Craig Crawford's Trail Mix

I've wondered about PETA before.....but that's just silly. Turn it loose outside?

Nuts.

Strug... Where is the Woo hoo...
oh or is that a PETA Boo hoo

story's so old it's attracting flies.

today's background music

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YCEAumrCK8

There ain't no flies on me
by albert hamond

Who wants to be the hero of the day?
I'd rather have a price upon my head
To be the guy who pulls the trigger first
Is better than to be the guy
Who's layin' out there dead - you see?

There ain't no flies on me
There ain't no flies on me
There ain't no flies on me
There ain't no flies on me

I'll always be the guy who rings the bell
And not the guy who's answering the door
Who wants to be the guy who gets the shock?
I'd rather be the heavy
Come to even up the score - you see?

There ain't no flies on me
There ain't no flies on me
There ain't no flies on me
There ain't no flies on me

(Instrumental)

There ain't no flies on me
There ain't no flies on me
There ain't no flies on me
There ain't no flies on me

Who wants to be the one who bakes the cake?
I'd rather be the one who eats the meal
Who wants to be the fella with the brains?
Man I'd rather be
The fella with the spiel - you see?

There ain't no flies on me
There ain't no flies on me
There ain't no flies on me
There ain't no flies on me

Swat was the blog about again today?

Oh well maybe Barack can Swat the coming super inflation before it makes the debt look small but the same to your bank account....

Off to other stuff
Best to all

that cold-blooded look will no doubt be played and replayed next election. where were his famed political staff? this is one of those lbj doggy ear moments best left in the can.

woo not, lest ye be hoo-ed.........

Timely and significant:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yrP2dl4ku0

Off for my monthly Remicade.

i followed the PETA principle.......saw a fly entangled in a garden spider web and set it free.......only now the spider hates me...........

sturge, starving spiders now? have you no heart, man?

and the fly fleed without a single buzz of thanks.....

I'm going to leave the porch light on tonight as penance.....tomorrow the spider will love me.

wonder what peta would do with a biting tick? you know, the lyme spreading kind.

"Admittedly I am a bit late to the party on the grave matter...."

and CC is partying at the grave..........PETA will call on this one, I am sure................

b. burgdorferi, the bacteria that causes lyme disease, has to eat too. where does peta draw the line?

Maybe it sends a message. You come into our house & hassle us, Prez Obama hones in on you & takes you out.

(W would have ignored the fly & gone after a bird sitting in a tree outside.)

See, the fly's life was not without purpose. Now, is the fly's 15 minutes of fame up already? Other things going on in the world. Other things.

patd - One day, the lion will lay down with the lamb, the tick will become vegan & the bacteria will transmute into drops of dew.

PETA's point is that people have choices & they do a really crappy job, sometimes, of encouraging "pro life" choices. Somebody should tell them they can win more flies with honey, than with vinegar.

"One day, the lion will lay down with the lamb, the tick will become vegan & the bacteria will transmute into drops of dew."

blue, beautiful sentiment and loved your iraq war metaphor

"W would have ignored the fly & gone after a bird sitting in a tree outside."

on bugs of a different stripe

http://neteffect.foreignpolicy.com/

"Taliban chief killed by 'own guard'
......
A Taliban leader who criticised the group's Pakistani head of command over attacks that killed two civilians has been shot dead, reportedly by one of his own guards.
....
Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder, reporting from the Pakistani capital Islamabad, said: "Zainuddin had accused Baitullah Mehsud of going against the tenets of Islam for carrying out attacks on religious scholars.
.....
Zainuddin had said: "Whatever Baitullah Mehsud and his associates are doing in the name of Islam is not a jihad, and in fact it is rioting and terrorism.''

The motive for criticising Mehsud was not clear, but whatever the reason, it has exposed divisions within the tribes."

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/06/200962382215715372.html

I am very impressed with how adept our last two commanders in chief have been. First, Bush ducks not only one, but two shoes. Then, Obama, lands a perfect hit on the fly.

Almost super human powers may exist in the White House.

BW

"Almost super human powers may exist in the White House."

I will never again say " I wish that I was a fly on the wall" so I can hear the private conversations of the most powerful person in the world has.

mornin'

I kid you not.

Solar...the fly on the wall has become a dangerous position...the shoe on the fly? If it hit, it might have hurt.

Washington Post - Mouthpiece Theater

http://specials.washingtonpost.com/video/politics-theater/

I think they got jealous of our fearless leader's film making skills.

I would think that PETA would do itself a world of good by limiting its scope to living things not universally hated and not considered vermin. What next - no swatting mosquitos as they bite? Give me a break.

And in other news ... Ed McMahon dies.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/arts/television/24mcmahon.html?_r=1&hp

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/06/the-most-famous-dead-fly-in-th.html#comment-238626

And no one will ever die until we are stacked like firewood all over the earth wishing we had one really, really good germ (Star Trek Geek reference)

BW

First off all. My best wishes for you-and your husband.

"the shoe on the fly? If it hit, it might have hurt."

Yep- I can't tell you how disapointed I was that-that fly wasn't hit by the shoe!!

I yelled like would have when a favorite football team ( Da Bears ) fumbled the football-cos there was fly doo-doo all over it. If that shoe woulda hit---TOUCH DOWN- we scored one.

Possible Republic Response:

"The President should not have put his personal prestige on the line in dealing with this fly -- he is, after all, the leader of the free world.

What he should have done was to call in the SWAT team."

Like I would have that is

Six Degrees of Separation
Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon

NOW

Six Degrees of Robert Gibbs

http://www.whitehousecorrespondentsweekendinsider.com/2009/06/23/muckety-map-of-robert-gibbs/

PETA is a nut case but then we all knew that.
Must be a busy day for Craig, so we get week old filler.
Yum Yum

Jack

Good morning! Things are looking up for the 94th! Craig will be appearing on Imus tomorrow and with a bit of luck he might mention the liberation status request. So now I'm listening to Imus and hear Sen. Kerry will be on tomorrow too. Remember last time none of us remembered that Kerry was on the line up for that day? Me thinks that it was all as we suspected - isn't that wicked cool of Craig, Imus and Sen. Kerry? A conspiracy of patriotic do gooders! Don't know yet what time Craig will be on but he usually posts here. Stay tune!

I heard Cheney say swatting the fly was nothing. Cheney said he could do that also. Only he is gonna use his tongue.

"swat team"

There has to be the proper response to that.
Gitmo?
No, that would be too mild....................

let me think on it

Jack

For those not familiar with the DC Metro service, here is the map

http://www.dcmetromap.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/dc-metro-map2.jpg

The accident happened on the Red Line in the North East section of the city inbound from Maryland.

Cheney uses water boarding on flies. Help me...help me.

Dooty

Cheney wouldn't harm a fly.

It is that fellow vermin thing.

Jack

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/23/health/23well.html?8dpc

Now here's something important, as if I needed David Kessler to tell me that fat, sugar and salt, approriately combined, is irresistable.

Jack

First time that I saw Obama do something on the fly. Without looking at the polls-throw a bunch of bs- to see what would stick on the wall

Perhaps, Obama's move was on his teleprompter...steady hand, swat fly.

Michael Steele once more opens mouth and proves he's a fool

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/06/23/quote_of_the_day.html

Good bye, Ed McMahon. I can still hear your voice in my mind's ear...."Here's Johnny!"

Have a safe day all....steer clear of insects and shoes.

Gee, Pogo, have to admit Kessler's descirption of
eating a Snickers bar is well---pretty tempting.

I question for which I'd like to see a data-based (factual) answer.

If the ten-year cost of the health care proposal is $1+ Trillion, how much of that is additional spending within the economy as opposed to transferring payments from the state, local, individuals to the Federal government? In other words, does this mean that $1 trillion more will be spent on health care, or that the Feds will pick up that tab? If the answer is 'some of each,' what are the numbers? Does anyone know where this information is analyzed and available?

Again, fact and data only, please.

Coreen, back in a prior life, when my shoulders still allowed me to do white water kayaking, this kayaker's lunch was a Coke and two Snickers bars. Despite all of the hundreds of different candy bars I've tried in my life, Snickers has always topped my list. It's right up there with BBQed ribs and chicken, fresh corn on the cob, any juicy red meat. and Ben & Jerry's Coffee/Heath Bar Crunch. In my heaven, that's the menu.

COOL!! Team USA (futbol) rebounded from 2 losses in the Confederations Cup to advance to the semifinals - the bad news, they face Spain, who is dominant in

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/23/sports/soccer/23soccer.html

CJ, try this site.

http://healthpolicyandmarket.blogspot.com/2008/03/detailed-analysis-of-barack-obamas.html

Maybe you can find something there. (Short answer - who knows?)

Thank you, Pogo.

There was a little swatting happening elsewhere as well LOL "I never asked for this" says Perez Hilton -oh yes you did!

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/06/the-most-famous-dead-fly-in-th.html#comment-238661

CJ

I'll try to put something together for you. The $1 trillion is the cost of the plan assuming that most of the uncovered people are in that state because they can't afford the cost of insurance. A lot would depend on how many currently covered by Insurance companies might choose to switch to the public option.

Right now Medicare recipients pay $93 a month deducted from their Social Security plus an additional amount based on total income for the new drug option. That money is then paid out to the Insurance Company or community plan providing coverage. The Co Pays are set by the Plan. The reason Medicare is scheduled to go broke is that it only covers the Elderly and Disabled. If Healthy families were paying into a "Public Option", it would help offset those very high costs. (Note: You go to the doctor you want so don't believe the Right Wing yammer about "choosing" your own doctor)

The developed nations that have a combination public private universal health plans have a tax rate of about 45% (Euro Tom might shed some more light here). So it is fairly safe to assume that having a universal public non profit option would still have costs over and above the fees received, but that those would be lower than the trillion dollars advertised. Also, costs might be brought down by modernization.

CJ, or this

http://money.cnn.com/2009/06/11/news/economy/obama_health_plan_no_bargain.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2009061106

... or this ...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31443769

PETA should concern itself more with ethical treatment of soldiers while they're at it.............of course, ethics and ethical treatment of soldiers were not W's and Cheney's strong suits.......

Jamie and Pogo,
It's great to have a corner where smart people hang out. Thanks.

BTW, re the money/fortune article, author gets off on the wrong foot with me by trivializing mental illness and treatment.

CJ

Here's a pro universal health care document that seems pretty straight forward even though written by an obvious proponent group

http://www.amsa.org/uhc/CaseForUHC.pdf

I'll see what I can dredge up that might offset all the positives in this document.

What is clear is that the Insurance companies and all those raking in lots and lots of money are lobbying hard on Congress even though the public wants a public option even if not quite ready for Universal Health care.

When it comes to the Republicans telling us that exhorbitant profits in health care are really, really good for us and non profits are really really bad, I hear Red Riding Hood and the wolf

"My what big teeth you have grandma"
"The better to eat you with my dear"

CJ, you're right, it is. As for me, I don't know about being smart - I'ev known lots of smart people, and I'm not sure I'm in that league, but I do know how do run a google search. ;-)

Pogo,

You would be surprised how many people don't use Google effectively. Breaking a subject down to its smallest compnent logical parts to find what you are seeking can be difficult.

That ability is the basis for the new search engine being advertised. I like Google so probably won't switch, but I might take the new one for a test drive to see what it does.

Joe

Go straight to the source the congressional budget office.
http://www.cbo.gov/publications/collections/health.cfm

The letter to kennedy and his committee looked interesting and had a few of the numbers you wanted

http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/103xx/doc10310/06-15-KennedyLetter.shtml

There is other stuff on the web site to, happy hunting

Jack

Okay, so here's the Harvard Business school exam question.

Let's say that out of the goodness of my heart, I agree to pay my aging parents assisted living expenses, for argument sake let's say it's $1000 a month. You could say that it costs me $12,000 per year.

However, by paying that $12,000 a year a number of other things do or might result. First, my parents might have decided to pay for it themselves, but are now not having to pay it, so they save $12,000 a year.

Or, they might decide to not pay it, but one of them slips in the bathroom and breaks a hip, incurring $20,000 in medical bills that might have been averted had they been in assisted living. Or, they might have just gotten by just fine without it, saving both me and them $12,000 per year.

It's hard, even in this simplistic example to figure out what the marginal 'system' cost is to the family, without even taking into consideration the intangible benefits.

So, when dollar figures are extrapolated to a grand scale, like universal health care, the answer must approach Pogo's first "short-answer", "Who knows."

The reason I asked in the first place is that I don't see any disinterested analysis that looks at the overall 'system costs' and attempts to net it all out.

It may be impossible to do so.

One more reason that McCain should not have become president.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/23/mccain-hits-obama-on-iran_n_219407.html

jamie, the practice of law dependson in large on doing research in electronic databases. They are fairly conversational and intuitive now, but in the beginning they were very rigid and limited, and an effective search string had to be carefully devised or you'd end up with way too many hits to efficiently review them for the pearls among the slop. I thank Lexis and Westlaw for helping me become a better web surfer than I would otherwise be.

And now ..... drumroll please .... LUNCH.

CJ

The "who knows" is probably the correct answer. We can look at all the other developed nations who provide health care for their citizens. While most of their citizens really like having that constant safety net, there are cost and service problems that should be noted.

The US would probaly be most like Canada in service area and there are major problems with access to service in that great a geography but those problems exist in fee for service Insurance plans as well.

Most countries that provide universal care do not have the broad range of ethnicities and large percentage in poverty that we have. This is another area that would drive up costs.

What I can't see is how having a "For Profit" system is cheaper than a "non Profit", If we just did a one for one swap, that reduction in costs would go a long way towards expanding coverage to those currently without insurance.

Pogo

I learned my search skills on Lexis/Nexis with the US Chamber before there was a Google. You are absolutely right about those search strings.

What is difficult is teaching someone else how to do it.

Sooner or later you fall out of favor.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll

Jamie,
Yes. And the great paradox of our country is that poverty (and the related lack of education) make so may of our social problems intractable. This is the most wealthy nation the world has ever known.

New article on modernization in Health Care on Time

http://www.stumbleupon.com/s/#3iwUXt/www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1905340,00.html/

ah.... must be a slow news day.... but ya gotta love these occasional silly soirees that Craig throws....

Jamie.... now how could anybody ever guess that your favorite Star Trek episode might be The Mark of Gideon.... :0)

And for those of you looking for a great book that mocks PETA, I'd like to suggest Chris Bohjalian's "Before You Know Kindness"..... one of the main characters is an animal activist in a fictional group called FERAL... which stands for Federation for Animal Liberation... but it's a dead ringer for PETA.... I laughed my ass off reading it....

help jamie, please check your email!

From TIR's link
"Overall, 55% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance so far. Forty-four percent (44%) disapprove"

55 approval rating in the middle of the worst reccession in 30 years and add to it hie has been busy pissing off his base.

Good looking numbers.

Jack

CJ

The sad thing is that universal health care while more expensive up front would help to break the viscious cycle of poor health present in high poverty areas which would eventually reduce costs. Unfortunately, getting people to go along with the initial investments is going to be difficult.

Sheesh! Stuck on Twitter. Pwire will be doing a raffle to win CQ's Politics in America. I want one and have to wait for the "come and try to get it" post.

In the No Tears Here department.

There is a saying , "His big mouth overload his ass." Things caught up with old Perez Hilton when he least expected it.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D98VS5RG1&show_article=1

Jamie,
Again, I agree. Same is true for a real investment in education in areas of concentrated poverty.

Truthinreality: does that provide confort to you?

Ed McMahon dead at age 86.,

In the early years of TV I remember McMahon hosting a local show in Philly. Now he will be forever with Johnny, and no doubt still holding down the second banana position.

CJ

What do you do when you have the highest per pupil expenditures in the nation and the worst test scores in the nation. That is the case of the Washington DC school district.
And DC is not an exception a great many urban districts have higher than average expenditures with very poor results.
Our education system isn't broke but certain parts of it are and it will take more than money to fix them.

Jack

Jack,
It's not just spending per pupil, it's how effectively those dollars are spent. A huge amount of Washington, DC money goes into alternative education costs -- such as transporting and providing private tuition costs to students with disabilities. These may be legitimate expenditures, but they do tilt the statistics.

That said, for whatever dollars are spent, DC schools are falling apart, with ceilings falling down, faulty plumbing, HVAC and unplayable playgrounds. And there are many, many unqualified and/or just bad teachers, many of whom are protected by the union.

It's a combination of poverty/poor parenting/ corrupt politics/ disfunctional adminstration/ unions that put protecting bad teachers ahead of students education, and on and on.

But, let's not give up trying.

"Ed McMahon, the loyal "Tonight Show" sidekick who bolstered boss Johnny Carson with guffaws and a resounding "H-e-e-e-e-e-ere's Johnny!" for 30 years, died early Tuesday."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090623/ap_on_en_tv/us_obit_mcmahon;_ylt=AqBeQ4gv4V2pyQ4i8hMfxqq9F4l4;_ylu=X3oDMTJ2NGZwY2luBGFzc2V0Ay9hcC8yMDA5MDYyMy9hcF9vbl9lbl90di91c19vYml0X21jbWFob24EY3BvcwM0BHBvcwM0BHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDdG9uaWdodHNpZGVr

Fun with politicians. Was Governor Sanford hiking naked?

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/06/23/was_sanford_hiking_naked.html

CJ and Jack

Also, salaries in DC because of Cost of Living are much higher than the national average which also skews the figures.

repost jamie to the rescue alert!

help jamie, please check your email!
Posted by: oldseahag | June 23, 2009 12:08 PM

http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/statecomp/sortingSingleYear.asp

Yep DC still dead last

http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d07/tables/dt07_175.asp

OOPs
Both new jersey ($14,666) and New york ($ 15,054) beat DC ($14,459) with per pupil expenditures

Compared to their nearest competater Mississippi
$6,994

And if you want to through a real twist into the more money equals better education look at Utah.

Jamie,

I think the word is "comfort", and yes it does.

I really despise big mouths blowhards who target and disparage anyone one they like, and then run and hide while waving their freedom of speech card; words after all have their own set of consequences.

Hilton must have been absent the day the topic , "what names are tolerated by African-American male", was taught. You don't call an African-American male a Faggot! That is unless it is your desirer to be on the receiving end of a fist, or real ass beating, or you have established a very close relationship, and even then it is probably best if it was said in jest. I believe the former fit this particular situation.

Joe
The last post was just me backing up my BS with numbers not a comment on your reply.

I agree with most of your reply
The Kansas City school district has many of the same problems. Many days I feel that the KC district is more interest in keeping their friends employed then they are in providing an education. The State keeps threatening to take over the school district maybe some day they will.

Jack

TIR

If you are going to take a shot, you need to aim better. The message to which you are replying was written by CJ not me.

TIR,

And, I didn't want to waste a full 'em' on you, hence, the the 'en.'

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/06/the-most-famous-dead-fly-in-th.html#comment-238714

Jamie

It is like hunting with Dick Cheney
Any ol target will do
;-0

oh joy joy....
another summer of watching the arguments with TIR (aka frydaddy) get progressively nastier and nastier....

think I'll go find me a hot tub...

Jamie,

You are so right, how would I ever get you mixed up with cajunjoe.pip.verisignlabs?

I didn't see any problem with the spellin'
I talk that way.

(Keeping with the topic of pugilistic confrontation)

Any body got a problem with that?

Jack

Oh and comparing Utah to other states isn't a good logical choice. Utah has some definite advantages that most states don't have.

Population still fairly low
Well laid out housing areas
Good public transportation
Level of education in adults higher than average
Lower cost of living
homogeneous population without large minority groups, gangs, or deeply entrenched poverty
Good social safety net to provide food to even impoverished.

A lot of this is left over from almost total church control in early history and the stresses and strains of modern life is catching up with them. Still they started on second base while most of the other states are just barely up to bat.

appalled and outraged
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/06/23/obama_condemns_iran_goverments.html?wprss=44

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/06/the-most-famous-dead-fly-in-th.html#comment-238715

CJ

Give him an "en" and he takes a whole sentence.

Renee

us childrens is just bored, it is too hot to go out side and play.

Did to, did not , did too did not, too, not too not...........................

Jack

too

:-)

Speaking of children. The New York Democrats have locked the Senate doors and won't let the Republicans in.

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/06/23/new_york_democrats_lock_themselves_in_senate_chamber.html

not
:-)

one fly...what's the big deal?
now if it had been seven - it would be worth a story
and a sash

I'm graciously accepting birthday wishes today.

Energy of the future for sale.....cheap....:)

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6493224.html

Hippo Birdie Two Ewe
Hippo Birdie Two Ewe
Hippo Birdie Hippo Birdie
Hippo Birdie Two Ewe

Happy Birthday, KGC.

And, come to think if it, if Obama had downed five flys he'd be an ace. First CINC to be an ace.

CJ, apparently you aren't the only one who doesn't really know what the health care reform bill will cost...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/23/senate-dems-waiting-for-c_n_219518.html

... neither does the Senate.

You say it your birthday?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjF1bG5LUcs

Yes we're going to a party party
Yes we're going to a party party
Yes we're going to a party party.

Jack

Nonwhites have an increasingly dim view of the GOP.

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/06/all-nonwhite-converging-on-hypernegative-view-of-gop.php

Gee, I wonder why?

http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/states/

Looking at this map it makes you realize that the US doesn't have an education problem, it has a southern problem.
The problem with the Republican leadership is they want us to all look like the South.

The South has never recovered from the suffocating effect that a slave economy has on all levels of society when compared to a free one.

Jack

Jack

Happy birthday Ms. Cracker.
Here's hoping they don't have to break out the fire extinguisher, when they light the candles on your cake.

Happy birthday, Ms. Graham Cracker!!! And many more!!!

go,
Is that suppose to be somehow different than the 98% of Blacks voters who cast their vote for Obama?

The Black community has a several major problems which either can not be corrected, or they don't want to corrected them, but whatever the problems are they continually go unanswered.

1. They are becoming the #3 minority behind Hispanics.
2. A significant number of the Black male population are incarcerated.
3. Highest % of HS drop-outs, highest % of unemployment, highest % of single mothers, highest % of teen pregnancies, highest % on government subsistence.

All the above have been a problem within the Black community for decades, a problem directly linked to fatherless families, or those families lacking a strong male presence

Jack, you are right about the southern problem. I'm guessing teeth, shoes, and dating outside the immediate family might help. :-)

ksc, the birthday girl, resplendent before us declares:

let them eat cake!

TiR, I think that was aimed at me. I just report what I see. Point is, the GOP is doomed if this trend - less support among the growing ethnic voting groups - continues. I welcome that trend continuing. I say to the GOP, here are your talking points: "Sotomayor is dangerous and racist", "Health care reform is too expensive and is really just socialism", "Military intervention in Iran must begin sooner rather than later", "Illegal immiration from Mexico must be stopped now" and "Liberals suck."

yea the "po" part got chopped off.

"So is Twitter the future of television news? Will CNN be usurped by the State of Now? Are citizen-tweeters the real-time foreign correspondents of the future?

The problem, of course, is the veracity of the Twitter stream. While many new media enthusiasts have embraced Twitter as a mechanism for getting instantaneous news off the streets of Shiraz and Tehran, it’s actually very difficult to know who is behind many of the tweets coming out of Iran. Real-time news is the most double-edged of weapons: its immediacy, by definition, compromising its reliability."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/technology/5614541/Twitter-vs-CNN-Blood-on-the-streets.html

Posted by: Colorado Bob Author Profile Page | June 23, 2009 2:48 PM
Happy birthday Ms. Cracker.
Here's hoping they don't have to break out the fire extinguisher, when they light the candles on your cake.

due to the fire danger --they've asked no candles on my cake this year.

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes. My theory is to not know how old I am...once you are over 21 it doesn't really matter.

patd
While I am a fan of cake for my birthday I prefer angel pie
for my birthday
http://www.bustersrecipes.com/index.php?Itemid=37&id=1647&option=com_content&task=view

Pogo

I've probably said this before, I'm from a family with mixed ethnic heritage. I'm a Hillbilly crossed with a yankee.
Now guess which side has a history of first cousins marrying.
My Yankee(well , New York any way) great Grandmother and her sister both married first cousins.
The Hillbilly side all went out on the prowl to find something strange. and what some of them found sometimes was stranger than most. but the last one to go to jail was my great Uncle Albert, for stealing hogs they say. He was a mean bastard that ran all his children off before they turned 16.

Jack

This Friday, the first manned, solar-powered aircraft to attempt crossing the Atlantic and subsequently circling the globe will leave its top-secret concealment inside a Zurich hangar for the world to view. The Solar Impulse will have the wingspan of an Airbus yet weigh no more than an average car. It will run on an engine normally fit to power a scooter and demand no more electricity than needed to light a shop window. Almost 12,000 solar cells cover the top of its 262-foot wing.

http://www.miller-mccune.com/science_environment/soaring-with-the-sun-1314

Oh, and pointing out the problems of the black community is another good way to endear their voters to you - as if they don't know theat those are problems for them. I forgot to mention in my talking points for the GOP that they should do that for AAs and every other identifiable ethnic group. Great strategy - be the sane, clear-eyed daddy figure for those poor ignorant ethnic groups, ready to tell them how they are messing up and how they can solve their problems. I like it.

KGC
I used to never celebrate birthdays so I was always just a bit past 25 , the last birthday I had celebrated.
However the wife believes in birthdays so since we have got together my age is catching up with me. , I didn't have these aches and pains untill she came around

Jack

protests heard not only in iran, riyadh has its problems too

http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/06/23/riyadh_does_drag

jack, LMAO. I'm just a southern mutt. Don't know of any real inbreeding in the family. It's a shame, too, that would have explained a lot. :-)

Happy Birthday, Katherine!

Bob, if I was involved, I wouldn't be able to resist naming it the Icarus Project.

mmmm, angel pie sounds about as good as my favorite birthday treat, angel food cake. celebrated gloriously by the tearing of the cake first by the celebrant and then by the guests. much like the medieval munching on large legs of meat sans knives and forks.

oops, here's the link:
http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/06/the-most-famous-dead-fly-in-th.html#comment-238746

Bob, I have to admit I'd want someone else to tbe the first test pilot for that aircraft.

KGC

A most happy birthday to you!

Is it a dancing birthday?

Seems to me that Shoo Fly Pie would be appropriate given today's topic.

pogo,

Sotomayor, if a white male and said the exact same thing would be called what?

Health care reform the way Kennedy's bill is written is just to expensive, but I'm not aganist health care reform

I haven't heard anyone calling for military intervention. What I have heard called for was for Obama to take a position as strong as his European counterparts. He finally has, but it took days for him to reach that position.

If you are going to allow "illegal" immigration from Mexico, you might as well do away with all immigration law and regulations, and allow in anyone and everyone. We would be the only country in the world to do so.

And Liberals do suck. Or is it sux? They think higher taxes will cure everything, they believe taxing will create a bigger demand for a product. Big GOVCO will create lasting private jobs. This is rather strange economics.

And they will sacrifice our national security for human rights of those in other countries, but they never see the conviction of their beliefs as something we should become directly involved in, other than talking. I have provide 4 illustrations yesterday starting in the 1970's where Liberal theory of non-involvement has led to the deaths of approximately 4 plus million people. The Liberals can not think of themselves as the ones with all the compassion, and then do little more than provide lip service. There are hundreds of ways to support a cause without putting boots on the ground. If one wants to be viewed truly as a champion of human rights, one needs to get into the game, and stop with the cheerleading.

HB! KGC

Oh to be 29 again.

So Nancy's approval ratings are falling - particularly among repoblicans. Now who could have predicted that?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/22/AR2009062202972.html?hpid=sec-politics

Frankly, her stock rose a bit for me when she called the CIA out for lying to her a couple of weeks ago. Put me in that "Moderate Democrat" who approves of her job performance catregory - moving from the mildly dissatisfied camp.

Posted by: maxtrue | June 22, 2009 11:54 PM
"Let's hear your history of Korea, Palestine, Pakistan/India, Bosnia, Darfur, Iraq and even Iran. I would love to hear how Republicans can account for all the mistakes......"

Once again maxtrue insinuates that I wrote things that I have never written. I can think of only 3 explanations for your regular attempts to twist my posts, the posts of other Trail Mixers, and occasionally, even news items that you link.

1. That you don't actually read more than the 1st 2 lines of texts,
2. that you have no decency whatsoever, or
3. that you are a mentally ill.

If there are other explanations, they elude me, and you are not worth the time it would take to figure out more possibilities. In the event that possibility #3 is correct, please, go back on your regime of medication.

The post that allegedly drew down on me this unprovoked maxtrue attack related to the CIA sending a shipful of heavy weapons that aided lon nol in the overthrow of the only popular and credible political leader in Cambodia, Prince Norodim Sihanoukh.

pol pot led the hideous khmer rouge into the power vacuum created by the deposition of Prince Sihanoukh, that vacuum being personified in gerry ford's feckless puppet, lon nol. It was the north Vietnamese who finally defeated and chased away the savages. In other words, the north Vietnamese Army mended what gerry ford, the CIA, and lon nol had broken.

I did not mention that at the time the SS Columbia Eagle hove to in the port of Sihanoukhville, george herbert walker bush was the CIA director. My point was that the republicans, especially george herbert walker bush and gerry ford, were indirect contributors to the victory of the cannibal army, and their susequent murder of more than 2,000,000 captives.

Coreen

The dancing part of the birthday will be Thursday

http://www.thethugz.net/ Join us at the Pink

"Liberal theory of non-involvement"

Straaaaawmaaaaaaan

You folks got to stop imitating Rushbo. He can get away with this strawman crap because he doesn't let anybody on his show who will call him on it. But you live in the real world
Where creating a term like "Liberal theory of non-involvement" gets you one big belly laugh.

Jack

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/06/the-most-famous-dead-fly-in-th.html#comment-238758

TIR

It isn't that Liberals think higher taxes will cure everything. It's that they believe if you want to provide services for the population, you have to pay for them.

There have been several studies showing that the optimum tax rate for providing the the "Commons" is at about 60-70% on highest earners. This can be spread over Federal, State, County, and City. It was roughly the rate in the 1960s and worked well until we had to pay for Viet Nam and then Republicans came in to slash taxes while wearing out infrastructure so the country is now falling down.

You really can't have guns and butter and no taxation. Decide what you want and then pay for it.

Mr. realty,

If a white male had said "the exact same thing", wouldn't you call him a 'Liberal' ?

Sometimes, I find it it annoying that republicans always try to categorize people and ideas, and then expect that categorization puts an end to the task of thinking about those people or ideas. At times like this 'though, it's more humorous than annoying.

"Decide what you want and then pay for it."

Jamie

Now that is a true conservative statement.

I think we need to collect thewm so we can point the out to the Neofauxconservatives.
;-0

Jack

The only good fly is a tied fly.

Those are my talking points for the Repugs, Truth. You assume I advocate the Dems taking opposite positions. Think again. When it comes to ethnic groups, Repugs have an almost unlimited ability to open mouth and insert foot. Old white men tend to be that way. Argue all you want about how an old white man's comments would have been taken had Sotomayor's comments been uttered (nevermind that they were taken out of context by her Repug opponents to make them seem racist, a fact not lost on Hispanic voters) by a white guy - this has been and continues to be a sure road to increased support among Hispanic voters - for Dems. But my Mom said that you can be silent and thought a fool or open your mouth and remove all doubt. I am happy to see that the Repug leaders and their mouthty minions just can't shut up.

Your examples of death as a result of our nonintervention are subject to counter examples where our involvment caused the death of as many, if not more, and included the deaths of Americans. Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan come to mind. Our cause may have been just in each case, but the dead are no less dead as a result of whatever rightness our cause may have had. You apparently suffer under the illusion that our intervention prevents death in civil conflicts in other countries. You are right and wrong, just as a strict policy of nonintervention allows death to occur - which I do not advocate, btw. Problem with your position is that it is impossible to prove a negative or to figure out what would or would not have happened had we not intervened where we did or what would or would not have happened had we intervened where we did not. As to Iran, give me a break - what, you wanted stronger words? What a joke. IMHO Obama played that one just right. For once we weren't the first name on the "treacherous enemies" list.

Mr. realty
xr

Too funny

Solar, since you haven't given me your email address, I'll ask you here. Were/Are you mad at me? Why? I anderstand nothing which has gone on between you, Don1, and Max.

KGC, Happy birthday. Cani I buy you a birthday drink at the Cantina tomorrow or the next day or after?

Either Fox news has caught up, or I'm behind. I just saw a segment re an Iranian station which is telecast from southern ca and therefore available here - channel one. The station send a bunch of camera pens to Iran and got great pix, until the police caught on
and confiscated them all. Now there is another sneaky
Bond-type camera over there. Cool.

Blondewino, I know how easy it is to use your un-healed hand. My mistake was pulling the draw strings for curtains which were too tight. This brace is also hot, and I can take it off to rest it, too. You with casts must really be suffering.

Alex Castellanos is trying too hard to twist things against Obama. He can really lose himself in his own bs.

Terry Sanford's wife says she is being a mom today, not taking care of her husband - sounds like Elizabeth Edwards. This story doesn't look good.

KGC, Happy birthday. Cani I buy you a birthday drink at the Cantina tomorrow or the next day or after? Bethy

Absolutely!

KGC, Well, hot damn! Any day or time preference? I go fo late-ish afternoons, myself, and un-hot days, but who knows with this stupid weather we're having. I say you suggest details, and let's get us some frozen margaritas.

Wheee. I just won CQ's Politics in America on Twitter from Taegan Goddard on Twitter.

Happy camper. Now if I just win the Mega Millions tonight.....

Bethyboo

Next week is better - right now any day but Tuesday is good and late afternoon is just fine

email katherinegrahamcracker @ hotmail.com

Crank up the blender!

sanford story
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06/23/south.carolina.governor.hiking/

Bye, all. Gotta fly (swat).

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/06/the-most-famous-dead-fly-in-th.html#comment-238774

congratulations jamie.
and good lick on the mega millions. how are you gonna spread the wealth if you win?

Wheee. I just won CQ's Politics in America on Twitter from Taegan Goddard on Twitter.

Happy camper. Now if I just win the Mega Millions tonight.....

Posted by: jamie44.myopenid.com Author Profile Page | June 23, 2009 4:34 PM

Congratulations and good luck with the mega million

Happy Birthday KGC.

patd

A very large charity foundation and a whole lot of house hunting.

KGC

Glad to see the dancing is stll going---and if you do get
to nyc (or close by) later this year ----lunch/ drinks on me for belated birthday wishes.

Bethy

I had to go all the way back to last night 9-10 oclock to find out what you are talking about. My E mail - is- solarcreteatcomcat.net

You said something about-that you hoped that you convinced me that you meant no harm to Don-or myself. Here is what I wrote to you.

Bethy

Hello. there is no need to convince me of anything. I will never hold ( nor you against me) any one misunderstanding, arguement-regardless of who is right or wrong .

I don't get mad and stay mad a friends. Just the opposite. I worry that they stay mad at me. I do think that Jamie has come up with the perfect set of guidelines for me to follow when something is being hashed out.

I" came to the conclusion a long time ago that if someone didn't use your name and didn't specifically insult you in a way that could be understood by anyone reading the message, then it probably wasn't worth gettin upset about something that was probably one of the following:

1. Your misunderstanding
2. Not meant as an insult at all
3. Was a lame attempt at a joke that didn't work
4. attacked the issue not me

or most important

5. Me being way, way too sensitive.

Now a direct, by name, obvious insult can either be taken on or ignored. In the heat of the moment., the best action is usually just go away for a while and cool down before replying or ignoring."

I was going to link it but - it is worth repeating as is. If you-you as in the general sense take a look at this list. If one or more of these come into play. It is worth asking someone what the hell did they mean.

Every thing is fine. I think that Don and others will agree with that list also-but?

I was not mad- nor am I mad at you-or anyone. I explained what went on to the best of my knowledge. This is my last word on this. You can email me anytime-for any reason.

Congrats Jamie!

KGC- Wishing you a very happy birthday!

Thanks Coreen
I hope to take you up on the offer!

Solar - gotcha. I agree.

There used to be on cnn a young woman who was Iranian or Iraqi descent who's been gone for a while. I wondered about her and thin she might have just shown up. Good ole Wolfie just interviewed Rudi Bakhtiar...

Never mind. I have made progress and looked it up myself. It is she and she's quite a dynamo.

I'm enjoying seeing Iranian-Americans being interviewed and talking about freedom they have here.
They've sure become Americans fast. I love to see people do well.

Posted by: SolarCrete | June 23, 2009 5:24 PM :
"You can email me anytime-for any reason."

Solar,
Why, you sweet-talkin' ole smoothie, you. If I were a bachelor, I'd be writing down all your lines, so's I could memorize 'em by heart.

& I thank God every day that I'm not a bachelor. Hmm.

Solar, you got me thinking again, dang it.

One of the biggest drawbacks for folks who are Atheists or Agnostics, is that they don't have anyone to thank.

How good a feeling can a fella get from saying something like, "Thank you, Dear Chaos, Which hath Crepitated the Cosmos into Existence, for this fantabulous Day ! Verily, keep 'Em coming."

It kinda bleaches the soul out of the thanking, when you haven't got anything but a Mechanistic Gust of Blah at Whom to direct it. (My apologies if I insulted any devout Deists.)

pogo,
I guess we can extend your analogy into WWII, and almost any other war in all of history. It was only 6 million Jews who were terminated by the Nazi, it was only several million murdered by Japan. had we not been brought into WWII how many millions would had been added to that list. I believe Liberals are not different from most Americans, we all love our liberties and freedoms, but when it comes to those individuals who live under the iron fist of dictators and tyrants all wish to love under the same types of freedoms and liberties, the compassionate Liberals think they should work it out on their own, or leave to someone else. Who the UN? It is the US who is the beacon of liberty and freedom in this world, not Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, the UK, it is the USA. And that is self evident in the number of legal and illegal immigrants coming to our shores. Foreigners fully understand the freedom we take so nonchalantly. Liberal have always given me the impression these gifts come free of charge, and they run on self-governing mechanism that never needs watching or maintenance. With being the world's leader comes responsibility, so to sit on the sidelines and watch atrocities occur and in the end say they'll have to work it out for themselves then we become nothing more than just another enabler.

As to Sotomayor comment she would have been on firmer ground had she used the word "different", instead of better. But it is not only that speech, it is also duplicated in her writings. The private club she belonged to.

Happy Bday, KGC. And many more.

What do you know TIR, the Liberal hawk.
or is it TIR the Neocon.
Those 2 get very confusing at times.

But they both seem to want to save the world with someone elses blood.

The problem with both the neocons and the liberal hawks is they never seem to be able to draw the line they want to save everybody and you can't

It is a bit like my neighborhood group, I'm working on 2 blocks right now. take care of them, then move on. But we set a limit, I can't save all of Kansas City.

Jack

mr. realty is having his fun again. In the republican propaganda I grew up around, it was those dam' "Liberals" who got us into WWII, supposedly to rescue the Jews from "a guy who knew how to treat them". For some reason, republicans usually called Jews 'dirty Jews.'

Even after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, it was only republicans who voted against going to war. As late as 10 years ago, I still heard republican ratbags say that Pearl Harbor had been planned by FDR, so that he could go to war against Germany, and "fight the Jews' war." Fortunatey, those friends of the reich are all dead now. Except for patrick buchanan.

So, Mr. realty, where is this truth that your moniker suggests you stand for ?

XR

"Solar, you got me thinking again, dang it.

One of the biggest drawbacks for folks who are Atheists or Agnostics, is that they don't have anyone to thank.

How good a feeling can a fella get from saying something like, "Thank you, Dear Chaos, Which hath Crepitated the Cosmos into Existence, for this fantabulous Day ! Verily, keep 'Em coming."

It kinda bleaches the soul out of the thanking, when you haven't got anything but a Mechanistic Gust of Blah at Whom to direct it. (My apologies if I insulted any devout Deists.)"

XR - Just the opposite. I will have to take a little time to think-and get something together. But a very-very interesting question. Im flattered that you would ask this.

Im going to start with something that I told-Chloe-and Don about a little bit.

Chloe – Don - XR

We were talking about-what came first feelings-or emotions: The brain grew emotions first-then came it's close twin feelings second.

Here is some information about our feeling though. Feelings are the expression of human flourishing or human distress-as they occur in the mind. In the body.

Feelings are not a mere decoration added on to the emotions. Something one might keep or discard. Feeling can be-and often are revelations of the state of life within the entire organism (us).

It is a lifting of the veil in the literal sense of the term. Life being a high-wire act-are expressions of the struggle for balance. Ideas of the exquisite adjustments and corrections without one mistake too many.

The whole act collapses. If anything in our existence can be revelatory of our simultaneous smallness and greatness-that feelings are.

About you wanting to use my lines-Don't unless you want to get slapped a lot. haha. You don't remember all of the times that I have been in trouble here-do you?. But the rewards are worth it. je je je.

Other than that. I din;t mean any thing by what I told Bethy. Just an innocent remark- I tell ya.

Happy Birthday KGC. Your comments have usually been quite sound in my book.

Truth, Obama appears to be pressing the issues that define our political values without falling into the obvious sound bite trap. Given the rather clueless bungling of perception by the last adminsitration, Obama seems open to the calls for a tougher line on Iran AND the necessity of keeping it real in teh geopolitical chess game.

Not all Liberals share the CommonDream line. I rather doubt Dark Lord or Lardie do. I rather doubt Jamie does either.

As far a flies on the wall, this is an extraordinary video which several blogs have attempted to translate. In it Ahmadinejad explains how Iran is now ready to end the farce of voting and have the Mullahs rule by decree. He suggests the Mullahs were quite successful in fixing the election. This is an extreme bomb shell and should not be ignored by Liberals. This is a real video taken VERY recently and I'm sure it will make its way to CNN. Like other breaking posts here, they often do.

http://raymankojast.blogspot.com/2009/06/ahmadinejad-and-yazdi-preparing-coup.html

Strikes brought down the Soviets in Poland and in Russia. Strikes brought down the Shah. There is much we can do and by stopping the North Korean arms ship, we can send a signal to Ahmadinejad that the next round of sanctions will hurt.

It pains me to watch Iranians die fighting for liberties most Americans take for granted. It is even worse to watch Ahmadinejad gloat over his "victory" and plan with these Mullahs an even greater tyrany over Iranians.

Stop the gasoline. Pressure Germany to stop exports. Listen to the Iranian people who are being held hostage.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/06/the-most-famous-dead-fly-in-th.html#comment-238792

Oh TIR The private club she belonged to? Please!!! An all professional women's club. Would you care to jump all over every male Republican power type who heads off every year to dash nude through the Bohemian Grove when they aren't dressing up as girls for the traditional theatricals?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemian_Grove

Solar

Adrenaline
then our brain assigns an emotion to explain the adrenaline rush
then after it is all over and the brain is fileing the memory into storage the file system is feelings.

Jack

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/06/iranians-unlike-americans-figh.html#comment-238568

"hi tony, I'm talking to someone in Orlando tomorrow. Yep, I like it down there. The warm just sinks into your bones and it's hard to get things done, but it's pretty and green year round.

Hey Don
Its great here in Central Florida.It was a more normal 92 here on the coast today.Oh yes its green year round but we do get a slight change in the way the landscape looks.Some of the trees lose there leaves but they come right back on..I live just 50 min from Orlando.Its a quick trip to the coast on I-4.If you ever want me to show you around the coastal area's let me know...

Here is the club that Sotomayor belonged to. In its importance of members, associations and goals it was modeled after the Bohemian except for being all women. Oh and the ladies don't piss in the woods. (wrong equipment)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belizean_Grove

XRepub, are you happy that the anti-war side you talk about that protested during WW2 is now on the Liberal Side? That would be an even more pressing question than the one you asked TiR.

You left yourself wide open with that last line Jamie

"Obama seems open to the calls for a tougher line on Iran AND the necessity of keeping it real in teh geopolitical chess game."

He's calling for a tougher line against murderous oppression, not so much rigged elections.

The Muppet Show - Beaker singing "Feelings"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt8Q7Fsa_Vs

Xrepub, post your entire rant about Pol Pot and the Republicans. Then let others decide if I responded to your words. You made several claims and I shot them up. Now you are angry and call my comments an unprovoked attack. You do this quite often. Perhaps you don't remember what you post. You talked about the implied lie that Democrats are to blame for the 2 million dead Cambodians. To put the blame on Republicans. You also calim Republicans never won any war after the the late 19th century, but Dark Lord shot that up too. I tried to set the historical evidence straight. Was there something I said that wasn't true? Or do you see everything I say as simple maxtrue?

Jack

Thanks- Thats is what it is. The time that process that it took to understand this is the evolution- that the brain had in order for emotions to be first . and feeling second.

That. Philosopher guy that I keep talk about once in a while. Spinoza. saw drives-motivations-emotions-and feelings. Ensemble he called affects.

As a central aspect of humanity. Joy sorrow were two prominent concepts in his attempt to comprehend human beings and suggest ways in which their lives could be lived.

This is somewhat an answer to you XR I hope. To be continued.

Max

That was actually part of the case the Bohemian Grove presented before the California Supreme Court in their defense of not hiring women employees. They didn't want the modesty of women insulted by the men regularly taking a leak without benefit of bathrooms. This argument worked until 1987 when they were ordered to hire women.

The Bohemian Grove is a fascinating organization and very heavily Republican. I just thought TIR bringing up Sotomayor's association with the Belizean was the height of hypocrisy, but then that never seems to bother him

Yes, Rezdog, but my video link will spin some heads in the administration. THe BBC and others have started putting holes in the election results. Despite what some claim here, there have been numerous protests and violence all over Iran. Some suggest that Ahmadinejad's strength is the rural area. Not so. The rural is dominated by minorities and people unlike the fanatical Ahmadinejad followers. The fix has been in for decades in Iran. It is a joke. Obama avoids this over strategic reasoning. The Iranian election was at best an engineered result.

If Obama advisors want the Obama Effect to take credit for the protests, maybe they can take credit for this: http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=1723999

Frankly I would Hitchens credit in Lebanon. After all he defaced a neonazi Syrian poster and was nearly killed. I call it the Hitchens Effect.

This sounds like a fascinating read. I hope they publish it for the public

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-world-europe/20090623/EU.Britain.Doomsday.Manual/

The weakest of arguments is to characterize you opponent in negative terms rather than stating and defending your own positions.

Good Point Jamie. I think Sotomayor is a bit concerned about SCOTUS decison over her affirmitive action judgment.

Women get the kudos this week http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/opinion/21tehran.html?_r=2&ref=global-home

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2009/06/the-women-of-the-iranian-revolution.html

Jack

One more thing. I really admire what you have done in your neighborhood. It looks like both-U and your wife work hard to keep it like a true hood should. Friendly . I have friends and family that live in the suburbs. They hardly wave to each other.

But Joe, that would mean I would have to have a position, Sounds like a lota work to me
I would rather point out that you have been known to not eat apple pie. I mean jeez Joe how can you be against apple pie or motherhood for that matter. What kind of communist are you anyway.

Jack

Chief Justice Roberts managed to legislate from the bench today in finding a water district to be just like a county, notwithstanding what the law says.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/06/the-most-famous-dead-fly-in-th.html#comment-238814

Max,

Just to be a bit nit picky. It wasn't "her" decision. It was her writing for the majority of the appeals court and it was based on existing law. The Supreme Court may decide that the existing law is unconstitutional, but I doubt she is worried.

She has a very very small percentage of reversals even after many many years on the bench. She could put her record up against every sitting Supreme and look just great.

joe got a link

As both counties and water districts are creations of the state in many ways there is no legal differences.

Jack

except that the law specified what legal entities it covered.

Well she would need a stylist to look great, but I get your point. What the city of New Haven did was wrong and I think (I could easily be wrong) Sotomayor did not address this in her decision. I thought the law concerned candidates of equal ability. New Haven tried to dodge that issue.

In any case, I note both Hillary and Sotomayor had their falls. Bones will heal however......

And Sotomayor will be on the court for reasons we have already mentioned.

Craig, you know, without fies there would be no chocolate.

Flies that is

"The weakest of arguments is to characterize you opponent in negative terms rather than stating and defending your own positions."

... I love what you said there.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/06/the-most-famous-dead-fly-in-th.html#comment-238798
As far as emotions, feelings and motivation go, I think we'd all have to completely agree on a definition for each word before we could possibly agree with that author. I'm inclined not to see it that way. But then I haven't really thought about it thoroughly yet. To me, it's subjective though.

Max

Don't even think about saying anything against chocolate. We need to sell a lot of them. We don't care where it came from. Me I don't want to know- I can't believe I said that I don't want to know about something-but don't say another word.

"Not all Liberals share the CommonDream line. I rather doubt Dark Lord or Lardie do..."

Posted by: maxtrue Author Profile Page | June 23, 2009 6:49 PM

If you are referring to the Chris Hedges piece you linked yesterday, I would say I agree with some points he makes, and disagree with others. Teddy Roosevelt's famous quote accurately summarizes my foreign policy perspective. Not having served myself, and having friends and family in the line of fire, I am usually loathe to advocate aggression.

As far as today's topic is concerned, it seems like a good opportunity to express my disdain for PETA, but after reading through the comments, I surmise we're all (or mostly) in agreement there.

Max

The case is a little strange. The City of New Have was required by Federal Law to hire minorities. They could do this by using Federal guidelines or they could design their own program. They chose to try to create their own program. The test they devised resulted in all whites except for one hispanic being in the top numbers to fill the slots that were open.

Not mentioned in most of the coverage is that black did pass the test but not high enough in the numbers to get one of the job openings.

The City realized that this did not solve their civil rights problem and withdrew the test and its results to try to develop another test. They were then sued by the group who had qualified for the job openings.

The apellate court ruled that the city was in a sort of "damned if you do, damned if you don't" position and that they did have the right to redo the test.

Now the Supreme Court has to decide which takes precedence. The rights of the those who qualified on the original test or the City which was trying to fulfill its Federal obligations.

...and to seriously contemplate the hawk-ish assertions of Max and TiR, I'd have to know whether they served also, or if they have friends and family in service; not that I expect and answer form TiR.

Might take you up on that tony. Follow-up interview tomorrow, they seem to like me. Place in Jacksonville too, but I think that's a bit too far north for good green.

I noticed in Tampa that the deciduous trees drop, but lots of things stay green.

I kind of see myself as the old man played by Peter Ustinov in Logan's Run. Puttering around the garden, talking to my cats, soaking in the little joys of life.

Too much thinking tonight Solar. i get the 'feeling' you're saying emotions are survival based and first. The part of our brain that motivates us to find food, run from danger, breed. The bottom part of Maslow's hiearchy.

Feeling are the higher functioning parts, on top of the lizard brain. Teaming with the tribe, appreciating sunsets, richer relationships, devotion and love. Luxuries after the necessities are met, but reasons we keep striving.

We need all the chocolate we can get. Don't swat the midges

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cacao

Max,
My comment was more of a follow-up to yours and not a point of contention. Obama's measured response over the course of the week following the election has been geared imo to his perception of the Irani regime's transgressions and not so much to the complaints of his detractors.

Just now on BBC America they had a short news story on a house that uses twitter. The owner has all sorts of items such as power and water usage wired up to tweet so that he can monitor everything even though traveling. It was a cute story but was an example just in its infancy of all the different things that could be put up for anyone to monitor and aggregate data such as total water usage for a state

In the meantime the house that tweets can be followed at andy_house

To many people are trying to follow because of the news show so the sign up is v e r y v e r y s l o w.

Dark Lord, the first CommonDream article which talked about the history of Iran was a nearly complete falsehood that protrayed the Mullahs in a better light than the US government. This slant is what I am talking about. The second talked about Obama's swing to the right as though all the things Obama said in his pivot to center was bullshit. Some points I agree with, but without the sinister characterization of Obama as a Bush wanna be. It sounded more radical than what comes out of Pravada these days.

http://english.pravda.ru/world/ussr/23-06-2009/107833-kyrgyzstan-0

Perhaps I am wrong, but you seem closer to center than most here.

Jamie, yes it is a strange case, but the majority view allowed New Haven to redo the test thus disadvantaging the people who scored highest and sent out an image that New Haven wanted a test that enabled blacks to do better.

Yes, strange, but Sotomayor didn't seem to blast the defendents a much as the plaintifs. I don't believe she expressed the problem as the Federal requirements.

We shall see what SCOTUS says and in Obama's State Secrets Case.....

http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/08-322.ZS.html

Jack, - I don't know if CJ was referring to this but I was just reading up on it earlier. It will impact tribes too.

Joe

give me a clue as to what we are talking about here
A link, case name anything

Jack

Jamie, your brief analysis is about how I understand the case. In addition, there were questions raised about the validity of the test as a promotion tool. And, as I understand it,, Sotomayor found that the town was indeed in a difficult position, and was sympathetic to the plaintiffs, but read the existing law as justifying the town's actions. That's exactly why there are appeals. Even if the SCOTUS finds for the plaintiffs, it's not a real knock on Sotomayor.

I don't know, max; I don't make an effort to fall in any place along the political spectrum, but I consider myself somewhat centrist. It seems to me most contributors here are centrist, just not as loud as those on the extremes.

Max

This Slate article actually gigs Sotomayor for not doing more in her opinion that basically said nothing except to uphold the lower court.

http://www.slate.com/id/2219037/

That's all she wrote for me folks. Grandson being shipped out on a 6:00 am plane which means a 4:00 am wake up and run

Craig, Have a great show on Imus tomorrow.

Rez, I know and I didn't mean to sound contentious.

Dark Lord, I have never served. I tried once to enlist at the Israeli Embassy and they laughed and told me a. I was too young and b. how I could transport supplies or work on a Kubbutz.

I thought Viet Nam was a bad French joke and that we should have worked with Ho Chi Min who didn't like the Chinese very much. I did support our troops but I was angry how the DOD lied to LBJ. I was a quite young and didn't understand much of this at the time. My Father served in WW2 jeeping classified papers to Eisenhowers HQ and my Grandfather served in WW1 being captured by the Germasn and held for 18 months. I do have friends that serve as well as some who have served in the IDF. I also have friends who are Israel peaceniks so I get both sides of the story.

A dear friend Julian Korda served in the first Gulf War. He died years later waiting for his disability check for Gulf War syndrome. I believe the military has still refused to release his medical file to his family. Julian was Jewish, pulled those soldiers from a burning building when Saddam shot a scud into Saudi Arabia. The smoke did a number on him. He didn't have to serve, but the military was short on drug enforcement MPs.

Despite my posts, I am not hawkish personality. I save that for here in the face of the new Liberal line. I don't think less of Obama or Clinton because they didn't serve, nor do I give McCain a pass because he did.

I guess it's too late to ask if you fixed your computer, Jamie.

Jack,
Sorry for the confusion. I was referring to the 8-1 decision on the Voting Rights Act.

Rez

Thanks, I was at a loss to figure out what Joe was talking about.

I thought The voting rights act was for certain states how does it effect tribes who are outside state jurisdiction ?

Jack

Duly noted, Max. Thanks.

Do you think I'm loud Dark Lord?

And if the extremes are so loud, then how much louder must the excluded middle be?

Thanks for the link Jamie.

Yeah, you're "loud", but you're honest. It's a wash. All good.

I thought you were you younger than you are... can't articulate why. No matter, We're all words here.

Chloe

Hello. Yes you are right to question. The things is tho-that such hypotheses are tested. First by other scientist ( dr's) the help of scanning machines that create images of the anatomy-and activity of the human brain.

The brain uses a number of dedicated regions working in concert to make pics of the bodys activities in the form on neural maps.

When I went to the VA hospital. They put in some long needles in the front and back of my legs to see what kind of reaction they could see on a scanner.
I could not move my legs until they were taking out. I don't know why-and I did not think to ask. I do know that it had something to do with the brain signals to my body. I think anyway.

Don

Yes, Thats what I was eventually going to get too. Thanks for putting it a lot better than I would have. I have to get into the book sometimes ( a lot sometimes too) in order to refresh.

Jamie,

Easy question for you.

Just to keep things simple and easy to figure out lets say you were making $120,000, in a typical middle class neighborhood married with 2 little crumb snatchers. Both you and your husband are both employed, college graduates, he is trying to get his Masters, you live in a nice 4 Br 3 bath home, cost $400K, with a mortgage of $325K, payment of $2100 PITI, utilities, cable, internet, cell phone, house phone. Both of you drive older vehicles, take 1 vacation a year, saving for your kids' college, so they won't be on the hook for school loans, pay into your company's IRA so you'll have something to live on in those golden years, go out to dinner once or twice a month, there is a day care cost, and like a good citizen pay your share of taxes.

Seriously, out of the $120K gross, how much should you be allowed to keep so you can pay for all the above, and still be able to put some funds away for emergencies?

What happens if the county raises your taxes? What happens if they raise the taxes on your employer? What happens if taxes drive away business as it has in California. What happens if you can't afford your home because your husband's business moved out of state, or closes? The issue isn't paying taxes, we all understand that, it is paying taxes on some pet project that benefits a very few. Like building a new sports center at tax payer expense which no one wanted or needed, and then watching as very few spectators show up to attend the events. See it isn't paying taxes that is the problem. The problem is what gets thrown into a budget, and gets passed without anyone fully understanding what it is they just passed. There are too many slush funds in government under the title of some sort of emergency fund. Of course once it has been identifies we learn it isn't an emergency fund at all, it has to do with non-discretion spending for the county commissioner to cover his use for non official business, or some other perk for a friend etc.. If budgets were as they say made totally transparent for the public to have a chance to view it and question what is this and that, there be a lot less wasteful spending at the tax payers expense. But we know what the government will trot out as soon as they hear budget cut backs, the old scare tactic , "Then we will have to lay off teachers, police and fireman." Government can never live within its own means, but they expect you should. Businesses will seek friendly tax related governments and avoid those who believe the answer to their problem is higher taxes. It is really simple and common sense math. But those who wish to pay higher taxes there is nothing stopping you, so be my guest.

Jack,

You're correct about tribal status, unless of course the Supremes start ruling otherwise. That's why they're watching it. Any time the SCOTUS starts encroaching or rather allows States to encroach on their '"sovereignty" (used loosely) then thereis major concern.

Solar, I still say it's subjective (tests or no tests), since we're dealing with definitions here, and therefore with perception of those definitions of words here, and we'd have to agree on those definitions. This little article I'm linking talked about it in a way I can relate to, and also in the way I think about it. I really do agree with the part that an emotion is a 'reaction' to a feeling, and that's why my first instinct was to say feelings came first. But I know I need to think about it for a while.

"A feeling is of the heart, it is an instinct, it is not something you can choose to put in words, and is only expressed through emotions. Emotions are a reaction to a feeling, they are the output of our feeling, our reaction to our feeling........., but on the other hand they can become an exaggeration of the feeling."
http://www.klienwachter.com/TracyBarker/tracy3.htm

Jack,
From a link for better clarification on my ramble.

"The justices sidestepped a major issue in the case. They declined to rule on the constitutionality of Section 5 of the law, which requires certain states to seek federal approval before making changes to election laws or redistricting that might affect minority, including Indian, voters.

But the 8-1 opinion from the court indicated that Section 5 may be outdated. "The preclearance requirement represents an intrusion into areas of state and local responsibility that is otherwise unfamiliar to our federal system," the syllabus for the case stated.

The outcome of the case was to allow all political subdivisions of a state to seek a "bailout" under the act that allows them to avoid seeking preclearance. "

Trust,

I don't want to delve into this but off the top of my head. How about me, I work for the sports center or help build it and buy all my clothes or groceries from Jamie or her employer.

Thanks for that link Chlo. I will read it and see what is the diffs. later on . Will give us something to talk about-anyway. Not that we need anything-but it will be fun.

I look late thirties/ealry forties so DL. My doctor is impressed. Perhaps my juvenile comments or spellings confuse you. Most of my friends are fairly young.

I don't know why, but my body and mind seem stuck in a twilight zone. It is though I have changed little in spirit and body since college. I mean who maintains their body weight within a five pound range? I wanted no part of the "System" back then and could care less what people thought of me. I never worked for a boss and spent the last decade helping the Middle Class in NYC afford home improvements while I played in a band and enjoyed the exotic gifts of this city. Who cares about saving money? Why eat processed crap or zombie out to the TV? That is why I find the shots at me so strange. I have lived my life so unconservatively.

But alas, without much responsibility. I feel the need to contribute in some way. time is creeping up, ever so quietly.

When I was young I saw the approaching reality quite clearly in dreams. As I got older I seemed more connected to my youth. I have aboslutely no desire for death, yet my collective unconscience knows how quickly our world can turn. When my Father passed away, he told me he hoped we all didn't sqaunder the bitter sacrifices for liberty and freedom. That wa two years ago. I felt a need to support some of the Liberal values he had passed down to me. He did say that his father told him never to talk politics.......

And then suddenly I felt a need to blog in my free time.

Funny how that works......as you can guess, I hate following despite what some here think.

Thanks Dark Lord for tolerating my bandwidth......

Solar, maybe you can confirm that construction keeps one young...LOL or prematurely old....

Hey, hey, hey, Max- lay off the chocolates go after the repubs or the dems, i don't care, just leave the chocolate secrets in the vault, especially that one!.

Max,
I'd be happy to offer you a toast.
J

Well Solar, I just read another link that may make you right. The last sentence more or less convinced me. The quotes are long, but I don't do it that often, so...

1. Biological/physiological—"...feelings are caused by the biological functions of the human organism, are shared by most of the higher animals, and are independent of consciousness (except that we must conscious of them to have them, of course).

2. Emotions—Feelings such as happiness, joy, ecstasy, fear, (and variations such as panic and terror) nostalgia, anxiety, sadness, grief, frustration, apathy, affection, antipathy, content, discontent, anger, hate, rage, confidence, enthusiasm, and pride. All of these feelings are caused by whatever we are conscious of at the time we have those feelings. Some are shared with the higher animals, but those associated with abstract concepts, like the past, (nostalgia) the future (anxiety), and values (humor, pathos, pride), for example, are experienced only by man.

Emotions are Percepts
....When we talk about the emotions, however, it is not what is being perceived, the physiological events of the body, we are interested in, but the perception itself, which we call "the feeling." When we feel anxious, for example, that, "feeling," is our perception of the body's reaction to whatever future concern we have, which may be a certain feeling in the stomach, "nervousness," or even something more general, but it is not those things we are interested in, but how they feel to us.
Emotions Automatic and Involuntary

All percepts are automatic and involuntary. We have no choice about what we will see when we look at something. We can choose not to look or to shut our eyes, but so long as our eyes are open and we are looking around, what we will see is determined by whatever is there to see and how we will see it is determined by the nature of perception itself and the nature of the things we are seeing

...human beings must learn what feelings are and what they relate to; they must learn to identify the emotions and their significance and relationship to those things they are feelings about. "
http://www.geocities.com/rational_argumentator/feelings.html

.... so I'll drop it and leave it at that. Thanks Solar. nite

I close my eyes Chloe and I imagine the infinite night sky. I am filled with the emotion of awe. Where am I feeling this, in my brain that has no nerves that "feel"?

Without the mind, would we have emotion or feelings? I think there are lines here that are very blurred. Even with fright, we must perceive something that is frightening to us. Feelings, emotions are part of the mind and I rather doubt the come before thought in all cases. I guess there are instictive centers of the mind. Gurdjieff theory of mind was quite complicated. Today's science suggests we decide things BEFORE we think we decide them.

http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/magazine/17-07/lbnp_knowthyself

People people I LOVE chocalate. That is the sole reason beside providing frogs food I advocate not to destroy the hated fly. I probably consume three quarts of Chocolate Obsession by Soy Dreams each week and stock up on Godiva dark chocolate. They're having a sale. I just have to stop eating it so late, or I'll never fall asleep.

Thanks Joe, I accept that toast.

"I think there are lines here that are very blurred."

Max, Thanks for saying that!
(in my mind, there are always lines that are blurred) nite.

sleep well Chloe.

The people I like best at TM are those who are multi-dimensional -- those who may have a particular expertise,but are interested in far-ranging topics. And opinions are just that, not to be confused with facts. And, mostly, its the people who have the ability to surprise, with insight, perspective, humor, or a good recipe.

So, here's to you, Max. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Hey Chlo- Before you go. It wasn't a point of being right. It was sharing with you. Want U to know that!!

I wanted you to know that I was just sharing that is.

Oldseahag, I shut up now, but with all the crap in the world, I bet the critters will be around awhile. Can't say the same for bees. And I'll keep the secret about women with higher testosterone to myself. What our culture says men should chase is just fine with me.

And there lays out my biological allegiance to a feminism of sorts. What I sometimes feel is phermones talking....and what we feel often informes what we think. Did I get that right Chloe?

One day I would like to give the women here a test. Based on your answers and despite your grooming, I wonder if I can tell whether you are large breasted, blond or naturally hairless......

But that is a different night...

Hey Dark Lord, did you catch that one?

Hey Solar, give me a little credit here... I knew that. I felt the same way, not interested in the least in being right or wrong, it just caught my attention and it's always interesting discussing things with you. I'm always more interested in the truth than being right.

Nite Chloe.......

Well Solar, it might just be you and me......

Dark Lord put a bug in my head and now I can't get it out........

Max -

"Solar, maybe you can confirm that construction keeps one young...LOL or prematurely old...."

Max. A little bit of both. If I had used a jack-hammer-or a machine to break out concrete when I was Young. I would not have this back problem like I do.

The labor definitely will keep you young . If you do the other things right ( I mostly did not) sleep, and rest. But no complaints. I found something that I loved doing.

Jack,

The more I think about it. Tribal members living in groups (rez) have their majority control routinely gerrymandered out from underneath them in all kinds of sub-state political entities i.e. cities, water districts, school boards, etc.. So their concern makes sense, particularly if the Supremes rule these entities can opt out of voting rights legislation without tribal input. I don't if that's the impact here but maybe.

I knew that also. Sometimes I should leave things as they are.

Congrats, Jamie! Maybe I'll have to start twitting :)

And, I remember seeing a British training film from the 70s that showed many of the things you related including summary executions.

You lost me at "testosterone", Max. Feel free to clarify, but I need to get some sleep now; I'm not feeling well. I'll catch-up tomorrow. Have a good night.

Night all, don't forget to tune in to Imus tomorrow!

Yeah Solar, A few years back I got my first taste of pain when tendenitis crept into my elbows after skim coating 60 5 gallon buckets of compound. The doctor recommended three months off of work and 20 sessions of phyical therapy. I did it and improved. Now I am very conscience of posture. The activity is great but repetitive motion can be dangerous. I love to design what I'm building as much as the building. When I see flaws in the primary construct, I feel the need to remedy the situation. Same goes for here, but then there are many ways to build a great space.

I am amazed that building materials haven't modernized as much as I thought they would have. Building is still pretty basic. Here in NYC, illegals have put tremendous pressure on non Union job sites. I love them, but they drive down the price as they are exploited. I'm thinking about giving up the city and moving back to the green.

Ah, that bug in my head

You like to build and put parts together. I see that in your posts. You hate to see things deconstructed.

Good Nite Dark Lord, my your dreams be Light.

Yeah, I was lost there too. Thought perhaps it could be some sort of insult, am tired decided to not care, go toltec.

Rez

I understand the feeling.
I've also served on small road district board and can imagine the problems we would have had every year we had to have federal approval because this year the school can let us vote there, where as last year we voted in the firehouse.
However the "little" water district had enough money to carry this to the supreme court so there is probably a lot more to than meets the eye.

Jack

Bob Dylan - Tangled Up In Blue

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

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/06/the-most-famous-dead-fly-in-th.html#comment-238879
Max
You have a sensitive side!! Not Mr. One dimensional....Nice of you to show it...I like that...

Wagon Wheel -- Old Crow Medicine Show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2vJUadjdmo

"One day I would like to give the women here a test. Based on your answers and despite your grooming, I wonder if I can tell whether you are large breasted, blond or naturally hairless......"

Does this relate to your suggestions that Judge Sotomayor get a makeover?

Little Feat Willin'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmuFjXXm6xI

Dixie Chicken

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO3ZMdcL8Pc

I'm thinking it ain't good Patsi, pretty audacious thing to write in fact.

Hey Tony, no I'm not a hard ass all the time. I show my blogger side here and at this point, it is rather impolite to ignore the fact you all are more than just usernames.

I would be weird just to use Craig's space for promoting my political theories, yes?

And while I'm waxing sensitive, I know how it feels to be deprived of a dream that hurts no one and simply advances love. And we get older and wonder why anything regarding genuine love be never. We live and then we die. Why should we not obtain the joy we seek when it injures no one? Isn't America about liberty and equality? Yes it is.

My only answer is that we are so screwed up and drifting we cling to the only tradtions we have left. If we were more centered, less insecure, less at war with each other's political views and values, no one would care what you do in the name of love and friendship. Pity us all Tony, not just yourself. It must change. It will change.

Patsi, no, it has nothing to do with my snarky comment on Sotomayor appearance.

In short (without giving up too much) I think I can test for higher levels of testosterone in women by asking some questions. I never did this without seeing the person however. And this higer level may be related with breast size, ahtletic ability, hair colar and general hairiness. The connection I seek to uncover is a certain relationship of attitudes to terstosterone. Once I can grab that from questions, I can guess with some accuracy what the woman looks like. The tough part is that some women have both higher than normal levels of testosterone and estrogen.

What is your favorite color?

Nope, I won't ask you yet........

cocaine blues

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

Ah Jack, despite your leanings you have kept up a fine tradtion on the Trail.

Kudos to your selections........

Nite all..

I can guess with amazing accuracy, by just a few questions , some details about men too.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/06/the-most-famous-dead-fly-in-th.html#comment-238890

Max, every time I try visualizing your appearance I see a tremendous androgynous blob. Of course, that's just what I can glean from your posts.

I haven't tried doing that with Judge Sotomayor. But then she has many fewer writings in the public domain than you.

Now, Max, my last _was_ snarky; i apologize.

OSH

Just what do you want to know?

BTW, I've shared the mild version of Holey mole but I'm hoarding the Hot version. When the weather cools down the wife wants to send some of the hot version to several people. It is very good. You need to keep some around for the chilli heads, just label it dangerous, not for the timid.

Jack

Max the only leanings I have to night are just back in the chair. I'm glad you enjoyed the selections

Sleep well.

Jack

Jack- LOL, and glad to know you both like them!!

fats waller - your feet's too big

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in1eK3x1PBI

OSH

Good to see you around, I've missed you. But I know how busy things can get.

Bedtime for me Later

Jack

" I think I can test for higher levels of testosterone in women by asking some questions. "

I think I could ask for mediocre levels of intelligence in some posters just by reading their BS.

bethyboo, when this site acts up, I put the post on Word Pad or Note Pad and see if it posts. If it doesn't I copy & paste it and then delete the Word Pad copy. But it's an additional pain. Thanks for the suggestion.

tt

maxtrue,

A. You did not shoot down my Cambodia explanation, you made assertions that were not crucial to my what I had written, and then proceded to ask irrelevant (presumably rhetorical) questions. Poor stuff.

The drablord certainly did not shoot down my assertion that republicans haven't won in 111 years.
From 1937 to 1941, republicans opposed arming the US, in the event any of the belligerants attacked us. They settled for the unsatisfactory stalemate we now see in north Korea. republicans blundered through the Viet Nam War to an unsatisfactory conclusion, expanded the war into Cambodia, failing there, too. republicans fumbled victory away in Gulf Fiasco I, and then screwed up Gulf Fiasco II, while winning, and then losing in the Afghan War. reagan and bush invaded Lebanon and Somalia, respectively, and screwed things up so badly that we had to pull out. reagan conquered Grenada, a country with no army, and at the time, no government. I don't call that a war. Perhaps, the dim lord calls the invasion of Panama City, overthrowing manuel noriega, george herbert walker bush's disobedient puppet, a victory in war. I call it a raid. The same can be said for the little debt collection exercises in Latin America and the Caribbean in the early 20th Century. However, little blockades and raids against little or no opposition, do not constitute war.

B. Yes, I consider both your pretense to read my mind, and your falsifying what I have written, to be attacks on me.

C. I also consider your political model of Liberal v Conservative to be shallow and ineffectual, except as a campaign ploy. Traditionally Liberal and Conservative were stands on economic models. Your frequent use of those words to describe the debates between Democrats or Levellers versus Heirarchs or Authoritarians, between hedgemonists, imperialists, and interventionists versus non-interventionist, nationalists, or pacifists misses the point that, for instance, nationalists can be interventionists, and imperialists can be non-interventionists. And all of the varieties in both ends of the continuum can be either Levellers or Authoritarians, Heirarchs or Democrats.

In short, one dimensional continua do not have the necessary articulation, complexity, and subtelty to adequately explain the phenomenon of our axiologico/religio-socio-politico-economic world, especially if the 2 poles of the simplistic continuum are labelled with murky words having many connotations each, as 'Liberal' and 'Conservative' both do.

I have another big day ahead of me, and it is time for bed. Good night.

Yes, Patsi, Some types give themselves away.

By the way, I finally bought my new tv, but it won't be here till probably next week. I am still not digital but don't expect that last until my new one is here. I will have to deal with that later.

I'm beginning to think I'm a fat lazy sl*t. I'm crushed.