Craig Crawford's Trail Mix

I caught your take on Obama's "...aggressive diplomacy" yesterday on Morning Joe...and later in the day Jim Miklazewski
said this latest development would, somehow, mean less chance of immediate war actions back and forth between Israel and Iran.

They will KILL YOU,it is that simple the terrorist and their ILK want us dead.

Obama and the Democ"rat"ic party are the Neville Chamberlain's they want to appease the terrorists. They told everybody in 2006 that we must pull out of Iraq, etc,etc. WE must get every last terrorist no matter where the hide.

If we fail, it will be the death of US.

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.vjmachiavelli.blogspot.com

Iraq is a disaster because of preemption and Iran would be an even bigger Clustermess. For the past seven years for the sake of greed and power we have created even more generations of hatred.

We can only hope that this time someone with a few brains will allow diplomacy and cooperation with other world powers prevent insanity.

"aggressive diplomacy" sounds paradoxical.

Webster dictionary definitions:

--aggressive: tending to attack or to be hostile

--diplomacy: the art of negotiation between two nations

Seems like double-speak to me.

Morning all.

Interesting vid Craig. I´ll let it grow on me.
Also geting up to speed on the Jesse Jackson controversy. All the dutch news shows started the morning with it....

Lowlife Of The Week

Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. for releasing a statement critical of his father today..

OD,
He had to.
He is co chair of the BO campiagn.
Of course this is a cover up. He consulted with daddy before he sent out the statement.
Fact is: Jesse Jr. said what he had to say...
I only need to refer to my comments from yesterday. Mr.Democrat please pay attention......

Damn... I have psychic powers. maybe I should switch jobs.

More on the AA´s will come out before November....You know why?
Because he used the AA community and more and more the feelings from this group will hurt him.

I´ve said it 4 months ago, I´ve said it yesterday, I´ll say it again....BO played the race game and he will probably pay for it.... A bit sad...

It has been raining in Amsterdam for a week. This country doesn´t know what the word SUMMER means.

Is there somehwere the exact audito of the "rant" from Jesse Jr.?
Maybe it´s me, but can not seem to locate it, and here in Amsterdam we cannot see Fox......

SOS.......Somebody

Neither can I, Jason. I think Jackson called Obama a "d_ck". At least that's what It's all silliness. I don't think Jackson should have to apologize for anything, and I agree with OD regarding Jackson Jr. and his repudiation of his father. With family like that, who needs friends and with friends like...

Media manipulation is all. Slow news day I guess. Can't believe they are covering it in Holland. What a joke.

Jason and champ,

I saw the Jesse Jackson clip just once on Fox. They stopped playing the
clip I saw. I will try to remember it as well as I can:

Jackson whispered to a black man next to him that he was unhappy with
the way Obama is talking down to African Americans and it made him
so mad that he'd like to cut off Obama's n_ts!

According to the commentator, there is much more of the conversation
but the media refused to air it.

The Jackson Clip

http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/07/09/is-jesse-jackson-in-trouble-with-the-secret-service/

Why are you so offended people?... It is all politics. The game of politics.
Jesse the 3rd needed to do some kind of damage control in order for him to stay as co chair, or he could stick with dad and resign. He chose for his future career in politics.
He probably consulted with dad before he made the statement.
If he didn´t, this is another casualty in the continuation of the "judas list" (as I refer to it)...People who should be a companion, family and all of a sudden become traitors....Ah...the game is being played out. :))

Champ, Holland covered it. I thought it was much bigger....If it is all that (what you and Prof Marcia mentioned), then why bother.

Side note, why did they refuse to let it air fully? If it were someone else would it air fully? I remember the CNN anchor from sometime ago and her lavatory incident....
But the again, class justice is as present as ever...

Going to an intense meeting now on the future of the interest rate mechanism.... will check back late in the afternoon

Stay civil

The Jackson Clip

http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/07/09/is-jesse-jackson-in-trouble-with-the-secret-service/

Posted by: GORDO | July 10, 2008 2:48 AM

Oeffffff.
Nice....The ending is good.
People are indeed waking up...Thank GOD!
I have been advcating this for ages.....

See ya laterzzzzzzzz

Thanks Gordo. Funny funny stuff. The gesticulation is priceless.

The Audacity of Arrogance

http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/07/08/the-audacity-of-arrogance/

I just noticed something funny about my Jesse Jackson post. I didn't spell
out the word "nuts"--- like it was a swear word or something. How funny.
In that context, it seemed vulgar, I guess.

Don't know if this article from Boston.com has been posted:

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/06/27/grim_proving_ground_for_obamas_housing_policy/?page=full

Good video , Craig. Now what do we do with Iran?

1. jesse jackson's mind strayed from his own sexual parts? How very unusual.

The comments guaranteed mccain's loss, by winning Miami's Jewish vote for Obama.

Thanks, jesse.

2. We can thank vj and his retardlicans for letting bin Laden get away, after arming and training him to begin with. Anything for a quick buck. May all the 9/11ghosts you and your buddies made visit your dreams nightly, vj.

Not that I disagree with your criticisms of the Bush "administration" xre same as tep...but your tone is certainly the Freepers....were you on those boards just a while back?

My rant for the day.
The media has destroyed our innocence through movies and television programs but thr press has destroyed everything else.Besides what they have done in the past few years by choosing our candidates for president , this year was their worst because we have two of the worst candidates imaginable.But worse than that they have ruined lives.Take the Ramseys.They hounded those poor people,accusing them of murdering their own daughter.Even speculated that her young brother killed her.I would go as far as saying they caused the death of Mrs.Ramsey.I believe her cancer returned and the stress she was faced with contributed to her inability to fight the cancer.

They did the same with Richard Jewel.An innocent man who should have been a hero was accused and hounded until his premature death.

And they do the same with everyone involved in any kind of criminal situation.The press has become the judge and jury.

They chase celebrities and cover them 24-7 while ignoring real news.

The Ramsey family needs to find a lawyer who will sue the pants off all the networks for billions of dollars.The runaway press needs to be stopped.They need regulation.Deregulation has done harm to this country in more ways than one.

There are many more examples but being an uneducated BOWW,I can't recall them all.

Sorry,off topic,but I feel strongly about this.

Ruth

Painter
I swear this morning I was going to take the Ramsey example and put it in here of how the press is consistently juggling our minds. But I thought, don´t do it....you will hear another conspiracy theory et al...
Anyway,
seen as you brought it up...I have to say AMEN!

It is embarracing. Poor Patsi Ramsey died with the guilt thrust upon her, living under suspicion for 10 years...And the press happily obliged to paint them off as muderers. Even on the day of her funeral I remember "good old" Larry King making a very snarky remark..... These people have lived a living hell and all the press and the media do now is a little sorry.
Once again: F"#$% the press.....

By the by, If Bill Clinton would have said this about BO (referring to the Jesse comment) guess what MSNBC and the rest of the bullshit press corps, calling themselves journalists would have made of it.

Back to topic

I had voiced what JJ.said about Obama talking down to blacks and I was accused of racism.Maybe I didn't word it properly because I said he was his white half with some audiences and his black half with others.I still think he will abandon that half like he is abandoning all of his earlier promises he made to get the nomination.Maybe the SD'swill wake up and take it away from him at the convention.It's not too late.

Ruth

p.s.:
Ruth, thanks for the rant! Really my cup of tea.....
Now back to meeting yall

I agree with you Jason about Bill Clinton and am glad you feel the same way I do about the Ramseys.

Ruth

Ruth,
They will not.
If they lacked the ability and the guts to do it during the primaries, they will never ever do it now....
Wake up Ruth...We live in the media age. The media will haunt them and they are afraid of losing that battle....

Talking about tea,I have to go make some.I woke up and had to post before I forgot what was on my mind.That's the problem with getting old.

Ruth

Well,my tea is seeping.In a few minutes I will take it out by the garden and enjoy the early morning chirping.

And yes you are right about the SD's being cowards.The whole congress are cowards.

And we could hve better candidates but no one is perfect enough to withstand the media srutiny.I would like to back to the time when news was reported and not manufactured.The press left the gossip and inuendos to the national inquirer and other sleazy publications.Do we need all the garbage.None of our earlier presidents could hold up to tday's press and many of them were good presidents.And the congress were not afraid to cross the aisle.but now they are watched so closely they stay within their party lines.What a shame

Ruth

Off to my swing.My morning rant is over.Have a good day everyone

Ruth

In light of McCain "forgetting" things, here is a Gallup poll. More people are concerned about McCain's age than are disturbed by Obama's race.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/108712/McCains-Age-Seen-More-Problem-Than-Obamas-Race.aspx

"It has been raining in Amsterdam for a week. This country doesn´t know what the word SUMMER means."

Isn't it the end of July that daffodils bloom in that neck of the woods? I remember in East Anglia, a _hot_ summer day would be in the middles 70s.

When will you be through with your dissertation?

Patsi, let's not forget the Hatfill dude that the FBI accused of sending anthrax letters in 2001.

Ruth I love your sentiments. You have really said it in such a clear concise way---We are prisoners of the media in this country. Even those of us who see it I am sure are also influenced. It is something to constantly guard against. This is why Craig has always been such a breath of fresh air. His reports are always fair no matter what his personal opinion.

Does the missile rattling really help Iran’s case, or, does it make them look crazier & more dangerous? (Not crazier or more dangerous than us, but, ya know.)

One thing is for sure. Amping things up over there will take the public's mind off of the oil speculators jacking up the prices.

If only Prez Abba-Dabba didn’t look like the loveable Yakov Smirnoff.

MMMM. Abba-Dabbas.

PS – Craig – This is the 3rd day of the blog’s eating binge. I’ve had to start typing in Word & pasting, again.

The morning read.

"Despite Iran missile tests, some see signs of moderation."

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/255/story/43583.html

Jack

I'm always amused at how fast the news media and others tie this missile test to defending Israel. It is like we don't want to talk about the threat to our own national interest.

Another point , don't forget that Iran does not get along with any of its neighbors that well and some of them have the bomb.

Another point, Possessing the bomb is instant protection from a US invasion.

Jack

Thanks for the video...great way to wake-up! Love the zipper jacket.

And what really struck me was how youthful and excited Obama appeared at the debate and how today he looks like a different man. Aging, but not maturing before our very eyes. I still think he is a mirror image of GWB and nothing will change much with his presidency (if we ever get there!).

For those that have never heard the original "
Bomb Iran " song.

Bomb Iran (Paul Shanklin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iKuMVqht4U

Jack

A Walt Handlesman animated cartoon

McCain vs. Obama: The 2008 Summer Olympics

http://weblogs.newsday.com/news/opinion/walthandelsman/blog/2008/07/mccain_vs_obama_the_2008_summe_1.html

Heck of a job, Georgie

"Fannie, Freddie `Insolvent' After Losses, Poole Says "

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a7NPAG.LEjHQ&refer=home

Jack

It finally got mentioned this morning that Sen. Obama needed Sen. Clinton's donors .... surprise, surprise.
He has chosen to pass on public financing. His small donors are running out of money. His big donors can't contribute any more to his campaign and he has a money flow situation.

My, my, my maybe getting his to pay off her debt so that hers will send him money isn't such a bad idea after all. Perhaps we can dispense with the "greedy witch that no one wants to give money to" mantra now.

More appropriate:

Eve of Destruction

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Zs2DCA9W7s

Quite a line: "Even the River Jordan has bodies floating"

Another example of the more things change, the more they remain the same.

On CNN.com both Hillary & Obama at a Women
for Obama event in NY.

Listening to Hillary she touches all the points that
women responded to in supporting her, right now Obama is speaking.

Under the "let them eat cake" category

"Fiat's $115,000 Maserati Defies U.S. Slowdown, Record Gasoline"

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aUx_XFmcMYFU&refer=home

Jack

"unfortunate trash talk"

--jessie jackson

ha ha ha ha ha ha

I think there's still room under the bus for Jackson.......lol

mornin' all.

Ruth, I hope your tea didn't all seep out. :-)

I thought MoJo did a good job of discussing the JJ comments this morning. Funny, with Mika not on the program the discussion takes on a much more serious and focused tone. JJ is now in the same category as the good reverend was- an old fart whose ideas about the racial movement are outdated and quaint, so STFU TYVM. Oh, and get ready to hit the pavement - you're being thrown under the bus.

Jack, our interests in the mideast are oil - that's it. Israel does not IMHO serve to stabilize the region or our interests there, but we helped get them established there, so I suppose we have to help them if they are attacked. That ain't what's happening, and Iran does not have the "bomb." Even if they did, they don't have a delivery vehicle sufficient to pose a direct threat to us or our interests, except by causing a war in that region and drawing us, as useful tools to them, into it. We are chest beating in response to their chest beating, and we are itching for any excuse to show our balls there and try to salvage something of our image in the region after systematically destroying it in Iraq and Afghanistan. Cheney's planning the war against Iran in his bunker as we speak. It's a fool's errand.

the last time I indulged myself in "unfortunate trash talk" many moons pasada I do believe I received a poke in the snout........

al sharpton is defending jessie in the manner which imus wanted to be defended but was smashed by jessie and al.......this is berry berry funny.......goes around comes around and all that........

UB, there's enough room there for eveyone Obama decides to throw down there- but it makes for a bumpy ride.

" let's not forget the Hatfill dude that the FBI accused of sending anthrax letters in 2001."

Yes -- Ruth really pointed out some good examples of the media drumbeat. And of course, they do it on a negative level, against people (celebs and politicians alike) then turn around and cheerlead us into George W Bush and Iraq. I get so angry when I hear these pompous fools slamming votes like Hillary cast. My God, given the tone they kept pushing in the country -- a HUGE percentage of the population did believe the threat was there.

Flatus,
Hopefully at the end of the year...early next year it will be finished. Getting tired of it and the present financial situation is not encouraging to finish it.
Everytime those stupid professors tell me the same thing: have you seen the news today? Take tis and this and this into consideration. Last month one professor said: "maybe you should change your problem definition". I went berzerk...

Anyway,
It is pouring here in Amsterdam....Amazing. This summer is turning out to be a big disaster. But that is typical here this decade I heard. Fantastic spring followed by an ugly summer, miserable fall and soft winter....Pffffffff. I miss my Florida weather.

Anyway,
Dutch media reported a lil bit of a bomb in my opinion: One media outlet said: The JJ story died down way too early, Is the media biased?
To be continued.......

Going to get my cup of tea now: The name of the tea is Summer Lust......Indeed

Jamie,

I know the poll in your 7:33 post is Gallup's and not yours, but it looks like an apples and oranges comparison to me.

There's no doubt age and race are both issues in this election, but if I were asking about the candidates' possible "effectiveness" as President, I'd frame it more in terms of Senator McCain's age vs. Senator Obama's lack of experience. There's no doubt age and experience, or the lack of it, can be a factor regarding effectiveness. I have trouble seeing how race fits in the "effectiveness" question.

As I said it's Gallup's poll. I'm not asking you to justify it. Just passing on my observation, and now I have to get back to the work my boss is paying me for.

Hillary's current goal is to help win the White House for the Democrats. She knows that is what is best for our country and what will provide the optimal chance for change in policy.

What I do not understand, is if you were[are] a Hillary supporter - why not support Hillary in her efforts now?

- she is supporting Barack Obama, she has ask her supporter to do the same. I think she is sincere in this regard. Even after a bitter defeat, she has moved on and is looking toward the next 4 years and beyond.

Barack Obama 2008
( Hillary Supporter)

Pogo,
Jackson might not even be bus worthy.....

Pogo

Of course it is oil, and we need it, It is vitale to our economic well being. Not just for our own use but for the world. If mideast oil shuts down the world feels the shock. Then I don't get that Bolivian coffee I like or that pastry with it. It's back to oatmeal and no name brand coffee. The garden I plant for fun becomes one for need. I've been there and I would prefer not to go back.

Jack
BTW , yes it is all about me.

I want to know what Jesse said that was so bad even Fox wouldn't repeat it....

Patsi

The truth, maybe?

Jack

more Iran.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/11/world/middleeast/11iran.html?hp

Ed, you are of course right that age and race are apples and oranges in a sense. But I'd say that the Gallup poll jamie posted reflects what we should hope it would reflect - voters are concerned about aspects of the candidates that bear on their ability to be president effectively, and aren't concerned about things that do not.

Patsi,
they think they can get more mileage out of "implying" he said more...who knows? it's television

Maybe he said loofa...lolol

jack, LOL. You are right. For all of us, of course, it is all about me.

"Hopefully at the end of the year...early next year it will be finished. Getting tired of it and the present financial situation is not encouraging to finish it."

Jason -- My son went through that feeling of a never ending PhD trek....and Lord, the money involved. It sure was worth it that day he walked down to collect the doctorate.

UB,
I am a bit offended by your comment (09:25 AM)

I have moved on before Hillary had moved on. But should moving on (in your opinion) mean that I fall in line and say: halleluja to BO?

If that is what HRC wants, she can shove it, and I mean it. She is ready to endorse him, I am happy for her. I am not. And it is not out of hate or bitterness towards the guy, it is just that I do not trust to put my country in his hands for any longer then 1 minute.
I will not support him. For everyone who thinks otherwise...Am happy, no offense. But please accept the fact that my rationale is different.

I say no to BO and NO to JmC.
Period.

"I thought MoJo did a good job of discussing the JJ comments this morning. Funny, with Mika not on the program the discussion takes on a much more serious and focused tone. "

Pogo -- I noticed that as well. Until she was gone, I didn't realize just HOW distracting the innapropriate eye rolls, shrugs, sighs and "I'm just saaaayin' comments are....

I want to know what Jesse said that was so bad even Fox wouldn't repeat it....

Posted by: Patsi | July 10, 2008 9:28 AM

RTL news is implying that DNC intervened.....

"Maybe he said loofa...lolol"

Very possible, burrito!

Looks like many Americans took their money and bought Chinese goods...

http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/10/news/economy/same_store_sales/index.htm?eref=rss_topstories

I will wholeheartedly endorse (the press eagerly awaits my announcement) the democratic nominee for president of the united states.........mccain cannot win......for him to win further imperils our ability to recover from, correct, and overcome the last 8 yrs..........

EdvB

I think that was more phrasing than anything. Except for the mos prejudiced, race would have nothing to do with perception of "effectiveness".

I suppose what they are really talking about is which quality is more likely to keep you from voting for this person?

"I say no to BO and NO to JmC."

I feel much the same, Jason.....I can't remember ever feeling that there is no choice.

Jason,

whoa buddy, chill.....
I posted a question, and all your answer said was you want to tell Hillary to shove it...and I offended you.....

I would love to hear your rational..... rather then your anger....

My question was honest and fair....reread...I am not asking anyone to "fall in-line"

Ally

The media keeps quoting this 23 million figure without bothering to mention that about half of that is money she loaned her campaign and has already said that she is responsible for those funds. The other thing they don't mention is that this paying off of the losers debt is tradition.

Nor do they mention that she is bringing a lot of pocket books to the general that have already paid the maximum in the primary. So any of his who can contribute to her will probably be more than matched by hers contributing to him.

The Obama crowd is making it sound like a demand that has never been heard of before. Just more of the holier than thou, make the clintons look bad crud from that camp.

Posted by: Jamie | July 9, 2008 10:39 PM

=================================

Jamie: I am aware that the loser usually pays off the debt and that half of that amount she has already loaned the campaign. However, this year it has turned into such a media "drama" that it would be better for her (from a PR perspective) to just say, "I am going to take care of the debt so we can move on to the General without this distraction." Or, just simply to go quietly back to her donors to help pay off the debt. I agree with you: The Obama camp is turning this into a media story for reasons that are beyond me (well...I think I know...to make Obama look magnanimous over something that has been turnkey in the past.)

Again...just my opinion. Easy to say when it's not my money! My husband and I would be more than happy to help her pay off the debt but we are both maxed out donors!

Posted by: Ally | July 10, 2008 9:40 AM

UB

I'm probably one of the ones you are addressing in a HIllary supporter that hasn't as yet jumped on the Obama band wagon. I can't vote Republican and my state makes it possible to vote a third party without jeopardizing the electoral votes going to Obama.

As it stands now, I have sincere reservations about his ability to do the job, and not voting for him is a way to express those reservations without hurting the party take over. If I were in a battleground state, I would just swallow those resrvations and vote for him.

It's a long time until November and whether or not this one vote goes for the Democratic nominee will depend on his actions between now and then.

A USA Today/Gallop poll that identifies 6 types of voters who will decide the presidential election.

1.True Believers
2. Fired Up & favorable
3. Firmly decided
4. Up for grabs
5. Skeptical & downbeat
6. Decided but dissatisfied

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-07-09-voter-analysis_N.htm

Query: do we here fall into any of these categories?

For me, I continue to be somewhere between Up for grabs & Skeptical & downbeat since I am unenthused & have not made up my mind

lol Sturge.....

sturg, your lips to god's ear - that sort of thing.

Jason -- by the way, you were talking earlier about BO talking down to the black community. I'm not black so I am only projecting here, but when BO affected that Southern accent at one event and started talking about the crowd wanting to go for Popeye's chicken -- well, I was disgusted. Pandering, talking down, stereotyping -- whatever you want to call it.

"Hopefully at the end of the year...early next year it will be finished. Getting tired of it and the present financial situation is not encouraging to finish it."

Jason -- My son went through that feeling of a never ending PhD trek....and Lord, the money involved. It sure was worth it that day he walked down to collect the doctorate.

Posted by: Patsi | July 10, 2008 9:35 AM

Please wake me when it is over.
Luckily my PhD path is covered and I am sponsored by the board at the university.
But man, am getting tired...I don´t even like it no more!
I wish I had taken a different topic.

Congrads on the son Patsi. He must be content that he finished it.....

many a slip twixt the cup and the lip.........

I seem to be #3. Democrat.

coreen, I'm either a 5 or a 6 - probably more like a 6.

Democracy Corp poll shows what is happening with the categories Coreen linked.

http://www.democracycorps.com/strategy/2008/07/offering-reassurance-and-change/?section=Analysis

" I believe Obama has made a terrible mistake in these two weeks or so, damaging his "new politics" brand in ways he will not recover from. He'll win imo, but he has done some inexcusable things which not only do not help him politically but actually hurt him. Instead of "defining the choice boldly," Obama has blurred the differences. It is a political error."

"Last night, on Countdown, Russ Feingold said we can fix it FISA if Barack Obama is elected President. "Fine.
http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/7/10/91948/6117

actually Jamie,

It was a general question....for the masses. Of course I welcome your opinion, because you posts are thoughtful and interesting.

McCain vs. Obama <---when I look at that , my decision is simple. I am not saying anyone else should think like I do.....seriously.... sure I want Obama to win, but I don't believe that I am out to change anyone's opinions .... i am just here for the discussion.

Jason,

whoa buddy, chill.....
I posted a question, and all your answer said was you want to tell Hillary to shove it...and I offended you.....

I would love to hear your rational..... rather then your anger....

My question was honest and fair....reread...I am not asking anyone to "fall in-line"

Posted by: unlikely_burrito | July 10, 2008 9:45 AM

UB,
I am sorry if it came out that way....It is certianly not my idea to sound like I am going off.
But I have to say that in the past days everyone seems to say that if you do not support BO you are bitter and haven´t moved on. I can only speak for myself buddy, and I have moved on a while back.
But still...like I said...the guy is untruthful.
I have drawn some nice lines in the past days why I think that. My rationale is quite known here why I cannot support the guy...

Once again, if I came on too strong...Sorry dude. Please do not take any offense.....

is VJ machiajelly trying to cryptically say that he needs new shoes? things are tough out there........

Ally,

"My husband and I would be more than happy to help her pay off the debt but we are both maxed out donors!"

This is what I was speaking about when I said that she is bringing a lot of pocket books to the table. You are maxed out on her, but you aren't maxed out on him. His major donors are in the same position in reverse.

Instead of all the ballyhoo about him being so magnanimous about helping her payoff her debt with the news media ragging on her. It should have just been a quiet trade of donors.

Coreen -
I am a #3 first and foremost
and becoming a #2, because I see winning is possible

there's no big problem supporting obama......i didnt like kerry either.....I liked gore ok, but kept being nagged by the appearance that he was not "being himself" and didnt work to reverse the charges against him from the rovians.......

Jason -- by the way, you were talking earlier about BO talking down to the black community. I'm not black so I am only projecting here, but when BO affected that Southern accent at one event and started talking about the crowd wanting to go for Popeye's chicken -- well, I was disgusted. Pandering, talking down, stereotyping -- whatever you want to call it.

Posted by: Patsi | July 10, 2008 9:48 AM

I missed that one P.
Good for me.....

But he did it in various ways. Like I said yesterday or the day before. He used the people to create anger and angst amongst the AA. It went to a boiling point during the NC primary....All and all he played dumb and the at the height of everything he blamed the HRC campaign for playing the race card.
And the media, okay I am going to call the name: Mary Snow form CNN willingly let go of certain reports, although they were handed to her by my sister and refeused to air them...I mean come on. There is tons of evidence out there. But they have made their mind up and they will either use it after DNC convention or destroy it, if they want JmC to bleed.....

Patsi: When I was growing up (in the 70s), there was a Schoolhouse Rock about eating breakfast and the message was that eating breakfast was the important thing...sometimes it might be leftover steak! So when I heard the Popeye's remark (which I thought was directed to people feeding their kids leftover chicken for breakfast), I kind of chuckled. Reason being: Everytime we went to Cheesecake Factory when my kids were small they get the Chicken Littles (fried chicken strips). The orders were huge and the waitperson would always encourage us to get one order and split it but, we refused. We would take home the leftovers and their favorite ritual was having fried chicken for breakfast.

Anyhoo...I guess this made my a bad mother but I always remembered the Schoolhouse Rock so I felt reassured. (And yes, I get that it was not an everyday thing like Obama was talking about.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjnKzIU-obI

things are really tough out here.... since I'm self-employed I may have to lay myself off.......

Craig.... I enjoyed the video.... but like champ.... I'm not quite sure what message you were trying to convey...... the thought of our bombing Iran scares the shit out of me.....

UB....
that is a fair question.....
I am an adult who listens to all kinds of sources and then make my own choices.... I would never take only one person's views to decide anything....
to me... the thought of voting for anyone because Hillary (or any other person) wanted me to is a childish concept..... I have decided to vote for Obama if he has a chance at winning my state..... if not... I will write in Hillary's name because it will give me personal satisfaction and will cause no harm.... please note that that means I do want the Democrats to win the WH....

EdVB.... nice to see you here....
I've missed you and our talks about baseball..... how about those Tampa Bay Rays?..... what a surprise they are this year..... and I think it's healthy for a team beside the Red Sox and or Yankees to be in contention for the AL East....

I would love to hear your rational..... rather then your anger....

Posted by: unlikely_burrito Author Profile Page | July 10, 2008 9:45 AM

And I would love to hear your rational.....rather than your patronization.

Jason,
no problem, thanks for clearing the air.....dude...lol
( fyi- not a dude... : )

http://unlikelyburrito.blogspot.com/

Jamie: I agree 100%...that is the way it should have happened. Instead, it has become a mini-drama.

Glad you posted the USA Today story Coreen....I fall between firmly decided and skeptical & downbeat. I am firm that I will write in Hillary in Tennessee UNLESS in the last week there is a poll that shows this a potential battleground. But according to the Tennessee democratic party, Obama has decided to write off this state. According to the party his campaign feels this is too much of a working class, down scale populace to fight for. Pissed me smooth off.

I am SO sick of being considered a stupid old racist women with little or no education simply because I don't support Obama. To those a-holes suggesting it, I will say that when my mother went back for grad classes during the summers, I attended classes with her. And aced the Abnormal Psychology final when I was twelve. So those trying to paint us with that brush can shove it.

I remain downbeat because I despise the republicans, yet feel like Obama is completely in the pocket of industries including telecommunications. FISA was no surprise.

As the song says, there ain't no good chain gang.

coreen, thanks for that democracycorps link. very interesting stuff.

is it a rational rationale?

Jamie: Of course, we considered donating more through our children but it seemed outside the scope of good taste.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/23/AR2007102301882_pf.html

"Instead of all the ballyhoo about him being so magnanimous about helping her payoff her debt with the news media ragging on her. It should have just been a quiet trade of donors. "

Exactly right, Jamie.

Your're a snob. <----spelling on you're

Nice to see some chicken sh*t coward is attacking me under another anonymous name...

Again, just a way to disrupt the blog and disrespect Craig's wishes.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2008/07/we-will-rock-you.html#comment-113185

no message, rebellious and champ, just the news -- "You Decide" :-)

KGC I read the Democracy Corps article as well &
unfortunately it only reinforces my position that I
do not favor either candidate at this point & truly would
not know who I would vote for if I had to select today.

I am however, willing to assess each candidate over the next few months before I make any decision.

As far as issues, yes as a registered Democrat
I am most interested in health care costs, the state of
this economy-an abject failure for the middle class who
is being squeezed out of existence, the tax burden many of us continue to face with little relief & with nothing to show for our burden, the make up of the Federal judiciary, (which always includes consideration of any threat to overturn a woman's right to choose).

All that being said, I continue to have doubts that Barrack Obama speaks to my concerns--but I will listen.

Ally, lol about the breakfast leftovers. I think you were just being a good mother and preparing them for college. Cold pizza may be too much for breakfast in the tender years, but chicken tenders is just good training.

Pogo, Your thanks would be to Katherine, she linked the Democracy Corps article, I provided the USA Today 6 types of voters poll.

Hope both provided a little perspective for us to consider.

"Please wake me when it is over.
Luckily my PhD path is covered and I am sponsored by the board at the university.
But man, am getting tired...I don´t even like it no more!"

Jason, you sound exactly like my son at that point! He was also covered to a large extent. He did research directly for DARPA and brought a lot of government money to Vanderbilt. It still cost him to live, though and he saw his friends who'd finished their engineering degrees at the masters level getting good jobs while he was eating Raman noodles.

Plus, he was just sick of going to school!

Renee,
thanks for that answer....I too was going to write in Hillary, but in my State it can not be done, also....I also want the Dems to win, and Obama needs every vote he can get in Ohio....

Pogo: I am just being sentimental this morning...my 15-year-old is in Morocco this summer at an Arabic institute and it has been a little preview of Empty Nest Syndrome. I don't like it one bit.

I would love to hear your rational..... rather then your anger....

Posted by: unlikely_burrito Author Profile Page | July 10, 2008 9:45 AM

spelling: rationale, not rational.

I guess i'm between a 5 & 6

Today's discussion is going so well, that I would like to propose that for the duration we totally ignore all obviously snide and snarky aliases meant only to stir up trouble.

"We would take home the leftovers and their favorite ritual was having fried chicken for breakfast.

Anyhoo...I guess this made my a bad mother but I always remembered the Schoolhouse Rock so I felt reassured. "

Ha -- Ally -- my son is a good cook. And once when some girl asked him why he became such a chef, he said it was to protect himself from his mom's "Christmas salad."

That was in reference to one time when he was about seven years old -- it snowed and I hadn't bought groceries. I served the kids red jello and a pickle and called it Christmas salad.

Oh for god's sake ...I see now we have three anonymous people attacking me.

How proud you must be with yourselves....yourself...

Again, nothing but hurting the blog and the reputation of the blog as a decent place to discuss politics...

I endorse Jamie's very rational and responsible suggestion.

Patsi,

I don't think you are any of those negative things you posted.
just so you know.

Ally,

"little preview of Empty Nest Syndrome. I don't like it one bit. "

Go out an do all the stuff you meant to do before you had children. By the time he gets home, you will be suggesting the "Apartment for Rent" section of the newspaper. : )

Patsi: I think my son who is overseas would give anything for a little Jello right now! He said that every meal is a production (completely meant as a show of graciousness, of course) but his stomach is stuffed to the max. While he loves the food, he is dying for something simple and bland. He asked us to meet him at the airport upon his return with a ham and swiss sandwich in hand.

Anyhoo...love your Christmas salad story. Mothers really do love their sons...I always thought it was weird until I had two of my own (I am an only girl child.)

"things are really tough out here.... since I'm self-employed I may have to lay myself off......."

ha -- you and Burrito, sturge -- yesterday she said she was thinking of firing herself.

"We would take home the leftovers and their favorite ritual was having fried chicken for breakfast."

Way back when, I realized that I had been out too many evenings in a row when my son opened the refrigerator one morning and said, "Aw Mom! Not filet mignon again!!"

Jamie: I know, I know. I still have one kid here though (although he leaves for camp on Sunday.) But...I have to work so there is not lots of time for fun. Movies will be the big treat. It's funny...when your kids are little you don't go to the movies much because it involves a babysitter etc. and it is too expensive. Then, when they are older, you don't go because you don't want to leave them alone in the house for three hours alone (especially if they have a girlfriend who lives within walking distance of the house!) So, we will go to lots of movies in the next few weeks!

pats......i'd only lay myself off because I'd really hate to make myself so mad that I'd slip by in the dead of night and torch my shop.......

Jamie, Agreed the discussion has been going well--and excellent proposal for the duration.

And its good to see that as voters we cover the full spectrum of "types".

With regard to work: We have the problem of not wanting to turn down any work because you never know what tragedy is right around the corner. So we find ourselves busier than ever...but not in a good way.

To the anonymous poster(s)

It must be miserable to feel jealousy towards a person you do not even know.

Everyone have a great day.....(even you anonymous) :)
peace~

NEW RULE (for now): Those who come on here anonymously and register with a fake email address -- for the sole purpose of attacking another -- WILL see their comments deleted.

And when I say tragedy, I mean that we never know what project we are going to lose tomorrow or the next day...

Thank you Craig!

Well Patsi,
I hope I get a decent job when after I fnish.
But dad always says: "We´ll cross that bridge when we get there...."

Everyone,
Did you think it was appropriate for HRC to send out the memo underlining her NAY vote yesterday in the senate?
What is your take on it......

I think that it was appropriate, but under the UNITY scrutiny it may boomerang back by the media (read the Obama campaign) if the current slip in polls continues for BO. He can say that HRC is doing one thing and saying another..... He voted YAY....

"I don't think you are any of those negative things you posted.
just so you know."

No, no -- burrito -- I never thought you were saying that at all. It's mainly the damned press, in the continual trying to classify voters.

If you aren't watching MSNBC, Jesse Ventura just complained about the media overblowing a story before it is even a story, and made the absolutely outrageous suggestion that they wait for something to happen and then report the news.

The man is obviously mental. :-)

Coreen

It's unfortunate there is not a viable left third party candidate. I think people are unhappy, frustrated and disappointed with both major parties.

"He asked us to meet him at the airport upon his return with a ham and swiss sandwich in hand."

I love that! And I well remember the feeling of living in Germany, then finally getting to Amsterdam and being able to order a ham and cheese sandwich and a hige glass of ice cold milk!

""Aw Mom! Not filet mignon again!!"

OMG! Jamie that's hilarious!

Put me down as # 15
Just setting back and enjoying the ride, while being opinionated as hell about any subject that crosses my mind.

Jack

Jason: Personally, I think it was fine for Hillary to explain her FISA vote. She is still a Senator, after all. And she still has supporters out there. I see what you are saying too though...

Contessa just got all pouty with hurt feelings because of the media criticism. "Well! That's your opinion".

Poor baby. I swear she almost teared up. Maybe MSNBC can do a three day expose on Contessa's little weep and lip biting. Was it rea? Is she qualified to be on the air? How will the male anchors compete with the girly tears?

The Trailmix Video is great.
And I'm a six.

" think that it was appropriate, but under the UNITY scrutiny it may boomerang back by the media (read the Obama campaign) if the current slip in polls continues for BO. He can say that HRC is doing one thing and saying another..... He voted YAY...."

Jason -- I also liked the fact that she explained her vote and backed it up. Not that it'll do any good. Nobody would EVER talk about the powerful speech she gave after the vote to authorize Bush's war powers. The press completely ignored the fact that she went above and beyond in that case.

BUT, I've already seen one headline that read: "Hill Refuses to Give Barack Cover on FISA Vote."

I thought, WTF????? Is it now her responsibility to "give him cover"????

Patsi: Yes, I would say that giving him cover is scope creep (to use a term from my profession.)

"while being opinionated as hell about any subject that crosses my mind."

I like your style, Jack!!!

"McCain Says Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac `Vital,' Must Not Fail "
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aUYcu83omgcY&refer=worldwide

Jack

"Yes, I would say that giving him cover is scope creep"

This is so traditional. The next thing you know, she will be expected to squeeze his arm muscle and bat her eyelashes because he is so so strong.

"scope creep "

Great term and nails the situation!

Aight... Kewl....

Sorry for the language, but it is weekend for me, :-)Friday is my day off. Here in Holland we have a 36 hour week and I work 4 days for 9 hours...Every thursday the weekend starts.

Am going home in an hour and sleep. This man is tired. Tonight it is the new Angelina Jolie / Morgan Freeman movie....Two of the best ever...

Stay civil everyone,
Signing off....

For those who think Obama looks older now than he did when this election started, they had an article on that 1 or 3 weeks ago. They said he has gotten a little bit gray since the election started.They talked to Obama's longtime barber. For reference, they said to look at Bill Clinton in 1992 versus how he looked after his 2 terms and to look at George Bush in 2000 and how he looks now. I remember Bush being asked a year or 2 ago about how tough it was to be President and he said, "You have no idea!"

Good morning, all.

Patsi, do you really not know what Jesse Jackson said? I could tell you, but I'm not allowed to mention Barack Obama & nuts in the same sentence either.

JJ used a slang reference to wanting to cut off Obama's testicles.

Hey Patsi

Saving Grace and The Closer return with a new season on Monday.

yes on the deletion of the anony-mooses.......

"JJ used a slang reference to wanting to cut off Obama's testicles."

I know that part, but they keep saying that Jesse said a lot more, and it was so much worse that the nuts reference they couldn't even show it. Huh?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080710/ap_on_el_pr/obama_jackson;_ylt=Aojdx_ZHHlEsCEaGpKkem3Gs0NUE

This is the link to the story.

Craig,

Nice job on the video. The picture of Ahmadimijad and the Saudi Fat Bastard lead me to ask the following question:

If Iran is anti western, why would they paint "Islamic Republic of Iran", in English, on the fuselage of the plane?

Jack,

I'll give you an investment tip about both Fannie and Freddie.

I think that their stock has at least another 20% to drop. If you check out Mortgage Implode.com, you'll see a couple of huge mortgage names just spit the bit, indicating further contraction in the market.

At some point, the powers that be will realize that every economic downturn was escaped because we spent our way out of it and Fannie and Freddie will be no different. I am guessing they will figure that out in short order. I know that Chris Dodd has been fighting to keep them alive and I think he'll succeed.

If Fannie get's below $11, I'd put it on the radar to buy. The real estate market is bottoming out and once lenders with heavy REO portfolios decide to cut prices and liquidate, the market will climb...

If John McCain makes it a point to mention that he was tortured in Vietnam. Then he proceeds to vote to allow torture of detainees at Guantanamo, isn't he basically saying that his torture was no big deal since we do it too?

Allow me to make an assumption: “Bomb Iran” coming from McC along with his cigarette “joke” are, on the stage of international relations, non starters. Bluster is common in this world but blatant stupidity is not. McC knows enough about enriched nuclear fuel to suggest that we use the same system as France for electric power so that we would not have a waste problem. If you combine this knowledge with what he knows about negotiating then there is just about enough room in the shot glass for an ounce of whatever it is he is drinking.
It doesn’t take too much effort for Obama to look presidential in this climate--playing the adult would be enough. I have no idea how this will all play out but it won’t be in McCain’s favor with other than the Armageddon crowd. (the repub core?) (30%?)
Unrelated—Jackson has been under the bus since the SC primary

In SC 2000, 8 years ago......the gop were quick to point out that mccain's confinement caused him to be "unstable" and "emotional", etc

Renee,

Thanks for the note. I try to check TrailMix as often as I can, but have really been on the go since various baseball and softball leagues began play this year, and I'm often too tired to sit at my computer when I return home from games. I'm sure it's old age, but I'm blaming the weather.

I'm sure I would have had more to say about the American League if my team had gotten off to a better start. The Rays have looked great, but I still find myself paying more attention to Red Sox scores. I won't confess to rooting against your team, but I'll admit to being disappointed when they stage one of their late-inning comebacks. Couldn't they just once come back from a 9-2 deficit and lose a game 10-9? But NO, they always seem to come back and win the stupid game. :-)

I'm afraid Yankee fans are going to wish we kept that Ortiz jersey buried in the new Yankee Stadium.

Bear

I've got my money tied up in these old junk rentals.
What you said
http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2008/07/we-will-rock-you.html#comment-113251

Makes a lot of since. I think the repo market in this neighborhood has cleaned out for the most part. At least those that sat for a long time with silly prices on them. I've seen a number of houses move at a price that had me wishing I was more adventuresome. The problem with my neighborhood is that it run the risk of being abandon again by lenders just because of stupid lending decisions and in some case fraud by mortagage brokers.
One other thing our working loan is a variable rate loan and it has dropped from 8.50% to 6% in the last 6 months. As soon as the election is over I look for things to pickup a bit, no matter who is elected.

This message is brought to you by the lone optimistic brain cell in Jacks brain. Then again , he only has two brain cells.

Jack

I've got my money tied up in groceries and gasoline......

"I've got my money tied up in these old junk rentals."

Jack -- One summer my dad decided to buy some old houses to rent to migrant workers. My mom and I used to call it his foolhearty attempt to become a slum lord....bottom line, he ended up not only never collecting rent, but delivering groceries to them. He ended up raising hell with some of the sugar beat farmers who paid them crap for wages. Then he got my mom to start a summer school for the kids. And he called himself a Republican!

Greetings from the desert:

Interesting video, Craig. So, you want to make us think and decide, eh? I like that approach. I've decided that the US needs a new, energetic diplomatic corps that will use techniques other than war as the first resort. Bernard Baruch said, "If the history of the past fifty years teaches us anything, it is that peace does not follow disarmament - disarmament follows peace." Is there a lesson in there for our current situation with Iran and so many other nations?

Craig, I also like your new rule. Maybe folks should be asked to fill out the profile sheet too as very few who post here do now.

Put me down as a #5. With the drift to the center and right by the Democratic nominee to be, the latest being his affirmative vote on the FISA bill yesterday, I'm beginning to think there isn't any difference between the two main candidates -- the old tweedle dee and tweedle dum phenomenon is returning to our national election. Same and McSame!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080710/ap_on_go_co/rove_subpoena

"Rove had been scheduled to appear at the House Judiciary subcommittee hearing Thursday morning. A placard with his name sat in front of an empty chair at the witness table, with a handful of protesters behind it calling for Rove to be arrested."

Nick....
with regards to your 10:38am post.....
whskyjack once posted an excellent post about why it can be so difficult to determine one's tone on a blog..... maybe he'd be kind enough to repost it....

I do think, however, that claiming someone is upset, angry, jealous, or having sour grapes, is a tool used against a poster or posters to needle them when one disagrees.... it usually makes me dismiss the entire post, even if it is worded intelligently.....

as for being off thread..... we frequently are.... and Craig has told us many times that he enjoys our "getting to know one another" posts....

Yet the media seems far more interested in Jesse Jackson's hot mic moment than Phil Gramm's shooting off his mouth about a nation of whiners. Go figure.

eprof -- I'm not sure why, but I don't seem to be able to leave a message on your blog now. Something screwed up with the google account. I'll try again.

Jason,

If I was in your position I would probably write something like this,

"Your point about including emerging events is quite appropriate and is well taken. But, as you with your own research undoubtedly realized, an information cut-off date absolutely must be established and be enforced otherwise one's work will never be published.

I do find my research intriguing; at this point it appears likely that I will do post-doctoral research on the subject. When that happens I most assuredly will welcome your thoughtful collaboration. But, now, I simply must wrap-up what I have committed doing."

I suppose you've already done all this. Still, I had to write my thoughts in empathetic sympathy with what you are experiencing.

RE: knowing people's "tone"

When this whole internet phenomenon got started, Bill Gates said one of the things people should think about was that things typed in an email didn't show facial expressions etc...and therefore people needed to be very aware of how they sounded strictly on paper.

Well, consumer confidence is an issue (as illustrated in the Monty Python skit with a high-rise condo that collapsed because people stopped believing in it…oh, and by Tinkerbell’s life hanging in the balance). The mental game does matter.

However, it’s hard to be a consumer when your job has been shipped overseas or the price of everything goes up, but your paycheck remains the same. Pretty much everyone in public office is clueless; they may know what’s going on, but they don’t really understand it because it doesn’t effect them.

But Phil seems clueless, but then again, isn't society society's fault?

patsi - That's why I came up with the ~flaming tildes of sarcasm.~ You could come up with some more punctuation. Howver, sometimes I think people like have it both ways; they're serious until they get called on it, in which case they were kidding.

But I can usually tell when someone's kidding-& I have no sense of humor.....

Jesse Jackson also managed to take the spotlight off Obama's FISA vote, but maybe that was the point.

" I think people like have it both ways; they're serious until they get called on it, in which case they were kidding. "

Ha! true....

"But I can usually tell when someone's kidding-& I have no sense of humor....."

And another ha....true!

renee, you are exactly right - I know that's what I'm doing when I accuse someone of being angry. LOL Actually, just go back to yesterday's thread, I believe, take the time to look at all the angry, etc. accusations on it and all should be clear.

EProf, welcome back. Don't be such a stranger. We need more folks with your insight and edication roun' these parts.

And now, I bid you all adieu for the rest of the day.

"The bottom line is that America STILL has never seen a duly certified, true copy of Obama's birth record (aka COLB), that has been accurately reproduced in scans of BOTH SIDES, including one side that has the embossed State Seal and the inked Registrar's stamp clearly visible to the naked eye, PLUS a hand-written signature from the Director of Vital Records attesting to its validity."

Polarik

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/07/who-died-and-ma.html

Bush is on television now lying more about FISA and security. Can I be taken away to Gitmo for saying I'd like to bitch slap him to the curb?

Patsi, sorry you can't comment on my blog. For your sign-in use your g-mail account and password. Blogger isn't the most reliable platform for posting, but then none of them are. By the time programmers get this right, broadband usage will be how we pay for our time on the Internet; then, posting will slow down to a dribble. And, that in turn, will make the government's job of listening in without a warrant that much easier. Ah, unintended consequences!

And speaking of Phil Gramm....some years back, a songwriter friend of mine went home to Texas and says he saw a handwritten sign in the men's room of a truck stop. It was taped beside the hand blow dryer and read: Push button for a message from Senator Gramm.

I'd also like to bitch slap TN congresswoman Marsha Blackburn to the curb. She's stumbling around on women's issues like a complete ass.

ROFL -- Dem's FISA Strategy -- Show Strength By Bowing

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/07/10/democrats/

"Jesse Jackson also managed to take the spotlight off Obama's FISA vote, but maybe that was the point."

Jeejee,

That almost has the making of another good conspiracy.

Were there any late night calls? "Er Rev ... remember when I dumped wright? Well it's your turn. Now you go out and insult me then apologize and the news folk will shut up about FISA"

Gordo, the SSA would require original documents, such as proof of birth, before they issued him a social security number.

Dan Balz WaPo article on Obama's Ideology

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/09/AR2008070902368.html

Okay that was a good line:

Obama's comment on Phil Graham's "psychological recession".

"We already have one Dr. Phil. We don't need another one!"

Nick

That was the point of the article. Basically, we know what it isn't. As yet, we don't know what it is.

Today I paid 4.59 for gas and got a letter from several airlines asking for legislation to regulate the gas market.

"Last week, crude oil hit an all-time high of $146, and the skyrocketing cost of fuel is impacting our customers, our employees, the communities we serve, and the economy as a whole. United, and the majority of other major U.S. airlines, are asking our most loyal customers to join us in pushing for legislation to add more transparency and disclosure in the oil markets. Please see the attached open letter from the leaders of the U.S. airline industry. "

http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/09/news/companies/airlines_speculation_letter/?postversion=2008070918

Obama has not provided proof that he meets the Constitutional requirements for POTUS. Images on two internet sites are not proof. What we have is stonewalling from the Obama campaign.

Most find it difficult to believe that BO could have come this far while living a lie. Sometimes a really big deception is the easiest - people say to themselves, "He wouldn't dare lie about an important issue like this, so he must be telling the truth!"

If he is the Dem nominee, the Repubs could have the ultimate "October Surprise" - Barack Obama is not a US citizen.

Gordo you crack me up!

¡yo soy Horsedooty!

Good morning all
On the most interesting discussion about how the media ruins people's lives.
In defense of the media, perhaps we ought to take a look at ourselves as a people. It seems to me that we demand answers right now! That we hang on every little tidbit or innuendo that's put out there ... if there were no appetite for this type of story, they wouldn't be covered the way they are.

maggisd,

I totally agree with that post ! Additionally, I think that there is a void in the media coverage and a "real" news channel would be well received. I think the timing is right, but the networks now are all fighting for the same type of viewer....

CNN international was pretty good the last time I saw it....but that was years ago.

Voting in the year 2008 ... some people are filled with enthusiasm and I am happy for them ... everyone should have that feeling at least once in their adult lives.
But, for the rest of us, if we know where we don't agree with the one major- party candidate, and are becoming increasingly certain that the other major-party candidate has no core principles that he won't abandon (while claiming that he has not been properly understood) ... where are the alternatives?
Even if one is a Libertarian, can one really vote for Bob Barr? If one is really progressive, does the prospect of voting for Cynthia McKinney feel you with a warm fuzzy feeling? What about St Ralph...OMG what happened to the man?

UB - of the three cable channels, CNN still seems to present the most actual serious news, but their broadcast schedule is such that--just at the time I want to get the serious news of the day, there's Larry King slobbering over the latest sensational news of the day. Lately, I've been watching the BBC, but even that doesn't fill the bill, since they actually have too little US News.

UB

That need for a "real news" station is why I watch BBC America. I'm lucky to have it on cable but you can usually get a half hour or hour broadcast on PBS if you don't have cable access.

I just wish our 24 hour cable news did more in depth reporting on an issue rather than the constant repeat of the same stories every 15 minutes. That would be expensive but it would be interesting.

Guess that's why we get "reality" shows rather than excellent dramatic shows. "Reality" is so much cheaper than quality.

Another example of you get what your pay for.

Bob Barr strikes me as a seriously mean man. Besides, he's not a Libertarian by any construct I've ever heard of.

Jamie: Considering the outrageous fees being charged by our local cable, made worse by the fact that one is saddled with a variety of "packages" just in order to get one station, I feel I'm getting both a whole lot less than I'm paying for and a whole lot more than I want.

John McCain supports ala carte cable pricing and has for a long time. One of the few to speak up for it.

Maggie,

Our cable bill is atrocious but we have three computers and three TV sets on it and it actually came out cheaper to just say, "Oh give us everything". There are only about 10 channels I watch with any regularity but all the rest is there if something special comes up.

McCain backs a la carte cable, puts pressure on cable
By Ken Fisher | Published: February 15, 2006 - 12:40PM CT

Now that the FCC has re-evaluated its position on à la carte cable, old allies are beginning to reiterate support for the measure. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), a critic of the cable industry's pricing practices and a backer of the à la carte approach, recently announced his intention to introduce legislation that would require the development of à la carte options from the cable industry. Noting that the FCC believes that à la carte pricing could reduce consumer bills by as much as 13 percent, McCain said that choice should reign supreme, and that consumers should not be "forced to buy a host of channels they don’t even watch."

KGC,

Aren't those local decisions? I raise hell all the time with my city council admin and county commission about it. Maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree. :) lol rezdog = barking

I am sorry, to respond so late, Patsi. Please accept my apology, but I went off to see if I could make a buck before immediately after my last comment.

No, I was never on the boards. However, as a little kid, I was tiny & not quite white enough. I was bullied and bloodied almost daily. A dramatic growth spurt and the adoption of a policy of asymetrical retaliation stopped the bullying in my mid teens. My body and capacity to absorb and inflict pain changed, but my attitude toward dastards and cowardly weasels did not.

jim & bobbie williams, jimmy schatz, bob mechtel, doug (duck) mills, and jack shepard (a DENTIST presently running for US Senate in the RIPUPLICAN primary, while on the lam from a Federal beef) were the most violent and sadistic surviving perverts of my youth in St. Paul, Minnesota. 5 attended Highland Park schools, while mills was at s.p.a. 2 others died young, one a suicide, and the other a convicted multiple murderer at 14, murdered himself in Chi 2 days after he was released from Juvie at 18. The surviving perverts probably all found exciting jobs as adults in the CIA - unless they went to work for pinochet, saddam, or kim il sung - shoving broom handles up people's recta, and scooping eyes out with church keys. But, even if they did work for the CIA, their efforts yielded no valuable data or insights, only laughs, paychecks, and pensions. Actually, I believe doug mills graduated from Williams College and then went to work for NASA in Houston. The rest are lurking in places unknown, so be careful out there.

There is abundant evidence that torture is not effective for extracting information from human brains, and everyone in the Congress and Administration has this information. Therefore, the only reason regustlicans support torture is that they enjoy hurting people. That is, reghastlicans are a subset of the set we denominate as perverts.

Btw, a surefire indicator that a guy is a sadistic pervert is the use of the concept, "The only thing these people understand is pain [violence, punishment, etc.]" When you hear it, you know that the speaker is projecting his own mental and emotional deformity onto other people. His "Kill 'em all" rants identify vj macchiavelli as a just such an one. It would be good to trace him before he turns into fritz haarmann or jeffrey dahmer. FISA can help us with that. ( :>D ]<

Hi maggisd, Jamie,

I, too, watch BBC news and I read newspapers online from England,
Canada and other countries, too, just to get their take on what's happening
in the U.S.

I used to love all the excellent British shows on PBS and even BBC America,
now there are so few. BBC America used to run East Enders, then they stopped. I loved all the Brit mysterious that used to be on TV like
Inspector Morse, Midsummer Murders, Sherlock Holmes and comedies
like Keeping Up Appearances and As Time Goes By. Even Masterpiece
Theater is mostly re-runs now. It's a sad commentary on U.S. television.

Ala carte cable pricing is not a new issue.

I'd rather have someone offer me more cable choices then sell out the constitution after promising to do more.

KGC: I do recall Sen McCain having hearings with the various cable providers when he was Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee on the issue of a la carte pricing. Their explanations as to why it would be unfeasible could all be translated as "We might not make as much money."

Rezdog: It's a local decision as to whether or which cable company has access to a particular area of the city, but the issue of regulating the cable companies is in the hands of the Feds...for the most part. (This may not be true of the very few truly local companies).

I thought the city gives Comcast (in my case) the franchise (monopoly) and can negotiate these kind of issues on behalf of citizens.

Here's a kind of interesting discussion of electoral possibilities from Larry Sabado, someone with a pretty good reputation for fair-minded analysis

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/07/novembers_electoral_college_ma.html

more.. . including pricing

The right of municipalities to regulate cable rates went away in 1996

"In defense of the media, perhaps we ought to take a look at ourselves as a people. "

Maggi, burrito, et al -- that's so true. I've seen so much stuff in the music world that it makes me sick. Ypou'll see some rumor start up about an entertainer and people absolutely act like it's a hard fact -- when it's pure speculation. And people get hurt in the process.

Also there are no more cable monopolies in theory,
Any company that want to build may do so if they
meet the terms of the ordinance. A few places have competitive cable but not many.

Rezdog: No..the city does give the cable company its franchise, and that's how it is that there is no intra-city competition, even in places with more than one cable company.
But, the Feds can regulate how the gi-normous cable companies do business with their customers, thanks to the commerce clause.

In 1996 Congress deregulated the cable industry

http://www.fcc.gov/telecom.html

KGC: In theory means IF the municipality will allow a second cable company to run cable where another company already has existing cable ... good luck with that one.

Patsi,
JJ said he would like to cut his nuts off.If they can print that on tv,I can print it here.

latest polls show Obama with only a 2 point lead.

Money channel said government would like to see Fannie& Freddie go under and become a government controlled entity.But I believe it was Graham who said the government will not let it go under.We own the bonds and our broker said they were guaranteed by the Government.Hope he wasn't lying to us.Erin B on CNBC said the gov. has to support F.& F.
But then someone else said they were going under.Who to believe.

And there are still a lot of us out here that will vote for neither candidate.

phil gramm demonstrates just how much rebastlicans hate America. This is a clear message from one of the 'big brains' of the regurglican party that America had better shut up, roll over, and put out, or things will get really mean around here.

phil's latest spew reminds me that the Late Great Molly Ivins once said of him, "even his best friends hate him."

SF has two cable companies. There are a few communities in the Northeast as well. There are a lot of very interesting new technologies that may make competition more likely if not stymied by legislative blocks. Both phone lines and electic lines can be used to transmit broadband signal and there is space.

http://www.rcn.com/
RCN is the most aggressive cable company in terms of competing with existing systems.

And all cable operators are creepy Republicans And not covered by any sense of fairness.
http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2008/04/rnc_calls_on_ca.html

Maybe I should check and see if the city owns the roads and bridges. LOL

Thx for the info all. I need to read more. lol

We have dish network as cable is unavailable here in the boonies.We pay $100 a month and have all channels except HD.But my husband usually watches Andy Griffith and Mash and the Cubs,CNBC and the western cg.,boxing.So we waste a lot of money but sometimes if I feel lazy in the morning i watch a movie.So I like to keep my options open

Ruth

Rez
The franchisor still has some rights (although not many.) Complaining to the Clerk is the right thing to do because the cable operators could care less, they make Ma Bell look like Mother Teresa.

Comcast volunteered it's installation and service staff to spy on people for Homeland Security (and probably the DEA) but the telecommunications workers union stepped in and said "no way."

city owns the roads and bridges. LOL

Thx for the info all. I need to read more. lol

you jest..but .there was a municipal financing trend in the 80's where a lot of public buildings were sold and leased back.

KGC: What the Congress giveth it can taketh away again. We have no guaranteed right to be entertained, or even informed, but that doesn't mean we can't be dissatisfied with the way the cable industry operates.

"Btw, a surefire indicator that a guy is a sadistic pervert is the use of the concept, "The only thing these people understand is pain [violence, punishment, etc.]" When you hear it, you know that the speaker is projecting his own mental and emotional deformity onto other people."

Absolutely agree. And I'm always surprised at the number of people who talk that way.

Also agree on the bully and thug comments from your school days. After Columbine happened, I lobbyied for a program to bring back the football stars from my son's team to give workshops in local high schools -- talking about the damage bullying does....one of the local coaches did get something like that off the ground. But it's something people should be aware of. Because I think the hurt done by youthful bullying is something difficult to ever repair.

A follow up on the Ramsey's
Bo Deitle was on earlier and he still thinks one of the Ramsey's killed Jon Bonet.He just won't give it up.

Ruth

"JJ said he would like to cut his nuts off.If they can print that on tv,I can print it here."

Ruth -- I'm not talking about the nuts comment. I want to know what they were talking about when they said the nuts comment wasn't the worst part of the whole thing caught on tape. Something else was on that tape and is being held. How bad could it be?

That remind me of an old story:

When the old Comanche chief was asked by the Senator at the land clams commission about how he knew the Comanche owned the land where they lived, and his reply,
"Hell we know it's our land because we stole it from the Kiowas"
lol

maggisd

Both cable and broadcast television use public resouces and that is the hook for messing around. The problem is determining what is the public interest.

I used to be a big supporter of public access television band I still think the companies should support it. But the internet provides, better and cheaper public access.

Book recommendation.

This is the funniest book about who actually owns a house. It is set in Casablanca

The Caliph's House a year in Casablanca
Tahir Shah

It's the black comedy version of A Year in Provence

Is Bo Deitle related to GORDO?

Patsi: I continue to be surprised at the number of adults who seem to think that bullying is just a normal part of life, that it helps people to become "tough" or to face the "real world".
Bullying (in all its many variations)...the cruel, deliberate verbal / physical abuse of others, just because one can get away with it has gifted the world with domestic violence, honor killings, serial killers, and rapists, just to name a few consequences.

Patsi
He said he was talking down to blacks and then said something about using religion and that was not shown.

Ruth

"Is Bo Deitle related to GORDO?"

G Man, Got your COLB?

KGC: Thanks for the recommendation.
I'm currently on the lookout for the arrival of the latest Rumpole book from Amazon uk. I honestly thought that John Mortimer was deceased, but he's still going strong apparently.

Patsi: As someone who is still a fan of Rev Jackson, I am curiouser and curiouser about this whole thing. Let's say he ought to apologize for his use of coarse language on a live mic -- why should he apologize for having criticized certain of Sen Obama's speeches? Now, here's a case where the media ought to be telling us more, and instead they are kicking a man who may not be what he once was, but whose own campaign for the Presidency paved the way for Sen Obama.

July 10, 2008
Gallup Daily: Obama Retains Small AdvantageMcCain remains behind by a 3-point margin

Pollcat: The Gallup poll has long had a reputation for skewing Republican in its sampling data, so take it with a grain of salt.

Earlier there was some discussion about former Sen Phil Gramm's remarkably obtuse comments on the economy. Politico has an article on Sen McCain's response--

John McCain strongly disavowed the comments today of his campaign co-chair and economic adviser, saying Phil Gramm "does not speak for me -- I speak for me."

"So, I strongly disagree," McCain told reporters gathered for a press conference ...

Questioned whether Gramm, who has been rumored as a potential Treasury secretary for McCain, would still have a position in his administration, the GOP candidate underscored his unhappiness with his former colleague's comments ...

"I think Sen. Gramm would be in serious consideration for ambassador to Belarus," McCain said with a broad smile. "Though I'm not sure the citizens of Minsk would welcome that."

McCain underlined his disagreement.

"I believe that the person here in Michigan who just lost his job isn't suffering from a 'mental recession,'" McCain said, citing Gramm's remarks published in the Washington Times. "I believe that the mother here in Michigan, around the country trying to get enough money to educate her children isn’t 'whining.'"

America, McCain made sure to note, "is in great difficulty."

Note the line about Belarus ... I can't help it, folks, I'm a sucker for that kind of flip off the cuff remark.

maggisd,

I love Rumpole--and his wife "she who must be obeyed." That's the kind of
television I miss. I've read all the books. Is there a new one?

I heard the Obama VP choice is Biden.

As far as the rest of the Jesse Jackson clip that the media didn't show--
Bill O'Reilly implied that it was too scandalous (my word) to show
the rest of the tape, out of good taste or something. I have no idea what
he was implying--could just be exaggeration.

Prof Marcia: There is. I received an e-mail from Amazon.uk ... I'll go look it up and get back to you.

KGC

Biden seems to be the only trial balloon that has been floated that hasn't been shot down by someone. You can hear Chuck Todd's commentary on the Veepstakes site if you want to vote on it.

Not that it means anything, but their poll is down to Clinton, Edwards, Biden, and Sebelius if you want to vote.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24764369/

I heard the Obama VP choice is Biden.-KGC

That would be fine with me. I was rooting for him back in March ? (primary days)

Prof Marcia: It is The Anti-Social Behaviour of Rumpole New in paperback this month at Amazon.co.uk but apparently originally published in November 2007 as Rumpole Misbehaves.

CBS rumors have Webb refusing full disclosure and taking his name out and Biden "rocketing to the top of the list." They also put Edwards back in play.

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/07/10/politics/horserace/entry4247707.shtml

I would find Biden an odd choice in that Sen Obama earlier said that foreign policy was the one area where he didn't feel that he needed help.
In my opinion, his economic and administrative credentials are weak. He did not have a full-time advisor on the economy until just recently (when he brought over some former Clinton people) and most of his plans for the economy sound like a little bit of this and a little bit of that.
Since Edwards has recently signaled that he would accept the position (reported on MSNBC) if offered and since he would also get Elizabeth (the former bankruptcy lawyer), my own personal opinion is that Edwards populist rhetoric and his real ease in speaking about economic issues would help Obama the most.

"He said he was talking down to blacks and then said something about using religion and that was not shown."

But I then have to wonder why O'Riley (the assh -le) said the rest of it was so bad they couldn't play it. One of two things -- either Jacskson said something REALLY dirty, or there wasn't much else and O'Riley wanted to act like he was taking the high road.

"I continue to be surprised at the number of adults who seem to think that bullying is just a normal part of life, that it helps people to become "tough" or to face the "real world". "

I know, Maggi -- and I hear that crap all the time. People don't take it seriously enough.

And you may be right about the media overplaying the Jackson thing just to make Jesse look worse.

Good for Webb.

Let the senator make a written commitment, to the candidate, subject to vetting, then provide the information.

The 'campaign' ask this, and the 'campaign' asks that. What nonsense. Ranks right up there with, "its our policy, etc."

" Sebelius"

That would be stupid. She won't help him with women OR Kansans.

Two interesting observations here from Mickey Kaus ... one on Sen Obama's speech that led to the "talking down" criticism and another about Sen McCain and immigration

http://www.slate.com/id/2194907/

maggisd,

Bullying is not just "domestic violence, honor killings, serial killers, rapists" it is prostitution, porn movies (prostitution with the cameras rolling), human trafficking - in the US, mostly for prostitution. Our bullying caste system enforces double standards for medical care, police protection, law enforcement, education, housing, depending on wealth, race, and family connections. When is the last time a wealthy WASP murderer was executed? A wealthy murderer of any sort ? 80 years ?

xrepublican: You make some valid points. However, I was referring strictly to personal, individual behavior rather than what you say rightly characterize as our institutional caste system.
As individuals, we cannot do all that much about institutional inequities; however, we can, as parents, avoid dismissing the antisocial behavior of our offspring as harmless fun, or just something kids do.

Sebelius is a terrible speaker. Plus Obama needs someone from a big electoral state, IMO.

mccain got harsh with phil gramm as if he has so many pals that he can afford to ridicule one. This is typical mccain loose cannon: all bluster and fuss, and aimed at one of his own supporters. Anyway, now phil can vote for barr with a clear conscience.

Maybe by the time this is over, mccain will be able to count his supporters on the fingers of one hand.

Oh, well....we wouldn't want the guy to be uncomfortable. He's only promised to change the world. Need another pillow?

Didn't have time to read all 300 messages. Did anyone pledge to buy Hillary's $50 t-shirt?

maggisd,

Yes! Parents, but also grandparents, teachers, everyone who comes in contact with kids should give guidance in this matter. We can't afford to suppose that someone else is giving that guidance.

Someday, most of us will be helpless, in a wheel chair or a bed. Who do we want taking care of us? Someone who was guided into being ethical, if not kind, someone who has a smoldering grudge against life, or someone who thinks hurting people is the way to make them stop complaining? This thought ought to send a chill up every American's spine.

Re: voting...I'm a #3.

My VP choices...
Biden or Edwards
Clinton
Sebelius

And Craig...thank you so much for putting an end to the anonymous bullying! ♫ Hallelujah! ♫

"Kevin Drum discusses Andrew Sullivan' reaction to the Obama kids doing an Access Hollywood interview. Personally, I have a hard enough time being a father to my own girls without taking time off to critique how anyone else is raising their own. But I was struck how Sullivan rates this and others issues in terms of importance:"
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_07/014062.php

"A few things have unsettled me these past couple of weeks about the Obama campaign. It is not the small adjustments to previously-held positions - FISA, the Second Amendment, Iraq. It's a sense that Obama's ample self-regard is lapsing into hubris. The signs of this are pretty trivial on the surface, but they are troubling nonetheless.

That simulated faux-presidential seal was both tacky, silly and presumptive - a small version of "Mission Accomplished" Obama could well do without. The decision to give his acceptance speech in a stadium, rather than the traditional convention hall is also an unnecessary over-reach. . . . Lastly, I was gob-smacked by the Obamas' decision to include their children in a soft-focus TV interview.
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/07/the-hubris-of-o.html

Obama should have kept the primary going as long as possible.

"Did anyone pledge to buy Hillary's $50 t-shirt?"

Hadn't yet, but I will now, MD. I'll leave it to my granddaughter to remind her that our national anthem wasn't always "I Got 99 Problems but a Bitch Ain't One"....but that was before we got "change."

Obama's Nuremberg-style Rally Will Backfire Spectacularly

http://hillbuzz.blogspot.com/2008/07/obamas-nuremberg-style-rally-will.html

"Top officials in the Food and Drug Administration may have had a rough year for food and drug safety, but things were looking up when it came to their bonuses. The agency's managers are handed retention and merit bonuses. (A million dollars in bonuses, for instance, went to 28 top officials, who averaged almost $36,000 each.)"

http://blogs.courant.com/on_background/2008/06/delauro-resents-fda-bonuses.html

Talk about insult to injury

KGC -- I had no idea federal agency execs got bonuses....unbelievable!

From my 6:04 PM link:

"It's scary stuff, especially when you risk a Godwin's infraction by noting the scary similarities between the thuggish O'borg collective and the Youth Movement of other cults of personality that favored large rallies in stadiums filled with shrieking adoration."

"Obama should have kept the primary going as long as possible."

Katherine, you are so right. When one of your adoring base starts picking at you, what comes next?

Sullivan's whine is amusing--he dismissed the FISA flop, et al as "small adjustments to previously-held positions" but questions Obama's judgment about the children's interview, the stadium acceptance speech. Perspective.

Patsi
In the case of the FDA, since they failed to fufill their own plan, it is outrageous. Too much going from agency to industy too.

Coreen
Sullivan is the perfect Obama supporter --faux outrage over the insignificant and an excuse for every flipflop on the important issues.

"Ich bin bullshiter."

ROFL, Nick!!!!!

Isn't it supposed to be "Ich bin ein Bullshitter"?
My German is fairly rusty. Been nearly 40 years since I been there.

¡yo soy Horsedooty!

Nick LoL that is funny I was not trying to be snarky at all.

Farfegnugen I like that and had forgotten about that

¡yo soy Horsedooty!

" "Ich bin ein Bullshitter"?

I'm not sure, Doots....I thought that when JFK "mispoke" it was because he said Ich bin ein Berliner instead of Ich bin Berliner.....

I just read an article about that Patsi and grammatically JFK did not misspeak. Someone tried to say that JFK was calling himself a pickle or a loaf of bread (don't remember the exact item) but Berliners do not use that word when mentioning Pickles or bread or whatever it was.

As you probably know there are many dialects of German in Germany. High deutsch and and low Deutsch and the way Hamburgers and Berliners and Frankfurters talk are all slightly different from those in Munich.

Anyways, I was not trying to be critical.

¡yo soy Horsedooty!

Hi everyone -- chiming in on the cable discussion -- I serve on our county Telecommunications Commission. We have three contracts with three different cable providers and one is an over-build. A couple weeks ago we sent a fourth franchise agreement to the Board of Supervisors, for a provider which will overbuild 90% of the county within seven years. We're also looking into providing a wireless broadband service to the entire county, starting with the rural areas not likely to be served by cable in this century. PEG access is my baby. The franchise agreements we previously had in place were negotiated in the late 1970s and the good people of the county who worked on that one were bamboozled by the cable companies into thinking that PEG was the devil's programming. The cable companies simply didn't want to pay and the cable committee at the time was told that PEG would bring Communist pornography into the living rooms of subscribers. Now I am still trying to get PEG access launched in an era when the cable companies have been given legal leverage to be less generous. http://www.saveaccess.org/

Localities control rights-of-way (ROW), those little spaces alongside the roads and private property where most utilities are run. The cable franchise is in exchange for the use of the right of way. Localities can use this to leverage a lot of things from cable companies, but one thing we can't do is control rates. The FCC does that, so the a la carte option is in the FCC's hands.

There are pros and cons to a la carte pricing for cable. The main pro is that customers could pick and choose their programming selections. This *conceivably* would reduce their cable bills.

The main con is that a la carte pricing could reduce programming selection, and/or drive up the price of niche programming that are currently bundled in packages. For example, if the military channel is not bundled as part of a larger package, it might not get enough subscribers to maintain placement on the dial. It could be moved to On-Demand selections, which viewers would have to intentionally find. Many of the smaller niche channels are discovered by channel flippers and benefit from those audience numbers fro their ad revenue.

You might not care about the military channel, but maybe you like another small niche channel faced with the same issues. If the channel were to survive you might have to pay more for that one channel, and you might decide that it's not worth it. The programming variety shrinks again, until all that's left are the big boys, pay-per-view, and must-carry.

Sorry to go on so long. I'm a bit of a nerd about this stuff.

Hello.

Nice Video Mr. Crawford.... I love Queen a bunch, but watching the rockets lift off put me in mind of a post from.......
Sturgeone; 10:04 am .........when is rational, rationale??? Isn't that what the military brass is aiming for a "perfect storm" of rockets, they would probably get off, down deep in their bunkers, while the people above just die, and die, and die.......damn all war-mongers to hell.

Hello.

Nice Video Mr. Crawford.... I love Queen a bunch, but watching the rockets lift off put me in mind of a post from.......
Sturgeone; 10:04 am .........when is rational, rationale??? Isn't that what the military brass is aiming for a "perfect storm" of rockets, they would probably get off, down deep in their bunkers, while the people above just die, and die, and die.......damn all war-mongers to hell.

Sorry for the double post folks, just a little technical glitch. We're all fine now

Thx Alicia for the insight.

If you can leverage for some things, why not rates? Maybe not specific but say, a 10% reduction on basic etc.

Hopefully I'll be better informed when I call down to city hall next time. :-)

"As you probably know there are many dialects of German in Germany. High deutsch and and low Deutsch and the way Hamburgers and Berliners and Frankfurters talk are all slightly different from those in Munich.

Anyways, I was not trying to be critical. "

No, you didn't come off critical at all Doots -- and it appears that the phrase is up for grabs. I know about the dialect situation in Germany. I learned a kind of "kitchen German" up in Kassel...then went to Munich and thought I could semi-communicate with Bavarians. WRONG! :)

Thanks for the post, Alicia....as usual, the answer is more complex than at first thought.

We are so unbelievably screwed, regardless of the outcome of the November elections:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080710/ap_on_go_pr_wh/terrorist_surveillance

Prepping you for subjugation:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080710/ap_on_re_us/value_of_life

Rezdog -- Localities are specifically prohibited by the feds from regulating cable rates. Believe me, if I could, I would. Comcast just raised their rates by 10% just because they could. No additional programming, no additional services -- just a flat-out rate increase.

One thing we can do is allow more providers to come into the marketplace and be very careful about how we go about it.. There is one out there right now -- a very large, well-funded telecom company that is overbuilding with fiber-to-the-door all over the place. Their negotiation strategy is to say, "Don't worry little locality-serf. The marketplace will take care of all these problems." Well, not so fast, Mr. Big Telco, one day you might just be the only game in town and I want to make sure that our local consumers are protected. We can still regulate customer service standards. Enforcement is another matter. Our county budget is so broke right now that we can't afford the legal fees to conduct enforcement against these large corporations that tie our in-house legal in knots and telecom attorneys are a high-priced specialty. When we had the money we did manage to keep the cable companies in line.

"Our county budget is so broke right now that we can't afford the legal fees to conduct enforcement against these large corporations that tie our in-house legal in knots and telecom attorneys are a high-priced specialty. When we had the money we did manage to keep the cable companies in line. "

I think the "breaking" of local government has been a mission of the right for years. They cry about federalism, but want to see local schools and other services destroyed. All the better for charter and private schooling for some....

I wouldn't worry too much about cable....Apple-tv is going to change the living room forever.

Sebelius would be a very bad choice for several reasons, the least of which is that it would royally piss off the Clinton supporters.

She is a very bad speaker
She has no national experience
She has no international experience
She has no relationship with the military
She won't bring him Kansas

IOW, she has all of his weaknesses and none of his strengths.

Edwards has turned it down and that means Biden or Clinton or someone not yet considered as yet. Either would be fine with me.

One of the few times we disagree, Jamie...Boy, I do NOT want to see her on that ticket. Any and all failures will be hung around her neck. And God forbid some lunatic take a shot at him.

McCain Showed his Birth Certificate, an actual piece of paper

"That’s right. John McCain, in addressing questions about his birth, showed a reporter his birth certificate, and it identified the name of the hospital where he was born.

How about it, Senator Obama? Will you do the same? Will you show reporters a hard copy of the version of your birth certificate that identifies the hospital where you were born?"

http://texasdarlin.wordpress.com/2008/07/10/mccain-showed-his-birth-certificate-an-actual-piece-of-paper/

Jealousy: I am envious of Contessa Brewer. I always wondered what it would be like to command an anchor's salary while being a complete fucking moron. I used to feel the same way about bow tie Tucker Carlson, also....

And Jamie...I get that BBC America station but rarely watch it. One of my favorite ways to get the news is the London BBC News from my short wave radio. i think I just like the accent.

when JFK "mispoke he was correct as he was in Berlin. The "jelly doughnut" is only called "ein Berliner" in other parts of Germany. In Berlin it has another name. So his sentence as spoken was not an error.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ich_bin_ein_Berliner#Jelly_doughnut_urban_legend

" I am envious of Contessa Brewer. I always wondered what it would be like to command an anchor's salary while being a complete fucking moron. I used to feel the same way about bow tie Tucker Carlson, also...."

ROFL, Dexter rocks....

Help - I'm being held hostage by the website. I deletes all my posts - really. this isn't a joke - I've been trying all day so I thought a short one might fare better.

Just got a call from Obama team....they are starting up in Ohio....

"Don't hope for a better life......" new McCain commercial cracks me up!

Compose your posts in a word processor first beth, and then copy them here. If it deletes your post, close the browser completely, delete your cookies, and re-open. happens to me too.

I think of Contessa Brewer as a female version of Anderson Cooper, although perhaps I'm being too harsh on Contessa.

Dexter

BBC is one of my favorite stations

Torchwood
Dr Who
Robin Hood
Life On Mars
MOnty Python (Completely restored)
Not Going Out

Plus lots of Mini series such as last year's Dr. Jekyl which was marvelous.

Also Dexter,

If you like the accent and quirky programming with humor and brains, try Radio 4 on line or shortwave.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/

Easy solution to the Brewers, Carlsons, Coopers, et. al.

Turn off the TV.

Better yet, throw it away.

It's a mind-control device.

Maggie

No even Cooper doesn't have that much air between his ears. Earlier today she was oh so offended with a guest. Someone really needs to sit her down and explain that she isn't on a phone call with Paris comparing notes on their chihuahuas.

Jamie: I have to admit that I actually see Contessa Brewer very seldom, so I shouldn't really have made the comparison ... although I don't see Anderson Cooper that much either.

For anyone interested, information about June fund-raising by the candidates and the political parties.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080710/ap_on_el_pr/mccain_money;_ylt=A0WTcXooWXZIyhQAlQeyFz4D

Jamie: Upon further thought, what would you bet that Ms Brewer was a "communications" major rather than a journalism major?
I have a friend whose daughter was a communications major...a lovely and intelligent young woman, currently making a living as a middle manager of a restaurant chain. Her male colleagues all got their "degrees" by working up the food chain as waiters and then managers. There are no former waitresses in middle management.

Champ: On the subject of TV ... I swear I have learned more from television than I ever did in school. It depends upon what one watches ... even before we had this mind-numbing plethora of channels, PBS always offered wonderful programming ... and now, with National Geographic, History, Ovation, C-Span, etc there is almost more information than one can absorb. As one gets older and the eyes are not what they used to be, television can be a real boon (although I still can always find time to read).

"They're not as clever as my "fish without a bicycle" or "won't come to your revolution" t-shirts, but they're OK."

Ha -- my two favorite t-shirts:

It's not getting any smarter out there" Frank Zappa

and

"Repent & Reload -- GOP -- the Official Party of the Apocalypse"

Patsi: Sticking my oar in here, I have to say it's one of the few times in recent years I've agreed with Andrew Sullivan ... not about the interview of the children necessarily, but his other comments ... about the big rallies, the new campaign symbol...all so hubristic, IMHO.
I'm not a fan of all this signage and symbolism...it kinds of creeps me out.

Well, Maggi, that takes the cake as the most depressing statement of the day. On multiple levels.

I'm curious about how much of that information was actually retained. I used to love educational programming, also, but eventually became cognizant to the fact that I wasn't retaining much of what I had 'learned'.

Even with so-called 'educational' programming, one must consider the source. You'll 'learn' what the programmers allow.

Once again, I just talked to someone close to the camp, and they say McCain is going to implode before this is over. I hate to sound like Gordo, but these folks are close enough to John to know that he is on that verge....

Too bad we have two crappy candidates. A wack job and a phony.

Patsi-
I know your question wasn't directed to me but, anyone who is a parent knows that they cannot make the correct choice every single time. It is a job, for which there is absolutely no training.....

Anyone who would criticize Obama in that manner, either isn't a parent, or has an agenda. imo

Their children look like pretty nice, well behaved children.....that doesn't happen over night.

"I wouldn't worry too much about cable....Apple-tv is going to change the living room forever."-UB

Comcast is my ISP in addition to being my cable tv supplier. . .

But not my phone service.lol

champ: My retention level for things I see on TV is pretty good. We all learn differently. I particularly enjoy programming that includes information about exotic locales ... places I know I will never get to visit myself. Or, programming that touches on subjects I've previously studied ... history in particular.
I have no patience for science-based programs (other than those having to do with geology and evolution), but I was always a dunce when it came to science. Still, I try to absorb what I can.
Just my opinion, of course, but I count television as the most miraculous of inventions because it opened the world up to so many people.

McCain has best funraising month ever!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080710/ap_on_el_pr/mccain_money;_ylt=Amr3a3jOst_qxaT2F0aYqweyFz4D

I bet McCain is at his limits.....If I were McC, I'd be looking around saying.....

I'm a millionaire....am I just going to go through this to get my "butt" handed to me on a platter in November. . . am I being used as the fall guy for everything "bush"? scratching my head asking myself....what is a blueberry? I mean black berry?" asking Lieberman....what color is the damn thing?

McCain has best fundraising month ever!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080710/ap_on_el_pr/mccain_money;_ylt=Amr3a3jOst_qxaT2F0aYqweyFz4D

Television is a conduit of evil.

Not that it has to be, but that's what it's become. the Internet is next. Media conglomerates are already doing their damnedest to make the web TV2.

oh and remember my ad...."don't hope for a better life"

I am John McCain, actually, yes, I approved that message.

....LOL...

Or Mayberry!

That's not change we can believe in.

"Patsi: Sticking my oar in here, I have to say it's one of the few times in recent years I've agreed with Andrew Sullivan ... not about the interview of the children necessarily, but his other comments ... about the big rallies, the new campaign symbol...all so hubristic, IMHO.
I'm not a fan of all this signage and symbolism...it kinds of creeps me out. "

Yes...creeps me out too.

UB: Sen McCain is not personally a millionaire.

And, I'm certain that there is an incident connected to your remark about the blackberry, but I pretty much think he actually does know what they are since all Senators have one.
He may not be the world's greatest speaker (boy there's an understatement), and he may be awfully pale, but he's neither stupid nor in his dotage as yet.

"Anyone who would criticize Obama in that manner, either isn't a parent, or has an agenda. imo"

Burrito -- I made no judgement about the appearance.

Spike Lee takes Jesse Jackson to task over Obama comments:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080710/ap_on_el_pr/mccain_money;_ylt=Amr3a3jOst_qxaT2F0aYqweyFz4D

beleive or don't believe....like as in god....or the tooth fairy...or santa claus...or your own life

I think many will be inspired by Barack. Many who for decades haven't thought for a minute their life might get better....

I am hopeful. I can't help it.

champ: What about books and newspapers? Most publishing companies are part of large media conglomerates and authors certainly provide just the information they wish to provide. Are books also a conduit of evil?

"At least he didn't say dingle berry "

OMG! What a rapier wit!

Pasti,,,I was talking about the guy that said Obamas were bad , or did bad parenting...not you...silly

maggs,
wiki has him at 40 million...

maybe it is wrong I would not know

Magg,
Have you seen McCain in person? I have many close up photos.....he's an old dude.....almost frail

Spike Lee?! Just the person I was waiting to hear from.
What's the real problem? The coarseness of his language or the fact that he dared to criticize Sen Obama? Can one not generally support a candidate (and I'm certain Rev Jackson does heartily support Sen Obama) and yet not be pleased with everything he says and does?
I mean, I supported Hillary through and through but her remark about hard-working white voters supporting was quite worthy of condemnation.
Is it now de rigeur to approve of everything and anything one's candidate of choice says and does?

"Pasti,,,I was talking about the guy that said Obamas were bad , or did bad parenting...not you...silly"

and yet....here was the salutation....

"Patsi-
I know your question wasn't directed to me but, anyone who is a parent knows"

At any rate the fact is, the kids are cute. They said nothing wrong. Sullivan can criticize about a myriad of things, but this wasn't one of them. And, he shouldn't have spent all that ime back tracking on the decision to do the show.

McCain live in the smallest of their [8?]homes.....because it isn't his money?

"Is it now de rigeur to approve of everything and anything one's candidate of choice says and does?"

It is now, Maggi....I guess you didn't get the memo....:)

What digby says about the state of the campaigns.
"
I would just point out that the public's opinion of the Democratic congress, among the base of the party as well as everyone else, is dismal. And it's not because it is too liberal. It's because they don't seem to believe in anything or be able to hold the line against the most unpopular lame duck president in history. It's unlikely that Obama could lose his base as dramatically the congress has, but dampening enthusiasm leads to other unpleasant consequences. The younger, first time voters who are his most ardent supporters are also the demographic with the worst track record of follow-through in November elections. "
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/fyi-by-dibgy-democracy-corps-has-new.html

I think it would be incredibly difficult to have a young family in Obama's situation........and make all the "correct" choices...
Patsi-I think we agree, in some convoluted way

UB: I have seen Sen McCain in person. To me, of course, he is not that old...he is the same age as Colin Powell but, of course, the two have had different life experiences.
He is not frail, he is pale. That is because he avoids the sun as much as possible and uses a very strong sun-screen.
In terms of his walk, carriage, etc, he actually does better now than he did when he walked down that ramp in 1973.
As for his linguistic lapses...they are not some new development. He's just one of those people who sometimes gets tongue-tied. One of the doctors I worked for...phi beta kappa, one of the most brilliant men I knew, couldn't put a decent sentence together to save his life. He used to just tell me what he wanted to convey and I wrote his letters for him ... even after I retired. Some people are just not gifted in language.

Hey Patsi,
What do you think of Michelle Obama? she's self -made, had her career before she met Barack....worked hard and did well.

She seems like she is a strong woman.

"Patsi-I think we agree, in some convoluted way"

Yes, we absolutely do. Not even in a convoluted way on the child issue. I agree with Sullivan on his other criticisms --but that little quick interview was no big deal. Unfortunately, Obama somehow thought it was and got defensive. I'm not sure why.

See what is important in MO's statement?
============================
M. OBAMA TALKS FATHERHOOD, WOMEN'S ISSUES
"Obama used the roundtable audience, as she did yesterday, to describe her husband's understanding of women's issues through the prism of the strong -- but sometimes struggling -- women in his life.

His own mother, she said at the beginning of her remarks, was "very young and very single when she had him." And, Obama added, he has observed his wife's attempts to reconcile motherhood with her career aspirations."

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/07/10/1193601.aspx
==============================
What are the rules for people born between December 23, 1952 and November 13, 1986?

"When one parent was a US citizen and the other a foreign national, the US citizen parent must have resided in the US for a total of 10 years prior to the birth of the child, with five of the years after the age of 14.

Children born out of wedlock to a US citizen mother were US citizens if the mother was resident in the US for a period of one year prior to the birth of the child. Children born out of wedlock to a US citizen father acquired US citizenship only if legitimated before turning 21."

http://www.visalaw.com/05jan1/2jan105.html

It's the state of hypnosis that TV induces coupled with the barrage of mixed and subliminal messages that makes the programming particularly insidious, Maggi.

Once again, I would question the source of any print medium, also. That books are rarely festered with mind-numbing advertising and a slew of opposing messages is a virtue of them.

Reading is also a much more active endeavor than watching TV. While watching TV, you are literally having ideas and imagery 'uploaded' into your brain. Hypnosis.

KGC -- Good link to digby....and this post on that board was spot on:

"Hard to maintain enthusiasm for a candidate (Obama) who says all the right things when he's running for the nomination, then "bows to Bush" when the chips are down.

But its just the 4th Amendment. Why am I making a big deal about it?"

UB: I don't think where they live has to do with the financial situation so much as the fact that Sen McCain really loves Sedona. From what I understand, his favorite thing in the world is to have friends over and BBQ, and the view of the red rocks from their backyard is breathtaking.

I apologize for going on so much about Sen McCain. I had vowed not to turn into a McCain groupie (and I don't think that I am), but I don't think he deserves to be made an object of ridicule. I don't even think the 76 year old Ron Paul or the 76 year old Ralph Nader deserve to be made the butt of jokes...nor the 67 year old Rev Jackson...these are people who have made valid contributions to our country and who still see themselves as useful.

I am glad you we able to see him, he tugged at our hearts, because he reminds my mother and myself, of my father .... same everything......he was funny and well informed.....very impressive....

His positions don't match up with mine.... That doesn't mean he is a bad person, just different. ..

I thought he looked frail....I even doctored the one photo for my blog just to make him look better...

I'm trying this with a different name - I'm really bethyboo.
Thanks for the idea, champ, but I just cut and paaste and email to myself. If I can't get my names accepted, I'm checking out.

I can't believe you've been going thru the 'captcha' gimmick every time you posted, champ.

The crisis I foresee is in computers - the people who work in the field have no concept of the people they want to use it. There is a humongous fortune to be made by the person who cleans up the vocabulary used in the field. to think they used to worry about the languages like fortran and pascal etc. Now they all use English and it's still impossible to understand

So maybe I'll be here again, and maybe I won't. I really do like it here.

politics is dirty, we all get carried away once in a while

boop just get a key...it's so much easier

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkKVVqvQtBU

I think 8 homes has to do a bit with wealth.....but that's just me....as an accused snob...I am way shy of 8 homes.....

if I count my mini-van I might get close

4th amendment. Hah.

Print out a copy of the Constitution; hell, print out 10, and stash them in your walls, under rocks, in a hole. Give it a burial fitting of perhaps the most virtuos collection of ideas in human history. Because the Constitution is dead.

Maybe someday a future civilization will unearth your copy, and marvel at the genius contained therein. Hopefully they'll have access to our history also, so that they'll be able to ascertain exactly where it was that we went horribly astray.

Champ: Oh dear...I must really be in trouble...I frequently read and watch TV at the same time.

arm yourself, and plan an escape route........

remember the duct tape? matter of time

champ: Your post about the Constitution put me in mind of an old Star Trek episode ... about the Yangs and the Congs. One of the few episodes that really stayed with me. As I look back it was probably pretty amateurish (weren't they all?) but it made an impression at the time.
BTW, aside from the 3rd amendment (moot) and the 9th amendment (the one old Bork doesn't believe in), the 4th amendment is the most historically abused of all the amendments.

"What do you think of Michelle Obama?"

Burrito, I'd like her a lot more if she hadn't said she didn't know if she could support Hillary if she was the nominee and if she HADN"T made the statement: "If you can't run your own home, how can you run the White House?" That well worn right wing reference to Bill Clinton's womanizing infuriates me. It told me much about Michelle Obama as a NON-feminist. No woman who cares about women's progress would make that statement. It literally smells of Phyllis Shafley and her ilk.

UB: Personally I have no idea what anyone would do with 8 homes...perhaps one or two of them are occupied by the grown McCain children?
I think the Heinz Kerrys have a similar number of homes, but they ski. I don't see the McCains as skiers. Wonder where all the homes are?

see. I appreciate that take....because I think she was being herself.....kinda bitchy....but not serious......immature I give you that, but she has done very well for herself, and I admire that....

Plus : I do not for one minute think she would put up with a jerk husband.

She will be so polished soon we will be begging for the "real " Michelle...jmo

Patsi / Burrito: On the other hand, while she may have a bit of a snarky side, I actually think I'd be more enthusiastic if she were the candidate. She certainly knows who she is.
BTW...did any of you see that picture of Michelle's mother as a young woman? I have never seen anyone look so much like her mother...I actually thought that the picture was Michelle with an old-timey hairstyle at first.

Your relation of a fictional television contrivance is a great example of the phenomenon I've attempted to describe.

I am a victim of the same, Maggi. I, like most in our society, was thrown in front of a TV as soon as I was able to see. My mind had been littered with visually-delivered garbage for most of my life. I am still trying to purge it.

TV creates the illusion of shared experiences, and yet nothing has really been shared. You are still sitting on your couch, having done nothing but absorbed censored and editorialized snippets of reality, which of course, isn't reality at all.

Oh Maggs me too...but she isn't running.

I didn't like her in the beginning....but then I started reading....

champ: I was not thrown in front of a television as soon as I was able to see...no one had televisions when I was a child. We got our first black and white TV on my 10th birthday and my grandparents still had the same one when I married and left home.
While I appreciate the phenomenon you are describing, I cannot tell you what I have learned from TV ... my ex learned how to make puff pastry from Julia Child (truly), and I learned how to make minor house repairs -- I have seen Kilimanjaro and Borneo and the death camps, the great cathedrals of Europe and so many many things I could never have actually seen in person.
Of course, I have also traveled in real life and you are right that a 20" television is no substitute for reality, but it is something.

I don't much care about MO one way or the other. She is certainly not a feminist. But then, that word is again demonized, so I probably shouldn't even use it.

I found Michelle's statements ugly and made simply for her husband's political benefit. If Hillary Clinton had come even close to that sort of comment, God help her.

UB: I am kind of hoping that they have the sort of relationship where she can say, "Now look here mister!" ... I know you don't get the source of my anxiety about Sen Obama...but I just get this vibe of no there there about him. I see Michelle as the practical one in the family. And the one who can be honest enough to say, of course his position changed....he was presented with new facts.

I 'm not sure, but if I had to guess, I bet she helps him ties his shoes...if you know what I mean....

I think she is the poster child for feminists!

she says what she thinks, regardless of who she might tweak.....she earns a living with or without a man....

what is a feminist? that is the question

So you think a feminist is the kind of woman who makes snotty comments about another women's marriage, equating it with her self-worth and competence?

I don't want to get into a MO conversation, anyway. I've purposefully stayed away from it because I didn't like her comments. Her husband is the candidate, not her.

Maggi,

Tao Te Ching, Chapter 80:

If a country is governed wisely,
its inhabitants will be content.
They enjoy the labor of their hands
and don't waste time inventing
labor-saving machines.
Since they dearly love their homes,
they aren't interested in travel.
There may be a few wagons and boats,
but these don't go anywhere.
There may be an arsenal of weapons,
but nobody ever uses them.
People enjoy their food,
take pleasure in being with their families,
spend weekends working in their gardens,
delight in the doings of the neighborhood.
And even though the next country is so close
that people can hear its roosters crowing and its dogs barking,
they are content to die of old age
without ever having gone to see it.

http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/core9/phalsall/texts/taote-v3.html

did Nick leave?

UB: Figuratively, perhaps.
I'm pretty certain that Mrs McCain literally helps Sen McCain tie his shoes.

Here's something I do wonder about ... a real petty little nothing of a thing...if Sen Obama is going to wear a tie, why doesn't he either learn how to tie it properly or, in the alternative, buy a shirt that fits appropriately. I know, I know...it's just a real stupid thing to notice...but he is a rather elegant person and that tie thing makes me nuts.

banality!

You would know about that, Brye....

I was curious....because , Patsi I know you are a passionate feminist ....

snotty comment are never welcomed, but maybe that is actually what she thought? maybe she spoke her own truth...it's possible....

champ: Surely that post is meant in jest.

nope

Maggs,
I have to admit I have not looked at his shirt or tie......but once I do...it will be a mission to correct it. My hub ties a great tie....I know exactly what you mean. : )

Patsi: Like you, I did not care for that remark and always thought it was a calculated remark. I do know that there are a surprising number of women who continue to blame Sen Clinton for former Pres Clinton's infidelities ... women who are entirely certain that, if their husband ever cheated even once they would kick him to the curb and end their marriage immediately. Mrs Sen Vitter comes to mind in that context.

From my 10:20 PM post:

His own mother, she said at the beginning of her remarks, was "very young and very single when she had him."
==============================
Ann Dunham

"There she met Barack Hussein Obama, Sr.... When they became engaged, both sets of parents opposed the marriage ... Nevertheless, the couple married on February 2, 1961 in Maui, Hawaii.

Barack Obama, Sr. left Ann and their son in 1963 to attend Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dunham and Obama were divorced in Honolulu, Hawaii in January 1964."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Ann_Dunham#cite_note-notjustagirl-5

Hey- I know most women don't even know when their husbands cheat.....and visa versa

GORDO is on a schedule...every whatever he posts....what an interesting way to make a living.

Shout out to GORDO: you go!

UB: That's one of the things I always admired about Sen Kerry. That man has the most wonderful collection of ties and he really knows how to do a knot. One of my favorite childhood memories is of watching my Gramp do his favored Windsor knot in the mirror ... we were definitely working class, but Gramp was always a bit of a dandy....loved his ties, his shoes (always had shoe forms in them) and his hats ... we knew it was summer when Gramp broke out his Panama.

Chapter 67

"Some say that my teaching is nonsense.
Others call it lofty but impractical.
But to those who have looked inside themselves,
this nonsense makes perfect sense.
And to those who put it into practice,
this loftiness has roots that go deep.

I have just three things to teach:
simplicity, patience, compassion.
These three are your greatest treasures.
Simple in actions and in thoughts,
you return to the source of being.
Patient with both friends and enemies,
you accord with the way things are.
Compassionate toward yourself,
you reconcile all beings in the world."

champ,
no offence I would rather hear your words.....

champ: A fine sentiment indeed and something we might all strive towards. But to strive toward an ideal of planting one's self in place and never venturing beyond one's own backyard..... phaw!

It's late...it's dark... and I am famished. Have enjoyed our conversation. Later.

see ya Maggs McC lover.........teasing

65

"The ancient Masters
didn't try to educate the people,
but kindly taught them to not-know.

When they think that they know the answers,
people are difficult to guide.
When they know that they don't know,
people can find their own way."

81

"True words aren't eloquent;
eloquent words aren't true.
Wise men don't need to prove their point;
men who need to prove their point aren't wise.

The Master has no possessions.
The more he does for others,
the happier he is.
The more he gives to others,
the wealthier he is.

The Tao nourishes by not forcing.
By not dominating, the Master leads.

If you want to learn how to govern,
avoid being clever or rich.
The simplest pattern is the clearest.
Content with an ordinary life,
you can show all people the way
back to their own true nature."

78

"Nothing in the world
is as soft and yielding as water.
Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible,
nothing can surpass it.

The soft overcomes the hard;
the gentle overcomes the rigid.
Everyone knows this is true,
but few can put it into practice.

Therefore the Master remains
serene in the midst of sorrow.
Evil cannot enter his heart.
Because he has given up helping,
he is people's greatest help.

True words seem paradoxical."

I give up. Fare well.

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I just wrote a long deep and perceptive post, copied it of course, and then submitted it. I got the brilliant idea to show you what happened then. That comes up on the website letterhead. I do have a typekey.

boops: I think it is your computer.

maybe it is infected.

mccain is from large wealth on his mommy's side. Mommy inherited scads of oilwells in OK. I don't know that his wealth matters as much as his hereditary tie to Big Oil. Iraq Fiasco II is a $Trillion subsidy for Big Oil and mommy, and young johnny loves Fiasco II.

I know some will say that IF II was actually mounted to seize WMDs, turn out saddam and bring democracy, and rescue the suffering Kurds and Shi'ites from the fascists, capture bin Laden, et alia. However, most of that turned out to be mere hallucinations, and Fiasco II devolved into a subsidy for Big Oil and pillage party for the 'private contractors'.

Patsi, I believe your 'implosion' alert. I think we are seeing implosion in the churning and upheaval in his campaign personnel and in his vicious public humiliation of phil gramm. Of course, I want to see it, 'cuz I think the guy is a liar, cheat, grafter, traitor, slut, and all-round uncouth skunk. But, despite my desires, mccain's campaign really does look like dead man walking.

Btw, one of his houses is occupied by the wife he cheated on and dumped for the thieving, adulterous, junkie to whom he is presently married.

that's much better than Mc's "dickipedia" entry.......

Confucius say crowded elevator always smell different to midget.

WE WILL ROCK YOU has oh so many applications! *S*

It could be the TM theme song.

VJ Machiavelli, which is a good name for ya Mac, why is it that ya think that Dems won't protect this country and you? There's NO evidence to the contrary.

tt

UB - I will check on that, but have no other indication of such.

Now that I'm commited to this, I'll keep talking, tho not so long this time cuz I want to go to sleep.

Champ - if you can really live with the Tao Te Ching, more power to you. You just seem too alive to me, and not patient with those whom you consider against your beliefs. I do believe that some truly need this kind of philosophy and if that's where your path leads you, I expect you'll find happiness. It's not for me, but then it doesn't have to be.

PBS folks - I have stopped sending them money because I figured all AI was paying for was Pledege Breaks, and during those breaks, they first sacrifice the Brit coms. Those Brit coms keep me relatively relaxed all week long. As for the mysteries, when a woman named Pat Mitchell took over, she vowed to stop them. I've seen her talk and she is a FREAK SHOW. If they get in trouble for being too liberal, I have no trouble with their being balanced, at all.

My reasoning is this : now that I can no longer count on seeing the shows I care about, I have to buy them. They aren't cheap so the money that could have gone to PBS now goes to the BBC America Shop.

I favor and/or hope tp purchase soon: As Time Goes By, Lord Peter Wimsey (the old one with Ian Carmichael), and any number of others. I don't mind funding all the science and nature stuff as long as I get my Brit coms, but esp with the San Francisco audience that our schedules get a little too dilletantish.
We used to complain about the twice-yearly breaks ans said we'd love occasional breaks - HA!

I guess I've runn out of nattering material so will get out of here. And so to bed. (always wanted to say that.)

Mac, "I'm Voting Republican".

http://imvotingrepublican.com/index.php

tt

Constitutional Drift

http://www.slate.com/id/2195008/