Wednesday Changes Open Comments

I stumbled across this website, and it got my attention:
+ Fusion energy
+ Crash proof cars
+ Personal computers with the power of a human brain
+ Insect sized spy devices (already in development)
+ Sealing wounds with a portable laser pen, a la “Bones” in Star Trek
+ A sunscreen pill
+ Cheap, personal DNA sequencing
+ Incredible advances in computer storage and speeds
+ The lame will walk
…and more
As I read through this list, I could not even begin to imagine the changes that our society will go through. Will the DNA sequencing be used for other things than cancer treatments? You betcha. Will the bug spy-ders be used for other than military uses? You betcha. I can only imagine the paranoia that could ensue from some of these wonderful technological advances.
A sunscreen pill? That’ll put the sunscreen manufacturers out of business, but will it also ripple into increased spending for outdoor activities? And what will the libbers scream about, if skin cancer is removed from their list of frightening statistics?
Fusion energy sounds great, but how much resistance will it get from big oil and the government cronies that depend upon big oil donations? Will the libbers argue against it?
All of the advances in computer technology sound great, but they leave us vulnerable to certain types of attacks. I foresee an increasing cyberwar with our enemies. How will this change military recruiting? Or do we already have secret bunkers filled with geeks who safeguard our computer safety with their pocket protectors and little round glasses?
It seems that all of the science fiction I used to read about in wonder is actually coming true. I remember Isaac Asimov describing a bed material that conformed to his body shape – and now we have it and it is sold every day. There’s a famous story called “The Last Question” that reflects on the changes in computing, and how man and computer begin to relate to each other in their evolution.
What changes can you foresee in our next generation? What would you like to see? And what are the unintended consequences of our growing technological advances?


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262 responses to “Wednesday Changes Open Comments”

  1. Super Dave Avatar
    Super Dave

    The Dems need not worry about any of this stuff since I did not see anything that looks like it might cure stupidity. Or tattoo removal. Since when did the libbers need any facts to scream and be paranoid about – their drug addled brains can always come up with something.

  2. El Gordo Avatar

    The Dems need not worry about any of this stuff since I did not see anything that looks like it might cure stupidity. Or tattoo removal. Since when did the libbers need any facts to scream and be paranoid about – their drug addled brains can always come up with something.

  3. gtotracker Avatar
    gtotracker

    ST is stirring the pot at Headcase’s site. hehehehehehe…

  4. gtotracker Avatar
    gtotracker

    ST is stirring the pot at Headcase’s site. hehehehehehe…

  5. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    I see BWeldon made a brief appearance last night. Good to see you’re still kicking!

  6. Hamous Avatar

    I see BWeldon made a brief appearance last night. Good to see you’re still kicking!

  7. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    Well winter has started (on the motorcycle blogs anyways)………………..anyone up for Halloween Bowling?

    http://www.bravozulu.com/content/includes/cat.swf

  8. Katfish Avatar

    Well winter has started (on the motorcycle blogs anyways)………………..anyone up for Halloween Bowling?
    http://www.bravozulu.com/content/includes/cat.swf

  9. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    Ah the inevitable “Kent State like” (I know that’s a stretch) confrontations…………

    Occupiers wearing out their welcome

  10. Katfish Avatar

    Ah the inevitable “Kent State like” (I know that’s a stretch) confrontations…………
    Occupiers wearing out their welcome

  11. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    Is the LBGT community is outraged this morning?

    When he got the bad news, the transgender activist said he had come on the program “to show America a different kind of man.”

    Well, different, I’ll give her that. If by “different” she means a woman that voluntarily had her tatas hacked off.

    judge Bruno Tonioli said Bono was like “a cute little penguin trying to be a big menacing bird of prey.” Tonioli had also compared Bono to an Ewok from “Star Wars.”

    Hey, maybe her and Michele can team up on one of the other dancing train wrecks. Ewok and Wookie – the first trans-species couple on TV.

  12. Hamous Avatar

    Is the LBGT community is outraged this morning?

    When he got the bad news, the transgender activist said he had come on the program “to show America a different kind of man.”

    Well, different, I’ll give her that. If by “different” she means a woman that voluntarily had her tatas hacked off.

    judge Bruno Tonioli said Bono was like “a cute little penguin trying to be a big menacing bird of prey.” Tonioli had also compared Bono to an Ewok from “Star Wars.”

    Hey, maybe her and Michele can team up on one of the other dancing train wrecks. Ewok and Wookie – the first trans-species couple on TV.

  13. Tedtam Avatar

    Four minutes of beauty.

    Relax, kick back, and enjoy.

    The only thing that could make this better would be to slow down on the wave and waterfall action. Some day, I hope to visit.

  14. Tedtam Avatar

    Four minutes of beauty.
    Relax, kick back, and enjoy.
    The only thing that could make this better would be to slow down on the wave and waterfall action. Some day, I hope to visit.

  15. Tedtam Avatar

    Japan does it again. Very cool.

    I can definitely see this being used in rescue situations, to eyeball from above and to review the possible rescue options.

  16. Tedtam Avatar

    Japan does it again. Very cool.
    I can definitely see this being used in rescue situations, to eyeball from above and to review the possible rescue options.

  17. Adee Avatar
    Adee

    #6 Hamous
    Whee, thin ice, thin ice–but hilarious.

  18. Adee Avatar
    Adee

    #6 Hamous
    Whee, thin ice, thin ice–but hilarious.

  19. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    #8 – DAYUM that is AWESOME!

  20. Katfish Avatar

    #8 – DAYUM that is AWESOME!

  21. Tedtam Avatar

    Useful idiot of the day video.

    If you’re gonna protest, at least know what the heckfahr you’re protesting for.

    Useful idiots. /spits

  22. Tedtam Avatar

    Useful idiot of the day video.
    If you’re gonna protest, at least know what the heckfahr you’re protesting for.
    Useful idiots. /spits

  23. Dooood Avatar

    Charging that its activities contributed to his defeat and thus to his “loss of livelihood,” Driehaus is suing the Susan B. Anthony List, a group that supports pro-life candidates for Congress and which has been one of the leading and most effective organizations involved in the fight to cut off federal funding to Planned Parenthood.

    During the 2010 elections the Susan B. Anthony List engaged in a campaign to identify and call out a group of allegedly anti-abortion-rights members of Congress who provided the margin that allowed President Barack Obama’s reform of the nation’s healthcare system to get through the U.S. House of Representatives. The Susan B. Anthony List said their vote in favor of the law, which did not include any pro-life protections, amounted to a betrayal of their pro-life principles.

    But wait, there’s more to this story.

    What is equally curious, however, is why Judge Black has allowed the case to move forward and why he did not recuse himself from it since, as Barbara Hollingsworth reported Friday in The Washington Examiner, he apparently is the former president and director of the Planned Parenthood Association of Cincinnati. As seeming conflicts of interest go this one is a real humdinger.

    Is it fair to question Black’s ability to be impartial if he used to head up the local affiliate of a national organization one of the parties in the case is trying to defund?

    Peter Roff at US News & World Report

  24. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    Charging that its activities contributed to his defeat and thus to his “loss of livelihood,” Driehaus is suing the Susan B. Anthony List, a group that supports pro-life candidates for Congress and which has been one of the leading and most effective organizations involved in the fight to cut off federal funding to Planned Parenthood.
    During the 2010 elections the Susan B. Anthony List engaged in a campaign to identify and call out a group of allegedly anti-abortion-rights members of Congress who provided the margin that allowed President Barack Obama’s reform of the nation’s healthcare system to get through the U.S. House of Representatives. The Susan B. Anthony List said their vote in favor of the law, which did not include any pro-life protections, amounted to a betrayal of their pro-life principles.

    But wait, there’s more to this story.

    What is equally curious, however, is why Judge Black has allowed the case to move forward and why he did not recuse himself from it since, as Barbara Hollingsworth reported Friday in The Washington Examiner, he apparently is the former president and director of the Planned Parenthood Association of Cincinnati. As seeming conflicts of interest go this one is a real humdinger.
    Is it fair to question Black’s ability to be impartial if he used to head up the local affiliate of a national organization one of the parties in the case is trying to defund?

    Peter Roff at US News & World Report

  25. Hamous Avatar

    #12 TEXPAT: The fact that this particular oxygen thief posing as a judge refused to recuse himself is overwhelming evidence of his unsuitability to ever serve in a judicial capacity. He is one that must be barred form ever serving on the bench and there are a whole bunch more just like him.

  26. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    #12 TEXPAT: The fact that this particular oxygen thief posing as a judge refused to recuse himself is overwhelming evidence of his unsuitability to ever serve in a judicial capacity. He is one that must be barred form ever serving on the bench and there are a whole bunch more just like him.

  27. Katfish Avatar

    If by “different” she means a woman that voluntarily had her tatas hacked off.

    And had an addadictomy performed.

  28. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    If by “different” she means a woman that voluntarily had her tatas hacked off.

    And had an addadictomy performed.

  29. GJT Avatar
    GJT

    G’Morning all

    Forgot to post it. Yesterday was our 42nd anniversary. Also, the 28th will be my 71st birthday.

  30. OletimerLin Avatar
    OletimerLin

    G’Morning all
    Forgot to post it. Yesterday was our 42nd anniversary. Also, the 28th will be my 71st birthday.

  31. Katfish Avatar

    #5 katfish
    From the comments:

    The OPD is working way too hard at this. All they really needed to do was “down twinkle” the crowd and they’d have dispersed on their own. Nobody can withstand a sustained down twinkle.

    :jazz:

  32. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    #5 katfish
    From the comments:

    The OPD is working way too hard at this. All they really needed to do was “down twinkle” the crowd and they’d have dispersed on their own. Nobody can withstand a sustained down twinkle.

    :jazz:

  33. GJT Avatar
    GJT

    What changes can you foresee in our next generation?

    Although I claim Corpus Christi as my home town, it’s because that’s where I grew up from age 15 and formed my lifetime bonds.

    My real home town is deep east Texas, Huntington. It was literally about 75-100 years behind time. “Downtown” was one dirt street with wooden sidewalks, a telephone Central Office that handled ALL calls by plugging and unplugging them.

    We lived on a farm 9 miles out of Huntington with no electricity, running water or plumbing. We had a rope and bucket well in the front yard and cooked on a wood stove.

    I have seen in my generation going from that to what we have now. I cannot begin to fathom what will happen from today forward.

  34. OletimerLin Avatar
    OletimerLin

    What changes can you foresee in our next generation?

    Although I claim Corpus Christi as my home town, it’s because that’s where I grew up from age 15 and formed my lifetime bonds.
    My real home town is deep east Texas, Huntington. It was literally about 75-100 years behind time. “Downtown” was one dirt street with wooden sidewalks, a telephone Central Office that handled ALL calls by plugging and unplugging them.
    We lived on a farm 9 miles out of Huntington with no electricity, running water or plumbing. We had a rope and bucket well in the front yard and cooked on a wood stove.
    I have seen in my generation going from that to what we have now. I cannot begin to fathom what will happen from today forward.

  35. GJT Avatar
    GJT

    #8 Tedtam

    I can definitely see this being used in rescue situations, to eyeball from above and to review the possible rescue options.

    It wrenched my gut watching it. My first thought was about the old British TV Series “The Prisoner” starring Patrick McGoohan (spelling?)

    There are great possibilites for it, but just let Big Brother put some tazers on it……….

  36. OletimerLin Avatar
    OletimerLin

    #8 Tedtam

    I can definitely see this being used in rescue situations, to eyeball from above and to review the possible rescue options.

    It wrenched my gut watching it. My first thought was about the old British TV Series “The Prisoner” starring Patrick McGoohan (spelling?)
    There are great possibilites for it, but just let Big Brother put some tazers on it……….

  37. Tedtam Avatar

    #18 Oletimer

    There are great possibilites for it, but just let Big Brother put some tazers on it……….

    And that was part of my musings in the post today. All technology can be used for good or for evil. While this definitely can be used to save lives, what are the options for destruction?

    Deep thought for the day: How can we, as a society, protect ourselves from ourselves?

  38. Tedtam Avatar

    #18 Oletimer

    There are great possibilites for it, but just let Big Brother put some tazers on it……….

    And that was part of my musings in the post today. All technology can be used for good or for evil. While this definitely can be used to save lives, what are the options for destruction?
    Deep thought for the day: How can we, as a society, protect ourselves from ourselves?

  39. Dooood Avatar

    Texanadian

    In case you were not aware, American Digest’s Gerard VanderLeun had a mild heart attack.

    Study Shows That Spending Time as a Hippie Leads to Heart Attacks in Later Life

  40. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    Texanadian
    In case you were not aware, American Digest’s Gerard VanderLeun had a mild heart attack.
    Study Shows That Spending Time as a Hippie Leads to Heart Attacks in Later Life

  41. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    So what do y’all think about Perry’s “Cut, Balance, and Grow” plan? Grover Norquist thinks its the bees knees.

  42. Hamous Avatar

    So what do y’all think about Perry’s “Cut, Balance, and Grow” plan? Grover Norquist thinks its the bees knees.

  43. Tedtam Avatar

    #22 Hammy
    I like the “dynamic scoring” requirement. Static scoring has allowed the Dems to justify a lot of crappy legislation.

  44. Tedtam Avatar

    #22 Hammy
    I like the “dynamic scoring” requirement. Static scoring has allowed the Dems to justify a lot of crappy legislation.

  45. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    So what do y’all think about Perry’s “Cut, Balance, and Grow” plan?

    A 20% Flat Tax that is voluntary isn ‘t a Flat Tax.

    Optional system for those who want to switch over: if you like your tax code, you can keep it.

    The last politician who promised me that if I liked what I had I could keep it hasn’t worked out so well.

    20 percent flat rate on all personal income. Details yet to be specified here.

    I’m guessing we’ll have to pass the bill so we can see what’s in it.

    A tax plan that keeps the existing tax system in place while adding another wrinkle to it does not simplify the tax code.

    His plan does not address the 47% of the people in this country who don’t pay taxes.

    It sucks dead birds.

  46. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    So what do y’all think about Perry’s “Cut, Balance, and Grow” plan?

    A 20% Flat Tax that is voluntary isn ‘t a Flat Tax.

    Optional system for those who want to switch over: if you like your tax code, you can keep it.

    The last politician who promised me that if I liked what I had I could keep it hasn’t worked out so well.

    20 percent flat rate on all personal income. Details yet to be specified here.

    I’m guessing we’ll have to pass the bill so we can see what’s in it.
    A tax plan that keeps the existing tax system in place while adding another wrinkle to it does not simplify the tax code.
    His plan does not address the 47% of the people in this country who don’t pay taxes.
    It sucks dead birds.

  47. Katfish Avatar

    #22 hamster
    It has good points and not so good points. Like Cain’s 9-9-9 plan, it has no chance to see the light of day, but at least it is a documented plan that can and should serve as a starting point from which we can move forward. That alone puts it head and shoulders above anything Obama has blessed us with.

  48. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    #22 hamster
    It has good points and not so good points. Like Cain’s 9-9-9 plan, it has no chance to see the light of day, but at least it is a documented plan that can and should serve as a starting point from which we can move forward. That alone puts it head and shoulders above anything Obama has blessed us with.

  49. Adee Avatar
    Adee

    Agree with Wagonburner #25

  50. Adee Avatar
    Adee

    Agree with Wagonburner #25

  51. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    It sucks dead birds.

    No offense, but I’ll put Norquist’s bona fides (on tax matters) up against yours any day.

  52. Hamous Avatar

    It sucks dead birds.

    No offense, but I’ll put Norquist’s bona fides (on tax matters) up against yours any day.

  53. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    Gingrich has a flat tax plan as well. Of the three currently being touted by Candidates, Perry’s is the most gimmicky and the one that does the least to address the deficiencies in the current system.

  54. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    Gingrich has a flat tax plan as well. Of the three currently being touted by Candidates, Perry’s is the most gimmicky and the one that does the least to address the deficiencies in the current system.

  55. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    No offense, but I’ll put Norquist’s bona fides (on tax matters) up against yours any day.

    None taken

    But Norquist is a political animal, not an economic one.

  56. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    No offense, but I’ll put Norquist’s bona fides (on tax matters) up against yours any day.

    None taken
    But Norquist is a political animal, not an economic one.

  57. Katfish Avatar

    But Norquist is a political animal, not an economic one.

    I am the walrus.

    Goob goob ga-joob

  58. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    But Norquist is a political animal, not an economic one.

    I am the walrus.
    Goob goob ga-joob

  59. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    But Norquist is a political animal, not an economic one.

    Huh??? We must be talking about two different Grover Norquists. The one I’m talking about had President Reagan’s ear on economic and tax matters 30 years ago. He was also an economist for the US Chamber of Commerce. Of course he’s political, we all are. But he certainly knows a thing or two about economics.

  60. Hamous Avatar

    But Norquist is a political animal, not an economic one.

    Huh??? We must be talking about two different Grover Norquists. The one I’m talking about had President Reagan’s ear on economic and tax matters 30 years ago. He was also an economist for the US Chamber of Commerce. Of course he’s political, we all are. But he certainly knows a thing or two about economics.

  61. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    Perry’s plan doesn’t inlcude one original thought. Its a cobbled together collection of ideas that have been put forward before by other peope (to inlcude the postcard and the private accounts in SS), some of them for decades. Its a desperate attempt to regain what relevance he once possessed. He’s running in single digits behind Newt Gincrich fer cryin out loud.

  62. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    Perry’s plan doesn’t inlcude one original thought. Its a cobbled together collection of ideas that have been put forward before by other peope (to inlcude the postcard and the private accounts in SS), some of them for decades. Its a desperate attempt to regain what relevance he once possessed. He’s running in single digits behind Newt Gincrich fer cryin out loud.

  63. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    Oh, I forgot. He’s Establishment.

  64. Hamous Avatar

    Oh, I forgot. He’s Establishment.

  65. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    Of course he’s political, we all are. But he certainly knows a thing or two about economics.

    Well, he must be a clairvoyant economist if he can make such a glowing recommendation of a tax plan that includes the words:

    20 percent flat rate on all personal income. Details yet to be specified here.

    A responsible economist, as opposed to someone who is merely touting a candidate, would wait for the details to make a calculation or two.

  66. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    Of course he’s political, we all are. But he certainly knows a thing or two about economics.

    Well, he must be a clairvoyant economist if he can make such a glowing recommendation of a tax plan that includes the words:

    20 percent flat rate on all personal income. Details yet to be specified here.

    A responsible economist, as opposed to someone who is merely touting a candidate, would wait for the details to make a calculation or two.

  67. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    Oh, I forgot. He’s Establishment.

    You really should wait for me to post before you tell people what I’m thinking.

  68. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    Oh, I forgot. He’s Establishment.

    You really should wait for me to post before you tell people what I’m thinking.

  69. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    #’s 25 & 26 – me three

  70. Katfish Avatar

    #’s 25 & 26 – me three

  71. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    Oh for crying out loud, Sarge. There’s not a person on this blog that doesn’t know your mantra about Perry and The Establishment. Give me a freakin’ break.

  72. Hamous Avatar

    Oh for crying out loud, Sarge. There’s not a person on this blog that doesn’t know your mantra about Perry and The Establishment. Give me a freakin’ break.

  73. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    Oh for crying out loud, Sarge. There’s not a person on this blog that doesn’t know your mantra about Perry and The Establishment. Give me a freakin’ break.

    Whether that’s true or not, I’ll stand by the logic I used when I said:

    A responsible economist, as opposed to someone who is merely touting a candidate, would wait for the details to make a calculation or two.

    Norquist is making a poltical recommendation, not an economic one.

  74. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    Oh for crying out loud, Sarge. There’s not a person on this blog that doesn’t know your mantra about Perry and The Establishment. Give me a freakin’ break.

    Whether that’s true or not, I’ll stand by the logic I used when I said:

    A responsible economist, as opposed to someone who is merely touting a candidate, would wait for the details to make a calculation or two.

    Norquist is making a poltical recommendation, not an economic one.

  75. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    Another guy that knows nothing about economics likes the plan. Actually, I think he wrote it.

  76. Hamous Avatar

    Another guy that knows nothing about economics likes the plan. Actually, I think he wrote it.

  77. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    OK

    So vote for Perry then.

    IF he even makes it past NH.

  78. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    OK
    So vote for Perry then.
    IF he even makes it past NH.

  79. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    Sarge and Hamous,

    Do either of you think he (Perry) has a ghost of a chance at this point? It seems rather
    pointless to bash him.

    The worrisome point to me is that NONE of the current candidates look all that good.

    Simple

  80. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    Sarge and Hamous,
    Do either of you think he (Perry) has a ghost of a chance at this point? It seems rather
    pointless to bash him.
    The worrisome point to me is that NONE of the current candidates look all that good.
    Simple

  81. Adee Avatar
    Adee

    Very sad news. Greg Tolleson, 36, was the truck driver involved in the fiery crash on I-10 westbound near Elysian on Monday afternoon. He leaves a wife and young child, with another baby on the way.

    This past summer Greg donated his time and his big rig to gather supplies from area Tea Party Movement and allied groups for the tornado victims in Joplin, MO. He drove them to Joplin as well. I met him briefly when he picked up the donations gathered by Greater Fort Bend County Tea Party at a site near Grand Parkway and 59. This is a shock to us all.

    Please pray for Greg and his family. Greater Fort Bend County TP is inquiring if donations are being accepted and will update as information is received.

    Info gathered from GFBCTP e-mail and Chronicle article in today’s paper, p. B2.

  82. Adee Avatar
    Adee

    Very sad news. Greg Tolleson, 36, was the truck driver involved in the fiery crash on I-10 westbound near Elysian on Monday afternoon. He leaves a wife and young child, with another baby on the way.
    This past summer Greg donated his time and his big rig to gather supplies from area Tea Party Movement and allied groups for the tornado victims in Joplin, MO. He drove them to Joplin as well. I met him briefly when he picked up the donations gathered by Greater Fort Bend County Tea Party at a site near Grand Parkway and 59. This is a shock to us all.
    Please pray for Greg and his family. Greater Fort Bend County TP is inquiring if donations are being accepted and will update as information is received.
    Info gathered from GFBCTP e-mail and Chronicle article in today’s paper, p. B2.

  83. Tedtam Avatar

    Frankly, I don’t care if Perry’s plan “has one original thought” or not. There are a lot of previously submitted ideas that were good but never made it due to politics, bad timing, or whatever. Something doesn’t have to be “original” to be valid. Personally, I don’t think that’s a valid argument for dismissing any ideas.

    Will it work? Does it promote economic stability? Does it fit in with the ideals of our country (as founded, not as occupied)? Is it moral? Is it ethical?

    These are the questions that need to be answered. As in fashion design, a good classic design works anywhere, anytime, because it’s practical and does what it’s supposed to do. Just being “fresh” and “new” doesn’t mean it will stand the test of time.

  84. Tedtam Avatar

    Frankly, I don’t care if Perry’s plan “has one original thought” or not. There are a lot of previously submitted ideas that were good but never made it due to politics, bad timing, or whatever. Something doesn’t have to be “original” to be valid. Personally, I don’t think that’s a valid argument for dismissing any ideas.
    Will it work? Does it promote economic stability? Does it fit in with the ideals of our country (as founded, not as occupied)? Is it moral? Is it ethical?
    These are the questions that need to be answered. As in fashion design, a good classic design works anywhere, anytime, because it’s practical and does what it’s supposed to do. Just being “fresh” and “new” doesn’t mean it will stand the test of time.

  85. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    Do either of you think he (Perry) has a ghost of a chance at this point? It seems rather
    pointless to bash him.

    Sure.

    All he has to do is win Iowa. He’s got about 60 days to go from sixth place to first.

    Then he has to beat Romney in NH.

    Should be a cake walk with all the economic mind power he has.

  86. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    Do either of you think he (Perry) has a ghost of a chance at this point? It seems rather
    pointless to bash him.

    Sure.
    All he has to do is win Iowa. He’s got about 60 days to go from sixth place to first.
    Then he has to beat Romney in NH.
    Should be a cake walk with all the economic mind power he has.

  87. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    Doofus is behind Michelle Bachman fer cryin out loud.

  88. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    Doofus is behind Michelle Bachman fer cryin out loud.

  89. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    Simple

    Do either of you think he (Perry) has a ghost of a chance at this point? It seems rather pointless to bash him.

    I just asked what everyone thought of his plan. Some well-respected conservative economic minds have said it looks pretty good. I think it looks pretty good. I expected Sarge to have an epileptic fit because it’s coming from Perry.

    The worrisome point to me is that NONE of the current candidates look all that good.

    In my eyes they ALL look pretty good when compared to the current Usurper-in-Chief. And after I opened up my 401k statement yesterday I don’t expect my vision to change.

  90. Hamous Avatar

    Simple

    Do either of you think he (Perry) has a ghost of a chance at this point? It seems rather pointless to bash him.

    I just asked what everyone thought of his plan. Some well-respected conservative economic minds have said it looks pretty good. I think it looks pretty good. I expected Sarge to have an epileptic fit because it’s coming from Perry.

    The worrisome point to me is that NONE of the current candidates look all that good.

    In my eyes they ALL look pretty good when compared to the current Usurper-in-Chief. And after I opened up my 401k statement yesterday I don’t expect my vision to change.

  91. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    I expected Sarge to have an epileptic fit because it’s coming from Perry.

    A tax plan that includes the words: “Details later.” will cause the fit, regardless of who puts it forward.

    All this does is demonstrate how desperate Perry is.

  92. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    I expected Sarge to have an epileptic fit because it’s coming from Perry.

    A tax plan that includes the words: “Details later.” will cause the fit, regardless of who puts it forward.
    All this does is demonstrate how desperate Perry is.

  93. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    At this point in 2007 McCain was behind Romney, Huckabee, Giuliani and Thompson in Iowa, and behind Romney & Giuliani in NH.

  94. Hamous Avatar

    At this point in 2007 McCain was behind Romney, Huckabee, Giuliani and Thompson in Iowa, and behind Romney & Giuliani in NH.

  95. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    At this point in 2007 McCain was behind Romney, Huckabee, Giuliani and Thompson in Iowa, and behind Romney & Giuliani in NH.

    So, you’re saying that you’re “non-establishment” conservative will do as well as McCain did?

    Now there’s a recommendation.

  96. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    At this point in 2007 McCain was behind Romney, Huckabee, Giuliani and Thompson in Iowa, and behind Romney & Giuliani in NH.

    So, you’re saying that you’re “non-establishment” conservative will do as well as McCain did?
    Now there’s a recommendation.

  97. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    So, you’re saying that you’re “non-establishment” conservative will do as well as McCain did?

    Now there’s a recommendation.

    What freakin’ recommendation??? I gave polling data demonstrating that the leader of the pack in October is not an indication of who will win a primary in January. Good lord, Sarge. I asked about his plan. I didn’t expect you to go full-blown PDS on us. If you don’t want to discuss the merits of the plan just say so. You argue like a KosKid.

  98. Hamous Avatar

    So, you’re saying that you’re “non-establishment” conservative will do as well as McCain did?
    Now there’s a recommendation.

    What freakin’ recommendation??? I gave polling data demonstrating that the leader of the pack in October is not an indication of who will win a primary in January. Good lord, Sarge. I asked about his plan. I didn’t expect you to go full-blown PDS on us. If you don’t want to discuss the merits of the plan just say so. You argue like a KosKid.

  99. Katfish Avatar

    When I first read the Drudge headline, I pictured a bunch of nancy-boys in spandex shorts hurloing insults at each other over their vente half-skim snickerdoodle caffe lattes.

    But really, what has become of biker gangs when they have a huge brawl at a freakin’ Starbuck’s?

    “It was all about who would be allowed to hang out at the Starbucks downtown,” Santa Cruz Deputy Police Chief Steve Clark said. “The Vagos brazenly came in and tried to cement their presence. It was a pretty strong play on their part to establish themselves as the premiere club.”

    He added: “Only in Santa Cruz would you have biker wars over who’s going to control pumpkin spice lattes.”

  100. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    When I first read the Drudge headline, I pictured a bunch of nancy-boys in spandex shorts hurloing insults at each other over their vente half-skim snickerdoodle caffe lattes.
    But really, what has become of biker gangs when they have a huge brawl at a freakin’ Starbuck’s?

    “It was all about who would be allowed to hang out at the Starbucks downtown,” Santa Cruz Deputy Police Chief Steve Clark said. “The Vagos brazenly came in and tried to cement their presence. It was a pretty strong play on their part to establish themselves as the premiere club.”
    He added: “Only in Santa Cruz would you have biker wars over who’s going to control pumpkin spice lattes.”

  101. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    I asked about his plan. I didn’t expect you to go full-blown PDS on us. If you don’t want to discuss the merits of the plan just say so. You argue like a KosKid.

    Dude.

    I commented on nothing BUT the plan until Simple brought up Perry’s chances.

    One other comment I make about the plan:

    Its not going to change a thing. Its a rehash of old ideas. Perry blew it by calling us heartless.

    Perry is behind Luap Nor fer cryin out loud. McCain was never behind that nut bag.

  102. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    I asked about his plan. I didn’t expect you to go full-blown PDS on us. If you don’t want to discuss the merits of the plan just say so. You argue like a KosKid.

    Dude.
    I commented on nothing BUT the plan until Simple brought up Perry’s chances.
    One other comment I make about the plan:
    Its not going to change a thing. Its a rehash of old ideas. Perry blew it by calling us heartless.
    Perry is behind Luap Nor fer cryin out loud. McCain was never behind that nut bag.

  103. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    #53 – While I cannot help but ‘snikker’ at the Starbuck’s aspect………………the violence between 81 & the Vagos is darn sure not limited to out west…………through various ‘2-wheeled circles’ it’s currently well known that travel through Arkansas & Missouri is absolutely dangerous these days………………particularly if one is ‘flying colors’ (aka wearing a 1%r patch)……………..even BACA is being extremely cautious in these regions and we AINT 1%rs at all……………

  104. Katfish Avatar

    #53 – While I cannot help but ‘snikker’ at the Starbuck’s aspect………………the violence between 81 & the Vagos is darn sure not limited to out west…………through various ‘2-wheeled circles’ it’s currently well known that travel through Arkansas & Missouri is absolutely dangerous these days………………particularly if one is ‘flying colors’ (aka wearing a 1%r patch)……………..even BACA is being extremely cautious in these regions and we AINT 1%rs at all……………

  105. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    I commented on nothing BUT the plan until Simple brought up Perry’s chances.

    First thing you did was get hung up on “Details yet to be specified here” as if that was part of Perry’s plan. That was an ATR comment, not part of Perry’s plan. The plan is “20 percent flat rate on all personal income.” Then it was Grover Norquist doesn’t know jack about economics, a ridiculous statement on its face. Next up was “Rehash of old ideas!!!” Next it was “You’re a Perry Lover!!!” Then it was “He’s in 6th place!!!” Then back to “You’re a Perry Lover!!!”. Now it’s back to “Rehash of old ideas!!!”

    I’m done trying to carry on a sane conversation with you. You’re adding absolutely nothing constructive to the discussion.

  106. Hamous Avatar

    I commented on nothing BUT the plan until Simple brought up Perry’s chances.

    First thing you did was get hung up on “Details yet to be specified here” as if that was part of Perry’s plan. That was an ATR comment, not part of Perry’s plan. The plan is “20 percent flat rate on all personal income.” Then it was Grover Norquist doesn’t know jack about economics, a ridiculous statement on its face. Next up was “Rehash of old ideas!!!” Next it was “You’re a Perry Lover!!!” Then it was “He’s in 6th place!!!” Then back to “You’re a Perry Lover!!!”. Now it’s back to “Rehash of old ideas!!!”
    I’m done trying to carry on a sane conversation with you. You’re adding absolutely nothing constructive to the discussion.

  107. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    First thing you did was get hung up on “Details yet to be specified here” as if that was part of Perry’s plan. That was an ATR comment, not part of Perry’s plan.

    correct me if I’m wrong, but I think it’s at least reasonable to assume that If perry had included details, it would be on ATR’s website. One would assume that if there were details, they’d at least link a website that included them. Like maybe the candidate’s website. Any details there?

    Then it was Grover Norquist doesn’t know jack about economics, a ridiculous statement on its face.

    I didn’t say that. I said he was making a political recommendation, not an economic one. That’s based in the logic of his making said recommendation even in the face of a lack of details.

    Next up was “Rehash of old ideas!!!”

    To show me as being incorrect, you might want to point us to any new ideas.

    Have you noticed that you’re not commenting on the plan anymore, either? You’ve gone from defending it to attacking my comments. Might explain why the conversation has drifted from sanity.

    No details.
    Old Ideas.
    Desperate measure.

    Nothing insane there.

  108. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    First thing you did was get hung up on “Details yet to be specified here” as if that was part of Perry’s plan. That was an ATR comment, not part of Perry’s plan.

    correct me if I’m wrong, but I think it’s at least reasonable to assume that If perry had included details, it would be on ATR’s website. One would assume that if there were details, they’d at least link a website that included them. Like maybe the candidate’s website. Any details there?

    Then it was Grover Norquist doesn’t know jack about economics, a ridiculous statement on its face.

    I didn’t say that. I said he was making a political recommendation, not an economic one. That’s based in the logic of his making said recommendation even in the face of a lack of details.

    Next up was “Rehash of old ideas!!!”

    To show me as being incorrect, you might want to point us to any new ideas.
    Have you noticed that you’re not commenting on the plan anymore, either? You’ve gone from defending it to attacking my comments. Might explain why the conversation has drifted from sanity.
    No details.
    Old Ideas.
    Desperate measure.
    Nothing insane there.

  109. Tedtam Avatar

    Sarge

    Old Ideas.

    See my #44.

    Old doesn’t mean “bad”. If you think he’s rehashing “old ideas,” tell me what’s wrong with the idea. Don’t harp on the age of the idea, discuss its merits or lack thereof.

    There will be no perfect plan, especially as implemented by Congress. The real question is – will it move us in the right direction?

  110. Tedtam Avatar

    Sarge

    Old Ideas.

    See my #44.
    Old doesn’t mean “bad”. If you think he’s rehashing “old ideas,” tell me what’s wrong with the idea. Don’t harp on the age of the idea, discuss its merits or lack thereof.
    There will be no perfect plan, especially as implemented by Congress. The real question is – will it move us in the right direction?

  111. Adee Avatar
    Adee

    Hmmm, I hate to dredge up ancient history here, but we have one half of The Bickersons with us this afternoon…. 🙂

  112. Adee Avatar
    Adee

    Hmmm, I hate to dredge up ancient history here, but we have one half of The Bickersons with us this afternoon…. 🙂

  113. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    Heh. That’s were it will remain. I promise.

  114. Hamous Avatar

    Heh. That’s were it will remain. I promise.

  115. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    Awright yall go to your respective corners and go READ ‘Crucial Conversations’ (or go attend a Landmark Forum – your choice)………………..or BOTH!

    There be WAY too much ASSumin goin on Heah……….

    🙂

  116. Katfish Avatar

    Awright yall go to your respective corners and go READ ‘Crucial Conversations’ (or go attend a Landmark Forum – your choice)………………..or BOTH!

    There be WAY too much ASSumin goin on Heah……….

    🙂

  117. Katfish Avatar

    #55 Katfish
    What’s a 1%er? And what’s 81?

  118. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    #55 Katfish
    What’s a 1%er? And what’s 81?

  119. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    Old doesn’t mean “bad”. If you think he’s rehashing “old ideas,” tell me what’s wrong with the idea. Don’t harp on the age of the idea, discuss its merits or lack thereof.

    Its not that the ideas themselves are bad. Its the display of desperation and cobbling together that it represents, as well as a lack of vision and imagination.

    Then there’s the aspect of certain of those ideas having been shown as being politically unfeasible in the past. Cain’s or Gingrich’s plans are not hobbled by that aspect.

    It is heartening to see top tier Candidates finally getting behind the flat tax concept.

  120. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    Old doesn’t mean “bad”. If you think he’s rehashing “old ideas,” tell me what’s wrong with the idea. Don’t harp on the age of the idea, discuss its merits or lack thereof.

    Its not that the ideas themselves are bad. Its the display of desperation and cobbling together that it represents, as well as a lack of vision and imagination.
    Then there’s the aspect of certain of those ideas having been shown as being politically unfeasible in the past. Cain’s or Gingrich’s plans are not hobbled by that aspect.
    It is heartening to see top tier Candidates finally getting behind the flat tax concept.

  121. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    Some of the old ideas from this plan I would like to see implemented:

    0 percent rate on long-term capital gains and qualified dividends
    20 percent flat rate on all business profits for all business forms: corporations, S-corporations, partnerships, LLCs, and sole proprietorships
    Full business expensing of all new business purchases
    Research and development tax credit retained
    One-year repatriation holiday of 5.25%, followed by territoriality
    Kills the death tax permanently
    Requires a tax hike supermajority in a balanced budget amendment
    Calls for dynamic scoring of tax legislation

    Other rehashed old ideas I like:

    Declaration of Independence
    US Constitution
    Holy Bible

  122. Hamous Avatar

    Some of the old ideas from this plan I would like to see implemented:

    0 percent rate on long-term capital gains and qualified dividends
    20 percent flat rate on all business profits for all business forms: corporations, S-corporations, partnerships, LLCs, and sole proprietorships
    Full business expensing of all new business purchases
    Research and development tax credit retained
    One-year repatriation holiday of 5.25%, followed by territoriality
    Kills the death tax permanently
    Requires a tax hike supermajority in a balanced budget amendment
    Calls for dynamic scoring of tax legislation

    Other rehashed old ideas I like:
    Declaration of Independence
    US Constitution
    Holy Bible

  123. Tedtam Avatar

    #64 Sarge

    I don’t have much time left, as I have to leave soon to prepare for my class tonight. LOTS of handouts, and I have to make copies while the copier is otherwise not in use; i.e, not right before class time.

    Its not that the ideas themselves are bad. Its the display of desperation and cobbling together that it represents, as long a a lack of vision and imagination.

    Who says it’s a “display of desperation”? Just because he’s using ideas already set forth in previous campaigns/years, it’s desperate? Your inserting some real personal bias here, methinks. I’m not saying one way or another that Perry is or is not desperate, I’m just stating that just because you don’t like Perry offering some previously proffered ideas, it doesn’t mean that Perry is “desperate”.

    Then there’s the aspect of certain of those ideas having been shown as being politically unfeasible in the past.

    Not sure exactly what you’re talking about, but I’m assuming you do. The flat tax was considered “unfeasible” in the past, also. I think we’re going to have a much different political landscape come 2012, so we might be surprised what “unfeasible” means in a year or so.

    It is heartening to see top tier Candidates finally getting behind the flat tax concept.

    As long as it’s not looking like they are “desperate” or “cobbling together” some ideas that might be “unfeasible”.

    When I read your comments, I get the distinct impression that you don’t like Perry – not good or bad, it’s certainly your opinion to have – and that your opinion of him casts his ideas and plans in a bad light without looking at them objectively. I believe in psychology this is called the “halo effect“. Some of your arguments make little or no sense to me, until I look at how you halo Perry’s ideas based on your feelings about him.

  124. Tedtam Avatar

    #64 Sarge
    I don’t have much time left, as I have to leave soon to prepare for my class tonight. LOTS of handouts, and I have to make copies while the copier is otherwise not in use; i.e, not right before class time.

    Its not that the ideas themselves are bad. Its the display of desperation and cobbling together that it represents, as long a a lack of vision and imagination.

    Who says it’s a “display of desperation”? Just because he’s using ideas already set forth in previous campaigns/years, it’s desperate? Your inserting some real personal bias here, methinks. I’m not saying one way or another that Perry is or is not desperate, I’m just stating that just because you don’t like Perry offering some previously proffered ideas, it doesn’t mean that Perry is “desperate”.

    Then there’s the aspect of certain of those ideas having been shown as being politically unfeasible in the past.

    Not sure exactly what you’re talking about, but I’m assuming you do. The flat tax was considered “unfeasible” in the past, also. I think we’re going to have a much different political landscape come 2012, so we might be surprised what “unfeasible” means in a year or so.

    It is heartening to see top tier Candidates finally getting behind the flat tax concept.

    As long as it’s not looking like they are “desperate” or “cobbling together” some ideas that might be “unfeasible”.
    When I read your comments, I get the distinct impression that you don’t like Perry – not good or bad, it’s certainly your opinion to have – and that your opinion of him casts his ideas and plans in a bad light without looking at them objectively. I believe in psychology this is called the “halo effect“. Some of your arguments make little or no sense to me, until I look at how you halo Perry’s ideas based on your feelings about him.

  125. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    Awright yall go to your respective corners and go READ ‘Crucial Conversations’ (or go attend a Landmark Forum – your choice)………………..or BOTH!

    Already did the whole ‘Crucial Conversations’ thing in a two-part multi-day touchy feely seminar as part of our “leadership training” at work. I apply those techniques in relationships where it matters. Actually I worked that way before the touchy feely classes. I don’t see any point in applying those techniques in this particular situation.

    I AIN’T doing LF. More power to you if it works for you but it ain’t for me.

    Speaking of that, where’s ol’ Smacktle?

  126. Hamous Avatar

    Awright yall go to your respective corners and go READ ‘Crucial Conversations’ (or go attend a Landmark Forum – your choice)………………..or BOTH!

    Already did the whole ‘Crucial Conversations’ thing in a two-part multi-day touchy feely seminar as part of our “leadership training” at work. I apply those techniques in relationships where it matters. Actually I worked that way before the touchy feely classes. I don’t see any point in applying those techniques in this particular situation.
    I AIN’T doing LF. More power to you if it works for you but it ain’t for me.
    Speaking of that, where’s ol’ Smacktle?

  127. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    53 WB,

    Silk Do-Rags, Temporary Tats, and now latte wars. I am going out to the garage this afternoon and have a cold one with my Hog.

    I wonder how those latte boyz would fit in at the Riverside Inn?

    Simple

  128. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    53 WB,
    Silk Do-Rags, Temporary Tats, and now latte wars. I am going out to the garage this afternoon and have a cold one with my Hog.
    I wonder how those latte boyz would fit in at the Riverside Inn?
    Simple

  129. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    #63 – Geez SeenyorePyro I never dreamed those terms would go *WHOOSH* (over your head dat is)

    81 = 8th & 1st letters of the alphabet = HA (surely from your posted article you can get that one)
    ’81’ is a commonly known/used term for Hell’s Angels M/C

    1%r = for the most part the larger more nefarious M/Cs (motorcycle clubs) are 1%rs = aka hardcore / aka don’t mess with ’em

  130. Katfish Avatar

    #63 – Geez SeenyorePyro I never dreamed those terms would go *WHOOSH* (over your head dat is)
    81 = 8th & 1st letters of the alphabet = HA (surely from your posted article you can get that one)
    ’81’ is a commonly known/used term for Hell’s Angels M/C
    1%r = for the most part the larger more nefarious M/Cs (motorcycle clubs) are 1%rs = aka hardcore / aka don’t mess with ’em

  131. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    Who says it’s a “display of desperation”? Just because he’s using ideas already set forth in previous campaigns/years, it’s desperate?

    Yes.

    It shows he didn’t have one of his own when he entered the campaign and, now that he’s only got two months to make or break, he pulls a couple off the shelf.

    Not sure exactly what you’re talking about, but I’m assuming you do.

    In particular, it’s Bush’s idea of privatized SS Accounts. I agree with them and would like to see them happen, but realistically its not going to happen soon.

  132. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    Who says it’s a “display of desperation”? Just because he’s using ideas already set forth in previous campaigns/years, it’s desperate?

    Yes.
    It shows he didn’t have one of his own when he entered the campaign and, now that he’s only got two months to make or break, he pulls a couple off the shelf.

    Not sure exactly what you’re talking about, but I’m assuming you do.

    In particular, it’s Bush’s idea of privatized SS Accounts. I agree with them and would like to see them happen, but realistically its not going to happen soon.

  133. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    #67 – I was merely seeking the return to “safety” on convo ( 🙂 )……..those CC books / techniques work well for us here on a daily basis

    LF was fun for me – I even took the advanced course – since you’ve MET me you can imagine the fun I had with those folks vis a vis my “image” versus what falls out of my pie hole (was a HOOT)

    Smacktle is still around——–I see him tormenting Shakira every now n then………….

  134. Katfish Avatar

    #67 – I was merely seeking the return to “safety” on convo ( 🙂 )……..those CC books / techniques work well for us here on a daily basis
    LF was fun for me – I even took the advanced course – since you’ve MET me you can imagine the fun I had with those folks vis a vis my “image” versus what falls out of my pie hole (was a HOOT)
    Smacktle is still around——–I see him tormenting Shakira every now n then………….

  135. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    #68 – ROFL – I’m betting blood is still quite precious and red no matter whether it’s spilled at Shipley’s OR Starbuck’s…………….

  136. Katfish Avatar

    #68 – ROFL – I’m betting blood is still quite precious and red no matter whether it’s spilled at Shipley’s OR Starbuck’s…………….

  137. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    Some of the old ideas from this plan I would like to see implemented:

    Me?

    I don’t cheer lead for big tax plans that say “Details later.”

    Hasn’t worked well in the past.

  138. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    Some of the old ideas from this plan I would like to see implemented:

    Me?
    I don’t cheer lead for big tax plans that say “Details later.”
    Hasn’t worked well in the past.

  139. Tedtam Avatar

    Sarge

    /facepalm
    Whatever.

    I’m going off to make copies now. It’s “Sacraments & Sacramentals” and a big handout evening. Lotsa copies to make.

  140. Tedtam Avatar

    Sarge
    /facepalm
    Whatever.
    I’m going off to make copies now. It’s “Sacraments & Sacramentals” and a big handout evening. Lotsa copies to make.

  141. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    /facepalm
    Whatever.

    If he was committed to the plan, he would have put it out there when he announced his candidacy. He didn’t. He cherry picked some ideas and cobbled it together when it became obvious that he wasn’t the Conservative he was being touted as being.

    That, I guess, would be my primary problem with Perry’s plan: the “last minute” nature of it. It shows he’s not committed to it. That contrasts with the other Candidates who have brought forward their flat tax plans early, have defended them, and as a result, are ahead of Perry in the polls now.

  142. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    /facepalm
    Whatever.

    If he was committed to the plan, he would have put it out there when he announced his candidacy. He didn’t. He cherry picked some ideas and cobbled it together when it became obvious that he wasn’t the Conservative he was being touted as being.
    That, I guess, would be my primary problem with Perry’s plan: the “last minute” nature of it. It shows he’s not committed to it. That contrasts with the other Candidates who have brought forward their flat tax plans early, have defended them, and as a result, are ahead of Perry in the polls now.

  143. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    I was merely seeking the return to “safety” on convo

    I’m employing another patented technique of yours instead. Works every time.

  144. Hamous Avatar

    I was merely seeking the return to “safety” on convo

    I’m employing another patented technique of yours instead. Works every time.

  145. Katfish Avatar

    #74 tedtam
    Tonight’s the last night of the series our pastor is doing on the new missal.

    I’m not due to teach/present for a while, but I’ll continue to help out/throw in my two cents in the meantime.

  146. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    #74 tedtam
    Tonight’s the last night of the series our pastor is doing on the new missal.
    I’m not due to teach/present for a while, but I’ll continue to help out/throw in my two cents in the meantime.

  147. Katfish Avatar

    I’m employing another patented technique of yours instead. Works every time.

    Riding down the road with the wind in your hair flowing over yer nekkid scalp & the bugs in your teeth?

  148. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    I’m employing another patented technique of yours instead. Works every time.

    Riding down the road with the wind in your hair flowing over yer nekkid scalp & the bugs in your teeth?

  149. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    Tonight’s the last night of the series our pastor is doing on the new missal.

    Ours just started last weekend. I guess he thinks we’re fast learners.

  150. Hamous Avatar

    Tonight’s the last night of the series our pastor is doing on the new missal.

    Ours just started last weekend. I guess he thinks we’re fast learners.

  151. Hamous Avatar

    As far as tax plans go, do y’all remember the quote from Rahmbo Deadfish Emmanuel when he said “never let a good crisis go to waste, because in that crisis you will be able to do things that you could never do absent the crisis”? The various tax plans that never stood the chance of seeing the light of day due to D obstructionism now may have a chance because we will be in a full blown crisis by then. I predict that the Ds will get their heads handed to them and the Rs will have a stronger majority in the house, a filibuster proof majority in the senate and control the WH. Who knows, we may even see the abolition of the income tax all together and go to a straight national retail sales tax ala Neil Bortz. We could see the career criminals like Bawney Fwank, Chris Dodd, Jamie Gorelich, Franklin Raines, Eric HOlder, et al, get thrown in jail where they belong.

  152. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    As far as tax plans go, do y’all remember the quote from Rahmbo Deadfish Emmanuel when he said “never let a good crisis go to waste, because in that crisis you will be able to do things that you could never do absent the crisis”? The various tax plans that never stood the chance of seeing the light of day due to D obstructionism now may have a chance because we will be in a full blown crisis by then. I predict that the Ds will get their heads handed to them and the Rs will have a stronger majority in the house, a filibuster proof majority in the senate and control the WH. Who knows, we may even see the abolition of the income tax all together and go to a straight national retail sales tax ala Neil Bortz. We could see the career criminals like Bawney Fwank, Chris Dodd, Jamie Gorelich, Franklin Raines, Eric HOlder, et al, get thrown in jail where they belong.

  153. Hamous Avatar

    The SS Bonecrusher has capsized on the rocks of mucus shoals and the decks are awash with green slime. Head and chest, it aint fun at all.

  154. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    The SS Bonecrusher has capsized on the rocks of mucus shoals and the decks are awash with green slime. Head and chest, it aint fun at all.

  155. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    Here’s a less biased critique of the plan, which is sort of what I was hoping for here.

  156. Hamous Avatar

    Here’s a less biased critique of the plan, which is sort of what I was hoping for here.

  157. Dooood Avatar

    The Arms Room gun range near Houston had a mixed reception. Mr. James’s attorneys advised him to seek written statements from Target and Home Depot declaring that they didn’t object to his business opening in their shopping center. Home Depot agreed, but Target declined, Mr. James said. (Target declined to comment). Later, representatives of PetSmart Inc. thanked him for boosting the center’s customer traffic, he said.

    There are no immediate plans for additional Arm Room locations.

    Jin Dong, the manager of a Mattress Giant store that shares a wall with the Arms Room, is one of the gun range’s happy neighbors. “People do come in here with guns, and that’s kind of weird. But they have brought a lot of traffic. It’s way better than nothing,” he said. “I’ll tell you one thing, I don’t have to worry about getting robbed, that’s for sure.”

    How vacant commercial retail properties are being transformed in Houston and across the USA from the Wall Street Journal.

    HT: Ann Althouse

  158. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    The Arms Room gun range near Houston had a mixed reception. Mr. James’s attorneys advised him to seek written statements from Target and Home Depot declaring that they didn’t object to his business opening in their shopping center. Home Depot agreed, but Target declined, Mr. James said. (Target declined to comment). Later, representatives of PetSmart Inc. thanked him for boosting the center’s customer traffic, he said.
    There are no immediate plans for additional Arm Room locations.
    Jin Dong, the manager of a Mattress Giant store that shares a wall with the Arms Room, is one of the gun range’s happy neighbors. “People do come in here with guns, and that’s kind of weird. But they have brought a lot of traffic. It’s way better than nothing,” he said. “I’ll tell you one thing, I don’t have to worry about getting robbed, that’s for sure.”

    How vacant commercial retail properties are being transformed in Houston and across the USA from the Wall Street Journal.
    HT: Ann Althouse

  159. Katfish Avatar

    #81 bone
    Thanks for sharing.

  160. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    #81 bone
    Thanks for sharing.

  161. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    I predict that the Ds will get their heads handed to them and the Rs will have a stronger majority in the house, a filibuster proof majority in the senate and control the WH.

    It could happen, although I don’t see a filibuster-proof majority coming. But the Dems have recently abandoned the concept of filibuster now so Rs can do the same. It would be fun to listen to the Liberal caterwauling. But alas, the Republicans had all those things for six years and what did we get? NCLB and a new Medicare program.

  162. Hamous Avatar

    I predict that the Ds will get their heads handed to them and the Rs will have a stronger majority in the house, a filibuster proof majority in the senate and control the WH.

    It could happen, although I don’t see a filibuster-proof majority coming. But the Dems have recently abandoned the concept of filibuster now so Rs can do the same. It would be fun to listen to the Liberal caterwauling. But alas, the Republicans had all those things for six years and what did we get? NCLB and a new Medicare program.

  163. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    But alas, the Republicans had all those things for six years and what did we get? NCLB and a new Medicare program.

    Which is why I distrust Perry given the last minute nature of his plan.

  164. Sarge Avatar
    Sarge

    But alas, the Republicans had all those things for six years and what did we get? NCLB and a new Medicare program.

    Which is why I distrust Perry given the last minute nature of his plan.

  165. Dooood Avatar

    Righands have been throwing their money away since before Spindletop. I don’t suppose they’ll ever change, but there are some girls up there putting together a nice nest egg.

    Kit, a 36-year old stripper who has been dancing for 10 years in places like Las Vegas, Texas and California, first started coming to Williston a few years ago in between higher-paying jobs, because she had friends who danced in the town who were able to hook her up with gigs.

    At first, the nightly tips were nothing special, but over the past year — thanks to the thousands of men who have flocked here and landed high-paying jobs — she has been making $2,000 to $3,000 a night, about the same amount she would have earned in an entire week in Vegas.

    “We make more than doctors,” she said. “Back in the day, it was hard to make $200 a night. It was like pulling teeth. Now you can pull in $2,000 a night.”

  166. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    Righands have been throwing their money away since before Spindletop. I don’t suppose they’ll ever change, but there are some girls up there putting together a nice nest egg.

    Kit, a 36-year old stripper who has been dancing for 10 years in places like Las Vegas, Texas and California, first started coming to Williston a few years ago in between higher-paying jobs, because she had friends who danced in the town who were able to hook her up with gigs.
    At first, the nightly tips were nothing special, but over the past year — thanks to the thousands of men who have flocked here and landed high-paying jobs — she has been making $2,000 to $3,000 a night, about the same amount she would have earned in an entire week in Vegas.
    “We make more than doctors,” she said. “Back in the day, it was hard to make $200 a night. It was like pulling teeth. Now you can pull in $2,000 a night.”

  167. Katfish Avatar

    Heck, I might consider stripping for that kind of money.

    Of course, people would be yelling at me to “Put it back on!”

  168. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    Heck, I might consider stripping for that kind of money.
    Of course, people would be yelling at me to “Put it back on!”

  169. Dooood Avatar

    #88 WB

    I wonder how many IRS agents are convoying to Williston, North Dakota right now to bring the hammer down on all the cash flowing through that town.

  170. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    #88 WB
    I wonder how many IRS agents are convoying to Williston, North Dakota right now to bring the hammer down on all the cash flowing through that town.

  171. Hamous Avatar

    But alas, the Republicans had all those things for six years and what did we get? NCLB and a new Medicare program.

    We did not have filibuster proof majorities and we had a bunch of fine upstanding politicians [wb] like leaping Lincoln Chaffee, Arlen Speculum, Snow and Collins and the blogosphere/innanet thing was not as strong. We have seen the damage that comes from libtard Rs and most of them have been purged. I think the economic crisis that is here now is only going to get worse will draw out some more committed CONSERVATIVE Rs to the front and the more timid “moderates” will have to go along with the conservatives to get along instead of licking the boots of the Ds has they are used to do.
    The desperation of the Soros funded OWS types are a call to arms for the working people across America to vote the slime out of office that is currently infecting the senate and the whitehouse. One can easily see the desperation when they try to claim the same moral ground as the tea party but anyone who has eyes can see that they are nothing alike. The tea party leaves the place in better shape when they leave than what it was before they got there, they are respectful and have clear and consistent points to make, the OWS crowd is just a bunch of sleeze buckets and represent the worst aspects of liberalism. In a way, the OWS phenomenon is a great thing as it shines the light of truth on the end result of liberal policies, abject failure. That truth is what the people across the country are seeing and it is what the libtard leadership is so desperate to cover-up and that is why Oakland cleaned them out. The whole OWS scene is likely to get worse before it gets better.

  172. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    But alas, the Republicans had all those things for six years and what did we get? NCLB and a new Medicare program.

    We did not have filibuster proof majorities and we had a bunch of fine upstanding politicians [wb] like leaping Lincoln Chaffee, Arlen Speculum, Snow and Collins and the blogosphere/innanet thing was not as strong. We have seen the damage that comes from libtard Rs and most of them have been purged. I think the economic crisis that is here now is only going to get worse will draw out some more committed CONSERVATIVE Rs to the front and the more timid “moderates” will have to go along with the conservatives to get along instead of licking the boots of the Ds has they are used to do.
    The desperation of the Soros funded OWS types are a call to arms for the working people across America to vote the slime out of office that is currently infecting the senate and the whitehouse. One can easily see the desperation when they try to claim the same moral ground as the tea party but anyone who has eyes can see that they are nothing alike. The tea party leaves the place in better shape when they leave than what it was before they got there, they are respectful and have clear and consistent points to make, the OWS crowd is just a bunch of sleeze buckets and represent the worst aspects of liberalism. In a way, the OWS phenomenon is a great thing as it shines the light of truth on the end result of liberal policies, abject failure. That truth is what the people across the country are seeing and it is what the libtard leadership is so desperate to cover-up and that is why Oakland cleaned them out. The whole OWS scene is likely to get worse before it gets better.

  173. Hamous Avatar

    compassionate conservatism is just another phrase for squishy bs. It winds up being neither compassionate nor conservative. Go with the genuine article , conservatism, and get great results, it works every time.

  174. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    compassionate conservatism is just another phrase for squishy bs. It winds up being neither compassionate nor conservative. Go with the genuine article , conservatism, and get great results, it works every time.

  175. Dooood Avatar

    Ambrose Evans Pritchard in the London Telegraph:

    The American phoenix is slowly rising again. Within five years or so, the US will be well on its way to self-sufficiency in fuel and energy. Manufacturing will have closed the labour gap with China in a clutch of key industries. The current account might even be in surplus.

    The US already meets 72pc of its own oil needs, up from around 50pc a decade ago.

    “The implications of this shift are very large for geopolitics, energy security, historical military alliances and economic activity. As US reliance on the Middle East continues to drop, Europe is turning more dependent and will likely become more exposed to rent-seeking behaviour from oligopolistic players,” said Mr Blanch.

    Meanwhile, the China-US seesaw is about to swing the other way. Offshoring is out, ‘re-inshoring’ is the new fashion.

    “Made in America, Again” – a report this month by Boston Consulting Group – said Chinese wage inflation running at 16pc a year for a decade has closed much of the cost gap. China is no longer the “default location” for cheap plants supplying the US.

    A “tipping point” is near in computers, electrical equipment, machinery, autos and motor parts, plastics and rubber, fabricated metals, and even furniture.

    Read the whole thing here.

  176. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    Ambrose Evans Pritchard in the London Telegraph:

    The American phoenix is slowly rising again. Within five years or so, the US will be well on its way to self-sufficiency in fuel and energy. Manufacturing will have closed the labour gap with China in a clutch of key industries. The current account might even be in surplus.

    The US already meets 72pc of its own oil needs, up from around 50pc a decade ago.
    “The implications of this shift are very large for geopolitics, energy security, historical military alliances and economic activity. As US reliance on the Middle East continues to drop, Europe is turning more dependent and will likely become more exposed to rent-seeking behaviour from oligopolistic players,” said Mr Blanch.
    Meanwhile, the China-US seesaw is about to swing the other way. Offshoring is out, ‘re-inshoring’ is the new fashion.
    “Made in America, Again” – a report this month by Boston Consulting Group – said Chinese wage inflation running at 16pc a year for a decade has closed much of the cost gap. China is no longer the “default location” for cheap plants supplying the US.
    A “tipping point” is near in computers, electrical equipment, machinery, autos and motor parts, plastics and rubber, fabricated metals, and even furniture.

    Read the whole thing here.

  177. timdenchanter Avatar
    timdenchanter

    Just heard this on Michael Berry’s program. I can certainly sympathize with the sentiments.

  178. timdenchanter Avatar
    timdenchanter

    Just heard this on Michael Berry’s program. I can certainly sympathize with the sentiments.

  179. Shannon Avatar
    Shannon

    The first time I had Starbucks coffee was a few months ago. They serve it at Memorial City Hospital’cafeteria. Best darn decaff I’ve ever had. Exquisite.

  180. Shannon Avatar
    Shannon

    The first time I had Starbucks coffee was a few months ago. They serve it at Memorial City Hospital’cafeteria. Best darn decaff I’ve ever had. Exquisite.

  181. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    The US already meets 72pc of its own oil needs, up from around 50pc a decade ago.

    That doesn’t sound right. I think it’s still around 50%.

  182. Hamous Avatar

    The US already meets 72pc of its own oil needs, up from around 50pc a decade ago.

    That doesn’t sound right. I think it’s still around 50%.

  183. Shannon Avatar
    Shannon

    93 Texpat
    But…but….but……I thought we didn’t manufacture ANYTHING anymore.

  184. Shannon Avatar
    Shannon

    93 Texpat
    But…but….but……I thought we didn’t manufacture ANYTHING anymore.

  185. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    I saw that new Starbucks instant coffee in the store last night. I was gonna try it until I realized it was 8 bucks for 8 little tubes. A buck for a cup of instant coffee? Not this fool.

  186. Hamous Avatar

    I saw that new Starbucks instant coffee in the store last night. I was gonna try it until I realized it was 8 bucks for 8 little tubes. A buck for a cup of instant coffee? Not this fool.

  187. timdenchanter Avatar
    timdenchanter

    Centennial Hamous:

    The Senior Geoscientist at Exxon told me to my face the world would be at “peak oil” by 2010 but we would run out of drinking water long before we run out of oil. At that time, EMEC couldn’t find oil in a Jiffy Lube.

  188. timdenchanter Avatar
    timdenchanter

    Centennial Hamous:
    The Senior Geoscientist at Exxon told me to my face the world would be at “peak oil” by 2010 but we would run out of drinking water long before we run out of oil. At that time, EMEC couldn’t find oil in a Jiffy Lube.

  189. Katfish Avatar

    Starbucks coffee tastes like they roast it too long or hot, kind of charred & ashy.

  190. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    Starbucks coffee tastes like they roast it too long or hot, kind of charred & ashy.

  191. Dooood Avatar

    #100 Hamous

    Pritchard has it confused there. In the mid-1990s, the US was importing about 67% of it’s petroleum. We are now down to (calculated on net/net importation) about 48-49% so we have at least crossed the majority domestic reliance point.

    With nuclear and natural gas, especially LNG distributed to fuel our trucking fleets, we could put a huge dent in that number. And remember, we’ve done this with the Gulf being virtually shut down. If we opened up all of our public lands and offshore fields, we could be totally independent in a couple of decades and that is based on the level of our current technology.

  192. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    #100 Hamous
    Pritchard has it confused there. In the mid-1990s, the US was importing about 67% of it’s petroleum. We are now down to (calculated on net/net importation) about 48-49% so we have at least crossed the majority domestic reliance point.
    With nuclear and natural gas, especially LNG distributed to fuel our trucking fleets, we could put a huge dent in that number. And remember, we’ve done this with the Gulf being virtually shut down. If we opened up all of our public lands and offshore fields, we could be totally independent in a couple of decades and that is based on the level of our current technology.

  193. Adee Avatar
    Adee

    World Series rained out in St. Louis today. Hmmm, might we hope that rain makes it this far south by tomorrow?

    Now back to Rome, the morning after arrival and we’re still jet lagged and pooped from climbing around the Colosseum and hoofing up the Capitoline Hill to overlook the Forum of Caesar and the Forum of Augustus and see the Senate building below. This was the new one Julius Caesar ordered built but never saw, as he was murdered in front of the old one that was subsequently torn down to make room for the new. The bus ride had taken us past the Circus Maximus and the Arch of Constantine on the way from the Colosseum.

    Got up at 6am in time to have breakfast and then to assemble by 7:15 at the base of the Egyptian obelisk in the Piazza del Popolo (People’s Square) to meet the day tour to Pompeii and Vesuvius. Took a cab there since it was too far to walk, and it was still dark. The trip was almost to Naples via a freeway most of the way, though there were a couple of toll booths near cities, 3 hours down and 3 hours back with rest stops about halfway each direction. Our tour guides were an Italian woman of about 30 and an expat Californian in his 30s. He had been posted to Rome some years back as trainer for international business operations in Italian branches of American companies; his degree was in business administration with a minor in art history, so when the crunch came in Italy and his position was eliminated, he took up tour guiding. He had married an Italian lady, and her family didn’t want them to move. His perspective was most enlightening, and he was one source of the 20% unemployed figure for Italy.

    On the way south we passed the city of Casino and from the highway had several spectacular views of the restored/rebuilt monastery of Monte Casino, high atop the promontory, site of the famous WWII battle. The countryside was green (in great contrast to home) and full small farms of olive orchards, vinyards, cropland, and some pastures, the pines of Rome (umbrella pine trees) and the tall conical trees depicted in so many Italian scenes.

    Of note were the frequent abanondoned farmhouses and outbuildings dotting the landscape, apparently just left to decay in overgrown surroundings, roofs breached and falling, walls caving, rusty siding buckling, blindly staring broken windows. These were next to perfectly maintained tidy working farms and homes in great contrast. Did not ask the guide about them but should have. Surely they couldn’t all be WWII leftovers.

    The rest stops both ways were modern convenience, gas station, gift shop, and short-order cafes rolled into one, near a small hotel/ B and B, with beautifully landscaped gardens and flowers everywhere. And immaculate. The restrooms had attendants who kept the ladies’ rooms squeaky clean and I presume the gentlemen’s rooms also. The parking lots were full of tour buses and cars coming and going. These are obviously important employment centers in a country teetering on the edge of financial disaster.

    We arrived in the national park of Pompeii in late morning, and it was jammed with tour buses and tourists. The city itself is on a hill, so there were quite a few steps to climb from the parking lot and cafe level. Mount Vesuvius looms in the not all that far distance, its now uneven summit seemingly having two separate peaks. That’s after it blew its top off in 79 AD.

    The Romans had no clue that it was a volcano, for it had not erupted within the recorded history available to them.

    Next, walking through the ruins and visiting Vesuvius itself.
    .

  194. Adee Avatar
    Adee

    World Series rained out in St. Louis today. Hmmm, might we hope that rain makes it this far south by tomorrow?
    Now back to Rome, the morning after arrival and we’re still jet lagged and pooped from climbing around the Colosseum and hoofing up the Capitoline Hill to overlook the Forum of Caesar and the Forum of Augustus and see the Senate building below. This was the new one Julius Caesar ordered built but never saw, as he was murdered in front of the old one that was subsequently torn down to make room for the new. The bus ride had taken us past the Circus Maximus and the Arch of Constantine on the way from the Colosseum.
    Got up at 6am in time to have breakfast and then to assemble by 7:15 at the base of the Egyptian obelisk in the Piazza del Popolo (People’s Square) to meet the day tour to Pompeii and Vesuvius. Took a cab there since it was too far to walk, and it was still dark. The trip was almost to Naples via a freeway most of the way, though there were a couple of toll booths near cities, 3 hours down and 3 hours back with rest stops about halfway each direction. Our tour guides were an Italian woman of about 30 and an expat Californian in his 30s. He had been posted to Rome some years back as trainer for international business operations in Italian branches of American companies; his degree was in business administration with a minor in art history, so when the crunch came in Italy and his position was eliminated, he took up tour guiding. He had married an Italian lady, and her family didn’t want them to move. His perspective was most enlightening, and he was one source of the 20% unemployed figure for Italy.
    On the way south we passed the city of Casino and from the highway had several spectacular views of the restored/rebuilt monastery of Monte Casino, high atop the promontory, site of the famous WWII battle. The countryside was green (in great contrast to home) and full small farms of olive orchards, vinyards, cropland, and some pastures, the pines of Rome (umbrella pine trees) and the tall conical trees depicted in so many Italian scenes.
    Of note were the frequent abanondoned farmhouses and outbuildings dotting the landscape, apparently just left to decay in overgrown surroundings, roofs breached and falling, walls caving, rusty siding buckling, blindly staring broken windows. These were next to perfectly maintained tidy working farms and homes in great contrast. Did not ask the guide about them but should have. Surely they couldn’t all be WWII leftovers.
    The rest stops both ways were modern convenience, gas station, gift shop, and short-order cafes rolled into one, near a small hotel/ B and B, with beautifully landscaped gardens and flowers everywhere. And immaculate. The restrooms had attendants who kept the ladies’ rooms squeaky clean and I presume the gentlemen’s rooms also. The parking lots were full of tour buses and cars coming and going. These are obviously important employment centers in a country teetering on the edge of financial disaster.
    We arrived in the national park of Pompeii in late morning, and it was jammed with tour buses and tourists. The city itself is on a hill, so there were quite a few steps to climb from the parking lot and cafe level. Mount Vesuvius looms in the not all that far distance, its now uneven summit seemingly having two separate peaks. That’s after it blew its top off in 79 AD.
    The Romans had no clue that it was a volcano, for it had not erupted within the recorded history available to them.
    Next, walking through the ruins and visiting Vesuvius itself.
    .

  195. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    Drill HERE drill NOW dagnabbit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  196. Katfish Avatar

    Drill HERE drill NOW dagnabbit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  197. Dooood Avatar

    Adee

    Thanks and if I may, I would like to suggest a book I know you would enjoy.

    A Soldier of the Great War

    By Mark Helprin

    In the summer of 1964, Alessandro Giuliani, an old and partially lame professor of aesthetics —white hair and mustaches, white suit, cane— is thrown off a trolley on the outskirts of Rome after he comes to the defense of a young and semi-literate factory worker who has irritated the driver. Alessandro and Nicolò, the boy, decide to make the very long journey into the mountains, on foot, as a defiant pilgrimage away from those things –worthless and imposed–that people allow to take the place of real life. In their trying walk the towns of Italy glittering below them in the warm summer air, the sea polished by a weightless fume of silver light the old man is moved to tell the story of his life: of a youthful paradise instantly shattered by the First World War, of how he lost one family, gained another, and lost it as well. The boy is enthralled by the war and its spectacular events, by Alessandro’s privations, heroism, and adventures, and by the extraordinary beauty of the story and in its telling. At the end of the long walk, however, he comes to understand its deeper import, that love is superior to and greater than all the glories of civilization, but that each is heightened by the understanding of the other, and that even in the face of death, life can be made worthwhile if these things are made to run together seamlessly, like a song.

  198. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    Adee
    Thanks and if I may, I would like to suggest a book I know you would enjoy.
    A Soldier of the Great War
    By Mark Helprin

    In the summer of 1964, Alessandro Giuliani, an old and partially lame professor of aesthetics —white hair and mustaches, white suit, cane— is thrown off a trolley on the outskirts of Rome after he comes to the defense of a young and semi-literate factory worker who has irritated the driver. Alessandro and Nicolò, the boy, decide to make the very long journey into the mountains, on foot, as a defiant pilgrimage away from those things –worthless and imposed–that people allow to take the place of real life. In their trying walk the towns of Italy glittering below them in the warm summer air, the sea polished by a weightless fume of silver light the old man is moved to tell the story of his life: of a youthful paradise instantly shattered by the First World War, of how he lost one family, gained another, and lost it as well. The boy is enthralled by the war and its spectacular events, by Alessandro’s privations, heroism, and adventures, and by the extraordinary beauty of the story and in its telling. At the end of the long walk, however, he comes to understand its deeper import, that love is superior to and greater than all the glories of civilization, but that each is heightened by the understanding of the other, and that even in the face of death, life can be made worthwhile if these things are made to run together seamlessly, like a song.

  199. mharper42 Avatar
    mharper42

    #106 Adee
    I am enjoying your Roman tour postings. Have you recovered from the jet lag and exhaustion of such a monumental trip?

  200. mharper42 Avatar
    mharper42

    #106 Adee
    I am enjoying your Roman tour postings. Have you recovered from the jet lag and exhaustion of such a monumental trip?

  201. Adee Avatar
    Adee

    Texpat, thank you for the suggested reading, A Soldier of the Great War.

    Texpat and mharper42, the more I go back to the memory bank to write these notes, the more impressions of people, places, and connections come to mind. The jet lag is long gone along with the mountain of laundry and putting things back in their places in the house. The sheer data overload in the brain is settling into sensible–to me anyway–files more easily brought up than during or immediately after the trip. However, for now St. Peter’s remains complete overload, and I’m so glad I bought that book in the Vatican Library bookstore.

  202. Adee Avatar
    Adee

    Texpat, thank you for the suggested reading, A Soldier of the Great War.
    Texpat and mharper42, the more I go back to the memory bank to write these notes, the more impressions of people, places, and connections come to mind. The jet lag is long gone along with the mountain of laundry and putting things back in their places in the house. The sheer data overload in the brain is settling into sensible–to me anyway–files more easily brought up than during or immediately after the trip. However, for now St. Peter’s remains complete overload, and I’m so glad I bought that book in the Vatican Library bookstore.

  203. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    gto #2;

    Is that Headshaker’s site? I searched the site and went on it and, boy, I thought Headshaker’s site was tacky before now. Now it’s pure gutter trash. What the heck is ST even bothering doing there?

  204. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    gto #2;
    Is that Headshaker’s site? I searched the site and went on it and, boy, I thought Headshaker’s site was tacky before now. Now it’s pure gutter trash. What the heck is ST even bothering doing there?

  205. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    #24;

    It sucks dead birds.

    That’s not too bad. I’ve been eating dead birds all my life.

  206. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    #24;

    It sucks dead birds.

    That’s not too bad. I’ve been eating dead birds all my life.

  207. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    #43;

    This past summer Greg donated his time and his big rig to gather supplies from area Tea Party Movement and allied groups for the tornado victims in Joplin, MO.

    Shows the seething hatred of the Tea Party, eh?

    Thoughts and prayers to Greg and his family.

  208. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    #43;

    This past summer Greg donated his time and his big rig to gather supplies from area Tea Party Movement and allied groups for the tornado victims in Joplin, MO.

    Shows the seething hatred of the Tea Party, eh?
    Thoughts and prayers to Greg and his family.

  209. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    #83;

    “Back in the day, it was hard to make $200 a night. It was like pulling teeth…”

    Not quite the analogy I would have used considering the context. 😉

  210. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    #83;

    “Back in the day, it was hard to make $200 a night. It was like pulling teeth…”

    Not quite the analogy I would have used considering the context. 😉

  211. Tedtam Avatar

    How appropriate, these last comments. In our discussion of the sacraments, we always get hung up on confession. These kids have not seen the inside of a church, much less the confessional, in months (or years for way too many of them). There’s the usual discussion of mortal/venial sin, the three mitigating factors, etc. No one has come right and told them “this is bad, this is a sin, this separates you from God”. In going through an examination of conscience in one of the handouts for tonight, one of the questions was “Have I engaged in sexual self-gratification?” “What’s that?” they asked. “Masturbation,” I replied, expecting and receiving the rather raucous laughter and half-shocked looks. Every. Year.

    And to top it off, just before we closed down the class, a girl asked me “Is oral sex a sin?”. “Yes,” I replied (for them, it would be). I am always amused at the sharp intakes of breath and the comments “OH REALLY?” and “OH NO” and the always drawn out and giggly ‘oooooh’.

    You’d think that the masturbation thing would’ve tipped her off….

  212. Tedtam Avatar

    How appropriate, these last comments. In our discussion of the sacraments, we always get hung up on confession. These kids have not seen the inside of a church, much less the confessional, in months (or years for way too many of them). There’s the usual discussion of mortal/venial sin, the three mitigating factors, etc. No one has come right and told them “this is bad, this is a sin, this separates you from God”. In going through an examination of conscience in one of the handouts for tonight, one of the questions was “Have I engaged in sexual self-gratification?” “What’s that?” they asked. “Masturbation,” I replied, expecting and receiving the rather raucous laughter and half-shocked looks. Every. Year.
    And to top it off, just before we closed down the class, a girl asked me “Is oral sex a sin?”. “Yes,” I replied (for them, it would be). I am always amused at the sharp intakes of breath and the comments “OH REALLY?” and “OH NO” and the always drawn out and giggly ‘oooooh’.
    You’d think that the masturbation thing would’ve tipped her off….

  213. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    Rick Perry wants Mitt Romney to cough up his form 1040s (that’s the US individual tax return document). The Romney camp demurred, saying they would consider doing so next year. (Remarkably, Romney has NEVER released, even during his governorship of Massachusetts.)

    Why won’t Romney do it? Speculation, from liberal group ThinkProgress and others, is that Romney pays a way lower tax rate than many Americans because of his extensive financial investments, from which income is typically taxed below that of regular income. One left-leaning analyst speculates Romney paid an effective tax rate as low as 14 percent on his $6.6 million to $40 million in income. (The range is so wide because of the imprecise nature of Romney’s very limited disclosures.)

    (bold mine)

    So, wouldn’t that encourage investment?

    Why won’t Mitt Romney make his tax returns public?

    I’d love to see Perry attack Romney for paying low taxes and still cater for the conservative votes.

  214. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    Rick Perry wants Mitt Romney to cough up his form 1040s (that’s the US individual tax return document). The Romney camp demurred, saying they would consider doing so next year. (Remarkably, Romney has NEVER released, even during his governorship of Massachusetts.)
    Why won’t Romney do it? Speculation, from liberal group ThinkProgress and others, is that Romney pays a way lower tax rate than many Americans because of his extensive financial investments, from which income is typically taxed below that of regular income. One left-leaning analyst speculates Romney paid an effective tax rate as low as 14 percent on his $6.6 million to $40 million in income. (The range is so wide because of the imprecise nature of Romney’s very limited disclosures.)

    (bold mine)
    So, wouldn’t that encourage investment?
    Why won’t Mitt Romney make his tax returns public?
    I’d love to see Perry attack Romney for paying low taxes and still cater for the conservative votes.

  215. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    TT;

    No one has come right and told them “this is bad, this is a sin, this separates you from God”.

    Must have Protestant caregivers. 😉

    I am always amused at the sharp intakes of breath and the comments “OH REALLY?” and “OH NO” and the always drawn out and giggly ‘oooooh’.

    Ha!!! They’re so busted. 🙂

    Keep up the lessons, TT. You’re doing these kids a huge service and I’ve no doubt God smiles upon you for these lessons.

  216. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    TT;

    No one has come right and told them “this is bad, this is a sin, this separates you from God”.

    Must have Protestant caregivers. 😉

    I am always amused at the sharp intakes of breath and the comments “OH REALLY?” and “OH NO” and the always drawn out and giggly ‘oooooh’.

    Ha!!! They’re so busted. 🙂
    Keep up the lessons, TT. You’re doing these kids a huge service and I’ve no doubt God smiles upon you for these lessons.

  217. Katfish Avatar

    “Masturbation,” I replied, expecting and receiving the rather raucous laughter and half-shocked looks. Every. Year.

    You were expecting something different? Heck, you get that response here. 😆

    heheheh heheh heheh she said “masturbation”

  218. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    “Masturbation,” I replied, expecting and receiving the rather raucous laughter and half-shocked looks. Every. Year.

    You were expecting something different? Heck, you get that response here. 😆
    heheheh heheh heheh she said “masturbation”

  219. Hamous Avatar

    #119 TT: Thank you so much:>) There were several in there that made me laugh real hard but that last one was the best outrageous to the extreme. It brought a moment of joy to my drowning in the river of green snot.

  220. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    #119 TT: Thank you so much:>) There were several in there that made me laugh real hard but that last one was the best outrageous to the extreme. It brought a moment of joy to my drowning in the river of green snot.

  221. Tedtam Avatar

    #120 Boney

    I’m glad I could bring some joy to your otherwise miserable existence. 😉

  222. Tedtam Avatar

    #120 Boney
    I’m glad I could bring some joy to your otherwise miserable existence. 😉

  223. Katfish Avatar

    We’re apparently doomed. A cold front might cause our temperatures to go all the way down into the 40’s.

    I wish you all the best of luck. I hope the survivors can find the will to continue on.

  224. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    We’re apparently doomed. A cold front might cause our temperatures to go all the way down into the 40’s.
    I wish you all the best of luck. I hope the survivors can find the will to continue on.

  225. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    hater

  226. gtotracker Avatar
    gtotracker

    #111 Darren,
    Yup.

  227. gtotracker Avatar
    gtotracker

    #111 Darren,
    Yup.

  228. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    That’s not too bad. I’ve been eating dead birds all my life.

    Eating dead birds is different than sucking dead birds.

  229. Hamous Avatar

    That’s not too bad. I’ve been eating dead birds all my life.

    Eating dead birds is different than sucking dead birds.

  230. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    Roughly 150 protesters with Occupy Chicago stormed City Hall Wednesday demanding to assert their “First Amendment rights” with Mayor Rahm Emanuel…but to no avail.

    The brash Emanuel — who once sent a “Sicilian message” in the form of a putrid, decomposed fish to a pollster who irritated him; threatened former British Prime Minister Tony Blair not to “f–ck this up;” and knifed a dinner table in concert with rattling off names of sworn enemies — must have stowed away his confrontational side for the day.

    Well, darn. That would have been a good show.

    Occupy Chicago Protesters Storm…Rahm Emanuel’s Office?

  231. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    Roughly 150 protesters with Occupy Chicago stormed City Hall Wednesday demanding to assert their “First Amendment rights” with Mayor Rahm Emanuel…but to no avail.
    The brash Emanuel — who once sent a “Sicilian message” in the form of a putrid, decomposed fish to a pollster who irritated him; threatened former British Prime Minister Tony Blair not to “f–ck this up;” and knifed a dinner table in concert with rattling off names of sworn enemies — must have stowed away his confrontational side for the day.

    Well, darn. That would have been a good show.
    Occupy Chicago Protesters Storm…Rahm Emanuel’s Office?

  232. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    Here’s what a Townhall post just posted from the Washington Times:

    Agent Jesus E. Diaz Jr. was named in a November 2009 federal grand jury indictment with deprivation of rights under color of law during an October 2008 arrest near the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas, in response to a report that illegal immigrants had crossed the river with bundles of drugs.

    In a prosecution sought by the Mexican government and obtained after the suspected smuggler was given immunity to testify against the agent, Diaz was sentenced last week by U.S. District Judge Alia Moses Ludlum in San Antonio. The Mexican consulate in Eagle Pass had filed a formal written complaint just hours after the arrest, alleging that the teenager had been beaten.

    Defense attorneys argued that there were no injuries or bruises on the suspected smuggler’s lower arms where the handcuffs had been placed nor any bruising resulting from an alleged knee on his back. Photos showed the only marks on his body came from the straps of the pack he carried containing the suspected drugs, they said.

    The defense claimed that the smuggling suspect was handcuffed because he was uncooperative and resisted arrest, and that the agent had lifted his arms to force him to the ground – a near-universal police technique – while the other agents looked for the drugs.

    The allegations against Diaz, 31, a seven-year veteran of the Border Patrol, initially were investigated by Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Office of Professional Responsibility, which cleared the agent of any wrongdoing.

    Doesn’t sound good.

    Obama Justice Department Sends Border Agent to Prison for “Violating Rights” of Drug Smuggler

  233. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    Here’s what a Townhall post just posted from the Washington Times:

    Agent Jesus E. Diaz Jr. was named in a November 2009 federal grand jury indictment with deprivation of rights under color of law during an October 2008 arrest near the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas, in response to a report that illegal immigrants had crossed the river with bundles of drugs.
    In a prosecution sought by the Mexican government and obtained after the suspected smuggler was given immunity to testify against the agent, Diaz was sentenced last week by U.S. District Judge Alia Moses Ludlum in San Antonio. The Mexican consulate in Eagle Pass had filed a formal written complaint just hours after the arrest, alleging that the teenager had been beaten.
    Defense attorneys argued that there were no injuries or bruises on the suspected smuggler’s lower arms where the handcuffs had been placed nor any bruising resulting from an alleged knee on his back. Photos showed the only marks on his body came from the straps of the pack he carried containing the suspected drugs, they said.
    The defense claimed that the smuggling suspect was handcuffed because he was uncooperative and resisted arrest, and that the agent had lifted his arms to force him to the ground – a near-universal police technique – while the other agents looked for the drugs.
    The allegations against Diaz, 31, a seven-year veteran of the Border Patrol, initially were investigated by Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Office of Professional Responsibility, which cleared the agent of any wrongdoing.

    Doesn’t sound good.
    Obama Justice Department Sends Border Agent to Prison for “Violating Rights” of Drug Smuggler

  234. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    Hamous #126;

    My point as to downplay Sarge’s comment on Rick Perry.

  235. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    Hamous #126;
    My point as to downplay Sarge’s comment on Rick Perry.

  236. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    Here’s directly from the Washington Post:

    But the Internal Affairs Division at U.S. Customs and Border Protection ruled differently nearly a year later and, ultimately, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas brought charges.

    The Law Enforcement Officers Advocates Council said the government’s case was “based on false testimony that is contradicted by the facts.”

    In a statement, the council said that because the arrest took place at about 2 a.m., darkness would have made it impossible for the government’s witnesses to have seen whether any mistreatment took place. It said Marcos Ramos, the Border Patrol agent who stood next to Diaz, testified that he did not see any mistreatment of the smuggling suspect.

    The council said other witnesses made contradictory claims and some later admitted to having perjured themselves. Such admissions, the council said, were ignored by the court and the government. It also said that probationary agents who claimed to have witnessed the assault raised no objections during the incident and failed to notify an on-duty supervisor until hours later.

    “Instead, they went off-duty to a local ‘Whataburger’ restaurant, got their stories straight and reported it hours later to an off-duty supervisor at his home,” the council said. “Then the ‘witnesses’ went back to the station and reported their allegations.”

    The council also noted that the teenager claimed no injuries in court other than sore shoulders, which the council attributed to “the weight of the drug load, approximately 75 pounds, he carried across the border.”

    The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas, which brought the charges, is the same office that in February 2006 — under U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton — prosecuted Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean after they shot a drug-smuggling suspect, Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila, in the buttocks as he tried to flee back into Mexico after abandoning a van filled with 800 pounds of marijuana. Aldrete-Davila also was given immunity in the case and testified against the agents.

    Agents Ramos and Compean were convicted and sentenced to 11 and 12 years in prison, respectively.

    President George W. Bush commuted the sentences in 2009 after they had served two years.

    The same prosecutors also charged Edwards County Deputy Sheriff Gilmer Hernandez in 2005 with violating the civil rights of a Mexican criminal alien after he shot out the tires of a van filled with illegals as it tried to run him over. One of the illegal immigrants in the van was hit with bullet fragments.

    Are the wheels on the bus going round and round?

    U.S. border agent jailed for improper arrest of suspected drug smuggler

  237. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    Here’s directly from the Washington Post:

    But the Internal Affairs Division at U.S. Customs and Border Protection ruled differently nearly a year later and, ultimately, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas brought charges.
    The Law Enforcement Officers Advocates Council said the government’s case was “based on false testimony that is contradicted by the facts.”
    In a statement, the council said that because the arrest took place at about 2 a.m., darkness would have made it impossible for the government’s witnesses to have seen whether any mistreatment took place. It said Marcos Ramos, the Border Patrol agent who stood next to Diaz, testified that he did not see any mistreatment of the smuggling suspect.
    The council said other witnesses made contradictory claims and some later admitted to having perjured themselves. Such admissions, the council said, were ignored by the court and the government. It also said that probationary agents who claimed to have witnessed the assault raised no objections during the incident and failed to notify an on-duty supervisor until hours later.
    “Instead, they went off-duty to a local ‘Whataburger’ restaurant, got their stories straight and reported it hours later to an off-duty supervisor at his home,” the council said. “Then the ‘witnesses’ went back to the station and reported their allegations.”
    The council also noted that the teenager claimed no injuries in court other than sore shoulders, which the council attributed to “the weight of the drug load, approximately 75 pounds, he carried across the border.”
    The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas, which brought the charges, is the same office that in February 2006 — under U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton — prosecuted Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean after they shot a drug-smuggling suspect, Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila, in the buttocks as he tried to flee back into Mexico after abandoning a van filled with 800 pounds of marijuana. Aldrete-Davila also was given immunity in the case and testified against the agents.
    Agents Ramos and Compean were convicted and sentenced to 11 and 12 years in prison, respectively.
    President George W. Bush commuted the sentences in 2009 after they had served two years.
    The same prosecutors also charged Edwards County Deputy Sheriff Gilmer Hernandez in 2005 with violating the civil rights of a Mexican criminal alien after he shot out the tires of a van filled with illegals as it tried to run him over. One of the illegal immigrants in the van was hit with bullet fragments.

    Are the wheels on the bus going round and round?
    U.S. border agent jailed for improper arrest of suspected drug smuggler

  238. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    Texas Department of Public Safety officials are asking questions following a report that Department of Homeland Security Advisory Council member Mohamed Elibiary may have been given access to a sensitive database of state and local intelligence reports, and then allegedly shopped some of those materials to a media outlet. He allegedly used the documents to claim the department was promoting “Islamophobia” — claims that the media outlet ultimately rejected. They declined to do the story.

    I wonder what religion Mohamed belongs to? Does he work for an agency which he claims is spreading Islamophobia?

    Earlier today, I received confirmation from a left-leaning media outlet that Elibiary had recently approached them asking to do a story attacking Texas DPS:

    Yes, he approached us and gave us some reports marked FOUO [For Official Use Only] that he said showed a pattern of Islamophobia at the department. He emphasized that some of the regional fusion centers were shut down a few years ago after the ACLU complained that they were targeting Muslim civil rights groups and said that this was being directed by [Texas Gov.] Rick Perry.

    We looked at the reports and they weren’t as he had billed them to us. They seem to be pretty straightforward, nothing remotely resembling Islamophobia that we saw. I think he was hoping we would bite and not give it too much of a look in light of the other media outfits jumping on the Islamophobia bandwagon.

    (Snip)

    In light of these allegations, I spoke today with Texas DPS Director Steve McCraw. He confirmed that Elibiary has access to the Homeland Security State and Local Intelligence Community of Interest (HS SLIC) database, which contains hundreds of thousands of intelligence reports and products that are intended for intelligence sharing between law enforcement agencies.

    BREAKING: Homeland Security Adviser Allegedly Leaked Intel to Attack Rick Perry

  239. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    Texas Department of Public Safety officials are asking questions following a report that Department of Homeland Security Advisory Council member Mohamed Elibiary may have been given access to a sensitive database of state and local intelligence reports, and then allegedly shopped some of those materials to a media outlet. He allegedly used the documents to claim the department was promoting “Islamophobia” — claims that the media outlet ultimately rejected. They declined to do the story.

    I wonder what religion Mohamed belongs to? Does he work for an agency which he claims is spreading Islamophobia?

    Earlier today, I received confirmation from a left-leaning media outlet that Elibiary had recently approached them asking to do a story attacking Texas DPS:

    Yes, he approached us and gave us some reports marked FOUO [For Official Use Only] that he said showed a pattern of Islamophobia at the department. He emphasized that some of the regional fusion centers were shut down a few years ago after the ACLU complained that they were targeting Muslim civil rights groups and said that this was being directed by [Texas Gov.] Rick Perry.
    We looked at the reports and they weren’t as he had billed them to us. They seem to be pretty straightforward, nothing remotely resembling Islamophobia that we saw. I think he was hoping we would bite and not give it too much of a look in light of the other media outfits jumping on the Islamophobia bandwagon.

    (Snip)

    In light of these allegations, I spoke today with Texas DPS Director Steve McCraw. He confirmed that Elibiary has access to the Homeland Security State and Local Intelligence Community of Interest (HS SLIC) database, which contains hundreds of thousands of intelligence reports and products that are intended for intelligence sharing between law enforcement agencies.

    BREAKING: Homeland Security Adviser Allegedly Leaked Intel to Attack Rick Perry

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