret.
These folks are Kings, elitists, our Congressmen, Worldwide Corporate Leaders, the leaders of all countries of the world, all the medias are represented from every country, Monsanto and all Chemical Corporate CEO’s, ALL THE WORLD BANKERS from all the Central Banks from around the world. Anybody who is anybody attends and no mention is ever made of the yearly meetings. They plot against mankind…Just look at the list and you will see for yourself, who attends.
DUMBING DOWN THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF AMERICA IS EMINENT, IF THEY ARE TO CONTROL THE MASSES..as they appear to be accomplishing.
The Monsanto and other chemical and drug companies are killing our people with GMO’s and daily recalled drugs..after they kill another 100,000 PEOPLE.
If this is not a conspiracy, why would these meetings not be open and acknowledged to the world’s public? What do they have to hide?
In recent years, crowds march and sit outside the meeting places to be harrassed by police, when they peacefully assemble to object the agenda they speak of…… eliminating the worlds population..
Why are the demonstrations of the crowds, even with arrests, not even reported by the media; so as to keep these meetings SECRET?
This conspiracy theory IS FACT..not theory. check it out….. PFesser and all those who are truly students of truth…CHECKOUT….
infowars.com….
coastocoast…with George Noory.
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By: Chris on May 14, 2013
at 9:47 PM
Your comments were like a breath of fresh air on this site. As a student teacher I realized that it was my responsibility and mine alone in the school where I was put, to discipline the unruly students and do my best to teach the ones who wanted to learn. I wasn’t sad about not having to actually teach with my degree in secondary English as it turned out. I loved English, all aspects of it and would have enjoyed teaching students who wanted to learn but I didn’t have a Master’s degree so I couldn’t teach in a college where I might have encountered those students. Now I’m appalled by the teaching to the test that has crippled our education system. We need to instill in our young people a desire to learn, not in a way to memorize their way to passing tests. Teachers are hamstrung by antiquated means of judging their success at teaching. No wonder they’re resorting to pounding the answers into their young charges. Another problem we need to address is the parents who don’t or won’t get involved in their children’s educational experiences. Too many parents who shouldn’t be parents! Head start programs can and should be supported to try to help kids whose parents can’t help them. Remember, it costs less to educate a person for a year than to keep a person incarcerated! Prisons-for-profit be damned!
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By: Terry Waggle on May 14, 2013
at 7:24 PM
You still haven’t got it right. It’s not “épee´”, either. Buy yourself a copy of Le Petit Robert. And look up “epee” on the web.
Et, encore, laissez-moi rester tranquille, svp.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 14, 2013
at 6:02 PM
Gato – No, épee´is NOT written without the accent aigu – not correctly, not in any language. Buy a dictionary.
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By: PFesser on May 14, 2013
at 5:29 PM
BRAVO! How many t-shirts are too many?
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By: Terry Waggle on May 14, 2013
at 5:25 PM
We are last (in the first world) in education, and we know why. It boils down to a very simple thing. We have everything we need: we throw more money at the “education” system than any country in the world; we have the new school buildings; we have the educational materials; our kids are well-nourished; we have the libraries.
We have everything but the will.
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By: PFesser on May 14, 2013
at 5:25 PM
Enjoyed your info. What comes to my mind is when state taxes are done away with the deficit is made up by hiking sales taxes. Sounds good for most of us but for people who are struggling to buy the merchandise and food they need it’s a kick in the gut. They don’t have to pay the state taxes since they don’t make enough but it would increase the cost of things they do have to buy. I’m sick of corporations being treated like “people” and their billionaire owners and execs not having a conscience when it comes to the less fortunate, many of whom are their employees. Like the Northern Sun t-shirt proclaims: “I’ll believe corporations are people when Texas executes one.” Ain’t gonna happen as fur as I kin see.
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By: Terry Waggle on May 14, 2013
at 5:23 PM
Hi, again, Penny – Agree that other countries, overall, probably spend more on education than we do, given the government sponsorship of higher learning.
The only country in which I’ve spent a significant amount of time (other than this one) is France. The “plus” there is that university can be free; the “minus” – if it really is one – is that the testing required to be allowed to get into one is brutal. (At least that was the case twenty years ago, when I was there.) If you didn’t pass the test to qualify you for admission to university, you didn’t go to university. Period.
I’m not sure that’s a real “minus.” Not everyone is meant to be a scholar; nor should people be valued on whether or not they have an advanced degree. (Cannot help but notice how the moniker “Professor” can be used in an effort to lend gravity to even the most inane comments…)
I was at a local stone-and-construction supply place today, picking out a piece or rock to replace a broken piece of flagstone on a walk in my yard. Good grief; I have no idea whether the guy running the forklift went to college or not, but he could sure as hell run that machine, and move six pallets of thousand-pound stones out of the way in about four minutes, so I could pick out my particular piece. I was impressed. In my life, my builder, and those who provide other services I could not possibly do myself, are every bit as “valuable” as anyone else in my life.
Not everybody is destined to be a stockbroker, or a CEO, or a banker, or – god forbid – a “pundit”… And we’d be screwed if everyone were.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 14, 2013
at 4:53 PM
pf: i doubt any of you here could pass the exams recently taken by 1- my 18 yo high school senior, 2- his older brother doing physics at UIC, 3-either of their cousins…1 in applied physics and 1 doing her PhD in social sciences. they all went to public schools in the usa. they are very well educated also in the arts. why? because their parents insisted on it, took part in the communities they live in, attended meetings at schools with teachers and board members, and wer weilling to cooperatie with the school in its planning and execution thereof. y niece from rsa is in university here (happens to be my alma mater, Brandeis) for a superb education which she is slurping up with glee. i would love to see you say something popsitive once in a while. btw, we do not spend more per kid than other countries, where most college educations are free because they are paid for by the govt and taxes. no o ne misses out due to lack of money.
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By: penny abrams on May 14, 2013
at 4:37 PM
Hi, Penny – Here I am, too, at the bottom of the home page. Seems to me it’s always been this way…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 14, 2013
at 4:35 PM
until last week, when i wished to join in, i clicked on reply…voila. now i must click on comment and go to the bottom of the (home) page. has anyone else run into this? i’d really like to get back to the reply click.
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By: penny abrams on May 14, 2013
at 4:26 PM
Lordy, Al B, you are a wonder – Smart, concise, to the point, insightful… And all the while, somehow managing to remain incredibly MODEST in your comments!
As long as we, as a nation, do not truly value education, people are going to use the educational system exactly the same way they “use” every other system in the country, just as you describe – as a source of favors for themselves and their friends, as a stepping stone to “something bigger” (i.e. more lucrative and/or prestigious), and everything else you mention. To say that teachers are “the problem” is ludicrous. Although there are certainly some who just slide by with a minimum amount of concern, I think the majority could not possibly choose teaching as a career unless they really cared about the education and well-being of children. Probably not so for many School Board members.
We have a Board of Directors here in our private Community, and it’s very easy to pinpoint those who are truly in it to serve their fellow Community members, and those who are just using their position on it as some sort of resumé feature to point out their “managerial skills” in some upcoming run for public office.
BTW, I, like so many in the world, have been absolutely enchanted with Commander Chris Hadfield’s music video from his last day on the International Space Station. Seeing that led me to look up a lot of his other videos, and I realized that Canada did a regular program with him, allowing school children to ask him questions about life in space – which he answered, with wonderful candor, humor, and imagination. He dealt with everything from how to make a peanut butter and honey sandwich in zero gravity, to how to throw up, or wring out a wet washcloth, to how the astronauts sleep, in same.
And this series of videos was apparently encouraged, and sponsored, by the Canadian government, for the benefit of their school kids. Near the end of his tenure as Commander, he wrote an original song, called “ISS,” (for both “International Space Station” and “Is Someone Singing,” to promote the value of music education), and evidently every school in Canada tuned in and sang along.
It instilled a great and profound sense of wonder and joy in me (and I’m definitely a senior); I can only imagine what it has inspired in those very fortunate kids.
Not only is Hadfield probably one of the coolest guys on – or off – this planet, but his GOVERNMENT was right there with him. That’s the point.
Our country seems to see schools as more of an opportunity to sell fast food, and get corporate names on yet another baseball field, than as an opportunity to really help kids learn. But that’s how Big Money sees everything…
I have long thought that the phrase “capitalist democracy” is probably an oxymoron…
Thanks for your wise posts.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 14, 2013
at 4:20 PM
Aha! Now I see it clearly! The real problem is not inside the schools, – it is in the boardroom of the school committee. After all, this committee is responsible for (1) approving school policies and budgets, (2) who gets hired or fired, (3) which tired curriculum some self-proclaimed guru has convinced them to pursue at every level, (4) how to describe the custodian’s duties and his or her salary, (5) who collects the trash, (6) where to buy desks and chairs, (n) etc., etc., etc.
My wife and I have more than sixty years combined in the classroom, with several more accumulated attending school committee meetings, where I have never seen such a motley collection of humans devoting so much time to determining how they (the committee members), and their friends or families might siphon taxpayer’s money from the system. Among the schemes we’ve seen worked are, hiring relatives for no-show, minimum-qualification positions, purchasing costly school supplies from business friends or relatives, approving generous and unenforceable union contracts for all school employees, manipulating school placements for their own children and those of friends, – all for no other purpose than to assure their reelection to the board where they are using their status as a stepping stone for a more lucrative elected office.
As long as the almighty Pfesser keeps berating teachers for all the ills of the schools, it’s only fair to show that there might be other forces at work as well.
Al B
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By: Al B on May 14, 2013
at 3:38 PM
Monsieur – En anglais, le mot “epee” est souvent écrit sans accents. Et en français, le mot est “épée,” pas “épeé.”
Quand je désire à utiliser un accent, je vais le faire, mérci beaucoup.
Et quand je voudrais à reçevoir un leçon en français, je vais vous laissez savoir.
En attendent, laissez-moi rester tranquille, s’il vous plaît…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 14, 2013
at 3:21 PM
penny abrams –
We spend more per child than any other country, and get practically nil for it vis à vis education.
If you want a jolt, buy a copy of the McGuffey Readers. A pupil who exited the last volume KNEW some things.
Of course, back then, the schools were focused on one thing – learning. There were no teachers’ unions to protect the deadwood, no service personnel unions to do the same, no parents’ lawyers looking for an easy buck, and of course there was the ever-present switch tree, just outside the window. There was order, respect and teachers who deserved it. Doesn’t, in practical terms, exist today.
*************
Gato – to get l’accent aigu, type option-e, then the letter, as, épeé.
Also, “The exception proves the rule” doesn’t mean what you think. “Proves” as used here means “tests,” not “confirms.” More clearly in modern English, “It is the exception that tests whether the rule always holds.”
cudgel? LOL. I prefer a shillelagh.
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By: PFesser on May 14, 2013
at 2:15 PM
Couple of interesting posts at http://www.thepeoplesview.net/ about the IRS thing and the Benghazi thing.
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By: delurkergurl on May 14, 2013
at 1:57 PM
Chris – I was on a local school board for several years in the 1980’s – actually in the same county where I was educated, governing the same schools .
It was a real eye-opener. I had wondered why the students were so poorly educated, when children from my era, attending the same schools, competed anywhere in the country without difficulty.
It took a while to realize the problem: the Board and the Administration were powerless to do anything that mattered. They couldn’t maintain discipline; they couldn’t fire incompetent teachers; hell, they couldn’t even mandate that the service personnel keep the schools clean. The poor schoolteachers, themselves poorly educated, spent a large part of their day doing meaningless paperwork: the second-grade teacher who spent an hour a day doing WRITTEN lesson plans for SECOND GRADERS, for example.
So, permanently frustrated, the Board reverted to the only thing it could do: build buildings with bronze plaques on the side, containing Board members’ names. The poor taxpayers were constantly bombarded with, “The problem is the old school buildings.” The night I pointed out that the buildings at Oxford dated to the thirteenth century put a cork in that nonsense.
Sometimes you have to just tear down an old structure and start over. For our school system, it is well past time.
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By: PFesser on May 14, 2013
at 1:51 PM
PENOM…
Please read some of my blogs on this site..I hate to keep repeating myself, and many of those involved on this blog fight what I say…They are blinded by the many lies they have been fed by the govt. and main stream media..
There has been a conspiracy to devaste this country, by the bankers and their influence peddling for the last 100 years..How can anyone not see the truth?
We have NO control of most anything.. You sheep who will not listen..keep walking to the edge of the mountain, only to eventually fall. It is happening now..
All systems within the government authority are currently set up and guiding us to our own destruction, all run by the influences of the few..
Medical, Educational, and Financial systems are run by the influences and ultinmate control of the Bankers ( money people..bankers and thus, Corporations) and not us. We do not live in a democracy..we have only the amount of democracy and freedom we vote on; of which, has been procured by the owners of the elected peoples and parties they belong to..the corporations.
We lost all financial and political control of our country when the Federal Reserve Act was passed in 1913.
I have been so accused of rambling..but, the truth is that ALL the systems I speak of ARE related to the subject of your comment..EDUCATION.
The elite started dumbing down the American masses at each corner, whenever the peasants gained footholds of knowledge and prosperity throughout our short history as a country.
The 8th grade test to graduate in 1895 was so difficult, even a college graduate, and possibly a post graduate, in todays world, would have trouble passing.
Google it and see for yourself.
That fact alone helps establish the theory, I speak of, as true..the eductional system has been dumbing down since…1913..
At the same time, the once agri economy was discouraged and most of the small town peoples starting moving to cities, depending on the corporations for employment, which gave the elite industrialists control over the masses and their ablilty to sustain their families through any of the rough times they would be forced to live through.
Between 1930-1940, America lost 7 million citizens from its census.
I believe it is a real odity that this happened in the history of the world, except through war, or plague or genicide ??
It is very unlikely they left the country, as most of them were penniless, and starving and lived in tent cities. There was known to be mass graves where indigents were burried in all the major cities..
All this dumbing down by our govt. is for the elite to control and make the masses work in their factories, for their corporations, at sub pay..rather than allowing the use their educated minds to climb the ladder to ay sort of real gratifying success.
Some of the govt..slogans used while doing just the opposite for the poeple was.. a chicken in every pot, while history shows starvation was the status quo for the commoner, killing off 7 million…a genocide…not recognized, in our history books… but, true
Another recent slogan during the past decade was…….NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND…while, ALL the children were left behind.
It is told us ON THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA that the reason so many jobs are being outsourced and shipped overseas to India and China..is because America DOES NOT have enough trained and educated young people to even answer phones at call centers in America, nor, to manufacture the goods we consume.
All that is stated above is why our eductional system is what it has come to be..
The dumbing down is still happening as we speak.
A few years ago, it was on the news that several Ivy League Schools were tested; the Freshmen and the Seniors. The Freshmen rated higher on test scores at all the schools, than those graduating that year…See what I mean.??
Sad times for America.
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By: Chris on May 14, 2013
at 12:39 PM
I thought about you Pi when I saw this. LOL
Asked about her political views by the Valley Advocate, Maddow replied, “I’m undoubtedly a liberal, which means that I’m in almost total agreement with the Eisenhower-era Republican party platform.”
Auntie Jean, The Michigan guv ran and won on the ever popular “I am going to run the State like a business” meme. He has set about doing just that. I hope the good peps of MI have learned their lesson.
Polls are showing the guv is running neck and neck with two possible challengers in 2014. U.S. Reps. Mark Schauer of Battle Creek andBart Stupak of Menominee, have both hinted at taking a run for the guv office.
You might remember Stupak. He was the blue dog dem that almost managed to kill the Affordable Health care Act because he objected to the phrase “to pay for any abortion or to cover any part of the costs of any health plan that includes coverage of abortion” ? If you remember correctly we Michiganders were poised to primary him? Ultimately he “decided” not to run for re-election. Sooooo nowwww he’s backkkkk. It will be interesting to see if he gets any support from the rank and file dems in MI.
I worked for Mark Schauer in 2008 when he beat Tim Walberg for Rep MI7. He is a GREAT guy and would make an EXCELLENT governor. The guy is brilliant! I hope he decides to run.
I am sure that was more than you cared to know about MI politics but there ya go! LOL LOL xooxoxo
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By: lori on May 14, 2013
at 12:32 PM
throw the kids under the bus; use this as a political tool; the hell with what happens to the kids or their teachers.arggggggggggh
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By: PENOM@aol.com on May 14, 2013
at 11:13 AM
pf: we may actually have grounds to finally agree, altho for different reasons. i developed the perfect education system about 57 years ago right after my first born entered school and was being taught to read the shape of a word. yeah, the shape…like the shape notes of the appalachians so many years ago. at the outset it would take more money but only until it got going, then it would produce far more. we start kids at 3 years of age w/2 hours of school, 1 teacher per 4 children. using all the tools available, at the end of a year they will be reading and comprehending at the (now) 3rd grade level. this was done at yale in the early 50’s. 1 of those hours is learning to master his language, the other is learning to socialize. by the time they are in (today’s) equivalent of 3rd grade they are bilingual w/o the usual delay of bilingual kids. by junior high, frequent testing has shown who is academic material and who would do better, for instance, in refrigerator mechanics or carpentry or as an EMT member or…ad infinitum. those kids would still get their history, government and arts classes but less of them. the concentration would be where their interest and capabilities lie. at 18 you have a bilingual (if not multi) society able to earn their food and necessities AND the intellectuals who are required for research and teaching. there would be fewer crimes, and more informed voters. there r many details i left unaddressed. i don’t have a book’s worth of space here. think about it. kids who can fulfill their potential, not their parents’ dreams nor the so called goal of all, but fulfill who each one of them is and contribute to the world in general. that’s my dream.
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By: penny abrams on May 14, 2013
at 11:12 AM
Gato at 8:20: I couldn’t agree more!
Check out the petition started by Elizabeth Warren asking that student loans have the same interest rate as the big banks.
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By: Terri in NY on May 14, 2013
at 10:44 AM
gr8 dog! It’s so good to see you. I love love love your business and the work you do! Your pics bring a smile to my face every morning. Tooo damn cute! I am soooo jelly faced that I didn’t live in your area when my 14 year old golden was with us. I think she could have benefited from your services! I am so happy for you. I wish you continued success… You seemed to truly find your life’s purpose 😉
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By: lori on May 14, 2013
at 9:49 AM
Well hello gang. It’s good to see everyone still slam-dancing. Life has been going at a furious pace – the business is flourishing – we ended up (with the help of a financial partner) purchasing the building and land where our business has been located for 7 years. We’re making upgrades and expanding already – one step at a time. Add in working 7 days a week, medical emergencies, veterinarian emergencies, and life in general, I haven’t had much chance to stop by the H&M porch. But I just wanted to say “HI” and send in my belated Mother’s Day wishes to Helen, Margaret, and all the moms enjoying the lively conversations here.
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By: greytdog on May 14, 2013
at 9:16 AM
Delurker, not all that long ago the governor and legislature in Michigan pretty much did away with yearly real estate taxes and taxes on such things as motorcycles, boats, campers, house trailers and so on. Property owners actually got refunds on what they had already paid for the fiscal year. This made a very big bunch of people happy. I think maybe this helped a little when Mr. and Mrs. Homeowner in Michigan were suddenly jobless.
I was very surprised when this happened, though. I had a vision of what might happen down the road and I see that it has now come true. Its a shame that the guv will not help even though he actually could. The last time I was in Michigan which was about four years ago or so, the state and interstate highways were in excellent shape and considering some of the wild winters that state gets, I must congratulate them on their maintenance schedule. I did not spend hardly any time at all on city streets as I was using the state and interstate routes for my business. However, city streets would probably not be in the guv’s control anyway.
Now here is something the guv, whatever party he belongs to, should know. Louisiana did not have much in the way of paved roads until after World War II but they had local school systems. The unpaved roads were all too often muddy swamps and farmers couldn’t even get their crops to town until the roads dried up. However that did not stop local education. Folks got their kids to school no matter how bad the roads were. Often school was conducted in someone’s home by teachers who worked for just about nothing. One of the roads near Baton Rouge was actually covered in wood planks so there might be some traffic even during mud season but that was about the only “improved” road.
I was recently in Louisiana on a rather lengthy road trip from northeast Alabama. The interstate and state highways were great! No pot holes. Just smooth as new bedsheets! Louisiana, MIssissippi and Alabama are considered “poor” states. I also toured the campus of LSU in Baton Rouge. It seems that all those schools conducted in somebody’s living room before a schoolhouse could be built were all told that the children had to be educated to the point where LSU could accept them, even if the kids and their families had no intention of going to college. Point is, the Michigan guv is operating in his own little bubble and it is downright sad that he thinks ALL the money has to go in to roads!
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By: Mageen in Old Virginny on May 14, 2013
at 8:33 AM
HI, Lurker – Always the ace researcher…! Thanks.
At play here, it seems to me, as is ALWAYS at play with the GOP, is looking for immediate payoff for investment, and looking to coddle big business and stockholders. “Transportation”…? Sure; brings in “industry.” Helping out the airlines? Same thing. (The recent instantaneous “exception” to the accursed sequestration being a prime example.)
But educating – and, yes, FEEDING children – brings no “payoff” for years. And, in the meantime, too many people consider providing a nutritious meal at school for kids who may not get another on a given day, to be yet another “entitlement,” and whine about people living on the government dole…
The main “people” who survive on government funds and “entitlements” are CORPORATIONS! Let’s see THEM “take care of themselves”, for a change…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 14, 2013
at 8:20 AM
On a roll, Auntie Jean! Way to go…
And, yeah, like we didn’t get the attempted little “No mas, te” pun there, and had to have it “explained” to us… Sigh…
Interestingly enough, Google Translate (elementary as it sometimes is) translates “No mas, te” as “No more, I”… One can only wish!
Of course, the typical pedant can employ language only as a cudgel, never an epee, and our resident lecturer is certainly no “exception that proves the rule”…
Auntie Jean: 1
Other Guy: 0
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 14, 2013
at 7:56 AM
Grandma – “no mas, te” is a perversion of “namaste.” Think Roberto Duran.
God, it takes all the fun out of a joke when you have to explain it.
More Aricept. More Aricept.
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By: PFesser on May 14, 2013
at 7:25 AM
Auntie Jean, I did some looking around and there are at least two schools in that state that have shut their doors, even though teachers are volunteering to work for free in the interim.
http://www.eclectablog.com/2013/05/another-michigan-school-district-is-ready-to-lock-its-doors-due-to-lack-of-money.html
If anyone thinks the MI governor is going to help, it is clear that his interests lie elsewhere. He sounds like a real education disaster. In fact, after several years of massive cuts to education he is going to divert even more money from it for roads. It’s OK though, because maybe the poverty-ridden state will vote themselves a regressive sales tax increase, eventually.
http://www.eclectablog.com/2013/05/michigan-republicans-celebrate-national-teachers-appreciation-week-by-voting-to-strip-more-school-funding.html
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By: delurkergurl on May 14, 2013
at 7:19 AM
The problem with the schools is not one of funding; it’s what happens inside those walls – not much, really. The United States spends more per student by far than any country on the planet, and those students, not only consistently, but invariably score at the very bottom of the world on nearly every subject.
Much of the problem lies in that the school system is so distracted from its mission by the need to conform to so many federal and state mandates. I am still friends with the former school superintendent where I served on the school board in the ‘eighties. I remember his showing me a stack of papers from the Feds – new requirements sent down that month.
“It wouldn’t be so bad, except these go on top of those from last month, and the one before, and the one before.” He had two, three-inch binders full of same. “When you were in grade school in this very district, the Central Office was comprised of: Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent, Truant Officer, Secretary. We rented space in the May Office Building. Now we are in a two-million dollar building with over a hundred employees, ten of which are in “compliance” alone. That’s where your tax money goes.”
Yes, so it is. Sorry, lack of money is not what is wrong with the schools.
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By: PFesser on May 14, 2013
at 7:18 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
While I was making Cherry Tarts for our upcoming visitors, I heard a report on two different TV networks that infuriated me. lori and gurl or anybody else, can you confirm this? It seems that a school district in Michigan is broke so decided to close the schools, and cancel the last six weeks of classes. They appealed to the republican governor, (don’t remember his name) who said an emphatic no. It seems there is something like $505,000,000.00 in the state’s Rainy Day Fund and that to keep the schools open would cost less that 1% of that, but the governor still said no. Apparently, it is a pretty poor district with 91% of the kids eligible for either free or reduced rate meals. I wonder if those might be the only nutritious meals the kids get.
However, the governor has no objections to having a “camp???” funded by the federal g’mit in lieu of regular school classes. Could someone fill me on this? What bugs me is that money, money, money as always and political ideology are getting in the way of these kids lives and futures! BTW, the CONSTITUTION mandates public education.
Now, I’m sure you, SpankMe, the resident self-proclaimed School Board Member of yore, will want to weigh in on this if you can tear yourself away from 1.) protecting your Second Amendment Rights for packin’ heat while some other gun totin’ dudes without background checks run amok at a Mother’s Day Parade in New Orleans. And 2.) flexing your manly muscles with your cronies on some, your words, “adult” blog. Could that be interpreted as “pornographic site” since you seem to be so fond of dwelling on such topics?
There are plenty of us here at M&H’s who can split semantic and linguistic hairs with you down to the microns from nanometers. Ask your mathematics teacher friend in Australia to explain the difference in those terms. You apparently have some problems with arithmetic since you have so often had the propensity to mentioned “there is no math involved” in your comments. I hope you are not embarrassing yourself and thus all other Americans by exposing your cowardly, draft dodging hillbilly background to him. But I’m sure he knows most U. S. citizens are not like that.
Finally a short lesson in languages that you are sorely in need of. Unlike English; French, Italian and Spanish have two distinctive usages for pronouns, “formal” for people you respect and “familiar” for family and friends you know well and have their permission to use that form. It is similar to the Old English usage of “thee” and thou”. The Spanish formal use for “you” is “usted”; the familiar, “tu”. Italian: formal, “voi”, familiar, “tu”. French: formal, “vous”, familiar, “toi”. Finally, the Spanish word for ”more” is “mas”. Italian: “piu”. French: “”plus”. I have not included German words.
Thus, if you want to toss around foreign words as if you know what you are talking about, perhaps you should go back to East Armpit University and enroll in some language classes.
Aloha! Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
Or,
Au revoir,
Mme. Jeanne
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By: waialeale on May 14, 2013
at 3:20 AM
Chris – You’re starting to worry me… You present a few nuggets of information with which I agree, fogged in the miasma of your rambling commentary, but you, yourself, seem frequently lost among your shapeless shades of “RotheEchilds” and “Banksters” and “New World Order”… It isn’t helpful.
BTW, we do NOT get the word “god” from the word “good.” Quite the contrary. The word “good” originated in the early Germanic languages, in which it meant “fit” and “suitable,” and is related to our word “gather” and the suffix “-gether.” It was gradually “shortened” and pronounced with a short “o” and used eventually as a SUBSTITUTE for the word “good.”
So, in fact, we get the word “god” from the word “good,” and not the other way around. Thought you’d like to know. (Information from the Oxford Etymologist; you can check it out on the web. I did.)
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 13, 2013
at 5:56 PM
Delurkergurl…
It is Not true about our forces being ready..to engage…in war ..
In the Bush undeclared war in 2002? a Lt Col. told me the men she sent to Iraq, had NO guns…their parents were buying them guns…and amunnition.
They went to fight in Iraq with NO supplies…
I was also told BEFORE the war started that there were no weapons of mass destruction, but ,no one would listen to what I told them, at that time..(Feb. March of 2002? I believe…I was selling her a house back then..)
She cried about the lies we were being told in the media, but, could not do anything about it…She was in the M.I. for 19 years…about to retire.
That war was declared by Bush, and even the UN did not vote to go to Iraq…
That war…was part of the Bush agenda to put a Central Bank ( the Bush Dynasty are Bankers…part of the Rothechild Worldwide Bankster Group.) in Iraq, which they accomplished…Only 3 countries, as of May, 2013, to bow down and give up their financial control to the bad guys.
We must not see these guys as Jewish, but, rather, just part of the bigger picture of the bad guys.
The bad guys have Jews, So-Called Christians, Arabs and Every Nationality and Religion in their backgrounds…The Rothechilds just happen to be Large and In Charge..
They are running the world.
They are not God Fearing anythings…They are anti- any Religion or God Aspiring, or any type of
That bunch are actually Skull and Bones demon worshippers..I do not know what Satanism is, but, any entity which kills the Creator’s …..Creation, including Man, Animal, and Plantlife is not of any God.. from which we get the word GOOD…
Peace…
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By: Chris on May 13, 2013
at 4:11 PM
This won’t get much play, unfortunately.
Bush’s Secretary of Defense Mocks GOP Attacks On Obama’s Handling Of Benghazi
http://thinkprogress.org/security/2013/05/12/1998811/bushs-secretary-of-defense-mocks-gop-attacks-on-obamas-handling-of-benghazi/
“It’s sort of a cartoonish impression of military capabilities and military forces,” he said. “The one thing that our forces are noted for is planning and preparation before we send people in harm’s way, and there just wasn’t time to do that.”
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By: delurkergurl on May 13, 2013
at 3:08 PM
PFessor and Poolman…
check out this site…for the truth about what is really happening…
http://www.naturalnews.com/
Mike…has an insite to heath and the real news…
Jim…this is for sure for you….
Peace to all…
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By: Chris on May 13, 2013
at 11:50 AM
PFesser…
Even though there are those who do not like what I have to say….and call it conspiracy theories, I tell;you the New World Order has taken over our govt. and uses our military as their police, to contain and control the world at whatever level ;;;they wish.
The rest of the world sees us in much different light, from the controlled media crap lies and constant brainwashing we are feed on a dailly basis.
If we want the truth, we need to watch BBC and Algizira ( spelling?). That is most like what the rest of the world sees and hears on their media.
We are seen as the aggressor, because we ARE the agressor, in order for the Banksters to set up Central Banks in all the countries, thus, controling the world.
In 2000, before 9/11 there were only 7 countries which did not have a central bank. Iraq was one of the countries. That is why the war agenda and enemy changed so quickly, they actually CREATED THE CONDITION to set up their banks. They were after Bin Laden for killing our many in the U.S., then changed to Saddam…Did that not boggle your brain at the time? It sure did mine.
Now, in 2013, with all the warring and killing of all the millions of innocent people, ( including our beloved sons and daughters) wherever our government sends our troops, there are ONLY 3 countries left without a central bank.
Watch out Fessor, who will they attack next and kill more of our boys, doing their dirty work.
That is the main reason we are HATED in the rest of the world…We are seen as bullies, because we are serving BULLIES….The New World Order…
Our government is not even declaring war in most of these cases..Nor does any of the other alliances throughout the world.
Think and study and you wll see…
I am putting one of many links to be found on the net on this very subject.
Your compadre in Austrailia is not the only one in the world that sees us in this TRUE LIGHT. There are several sites…this is but one…
I still consider myself a Dem…only because ?? I voted for Obama, twice..
As David Icke said hours after his first election…there will be NO REAL change…only a continuance of the Bush Administration.. In reality, He was right.. Check out David Icke, too…Google…Google…
Below, is a writing by Patriot, Ralph Nader..who was a Dem…til he saw the two party system …..both taken over by the badguys….
http://www.opednews.com/populum/page.php?f=We-ve-Got-to-Find-a-Way-to-by-Ralph-Nader-130505-533.html
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By: Chris on May 13, 2013
at 8:37 AM
Wow. Orwell would be proud:
Death is Preferable to Life at Obama’s Guantanamo
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/05/10-0
Just to be fair, Hussein did not start this mess, but he surely could stop it. Is this the way we want to be seen by the world?
I spoke by phone to an Australian prof. of math last week for over an hour. (I’d hate to see his phone bill, LOL) He was SO polite and soft-spoken, but when I asked him about how the Aussies see us, he said, “Frankly, Jim, we are baffled by the United States. A lot of people just see you as bullies with nuclear weapons.” Pretty grim.
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By: PFesser on May 13, 2013
at 7:48 AM
Gato, greetings! The folks in that no traffic light town turned out on election day as a ritual, not because they really had heart in it. The people on the town council and the mayor were the 1% of the town, the ones that owned and operated and employed and god help you if you voted against the best interests of your boss cuz that town had no alternative employment. I think technology also had a lot to do with changing that town. Funerals can’t do everything. When the internet came along and cell phones and what all, even the early big clunky ones, that old saying “you can’t keep a good man down” really got some credence. The old men on the town council were largely bed-ridden and back in diapers by that time and their places were taken, one by one, by new faces and blood. Now I wouldn’t mind retiring in that town if I could.
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By: mageen in old virginny on May 12, 2013
at 6:36 PM
Happy Mother’s Day, to all the moms and grandmothers out there. We may not share ideologies, but I feel you have the toughest and often the least appreciated job in society. May God bless each one of you and all your children I pray.
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By: poolman on May 12, 2013
at 5:59 PM
Hey, Mageen – The “no-traffic-light town” is a superb analogy, IMHO, of much of what’s going on in the entire country: Weather changes, traffic changes, honest citizens “can’t cross the street safely” – or, to take it a little wider – get a decent education, or a life-sustaining job, or affordable medical care – and nothing is likely to change until those same people, who get elected again and again, actually die off. (Why they are elected over and over is an entirely more complicated subject!)
I was glad to see your example; thanks for posting it.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 12, 2013
at 2:58 PM
OK, ‘fesser. I used your link to the Libertarian notion of conservative and liberal. I’ve heard this stuff before and there are cracks in it. In grad school I came across several studies done on personality. Introvert and extrovert have actually more to do with the way one sees the world and functions in it. Also, there are hybrids. For example, those folks who are otherwise socially liberal but fiscally conservative and also just the reverse. I’ve lived in a socially and fiscally conservative town before. It took generation after generation for the local town council to install one traffic signal at a certain corner even though a heap of bloody accidents should have changed their minds sooner rather than later. It was always: we can’t afford it (***ll, if you can’t afford a life-saving accident preventing traffic signal you may as well not be a town!) or anyone driving through town will just have to radically change their behavior and drive slower than a zombie. Just one thing. Speed was found to never be the cause of the accidents, just too much traffic at one time complicated by weather factors and the inability of honest pedestrians to cross the street safely. But the town council made up their own facts and demanded the citizenry like it or lump it. Well, just taking a look around the town at that time proved that the vast majority of people under 60 lumped it right out of town as soon as they could. The place remained in stasis with an abysmal population count until all the people on the council who were re-elected time after time by their cohort actually died. Then the town boomed and it is a pleasure to visit and live there.
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By: mageen in old virginny on May 12, 2013
at 1:39 PM
Hi, Lori – Nice post… And a good reminder how much mothers and grandmothers mean in this world! And all the naysayers and condescending, scatological, and infantile commenters won’t change that one bit, ever.
Thanks for the good thoughts – and the special greeting to Auntie Jean. We love ya, AJ!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 12, 2013
at 9:49 AM
Happy Mother’s day all… Enjoy your day.
Waving to Auntie Jean.. good to see you. Hope your juggling life’s challenges with your usual expertise! ❤ ya!
xoxox all…
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By: lori on May 12, 2013
at 9:24 AM
lori @ 9:52 yesterday, opined about the definition of conservative and liberal. Unfortunately, it was nothing more than a personal opinion from an observer who is admittedly about as far-left as one can get. I’m sure the far-right nutcases would have an equally flattering opinion of themselves.
Here is what I think represents a good evaluation of both sides of the aisle. Of course, it is partisan as well, primarily from the Libertarian perspective, but at least it is identified as such:
http://www.truthaboutliberty.com/conservatives-liberals-and-libertarians-explained/#.UY9kvyt4anM
Thoughts?
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By: PFesser on May 12, 2013
at 4:51 AM
Dear Auntie Jean – How nice of you to ask after old friends! I’ll be glad to help you catch up:
Noah and James spend their time on the Rutherford’s Beyond-Seventh Grade adult blog.
Craig just buried his lovely wife, and has discovered that one has to set one’s priorities – which does not include wasting time on left-wing blogs, arguing with geriatric troublemakers. He doesn’t call you? That’s odd, he calls me about once a month; I guess he doesn’t love you as much. Must have been all the kindness you showed to him when his wife was dying.
Heather still works for the same Evil Empire where I used to work, writes to me occasionally and is as lovely as ever. She doesn’t write to you? Must have been all the kindness you showed HER, too.
SpankMe? You? No thanks; I don’t play with beginners. Oh, sorry, that’s not you, is it? In fact, your saggy bottom must be a mass of stripes and handprints, since you get it thrashed here so often. But I know you are secretly a perv and like it, because you keep coming back for more. Maybe you’d like to ask for each swat in advance and say, “Thank you, Sir!” afterward. You should get off on that.
Anyhow, we all appreciated your swan song. You have a nice trip; don’t let the screen door hit you on the ass on the way out.
And do everyone a favor and make your absence a long one this time.
Cordially, PF
No mas, te.
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By: PFesser on May 11, 2013
at 9:04 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Where are Noah, Craig, James, SpankMe and Heather? They don’t call. They don’t write. They don’t send flowers. Nothing.
I thought they would want to be here to refight the Peloponnesian Wars. Everybody knows the Spartans shudda won!
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 11, 2013
at 5:42 PM
Penny, They might spell it differently but Abraham’s son by Sara’s slave girl, Hagar, was Ishmael. If you check it out, God promised to make Ishmael the “father of 12 princes. . .and I will make him a great nation”, Gen. 17:20. And we Christians claim Abraham as our “father” just as the Jews do since we’re adopted so to speak into the mix.
I learned this through Bible studies and auditing an OT class at a seminary. If you have a different take on it I’d like to know what your source is. Maybe I got it wrong.
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By: Terry Waggle on May 11, 2013
at 5:18 PM
Sorry. heals = heels
It was the red shoes that flummoxed me. 😀
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By: poolman on May 11, 2013
at 4:15 PM
You know, if you tap those heals together three times it really doesn’t take you back to Kansas. Sorry, Dorothy.
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By: poolman on May 11, 2013
at 4:08 PM
Thanks Penny. I tried to send the same message but it fell on deaf ears. I have never read so much misinformation packed into a few posts. But then the enablers showed up and encouraged more of the same. Yikes.
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By: Terri in NY on May 11, 2013
at 4:06 PM
WRONG WRONG WRONG
It’s okay Chris, shake the dust off your shoes and carry on. Most of the Jews today, at least 90 percent are Askenazi, who come from the Turkic peoples who converted to Judaism in the 8th century, so they weren’t Semitic peoples anyway. Those who don’t know real history are destined to repeat it. Victors are the ones who write the books we read in school. A few of us understand our real inheritance.
WRONG WRONG WRONG………..o, god, y did u leave so many w/o any brain?
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By: penny abrams on May 11, 2013
at 3:57 PM
terry w: abraham may be the father of t he jews but ibrahim (not the same guy) is islam’s ‘father’; then there’s the buddha, zen, and who knows who else? IF u claim that god is the father of us all…ok…but different people have different names/concepts of that ‘father’ and it’s not all good old abe.
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By: penny abrams on May 11, 2013
at 3:29 PM
chris: arrrrrrrrrrrrggghhhhhhhhhhhh where do u get ur reading material? the presidents of the usa were all related to the royal house of england up til jfk and now hitler is related to the rothschilds? i’m beginning to wonder if the jones bunch drank ALL their koolaid.
no, to the one who suggested there might be some truth to what chris espouses…no, no, no…there is no truth to what (s)he says. none. nada, zilch, zed, zero, niente, non, nicht…watch i’m shaking my head side to side…nyet (shake up and down)
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By: penny abrams on May 11, 2013
at 3:24 PM
The postal workers are picking up bags of food here as well. I put out two bags and I only see one other neighbor so far who has anything out. Considering how well off my neighbors are that’s a sad commentary!
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By: Terry Waggle on May 11, 2013
at 10:40 AM
one tribe
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By: lori on May 11, 2013
at 10:01 AM
Once again Pi, Terry/i & Gato (all others) as I read your posts this morning I am reminded once again, of my long ago personal observation of Progressives (Liberals) vs Conservatives.
It’s goes something like this: the progressive feels that a good strategy in life is to ask all to enter and to develop an inclusive atmosphere. To welcome and try to accommodate others. We feel we can share AND succeed.
The conservative feels that the environment can’t accommodate all and to try to do so would disadvantage the people closest to the myself, my family, my friends, etc. Therefore, self preservation and fear of “others” are their foremost thoughts.
They are basic and fundamentally differ ent ways of seeing the world.
And once again, I am soo so sooo proud to associate my unabashed ,bleeding heart, Liberal self , with all yinzs. 😉 As Wil. I. Am. sings…..One tribe one people y’all.
namaste!
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By: lori on May 11, 2013
at 9:52 AM
Couple of things: Terry Waggle – you should never apologize for seeking the lowest prices. Price is how a market economy efficiently allocates scarce resources that have alternate uses. ((Tomas Sowell) That is why, when the govt gets involved in the private economy, they invariably cause prices to rise.) You don’t sound like a wastrel to me; by Gosh, buy what you need at the best prices you can find! That’s best for everybody, IMHO.
********
Chris and poolman: I’m sure if one dug deep enough, lots of what you say is true, but I have to confess a big blind spot here; I’m a real admirer of the Jews. Their accomplishments in math, science, engineering, music and philosophy (and dozens of other areas) dwarf the rest of the world when taken in light of their small numbers. My wife and I go ’round and ’round about “Palestine” and “Israel,” but if you want to see what Israel would be like if it were still “Palestine,” just look AROUND Israel – a sea of Islam-inebriated loonies. Sorry. No soap.
**********
On another front: Cleveland prosecutor may seek death penalty for kidnapper:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57583777/prosecutor-may-seek-death-penalty-for-cleveland-kidnap-rape-suspect-ariel-castro/
These f’ers just can’t leave the abortion issue alone, can they? “We’re going to get in a lick for the fetus one way or another, in any way we can think of.”
The Cleveland kidnappings are a great example of why you have laws: So that your gub’ment doesn’t do stupid things when emotions are running high.
*********
BTW – So nice to finally see a variety of opinions here on M&H. What a breath of fresh air! IMHO, the echo-chamber atmosphere had been getting a little stale. For years.
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By: PFesser on May 11, 2013
at 7:10 AM
Huray Gato..
Chris here….
You are finally getting what I am say ing about the corporations and the banksters who own every company by owning 27% of ta companys stock. That is how they control all these companies and nothing is ever done when danger hits average workers and citizens..They just keep making money and outr government does nothing about any of it.
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By: Chris on May 10, 2013
at 11:13 PM
gato-
A dear friend of mine in concert :
(the loudest laugh at the beginning is me 🙂 not funny, but funny)
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By: alaskapi on May 10, 2013
at 10:27 PM
Hey, Terry – Understand totally… Especially the part about “wanting” something, versus actually “needing” it. When I was growing up, my parents always told me that if I really “needed” something, I would have it… So, as a teen, I spent an enormous amount of energy trying to figure out how to convince my parents that I really “needed” a pair of Capezio t-strap flats! (Those were the big dealy-deals in my high school in Ohio at that time…)
Meanwhile, I was walking two miles each way to school and back, in whatever sturdy footwear I had… And, no, it wasn’t uphill both ways. But, HTG, when I think what it costs in human lives, to provide us with all this stuff (and I’ve shopped at WalMart; I admit it), I think I’m only going to my local Goodwill or Salvation Army from now on. And, on the way, I’m going to drop off some non-perishables at my local food bank.
BTW, around here, all our postal carriers are picking up bags of food tomorrow morning, by our mailboxes. Don’t know if this is national or not, but you might want to check it out.
And have a very good evening…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 10, 2013
at 9:29 PM
Gato, If someone like you says it LOUD enough and OFTEN enough maybe, just maybe people will get the message. I’m on a fixed income and I am as guilty as anyone for buying as much as I can for as cheaply as I can. What really riles me if that the Big Boys, the corporations, are not having to worry about money. They get a free ride. I also have to stop and think about whether I really need something or I just want something when so many in our country, in our world don’t have enough to have anywhere close to what they need to survive.
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By: Terry Waggle on May 10, 2013
at 7:31 PM
This is for everybody… I just want to make sure I’ve got this straight…
Four people die in Benghazi, a place that every single one of them had to know was incredibly dangerous, and Congress just won’t stop with their “investigations,” and their accusations of “cover ups,” and on and on and on – and I won’t even get into how many consulates and embassies were attacked, and how many fine diplomats died, during the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld years;
Fourteen people die – and most of a small town is flattened – in Texas, when an unregulated fertilizer plant blows up, the potential lethalness of which was known by nobody in the town, and Congress is doing… What?
And MORE THAN A THOUSAND PEOPLE DIE IN BANGLADESH, making clothing that many of us buy on a regular basis, in a building known a few days earlier, to be dangerous… And ONE GUY is arrested? The Bangladesghi “landlord”…? Poor schmuck. He certainly bears some responsibility, but nothing compared to what his “tenants” bear.
Why the hell isn’t Congress “investigating” how our beloved corporations, our beloved “multinationals,” are making their money? PEOPLE DIE SO WE CAN BUY CHEAP JEANS. It’s as simple as that…
Too many caps; I know it – I’m outraged, pure and simple.
Our “lifestyles” cost others their lives.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 10, 2013
at 6:12 PM
The sermon on the mount is awesome! I wish more ‘Christians’ would adhere to its wisdom. Supposedly Obama is a believer, unfortunately none of his actions produce the fruit evident in one true to the faith. I guess most folks tend to ignore the one time Jesus actually got aggressive and took the time to make a whip and turned over the tables of the money changers, chasing them out of the temple. Bankers. At least he treated tax collectors better.
It’s okay Chris, shake the dust off your shoes and carry on. Most of the Jews today, at least 90 percent are Askenazi, who come from the Turkic peoples who converted to Judaism in the 8th century, so they weren’t Semitic peoples anyway. Those who don’t know real history are destined to repeat it. Victors are the ones who write the books we read in school. A few of us understand our real inheritance.
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By: poolman on May 10, 2013
at 5:42 PM
Terry of NY …
My study of history…is not a witchhunt on Jewish People.
My Jesus was a Jew. He merely came to fulfill the prophesy.. Not to start a new religion, only a new covenant.
I consider myself a completed Jew.
I am not anti-Semetic.. I am Sicilian with Moorish and Mongal Blood from the French side of my family. Do not call me an anti semitic.
God Bless You, whatever your background.
Do not bury your head in the sands.
Ask God for the truth. He will always… When I am spiritually in harmony and connected by living and following his 10 commandments..and the greatest is Love…he will tell me all the truth on any subject that I would want to know about.
Try it. Ask..ask…ask….
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By: Chris on May 10, 2013
at 12:22 PM
Chris, you might want to stop “studying” the Rothschilds and instead concentrate on the Sermon on the Mount.
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By: Terri in NY on May 10, 2013
at 12:10 PM
Chris – With all due respect, perhaps you might consider spending a bit less time on your “history” studies (many of which are merely unproven HYPOTHESES, no matter what you may think, and however many books have been written about them) and a little more time checking your spelling and proofreading your posts.
Yeah… And Jesus didn’t really die on the cross. It was all a plot! And he never really rose from the dead, either. His body was spirited (no pun intended) away, and he and Mary Magdalene got married and ran off to the south of France, where they founded the Merovingian dynasty. There are a lot of books about THAT “history,” too, most notably “Holy Blood, Holy Grail,” by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln.
Actually, I’ve always found that theory kind of appealing…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 10, 2013
at 11:24 AM
Terry W. This is not man made thoughts on history I speak of, but rather, history .
The more history of mankind one reads and learns of, the more scenarios we have to see what possibilities are for the future of mankind.
If is not a theory. It is a known fact that the Rothechild Dynasty still goes on.
Money NEVER goes out of power. the influence alone, can last many generations.
Evil will never leave this earth. It does exist, no matter what bloodlines, or religions, or politics the evil ones belong to. Some men are evil with intent and contempt towards their brothers. A house divided…nothing new under the sun. Cain killed Able….from the beginning.
Why can that information be accepted, but, the mere thought of another man of the same descent be appalling, doing the same to his people.
Jeffrey Dormer was a Catholic, but his religious affiliation was not thought of or cared about, in relationship to the crimes he committed.
We cannot be so thin skinned when statements are made, which are connected to history, as opposed to any religious organization.
When I started studying the Rothechilds, it was pertaining to the Roman Empire, The Knights Templar and such…which was more connected to Christianity, and Not The Jewish faith, at all.
I did not even know the religious affiliation of the Rothchilds for quite a long time.
What if they are bad, and may have caused all the attocities and genocide of their own brothern, and continue to perform continous genocide on many groups of people around the globe, Why would any group not stand up against their own brothren? It is not a statement against all Jewish people.
All People still do bad things….not matter what relious affiliation they have.
Mankind is flawed with character defects and are all imperfect.
Hey guys, believe it or not, we are all going to die with something wrong with us, big and or small.
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By: Chris on May 10, 2013
at 11:10 AM
F&F Terri.
This has been debunked about 100 times over the years hasn’t it?
Geeeze..
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By: lori on May 10, 2013
at 10:45 AM
Chris, sorry if you don’t realize that you are subscribing to some of the oldest conspiracy theories out there. In case you don’t know, they are false and offensive. I’m not planning on engaging with you any more, so no further postings directed at me are necessary. Same for you Poolman.
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By: Terri in NY on May 10, 2013
at 10:13 AM
Chris, I agree with you that there are evil people in all walks of life. Some use religion and/or God as their excuse. What’s ironic is that all three of the main religions recognize Abraham as their “father”. As Christians we’re called to be as inclusive as Jesus and to love our neighbors whoever and wherever they might be the same way Jesus loves us. God’s creation is like a big family; we don’t always get along but we need to look out for each other even the bastards among us.
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By: Terry Waggle on May 10, 2013
at 10:06 AM
Terry,NY.
My explanation was not at all meant to be anti-Semitic. I am simply a student of history.
I looked into the Rothechild history, and Hitler, himself was supposedly the illegitimate bloodline of the Rothechilds. ( which explains why our American Banker Family ….Prescott Bush was Hitler’s banker in 1935, who was charged with aiding the enemy and making much profits at the expense of the dead, in the early to mid 40’s, charged with treasonous crimes..and paid the government 1 million dollars..slapped his hands and was allowed to do business as usual. Does that not sound like the same story, different day….against the Banksters of today?
I also study the bible some. Throughout history, from the beginning, man has turned on his own brother. It is very hard to fathom this, but there are bad so called Christians who do not follow the love teachings of Christ, as well, and Moslems who are extremist radicals. There are bad peoples in all kinds of
groups of society and religions, not just bad people in one group.
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By: Chris on May 10, 2013
at 9:52 AM
Anti-semitism? Conspiracy? lol. Typical. Were you aware Holocaust means ‘burnt offering’ in Hebrew? Do you know how many military officers in both fascist Germany and Soviet Russia were Jewish? Are you familiar with the warnings given by Jesus (a Jew) like the one in Revelation 3:9? Sorry. Evil is evil no matter how noble it’s clothed. Besides, usury is against the principles in the Torah. Muslims get that.
I’m curious how you would define these popular groups…
http://www.truetorahjews.org/
http://www.nkusa.org/
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By: poolman on May 10, 2013
at 9:19 AM
chris…i have one question for you. how old do you believe the world to be?
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By: penny abrams on May 10, 2013
at 8:00 AM
Sorry, anti-Semitic banking conspiracies don’t hold any water with me, nor do I believe they belong in civil society.
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By: Terri in NY on May 10, 2013
at 5:56 AM
Terry in NY..You want a definition of Rothechild Banks.
In 1822, Mayer Rothechild, an Englishman, had 5 sons, He made each of the 5 in charge of central Banks throughout Europe. They were in France, England, Germany, Austria, and Italy.
The IRS was instituted in June of 1913, in anticipation of FUNDING the new bank, with enactment of the Federal Federal Act, which would create the U.S. Central Bank.
In late December, 1913, the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 passed in America. They put Rockafellas in charge of the U.S. Central Bank in New York.
That is why the IRS cannot be audited. They cover their tracts and can never be prosecuted or audited, and we let these Banksters do this to our people, for the last 100 years.
The country has steadily declined In education and individual ownership of finances, since these two laws were passed. The IRS law was never ratified by the proper amount of states, which makes it illegal. Paying taxes because of this, is voluntary., but, once one signs up, is obligated to pay.
The Bankster owned and controlled corporations are all that thrive in America. If a mom and pop company grows big and or fast, they buy them up, or cause a takeover of the company.
Rothechild wrote in a book in 1820…if I can print a country’s money, I can controll it’s politics…..
And so they do just that, all over the world. They control the politics and finances of all countries.
They now have, after causing the U.S. to invade Iraq, Rothschild Central Banking system has been instituted in all major countries but, Iran, N. Korea, and Cuba. A wise way to gain control of the world, hey?
The Rothechild Banks are just three countries short of world economic domination.
They manipulate the news, cause wars, cause disasters through science, modify weather patterns, cause genocides in all locations and financial disasters at will. They are pretty much in control of the world. Pretty scary!
Study this subject and let the world know about it. The truth will set us all free from, if nothing else, confusion.
Thanks, Terry of NY for your question.
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By: Chris on May 10, 2013
at 3:49 AM
Poolman….
You are right !
My earlier post on the bloodlines of the majority of past Presidents, current last several included are the same. They are all 2nd, 3 rd..up to 10th cousins…some 2-6 generations removed.
That is why no lawsuits result from any Presidents, no matter what they do, and also there reasons for all the pardons and the bailouts. They are the controllers of the money..( are the bankers ) and the government..
With smoke and glass tricks and lies, they keep the masses of some 314 million peasants of all classes under control, with their multi owned medias.
Thanks for your comment. Your brain is engaged.
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By: Chris on May 10, 2013
at 2:31 AM
Terry in NY, here is an entertaining way to answer your question posed to Chris. It is probably more than you wanted, but should cover all the history and any further questions you might come up with regarding the Rothschilds.
Since Goldman Sachs spent plenty on both Obama’s AND Rmoney’s campaigns, it should provide the explanation why our leaders are so apt to bail them out and ignore their crimes.
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By: poolman on May 9, 2013
at 6:52 PM
Chris, please define “Rothechild banks.”
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By: Terri in NY on May 9, 2013
at 2:28 PM
ok pf…that makes sense…precaution, instruction, serious attitude. now lemme ask you a serious question to which i’d like a serious answer. u’ve pulled enough chains here. do you believe that serious background checks, a ban on semi automatic weapons and mega cartridges impacts on your 2nd amendment rights? if so, how? do you agree that only those who are responsible and reasonable should own weapons? if not, why?
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By: penny abrams on May 9, 2013
at 12:47 PM
PF…..In regards to drone attack..comment on Ralph Nader, you certainly do get it.
All of the policies of America are implemented to insure the interests of the few, who created all the wars of the 20th century, before, and certainly after; controlling history in every sort of terrible way, in order to promote their agenda, at all costs, around the world, and especially now, in the devastation and decline of our middle class economy, down to the very elimination of our own people.
As long as America’s military force is used to insure the success of the few elites agenda, we will always be a target for terrorism in this country.
If the U.S.A. were to be attacked by a foreign power and were thereafter, occupied, America would be in a constant state of war, until the foreign power left our soil. We would probably fight back with more ferver than the nations we have recently attacked. We claim terrorist are attacking us, when they are merely counter attacking their invaders. Terrorism is a term used instead of counter attack, so as to take the American focus off the fact that we were the insurgents of the undeclared war on Iraq, and everywhere else that the Rothechild Banks are yet to be instituted. (the last 3 countries that do not have a central bank are Iran, N. Korea, and Cuba )
Who are we to occupy sovereign nations at will, sometimes with no declaration of war by our Congress? Who or what is making all this happen?
The drones are not the only means of watching and possibly eliminating the governments enemy, but, a means of obliterating us citizens, which I understand has already happened, without conviction by a court. What is to happen to all of us, if we become a future threat to their power?
PF…….As you stated in an earlier comment, all governments become oppressive to their citizens, eventually. I feel , and many of my compatriots feel the same,
America is NOW in this state.
The people, especially the young are being confused, and some enlightened, as to the state of the state. We live in a dangerous time.
The Love generation of the 60’s tried to change the world, these young people today, will see it did not work. What next?
Read Rothechild’s book from 1820, or so and see what he says about controlling a nations politics by printing it’s money. This is what the central banks are doing all over the world….
Thanks for your comments, PFessor.. You have a bright light coming from your persona. Keep up the good fight for truth!
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By: Chris on May 9, 2013
at 10:32 AM
Just read the article on the KY kid killed by her brother. Seems the boy had a “youth” rifle (small), and the adults failed to verify that it was unloaded. Ditto the boy. A gross failure of responsibility, as has been said by several here on M&H.
Another case of, “I didn’t know it was loaded.”
Any time ANYBODY picks up any gun, the procedure is to open the chamber and make sure it is empty; I don’t care if the president of the NRA says, “It’s empty,” you check anyway. And that is the first thing you teach a kid about firearms; if they ever fail do do that procedure, you lock the gun up for a month. Second offense, six months.
I’ve never seen anybody accidentally killed with a “loaded” gun – always an “unloaded” one.
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By: PFesser on May 9, 2013
at 10:22 AM
penny abrams – re: keeping loaded guns around.
You asked what gun owners do, so here goes.
All my kids are grown now, but I have always modified a closet in any house where we lived as a gun closet. That means a deadbolt lock, for which I have the only key in my pants pocket. (It also means spot-welding the hinge pin on the door hinges, so it can’t just be punched out by a smart eight year-old.) I don’t keep any loaded guns in there, either, but the ammo and guns are together. Keeping a loaded gun is asking for trouble, unless you plan to have it near you for self defense, and then it HAS to be loaded.
When my kids were very young, I took them to the closet and let them handle any firearm, after teaching them the proper way to handle guns, and how to confirm that they are unloaded, and observing that they follow that procedure. If anybody failed procedure, we closed and locked the closet and tried another time. They wanted to see the guns of course, so they take it more seriously the second time ’round. I let them fire any gun I have when I think they are ready, but only with me there. None of my kids hunt, and I gave it up years ago, and they couldn’t ever get to my firearms in the closet. The worst thing you can do is forbid their touching guns; it’s like sex or smoking; it just makes it more enticing.
Now that everybody is grown up, I do keep my Dad’s .38 special loaded, and in a drawer by the bed. If you need a gun, you need it in a hurry and YOU NEED IT LOADED. I have a concealed carry permit, but never carry unless there is a local prison escape and a bad guy at large. We have a large, no-nonsense police force, and if you are stopped, the law says the first words out of your mouth must be, “Officer, I am armed and I have a permit.” I think it still makes them nervous, and I don’t need that. Common sense carries the day.
Hope that makes sense. PF.
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By: PFesser on May 8, 2013
at 9:25 PM
Great article by Ralph Nader on how our foreign adventuring and drone strikes have inevitably led to the terror attacks against American interests:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/We-ve-Got-to-Find-a-Way-to-by-Ralph-Nader-130505-533.html
When was the last terror strike on Switzerland? Canada? Australia? Why is that?
Perhaps the reason nobody attacks the Swiss is the fact that Switzerland’s last foreign war involvement was in 1815. They mind their own business.
People are funny about things; when you blow up their stuff, occupy their homelands and kill their kids, they get pissed off. Imagine that.
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By: PFesser on May 8, 2013
at 9:06 PM
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By: uawtradesman on May 8, 2013
at 8:01 PM
HI, Auntie Jean – WHAT??!! Oh, dear… All I can do is hope that circumstances and time offer you the opportunity to check back in here from time to time… You will be SORELY MISSED, that’s for sure!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 8, 2013
at 5:12 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Some things have come up that will require all my time and attention for the foreseeable future. Don’t worry. I am dealin’ with ‘em. But I don’t know when or if I’ll get back here. So carry on, Gang.
I want to wish all the Moms and Grandmas a Happy Mother’s Day for all that you do day in and day out, year round. I applaud you!!!
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 8, 2013
at 4:36 PM
, I did hear there was supposedly either push polling or “message testing” (legally there is a muddy difference) taking place in February. I don’t think anything was ever confirmed. was there? But it doesn’t surprise me. Politics is a dirty bizness. I agree it is an ugly practice, but thankfully it’s not very effective. If people want to waste their money on those type of tactics let -em.
Out of state union money? I am not familiar with that aspect of the campaign, but again it wouldn’t surprise me. Lottsa money from lottsa places flooded into that little district over the last few months. Money makes a difference, not sure where it comes from does? Do you?
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By: lori on May 8, 2013
at 3:42 PM
Forgive me if this has been brought up yet – but did you hear about all the push polling that went on just prior to the Sanford/Colbert-Busch election? Completely inappropriate and should be illegal. The link to out of state union money was probably the most damaging.
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By: merriebreeze on May 8, 2013
at 3:18 PM
Whackadoodleness is right on target if you know what I mean. LOL indeed. I too could care less what he does with his latest lover but it does show poor judgment when he had to lie about it. It never ceases to amaze me how people in the public eye think they can wrap themselves in a cloak of invisibility and do whatever they want. If he had any moral values he’d be addressing the issues you and I and so many people are concerned about. Talk the talk doesn’t mean the same as walk the walk.
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By: Terry Waggle on May 8, 2013
at 1:47 PM
Hi, Lurker – HTG, it’s just disgusting, isn’t it? Leaving a LOADED weapon around the house, with kids or no kids on the premises, is not much different from leaving your car in neutral, with the engine running, at the top of a hill – and then taking the position it’s not your “fault” when it rolls down the hill and runs over someone.
For god’s sake, what “freedom” is being upheld by such effingly stupid NEGLIGENCE…?!?
“Culpable negligence” is something, but it could just as well be called “negligent homicide,” even if, as in this sorry case, the child killed himself, and no one else. Your dog bites a neighbor; it’s your responsibility. You don’t clear the ice off your sidewalk, and someone is injured in a fall; it’s your responsibility. Gun ownership should be no different.
And if anyone out there is considering presenting that imbecilic “more people are killed with hammers blah blah blah” garbage yet again – don’t even BOTHER. No responsible gun owner would offer such a “defense.”
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 8, 2013
at 1:31 PM
Another dead child – a 3 year old who shot himself with a hand gun. 😦
This time, though, the gun owner was charged with culpable negligence! Darn right. It should be the charge every time a weapon isn’t secured and ends up being used to shoot someone, whether it’s by a child or a mentally ill person or a thief. You own it, you’re responsible for securing it.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/08/florida-3-year-old-fatally-shoots-self_n_3237898.html
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By: delurkergurl on May 8, 2013
at 1:08 PM
How soon so many forget about the reality of 911…….Baggers are really good at rewriting history. The library is a gigantic effort to cover up his abosolute irresponsibility during his 8 years and most certainly the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It is disgusting.
Tea Bagging , conservative, Dog Patch SC is the poster child of what is wrong with the south ( and Arizona) Please secede !!!!!! I think everyone knew Colbert would not stand a chance but good for her for trying. Money and Bagger lies win every time.
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By: Co Blu on May 8, 2013
at 10:36 AM
* Sanford … not Stanford.. sorry LOL I should remember that considering all the Sanford and Son videos that were going around last night. 😉
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By: lori on May 8, 2013
at 10:19 AM
You are so right Terry! Give the appropriate mea culpa and you’re golden with the family value Party! LOL Honestly though,for me personally, Stanford’s sexual conduct is not the reason I backed Colbert-Busch in the special election. I know for some that type behavior goes to “character” and “judgement”. For me there is soooo much more important things that go to judgement and character than that.
As far as I’m concerned Mrs and Mr. Stanford’s dalliances and bedroom activities are their own bizness. UNLESS the law is broken, then it factors into who I vote or work for.
I backed ECB because of her stance on the issues that concern me. There are many, but for me, equal rights for all and a woman’s right to make her own decisions concerning her reproductive decisions are at the top. Feeding and sheltering the poor, taking care of the sick. THOSE things tell me more about a persons character and judgement than what they do in the bedroom with their wife/husband or others…PLUS she would have pushed the pile towards regaining a majority democratic House. That’s always a good thing in my eyes. 😉
Sanford’s environmental, woman’s rights, equal rights, education, record is abysmal. His general whackadoodleness is just a side show! LOL LOL
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By: lori on May 8, 2013
at 10:10 AM
I would say you’re right about Tom Cat Sanford except that he cinched his win by saying he’s a flawed person who’s been saved by the grace of God. That’s like the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. You bring your religion, your God into the equation and the “family value” folks are kissing your feet. It gives them the license to sin and be brought back to grace themselves. I guess my sin in this is judging him and them.
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By: Terry Waggle on May 8, 2013
at 9:38 AM
i want to know from the gun owners here…do you ever leave a loaded gun around? anywhere? when my sons were hunting, not only did they remove all the ammo, store it elsewhere besides the hat shelf where the guns were kept but (’cause i was so terrified of an accident) removed the firing pins as well. why is it so hard to take precautions? why is it necessary to have a loaded weapon at hand? if there’s some criminal roaming in your neck of the woods isn’t it suffieicent to keep the weapon at hand and the ammo at hand but not together? if it must be together is there no way to do that safely? o…wait a minute…apparently not. man, that’s some protection…it keeps us safe from little kids, i guess. why not just eat the kids like some (other) animals do?
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By: penny abrams on May 8, 2013
at 9:17 AM
congenial auntie jean: (and all who are interested). i would never pick up a private letter nor would i eavesdrop on a phone conversation…or any other conversation. i agree that we respect one another’s privacy. however the moment you publish your views in the computer world, the instant you type your message into your computer, you forsake all privacy. IF you want privacy, you separately (and apart from the group meeting place/blog) address the one person with whom you wish to have private conversations. facebook is a perfect example. wall or message. my concept of this blog is that we all share our thoughts and opinions. i have addressed some specifically so that my response could be followed as intended…rebuttal or agreement of another comment…which we all read also. Like a debate.
How nice to find someone else who respects others, thankyou.
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By: penny abrams on May 8, 2013
at 9:06 AM
2 of my children got their master’s at wva…1 in social work, 1 in animal biology (i think…he’s got a ton of degrees so i don’t remember which he got where…W&L, Univ. of Capetown, WVA…i think there’s another)
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By: penny abrams on May 8, 2013
at 8:57 AM
pf: i must admit you write very well, there is some underlying humor, even now and then a hint of a promise of reason…i just wish u would be honest enough to address the issue and not the issuer. that might turn out to be very interesting. ‘specially if you’re brave enough to look at the issue from all sides, which i think you may be capable of.
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By: penny abrams on May 8, 2013
at 8:34 AM
MIOV, agree and agree!
I was on one of those Obama “conference calls” back before the election. There was a guy on there talking about the costal areas in NC & SC turning purple. Since I know next to nothing, politically, about that area, he impressed me with his assessments.
So given that snippet of info that guy shared that day on the conference call and the circumstances of this special election, I really did think we had a shot… LOL LOL I was wrong! So much for my political prowess! I guess special elections are just that, special, and conventional statistics don’t necessarily cross over. Lesson learned!
Other fellow dems were worried about the 3rd party candidate pulling votes from Colbert-Busch. As usual, special election or not, conventional wisdom did prevail. There is no room for 3rd party’s yet. People always come home.
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By: lori on May 8, 2013
at 8:07 AM
So Tom Cat Sanford won? This ain’t the end of it, not by a long chance. This was a special election. He still needs to do the real thing when the time comes around. By then he should have pulled a number of gaffes that would gag a walrus. But that is only half of the equation. The other half is what the Repugs in that district will have to do: grow the bleep up. This guy is not the example they want to show off for family values. Time to take the clothes pins off your noses, Repugs!
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By: mageen in old virginny on May 8, 2013
at 7:29 AM
Good morning Aunt Jean ~ All,
From what I can tell at this point ECB had good democratic support in the areas she needed. But apparently the margins weren’t high enough to sustain the much deep red areas.
This is a deep deep red district. Romeny took all but 2-3 precincts! But there was a sense, especially after ECB’s opponent was brought up on trespassing charges, that a democrat could actually steal this one away. House seats, especially in special elections are notoriously difficult to poll. However there were some internals on both sides that indicated ECB was up by as much as 9 points at that time. The GOP establishment showed signs of pulling their money. But alas they decided that they would rather elect this whacko and primary him later rather than allow a dem to take the seat. The party reengaged and the race tightened in the last week or so. last poll I heard of was the Republican was up by 1. So much for the family value party eh? The chances of us holding that seat were slim to none but we would have had a much better chance running an incumbent at that time.
In the end it wasn’t even close though. She lost by over 10 points. Colbert-Busch ran a good race. She had some name recognition, some money, and a horrible opponent and still couldn’t win in this costal district in deep red territory. Sighhhhh, back to work we go!
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By: lori on May 8, 2013
at 6:16 AM
Another little boy was shot by his little brother, this time in Texas. They were left alone in the bathtub “for a moment”, and the 5 year old got out of the bathtub and got a loaded .22 and shot his 7 year old brother with it. An accident.
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By: delurkergurl on May 8, 2013
at 5:39 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
I was taught as a very small child that it is a gross breach of etiquette to eavesdrop on other people’s private conversations. Now, I realize that that the social network is a whole new and different ball game in which people from all walks of life and different perspectives show up. It is not the same as having trusted friends and acquaintances being invited into one’s home as opposed to meeting in a public venue. Still, I continue to feel a little uncomfortable reading comments that are clearly addressed to other people.
So I usually skim by those unless my attention is called to them by someone else.
That is why I have always addressed my comments to the “Congenial Gang” to indicate that anyone is welcome to read it. Occasionally, I do include a specific name in response to something that person has said. I was also taught that it is extremely rude and bad manners to barge into a private conversation without being asked.
I am well aware that letters between people is an ancient and effective literary device for starting a dialog on often controversial topics. That has evolved to be true here in blog land too. Over time, people get to know one another, each other’s style and mode of expressing oneself. In the process, we often develop affectionate relationships. Or sometimes strong aversions in personality clashes, especially when there is a consistent pattern of self-aggrandizement and easily recognized narcissism with the inevitable aggressive retaliation of offensive and degrading remarks after any ego-threatening episode. It’s a not-so-attractive variation on the old adage, “The best defense is a strong offense.”
Conversely, the positive relationships we have established evolve into enduring friendships in which we usually adopt terms of endearment for one another. Then we are invited to participate together in sharing personal information in a caring and non-judgmental setting the way good friends and family have always done.
It is my conviction that The Rule of Law is only one of the glues that holds a civilized society together. Good Manners is another.
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 7, 2013
at 11:13 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
lori, bummer about the SC election. After they are tabulated, can you come up with the turnout numbers?
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 7, 2013
at 9:52 PM
anon: “PF while we’re at it, how about you tell us the name of the school at which you supposedly taught?”
West Virginia University School of Medicine. Anything else?
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By: PFesser on May 7, 2013
at 8:32 PM
Just ran across a super video by Pat Condell, explaining the difference between “progressive” and “liberal.” He, as do many of us, has many liberal friends, for whom he has highest respect. Progressives don’t fare as well, I’m afraid.
**************
gato vented: “All the pompous bloviating, and all the self-serving bullshit, mean nothing compared to words spoken by someone who is willing to put herself on the line for that in which she believes.”
‘…someone who is willing to put herself on the line for that in which she believes.’ That’s a joke, right?
I think you are referring to grandma’s half-baked attempt at smearing Appalachian people. What did you think that was? Some noble treatise? Are you kidding? There was NOTHING put on the line; it was just a sophomoric attempt at insult through that last remaining bigotry: South-ism.
Unfortunately, If you are going to play the bigot game, you have to know at least a little of what you are talking about – especially if you want to do it with humor. She doesn’t, and equally unfortunately, ran up against somebody who grew up there. The Internet is like that; crackpots and phonies get called out every time, because there is always SOMEBODY out there who REALLY KNOWS. But clearly she likes her spankings, because she always goes home, licks her wounds at the Chatty Kitchen, and then comes back – once again – for more!
*********************
And gato – thanks for the info @ 5:22. I’ll buzz them one of these days.
BTW – you know, we don’t have to fuss. All that has to happen is that we stay on topics, and leave the personal out of it. Play nice, and we will criticize the whole world together. Get personal, and you can’t win. You know that.
Your call, though.
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By: PFesser on May 7, 2013
at 8:28 PM
I am sure they will be calling it soon.. ;-( and on we go….
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By: lori on May 7, 2013
at 7:30 PM
dang she needed to have Beaufort County come in -1 it came in -4… not good… poop poop poop…
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By: lori on May 7, 2013
at 7:18 PM
I couldn’t agree with you more delurker, about christie.
right now Colbert-Busch is holding her own. it’s going to be close I think.
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By: lori on May 7, 2013
at 7:01 PM
I’m frustrated over the coverage of Christie’s “secret” surgery. It’s a private matter! It’s nobody’s darn business. If he wants to share it, fine, but not sharing the play by play as it happened doesn’t mean it’s a “secret”. Healthcare decisions are between patient and doctor!
It’s a bummer that Busch will probably not win but it’s hardly a surprise. I can’t criticize people for voting party line. It’s hard not to, since these days that’s literally voting against your own interest in this partisan climate. I criticize the fact that he was the candidate at all. They couldn’t cough up a hairball better than him? It’s disappointing that people would turn out the vote for him rather than stay home, but in that area pond-scum -v- Democrat will always yield a pond-scum win. I am sure he will enjoy the “victory” over cardboard Nancy.
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By: delurkergurl on May 7, 2013
at 6:50 PM
if anyone is interested in watching/talking about the returns for SC1 Markos usually runs a good election night blog.. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/05/07/1207531/-SC-01-benchmarks-and-predictions?detail=hide
psssst gato, I think you have me confuzzled with someone else. 😉
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By: lori on May 7, 2013
at 6:22 PM
Hey, Lori –
You’ve been sharing some wonderful and painful stuff recently, and that takes a lot of real courage. I hope that your doing so makes you love and admire yourself as much as I have come to do.
All the pompous bloviating, and all the self-serving bullshit, mean nothing compared to words spoken by someone who is willing to put herself on the line for that in which she believes.
In the shamanic tradition, the grandmothers are the ones who always make the right things happen. You’re there.
You speak your truth, and that is a wonderful thing.
You go, Girl!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 7, 2013
at 5:59 PM
Great gato!
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By: lori on May 7, 2013
at 5:24 PM
Oh, yeah… It’s the Western Connecticut Sunday and Thursday Shooters’ Association and NRA Affiliates’ Group and Firing Range…
Look it up on the web. Have a nice time; they’ll be glad to hear from you, I’m sure.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 7, 2013
at 5:22 PM
Hey, Lori – Gonna email my brother & sis-in-law right this minute. She runs one of her poll stations in SC…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 7, 2013
at 5:08 PM
Ugggg just heard things aren’t looking so good for Colbert-Busch SC1 special election. GOTV will be crucial. If anyone has some time to make some calls before the polls close go to her website or #SC1 and hook up with her election team. Thanks. 😉
Damn… I really thought we could steal this one away.
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By: lori on May 7, 2013
at 5:01 PM
PF while we’re at it, how about you tell us the name of the school at which you supposedly taught?
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By: Anonymous on May 7, 2013
at 4:54 PM
Gato opined: “I don’t know about you, but sometimes I just find the awesomeness of it all… kind of “overwhelming.” I’m sure you know what I mean…”
What you need to find, My Dear, is your underwear that you keep talking about, but can’t seem to locate. Clearly you have conflated reports of your “pants (being) on fire” with “panties” – something with which you are to a disturbing degree fascinated.
Find those yet? And while I’m thinking of it, ever come up with a name for the gun club to which you made your “awesome” – but fictitious – visit? Then you can TRULY worry about what is “awesome.”
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By: PFesser on May 7, 2013
at 4:31 PM
Terri in NY opined: ” If “jokes” about Alzheimer’s and shooting people in the chest are your cup of tea, it says a whole lot about you.”
Who’s joking? I was being serious.
There, feel better about it all now?
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By: PFesser on May 7, 2013
at 4:19 PM
Hi, again, Terri – Then you might also want to consider something called a “hori hori knife.” if you don’t already have one… It’s a long trowel, with a cutting edge on one side. You can dig stuff up, cut roots, and do all kinds of gardening things with one implement. I got mine from Lee Valley in Canada – a great resource for nice gardening stuff.
And you have a great evening, too.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 7, 2013
at 4:12 PM
Yes, Gato, that was me.
I love perennials, especially the hardy ones who manage to survive our cold winters. My garden is full of sedum, hostas, ferns, bee balm, etc. I plant some colorful annuals among them and try to keep the weeds down. It looks pretty good. I going to look for a poacher’s spade. It sounds like something I can use. Cheers!
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By: Terri in NY on May 7, 2013
at 3:54 PM
Hey, Terri – I’m guessing this is you. Sometimes our “avatars” seem to go off and have a life of their own, don’t they? (Loved the movie of the same name, BTW.)
Yes; I’m enjoying big time. Did some perennial planting today, and was reminded that I’m in northwestern CT… Three inches below the surface: Rocks. Most of them no bigger than fist-sized, and not too difficult to unearth (literally) with one of my favorite tools, a “poacher’s spade”: long and narrow, and good for digging up things in a minimally disruptive way.
All “our” plants (and I include my husband in that, because he does tons of work around here, too) are well aware that any one of them may be moved to a new location, at any moment, according to my will. I am very respectful, though, of what I know to be their needs, and never move a single one of them from Point A to Point B without a bit of encouragement and a healthy dose of compost.
So… Twenty years later… My “no-maintenance perennial gardens” are starting to look pretty darned good!
BTW, this “allergy season” has been pretty impressive, in my experience. Never spent so many weeks with itchy eyes, runny nose, cough, and so on. Been told that “Spring” was kind of overlooked this year, and that many things that would have bloomed (and sent out their pollen) a month ago, are just now showing up… And joining all the traditional May pollinators. So we have every flower, every tree, and every shrub sending out their stuff all at once. It’s quite beautiful to see, as long as I have plenty of tissues at hand.
Best,
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 7, 2013
at 3:40 PM
Hey Gato!
Yes, I don’t understand why he wastes his valuable time lecturing to those of us who post here. However, I was amused by your mention of a proctologist. I think he could use one. He might find PF’s head wedged up there!
Hope you’re enjoying the beautiful spring weather up here in the urban areas.
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By: Anonymous on May 7, 2013
at 3:16 PM
Hey, Terri – Always nice to hear from you! I’m sure you’ve noticed, as have many here, that whatever subject may arise, what’s-his-name is currently reading the most interesting book on the subject (with “no math,” of course), and/or has a long-time world-famous proctologist friend who wrote the definitive paper on whatever it is, and/or has himself built/owned/flown/shot/driven/eaten/studied/researched/lectured on/personally experienced years of, whatever it is. It’s really quite amazing, isn’t it?
One cannot help but wonder how someone of such prodigious breadth and scope even finds the time to type so many endless paragraphs of enlightenment, addressed to us unworthy porch dwellers, let alone deign to share them, what with all that research and so many activities…
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I just find the awesomeness of it all… kind of “overwhelming.” I’m sure you know what I mean…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 7, 2013
at 3:08 PM
PF you are a nasty piece of work. If “jokes” about Alzheimer’s and shooting people in the chest are your cup of tea, it says a whole lot about you. Apparently whenever Auntie Jean or Gato gets the best of you (which happens on a regular basis) you bare your teeth and show your true colors. It’s not a pretty sight.
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By: Terri in NY on May 7, 2013
at 2:04 PM
grandma opined: ” I believe the standard fare there is ‘coon rather than possum.”
Sorry. Raccoon is nearly inedible. Emergency ration only.
“However, we have driven through the region several times. We didn’t care for it much because we couldn’t find a place to stay beside Motel 6 that had indoor plumbing and electricity.”
So, none of the other motels had electricity? How did they power those 150′ tall signs you can see for miles and miles? Maybe it was from one of the three dozen local modern wind turbines.
“Nor did we have much of an appetite for ‘coon burgers.”
Sorry. Raccoon is nearly inedible. Alzheimer’s getting the best of you again? I know how you feel; I’m in Wisconsin right now, helping arrange assisted living for my MOL, who is just about your age, and nearly as addled.
“One doesn’t find many world class mathematicians, quantum mechanic physicists, physicians, philosophers or linguists hailing from East Armpit University of the Appalachia.”
Dr. Vest, president of MIT, who trained at West Virginia University, might disagree with you. Careful when you speak with him, though – there could be math. But, cunning linguist that you are, I’m sure you will manage to communicate – somewhat below his level – but probably still be understood.
“There was this one guy however who traveled all the way to either Clarksburg or Wheeling, WV to the local WalMart and bought a toy airplane modeling kit. He assembled it and then flew it. He was so proud of it, he went around bragging to anyone he could collar, about how he built his own airplane and piloted it!”
Actually, the one I build was made in Idaho. Here’s a video of one like it, although I didn’t fly on floats and my paint job was better:
“The political climate harkens back to the days of the “Moonshiners” vs. the “Revenooners” and is thus quite hostile toward anything that smacks of “g’mit”. ”
Actually, no – most politics is informed by decades of union/company strife. This hearkens (hearkens is the preferred spelling, grandma) back to the mine wars of the early part of last century, where the coal operators, including Mr. Rockefeller, horribly abused, and even machine-gunned, the miners. Since your education will be starting on the ground floor, I recommend starting with the James Earl Jones classic film, “Matewan,” to help you begin your understanding of the Appalachian peoples.
“This is one of the reasons they are so enamored with their guns even though as often as not, they continue to shoot themselves in the foot.”
Actually, no. They shoot OTHERS in the chest, generally.
“As Lily Tomlin on the old “Laugh-In” TV show would say, “And that’s the TRUTH!”””
Actually, once again, no – not even close; not even good satire. Take your Aricept and try again. LOL LOL LOL
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By: PFesser on May 7, 2013
at 11:25 AM
WOWieeee WOW M&H! Such a nice s/o from dailykos. You have made cheers and jeers Tuesday b4 but this one was extra special. WTG!
I am proud to be one of your founding porch dwellers!
Congrats and here is a rum and coke on the house for another 4 years! Cheers!
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/05/07/1207340/-Cheers-and-Jeers-Tuesday#comments
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By: lori on May 7, 2013
at 10:58 AM
Penny – “pf: still on my quest to correctly understand what is being said…did you tell chris that when someone disagrees with him/her to ignore it? or what? i’m confused.”
My apologies if I was unclear. The intent of my comment was that one should listen carefully to well-intentioned criticism, as a reality-check. Bigots, however, who – in the words of Twain, I think, ‘can’t change their minds and won’t change the subject’ – should be ignored. Because they have never considered the other side of an argument – and never will – it’s just a waste of time.
************
Al B – from “Best of Hillbilly,” as promised:
Nora Could Nearly Never Say No
‘Nora Nathan had four woods colts. (ed. Hillbilly for bastards). Which was the way she lived, principally, since the DPA gave her a check to keep them on. But every time the DPA’s prim Miss Mason came to see her she wagged her finger and told her she better mend her ways or she would find herself without relief. And besides, she said, it was sinful to have four little strangers in the world without knowing who their father was. Nora Nathan said, yes, Miss Mason was right, or at least half-right. She knew two of the fathers, the last ones, she said. One was fathered by Rev. Henry and the next one was fathered by Rev. Harry. But the first two, Miss Mason was right, she didn’t know, because that was before she got to be a Christian.’
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By: PFesser on May 7, 2013
at 10:52 AM
Penny, sometimes we must just agree to disagree.
We will have to ponder each others opinions and conclude for ourselves.
I found this….Great thought..
We are called to think sweet thoughts..it clears out the noise.
God Loves You this much….
He will command his angels concerning You…..
Psalm 91:11
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By: Chris on May 7, 2013
at 10:08 AM
ooo, auntie jean u surprised me. i luv blue grass; the mountains are gorjus; the folk were friendly enough to me. yes, it is a less than modern, kewl, hip and well informed society and i don’t much care for the cuisine and usually it takes a society with much more opportunity to develop an unusual intellect or artistic talent. i just sort of cringe at a general put-down.
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By: penny abrams on May 7, 2013
at 9:18 AM
pf: still on my quest to correctly understand what is being said…did you tell chris that when someone disagrees with him/her to ignore it? or what? i’m confused.
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By: penny abrams on May 7, 2013
at 9:09 AM
chris: ok, ty for your explanation of how you find the truth…various points of view, mostly not texts nor government issue, studying. and the word of God. am i correct in what i understand? is this what you said, in a very much shortened version? i ask because i learned that we need to hear what the other person is saying in order to have a productive discourse. do i understand you correctly?
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By: penny abrams on May 7, 2013
at 9:07 AM
[…] spree, America’s favorite 80-something bloggers, Thelma and Louise Margaret and Helen, have surfaced to weigh in on the Bush Lieberry and Ann […]
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By: Cheers and Jeers: Tuesday | Hotspyer.com on May 7, 2013
at 7:31 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Uncle Al,
Uh, a small correction. From our long experience with people from Appalachia, I believe the standard fare there is ‘coon rather than possum. We have a number of friends who have hiked the entire length of the Appalachian Trail from Quebec to Alabama, not all in one day though of course. However, we have driven through the region several times. We didn’t care for it much because we couldn’t find a place to stay beside Motel 6 that had indoor plumbing and electricity. Nor did we have much of an appetite for ‘coon burgers.
One doesn’t find many world class mathematicians, quantum mechanic physicists, physicians, philosophers or linguists hailing from East Armpit University of the Appalachia. There was this one guy however who traveled all the way to either Clarksburg or Wheeling, WV to the local WalMart and bought a toy airplane modeling kit. He assembled it and then flew it. He was so proud of it, he went around bragging to anyone he could collar, about how he built his own airplane and piloted it!
The folk music in Appalachia is quite unique. Called “Bluegrass”, it is played on out-of-tune banjos, fiddles, mandolins, basses and an occasional guitar to lively, ahem, so-called tempos and rhythms. The local people enjoy it, with their flatfooted dancing, especially the foot-stomping, corncob-pipe-smoking grannies. But that’s about what is to be expected from a region whose culture has been isolated for so long with the resulting genetic consequences of generations of inbreeding.
The political climate harkens back to the days of the “Moonshiners” vs. the “Revenooners” and is thus quite hostile toward anything that smacks of “g’mit”. This is one of the reasons they are so enamored with their guns even though as often as not, they continue to shoot themselves in the foot.
As Lily Tomlin on the old “Laugh-In” TV show would say, “And that’s the TRUTH!”
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 6, 2013
at 10:44 PM
Anonymous
I feel sad at your Turd comment. It is such a silly remark to a fair, smart person like PF.
Chris
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By: Chris on May 6, 2013
at 9:19 PM
Waialeale, Great story. I can relate. I raised 3 sons for several years by myself.
My hat is off to you.
I love your spirit and humor.
Chris
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By: Chris on May 6, 2013
at 9:04 PM
Srsly what kind of fool could equate allowing a child to ride a bicycle, who’s purpose is for riding, to leaving a LOADED “kid” weapon, who’s purpose is for shooting things, where the kid can get it unsupervised?
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By: Anonymous on May 6, 2013
at 8:39 PM
Yes, you silly twit; there are plenty of “turd recipes” out there – and most of them are either for Halowe’en party food, or dog treats… Made out of things like hummus, chicken breasts, and so on. They are “turd recipes” in name only – a name which has nothing whatsoever to do with the ingredients of which they are comprised. I would imagine plenty of people have eaten them – along with “eyeball stew,” “dead fingers,” and the like.
Oh… And you have been hounding me to provide you with an “underwear reference.” Here’s one: “They are still looking for their underpants.” And that’s from YOUR post of 6:27 today.
(Don’t even bother replying that you put that in on purpose, just to prove how easy it is to “yank my chain.” Try to be a little less predictable, if possible.)
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 6, 2013
at 7:52 PM
PF. You just can’t take it when you’re proven wrong. I think if I google turd your photo will show up.
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By: Anonymous on May 6, 2013
at 5:37 PM
anon opined: “Google “possum recipes”and plenty show up. Looks like our hillbilly expert is a fraud.”
Google “turd recipes” and plenty show up, too. Think anybody eats them?
Looks like our “hillbilly expert” expert is full of shit. (er, so to speak…)
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By: PFesser on May 6, 2013
at 5:30 PM
Chris – very cool post. I’m not religious, but if that informs your philosophy, you should be allowed to express it.
The best thing that ever happened to me was when I was in college and searching for a life philosophy. Each one I looked at seemed to have good points, but glaring flaws, too. Finally I stumbled across the idea that you should always support what is RIGHT, not what matches a particular ideology.
You seem to searching for the right thing too, no matter if it is Democrat, Republican, Right, Left, Communist. Sounds good to me. Of course, that means you will always be criticizing somebody’s pet POV, and they won’t like it.
But don’t let the asshats turn you off; when you disagree with them, they will jump your shit. Just ignore them. They are still looking for their underpants.
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By: PFesser on May 6, 2013
at 5:27 PM
Google “possum recipes”and plenty show up. Looks like our hillbilly expert is a fraud.
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By: Anonymous on May 6, 2013
at 5:25 PM
Penny, it appears that not only does everyone give their opinions, on this site but are allowed and encouraged to. I do enjoy reading everyones comments.
I read each comment and opinion, ponder each comment, and if something seems too far off from what my experiences tells me is the truth, I comment back.
I am not out to just be a devils advocate, but, wish to share information, which is what intelligent peoples do. Inteligent discourse is what make civilizations grow. It is how we learn from each other, grow and accept new truths.
I listen to what others say, and even if something is not my opinion, or knowledge, I study the subject til I beat the cow dead. I then hold that information as my opinion until more inteligent information is presented, at which time, I go through this process all over again.
Just because an opinion is not one’s own truth, does not mean it is NOT the truth.
It really means that more study needs to take place, to make a more intelligent conclusion and final opinion on that subject can be made.
Because we are taught certain, possibly flawed information, construed as facts out of textbooks; posssibly controled information, influenced bytextbook publishers opinion, does not make it a truth, or fact.
Intelligence is determined by a gentleness and understanding.
When we Study subjects from several different standpoints and different aspects of the subject, before making a personal judgement , we are more likely to come up with real truth to subjects.
The masses are controled by constantly beng barraged by the information the owners of the media want us to embrace as the truth,and as you may know,
Hitler said…..If you tell a lie for a long enough time, people will believe it.
and so it goes.
We are called to question all things in the quest for our own truth.
You are right, everyone’s individual understatanding IS their own truth, but, that does not necessarily mean that ANY of us has the real TRUTH.
Ask God or the Devil, or whatever you believe in for the truth.
(MY OPINION) Pray for the Truth…God’s Holy Spirit….which is not of any religion, with give you the truth.
I do know from my own experiences that I do not get answers with any degree of PEACE when my answers are not from the God I know and Love.
Chris
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By: Chris on May 6, 2013
at 5:14 PM
Al B – re: Hillbilly stereotypes and the causes of “Appalachia.”
I’m rereading Jim Comstock’s, “Best of Hillbilly” – a collection of his short articles – and had forgotten just how good a writer he was. Jim was an acquaintance of mine; he died, I think, in 1996. I was particularly taken by his article on “How Did Appalachia Get Thataway?” I may reproduce it here when I get a few minutes; it’s not online anywhere. I think you might find it informative, and more importantly, amusing. It’s a bit subtle though; a quick read won’t capture the essence. And, as a bonus, there’s no math.
It’s such fun to read and share his gentle amusement at people like yourself; you see, to understand Hillbillies (always capitalized, by the way) you have to be one, and the stereotypes that folks like you promulgate don’t really anger anyone; they just laugh to themselves at the little inside joke and realize that, the more people believe that stuff, the more likely they are to stay away. And that, of course, is exactly what we all want.
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By: PFesser on May 6, 2013
at 4:42 PM
Mageen – nobody lets kids hunt at age 5, anywhere. Even kid-sized guns are too heavy, and kids are not mature enough at that age to handle firearms in the woods. People in mountain cultures are familiar with firearms at a very early age, though, and learn about them from their parents and sibs. They pester their dads to take them hunting until they relent. It varies, though – I’ve seen big seven year-olds who have the maturity to hunt by themselves and fifteen year-olds who are completely untrustworthy with a gun.
*************
Terri in NY noted: “Just an “accident”? How ludicrous and deluded do you have to be to assert that? It was the result of a total lack of responsibility by the parents of the child, and yes, the child, too.”
Calm down. Yes, it is just an accident. Like any other. Pick any accidental injury or death, and somebody can find a way to assign blame. Do you think parents who allow their kids to ride a bicycle to school are “irresponsible” when they are hit by a car?
Your fright of firearms doesn’t change a thing; it’s an accident.
*************
Al B opined: “But he knew all about guns and skinning whatever he shot while hunting so I’m sure that if he’s still alive, mangled possum is still his main meal. I know I’m just repeating cliches about Appalachia but they are based on real cases.”
Don’t worry about the stereotyping; I’m certain that, based on my observations in NYC that I can generalize that it’s filled with nothing but gang-bangers and crack-ho’s.
(By the way, I grew up in “Appalachia;” nobody eats ‘possum – somebody was making sport of you.)
And yes – Appalachia certainly has its problems – nearly all of which can be traced to the well-intentioned efforts of do-gooders and sob sisters with leaky waterworks. They tried to help the poor, downtrodden mountaineer, and instead ending up converting proud, fiercely self-sufficient Scotsmen and Irishmen into Oxycontin-saturated dole-seekers. Nice work.
Of course, despite all the poor folks, in all the time I lived there I never had to step over someone lying on the street, who didn’t even have a home to live in.
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By: PFesser on May 6, 2013
at 4:19 PM
chris aka anonymous: good, you want to share; good you want to share truths. do you consider your opinions to be truth? or your conclusions? how do you get to the truth that the clan which brought forth every usa president until jfk is responsible for his death, and that of his brother? and mlk, too? everyone is entitled to their own opinions, and to express them. everyone is entitled to their own conclusions. the truth however must be proven.
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By: penny abrams on May 6, 2013
at 4:12 PM
Penny Abrams, Amen to what thou sayest! It boggles my mind that the Rigidities do not believe that us “lub’ruls” as they call us have had at one time or another or most of the time squeeze a nickle so hard the buffalo poops! The one question I so much wanted to ask Mittens when he was running was this: have you ever made your own shoes? I have when I was a kid. We were blue collar poor and even after the Second World War continued to observe meatless days etc. at mealtimes cuz that was the best we could do. Worked my way through college and grad school and I am still working, wondering when am I ever going to get the chance to have a decent dignified retirement so I can finally get enough rest!
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By: mageen in old virginny on May 6, 2013
at 7:21 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Yep, penny abrams on May 5, 2013 at 3:11 PM. I can relate. Been there, done that!
Recently when our grown 57 year-old-son was visiting we were in the kitchen talking while I made a pitcher of orange juice from a can of frozen concentrate. I poured three cans of water in and absently poured another half can. Son corrected me and said, “Mom, it’s only three cans water.” He had a rather familiar look on his face like, ‘poor decrepit Mom is getting a little addled in her old age and can’t remember how to make OJ.’
I explained. Back in our extremely lean financial days, I had to get creative to stretch the food budget dollars as far as I could. Among other innovations, I put in an extra half can of water in the OJ to do that. The three growing boys had voracious appetite and after school, descended on the fridge and cupboards like the seventeen year locusts.
Son suspiciously poured himself a glass of OJ and cautiously sipped it. Then he grinned and said it tasted like it always did. I said, ”Of course it does. You never knew anything different”. We both broke up laughing.
He probably ratted on me though and told his brothers that Mom watered down their OJ all their lives and they are lucky they didn’t have a Vitamin C deficiency – or worse, rickets!
Oh, well, I learned my lesson. I stir up OJ now by the book, three cans water and no more. But it seems to me that the color is just a wee bit too orange and the taste is a tad thick. It’s hard for an old bitch to learn new tricks.
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 5, 2013
at 7:42 PM
Hi Guys and Gals! I am Chris
I was the anonymous one. Not intended, to be, just totally unfamiliar with this blog site and how it works. Or, I must have hit a wrong key on my iPad. Its touch is super sensitive, as well.
The one thing for sure, is that you all are pretty much like most of the world today, sometimes and more than sometimes, most every one is a little or a little more than nuts…
Funny nutty, though.
Not so bad….
Along with the fun you all embibe in, It is important that we pass on knowledge…we have…and share it with each other.
I knew how bad and stupid Bush was from the git go.
I enjoyed Helen’s article, and was trying to explain what I understood about this country, and why we are subjected to the nonsense the elite dump on us.
Why all this?
Most U.S. Presidents are 1st to 10th cousins..anywhere from 2 to 5 to 6 or more generations removed.
The first Presidents were bent set on letting only family clansmen become and carry on the Presidency.
This powerful control by this bloodline directly from the Windsors and their predecessors are who runs the world.
They killed John Kennedy, Bobbie Kennedy, caused the so called media “Kennedy Curse” because this family was cutting in in their good thing, controlling America.
Look back on our recent,last 60 years, and even much earlier, with this new information, it will make sense, if you open your mind.
Experience is the best teacher. I just would like to share whatever life has taught me up to this point. We have such a short time here left, if we are of any age, it seems sad to not use the rest of whatever time we have to guide each other in truth, so that we may share each others truths and each grow from the experience and share them with the younger generations.
Peace to You, All.
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By: Chris on May 5, 2013
at 7:15 PM
hey auntie: join me. i think of us as fairly re’g’lar people, usual morality, common problems and solutions, similar dreams and hopes who look around in confusion and pain and ask…what the hell is going on and how do we stop it? yeh, criminals are just that, defined by having committed crimes and surely the slaughter of te newton babies and those in boston and all the others are crimes. when we get a criminal we can’t let him roam freely to attack society again. we need to understand how it all happens as well. to kill the criminal makes us murderers, to keep him in prison and feed him and give him the medical care he needs costs us hard earned money…what do we do? it’s a tough line, isn’t it? furthermore, ideally, we would find a solution before the fact. this is why we need to understand how these people go off the deep end. maybe we can find solutions which are more productive, cost less in terms of humanity and money. one thing for sure. meeting violence with more violence doesn’t work, what we’ve been doing doesn’t work, we need to find another way.
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By: penny abrams on May 5, 2013
at 3:25 PM
i hardly know where to start: but to keep it brief…i know what’s it like to eat cereal for dinner so your husband can have a lamb chop…like you fed to your little son; i know what it is to put paper in your shoes bcause you can’t afford new; i know what it is to scrape and count pennies against ounces in a can. i know how tough it is to make a buck and to not spend it all because that rainy day will, for sure, hit you some time or other. i also know what it means to sit up late reading your kids’ school books so you can make sure they’re doing their homework and how hard it is to go to pta meetings or to meet the teacher night when you’ve worked all day, grabbed a sandwich for supper while doikng laundry and then dashing off to school, then to run home and make sure the kids did their homework and get them to bed. i also know what it is to vote, read the papers and figure out who will do the best for your kids, to take part in what is going on…sometimes it feels like a c onstant shoveling you-know-what upstream. i do not live in a police state. yes, i agreed before that the state runs that state’s schools within the federal requirements and if you don’t like waht your state is doing, work at changing it. i did all that. up til 2 years ago when i could no longer stand, i protested in the streets and i continue to write letters and work on local campaigns. i don’t live in a dream world. i also don’t blame everyone else for what’s wrong. there is plenty very wrong. i work as hard as i am able against it praying isn’t enough. god helps those who help themselves. part of what i fight for is t he right not to pray as well as the right to choose one’s own religion. not one dictated by you or a teacher or a senator but one i believe in and teach my children and theirs.. how come you choose religion and you still live in a terrible society? doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. ach, i don’t think i’ll ever reach you.
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By: penny abrams on May 5, 2013
at 3:11 PM
I can’t resist. I’m technically a Ms. but I like to think of myself as a “born again virgin”. I’m not sure where that works into the scheme of things.
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By: Terry Waggle on May 4, 2013
at 6:43 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Sistah Gato, didn’t you know that the designations of “Mr.”, “Ms.”, or “Mrs.” is necessary to signify that person’s state of virginity? “A “Mr.” has the luxury of not being questioned – ever – on that intimate detail. However,it is vital for any female of the Homo Sapien species to have her virtue examined and determined at any time. With the exception of the “Old Maid”, who has never been married or anything.
I’m on a roll.
Gotta get busy though – really.
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 4, 2013
at 5:47 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Uh, Sistah Terry, I already have adopted you into my Calabash Ohana. Out here if you dip your fingers into the communal calabash, (the big gourd bowl) and eat with the Ohana (family), that confers on you the same rights and privileges as blood relations. That’s how come everybody I love here and those who love me call me Auntie. You too Uncle Al!
Aloha! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 4, 2013
at 3:31 PM
Auntie Jean, Al, et al … BAM!
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By: lori on May 4, 2013
at 10:09 AM
Auntie Jean:
You’re going to have to stop your well researched commentaries. It’s more fun to rely on memory and shoot from the hip.
Al B.
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By: Al B on May 4, 2013
at 9:50 AM
Auntie Jean, Would you adopt me if I were younger? Just kidding but I really got so much out of your latest addition to this political/religious pot of soup we’ve got simmering on the front burner. It was refreshing and educational, irregardless (one of this English major’s favorite words!) of what some folks will dream up to contradict you. The mantra of many is “I’ve made up my mind, don’t confuse me with facts.” I have to keep reminding myself that you can’t fix stupid. We just have to try to love them and hope they’ll see the light one day.
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By: Terry Waggle on May 4, 2013
at 8:07 AM
Excellent post, Auntie Jean!
And, now that you’ve reminded me of all these facts, it seems obvious that pinning on these Glorious Religious Appellations on these psychopaths just feeds into encouraging similar “noble” and “sacrificial” and “heroic” fantasies of fame and glory in other unstable potential killers.
I’ve never understood why we even add the distinguishing titles “Mr.” or “Ms.” or “Mrs.” to the last name of any convicted felon; IMHO, the stripping of any such title should be an automatic inclusion with a guilty verdict…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 4, 2013
at 6:59 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
OK, enough of this fun and frivolity. I’ve got something buggin’ me and I want to get it off my chest. Now, I know we mortals are big on classification to the point of stereotyping. There is even a science, Taxonomy, devoted to just that. There is a lot of merit to it. It can be useful to be able to tell the difference between a “bovine” and “a feline”. But that’s not my point right now.
I am not a forensic scientist or investigator so I have no expertise in those areas at all. Thus, I have to depend on other sources to explain their results to me. Ever since the “Boston Marathon Bombing”, there has been on-going commentary by experts and some not-so-experts on TV, in the newspapers and social media, on the hour every hour. It is mostly speculation at this point because as we all know, this kind of event will be studied and commented on for YEARS.
It appears the alleged perpetrators were two men, quite young. That takes care of the “gender” and “age”. (I can’t spell or pronounce the name of the surviving suspect.) Now it gets sticky as to the why and how. I keep seeing and hearing the words “Islamic Terrorists” or “Muslim Extremists” as applied to the two. That conjures up an instant replay image of the smoking “Twin Towers” of “9/11”. Then along came the inveterate “Hawks”, good ole McCain and Lindsey saying they are “Enemy Combatants” and belong in “Guantanamo Bay” for trying to start another “Jihad”. (That’s a different Taxonomy, similar to the “Holy Wars” of the “Christian Crusades”.) There has never been nor, will there ever be anything quite like “Politics” and “Religion”, individually or collectively, to get the blood boiling and stir things up!
Upon more quiet reflection, perhaps we should remember that it has been reported that Osama Ben-Ladin was actually born in YEMEN and the seventeenth of more than fifty children in his family. (A “dysfunctional family” perhaps?) His father was a wealthy businessman in the heavy construction business with close ties to the Saudi Royal Family. He was a devout “Sunni Muslim” as opposed to a “Shiite Muslim”. These are approximately the Taxonomic equivalents of “Christian Catholics” and “Christian Protestants.” (BTW, the spelling of both “Muslim” and “Moslem” are acceptable although “Muslim” more closely approximates the “Arabic” PRONUNCIATION of the word.)
In 1994 or 1995 the Saudi government revoked ben-Ladin’s citizenship after his family had formally disowned him. He was exiled to the Sudan. The Sudanese government wanted to extradite him back to Saudia Arabia but the Royal Family refused to take him. Finally, in 1996 because of pressure from Saudia Arabia, Egypt and the U.S., the Sudanese expelled him to Afghanistan. On a chartered plane he was welcomed there from his previous “heroics”. The “Taliban” government was quite hospitable to him. The rest as we know is history. Ben-Ladin has never been referred to as “Yemenese” or “Saudi Arabian”. Neither were any of the 19 “Islamic Terrorists” who were involved in bringing down the “Twin Towers” ever described as “Saudi Nationals”.
I don’t recall any of the “Domestic Terrorists” of say, the “Oklahoma City Bombings”, the “Newtown Massacre” or so many other such horrible deeds being classified by nationality or religious affiliation. My feeling is that “misguided”, “disturbed”, “unstable”, “sociopathic”, “psychopathic” or just plain “stupid” people who commit unspeakable crimes are nothing more than “Common Criminals”. Period.
I’m sure the “hillbillies”, “hicks” and “hayseeds” (you know who you are) will be quick to disagree with me, “irregardless” of the underlying intentions of my statements. Oops! I violated my own premise by using stereotypical classifications just now. (I also used the word “irregardless” advisedly, knowing full well that the “Grammarians” will jump on its use since there is no such word.)
Aloha! Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 4, 2013
at 2:31 AM
Lmao gato! You’re hilarious!
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By: lori on May 3, 2013
at 8:21 PM
Hey, Lori – Because I think it was a very cool and concise comment, although I now cannot remember what it was!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 3, 2013
at 8:00 PM
In response to your remark that you’ve “zinned” I’ll share that I prefer Pinot Noir – it fits under my sink and doesn’t take up room in my overcrowded refrigerator. One time I found a very interesting bottle of it and haven’t seen it since. I’m kicking myself for having recycled the bottle because the label was worth hanging onto: It has 3 monkeys doing their ‘hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil’ thing and the name of the wine is “Pinot More”.
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By: Terry Waggle on May 3, 2013
at 6:52 PM
They’ll have to reassure the boy that it was an accident since it wasn’t his fault that his parents are dumber than a rock. Too bad people don’t need to be licensed to reproduce since it’s a really important responsibility, even more important than driving or operating heavy machinery which can also result in the death of innocent people.
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By: Terry Waggle on May 3, 2013
at 6:11 PM
Amen!
I almost typed that in all caps but then thought better of it :o}
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By: Terry Waggle on May 3, 2013
at 5:18 PM
Oh, Al B – That was great! You just nailed it with your comment about hiding all the animals… Doubt that what’s-his-name’s balloon is poppable, but if anyone has a chance at it, it’s you. Well done!
You don’t post often, but, when you do, you’re fantastic.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 3, 2013
at 4:23 PM
PFesser on May 3, 2013 at 9:21 AM opined:
“I gotta tell you; having grown up in the rural Appalachians, I am constantly surprised by just how little city-dwellers know about cultures in their own back yards.”
PFesser, I have news for you. Appalachians don’t exist in my back yard and if they did, I’d hide all the animals. The exposure I had to Appalachian culture was an eye-opener and I learned more about it than I ever wanted to know, and it wasn’t very pretty.
Many years ago when I was young and a bit foolish, I joined the Navy and served in a division aboard a ship that seemed to have a crew of Applachian refuges far exceeding their proportion in the general population. Most of them could barely read, (one absolutely could not and was soon separated from the service) and they certainly had no idea how to shine their shoes.. A shipmate from Kentucky bragged that he had attended a settlement school where, as I was soon to find out, he was subjected to an overdose of religious fundamentalism where mindlessness seemed to overwhelm intellect every time. Of course it might have helped if he had a smattering of intelligence to start with. But he knew all about guns and skinning whatever he shot while hunting so I’m sure that if he’s still alive, mangled possum is still his main meal. I know I’m just repeating cliches about Appalachia but they are based on real cases.
So PFesser, I’m sorry to pop your balloon. But, as a once rural, now city boy, I already know more about Appalachia than I ever wanted to know. Fortunately, for those readers having normal sensibilities, I haven’t told all I know about it.
Al B
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By: Al B on May 3, 2013
at 4:08 PM
Oh, Person, whoever you are… What makes you think that you can – with or without even the guts to give yourself some blog-identifiable handle – condemn someone else for her “limited” world-view, and then go on for ENDLESS PARAGRAPHS expounding your OWN!?
Give us all a break! I mean it. Really.
And don’t use so many capital letters all over the place; you’re driving me to do it…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 3, 2013
at 3:52 PM
Penny, I do know what planet you live on, but, I would like to join you.
It sounds like a Wally Cleaver world..A Perfect World.
You live in a bedrooom community mentality; living in a tighly protected caccoon in your thinking.
How can you make a judgement that all is well in ALL of American society?
The society I have been exposed to is not like your experiences.
A persons truth is very much connected to their life experiences.
If one lives and works in a large metropolitan area, or city, one’s knowledge is very different than someone living in sheltered small town,
You must be from Mayberry, America.. If you are from a small sheltered town with great middle income…..Good for you.!
American Society includes a lot of other lifestyles than your depicted truths and opinions.
Socio-economic conditions have a bearing on one’s experiences..and truths.
It does not make it the reality of everyone else’s life.
I have been in real estate 37 years.
When I speak, from my own experiences..it is from the standpoint of the knowledge of the economic impact to lower and middle class citizens.which I have counseled and served ..
It was stated that this month, alone, in America: ( Dateline or 48 hours, or Dr.Phil ? )
43% of live births to Causcasian women live in single parent homes.
78% of live births to Black women live in single parent homes.
Penny, the majority of society does not live how you depict it.
Congradulations on following all the laws and rules.
Simply teaching your children to follow the laws of a police state, does not make you, or your children moral persons. Do not confuse morality with merely following a man made law…not the same.
Sheep are hearded and get lost all the time. That is why they must be lead.
Let us hope the next time a cop pulls you over with a flashing light, he is a REAL COP and not a local sociopath.
School districts ARE run by the state.
The HUGE St. Louis School District lost its accreditation, as well as Riverview, in the St. Louis area. Parents and PTA’s do not have much to say about what is happening in the curriculum, or much of anything else concerning the teaching of their children..or running of their schools.
What parent would vote ot have their children NOT learn and NOT succeed in school? EDUCATION IS STATE RUN.
Your judgement of how ALL is WELL is YOUR PERCEPTION.
But, even in your dreamworld, if the elite continues to strip America of its jobs, taking them to countries where the workers make 90 cents an hour, you may be joining the ranks of the poor. I pray not, I just pray you open your eyes to the truth about the world. You are ONLY A TINY PARTICLE OF THE GREATER WHOLE. Until you see THE REALITY OF THE WHOLE OF what effects all of SOCIETY, YOU ARE BLIND.
Penny, YOU ARE WAY OFF BASE. If it were correct, in your belief system, we would not be living in such an ever growing VIOLENT SOCIETY.
OUR CHILDREN that I speak of are those mentioned in the above numbers of children born to single MOMS. We are the community and the other mothers, who are to help mold the CHILDREN OF THE FUTURE, with LOVE.
The lack of community is that which is helping to GROW the VIOLENCE we are experiencing, even in MIDDLE CLASS America.
A classroom’s simple daily prayer to a greater than us entity may actually HELP our CHILDREN’S problems, for we do not seem to have any answers on our own.
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By: Anonymous on May 3, 2013
at 3:34 PM
Maggie, Thanks for at least trying to spike Chris’ Kool-Aid with a shot of sanity and reason!
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By: Terry Waggle on May 3, 2013
at 3:20 PM
Just an “accident”? How ludicrous and deluded do you have to be to assert that? It was the result of a total lack of responsibility by the parents of the child, and yes, the child, too. And the store who markets guns for children. Giving a gun to a little kid is one of the stupidest things one could do, and if it’s part of a some country “culture”, then that culture needs to change.
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By: Terri in NY on May 3, 2013
at 3:13 PM
Thank you, Penny. I was thinking the same and wondering where the school is that Chris is ranting about. My grandchildren attend schools that teach respect, kindness, responsibility, sharing, caring, gratitude etc. They have pride in their school and are learning how to act and treat others without prejudice or bullying. I don’t think we’re an oddity. I do agree that many parents are ill equipped to do their job but I’d say most schools do their best to pick up the slack. Ethics and morality can be fostered in the schools without the guise of religion. As a Christian I prefer to keep religion, my own or anyone else’s, in the home or in a religious setting.
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By: Terry Waggle on May 3, 2013
at 10:51 AM
That’s right MIOV and Terry. Just because American’s gun culture is what it is today doesn’t mean it has to remain our culture.
There is such a thing as social progress for heavens sake. Liberals have always known societies can and DO improve in all sorts of ways including social, political, and economic areas! Going all the way back to the age of enlightment! We (especially Progressives) have accomplished this in many different ways. We are especially good at direct human contact and activism. Grassroots are our speciality! LOL
Bottom line- just because we have a certain population of our country that thinks giving rifles as a birthday gift to a 5 year old is a good idea, or permitting sale of weapons of mass human destruct to private citizens is okie dokie, doesn’t mean it always has to be that way.
We need to keep talking, keep organizing, and if necessary, pulling society into the year 2013… sometimes kicking and screaming. FORWARD! No one ever said progess was easy. 😉
Keep calm and ORGANIZE!
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By: lori on May 3, 2013
at 10:16 AM
there is only one way i can respond to your last comment, chris. here is your comment with my response.
Penny, Your Grandchildren are being exposed to a lot worse influences than learning about another child’s God. They are learning the influences of the other children’s home, whether it is good or bad, along with the children most times are left to the NEGATIVE INFLUENCES OF VIOLENT TV and more horrifically VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES, after school while waiting for parents to return from school.
P: not true. the influences of other children’s homes are the same as mine; yes, there is too much violence on TV, in the movies, in the news and in life. it’s our job to teach our children that violence is wrong, it is our job to boycott TV, movies and products which are violent, including their violent commercials. it is our job to buy where the workers are not taken advantage of, explaining to our children that we do not support injustice.
C: OUR CHILDREN ARE NOT BEING EXPOSED TO MORALITY IN ANY PART OF SOCIETY, neither the schools, nor the medias, nor the movies, nor the TV, nor the video games..only VIOLENCE is accepted as OK. P: mine are exposed to morality by the example of how the adults in our family live; we vote, we pay our taxes, we make sure we are educated about candidates for elected office, we partake in the parent/school activities, we help our neighbors, make sure the garbage is in the garbage pail not on the streets, respect teachers and police officersand we do that with our family and friends. that’s where they learn morality. that’s where they learn what i consider morality.
C:The training of our children mostly takes place for several hours in lactchkey situations, outside the school, which iincludes hours of waiting for working Moms.P: again, not true. at the after school programs they get a snack, have play time and time to do homework. at our local boys and girls club they also do civic duty programs. that’s pretty moral.:
C: since the majority of r cldren are in single parent homes, FALSEthe children cannot get quality learning time about God, or anything else. p: So you’re assuming that working moms are amoral? don’t they set an example of an adult who is taking onher responsibility? working outside the home, inside the home, with and for her kids? how much more moral can ya get?
C:The Moms are dead tired after the work hours, just taking care of the children’s needs and the necessary chores of running a home.
C: The influences that are coming back to school with the children are oftentimes weapons they see in videos, such as knives, or misplaced guns, and or cellphone cameras and texting of naughty body parts, P: naughty body parts? which parts of your body are naughty? the mouth that screams? or the hands that hit? or the eyes that refuse to see the grinding poverty all around them? or the rear end which stays parked when it could move to the benefit of society in general? ah, maybe its the feet which kick the people who are down? or ther brain which detects naughty parts to begin with? god made the entire body in all its glory. each part has its own function. none of it is naughty, ugly, dirty or un necessary. and this is why i don’t want, nor will i allow others to teach their morality to my kids. u call that moral? that’s god’s body…the temple he gave each of us at birth has naughty parts?
By the way, Chris, never in all the history of this country has a school district been totally autonomous. the taxpayers decide what is done in each school district, directly or indirectly. the board is hired (ELECTED)by them. the state has requirements and so does the federal government. that’s why new england, n.y. and california have better public education than most of the south, where i live. what, parents are different in different places? you bet. some parents even teach that there are naughty body parts.
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By: penny abrams on May 3, 2013
at 9:57 AM
OK, perfesser. Besides a culture that allowed five year olds to hunt with a rifle, what else did that culture expect or even demand from five year olds that were age appropriate? Brick laying? Roofing? Horse shoeing? At least the kid was potty trained.
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By: Mageen in Old Virginny on May 3, 2013
at 9:32 AM
penny abrams noted: “i believe each country, certainly my own, should have an official language. i believe english should be ours. i also believe that a second language should be started in the third grade”
Yep, agree strongly to both. If you want to see a screwed-up mess, go to Canada. The cost associated with printing everything in two languages is quite high, but more importantly, the language we speak is the language we think in, and influences more than anything who we are and the culture with which we identify. Many of the French-speakers won’t talk to you in English, even if they know how. I just take my business elsewhere; it only hurts them.
**************
gato opined: “And deprived his sister of her right to life, in doing so. So comforting………Oh – maybe his parents will tell him it wasn’t his fault (of course, in many ways, it wasn’t).”
Yes, just the same thing they would tell him if he’d wrecked his bicycle with her on the handlebars or wrecked an ATV, or had accidentally dropped something heavy out of the barn loft on her, or – as a teenager – wrecked his car with her in it, or – showing off while skiing and cut in front of her, driving her into the trees, where she was killed, or, or, or…
It was an accident. The fact that you are frightened of guns doesn’t make it any different from any other.
By the way, gato, did you ever find your “panty” reference? It was your’s, wasn’t it? Maybe you misinterpreted one of the several times you were alerted to your “pants'” being on fire.
*********
TWaggle noted: “The article I read online said that there’s a gun culture in rural Kentucky that supports children learning how to shoot guns in order to hunt. ”
Read an article, huh? heheee….
I gotta tell you; having grown up in the rural Appalachians, I am constantly surprised by just how little city-dwellers know about cultures in their own back yards.
I’ll give you a leg-up: yes, that IS the culture there. Everywhere. Hunting is a childhood rite and privilege to which every young boy and, nowadays, most young girls, aspire.
I appreciate that there are two sides to every argument; of course we are on opposite sides of the gun argument, but I’m going to take pity and help you out here: if you want to argue this topic, at least take the time to learn something about it. I can assure you that the gun owners know it from top to bottom. Coming into the room and making mistake after mistake – not through stupidity, but just pure ignorance – makes one a laughingstock.
Speaking of laughingstocks, anybody see the video of Biden, advising hundred-pound women to “buy a shotgun?”!!!!!!! If already posted, apologies.
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By: PFesser on May 3, 2013
at 9:21 AM
Chris, Maggie back again. Canada has plenty of laws of all description on the books. So its not less laws that make the difference in gun control in that country. Their attitude towards law in general is simply very different. For instance, when Canadians migrated westward into the own plains and Rocky Mountains, and certainly into the Yukon, the first face they saw was the law as in RCMP. This did not particularly bother them. When migrating to the Yukon especially, the RCMP simply informed them as a matter of act that they would have to have x number of pounds of certain food stuffs and other supplies before venturing further. This supply list meant they could have a chance of surviving. If they were not equipped as noted, they would simply have to fill in the blanks and if they couldn’t or were not so inclined, they could not venture further. To circumvent on their own would mean they would be taking all risk into their own hands and the law would not have anything to do with them unless they egregiously misbehaved toward other pilgrims. Did this mean that everyone who cooperated with the law 9via the RCMP warning) survived? No. Not necessarily. Things could still be random. But way fewer people died than otherwise.
Let me be a tiddly bit more specific also about my statement that Canadians do not indulge in conspiracy theories the way Americans do. It is also that attitude as explained above, it is also a plain dislike of making paranoia both a hobby and then an industry. It is hard enough when one has a legitimate case of the Big P, let alone conjure it up for suspect reasons.
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By: Mageen in Old Virginny on May 3, 2013
at 8:26 AM
“The Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) released new statistics today, Jan. 18, on gun violence in the United States for the years 2000 through 2010. The fact sheet shows Alaska with the highest rate of child and teen gun deaths, 8.7 per every 100,000, for the 10-year period. This is more than double the national rate of 3.6. Hawaii had the lowest rate at less than one death per 100,000.
The CDF analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control WONDER online database to determine gun death rates for children ages 19 and younger…
During the first decade of this century, more that 32,000 children’s deaths in the United States were attributed to guns. In Alaska, 197 deaths were reported, 120 were suicides, 57 were homicides and 15 were accidental gun deaths.”
http://www.examiner.com/article/alaska-leads-nation-rate-of-children-killed-by-guns
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By: alaskapi on May 2, 2013
at 10:26 PM
Penny, Your Grandchildren are being exposed to a lot worse influences than learning about another child’s God. They are learning the influences of the other children’s home, whether it is good or bad, along with the children most times are left to the NEGATIVE INFLUENCES OF VIOLENT TV and more horrifically VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES, after school while waiting for parents to return from school.
OUR CHILDREN ARE NOT BEING EXPOSED TO MORALITY IN ANY PART OF SOCIETY, neither the schools, nor the medias, nor the movies, nor the TV, nor the video games..only VIOLENCE is accepted as OK.
The training of our children mostly takes place for several hours in lactchkey situations, outside the school, which iincludes hours of waiting for working Moms.
Since the majority of our children are in single parent homes, the children cannot get quality learning time about God, or anything else. The Moms are dead tired after the work hours, just taking care of the children’s needs and the necessary chores of running a home.
The influences that are coming back to school with the children are oftentimes weapons they see in videos, such as knives, or misplaced guns, and or cellphone cameras and texting of naughty body parts, children have NO good influences offered between themselves,and hardly any good influences from the home, or, the schools.
THE MAJORITY OF DAILY INFLUENCES YOUR GRANDCHILDREN HAVE IS VIOLENT VIDEOS, TV, MOVIES, AND THOSE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE INFLUENCES OF THEIR PEERS AT SCHOOL. OTHER THAN SLEEPING, MORE TIME IS SPENT WITH THESE INFLUENCES THAN WITH THEIR PARENTS.
Within the schools, themselves, the relaxed atmosphere leaves no self control perameters..everything is free.
With the more freedom, children are getting into mischief, which is taking more time from the teachers day, and more time away from teaching. The problems for educators goes on and on. Schools are run, very dfferently today; very unlike like when we attended. We did not want to get into trouble and mostly followed the teachers instructions, if nothing else, for fear of our parents. The children are taught with the state laws to stand up to their parents.
Lack of self control, adds to the mischief the children get into at school.
Teachers have little time to actually teach. Teachers hours are mostly filled with filling out mandatory forms of what has been taught, that little education is taking place.
Children are taught to report any physical to school authorities.
Laws are in place that state children cannot be spanked by the parents, or state welfare protective agencies are called in to investigate the familiy.
Schools are madating a lot of the negative influences by allowing the State to control the Educational System, that in the past was controled more by the Parents and Teachers Association. They had a lot of input in how schools were run. That seems to be the States Job, mostly, now. Parents need to take their schools back, but the way the work force is and societal requirements are, parents are not availiable to take the schools back.
Our society has broken families where single parents are doing the best they can..which is NOT enough, while the schools see training as the parents job, at home. A void is created by this interaction between the schools and home. The school system is not a greater part of the community, as it once was. It is mandated to leave privacy at home, for the most part.
The WHOLE SOCIETY, INCLUDING THE CHILDREN IN SCHOOL, are NOT exposed to GOD in anything..
I would rather my Grandchildren be exposed to the God, of any of the major religious beliefs, than the garbage influencing the children today.
All major religions AT LEAST teach MORALITY.
MORALITY is that which our society currently sees as something negaitive, or out of bounds to speak or live under the influence of.
What has come of OUR America in 50 years.?
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By: Chris on May 2, 2013
at 8:38 PM
In case anyone thinks the boy killing his little sister is a rare fluke, here’s another incident. Same s**t, same week.
http://articles.ktuu.com/2013-04-30/alaska-state-troopers_38937579
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By: delurkergurl "Fight Like a Girl!" on May 2, 2013
at 7:46 PM
ohboy chris.i can understand your desire for a more just distribution of wealth and power; i can understand your distrust of major corps and some governments and those who run them (altho they couldn’t if the people rose up and fired em all and hired new ones); i can even understand your belief that a lot of the negative comes from lack of a sound religious ideology. then u go off with stuff that is so far from rational that you shoot all your good points right out the window. devil worship? u mean like the KKK? or those who insist on their version, all others being evil? sorry chris, you threw your argument right into the garbage bin. the queen is related to who? argggggggggggggggh
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By: penny abrams on May 2, 2013
at 7:41 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Me again. If you are interested, I found the scene from the movie “Bye Bye Birdie” on YouTube with the song. Just Google “What’s The Matter with Kids Today”. Paul Lynde, Dick Van Dyke and others do a superb job I think. Hilarious! But painfully true, don’tcha think?
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 2, 2013
at 7:34 PM
chris: first, let’s not do the which country is better. there is flagrant bigotry in canada as well as in the usa…there r kids getting into trouble…there is crime, all the bad stuff. there is poverty, especially amongst the catholics who are tithed beyond their means. all that said, america is no better, i agree.
we are dealing with people, individuals who clump into societies and the problems we find in the usa and in canada abound, sadly, all over the world.
as for god/religion: there are gods and religions which teach hate and bigotry. that’s not good, i’m sure you’ll agree. what good is god in school if god isn’t in the? home parents brag about beating a ticket or getting away w/tax avoidance or making a deal ’cause the other guy was stupid…that’s far worse than no god in a home. we teach by example.
IF u want to lay down some moral behavior, that’s fine…i think necessary. i taught my children our religion, insisted on their participation, we lived it in our home. but i don’t want it in the classroom. i don’t want it in the hands of a teacher, like one of mine had, who plunked a statue of jesus on her desk and told them (2nd grade yet) “this is the lord, i am a catholic.” i don’t want others teaching my grand/children what i think is the right credo…that’s my job.
as for poor choices, ya got me. it is beyond my ken how people can be cruel and uncaring. we were talking at supper tonight about how attitudes even in sports arenas have changed so that one might be somewhat apprehensive when taking the kids to a sports event. the language, the deliberate cruelty, the attempted cheating…for what! i do believe that it is, again, by example that we set standards. everyone of us has to stop at all the red lights. and take our turn on line. and share with the misfortunate…god notwithstanding.
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By: penny abrams on May 2, 2013
at 7:14 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Chris, your comments reminded my of the tongue-in-cheek lyrics about “Kids” from the 1960 Broadway musical “Bye Bye Birdie”. There was also a movie made from it.
“Kids (Reprise) by
Kids!
I don’t know what’s wrong with these kids today!
Kids!
Who can understand anything they say?
Kids!
They are so ridiculous and immature!
I don’t see why anybody wants ’em!
Just you wait and see
Kids!
Kids! They are just impossible to control!
(Soon you’ll be old enough to be)
Kids! With their awful clothes and their rock an’ roll!
(Another teenage delinquent)
Why can’t they be like you were,
Perfect in every way?
What’s the matter with kids to–
Kids!
What the devil’s wrong with these kids today?
Kids!
Who could guess they would turn out that way!
Why can’t they be like we were,
Perfect in every way?
What’s the matter with kids?
What’s the matter with kids?
What’s the matter with kids today?”
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 2, 2013
at 5:26 PM
Ditto for me, Gato! And as someone else said, if religion is what keeps the poor from killing the rich I think we need to be sending some good missionaries into our inner cities and wherever else the poor are plotting the demise of their rich enemies.
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By: Terry Waggle on May 2, 2013
at 5:17 PM
LOL Why WOW Gato?
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By: lori on May 2, 2013
at 5:04 PM
Gato
Behind the scenes, the evil is being perpetrated by the elitists, who ARE devil worshippers, ( the skull and bones group.. ) The Illuminati….which is one bloodline who does control the U.S. and have controled America from the beginning. They also control every other country..except Iran, N. Korea, and Cuba …which has NO Rothschild Banking System! Yet) These are our next enemies to invade to save them..or whatever lie they can concoct in the elitist owned medias.
Do you think a nation like Great Britian, that controlled some 500 colonies would let one backward revolt of 13 small colonies WIN over a power driven nation like Great Britian?
How evil was that tiny island nation to have 500 other nations in servitude to them?
Winning against them all, with cruelty, and even to starve their foe, like Ireland. Quite a history…
The Queen is directly related to most of the past Presidents. The great link.
Many of the past Presidents have the same bloodlines…many are from 1st to 10 th cousins…in every generation since America’s inception.
At the time of our war for independance , they simply said ” give them their independance, we will just control them financially, and directly, or indirectly, they have been doing so through the central banks we had 2-3 earlier times during our history, only to be removed by Congress usually wars we were involved in.
In 1913, the Rothechilds set up the Federal Reserve System and put Rockafella in charge. They then took hold of America’s printing of money and finances, for sure.
Rothechild said in a book he wrote in 1820 , that if he could print a country’s money, he could contriol it’s politics. And the Bankers have been controlling our politics, since.
The elite industrialist Bankers, Walker, being one them, were part of the royal bloodlines, which mixed with all the European Royals of all the countries.
These folks have control of every one of our systems, legal, financial, medical, and educational systems.
Nothing happens without their blessings, or they kill their foe, like Kennedy, or one who turns on them. That is why no change ever occurs in America.
Study this all for yourself. I have done so for 12 years..with a clue, uncovering as I went along, and for 20 earlier years in much confusion, like everyone else, not understanding ANY of what was transpiring, just questioning and trying to understand, why nothing ever really changes, no matter how much the populus fights for change.
The evil I speak of is not just normal wrongdoing, as we are not perfect.
It is spiritual evil, that which undermines men at all costs, that I speak of is with the intent to destroy man and his spirit of HOPE.
These folks are evil at the cost of even creating genocide, whether it is killing of our American Indians, to the starving loss of some 7million American citizens from the census between 1930-1940, who were forced to live in tent cities, after the 1928 crash that the elitist Bankers created, to the atrocities to the Jews in Germany in the 1930’s and 1940’s, to the starving children in Africa, while they steal Africa’s rich natural resources, to the current genocide they are proliferating on us with the poisonous drugs they feed us through the doctors they brainwash in their medical schools, and last that I will mention is the 5 major agri food growing and processing businesses that are poisoning our people with genetically modified foods, pesticides causing an ever mounting number of Cancer, all while it is against the law to file a lawsuit against the perpetrators like Monsanto, Dow and such.
Who do you think is running this country.? .Not you or I with our votes.
In 2000, we were slapped in the face, when the 500 or so votes swung the winner of the Presidential Election to Bush. NO, our vote does not count, they merely throw crumbs now and then to make it look like a democracy…when we are truly a republic..
Govt. run by a few, for the good of the most? Depends on your interpretation of what group is considered the most.
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By: Chris on May 2, 2013
at 4:44 PM
Lori – WOW!
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 2, 2013
at 4:14 PM
“Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet. Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.”
― Napoleon Bonaparte
😉 and that’s all i have to say about this subject ..
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By: lori on May 2, 2013
at 3:48 PM
Hi, Chris – I was with you there for a while (and it WAS a while!)… Until you got to “…condom choices and devil worship choices…” Oh, dear… Why does it so often segué into THAT sort of stuff…?
I haven’t seen much devil worship going on these days (outside of “evangelical Christian churches” like Westboro Baptist), and teaching children about sex and making safe choices is most likely something of which Jesus himself would probably approve. (His mother, after all, had a pretty extraordinary “out-of-wedlock” experience herself, leading to his birth, did she not?)
I certainly believe there is a higher power, but I wouldn’t want to be required to hear somebody else’s idea about “who” or what that might be, especially not in school. People who want their children to attend faith-based schools of all stripes can certainly do so, and they do. But if “religion” were taught in public school, that’s all they would be able to cover – the variety and permutations are so great.
That “moment of silent prayer” can SO easily be done at home; there’s just no reason to think it is the job of public schools to provide it. Schools are already required to provide so much of what used to happen at home – even including, in so many cases, breakfast…
I agree with you about the awfulness of the growing disparity between the wealthy and the desperately poor, and think our country will, indeed, become “third world” if we don’t do everything we can to assure, once again, that being “average” in this country is an assurance of at least the possibility of living a decent life.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 2, 2013
at 3:08 PM
Mageen & Penny, I respect your comments.
Mageen, we are in agreement. Canadians, with much less violence, in their country respect their government more…have less conspiracy theories than Americans about their government, and righfully so. Their government seems to more inclusive and respectful of its citizens, and less abusive to its people.
In America, education is being dumbed down, for future citizens to be further enslaved by the corporations; our financial system is constantly being denegrated , by corporations being allowed to steal its retired citizens savings, pensions, and finances from its people. The stealing caused the elimination of inheritances by future generations, and also erradicates the middle class, while the elite continue to get richer by each nano-moment..
With all that continually happening, what else would intelligent American citizens come to believe? Of course, they would believe in conspiracy therories. Working among the poor and middle class on a daily basis, we are forced to follow the paper trail to the elitists, as the major causes of America’s ills.
Canadians have much less poverty, thus, less violence, less disenchantment among the brothers, along with a sense of true community. Poverty creates conditions where violence is more apt to take roots as a means of crying out the unhappiness and disenfranchisement of its peoples.
In Most Major Cities,in America, the utmost of poverty thrives. One would think we were a third world country, Such an extreme economic widening is taking place between the rich and the poor.
In fact, the news..in early 1990’s,reported that by the year 2000, there would only be the rich and the poor…no in betweens…well that happened.
How did the mainstream media know to report this bleek future, back then?
Because the elitists not only were in the process of creating that condition, but, owned the media to tell us a bit of the truth, through their subtle brainwashing. This brainwashing takes place every monment of every day.
We are only told bits and pieces…of the truth, and mix it with their lies. If we read between the lines and follow the papertrail..we will always know what they are really doing…just think the worst case scenario..only, add 5 steps ahead of the worst case scenario….and wala…You will understand what they are planning on doing to us next. Their lies are becoming more evident, as time goes on.
Penny,
I am for religious freedom. It does not matter from which religion one is believing in a supreme being. It is just important that a society raise its children in awe of a supreme… higher power with positive influence, and put some value on a power, other than themselves.
It gives children a sense of balance. and security…and gives the same to the entire adult community, as well.
When humans focus and dwell on the ME,ME,ME, we get self consumed, and eventually, we become disenchanted, even with ourselves. We also have a tendency as humans, to get far away from what is good and sweet in this life, if we do not focus on something outside of ourselves..at least to some degree.
Canadians seem to focus are on the goodness and sweetness of life.
That is why they have much less violence a mental and physically more healthy society. This is all reflected by the Canadians who gain celebrity status here in America.
That comes from living a more loving lifestyle, ( like we had some 50 years ago) as opposed to the current self gratified lifestyle, without any God, or higher power, or creator, of any persuasion.
OUR GOVERNMENT WAS NOT MEANT TO TAKE GOD OUT OF THE SCHOOLS..WE WERE.JUST NOT SUPPOSED TO TELL THE STUDENTS WHICH GOD, NOR WHAT DENOMINATION THEY SHOULD PRAY TO, AND BELONG TO. That was to be left up to each citizen and home to teach their children.
A moment of prayer to God, whichever GOD the child believed in..was the basis for the beginning of each school day, and an acknowledgement that a higher power was looked up to, and exhalted, and going to help us throughout the day.
Now, condom choices and devil worship choices, ( NOT ANY GOD CHOICES ARE ALLOWED, THOUGH) and sexual lifestyle choices and Pro-Choices…and ….EVEY OTHER… NON LIMITING CHOICES ARE IN THE SCHOOLS which have brought our society to its lowest point, where our children are killing other innocent children.
We, through The Public School System are allowing our children all kinds of choices. The system is also allowing our children to make killing choices…..BUT NOT GOD CHOICES.
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By: Chris on May 2, 2013
at 12:02 PM
Auntie Jean, The article I read online said that there’s a gun culture in rural Kentucky that supports children learning how to shoot guns in order to hunt. The fact that there’s a company that makes these weapons expressly for children is because they want their young children to be able to shoot deer, or whatever. The gun was supposedly unloaded which is why it was left in a corner of the room. Both children are victims of their parents negligence and misguided ideas about what’s proper for children.
So, the 5 year old gets to grow up, he’s not dead, but his sister is. I feel great sorrow for him having that image of her lying dead with a bullet in her chest. I think it’s going to take a lot of therapy to heal the wound in his own heart, if that’s even possible. Maybe it will be a wake-up call for other parents who think kids with guns is a good idea.
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By: Terry Waggle on May 2, 2013
at 9:20 AM
there r a couple of things missing from your argument that we need fewer laws,and god back into our society.
first of all, god never left the society. what we provided was support for the constitutional separation of church and state>allowing all people to choose their own god/worship. religion does not belong to the public, it belongs to whatever private citizens wish it in the form they wish it without forcing it upon others. so you can have all the god you wish, anywhere you wish. you may not, however, decide (for others) which god nor how to worship. secondly, fewer laws is not the answer either. the laws we have are not always upheld. so we need to uphold the laws we have first. whether or not a society is civilized sort of depends on the observer, doesn’t it? after all, for you, civilization includes god. maybe there are those who do not consider god a sign of civilization and can tell you about the wars conducted in the name of god. perhaps we’re back to 1-mutual respect for all sentient beings and 2-education, the closest thing there is to a pancea. that means we do not cut out money for education, including headstart and other preschool programs; that we pay our teachers a fair salary and that we insist on parents’ participation in education. good luck on the last one.
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By: penny abrams on May 2, 2013
at 8:28 AM
Chris, former Detroiter here. Also from a Canadian family. Canadians view guns and behavior quite differently from Americans. They do not have a shoot ’em up response the way Americans do, plus they actually have a higher degree of trust in their government. There are way less folks in Canada with conspiracy theories involving the government. They are way too busy to spend time on such stuff.
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By: mageen in old virginny on May 2, 2013
at 7:27 AM
Waialeale, about the 5 yr. old wnd a gun; what parent puts a child in tha position of having the ability of shooting a sibling with any gun, let alone, his own gun.?
People kill people…whether with a gun or weapon of destruction. The bombs that killed our people of Boston….were NOT guns, for the most part.
The current claim for the need of gun control….to limit and possibly evenfually…..take our GUNS away…does not hold water.
Our essential right to bear arms are certainly at stake.
Something is wrong with our country…which has nothing to do with guns.
How can Detroit in 2010 have 310 murders, while Windsor, Canada, having more guns and MORE GUN RIGHTS had NO MURDERS in 2010.
These, two cities are a MERE MILE AWAY FROM EACH OTHER.
I say that we have a bunch more problems with the governing of this nation as a POLICE STATE.
Maybe, we need LESS LAWS..and not more.
When you restrict a society too much, that which you are trying to contain, becomes less .controlabe.
Societies with less laws, even the so called uncivilized societies are more peaceful, than the so called uncivilized countries. ( until civilized peoples invade and steal a countries resources and starve the people’s and turn them into savages amoung themselves.)
How about the Aborigines uncivilized civilization having been killed in a UN created genocide, known to be the most happy, peaceful, loving peoples in all the world?
Who is creating this angry, evil society, which we NEVER had in America, 50 years ago?
Maybe we should leave our gun laws alone….and……..
Maybe we need GOD back in the schools and back in the mix…
Society becomes evil without GOD in the picture.
The truth of this statement, is clear within the timeframe stated, here in America.
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By: Chris on May 2, 2013
at 1:48 AM
I totally agree Auntie Jean!
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By: lori on May 2, 2013
at 1:47 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
The NRA keeps playing its tired old tune, “Guns don’t kill people……..” a 5 year old kills his baby sister, accidentally, probably thinking it’s a toy. Then the he-men wannabes and an occasional Annie Oakley continue to think killing creatures is great sport. Their mind set is well on its way to extinction along with their first cousins, the dinosaurs.
Guns are, as we have seen time and again, potentially Weapons of Mass Destruction and have no place in a civilized society in the hands of civilians. Period.
Aloha! Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 2, 2013
at 1:04 AM
terry writes: Now a boy will grow up knowing he killed his baby sister. How sad is that?
at least he’s going to grow up, isn’t he
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By: penny abrams on May 1, 2013
at 6:49 PM
Hey, Cara – You have my most profound sympathies for making it through that day! If I had my own gazillion-dollar donors, I might put up my own “Gatobrary”… Full of my own rants and viewpoints on the world. (Would probably be more fun than this one seems to be…)
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 1, 2013
at 4:48 PM
So glad to see a new post. Living here in The N Texas area the day that damn library was dedicated was frustrating. All Bush, all day!!!
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By: Cara on May 1, 2013
at 4:42 PM
Well, Terry… A bit of a knee-jerk reaction here; I’ll admit it… Yeah; this kid is going to grow up knowing he killed his sister – but he will have protected his “Second Amendment Right”.. And deprived his sister of her right to life, in doing so. So comforting.
Oh – maybe his parents will tell him it wasn’t his fault (of course, in many ways, it wasn’t).
Could one only hope that those parents (and lord help them in their grief) might now begin to question why they thought a little pink gun, or a little blue gun, was just such a goddamned great idea…?
Gato
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By: gatodicima on May 1, 2013
at 4:37 PM
I read an article just now about it online. The little boy was given this “child’s rifle” as a gift. There’s a company that makes them for children – in Kentucky I believe. They’re child sized and even come in blue or pink. The rationale is to teach them how to hunt and use a gun properly at an early age. The gun was left in a corner of the room in which the two kids were when their mom stepped outside for a moment. They thought the gun was not loaded! Now a boy will grow up knowing he killed his baby sister. How sad is that?
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By: Terry Waggle on May 1, 2013
at 3:23 PM
Well said! I couldn’t agree more!
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By: Kathy Melton on May 1, 2013
at 12:59 PM
[…] Nobody will ever need to be shushed in the Bush Library. […]
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By: Nobody will ever need to be shushed in the Bush Library | What Happened?! on May 1, 2013
at 12:23 PM
I missed that this was a new post! YAY!
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By: delurkergurl on May 1, 2013
at 10:01 AM
“Authorities in southern Kentucky say a 2-year-old girl has been accidentally shot and killed by her 5-year-old brother, who was playing with a .22-caliber rifle he received as a gift.”
WTF?
“White said the shooting will be ruled accidental.”
Is willful stupidity an accident?
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By: delurkergurl "Fight Like a Girl!" on May 1, 2013
at 10:00 AM
dear auntie jean; i believe each country, certainly my own, should have an official language. i believe english should be ours. i also believe that a second language should be started in the third grade. in the case of the u.s.a., spanish would make most sense. if alabama spoke alabamese and georgia spoke georgian and florida spoke floridian, the citizens of all those states would learn one another’s languages as a matter of need…commerce alone requires it, which is why europeans speak more than one language, usually. if one crosses borders regularly the (other) language becomes a necessity. i don’t know why we don’t teach 2nd…and 3rd languages but then we don’t do a good job of teaching english either. siiiiiiiiiiiiiigh
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By: penny abrams on May 1, 2013
at 9:00 AM
Auntie Jean, I was married to a hard line Republican for over 30 years and after our divorce I became what I like to call a “born again Democrat”. I’ll never forget the way his jaw dropped when I announced that I thought Dubya was a buffoon and I couldn’t believe the GOP chose him to be their candidate. He and I are friends but what really tickles me is that his 2nd wife is a dyed in the wool Democrat and isn’t shy about letting him know her views.
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By: Terry Waggle on May 1, 2013
at 7:27 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
It’s about 9:00PM out here so I think I’ll chat with some of my good M&H friends a bit. This will be a one-way conversation because I’m sure most of you are tucked in bed, snoozin’ away about now.
Way to go, lori!!! We’ll get a decent gun control bill through yet. Keep up the good work. I rely on you to keep me abreast of what’s going on inside the political world..
Mageen, I LOVE that line about Washington DC being a sausage factory. I get a mental image from the words.
penny abrams, you made some valid points in your comment on April 30, 2013 at 8:52AM. One lifetime is not nearly enough to learn much about anything let along everything. Our swapping stories and experiences here is yet another way from the vast array of resources out there if we are inclined to pursue them.
Back there somewhere you and Gato mentioned your interests in languages. That too is one of our common interests. I think we are missing out here in America by being so hung up on our silly provincial insistence on “English Only.” Other countries around the world are not so narrow. School children in Switzerland often easily speak four or five languages. Learn another language and you learn about people and their culture. I have always been intrigued by Hebrew and Yiddish. I think you have to know Yiddish to understand the subtleties of Jewish humor.
I had Latin, Spanish and French in school and learned a great deal of Italian and German through my background in music. My Latin helped immensely in sciences such as biology, botany and chemistry and of course the romance languages. My husband is bilingual and fluent in French. He chatters away in Frence sometimes in his sleep. Believe me! he taught me lots and lots of words and phrases I would never have learned in the classroom.
His French has served us well in our travels, sometimes in surprising places. Naturally, people always immediately spot his accent but knock them selves out to be friendly and helpful. If you know the language or at least try to speak it, a whole world of new and different experiences open up to you. My husband THINKS in French when he is speaking it. I can’t do that in any language except English. I have to mentally translate which slows me down. But hey, I can get by. I have done my share of smattering of different languages in many unexpected places. The only place my husband’s French didn’t work was in Cajan country in Louisiana. Totally unintelligible on both sides.
Cynthia on April 28, 2013 (Cyn, my old pal!), thank you so much for the link to Russ Baker’s book, “Family of Secrets”. My husband and I both read the chapter you put up and so we just had to read the whole book. My husband is a reformed Republican. The Bush Dynasty brought on his epiphany and he hasn’t fallen off the wagon. He got the book at the library. We are fighting over possession of it. For anyone who hasn’t read it, it’s quite a TOME! 494 pages, very well documented with 64 fine print pages of notes. The man did him homework! He is a first rate investigative journalist and has contributed to major publications including one of my all time favorite magazines of superb writers, “The New Yorker.” He’s a fine, readable author..
I think I’ll go snatch the book out of his hands, toddle off and curl up in bed to READ, probably until the wee hours. Nighty-night.
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on May 1, 2013
at 2:04 AM
Hear Hear MIOV!
It’s good to see you on the porch. I hope all is well in your world these days. 😉
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By: lori on April 30, 2013
at 4:08 PM
Just figured out there was a new post. It is a bit awkward to try reading the comments the way they are set up here anymore, so hope nobody already posted this picture: http://i.imgur.com/bbnDNxf.jpg If so, I apologize. I thought it was not only fun but accurate. It looks as if you’ve moved on to other topics anyway.
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By: poolman on April 30, 2013
at 4:06 PM
lori, I’m right here about a stone’s throw from the sausage factory on the hill and it looks as if Senator Machin is not giving up on his background check bill. He is trying to bring it back for another vote. What needs to happen now is that the hill gets the message from all of us out here that the Machin background check bill needs an honest up or down vote on the Senate floor. All those who voted against it and are now experiencing vertigo in their polling numbers had better jump on this with one big YES vote if they enjoy the views on the Potomac. This background check bill may be just the thing needed to get the NRA to do a housecleaning of all the wack jobs they have on their membership rolls and I would bet my Social Security check they have not only some but more than they think. Nothing like springtime for cleaning!
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By: Mageen in Old Virginny on April 30, 2013
at 3:57 PM
For all my fellow political wonky nerds that LOVE the political side of politics as I do, here is a fun new toy to mess around with.
http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/30/how-immigration-reform-and-demographics-could-change-presidential-math/?smid=tw-fivethirtyeight&seid=auto
Demographics and how they pertain to immigration reform and what that means for each Party was the topic of a meeting I attended recently. This would have been a handy tool to have during our discussions and future discussion that are going on around the country!
If you want to join in on the discussion on twitter. Follow nate silver @fivethirtyeight #immigration. See you there. 😉
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By: lori on April 30, 2013
at 3:05 PM
Wow even Republican Senator Jeff Flake publicly admits his poll numbers are dropping because of his no vote on gun control!
All of us on this page, and anyone with a thimbles knowledge about politics, knew there would be a huge backlash against the politicians who voted against universal background checks, given they were so popular. But I really didn’t expect the GOP to admit it!
A Miracle!
“I would assume that my poll numbers have indeed taken a southerly turn since my vote against the Manchin-Toomey background check proposal. It was a popular amendment, and I voted against it.” Jeff Flake
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By: lori on April 30, 2013
at 12:39 PM
auntie jean: u ask, “A rhetorical disputatious question. What motivates us and what is accomplished by our being disputatious for the sole purpose of disputatiousness?”
i enjoy disputing/discussing/arguing those things which i am interested in, have a profound belief in, or wonder how they came about. i do not dispute just for the sake of disputing, if that’s what you meant.
i find i learn a great deal from delving into some subjects with people who also do some thinking. i try to understand the p.o.v. that i do not hold by discussing with those who disagree with me. sometimes i find that i have seen an issue with less than full vision, sometimes i get an understanding i never had. and i am curious…curious about what makes others who they are. for me, it is an education…or at least part of one. 😉
i do try never to be rude.
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By: penny abrams on April 30, 2013
at 8:52 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Terry Waggles, you are still just a kid in my book. With your knees and hip, welcome to the Hobbler’s Club! We are legion!!! But we get the job done which is all that counts. Congrats on beating your breast cancer! More people are beating all kinds of cancers and astonishing PROGRESS is being made in cancer research every day by all us lib’ral PROGRESSives. It just doesn’t get much press coverage. Conspiracy theories along with doom, gloom, moaning and whining seem to make some people sit up and take notice. Sells better maybe? But I, for one, am not buying.
Aloha! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on April 29, 2013
at 6:58 PM
Auntie Jean, I was intrigued by your health report and it moved me to share my own state of health with you. I’ve had both knees replaced and was looking forward to having a hip replaced when I thought I’d paid my dues. Every time I was interviewed by some new health pro they’d marvel that I don’t take any Rx’s except one for allergies. They’d invariably say, “You’re really healthy for your age!” which I took as a compliment since I’m now 73. Then in 2010 I was diagnosed with breast cancer and fortunately I’m free so far of any re-occurrences. My take on any downers is to try to find something to laugh about. One evening my son made the comment, “You can say, ‘I’m really healthy but I have cancer!'”
We were both laughing at the incongruity of it. As I went through chemo and radiation I kept thinking of how I should work on a stand-up routine complete with a hospital gown and a rolling morphine drip in tow. Laughter is indeed the best medicine and I try to prescribe it as often as possible.
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By: Terry Waggle on April 29, 2013
at 5:58 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Ginger Haffey on April 29, 2013 at 7:32 AM, what has my diet to do with still being cancer free? Who knows? I have no idea. I eat and drink anything and everything – almost. I’ve never had a weight problem. If someone is kind enough to prepare a meal for me, I’ll eat it!!! However, I’ve never like eggs but LOVE quiche. Not big on escargot. Never liked the taste of beer or gin, but LOVE White Zin. (Forgive me, Oh father, for I have Zinned.)
A rhetorical disputatious question. What motivates us and what is accomplished by our being disputatious for the sole purpose of disputatiousness?
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on April 29, 2013
at 5:20 PM
Your best line evah! “I guess the constitution only applies to Christian Americans – you know, value voters who seem to have no values beyond the latest sale at Wal-Mart.”
I live in Texas. It pains me to no end to be in the same state as W. And by that, I mean state of residence, not state of mind. He must sleep like a baby the way he can ignore and rationalize away just about everything!
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By: Elisabet M on April 29, 2013
at 4:16 PM
This is heartening news: senators who voted against the gun control background checks are seeing their approval ratings dropping in the polls.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/29/gun-background-checks-poll_n_3177865.html?utm_hp_ref=politics
In my opinion, this is an appropriate response to the cowardly “no” votes that 90% of the American public disagreed with. It might make those senators rethink their position. If not, they need to be voted out of office.
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By: Terri in NY on April 29, 2013
at 2:04 PM
pf: History has shown us that ALL governments tend, over time, to become more and more oppressive – has nothing to do with what year we live in – it’s universal and time-independent. that’s your quote. prove it please. prove that ALL…
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By: penny abrams on April 29, 2013
at 1:42 PM
Well said, Dragontech – I imagine that the reason the “well-regulated militia” part of the Second was included for exactly the reason you cite: Even our founders must surely have understood the potential risk of having all of their neighbors ARMED WITHOUT REGULATION. In fact, one notes that the whole REASON for allowing citizens to carry weapons (the first part of that amendment, and therefore, we can assume, presents the rationale for it) was because there wasn’t much of an organized “army” in those days, and it was hoped that citizens, WHEN SUMMONED TO DO SO BY THE GOVERNMENT, would be able to respond to the call for defense, when needed. The amendment does NOT read anything like, “The right of citizens to bear any and all arms shall not be restricted, nor shall their right to do whatever they want with those arms, whenever and wherever they wish, be restrained.”
They COULD have written it that way, if that’s what they intended… And they did not.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on April 29, 2013
at 11:53 AM
PFesser – Good God, are you REALLY going to spew that “protect us from the tyranny of our government” BS AGAIN?
The current law of the land provides hand guns, rifles, including semi-automatic with high capacity clips, and shot guns for the common person. Under VERY special circumstances, and with VERY expensive licenses, some people can get fully automatic weapons. HOWEVER, not ONE of these can combat an M-2 Bradley armored fighting vehicle, or an Apache attack helicopter, or an A-10 Thunderbird II. Damn few could do anything about a sniper 2,000 yards away, or a platoon of US Army or Marines in body armor. THESE, at the VERY least, is what you’d be up against to try to fight against our government. And why do all 2nd Amendment “Gun Nut” adherents forget the first part of the Second Amendment? “A WELL REGULATED MILITIA, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
A WELL REGULATED militia. Not every Tom, Dick and Harry gun happy red-neck who thinks government is evil. Just by the inclusion of well-regulated in the text means the government not only CAN, but MUST regulate these militia, and the arms they bear.
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By: Dragontech64 on April 29, 2013
at 11:21 AM
.
And now, another episode of…
…GunFAIL news.
Fifteen weeks worth of fun loving Freedom Projectile sharing.
PEACE ~ Δ
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By: Whirled Peas Δ on April 29, 2013
at 11:02 AM
PFessor…
The United States Military Industrial Complex was taken over, by Nazi scientists…after WWII,or, was possibly an intrical part of the Nazi regime..which may have been spearheaded originally, by the industrialist elitists..
President Eisenhower warned of the growth of the military industria complex in 1950. He was, himself, alarmed of its power in our government, even back then..
The Industrialist Corporations ( both foreign and domestic) were also Nazi sympathizers during and before WWII.
The Banker, Industrialists Like Walker, made son-law…GrandPappy Prescott Bush… Hitlers Banker in 1935.See how the dots connect the BANKERS TO THE INDUSTRIALISTS.
If any person or corporaton can buy 27% of a companies stock, it can dictate the company business practices of that company..or help create a company takeover. That has been happening throughout the United States.
Those same Nazi sypathizer corporations like IBM, Dow, G.E., Ford, Malenkradt, (the list goes on and on, and the numbers and names of the corporations expanded, as their assets and influences, did as well.)
That mindset of growth of those elitists. is what has controlled our financial (the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 )medical ( with the drug, Chemical CORPORATIONS.controling the FDA, AMA, USDA, EPA,and throughout our society and educational system, while dowling out street drugs, to devastate and smokescreen while they did their dirty work, and promote their further control of America, while eliminating us with so called medical drugs and poisons in our foods…what a genicide they are performing on us.
This genocide they is a continuation of what was done to the Jewish Peoples many years ago.
The masses work for the corporations,for years, to only loose their benefits, when retirement comes, ( it looks like social security with be the next rug pulled out from under the serfs) exactly like the elitists landlords did to the serfs during the Dark Ages; to keep the masses under control, while the serfs surrendered the fruits of their labor to the wealthy; left to barely subsist on the minute left-over crumbs of their labor.
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By: Chris on April 29, 2013
at 10:57 AM
penny – I appreciate your POV on the evolution of societies, but I would submit to you that some ideas transcend time.
The purpose of the Second Amendment is generally agreed upon to be to ensure the people’s ability to defend themselves against their own government, not each other. History has shown us that ALL governments tend, over time, to become more and more oppressive – has nothing to do with what year we live in – it’s universal and time-independent.
Therefore the Founders saw fit to guarantee for all time the people’s abilities to defend themselves against that.
That is my take on it. You may disagree.
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By: PFesser on April 29, 2013
at 9:37 AM
gato questioned: “Good lord… Are you really requesting that I should provide documentation and “cites” to “prove” that an intelligent conservative, such as I describe, might possibly even EXIST, outside of someone’s imagination…?”
C’mon – you know exactly what is meant. You said that PF was fascinated by “panties” – more or less. I want the documentation, that is all. I believe it is only you who has mentioned the term; I could be wrong, but he who asserts bears the burden of proof. You asserted; show the proof. What’s the matter, gato got your tongue?
While we’re at it: What is the name of the gun club near Sandy Hook where you got all your new-found firearms knowledge? There is no privacy issue; all the clubs in the area can be easily listed; just tell us which one. Or is that like your “panties” – another figment of your imagination?
Cordially, PF
Now, want to get on to issues, or do you have more personal baggage you need to vent?
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By: PFesser on April 29, 2013
at 9:30 AM
pf: i have as much right to decide what is beneficial as anyone else…for me and for society in general. then, we vote and when the majority agree on what’s right we, as a society, act upon it. that’s the idea of a democracy. (i know, i know, it is not only what democracy is but it is part of it, ok?) the bill of rights, the constitution, its amendments and society’s values were very different then (when these documents were written) than now. technology has played a huge part. the ability to travel around the world in hours, to penetrate space, to preserve life well into the 70’s, to cure many diseases, to communicate in moments to almost every corner of the world, has changed everything. it has changed thinking, needs, goals, methods to achieve…everything has changed. why insist on instruments which are sorely outdated? why not bring them into the 21st century, to suit the people’s needs…including personal rights and freedom. when the supreme court meets to further elucidate legal struggles, it states that it is trying to do so based on what was thought to be the founding fathers’ intent and ideologies. right. you cannot really believe that the authors of these instruments would keep them the same as when first written?
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By: penny abrams on April 29, 2013
at 9:15 AM
cynthia: the only time more of the same works and then it isn’t foolproof is when fighting a major fire and another fire is started to combat the first one. more guns is not the answer to guns. limiting guns (and ammunition, and the makings of bombs) is apparently necessary since there are so many whackaloons out there who have access to them. as for the secret caches of arms to overwhelm the citizenry, (about which i have neither read nor heard anything in the media) they must be tucked away under the same rocks the communistis used during the McCarthy era. I’ll tell you what THE weapon is…fear…frighten the masses…and hunger…make it difficult to get enough to eat…and lack of education…keep higher education just out of reach of most people. eliminate all aid. THEN scream ‘watch out—they’re comin’ to getcha.’
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By: penny abrams on April 29, 2013
at 8:59 AM
precisely…guns have changed, moral attitudes have changed, respect for one another has diminished…yes, we have to adapt to all of that…and changing the gun laws is a good way to do it.
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By: penny abrams on April 29, 2013
at 8:48 AM
Me, again! Getting over the shock of re-finding M&H! So its all about gun control? Start by cleaning house at the NRA. This is something most really good organizations do every so often. Not only clean the house but maintain it clean afterwards. That is actually the hardest part. But its worth it. Keeps the value of the property from skidding downwards.
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By: mageen in old virginny on April 29, 2013
at 8:14 AM
OMG, you’re back in the saddle! Great post as usual. Looked for this what seems like a very long time. The ad . . . hairless hunk. Being a new widow, this may or may not be good for me. More over, have no real desire to visit the Bush presidential library. It just holds no valuable interest for me. Would possibly visit the JFK library in Boston if I were in that vicinity.
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By: mageen in old virginny on April 29, 2013
at 8:07 AM
Auntie Jean, What is your diet like? Do you think it has anything to do with you being cancer-free?
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By: Ginger Haffey on April 29, 2013
at 7:32 AM
Good lord… Are you really requesting that I should provide documentation and “cites” to “prove” that an intelligent conservative, such as I describe, might possibly even EXIST, outside of someone’s imagination…?
You’ve actually astonished me with that one – and gave me quite a good laugh this morning.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on April 29, 2013
at 6:52 AM
penny noted: “more time to eradicate those unnecessary weapons now in the public possession, we need to eliminate all possible dangers now. we can do that without disturbing anyone’s rights. ”
Well, a couple of things: firstly, it’s not up to you or anyone else to decide what’s “necessary,” what “need(s) to be eradicate(d)” or what “disturb(s) anyone’s rights.” That has already been taken care of several centuries ago, when the Bill of Rights was written.
Secondly, I don’t believe we need to “eradicate all possible dangers.” Eradicating danger is always a two-edged sword, and always involves also eradicating freedoms. We could be completely safe if we all sat in a nice, padded cell, but I don’t think we want to do that. I believe it was Franklin who said that, “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Thoughts?
***********
Terry opined: “Theresa was “flamed” because what she wrote was offensive and wrong. It’s not complicated.”
Terry, God forbid that someone else express an opinion that you think is “wrong.” Thank you for so elegantly demonstrating the kind of bigotry and intolerance that is, itself, so offensive. I rest my case.
***********
gato opined: “it’s really nice to find an intelligent conservative who can engage in a conversation that isn’t so often laced with kinky references to underwear (always “panties,” BTW, never “briefs,”
gato, can you provide cites, or is this just another figment of your imagination that you present as fact? Perhaps I am misinformed, but I believe the only references to “panties” have come from you (not that your sexual preferences have anything to do with our discussions here. We already know about your attraction to spanking. Perhaps you have once again revealed more about yourself than you intended?)
Now, can we please drop the personal attacks and try – TRY – to get back on topic? You are behaving like a troll, you know…Matt, the blog owner, said so.
Cordially, PF
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By: PFesser on April 29, 2013
at 6:18 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
This is something that rarely makes the 6:00 O’clock news but it is going on all the time.
After my successful endarterectomy at Straub Hospital in Honolulu about 15 years ago, I received an intriguing invitation to take part in a long range cancer screening trial. PLCO (Prostate, Lung, Colon, Ovarian) is the ongoing study under the cooperative auspices of the NIH (National Health Institute) and the NCI (National Cancer Institute.) Google PLCO. They were recruiting volunteers to participate. The objective of the study was to see if and to what extent regular screening for those four types of cancers could detect the early more treatable stages or even indicative of future occurrences. This involved an extensive questionnaire about health and family history, diet, and lifestyle habits as well as an in-depth ethnic inquiry. Since Hawaii is well known as being so racially, ethnically and culturally diverse, the possibility of genetic influences could be significant in the study. (Example, we rarely if ever see a person from Asian descent of either sex who is obese.)
The study entailed an annual trip for five years to Straub Hospital for testing. A thorough physical exam, broad spectrum blood screening, especially for prostate and ovarian markers, lung X-ray, and a flexible sigmoidoscopy of the colon. Colonoscopies were not done. After the five years, there were no more actual physical screening but they would follow up with the annual questionnaire.
Other screening centers around the country were and are also involved in the study. I’m listing them just so you can see how extensive this trial is.
Georgetown University, Washington, DC; Henry Ford Health System, Michigan; Marshfield Clinic, Wisconsin; Pacific Health Research & Education Institute, Hawaii; University of Alabama at Birmingham; University of Colorado, Denver; University of Minnesota; University of Pittsburg; University of Utah and St. Luke’s MSTI, Idaho; Washington University, Missouri. Ultimately there are something like well over 150,000 participants, almost equally divided between men and women.
Centralized Data Collection Center (CDCC), Westat is in charge of compiling and analyzing the data. As you can see this is a quite extensive undertaking. The results have and continue to be promising since some 300 papers have been published in prestigious scientific journals.
So way back then, I thought, sure why not volunteer. These are expensive tests that are not routinely done for most people by their primary care physician unless there are some symptoms that indicate concern. We all know that early detection and treatment are vital for survival from most cancers. And so, I signed up. For five years, we went over and I spent the morning being tested. The last time they checked, I don’t have a prostate but I got all the other tests. Then we stayed on in Honolulu for a few days to play tourist. The results of the tests were always sent to my primary care physician.
I got to know a number of the people working on the study very well. First of all, they are FIRST RATE in training and experience, thoroughly professional and a pleasure to be around and hang out with. Beyond that they are super nice, kind and caring people uncommonly dedicated to their work. As you can imagine, much of what they do is mind numbing repetition of extremely detailed attention to accuracy. But those wonderful people are invariably cheerful and upbeat as they keep their eyes glued to the long range, and I do mean years of long range goals. So anytime one volunteers to be poked, pricked and prodded, these are the kind of people one wants to be dealing with!
As would be expected, programs and studies of this nature require funding. I can think of no better outlay of money than to keep this kind of work going. This is another reason why I applaud President Obama for his prescience in proposing the “Brain Activity Map” research during his State of the Union speech and since. I only hope the general public will have the wisdom to see what the benefits to all of humanity it can ultimately be.
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
P. S. With so much cancer in my immediate family history, four cases, two fatal; at age 83 I am still cancer free. Go figure
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By: waialeale on April 29, 2013
at 3:05 AM
There is a theory of thought going around by a lot more than a few, saying that guns are not the only source of the killings going on in this country.
BOMBS are the main threat, so, hampering our gun rights is not the answer.
It was recently on the mainstream media, that Homeland Security has some 79 offfices throughout America; stockpiling some 250 million rounds of ammunition. What kind of an emergency would create the need for these offices and stockpiles of bullets, except, to use against the 314 million of US CITIZENS.
The main goal of the Bildeburgs ( Illuminati ) is for a one world govt.. by whatever means it takes; and to eliminate 90% of the world’s population.
A guest on the George Noory Show brought up a very interesting point, last night, in respect to this subject.
He ( restated what I have come to believe ) says that all these recent killings are interrelated.
As an example:
Within 24 hours of the Boston Massacre, the W. Texas explosion took place.
In 2010, the guest heard, there was a pending lawsuit between this fertilizer company and Monsanto? How convenient to take the focus off the destruction of its competitor.
All the chemical companies have control of our FDA and USDA including the foods and drugs they provide us for consumption; from our grocery store shelves, to the abusive, killing drugs our brainwashed doctors are handing out like candy. We are literaly sheep being sent to slaughter.
All that is happening is bringing about the loss of America’s freedom to the One World Government…..New World Order.
We do not want to believe this, especially many of our brainwashed, highly educated people.
We must not, under any circumstances give up our rights to own guns, or gold.
The Germans with the Treaty of Versalles, after WWI were gun restricted, in 1928.
That was overturned in 1938, when German citizens were allowed to carry guns.
The Nazis restricted their Jewish People, from owning and carrying guns. They stated the Jews, were not citizens…..as their citizenship rights were taken away.
Today, we must be super careful that we NOT ban certain citizens, as we will be leading the way to separate groups of our citizens, taking their rights away.
For, it opens the door for further discrimation, and selective restrictions of our citizen population.
Remember, if only ONE of us looses his rights, no one is really free.
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By: Chris on April 28, 2013
at 8:13 PM
Helen and Margaret it is great hearing from you again!
If you have not read – Family of Secrets: The Bush Dynasty, America’s Invisible Government and the Hidden History of the Last Fifty Years, by WhoWhatWhy Editor-in-Chief Russ Baker, here is Chapter 23 of the book:
http://whowhatwhy.com/2013/04/26/more-not-in-the-george-w-bush-presidential-library-and-museum-the-cronyism/
http://whowhatwhy.com
Peace.
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By: Cynthia on April 28, 2013
at 7:17 PM
Exactly! A single load musket doesn’t present the threat our modern day guns do when they fall into the hands of the wrong people.
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By: Terry Waggle on April 28, 2013
at 4:33 PM
Guns have changed.
.
.
Shouldn’t our gun laws?
PEACE ~ Δ
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By: Whirled Peas Δ on April 28, 2013
at 3:39 PM
Ya know, Terri, it’s really nice to find an intelligent conservative who can engage in a conversation that isn’t so often laced with kinky references to underwear (always “panties,” BTW, never “briefs,” one must note), and endlessly repetitive uses of the same put-down categorizations. (Boring!)
Actually, I consider myself extremely lucky to have at least one friend like that! He is always aware that people can interpret “facts” differently, according to their world views, and doesn’t take the position that if he has more and better “facts,” that makes him necessarily right. (Nor does he grant that to me.) He and I have any number of interesting, and always cordial, conversations about issues, both moral and political. (My husband, himself a lifelong conservative, is always amazed that we can do that!)
There is no name-calling, and no condescension, on either side – just interest and mutual respect. And we both know that we are lucky to have each other as friends.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on April 28, 2013
at 3:39 PM
Theresa was “flamed” because what she wrote was offensive and wrong. It’s not complicated.
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By: Terri in NY on April 28, 2013
at 3:13 PM
You neglected to mention that “Theresa” was not “instantly flamed” by everyone here.
It would be nice if you could just step back for a nanosecond and let other “newbies” figure out a few things themselves, instead of assuming they need your direction on how to post on a blog because they are too stupid to figure it out themselves. Just a thought…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on April 28, 2013
at 2:09 PM
pfesser…right, we live by the constitution or so we claim. right again, hunters who hunt animals for food use the proper equipment. right again, only a fool would use automatic or semi automatic weapons or what i call mega cartridges when legally hunting for food. right, it’s the semi automatics which are avialable to the general public. both my sons hunt and fish. i had an uncle who ate what he grew and could bring home from his hunting and fishing trips. now, let’s address reality. people are using arms in a wrongful way. they are getting semi automatic weapons which can do much more damage much more quickly than the proper weapons for, example, deer hunting. since it takes time to educate and more time to eradicate those unnecessary weapons now in the public possession, we need to eliminate all possible dangers now. we can do that without disturbing anyone’s rights. you can sit there smoking your pipe and smiling but i am too upset over the useless killing of people by people who possess weapons and ammunition no civilian should ever have. this is not merely a debate. this is a serious matter which requires serious people to take their responsibilities to humanity seriously and act on it. frankly i would rather be wrong and save some lives than be right and sit by, watching mayhem. you strike me as being too self absorbed to care. feel free to correct me. i rather think you do anyway.
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By: penny abrams on April 28, 2013
at 1:48 PM
lori opined:
“F&F Penny and Terry! M&H ‘s Administration, for wherever reason, has chosen to allow trolls.”
There’s no mystery. If you want to look back in the M&H archives, you will find that the blog owner (Matt) voiced his opinion on the “troll” question long ago, to wit: Those who take their spite out on others by calling them “trolls” would actually better fit the real definition of trolls, themselves. So that is the “whatever reason” that is such a mystery to lori and her ilk.
Anyway, nice to “see” two new faces here. Be aware that there is a small cadre of seventh-graders who think they own the place; you will have a smooth ride if you just suck it up and agree with everything they have to say. If you have the temerity to suggest that there might be two sides to an issue, you will have a tough go of it (if you care). You see what happened to the newbie, Theresa – she was instantly flamed.
But not to worry; several of us like to pull their beards for sport, so enjoy yourselves, and feel free to say what you think!
Cordially, PF
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By: PFesser on April 28, 2013
at 1:30 PM
Penny – nobody is getting “technical.” The Constitution means what it says, and it doesn’t say what you said it did. The Declaration of Independence is basically a document enumerating the reasons for separation from Britain; it is NOT the law, so “life, liberty and pursuit of happiness” isn’t in the Constitution – the document we supposedly live by.
Penny also noted: …”w/an automatic weapon slaughtering deer as they trot by, blowing them to useless smithereens all over the forests, taking trees down also…and then hitting a kid playing in his backyard.”
First of all, automatic weapons are not available to the public, only semi-automatic. Secondly, deer rifles and .223s like the AR-15 do not do that kind of damage; the meat would be useless. They make a hole about the size of a pencil going in, and if they go through the animal, make a hole the size of your thumb coming out. But you are right; those rounds travel about 5 miles, so it is very important that a hunter be sure of his target and what’s behind it; that is the first thing a hunter learns.
Had to laugh about the trees comment. It takes something like a .50cal to cut trees; that’s a very large military round, not available to civilians.
Terry Waggle suggested: “I’ve also pictured what a deer or a duck would look like having been shot by an assault weapon. Cleaning/dressing it would require a large shovel to scoop it off the ground and a trash bag to haul it home.”
Ducks and other fowl are not hunted with rifles; it would be too dangerous. They are taken with shotguns, which have a lethal range (for humans) of about 100 yards, usually less.
Gato – really get under your (admittedly very thin) skin, huh? If you only had an inkling of the perverse pleasure you provide … heh, heh…. do carry on.
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By: PFesser on April 28, 2013
at 1:09 PM
Obama on fire @ the #WHCD LOL LOL
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/27/white-house-correspondents-dinner_n_3158099.html
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By: lori on April 28, 2013
at 8:55 AM
I always look forward to your posts, Helen. You’ve nailed it once again. The thing that really gets me about this lie-berry is the obscene 9/11 display. How dare he attempt to rewrite history to favor his gross dereliction of office.
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By: M&H Lurker on April 27, 2013
at 9:16 PM
gato…i gather there r some for whom u do not carry much respect? roflllllllllllll ok, i can see that. yanno wot? we don’t have to b highly literate or even real bright to tell wot we’re thinking and even to be right in what we think. (btw i luv thumbing my nose at english and how she is writ, as an old [very old] english major).
i was fluent in several languages. now i could barely manage in french, spanish,yiddish, mayb a little hebrew and turkish…a few words of greek but anyone would be hard pressed to agree unless they have vivid imaginations. if u don’t use it, u lose it…i’m told.
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By: penny abrams on April 27, 2013
at 3:33 PM
Hi, Penny… Well, it was a moment. Not sure why “Theresa’s” post struck me that particular way. Not a post with which I would directly engage, but the thought crossed my mind that it COULD be just someone who isn’t very articulate, but was trying to be heard, anyway… Instead of a troll, in yet another incarnation, chuckling away as he or she tried to put one over on everybody again. Maybe I’m just so weary of all the machinations that I was yearning for some real innocence, just for once…
I speak one other language (French) pretty well (“for an American,” as I am often reminded, affectionately, by French friends), but am sure that I would sound like an idiot myself, were I trying to have a conversation in Mandarin, or Farsi, or Hebrew, or any of a thousand other languages…
As you well know, we have a few here who are quite articulate in English – and are DEFINITELY idiots, none the less! (Let me add a few more adjectives there: Pompous, overbearing, condescending, tedious, simpering, arrogant, posturing… Idiots. It’s not that their points of view are necessarily idiotic… It’s their pompous, overbearing, condescending, tedious, simpering, arrogant, and posturing attitudes that are idiotic.)
Gato
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By: gatodicima on April 27, 2013
at 3:10 PM
4000 pics of dead soldiers in one
portrait is worth how many words?
.
.
How many dollars???
.
.
PEACE ~ Δ ~ I mean it. Really.
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By: Whirled Peas Δ on April 27, 2013
at 11:58 AM
what’s next…”We need to pass this gun control law to find out what’s in it “
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By: uawtradesman on April 27, 2013
at 11:19 AM
a pic is worth a thousand words….
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By: uawtradesman on April 27, 2013
at 11:00 AM
F&F Penny and Terry!
M&H ‘s Administration, for wherever reason, has chosen to allow trolls. Their space their rules right? But we all know the best way to deal with trolls is to ignore their nonsensical rhetoric.
I enjoy their writings and appreciate this site ‘s efforts to advance Progressive POVs. Plus I love my comrade’s in arms comments. AKA Penny and Terry! Lol lol rock on..
Peace all.
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By: lori on April 27, 2013
at 9:54 AM
The Declaration of Independence – USHistory.org
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/
… that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these ..
that’s the right to life…which comes first
yes, mega cartridges mean those with more than 10 rounds. you weren’t really in doubt.
as for the constitution not disallowing citizens anything, let me point out that there are (constitutional) laws which provide for the treatment (penalties, prison) for those breaking the law(s). as in treason, for instance. the constitution gives the states rights to tax citizens who then must pay the tax. so you may get tenchincal if you wish, but there are prohibitions and rules by which we live, constitutionally.
.
.
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By: penny abrams on April 27, 2013
at 9:17 AM
I’ve also pictured what a deer or a duck would look like having been shot by an assault weapon. Cleaning/dressing it would require a large shovel to scoop it off the ground and a trash bag to haul it home. Hunters in the line of fire wouldn’t fare any better.
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By: Terry Waggle on April 27, 2013
at 9:09 AM
terry…i’m with you, as you said. i don’t know how many more must die, including the poor deluded gunperson, before this nation realizes what’s happening. perhaps what we need is a commercial on TV which shows a hunter w/an automatic weapon slaughtering deer as they trot by, blowing them to useless smithereens all over the forests, taking trees down also…and then hitting a kid playing in his backyard.
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By: penny abrams on April 27, 2013
at 9:00 AM
penny opined: “please take a moment to consider that the right to own a weapon is not the first right of the bill of rights…the right to life is…”
There is no “right to life” in the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment deals with freedom of speech, religion, assembly, petition only. To wit:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
further: “none of us who are claiming that gun owners be responsible people are against the 2nd amendment which says nothing at all about automatic weapons nor about mega cartridges which were unknown when that amendment was written. do you really think that those are necessary? to hunters? or defenders of their homes? automatic weapons and mega cartridges?”
The Constitution places restrictions on government, not the people. The people do not need permission to have any of the above; the government needs a reason to prohibit them.
Automatic weapons are already prohibited without a government-issued permit; they are extremely hard to obtain. I think that by “mega cartridges” you mean large-capacity magazines; they are not currently prohibited.
I think we would do much better to have better background checks and actually ENFORCE laws already on the books, than to make new laws which, of course, won’t be enforced either, and only inconvenience folks who actually FOLLOW the law already. The idea of “do something – anything!” is very appealing, but not very helpful.
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By: PFesser on April 27, 2013
at 8:53 AM
Penny, I’m on the same page as you are and I appreciate your attempt to explain your stand to others. The 2nd Amendment has been the rallying cry for gun owners, most of whom have no idea why it became an amendment. We are living in a different world, in different circumstances. The Red Coats are not going to come riding into town. Our “town” has been taken over by the gun manufacturers who contribute heavily to the NRA. The gun manufacturers don’t care who buys their product or what they do with it or they’d be demanding sensible gun laws. As long as they can keep their customers scared of being gun-less they’ll be in control.
So, how many innocent children and adults have to die before a solution is agreed upon?
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By: Terry Waggle on April 27, 2013
at 8:51 AM
gato opined:
“I think “idiot” might even be a little strong here (in referring to Theresa, ” &c.
Of course, Theresa, if you agreed with the article, then you would be instantly a charter member of the “Oh, you are SO smart! But no, YOU are so smart!” club. LOL…
Oh well, the old saying is that you are better off to be judged by who are your enemies than who are your friends. By those standards, you are a veritable Einstein…heheeeeeee…..
***************
Continuing the tradition of promoting an understanding of finance: Schiff on the Fed and inflation. (Sorry for the math; I thought it was easy enough to include.)
“For any American alive today, slow inflation can seem as natural as aging. Every year, on average, everything gets a little more expensive, but wages also climb. It’s just the way things are.
“But this is a misperception. The dollar, unlike the human body, doesn’t naturally degrade over time.
“For one thing, this steady devaluation of the dollar is new practice, relatively speaking. For most of our country’s history, the dollar gained value. The dollar was worth 75 percent more in 1912 than it was worth in 1800. If you were around in 1900, for instance, ….what cost a dime had cost fifteen cents in 1875, and twenty cents in 1800.
“Of course, since 1912, the dollar has lost more than 95% of its value. What cost a nickel in 1912 costs a dollar today. What cost $50 in 1912 costs $1000 today. You will recall what happened in 1913; the Fed was created. The 1971 abolition of the gold standard (ed. note: by Nixon, a Republican) just accelerated things. It took fifty-eight years after the Fed’s creation for the dollar to lose 75 percent of its value, but it only took twenty-six years after killing the gold standard for the dollar to lose another 75 percent.”
(Peter D. Schiff – The Real Crash)
The benefit of fiat (paper) money is that the politicians can buy your vote with your own money, but they don’t have to raise taxes and face the voters in the next election. Inflation, caused by printing funny money, a là Hussein, Geithner and The Bernank, allows them to reach into your bank account and take it out without your knowledge, then give it back to you when they buy your vote. Cool!
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By: PFesser on April 27, 2013
at 8:40 AM
lol, auntie jean…very clever…yes, i remember the rhyme…heh heh heh (trying to also look stupid)
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By: penny abrams on April 27, 2013
at 7:42 AM
uaw…we all honor the rights of gun owners who also honor the right to life. most gun owners agree that there should be back ground checks and other limitations to gun ownership. personally, altho an anti gun person, i would leap to defend your right to own one as long as you are fit to own one. even the membership of the gun lobby agree to that. none of us who are claiming that gun owners be responsible people are against the 2nd amendment which says nothing at all about automatic weapons nor about mega cartridges which were unknown when that amendment was written. do you really think that those are necessary? to hunters? or defenders of their homes? automatic weapons and mega cartridges? do you want some poor deluded person wandering around with the capacity to knock off an entire school body? please take a moment to consider that the right to own a weapon is not the first right of the bill of rights…the right to life is…and that nowhere is the 2nd amenment threatened with the requirement of background checks and sufficient stability to own a weapon.
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By: penny abrams on April 27, 2013
at 7:34 AM
ah, gato, a more charitable soul than most. i will say this…the theresas are better ignored on blogs such as these. it’s like trying to explain to a child who’s having a fit in the middle of a grocery. IF ‘she’ were ‘just trying to express herself’, i think by now she’d have said something more/other. but good for u, gato, to try to be patient w/the theresas. i’ve lost patience with them.
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By: penny abrams on April 27, 2013
at 7:24 AM
Instead of showing scenes of happy campers cutting ribbons…the media has committed treasonous acts of deceiving the American public….
First, if any person or corporation controls 27% of a companies stock, it CAN control the business practices of ANY company..which is happening too much in America, today.
The mainstream media is thusly controlled by the Rothechild Bankers who are causing the collapse of our financial system, while, covering their tracks on how they are desvastating The United States of America….continually, on a daily basis, especially after 9/11 and 2008 financial crash..which reverberates even now…
WE NEVER hear NEWS about what really matters on the Radio and TV.
How can anyone ever think of the Bushes in a GOOD LIGHT?
He and his President Hoover relatives ruined this country..The campaign slogan for Hoover was .A CHICKEN IN EVERY POT….while 7 million Americans dissapeared in the Census between 1030-1940,; when people, after the 1928 crash were forced to live in tent cities and starved to death, and were burried in mass graves. How conveniently the history books ommit these atrocities.
What is included below was on a local St. Louis TV Channel 4 …….newsline….on the internet.
Read for Yourself.
FDIC closes banks in North Carolina, Georgia
Associated Press
Posted on April 27, 2013 at 5:02 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) — Regulators have closed banks in Georgia and North Carolina, bringing the number of U.S. bank failures to 10 this year.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said on Friday it seized Douglas County Bank, based in Douglasville, Ga.
The lender, which had four branches, had about $316.5 million in assets and $314.4 million in deposits.
Regulators also closed Parkway Bank, based in Lenoir, N.C., which had about $108.6 million in assets and $103.7 million in deposits.
The FDIC arranged for other banks to take over the failed banks’ deposits and purchase their assets.
Hamilton State Bank, based in Hoschton, Ga., will pay the FDIC a 0.5 percent premium to assume the deposits of Douglas County Bank.
Hamilton also agreed to buy $260.9 million in the failed lender’s assets, and entered into a loss-share transaction on $159.2 million of the assets.
Meanwhile, CertusBank NA, based in Easley, S.C., agreed to assume all of the deposits of Parkway Bank, which had three branches.
CertusBank also agreed to buy $99.2 million of the Parkway’s assets.
The FDIC said it would retain the remaining assets for later disposition.
All told, the failures of Douglas County Bank and Parkway Bank are expected to cost the deposit insurance fund $104.5 million combined.
U.S. bank closures have been declining since they peaked in 2010 in the wake of the financial crisis and the Great Recession.
In 2007 just three banks went under. That number jumped to 25 in 2008, after the financial meltdown, and ballooned to 140 in 2009.
In 2010 regulators seized 157 banks, the most in any year since the savings and loan crisis two decades ago. The FDIC has said 2010 likely was the high-water mark for bank failures from the recession. They declined to a total of 92 in 2011.
Last year bank failures slowed to 51, but that’s still more than normal.
In a strong economy an average of only four or five banks close annually. The sharply reduced pace of closings shows sustained improvement.
From 2008 through 2011, bank failures cost the deposit insurance fund an estimated $88 billion, and the fund fell into the red in 2009. But with failures slowing, the fund’s balance turned positive in the second quarter of 2011.
By Dec. 31, it stood at $32.9 billion, up from $25.2 billion at the end of September.
The FDIC expects bank failures from 2012 through 2016 to cost $10 billion.
WHY ARE WE FEED GARBAGE IN THE NEWS LIKE ….THE BUSH LIBRARY DEDICATION.?.., WHILE THIS PERTINENT NEWS IS PURPOSELY BEING HIDDEN…AND HAS BEEN HAPPENING FOR THE LAST 5 YEARS?
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By: Chris on April 27, 2013
at 6:28 AM
Ann Coulter is most certainly a yahoo and a man! Great post, Helen!
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By: Mariah on April 27, 2013
at 6:19 AM
Laugh out loud funny, once again. There are 2 things I can honestly say about GWB that I admired. One is the $ he committed to fighting AIDS in Africa, the second is that he made a marine sanctuary of the outer islands north of Kauai. (Easy to do, there was no oil) That’s it for 8 years in office.
On another note, WAY TO BE BIPARTISIAN CONGRESS!!!! How noble of you to find a way to keep air traffic controllers. Don’t want to have too many of your big money donors sitting in airports, and certainly don’t want to keep your constituants waiting. If only the kids getting kicked out of head start, and seniors being served meals on wheels were as important.
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By: Dawn on April 27, 2013
at 12:00 AM
What are the odds? I have not stopped by for a long time; what a delightful surprise.
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By: No One's Puppet on April 26, 2013
at 11:18 PM
Where is Son Neil? And, what is he doing?
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By: Anonymous on April 26, 2013
at 9:35 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
Does anyone else remember this old nursery rhyme?
“Georgie Porgie, Puddin’ Pie,
Kissed the girls and made them cry.
When the boys came out to play,
Georgie Porgie ran away.”
Well, the girls grew up to be women but Georgie never grew up at all. The women found grown men who treated them as equals and they lived together happily ever after. Georgie still came around trying to kiss the girls. He thought it was fun! But he couldn’t make them cry. Once in a while he made them mad instead and they decked him. He kept trying and hoped to bring other little boys with him but they stayed away most of the time. He hoped to recruit new girls to kiss but they were turned off too. So he was left with only himself to play with for his self-gratification. I suppose he thinks that’s fun too.
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on April 26, 2013
at 7:13 PM
that right Terry…you get confused by facts….
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By: uawtradesman on April 26, 2013
at 5:59 PM
The President has asked that we not judge Muslins by the actions of a few
We agree
We ask that the President do the same for millions of law abiding American gun owners
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By: uawtradesman on April 26, 2013
at 5:58 PM
I’m wondering why people who don’t like what M&H say continue to read their blog. I don’t watch Faux News or read anything about their “views” because it’s too upsetting. I am willing to read or listen to a sane, rational argument that opposes my own take on something but when I can’t see any point in it I tune it out. Too many of their arguments are not fact based and they’re saying in effect, “I’ve made up my mind, don’t confuse me with facts.”
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By: Terry Waggle on April 26, 2013
at 5:47 PM
WTF……ABC poll says Obama and Bush tied for approval rating….
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By: uawtradesman on April 26, 2013
at 5:45 PM
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By: uawtradesman on April 26, 2013
at 5:41 PM
Hi, Paige… Haven’t posted to you before, so “hello”…
I think “idiot” might even be a little strong here (in referring to Theresa, not the other well-known individual). We have no idea how anyone finds this blog, what his or her background might be, or his or her skills or influences.
Maybe Theresa’s parents came here from some country they found intolerable; maybe even she did, herself; and maybe she’s working her tail off to support a couple of kids and learn English in a night class after her two shifts at WalMart. We just don’t know!
My initial reaction to “Theresa’s” post was pretty snarky – so I’m offering full disclosure and my own responsibility on that one.
I tend to find myself often “protecting” this site (in spite of the fact that M&H don’t seem to need protecting, ever, god love ’em, and Matthew), especially from those who have all kinds of verbal and internet skills at their command, and who use them to be a perpetual pain in the a**. Maybe “Theresa” is not one of those people; maybe she’s just someone who’s looking to be heard, just like all the rest of us.
We seem to reveal what we will about ourselves by our continued posting. And I, myself, am sorry that I jumped on “Theresa” so harshly from the get-go. (And if “she” is just another incarnation of our resident troll… Well, kick me for being a liberal. Happens all the time. I’m used to it!)
Gato
http://www.partyandsoul.wordpress.com
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By: gatodicima on April 26, 2013
at 5:27 PM
Of course we all know the vote is bought and sold. Knowing if your senator/representative is amongst the whores…yes, that is what they are…who sell their votes is important and I thank you for the opencongress.org website. I will check it this evening. We must all check it. Vote for the one who represents you…not some big time corp; you hired him/her, you can fire him/her. Not by sitting by and saying it has nothing to do with me/you…but by using your vote and encouraging others to do the same.
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By: penny abrams on April 26, 2013
at 5:15 PM
Dear Margaret and Helen,
I forgot to ask, how’s the cookbook comin’?
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on April 26, 2013
at 4:49 PM
Theresa, how can you guarantee M and H live off welfare? And do you really dislike the working poor more than the unethical rich who rob most Americans, erode the economy, and dodge taxes? I agree with some other comments about you. You present yourself as uneducated, narrow minded, and hateful.
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By: Ramslady on April 26, 2013
at 4:40 PM
Like Old Shep faithfully lying by the mailbox, I check your blog every day for a new post — because it’s always worth it when there is one! You’re back, you’re back, you’re back! Yay!! (turns a cartwheel or two)
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By: oldgrumpysteve on April 26, 2013
at 4:32 PM
Yet one more poll shows that supporting background checks was a smart political move. 🙂 Think they have learned their lesson? http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/04/26/1204970/-Poll-It-turns-out-supporting-gun-safety-legislation-is-also-smart-politics
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By: lori on April 26, 2013
at 4:00 PM
Chris – thanks for your POV. I think it hits the mark perfectly. I wish I could find it, but a Brit noted the other day, paraphrasing: “the right considers the left well-motivated but misguided; the left, however, thinks the right is composed of baby-killers, or worse.” The very idea that the UK Thatcher-haters would be throwing parties at her death is an abomination; at their worst the conservatives would never consider such childish, seventh-grade girl behavior.
Theresa – I am very appreciative of M&H’s forbearance in tolerating opposing views, and the anger those views invariably engender, but I think you DO have a point. Once again, here you see the complete disrespect, not only for the man, but for the very office of President itself – (unless, of course, the president happens to be a leftie).
As for Bush’s presidential library, I think GWB did more damage to this country than anybody, other than Hussein himself, but everybody who knows him regards Bush as a really good guy personally. Actually, Lannie Davis, liberal, Democrat and special counsel for President Clinton, described GWB at the dedication of his Presidential Library thusly:
…”…it is important to remember what a good man with a good heart George W. Bush is.
“I know from personal experience.
“As I have written before, I remember sitting next to Bush when we were in the same residential college at Yale (Davenport — he graduated a year after me). I recall an evening when a group of us was sitting in the common room outside the college dining hall after dinner and a fellow Yale student walked by who was known to be gay, but in those days was not “out.” Someone said some ugly homophobic slurs. I didn’t like it, but sat silently. But Bush snapped, saying something like “Hey, knock it off. Why don’t you walk in his shoes awhile and feel what he feels?”
“I remember thinking, “Whoa. This guy is much different inside than the fun-loving frat brother partying with me ………”
So, Theresa and Chris, don’t let the seventh-graders here get you down. Just keep up the adult conversation, and there are others who will give you support. Watching the heads explode is really quite fun.
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By: PFesser on April 26, 2013
at 2:58 PM
Yes I am afraid there are books in the library. However ex-president Bush hasn’t finished coloring in the second book!
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By: Mark stroessner on April 26, 2013
at 2:46 PM
❤ ya Peas! LOL
All these familiar faces makes me long for the good ole days on the porch.
I sure wish everyone would pull up a chair and stay a while. xo
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By: lori on April 26, 2013
at 1:51 PM
Bush Presidential Library
is the Hard Rock Cafe of
catastrophic policy decisions.
PEACE ~ Δ
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By: Whirled Peas Δ on April 26, 2013
at 1:48 PM
😉 How appropriate! 😉
PEACE ~ Δ
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By: Whirled Peas Δ on April 26, 2013
at 1:47 PM
Wow. Props to Theresa and Geoff for finding this site, and presumably reading the posts.
Thanks too for posting such humorous comments in the forum.
Laughter really is the best medicine. I mean it. Really.
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By: The Thane of Cawdor on April 26, 2013
at 1:47 PM
Don’t be too hard on Theresa. She’s obviously illiterate with limited mental capacity. You have to make allowances for the mentally challenged. Of course she’d defend GWB. She’s his intellectual equal. An idiot who admires another idiot.
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By: Paige on April 26, 2013
at 1:27 PM
Theresa on April 26, 2013
at 11:41 AM
My goodness Theresa. You certainly got a load off your chest. And in the process, you managed to insult not only the host of this site, but most of her followers as well. But you misrepresented the haters. It is flag waving yahoos like you that are the problem. I suspect that you get an orgasmic tingle just hearing martial music but have you conveniently forgotten Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City bombing? Or the Unibomber? Or the Sikh Temple shootings less than a year ago? Or Eric Rudolph, the Olymics bomber in 1996? They were mostly flag-waving gun nuts also. Are these your idols?
But let me also clear up one of your gross misjudgements about our host, and by insinuation, her followers. I’d suggest that few are on welfare and contrary to your supposition, most are contributing in positive ways to the benefit of their communities and our country. My wife and I as retires, for many years have contributed to the welfare of our community through volunteer works of varying kinds. And these traditions have been passed down to our grandchildren so I’m certain that we will all leave behind much more than we take away. That’s the real American way.
And what do you do beyond standing on street corners shouting right wing bumper sticker slogans at cars passing by? By the way, you could use a language coach. Your syntax is abysmal, third grade level at best.
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By: jsri on April 26, 2013
at 12:57 PM
Theresa, your comment to margaretandhelen…is even more insensitive , than her opinion is to you..
It shows the thinking of a mind controled society, that America has become.
We are told that if we have opinions other than what we are told by the media, we are Un-American..
That is rubbish.
America must have healthy discussions of our differences of opinions and actually listen to each other. Discourse is what this country was built on; and is what took place during the scribing of the Declaration of Independance.
We are continually loosing many of the original freedoms granted within the original intent of the founding fathers.
Open, healthy discourse is the only reason we have the level of freedom we enjoy in America today. Public outrage to what is legislated on us is the only pressure safety net we have to hold on to ANY freedoms we enjoy in America..
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By: Chris on April 26, 2013
at 12:35 PM
Most recent number of annual visitors to all Dem presidents’ libraries: 975,000; to GOP presidents’: 1.3 mill. Most visited: Reagan, equally vilified as an idiot by people who watch too much TV, read too little.
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By: Geoff on April 26, 2013
at 12:29 PM
“People like you are the reasons there is so much hate in this country.” WTF? Take a look in the mirror, and then go learn to write proper English.
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By: Anonymous on April 26, 2013
at 12:29 PM
Wel, Theresa… THAT was certainly a thoughtful and inspiring piece of commentary on your part… We are all certainly enlightened by your sharing your point of view.
Gato
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By: gatodicima on April 26, 2013
at 11:53 AM
I thought the dedication was nice. It was good to see the dems, & reps come together and show respect for each other.
Listing the military band sing songs that made me fell proud to be a American.
It oviuos Margaret, and Helen are bullies,unkind,and don’t have any respect for themselves or others. That is a huge problem with this country. You are classless women.
You know what they say if you don’t like the heat get of the kitchen.
I guarantee you are probably living off of this country also. You a probably in welfare.
We don’t need people like you in this country. People like you are the reasons there is so much hate in this country.if Your not happy go to a muslim country, and go cook with your pressure cooker.
Then when people say your inspirational….what the hell.I have pity for you.
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By: Theresa on April 26, 2013
at 11:41 AM
You always say it the best!
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By: poolagirl on April 26, 2013
at 11:15 AM
Hi, Cynthia – Great work! And an inspiration to us all…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on April 26, 2013
at 10:32 AM
Thank you!!! If I could only write…
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By: cbraunc on April 26, 2013
at 10:12 AM
The wisdom of the ladies is needed more often..
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By: Jean Eaton Schiebel on April 26, 2013
at 9:54 AM
You have a first class one in office NOW……you may have to eat your words about the Bushes.
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By: Anonymous on April 26, 2013
at 9:34 AM
Teacher, You gave me an idea with your comment about Ann and the band of yahoos. I think it would be a great name for a real band: Ann & The Yahoos or Coulter & The Yahoos. I’m sure someone can come up with what instruments each of the Yahoos would play and some original songs they’d write. Ann would be the lead vocalist, I don’t think she’s smart enough to do two things at the same time as in sing and play the guitar.
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By: Terry Waggle on April 26, 2013
at 9:26 AM
Even “W” agrees with you about him and libraries! As to Ann and the band of yahoos, we will have to continue to live with them as long as the $$$ flows from the likes of Murdoch, the Koch Brothers, Rove and so many others.
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By: teacher on April 26, 2013
at 9:21 AM
It appears that Congress doesn’t like its own cooking:
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/obamacare-exemption-lawmakers-aides-90610.html?hp=l3
Perhaps it’s time we end the abuses of the privileged few.
A little googling reveals a Proposed 28th amendment to the US Constitution:
“Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives; and, Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States”.
It would be a good start.
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By: PFesser on April 26, 2013
at 7:48 AM
Excellent article in Truth-Out by Noam Chomsky – the man who is undisputedly at the top of the progressive movement – about civil liberties in America today. Nobody gets a free pass from him – as it should be. There’s plenty of blame to go around.
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/15917-noam-chomsky-smoke-and-mirrors-or-civil-liberties-under-president-obama
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By: PFesser on April 26, 2013
at 6:59 AM
I love you!!!! I need to put this on facebook!
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By: Marjorie Behrens Rancourt on April 26, 2013
at 6:50 AM
Just love this lady!!! Hope all is well with y’all! Need to catch up someday!!! :-))).
Sent from my iPhone
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By: Martha Parissi on April 26, 2013
at 6:18 AM
Margaret and Helen, it’s so good to see you back, and I hope you’re both well. The post was spot on, as always.
For Penny Abrams and others who may still ask why… go to opencongress.org and click on any piece of legislation you like. You’ll have the option to see how congress voted on the issue. There’s a tab called Follow The Money (I think), and you’ll be able to see how much money your particular senators or representatives sold their vote for, and which types of companies they actually represent.
So that would be one bill. Check out another one, and another one, and you’ll start to get the idea of why. It has absolutely nothing to do with you or me or the other 99% in this country.
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By: avotresanteΔ on April 26, 2013
at 5:53 AM
Helen, I couldn’t agree with you more. A library with George W. Bush’s name on it, indeed.
I did like his mother’s response. I don’t agree with her on almost everything else, but maybe that’s her way of apologizing for her son that duped the American voters twice. Good to know that someone in that family has a conscience.
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By: eeyore on April 26, 2013
at 5:04 AM
Yay, Helen! So glad to hear from you!
So, the man who insisted
“They misunderestimate me.
I am a pitbull on the pantleg of opportunity.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard%27s_Poor_Almanac
just piddled on that pantleg yet again, eh?
🙂
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By: alaskapi on April 25, 2013
at 11:18 PM
Helen, you rock, girl!
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By: Molly on April 25, 2013
at 11:05 PM
Dear Helen,
It is sooooo good to see you back on track with yet another of your matchless posts. Yep, I doubt if there will be a stampede of visitors to the “Bush Lie-bury”. Poor fellow. Apparently he continues to live in his own self-constructed bubble. Ah well. The rest of us know better though, don’t we.
Aloha! “-) Namaste. Shalom. Saalam. Peace.
Auntie Jean
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By: waialeale on April 25, 2013
at 10:09 PM
For all you folks who applaud Helen’s wisdom, please know that there were some 200 protesters out today to demonstrate AGAINST the GW Bush LIE-Bury. Three people were arrested for trying to cross a highway bridge to take the protest closer to the dedication. It was confined to a “free speech” zone set aside by SMU on the other side of Dallas Central Expressway.
I was there from 7:30 AM until just before noon. We wore black in mourning for the hundreds of thousands of people that Bush & Co. killed in two illegal wars. We held signs testifying to the true facts of the Bush Administration. My sign said “We Know the Truth.” Former talk show host Phil Donahue led the protest march beside the freeway. We heard from antiwar protester Cindy Sheehan, from retired colonel Ann Wright, from former FBI agent Colleen Rowley (who sent an alert about the bombers BEFORE 9/11) and from several veterans of Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan speaking for peace and against the Bush Administration’s deadly lies and warmongering.
I know it’s hard to get out in public to do this sort of thing. But until we begin to rise up, we won’t do justice to Helen’s fine commentaries. Please support organizations in your various communities that stand up against war, poverty, hunger and violence. Thank you!
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By: Cynthia Astle on April 25, 2013
at 9:45 PM
Thank you Helen!
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By: Catherine Gabrel on April 25, 2013
at 8:45 PM
Thanks Helen!
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By: Easier on April 25, 2013
at 8:35 PM
Helen you are a national treasure! Excellent commentary. –Scott Foval
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By: moneyoutvotersinwi on April 25, 2013
at 8:25 PM
Do you and Jon Stewart talk to each other? He pretty much said the same exact thing! could not agree more, though
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By: Anonymous on April 25, 2013
at 8:24 PM
Can they call it a library if it only has one book? I’m so glad you’re back!
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By: justicelady1950 on April 25, 2013
at 7:56 PM
You certainly identified yourself well, however, I think the idiot category is more appropriate.
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By: Gerry Blumberg on April 25, 2013
at 7:56 PM
Welcome back Helen. Hit the nail on the head as usual.
But I’ve hit the stopwatch waiting for the loonies to reappear.
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By: Al B on April 25, 2013
at 7:52 PM
Yay, you’re back! We were worried and missed you.
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By: Tom Phillips on April 25, 2013
at 7:37 PM
As usual, not only did I find your comments right to the point but you gave me several chuckles as well. What is not funny, as you mentioned, is that there appears to be no more Republican party. It is waaaaaaaaaay beyond my ken that an entire body politic would do the kissmyass dance for a pitifully small number of whackaloons. Despite the polls of those who hire them, they continue to blindly walk the corridors of Washington bowing and scraping to a stupid few. Why? What would happen, do you suppose, if any one of the ‘former’ Republicans stood up (in town meetings at home, for instance) and said, point blank, in common language, that they did not like what was happening, that they went to DC to serve their constituency, to earn their pay (working 4 out of 4 weeks, not 3 out of 4) and that even if it cost them the upcoming election, they were bound to keep their oath to serve their electorate and that it is up to the voters to decide what will happen, not the few who sold out to major corps. Man, I’d bet the farm that would be a reeeeeeeeeeeely smart move.
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By: penny abrams on April 25, 2013
at 7:30 PM
How wonderful to hear from you again. I agree with you comppletely.How do we get rid of those republicans who always manage to block everything that is good in this country!It is so refreshing to read your writing!!
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By: elsela on April 25, 2013
at 7:12 PM
Wonderful, and welcome back!
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By: Anonymous on April 25, 2013
at 7:04 PM
That’s my problem, you see. I am not a Christian American. I was born in this country, but I am a minority. Somehow, that makes me look at all other minorities with a little more empathy. You could look at my post on the subject, as well as some strange comments that look like spam.
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By: l'empress on April 25, 2013
at 6:54 PM
Evidently you love Bill Clinton. Oh well, I guess that says it all.
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By: Anonymous on April 25, 2013
at 6:40 PM
Brava! Brava!
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By: Ellie on April 25, 2013
at 6:36 PM
Welcome Back!
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By: elaine on April 25, 2013
at 6:36 PM
I’ve missed you! Couldn’t agree with you more.
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By: Annie in Maine on April 25, 2013
at 6:32 PM
Excellent as usual, my dear.
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By: daisydem on April 25, 2013
at 6:23 PM
I am so happy to hear from you again! My sentiments exactly about Dubya’s library. He might have his Dick and Jane primers in there though. Run, Spot, run has got to be one he could understand.
What also intrigued me was Laura speaking about the room where visitors can view the various situations her dear hubby faced along with the advice from his esteemed masters. Visitors can then decide what they would have done in his shoes. I’m assuming hind-sight mustn’t be factored into their decisions or even just plain common sense!
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By: Terry Waggle on April 25, 2013
at 5:44 PM
So glad to see you back. Couldn’t agree with you more. And now he seems to be backtracking on any support he may have had at one time for his VP.
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By: lizstaats on April 25, 2013
at 5:25 PM
Welcome back! Great post. We needed that!
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By: Terri in NY on April 25, 2013
at 5:17 PM
I had to turn off the TV when Laura was telling a story of GW getting off his bike to help push a wounded, one-legged major up a hill during a bike ride for wounded veterans. Did it ever occur to these people that the Major may have still had his leg if GW had taken care of business in Afghanistan and not invaded a country that was no threat to us based on lies and deceit?
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By: Lynn M on April 25, 2013
at 4:59 PM
Helen,
As a native Texan (long gone from the state), I treasure every one of your columns. No one mourned Molly Ivins’ passing more than I, and I thank God that somebody has picked the fallen colors from the battlefield and continued charging on.
Keep on chargrin’, dear–you’re needed more than ever!
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By: JerryB on April 25, 2013
at 4:43 PM
Here is my blog from 2010 about Bush’s literary career, with a photo of my own Bush Presidential Library:
http://theironiccherry.blogspot.com/2010/11/miss-me-yet.html
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By: Aj on April 25, 2013
at 4:41 PM
Helen, I’ve missed your always delightful posts. Glad to see you posting again.
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By: Wayne on April 25, 2013
at 4:40 PM
Jeez, Whirled – I just look at those faces and I start to feel kind of queasy…
How did we endure this? All I can think of is the great apocryphal story of the frog in the pot of tepid water, who doesn’t realize the water is boiling until it’s too late…
You are the best linker ever… And isn’t it great to hear from Helen again?
Gato
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By: gatodicima on April 25, 2013
at 4:39 PM
yes! So glad to see a new post — I’ve missed Helen!
– –
Terry McDonald Artisan Graphics – Art & Design | Since 1981 Photography | MixedMedia Art | Graphic Design 925) 462-8083 | artisangr@comcast.net
– – – – – –
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By: Terry McDonald on April 25, 2013
at 4:29 PM
Never forget…
…the HUBRIS!!!
Δ
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By: Whirled Peas Δ on April 25, 2013
at 4:27 PM
I’d like to see the
BOOK DROP
aton GW’s Lie-bury. 😉PEACE ~ Δ
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By: Whirled Peas Δ on April 25, 2013
at 4:16 PM
As usual you hit the nail on the head about George Bush; he is the most unreflective human being I’ve ever seen. Maybe the stuff they put in the library will eventually bring out the truth, probably not!
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By: Victoria on April 25, 2013
at 4:11 PM
Dang, Helen, where the hell you been? Missed you so.
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By: Annette on April 25, 2013
at 4:09 PM
@Anonymous 3:01. What is the point of your comment? If you don’t like what Helen is saying, you can disagree without being insulting. If you’re insulting, then you can go play elsewhere.
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By: brenda on April 25, 2013
at 4:01 PM
Margaret and Helen,
I love your honesty and “straight–shooting,” but, Margaret, we didn’t put George W. in office the first time–that was voter-fraud. They stole it right before our collective eyes. And the events of 9/11 scared too many to challenge him the second time–that was probably voter fraud then, too. Keep up your excellent and inspiring commentary.
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By: Ginger Haffey on April 25, 2013
at 4:00 PM
OMG it was worth the wait to hear you expound on events. I am short miles from the dedication site today but have cancelled my TV service, and was out kibitzing with neighbors when the “event” too place. As a Democrat I consider myself an “abused Texan.” Keep up the messages dear!!!
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By: Jo Nicholas on April 25, 2013
at 3:55 PM
Happy George Bush Lie-bury Day!
This noteworthy day might not have occurred.
A while back, there was a fire that threatened
to destroy the whole lie-bury.
But the fire department arrived in quick time
and saved both books.
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By: JimInWA on April 25, 2013
at 3:53 PM
A group of historians recently elected James Buchanan as the worst president in American history. I say the “honor” should go to GW. When you count up his accomplishments like trying to give our Social Security benefits to his Wall Street cronies, you know the ones who brought us the financial meltdown, foisting “no child left behind” on our education system, starting a needless war that cost us billions of dollars and thousands of lives and backing the rule changes that allowed the home mortgage industry to nearly sink the economy I can’t think of anyone who deserves a place at the lowest circle of Hell more than George. Unless, of course, it’s Dick Chaney.
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By: Richard on April 25, 2013
at 3:52 PM
Reblogged this on Chronicles of a 40-something Nurse Wannabe.
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By: Michelle on April 25, 2013
at 3:51 PM
Ah, the voice of reason returns. Great to see you back!
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By: Michelle on April 25, 2013
at 3:51 PM
I have missed you so much, Helen! Lovely to see you back….you have absolutely made my day!
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By: sandra getgood on April 25, 2013
at 3:42 PM
You are my role models. Keep it going girls.
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By: Jackie on April 25, 2013
at 3:38 PM
The 4 who could read would have had to share books.
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By: Carrie Bryan on April 25, 2013
at 3:35 PM
Like many others I was wondering what happened. I thought somehow I’d been deleted from your email lists. Thanks for all you say.
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By: Anonymous on April 25, 2013
at 3:29 PM
Lord, Helen, you are a pistol.
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By: Grace Suarez on April 25, 2013
at 3:23 PM
To my previous, previous commenter…Annoy…nomous
Bush ruined this country….His lack of Governing helped the NEW WORLD ORDER take over. This is what is causing our country’s pain…Obama has LITTLE OR NO CONTROL, as you can see the battles he has to fight…
The insurance companies wrote Obama Care…and blamed it on HIM.
See how he gets kicked to the side of the road by CONGRESS & THE SENATE.
No President gets elected without the blessings of all the money…corporate men running this COUNTRY.
Watch the documetary ” The Best Government Money Can Buy”
POLITICS really has little to do with the party…This corporate influence pedeling is what controls both parties…
It is time for us to understand this and take our Government Back…by voting against and sqauking at every law and ruling that takes our rights away..and give the corportations their way..
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By: Chris on April 25, 2013
at 3:16 PM
Atta Girl we knew you couldn’t resist they idiot on display in Dallas today. Could someone please slip George a Prozac? Good lord George get a grip.
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By: lori on April 25, 2013
at 3:16 PM
so happy to see a new email in the box, you have been missed.
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By: Anonymous on April 25, 2013
at 3:10 PM
So glad to hear from you again……..it’s been such a long time.
Hoping you are feeling well. I’ve really missed you.
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By: CraftyLadyinillinois on April 25, 2013
at 3:10 PM
Oh I so agree with Allison Mugnier. Had to just absolutely quit watching Channel 8’s “all Bush all the time reporting?” and I have habitually turned to WFAA television for news sports, weather for more than 30 years in spite of their “Belo” inspired biases. It just got to be way to much this week.
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By: Jerry C. on April 25, 2013
at 3:10 PM
Missed you!! We need you guys now more than ever. I figure that they need a lot of exhibits in the GWB library… the only book must be “My Pet Goat!”
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By: Vicki, another foul-mouthed old broad on April 25, 2013
at 3:10 PM
I was hoping he’d explain about how he took the country to war with Iraq because he wanted to show his daddy that he had a bigger package.than daddy had. The thousands that died should have received more attention than they received..
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By: BuschLuvr on April 25, 2013
at 3:06 PM
You,both are truly FUNNY GIRLS…
Smart, Sassy, and mostly right on.
I not always totally agree with you…But, for the most part….YES !!!
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By: Chris on April 25, 2013
at 3:02 PM
Funny how this haggard old hose-bag rails on Bush’s ‘stupidity’ yet fails to mention anything about the inept and morally corrupt Obama regime. Talk about idiots… Take every failed Bush policy and double them. Then blame Bush all your failures and lack of leadership.
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By: Anonymous on April 25, 2013
at 3:01 PM
So glad to see another post from y’all. I hope you are both well. I live in Dallas & have been subjected to non-stop news idiocy about this library for the last several days. Enough, already. It’s not the Second Coming.
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By: Allison Mugnier on April 25, 2013
at 2:57 PM
Helen!! Margaret (I trust)!! We’re all soooo glad to hear from you again – and you certainly haven’t lost your touch…
Why don’t we all take a “Margaret and Helen Cruise”? Would be more fun than a Cooking With the Great Chefs Cruise, or a Ballroom Dancing Cruise, or a Great Mystery Books Cruise…! And cruise ships are just one great “porch” after another, with plenty of umbrella drinks…
Gato
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By: gatodicima on April 25, 2013
at 2:50 PM
It’s been sooooo long!! We didn’t know what happened to you! Well young lady(ladies) don’t you ever worry us like that again!
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By: sidney18511 on April 25, 2013
at 2:43 PM
thank you Ellen – looks like I had missed a couple of these – what a treat to catch up!!!! Love you, Linda ===================================================
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By: ALDINECK@aol.com on April 25, 2013
at 2:43 PM
I love it and you!
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By: Larry on April 25, 2013
at 2:41 PM
Norman Goldman (talk show host) describes the Bush Presidential Library as the “Lie Bury” (which is probably how Bush pronounces “library”) — the place where all the Bush lies have gone to be buried; the re-writing of history. And isn’t it outrageous that our tax dollars have gone into building this monstrosity? If the Right-to-Lifers can protest tax dollars going for abortions, why can’t we protest this “killing” of the Truth?
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By: Anna on April 25, 2013
at 2:40 PM
Missed you–love you–so glad you are back.
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By: katydid on April 25, 2013
at 2:37 PM
NOBODY speaks my mind better than you! Thank you! Really. I mean it.
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By: Anonymous on April 25, 2013
at 2:37 PM
Sooooo glad you’re back; I’ve been having withdrawal and my wine stock is getting low!! 🙂
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By: Jan on April 25, 2013
at 2:36 PM
I LOVE your precision in language: “that architectural oxymoron known as the George W. Bush Library.” Niiice one! And I can’t even begin to comment on Ann Coultier’s outrageous comment. Such bile needs not take up space in my brain.
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By: yetanothersinglegal on April 25, 2013
at 2:35 PM
Sooooo good to see a new post!!!
Keep ’em comin’. I mean it. Really.
I was just stopping by to link this:
50 Reasons You Despised GW’s Presidency
PEACE ~ Δ
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By: Whirled Peas Δ on April 25, 2013
at 2:34 PM
Just wanted I needed on this sunny spring day! A little vinaigrette for my spring greens salad! LOVE what you bring to the table, ladies.
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By: Tina Foster Caldwell on April 25, 2013
at 2:34 PM
Love that you are back and in fine form…
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By: Anonymous on April 25, 2013
at 2:33 PM
Remove this address, please. Thank you.
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By: Howard Dye on April 25, 2013
at 2:29 PM
You go lady, couldn’t agree with you more!
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By: Anonymous on April 25, 2013
at 2:26 PM
Oh, Helen, it’s so good to have you back.
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By: Kimberly on April 25, 2013
at 2:25 PM
Whew – I was getting withdrawal symptoms…
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By: Bill Kilgore on April 25, 2013
at 2:23 PM
Observing idiots is tiring and listening to Ann Coulter proves women in high places can get there for other reasons besides being smart. So glad you are back leading the way to sanity!!!!
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By: mrsmole on April 25, 2013
at 2:22 PM
I know you well enough to know that you really meant to call Coulter an old, white man!!! LOL
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By: Wendy Waho on April 25, 2013
at 2:22 PM
I’ve missed you. 🙂
>________________________________ > From: Margaret and Helen >To: betsstrohl@yahoo.com >Sent: Thursday, April 25, 2013 12:13 PM >Subject: [New post] Nobody will ever need to be shushed in the Bush Library > > > WordPress.com >Helen Philpot posted: “Margaret, the next time you go on one of those cruises, you’re just gonna have to take me along because I need a vacation. Fine wine may mellow with age but I sure as hell haven’t. I watched the dedication today for that architectural oxymoron known as” >
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By: Bets Strohl on April 25, 2013
at 2:22 PM
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Date: Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:13:06 +0000 To: mauvepanzer01@hotmail.com
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By: rae mccall on April 25, 2013
at 2:20 PM
They use the constitution when it suits them. They throw it out when it doesn’t.
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By: Gene on April 25, 2013
at 2:20 PM
Bravo!!!! Bravo!!!!
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By: Anna on April 25, 2013
at 2:19 PM
Thank God you are back.
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By: Phil on April 25, 2013
at 2:18 PM
Ah, Margaret & Helen, how I’ve missed you!! 🙂
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By: wonkafonka on April 25, 2013
at 2:17 PM
Welcome back – I have sure missed you!
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By: Sooz Jacobi-Johnson on April 25, 2013
at 2:17 PM