To Don Blankenship, just the cost of doing coal business

I can’t wait to hear Mr. Wooten’s government busy body comment about this.

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looks like its not as bad as other jobs
Risky Businesses

In general, occupational injuries claim the lives of 15 workers a day die, according to the AFL-CIO. However, it’s these eight types of workers who most frequently put their lives on the line.

1. Fishermen: Fans of the TV show Deadliest Catch know this job’s no joke. Men and women who work in the fishing industry regularly put their lives at risk, battling forces of nature, including treacherous storms and extreme temperatures. In addition, many fishermen, proud of their reputation for being independent spirits, sometimes make the risky decision to buck safety regulations.

2. Pilots and airline employees: The number of fatalities for airline employees was particularly high in 2006 due to an August 2006 Comair crash in Lexington, Kentucky, that killed 47 people, including the pilot and multiple passengers. However, the BLS reports that there were 215 airline-related fatalities all together, including 44 accidents that involved multiple deaths.

3. Loggers: People who work in the logging industry face the expected dangers associated with cutting down giant trees. Not surprisingly, the cause of death listed most commonly is “struck by object.” According to the Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA), one of the most dangerous situations is a lodged or hung tree, which happens when a cut tree doesn’t fall all the way to the ground but gets caught against another tree.

4. Structural construction workers: These are the people you see hoisting those giant steel beams to create the structural framework of office buildings and other large projects. The United Steelworkers union claims that deaths among structural construction workers are increasing as owners and managers try to cut costs. The most common cause of death among them, according to the BLS, is falling.

5. Waste management employees: Because waste and recycling collectors often ride on and/or drive the trucks, their biggest threat involves road and highway crashes. The frequency of contact with hazardous wastes is an additional risk.

6. Farmers and ranchers: While it may not seem like a dangerous occupation at first, farmers and ranchers often use heavy equipment to do their jobs. Large machinery can easily crush people, and vehicles, such as tractors and backhoes, have overturned or run over farm employees.

7. Power-line technicians: More than 350 workers, including those who install or repair lines, are killed annually due to contact with electric currents or power lines, BLS reports. Other incidents have been caused by employees who fell while working on power lines high above the ground. Fatalities have risen recently among electricians.

8. Roofers: The BLS notes that fatal falls from roofs increased by 15 percent between 2005 and 2006. Including falls from ladders, scaffolding, and other places, falls were the second most common cause of worker fatalities, after driving accidents.
Updated: November 20, 2008

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Well said Dusty.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remember shortly after many of us migrated over here Jay B was in some sort of outrageous outrage over a producer from a TV program showing up in Cynthia Tucker’s driveway? This news is a week old now

Last Sunday, on a peaceful, sun-crisp afternoon, our toddler finally napping upstairs, my front yard exploded with 500 screaming, placard-waving strangers on a mission to intimidate my neighbor, Greg Baer. Baer is deputy general counsel for corporate law at Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), a senior executive based in Washington, D.C. And that — in the minds of the organizers at the politically influential Service Employees International Union and a Chicago outfit called National Political Action — makes his family fair game.

Waving signs denouncing bank “greed,” hordes of invaders poured out of 14 school buses, up Baer’s steps, and onto his front porch. As bullhorns rattled with stories of debtor calls and foreclosed homes, Baer’s teenage son Jack — alone in the house — locked himself in the bathroom. “When are they going to leave?” Jack pleaded when I called to check on him…

I guess the SEIU owing BofA about 90 million had nothing to do with this either…/sarc

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Jay, is there a coal mine that has never had any fatalities? Would you expect the largest coal mining company or the smallest to have the largest number of fatalities and accidents?

Massey had been inspected many times and………..

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Jay B,

It has nothing to do with the topic. I thought numbering the off topic ones was just a Scout thing.

/Now I’ve got to figure a way to weave this one into the topic or I’m a goner……

//Oh well, I don’t see how to do it so I’m 2 and done.

Have a great weekend, y’all

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jay:

Just to be clear, @@, that was from a press conference back in April 2009

I know. It’s one of the reasons environmentalists opposed Obama’s appointment of Salazar and still do to this day.

Did Obama listen? Well, you know the answer to that.

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Don’t go, RW!!! We’ll think of something! …. I think there’s a coal miner taking pictures in my driveway!!

Well, maybe not. He just put some mail in my mailbox.

But you never know these days!! Safety!!!

By the way BRAVES WON AGAIN LAST NIGHT. (attn: off subject!) Whatta game!! Oh, luv those Braves. GO BRAVES! GO!

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The sad thing is that the people lost in that and other work accidents will become political fodder and nothing will be done by government or the business owners to keep it from happening again.

BINGO!

“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.”–Rahm Emanuel

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The Mine Safety and Health Administration wants a judge to dismiss a lawsuit over how it’s interviewing witnesses in a West Virginia coal mine explosion that killed 29 men.

MSHA argues the U.S. District Court in Charleston lacks jurisdiction in the case raised by the United Mine Workers of America and the families of two dead miners.

The UMW and relatives of William Griffith and Ronald Maynor want to observe private interviews. MSHA director Joe Main says they have no legal foundation for that demand.

MSHA argues a combination of private interviews and public meetings will protect the integrity of the investigation and the confidentiality of witnesses.

The cause of the April 5 blast at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch mine remains under investigation.–AP

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OK – so lets do our best and defend blankenship, titan of coal. Money is his god, safety sure isnèt. Those who defend him are not in reality.

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And we all love our “Georgia-grown” sugar-coated peanuts too. They’re to die for.

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Hmmm, in 2009, the year of Obama, Big Branch racked up 515 violations. So why weren’t they shut down? ‘Cause people gotta work, even when the job comes with risks.

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And the problem with using just numbers and raw statistics is that they don’t show the details of those complaints, Jay.

As with Palin’s so-called “ethics violations”, many of the 515 “violations” could have been petty complains from disgrunted workers or all could have been serious. We just don’t know.

Lies, damned lies and statistics. All one in the same without context.

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Jay, the reason you did not see these classless thugs protesting on the front porch is because they are Obo’s SEIU thugs, not tea party people. Had they been tea party people, you would have started a thread about it.
This is the way Obo led ACORN and SEIU thugs do things but lefty media ignores it. I would have loved to see someone stick a shotgun out the window and blow the heads off of the thugs chanting on this guys front porch.
The DC police gave the thugs an escort to the Bankers house. While you play the race card against Tea party people because of one sign and accusations, you ignore parasite thugs converging on a private residence. Watch the video of the thugs on the porch with bullhorns and imagine if a tea party person did that to a home of a democrat while his or her children were home. Of course you condemn it when someone brings it up but you don’t seem to be bringing it yourself. You have not seen Obama say anything on this because these are his people.

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Shut down the mines?

Why is it always just an option between worst case scenarios with criminal coddlers?

Why never the reasoned and reasonable center?

Jay, hits a bulls eye in this regard.

“…it overwhelmed the small number of judges available to hear those appeals…”

This is exactly how the corporatists, casino capitalists and assorted Titans of Malfeasance and Criminal Negligence have set it up and rigged the game, almost exclusively in their favor.

Lets let the army of lobbyists convince the bribed politicians to insanely under man and underfund the agencies and organizations – who are supposedly there to protect US (you do remember the sovereign “we the people”, right?) – and then complain they aren’t effective. Or that THEY are the criminals. (I do contend that they are often the unindicted co-conspirators)

Pick an industry or category within our capitalism, gone horribly awry, society. You know it is so.

I’m not advocating a police state, but how about you soft on crime “conservatives” simply calling for the federal, state and local law enforcement authorities to get the necessary resources and manpower to contain the corporate cancer and do their freaking jobs?

Instead of giving every advantage to the white collar, deadly criminals like Blankenship?

The good news? I no longer feel like a lone wolf howling in the night about this situation.

The American chorus decrying the corporate destroyers of capitalism is gaining volume every day.

Keep on singing those revolution blues…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiKJQeG5E2o

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MSHA can shut down any mine that it finds poses a risk to the miner. The law is in place for the Feds to prevent these incidents. Like dealing with illegal aliens the Fed refuses to do its job. You have a federal agency with the power to shut down these mines and they refuse to act. Don’t give me the excuse that they don’t have enough man power, look at the amount of money we tax payers give that agency each year. If it was a business, it’s ceo would be in these hearing also with his job on the line but he is government employee and who does not need to account for his stupidity. This is a report from last week:

“A West Virginia mine operated by Patriot Coal Corp facing ventilation problems was shut down by the U.S. Mine Safety & Health Administration (MSHA), a Labor Department spokesman said.

U.S.

Shares of the company fell as much as 8 percent on Friday”

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“We have a SPENDING problem right now, AmVet.”

NO, we have a VALUE problem. We the people ain’t getting much at all in return for our outlays.

“Maybe you large-government statists strong proponents of adherence to the rule of law voices could find something we SHOULDN’T be spending money on and divert it to something meaningful.”

Dave, you’re kidding me, right?

Do you think I can’t locate HUGE amounts of wasted dollars that could be diverted to adequate law enforcement??? Why do you advocate AGAINST the “cops” and for the thieves?

Here’s a hint, look real closely at the bloated, fraud ridden, hyper-corrupt, jaw droppingly wasteful military budget.( Granted you can’t see the “secret” funds and how they are used, but I presume you get the idea.)

Now I realize that we spend as much as the rest of the planet combined on the war machine, but as King George and the Crusaders said, “we have to make sacrifices.”

And there are plenty of other gigantic giveaways and subsidies and handouts and bailouts that could be eliminated or minimalized (is that a real word?), if you were to only look.

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Just to get off of politicians for a minute and straight to the heart of the people.

West Virginia Activists Win Funds
for New School for Students
Endangered by Coal Industry

“Between the Lines Q&A”…the difference between a politician’s lip service and people who REALLY care!

BTL: “Ed Wiley, in 2006 you walked almost 500 miles from Charleston to Washington, D.C. to ask West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd to help the community get a new school. Do you think he helped your cause?”

ED WILEY: I figured well, if anybody could help me without hurting their reputation, without hurting their politics, without worrying about rocking the boat a little bit, Sen. Byrd could. So he did promise me that he would turn over every stone to help me find the money. He’s done nothing. It’s sad that he didn’t help. He’s made a couple statements that helped, but not to the extent it should have helped. You know, what’s a statement? We finally got a statement — now back your statement up. I feel that he could have done more for the issue, and there’s still a lot more he could do for the issue.

@@: So how did it happen?

BTL: Well, congratulations on your hard-won victory.

ED WILEY: Well, it just wasn’t me, or just a couple people in this community. There were so many people from around the nation. Environmental groups, just plain folks, all the school children from New York and different parts of the U.S. sent money. People across the seas who called and sent money, and tried to help. A big network of people out there, from young and old to all ages, who tried to help us, and did help us, with this issue, and we thank all these people from the bottom of our hearts.

You’re welcome Ed. It was for the children…same reason I always kept a carton of cigarettes in the car. I don’t smoke, but panhandlers do. SCHIP!!!

So shoot me! I’m not giving panhandlers money so they can shoot up. It’s personal with me.

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jay:

I’ve got a heartwarming story held up in moderation. Only thing that’s questionable is where I said “So shoot me!” Don’t think that’s possible thru “the tube”.

In other words, I’m safe!

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AmVet, if you’ll recall, I have advocated for bringing all our troops home and cutting defense since day one.

My problem is that you worship the “cops” (who are really the robbers), and you decry the very concept of capitalism and think corporations are thieves.

You just have your targets a bit backwards.

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And I, like Dusty, must hit the road and make some money today.

Later, dudes and dudettes!

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“I can’t come up with another coal company that’s had 23 miners in 10 years die,” Mr. Roberts, seated next to Mr. Blankenship at the witness table, said. “This isn’t average. This is deplorable.

Anyone know of a decent comparison between fatality rates among deep mining operations, union vs. non-union?

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Jay, you’re quite right, I just wanted to see if you are paying attention. Shooting the protestors would have gotten the left to run a story about it though. But why is this not a story ? If the tea party did it, you and Cynthia would have had your panties in a wad and your followers would have been calling the tea party people racists.

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So that projection is that if nothing changes, it will happen in …. 2055.

Key word being “if nothing changes.” Let’s see, who’s already actually done something about reforming two of the three entitlement programs cited by the Heritigians? Who’s whinged about “death panels” and tried to scare the crap out of Medicare recipients?

(Also love their chart, which assumes revenue collection stays flat going forward.)

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This is the topic du jour here at Jay’s place and, once it’s been worn thin, we’ll go on to something else. That stands to reason here on these pages. Mining is just not that much a part of our daily reality. It is done in far away places by people about whom we know very little, In West Virginia it is enough of a topic for the state’s major paper to devote a Jay to that subject. Here’s a link those wanting a broader perspective might want to check out.

http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2010/05/21/friday-roundup-may-21-2010/#more-5537

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jnix, thanks for the link:

These events have a few things in common, not the least of which is that they all illustrate a governmental failure to effectively regulate business activity and protect the public.

In each instance, businesses with poor safety records have continued to operate in a system of voluntary regulation. Federal agencies, battered by lengthy procedural hurdles, slashed budgets, and anti-government sentiments, rely on business to police themselves. After each “accident,” Congress and the media begin a crusade: how can such things happen and why didn’t somebody see this coming? But after all the hand-wringing and finger-pointing, rarely is anything done to prevent future catastrophes. Instead, we continue to be stuck with “government by reaction.”

Duh! Ya think?

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josef

Thanks for that link. It appears that Mr. Bass and I have pretty similar opinions when it comes to those hearings and all. We need more people like Ken Ward as well. I like all the “feel good” stories that come from the media, but we also need those stories that expose wrongdoings by both government and private industries.

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From my experience, this is how things happen. Nobody sits down and says, “Well, X amount of $$ is worth X amount of lives”. What happens is this, something risky needs to be done. Someone on the scene raises questions about the safety of doing it or doing it a certain way. Inevitably, someone will ask the question, “But what are the odds of that happening?” It’ll be bandied back and forth. It’ll be a discussion of “it’s probably not going to happen” and “it’ll cost a lot more to do it that way”. People on the lower end of the totem pole will be reluctant to push it; they have to make a living. The one who does push it will be seen as a malcontent and a trouble maker and treated accordingly. So it boils down to, “that is going to cost a whole lot more money and the odds of anything bad happening are small”. And then something bad happens and everybody is left to wonder why. That’s why there is an MSHA and other agencies like it and that’s why they need to do their jobs. The practice of being fined and stringing it out for ever through appeals needs to be fixed.

Off Topic Post #0.5 (it’s only slightly off topic, so I’m not counting it as a whole)

Having grown up in a logging/sawmilling family, I can say with certainty, it’s a very dangerous thing to do. From watching those shows on TV about logging though, it’s no wonder those guys (the ones I’ve seen anyway) get hurt. They’re careless as hell and they don’t use good common logging sense.

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Hillbilly
What I find of interest is how many of my fellow liberals (not you, Jay) will wax ever so eloquently about the conditions of the poor, downtrodden West Virginia coal miners and then, with na’ry a thought, on some other topic throw around such vindictive at the “hiiibillies, trailer trash, rednecks” and what-have-you as synonomous with all “those people” from whom they want to distance their “sophisticated” and superior world view. They are oblivious to the fact that, brass tacks of the matter, they are every bit as guilty for the conditions as the mine operators and government officials they will here excoriate. And it is a sentiment that these operators and officials play like a flute, knowing full well that the mass of urban Americans don’t really give a sh*t about “those people.”

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AmVet

May 22nd, 2010
12:35 pm
Moderate, you seem to confuse the inherent danger of certain occupations with criminal negligence by ownership.

They are not related.

stands, I’ve looked, but nothing certain yet. All I can find is that *apparently* the majority of the 48 most dangerous mines are non-union…
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I don’t believe I said there is a relation between “inherent danger of certain occupations with criminal negligence by ownership.”

Interesting enough mining deaths went down under Bush. Also, the total citations under Bush went up 50%. Doesn’t really jive with the idea we have of Bush.

http://www.msha.gov/MSHAInfo/FactSheets/MSHAbytheNumbers/CalendarYear/Fatality%20Rates.pdf

http://www.msha.gov/MSHAInfo/FactSheets/MSHAbytheNumbers/CalendarYear/Citations%20and%20Orders%20Issued.pdf

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And it is a sentiment that these operators and officials play like a flute, knowing full well that the mass of urban Americans don’t really give a sh*t about “those people.”

Interesting you should say that. Some (not all) of the city dwellers tell us that we use too much energy driving and we should all move in-town and live within walking distance of work. If we did that, who would grow the food, mine the coal, drill for the oil, catch the fish, etc. etc.?

on some other topic throw around such vindictive at the “hiiibillies, trailer trash, rednecks” and what-have-you as synonomous with all “those people” from whom they want to distance their “sophisticated” and superior world view.

In my view, it wasn’t the elites who built this country. It was the hillbillies, trailer trash, rednecks, sharecroppers, millworkers, etc. who built this country. They did all the heavy lifting.

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My grandfather and great grand father were coal miners. My grand father received a blank lung check but a check doesn’t make up for what you have lost. My father has asbestosis so don’t think I am on the company side when comes to these issues. Emotionally, I am on side of the worker. However, I am also on the side of being rationale and honest.

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Hillbilly

That’s one of the reasons I hold the current president in such disregard. That off the cuff remark when he thought no one outside his elite circle was listening about “clinging to their guns and bibles” told me all I ever needed to know about his world view.

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Okay, K’chak..I’ll bite..Let’s say .I’m a West Virginia coal miner…what has he done for me? Sent my boy to Afghanistan? Thrown my tax dollars to the big boy bailout? Sent his own daughters to prestige private schools while mine still languish in schools his are too good to go to? Continued to appoint fellow elitists to vacancies in key positions under his purview?

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Let’s say .I’m a West Virginia coal miner…

But you aren’t.

The problem with the “what if” game, is that all “what ifs,” no matter how improbable, are created equally and have equal weighting.

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I think it’s more important to judge a politician by what he does rather than what he says—but that’s just me.

I agree with that to a degree but there should be a consistency with words and actions. Often times there isn’t, which is why I can’t think of a single politician, off the top of my head, that I trust.

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No, I’m not. But my Little Princess’ maternal grandfather, aunts, uncles and cousins were and are…Welch, McDowell County…

It wasn’t your Little Princess’ maternal grandfather, aunts, uncles nor cousins that said, “That off the cuff remark when he thought no one outside his elite circle was listening about “clinging to their guns and bibles” told me all I ever needed to know about his world view.” You said that, and it shows a political naivete that I know that you don’t possess.

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Does the word “rep-u-ta-tion” offend the moderator?

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K’chak

Actually, what THEY had, and have, to say about that remark was, and is, far more blunt and to the point. And it is not, in my opinion, political naivete.

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did I just read that amvet now fancies himself a champion for the plight of the denizens of what he calls the moron belt?

So did Lenin.

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Actually, what THEY had, and have, to say about that remark was, and is, far more blunt and to the point. And it is not, in my opinion, political naivete.

Anyone who believes galvanizing rhetoric orated on the campaign trail, is a naif–no matter how much or little alphabet soup follows his name.

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Well, count me with Sister Dusty on this one. Alot of people will be going into the mines next week. Most of them will come home alive. Sure, a few will get busted up and a few more will be kilt. That’s a good record, ain’t it? I mean, what you want all the mine owners to do? You can’t shut down the mines because of a few bodies.

Have a good Saturday everybody.

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And all these years, I thought the Italian kid next door to me in California was calling me a punta. Turns out it was p*u*t*a. His name was Peter…Peter Fazzari. My brother called him Dick.

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josef:

what were his parents thinking?

Dunno, but if they applied the uncommon spelling, Herald, he could’a been a forerunner?

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Wll, I am back just in time before my reputation is ruined. RUINED I tell you. Anytime RedNeck starts agreeing with me, I know I am in big trouble. But never listen to a phony redneck. Us real ones know his game.

As to rednecks in general, I am a halfway one having grown up in a town of only seven thousand . I knew my father’s patients who ranged from chalk mine workers to the school superintendent. He treated them all the same. So I try to hold respect for all because we all want respect. I do. Isn’t that our common denominator?

But back to the “evil rich”. The rich industrialists gave this country plenty. The industrial revolution for instance. They were not all angels but neither are all rednecks. Many of the rich started as “common” workers and got rich later. So it goes.

But to totally diminish the worth of the rich who brought it about by their wits and efforts is not truly fair. It bespeaks of envy. To regard them as total crooks is the beginning of communism. Their rights are the same as ours in this great country of ours.

Ted Turner is now working on enhancing other forms of energy. Whatcha bet he’ll make aome advances in that goal? Just one example. Bill Gates was just a computer punk. Now he spreads his wealth around the world. Citing only the rich crooks is overlooking a world of good done by others.

But I must prepare myself for tonight’s great victory. BRAVES playing at 7:05. GO BRAVES!

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Obama wants to form a new “worldwide system” of diplomacy to solve our problems. Perhaps now his megalomanic personality sees him as not only the leader of the US, but the leader of the rest of the world as well. Quite a lot of ambition for an arrogant, rather lackluster and unintelligent politician.

The dude has lost it. The world has absolutely no respect for the USA’s current leader. Manipulating Obama is in many ways getting to be like shooting fish in a barrel for our enemies. They see a country with a weak, ideology driven leader who will capitulate to anyone or any body except the will of his own countrys citizens. Our enemies worldwide know that they have nothing to fear anymore from the
USA because of “Obama the Weak”. He believes only in the progressive/socialist malarky he was taught at Harvard and which he cut his teeth on in the corrupt sesspool that is Chicago politics. He is a radical socialist and social progressive of the type that this country did not need at this particular time in history. We can only hope he doesn’t do so much damage that it can’t be fixed.

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Pogo – Just because we have a president who doesn’t go around kicking sand in everybody’s face doesn’t mean that he is weak. It means that he respects other countries. It means he respects their sovereignty, their right to govern their own way. It means he is not a fascist trying to impose a new world order dominated by corporations and the greedy megalomaniacs who run them.

It means he has the strength of his convictions, and a rodent like you can’t begin to understand him. It means that he is strong and you and those like you are really the weak among us.

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N-Ga,

It must be the respect of heads of state like Israel, Venezuela, No. Korea, Iran, Iraq, China, Russia, the United Kingdom, most of the middle East and most if not all of Islam that Bozo thrives on. He is intent on making our country part of some “new world order” or some BS like that The leaders of all of the above countries are strong nationalists. You don’t see any of them giving up the farm for some silly idea of a big happy international family. The only one who does that is Bozo. Do you think that that garners respect from people who run these countries? They respect only one thing. Power. And if you don’t have it, you quickly become a third world excuse for a leader trying to catch up with those who would do you harm. You have some naive idea that this clown is respected throughout the world. Nothing could be further from the truth. You don’t see long lines of would be citizens lining up at the borders of any of the above countries. We have something that they want and if we are not careful, they are going to take it from us. The latinos already have a pretty good start. And Bozo is the architect. He has two years and just a little over 6 mos to go to finish this social experiment that he calls a presidency. Let’s hope that this country survives.

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K’chak

Plenty of words from me on that one, BTW, that is when I’m present and accounted for and he does it. I’m given to understand that he has done it plenty when I’m not around and I’m also given to understand that it has been some of the more conservative of the lot hereabouts who jumped his case for it. Like the Bruin, I’m not here 24/7, though some might argue I am!

Secondly, I never said that I based my vote on that 30 or so words. All I said was that it told me everything I needed to know about his world view.

You say:
“He said it ten days before the Pennsylvania primary at a fund raiser fer chrissakes while Hillary held a double digit lead over him in Penn. Sure, it was supposed to be a closed fund raiser, but these kinda things always leak out—a consummate politician such as he would have known that.”

This is something of a two-step, in my opinion. Are you saying that it would have been okay to think this way so long as it wasn’t made public or are you saying that he knew it would be leaked and went ahead and said it any way? If this latter is the case, then he should have manned up and said, “yes, I said it and, yes, that’s what I think, and here and now, I’ll say it again.”

And as for the coal miner relatives, who sparked this exchange to begin with, no small few of them, Yellow Dog Democrats to the core, voted for him that comment notwithstanding. The same as with him and California’s Prop 8, they knew what they were getting and what he thought of them. He’s lived up to expectations.

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joseph,

Possibly so, but Israel and the UK are not threats of this nation like all of the others. Probably should have left those out…. wonder how much respect that Bebe has for our sorry excuse for a leader?

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Plenty of words from me on that one, BTW, that is when I’m present and accounted for and he does it.

Nope. From you zero, zilch, nada—yet you continue to bang the snicker-snicker drum.

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AmVet:

I’ve come up with a new name for ‘ya. It’s close to what you aspire to be…Hercules. Instead I’ve decided that you will, from this day forward, be known to me as Heraclitus, philosophical leader to your communist stars or czars, whichever the case may be.

Suffice it to say you’re lacking his flair for the dialectical flourish, but what the hey! ‘Ya can’t have it all. One day you might make it over the hump, although, still, not to be believed.

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kayaker:

AmVet’s got a HUGE ego that needs to be fed. Heraclitus, it is. Every time he sees it, he’ll mistakenly see HERCULES. Maybe it’ll lift his spirits.

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normal

Gotcha…

K’chak

If you’re referring to the most recent, I wasn’t here for that one. I heard about it. I didn’t go through it, but from what I did see, it was pretty much what he and I crossed wires on a long time ago. If you recall, he and I have a running joke about a certain tattoo…another drum I tap with considerable frequency…

The second aspect, snicker-snicker, has to do with it coming from those who otherwise would want to be considered “liberal” or “progressive” in their views. I don’t expect different from the poster at point here. He has made it abundantly clear that he bases his perspective on his religious beliefs. They are not mine. That’s how he feels as a matter of faith, not as a matter of secul*r bias and prejudice.

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Farther. Farther… .

Even ^^^ that’s weird! I work with kids who will intentionally gag themselves. Some of the others will sit perched on the edge of their seats in anticipation….kinda like you, Here Lies.

I’ll usually distract them with a favorite toy while I address the negative behavior discreetly.

What’s your favorite toy?

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Gang banged by leg humpers.

A new level of right wing embarrassment has been reached on a Saturday eve.

Reminds me of the old days at Luckovich’s.

josef, I see where you wrote “I’m also given to understand that it has been some of the more conservative of the lot hereabouts who jumped his case…”

??????????????????????????

I’d LOVE to see the link of whom you speak.

Understand that the three card carrying members of his posse commode-atatis will never, ever, ever say anything about the loathsome, hateful things Andy writes regularly. Including his repulsive equation of homosexuality with pedophilia. Find me ONE instance where one of his sycophants have EVER done so and I will buy you the most expensive meal imaginable. They worship him.

So who does that leave? Pogo? Yacker? RB? Corporal?

Yeah, riiight. You’re kidding yourself if you think these people have the integrity to speak out against his venom.

It is ALL about their shared ideology which trumps EVERYTHING.

So I await any of this supposed evidence.

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AmVet

@@ will, I trust, respond to you on that one…Del being another, Dusty has been a friend in my absence, just for starters…

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AmVet

I’m not talking about Andy here…he’s a case all unto himself and, well, as we found out one Friday night, kinda likes me…

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AmVet:

‘Twas I and many conservatives who had never even heard rumors about Crist’s sexual orientation until jay brought it up. Leftists knew all about it.

Go figure!

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josef:

Sorry, I’m not in the mood to read “Kamchakian” today.

You want to give me the short version?

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DANG! I’m gonna start putting my 2 cents down as $.02. It looks more valuable with a dollar sign in front of it.

Thanks, Hillbilly!

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Scout

I have heard a little about the Russians using nuclear explosives in the past to seal undersea wells. According to what I heard, it was a bigger device than either of those that were dropped on Japan. Haven’t heard about the “low yield” part of it. That’s the extent of my knowledge about it.

I’d think the odds of the U.S. using that method would be in the million-to-one range or more.

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“OFF TOPIC #2″

Headline: “After 9 Years of War, Obama Tells West Point Cadets the Challenge No Less Important”

Didn’t he promise during the campaign to sit down with our enemies and have this all solved by now?

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@@

Looks more valuable…took the words right out of my mouth. ISH

Normal @ 6:10

Ooooh,,,you baaad!

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My favorite toy.

You[r own words], little girl:

Now ’scuse me while I stick my fingers down my throat

Look familiar.

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@@

I agree with you on Putin and that part of the world…it’s Byzantine…and Russia is the master among the superpowers there…

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Here Lies:

It’s a figure of speech. I will avoid throwing up at all costs, even when the need is overwhelming. Crying, shaking, rocking, cold compresses, ANYTHING to avoid the inevitable.

Only three times in my life and that’s when I was a child. I don’t even have a gag reflex.

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Briefly puttin, Putin is to Medvedev as Cheney wanted to be with W.

And to all would be dingalingers, I say, “Ne postavte khui v chai.”

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@@ 6:08

My brain moves faster than my hands (insert your own punchline here). I just like to think my typing mistakes and sometimes tortured phraseology a sign of high intelligence. (IW&SH)

Maybe I get close enough that everybody can figure out what I meant whether it makes any sense or not.

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Here Lies:

You attributed those words to no other in your 5:07 post, @@.

Whatever makes you happy. Just the though, eh?

———————————————————-

a sign of high intelligence.

Take my word for it…it comes thru regardless, even when I may not agree.

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josef:

Exactly !

BTW it’s not a “foxhole” as that is the term the Army uses (foxes hide in their holes).

In the Corps, it’s known as a “fighting hole”

Ooo Rah !

P.S. You remember what A.R.M.Y. stands for right ?

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Hillbilly

Before I forget, I really, really, really like your close out post last night! Thanks…

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Already told you about that high intelligence claim!

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it, as Alex Hawkins said.

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After you play with your dingaling long enough, you shout…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fN4DHY_9gOs&feature=related

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Hillbilly

Not that “high intelligence” is a contradiction in terms!

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Normal, that one brings back the Friday spirit.

Scout, figure this. My cousin was a Marine, then in the reserves and then enlisted in the ARMY. I wonder if he was thinking that he was going up on the career ladder.

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After you play with your dingaling long enough, you shout…

Normal behavior for you, Normal?

J/K!!!!!

Manchu Picchu? Coneheads?

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@@
at 6:05

Same here. I was kind glad to hear it though, I could get a major crush on him!

Normal–

That S&D…you jus’ plumb baaad today, no doubts about it…

Scout

Thanks…

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@@

We’re from a village in France…

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They lost the hearts and minds of the cajuns.

They are angry.

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I think Dan Akroyd has taken his alien conehead character a bit far.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58uKYuO_yoY

“They’re visiting us, they’re looking at us?”

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theyeshaveit – I routinely travel overseas and the change has been palpable. People view the pre-Obama era has temporary insanity. Unfortunately for some of the bloggers here, their condition is not temporary.

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….”as temporary insanity.”

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I don’t think Kamchak is from these parts either.

Born on Peachtree Street.

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@@

The aliens are an international zionist conspiracy…doncha know?

getalife

Thanks for the report from Cajun Country…that’s what I hear, too, but I’m not on the ground and it’s just mine and Unmentionable’s folks down that way and, well, they’re a politicized bunch, so they’re super mad…

Dusty

Aw! You’re sweet…I’m trying, L-rd knows I’m trying, but it’s not easy sometimes…the old knee’s acting up…

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Yep, K’chak, Dusty and @@ all have roots in these parts along with our Scalawag host…just goes to show you we ain’t all cut from the same mold. As Miz Eudora would say, “there are many ways of seeing a place.”

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I don’t think Dusty or @@ are from these parts either.

Well, they’re both yankees trying to act like Southreners. @@ already said she was from California with a little stop in the state of LA. And Sister Dusty keeps talking about the swamplands of SC before she went out of the country to study at Boston. Neither one would know what a tarpaper shack would even look like.

Let’s keep the record straight. Have a good night everybody. Billy Bob’s is awaiting.

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My parts may be rather strewn, but they originated in these here…

Since my Dad was military, it was frequent that he proclaimed “We’re off like a herd of turtles.”

I can only guess that packing up and moving a family of six was a slow process which brought about the oft-used proclamation. Of course, being a boy from Tennessee, he said “Hoid of toitles”. He never much cared for nawth’nahs…only those he met in the service.

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Nutgrass has roots. That don’t make it desirable.

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I never lived in LA, if it’s Louisiana of which you speak. Family moved from south Alabama where Dad was stationed at Egleston AFB (sp?) then to Texas, where I was born, Lackland AFB, and then onto California, Travis AFB, then to Georgia upon his retirement.

No LA, RC. Not even the City of Angels.

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Redneck
It’s roots, man, roots! Don’t matter where yore ancestors had to go in the Diaspora, if you make Aliyah and come home. yore one of us…and, Sister Dusty, as we say, jus’ cause the cat had kittens in the oven don’t make ‘em biscuits…

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After all, coal has so much to offer.

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Coal mining even has the potential to change one’s perspective over what a landscape can look like. Eat your heart out, you HGTV landscape designers.

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Yeah, but it does make it indigenous and that means it’s not going to be gotten rid of and it’s best to learn to deal with it on its own terms…

Actually, as my indigenous daddy told us before we started clearing it from the garden, “You have to dig up every last nut or it will come back so get digging, we got work to do.” We got ‘em all and it did not come back.

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‘Ya may wanna turn off your computer, your lights, your air conditioning, appliances if they’re electric. You’re likely contributing to the coal industry.

Or I could just continue to push for better ways to generate electricity, if you don’t mind. Does it bother you that I speak out against these things. Perhaps you own stock in Massey or something. Of course, you can have all the toxic emissions and spills and strip-mined earth that suits your fancy. Just look for the fish that are recommended to be eaten very infrequently and they’re sure to be loaded with an extra big helpin’ of mercury. Whatever.

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Just Sayin’

May 22nd, 2010
7:44 pm
Coal mining even has the potential to change one’s perspective over what a landscape can look like.

Well, I’ve played the Twisted Gun golf course, in the extreme southwestern portion of West Virginia and about ten miles from the Kentucky border. It is built entirely on the site of an abandoned strip mine, and while the course is gorgeous, a quick glance at the rock walls across the way will also reveal the utter ruin that comes to land where strip mining operations have occurred. And we won’t even talk about the heavy metals that have ruined the streams below.

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Does it bother you that I speak out against these things.

No.

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If the corn won’t grow…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BlKN4lleAk&feature=related

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Another issue is complaining about coal companies appealing fines. Do you not believe in due process?

They should get due process but as it is now the appeals system can be abused. The system needs to be fine tuned. Maybe a limit on how many appeals a company can have going at one time.

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Well, the game was delayed. Braves are just getting warmed up.. Gives me a minute to straighten out RedNeck (as if that were possible). I was born in Georgia. My mother went across the Savannah River from South Carolina to deliver her bundle of joy. ME, that is. But out home was always in the proud state of South Carolina. So I have dual Southern citizenshiip. How lucky can one be??? Amd no swamps. Sand hills. Getalife is the one who lives in the swamp.

I do believe we have some members of the Sierra Club amongst us. Also the WildLife people. NO, not liberals. The ones who try to save poor animals. Now, neither group is bad but when they start chasing whaling boats in canoes and that sort of thing, I get a mental picture of some real wildlife.

Oops…la subjection…….coal mines! Yes! Burn charcoal! It is made from wood. That is why there are no trees in Haiti. All cut down to make charcoal. But they don’t use that awful COAL!! No sirree. And charcoal grills hamburgers the best. Soooo…to tree or not to tree. Is that the question?

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Another Papa John Creach…Remember, you are what you drink…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pgy6AVkZmeo

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Liberals won’t let us drill for oil on land so we have to go to the deep seas to get the energy they use, and whammo, giant disaster, sure enough.

We could have switched to nuclear power back when the sane world did, but no, are beloved hysteritics wigged out and how many men have died in the coal mines since then?

WTF do we still listen to liberals?

Duh, just askin….

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curious observer..
I don’t read them every day, but I do read them. As Hillbilly oftens says, “all politics are local.” As for Atlanta being your residence but West Virginia being your home…I understand that. We were up in Johnson City once and when Unmentionable made a comment about who his family was, there was a “clam up.” It went back to a “feud” nearly 200 years old. Atavistic? Perhaps, but at the same time a sense of rootedness, of “belonging.” a powerful anchor in trying times.

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But out home was always in the proud state of South Carolina. So I have dual Southern citizenshiip. How lucky can one be??? Amd no swamps. Sand hills. Getalife is the one who lives in the swamp.

After my hospitable three-month stay at Parris Island, Dusty, you can have South Carolina. The only good news I’ve received from that state in decades is the appearance of a particularly despicable and abusive drill instructor in the Social Security Death Index. I hope he’s roasting comfortably about now, much like the chicken you had for dinner.

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curious

A McCoy…d*amned Scallywag!

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Bed Wet,

Your disgusting attempt at legitimacy is wearing pretty thin. Do you have your chin in the air like your hero or do I have to ask that? Your continued bashing of corporate America is also wearing a bit thin. I have a suggestion for you. Why don’t you leave your beloved America and seek solace someplace else. Maybe they would lend you a camel so you can explore the vast reaches of some Islamic paradise until they realize that you are a gringo and cut off your head. Or perhaps you could cross the border of Mexico. It’s nice this time of year. A couple of of years in a Mexican prison might just change your perspective a bit. If that is not to your liking, maybe a one bedroom apartment in some Muslim country so you can preach the evils of America and what it stands for. Who knows, you might even get in invitation to join the Taliban and really give America what it deserves. You have your head up your fat arse about as far as it can go but the sad part of this story is that you don’t have a clue. Your vision of America seems to be the same as Bozo and he is about the most dangerous thing that America has confronted in the last 100 yrs. Thanks to people like you and Bozo, we probably do have a limited life span to the America which we have grown to love and respect. But you wouldn’t care about that, now would you. As long as the evil corporate demons who have made this country what it is go down in flames, your mission will be accomplished. Then perhaps government will be there to solve all of your problems, make all of your decisions and see to all of your needs. I bet you can’t wait.

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They WERE trying to stick solar where the sun DO shine…The Mojave. Senator Feinstein (D) said “No can do!.”

Not in Anyone’s Backyard

Protect the environment or create renewable energy? A new bill shows they’re far from the same thing.

NEWSWEEK-California has other lands, both federally and state owned, on which solar producers could relocate their projects. But no place is perfect; the sun doesn’t shine as brightly in California’s Central Valley and the desolate areas of Arizona or Utah are either too mountainous or too far from consumption centers to make transmission viable. Get too close to populated areas like San Bernardino and people complain that the infrastructure ruins the landscape. “There’s a compelling case that any land in the Southwest is too environmentally rich to develop on; but the fact is, if we want renewable energy, they have to go somewhere,” says Jim Baak, director of utility-scale policy with California advocacy group Vote Solar. Speaking at Yale in 2008, Schwarzenegger was more blunt: “They say that we want renewable energy, but we don’t want you to put it anywhere.I mean, if we cannot put solar power plants in the Mojave Desert, I don’t know where the hell we can put them.”

Good point!

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Josef

If the Braves don’t win tonight I will be going atavistic, anachronistic and plain hog wild.

Ok, so much for intelligent conversation. I just can’t get into it tonight. Maybe it is going to rain tomorrow. Rain does make grass grow, curls to fall and starch to fail. Why not communication?? Rain is an indigenous damper and doldrum producer. So there, I am raindrop prejudiced!!!

Will this game EVER get going???

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For Dusty

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7QrPJcLBZA

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Speaking of nuclear power , where are we going to put nuclear waste ? That is the danger with nuclear power, along with possible nuclear meltdown. Chernobyl , anyone?

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Oh yeah, the Frenchies all glow in the dark, come out from under your beds, Nancy.

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Scout:

“standby to commence to begin”

Is that the same as “hurry up and wait”? My husband said there was a lot of that goin’ on when he was in the Army.

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@@:

Ask him about the square needle in the left ________

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Git Fiddle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM6RgtUbWRU&feature=related

“standby to commence to begin”

It just means the same thing as “I’m fixin’ to fixin’ to do it.”

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Some jobs are dangerous, Bookman. Jobs like going a mile underground in a one-way shaft to use high-explosives and heavy machinery to wrest deposits from earth’s rocky grip, or riding a small, thin capsule mounted atop millions of pounds of rocket fuel just to catch a glimpse of the earth’s curvature. Or sailing into the maw of a nasty storm to bring home the crab you might eat at Joe’s. Or even, say, donning a flak jacket, helmet and notebook and walking the dusty streets of Afghanistan with an Army patrol.

In other words, the kinds of jobs you’ve never had and probably couldn’t handle.

Coal miners know what they do is risky. So do astronauts, fishermen (so un-pc of me!!!) and war correspondents. Yet they do it anyway. Some do it *because* it is dangerous. Should we ban those professions, or make them so burdened with safety regulations that it’s impossible for them to be practiced?

For instance, it was pretty dangerous of the AJC to send people to Iraq … as I recall one almost got shot. Is a life just a “cost of doing business” for the journalism industry, too, or is that somehow more noble and worthy?

All that being said, I can’t or won’t excuse a company’s inattention to the best practical safety policies and procedures available. But I won’t damn an industry simply because those who work in it sometimes die.

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Scout:

My husband said to tell you he’s not so easily fooled, but others can be. He laughed.

I have no idea what you two are talking about.

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Thanks, Hillbilly, for the music. Kinda smoothed over my rain prejudice for the moment. Also I kept my eye on the guiltar player. My guitar is still in rehab but I am reading the how-to book. Just call me mrs. maetro. Segovia, here I come. Well, in a little while …

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Normal:

“I’m fixin’ to fixin’ to do it.”

With all the personal information you’ve shared lately, it’s probably best you not say things like ^^^ that.

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normal
“fixin to be fixin to do it…” pretty good translation, that!

Dusty–

Ssh! Can’t mention Segovia here…he was one of them Gypsies and Sister Cynthia and Company don’t like them a whole lot…

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Alright, and please don’t take this wrong.

“I’m gettin’ ready to jump right on it.”

I am sooooo gonna regret this, but you hear it all the time in the workplace.

I’m gonna regret that workplace comment too.

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Another rain song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJiDHA4CNmk

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Josef @ 9:34

And in my world, “d’rectly” doesn’t mean right now. It’s later than “right now” or even “right shortly” but sooner than “adder while”.

Don’t even get me started on the differences between afore daylight, daylight,sunrise, morning, afternoon, evening, sunset, dusk, dark, after dark and night.

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“Don’t even get me started on the differences between afore daylight, daylight,sunrise, morning, afternoon, evening, sunset, dusk, dark, after dark and night”

Well…I was born and raised in PA, and I know the difference between all of those!

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Dusty

All the lillies up here look like they’re fixin’ to pop out soon. The ladyslippers are about done blooming. Getting to be fewer of them every year. I guess before long they’ll be just a memory like the Bobwhite quail. Don’t think I’ve heard one since I was a teenager. They used to be all around.

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With Con chicks like this, why would anyone ever become a liberal?

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/05/21/coulter_on_ice_refusing_to_process_illegals_calderon.html

Oh yeah, they like men, eewwwww!

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Hillbilly,

I have a small patch of five pink ladies slippers in my front yard and a big patch of mayapples out back, amongst other plants that you don’t see too many of these days.

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Doggone

About 1/4 to 1/3 of the settlers who wound up in the Southern Blue Ridge were PA Germans. Many from around Lancaster County (I think it was bigger then than now). Maybe that’s why Daddy loves cabbage and kraut so much.

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I still haven’t gotten the hang of…Monday week, Wednesday week, so on and so on.

We always called it this and next.

And the half past time thingy? To me there’s 9:00, 9:30, 10:00 and 10:30. Half past is fifteen minutes or a quarter. I know I’m wrong, but it’s just the way my mind works. There’s no half ’til, but there is a quarter ’til.

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The ladyslippers are about done blooming.

Oh, how I’d love to see a ladyslipper again! When I was growing up, they would appear in the woods—pale purple, amid those huge, grey dead chestnut trees. It’s been better than 48 years since I saw one. And has anyone here ever dug ginseng? It was easy to spot, when berries would appear on the plants. You could make a small fortune by storing the roots in a granery and letting them dry.

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Well, folks, the Braves are leading three to one in the bottom of the fifth. I hate to leave the game but I have to get up early tomorrow. To tell the truth, there is nothing I hate worse than getting up early. Guess I’m not very Spanish, huh, Josef? You go getters can have the mornings. I’ll take evenings (night, dusk, dark).. Until tomorrow……..zzzzz

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Josef

When I was a kid, I could whistle to the Bobwhites and they would answer me.

And I use all those things you mentioned.

Taxpayer

Pink ladyslippers like to be near pine trees. The yellow ones, which I’ve never actually seen, like to be around oaks.

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IR/YW

Easy? No even in my loose-caboose days was I that!

Hillbilly–
Yep, can still do the bob-white whistle…I can still in my mind’s eye see the momma bob white leading her little ones across the dirt road…heard my first whipporwill of the season the other day when we were with the schoolkids out in the country…the looks on their faces,,,sheer joy for me…

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Dusty–
Not a morning person myself. The only way to see a sunrise for me is from the night before…my best time is the madrugada…I can get my best creative work done at that time…

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oops

Make that 20 miles, after that he’s running OUT…math ain’t my strong suit!

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When I was growing up, dinner was lunch. Supper was the early evening meal. No one even considered having dinner later than 6 p.m., unless it was a special occasion, like a ramp supper held by a local civic club or other fund-raising organization.

Ramps–now there’s an interesting topic. These variations of the wild onion were an interesting repast. They seemed to penetrate the skin. During ramp season, the only defense against a ramp-eater was to eat ramps yourself. In school, you couldn’t stand to be in a school in the early spring if you weren’t a ramp-eater. Otherwise, you couldn’t stand the smell. There are still ramp suppers in the Appalachians, notably in the area of Richwood, West Virginia, which has a ramp festival every spring. You can even order ramps via the Internet. I’ve gone into the woods as a child and picked ramps myself.

The regional variations in terminology for meals are interesting.

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I hear a whipporwill, out the back, window every night. When I was a kid, the night air would be filled with them.

I never heard of lunch until I started school.

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“Although “Reason” has a liberterian bias take it for what it is worth…”

Sorry Moderate, this even too cryptic for me! Do expound though.

Yes, “two sides” to the same numbers. But the devil is in the details.

And my suspicions were correct.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q04_ClDxRsk

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5qGhqbXsLM

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If we’re going to discuss bird calls from our youth on a music weekend…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvW6_-TP5cs

…get with the program.

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Hillbilly
A “wooded area” in my mind is one where the trees have been cut! A “woody” area, maybe, but even that just don’t mean what “the woods” means…and, to you, what’s the difference between the woods and a forest? Do you use “copse” and if so, what distingues it from a “stand?”

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Goodnight Irenes…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCf60f_sAA0&feature=related

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josef,

I’ve got to confess I like the version by the Cowboy Junkies better, but yes. I was messing around in my garden today and ran across a squirrel with a tail like a rabbit. The poor thing couldn’t jump a lick but it could find all sorts of ways to climb something and mock me. It gave me a few shivers of awe about the beauty of nature.

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Good one RW.

Hi/Bye @@.

night night all

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WW9T6mRkQA

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Here’s a map.

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A square mile is 640 acres. A 160 acre lot is a half by a half and a 40 acre lot is a quarter by a quarter (these are common lot sizes in north Georgia, although there are other sizes, too). That would give a little perspective to Christopher Robin’s view.

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Listening to “House At Pooh Corner” reminds me that their are no wild honey bees here anymore and very few tame ones.

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AmVet

May 22nd, 2010
9:38 pm
Moderate,

As I suspected, The MHSA data is not altogether without dispute. A great article that should be read in its entirety.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The article seems to support my conclusion because indicates that actual fines were up were proposed fines were down. Plus the article is from 2006 and the big jump came after that.
==========
BLOCK: But when MSHA responded, looking at the data, they said, and they have graphs to show this, that the average size of the actual fine, not the proposed fine, was up by nearly 38 percent in that same period, so how do you explain that?

Mr. BORENSTEIN: Well one of the statisticians that we talked to said its like we’re saying apples and they’re looking at it and saying, hey, here’s our oranges and they’re the same as apples. We looked at proposed fines, that’s in MSHA’s direct control, actual fines, what they call actual, which are final fines, are somewhat in MSHA’s control, but also in control of judges. So that’s the, that’s one of the major differences.
============================
administrative law judge with the independent Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission. An operator or miners’ representative who disagrees with any other enforcement action by MSHA also is entitled to a hearing. The administrative law judge’s decision can be appealed to the Commission, and thereafter, to the U.S. Court of Appeals.
http://www.msha.gov/mshainfo/factsheets/mshafct4.htm

Would judge law enforcement on how many people they arrest or how many they get convicted?

Good night.

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Another Bookman column rejoicing over the opportunity to slam-by-smear-and-innuendo the industries that keep us alive, heated, cooled, fed and lighted –well, how shocking is that — to hear a liberal damn the very industries on which his own life depends.

What this creep Bookman deserves is to be forced to live without the benefits made possibile by these industries. He deserves to be transported to the middle of some wilderness — say, the Amazon — and then released to fend for his miserable self against the forces of nature, which his pathetic, envy-riddled, hatred-eaten mentality would be powerless to resist.

Please, please Bookman — take a one way ticket to Cuba — or North Korea — or the still-communist portions of China — that is where you belong — in those hell-holes with your fellow haters of man’s mind and everything it makes possible.

That is what you deserve, Bookman. That would be justice.

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Jay@ 12:14: “So that projection is that if nothing changes, it will happen in …. 2055.

The problem is that we’re already in deficit spending and it is only getting worse. With the figures provided by Heritage, our receipts never go above 20% of GDP, yet in just 10 years we’re going to be spending 25% of GDP on government programs. Add in new debt caused by health care reform if it isn’t de-funded and/or changed back, and those deficits grow higher and faster.

At some point, spending on non-essentials has to stop, and all these useless boards and committees and agencies have to be shut down or streamlined to actually work.

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Blaring headline-

Huge N.J. crowd protests budget cuts

A crowd estimated at 30,000 to 35,000 people gathered Saturday near New Jersey’s Statehouse to protest Gov. Chris Christie’s proposed budget cuts.-Urinal

Buried in the article, hey, it’s an improvement from last time when the AJC didn’t even mention it-

It was mostly composed of public employee union members and several community and nonprofit groups that would lose some or all their funding if Christie’s plans are adopted.

“Government watch dogs,” eh?

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The candidate who on Tuesday won the special election in a Pennsylvania congressional district is right-to-life and pro-gun.

This candidate, Mark Critz, is a Democrat. -George Will, Urinal’s token Con

Campaigning like a Conservative and voting like a spineless squish liberal once they are elected, dummycrats, why would anyone believe a word they say?

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Why thats like campigning against nation-building and you wind up re-building not one but two countries with Americans tax dollars.

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It’s gonna be a nice day out there. You Trolls need to get some sun… Don’t stay in here all day (again)…

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The wood(s) is a hundred acres, or so says Christopher Robin.

But it stretches all the way to the North Pole.

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Souder was part of the House Republican class of 1994, when we began to hear the “family values” message reverberating through our political and religious landscapes… In the early 90s… I remember one afternoon in particular when I sneaked out of the dorms to go to the beach with my friends, six other Christian college students, most of whom were from out of town. The women were from prominent families. Their fathers were pastors of large conservative churches and Evangelical institutions. All of our parents were in the thick of planning for the Republican Revolution, armed with a pro-life, pro-abstinence, and anti-gay agenda. Most of these women were at a Bible college not because they were aspiring to have great careers in the church, but because they were hoping to find men with similar values so that they could become wives, mothers, and supporters their husbands’ careers… Their hopes were different from mine, and I often became frustrated by their willingness to place all their own career ambitions aside for a man. But they were clever, witty, and beautiful…

… we were all wearing bikinis, which was strictly against school rules… As we settled ourselves onto the towels… we began to talk about abortion. Abortion in those circles was akin to murder, so I was surprised to hear one woman quickly confess, “I would get one.” My ears perked as she explained, “I wouldn’t even think twice about it. If I got pregnant, it would ruin my father’s career. I would never tell my parents or anyone. I would just do it, as soon as I found out.” The chorus of women agreed…

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We will be using coal for a long time to come. Now is the time to make mining a lot more safer.

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Off Topic Post #… I lost track, 1, I think.

Sunday in the life’s huffpo link @ 8.56 got me thinking about the first site I go to when it comes to personal values issues, Pandagon.net. I saw a fabulous think piece about libertarian’s reach into mainstream right-wing thought that Amanda did in the wake of the Rand Paul flare-up that’s worth a look.

The headline, “Why Rand Paul Matters” doesn’t do it justice–it covers a lot more (values, the Commerce Clause, Public vs. Private, Freedom) than just the guy cruelly named after the chain smoking sociopathic skank.

A wee taste follows.

I think a lot of media people tend to think of libertarians mostly as a tiny minority of overprivileged twits who are relatively harmless with the power fantasies of what unbelievable sci-fi badasses they would be if the government just got rid of OSHA. But the folks who write for Reason and work for the Cato Institute aren’t really representative of libertarianism as it actually exists in most of the U.S. Because self-identified libertarians are a tiny minority doesn’t mean that libertarian thought doesn’t enjoy widespread popularity amongst conservative Republicans. Indeed, libertarianism is the primary intellectual justification in this country for resistance to most social justice movements. (I use the term “intellectual” loosely here, but you know what I mean.) It is also the primary intellectual justification for unchecked corporate power that leads to disasters like our collapsed economy and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. And I would argue that the existence of the Republican party today depends largely on people who are invested in the latter exploiting people invested in the former for support and votes.

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“Sen. Sanders: “Whether it is in banking, these guys have huge amounts of money, and the situation gets worse with the recent Citizens United Supreme Court decision, and anyone who stands up to the big money interests can expect a huge amount of 30 second ads against them. That’s the reality. Are we a Democracy, or are we an Oligarchy where the very powerful special interests exert enormous influence over our Government?”

Ratigan: “What’s your answer to that question?”

Sen. Sanders: “I think we’re an Oligarchy and I think it’s getting worse.”

Oh, it will get much worse.

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One of the fundamental flaws with the “family values Republican flock” is that they cannot bring themselves to admit ever making a mistake. Whatever happens, it is always someone else’s fault or else it was just God’s will or something else. Of course, an even bigger flaw is that they cannot “see” this. Even when they’re caught with their pants down or whatever, their response is, in so many words, something to the effect that others were just out to get them or something similar. Then again, they do all seem to look a lot like Jim and Tammy Faye, et al. Perhaps it was God’s will after all.

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Three cheers for the people of Kentucky.

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“Dad, I’m in some trouble. There’s been an accident and you’re going to hear all sorts of things about me from now on. Terrible things.”

Ted Kennedy.

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“Missed you at last night’s “singalong”!”

AmVet, re:your 12:16: I don’t appreciate music in the way that you and Jay and others do. I like what I like, but what I like is pretty narrow in scope and sound, therefore, you won’t see me participate in Friday night’s conversations very much.

Movies and TV, now then you’ll get me typing!

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“Indeed, libertarianism is the primary intellectual justification in this country for resistance to most social justice movements.”

stands, this is the most ignorant statement regarding libertarianism I have ever read. Obviously written by someone who has never read nor practiced the political persuasion.

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Kamchak, each side has their fears.

The right fears the ignorant majority who tries to take what they earn. They fear people who do not act socially in a way they want them to. They fear groups obtaining power over their actions.

The left fears losing power over others. They fear the educated and the principled.

Both sides operate out of fear, and both use it to their advantage.

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The right fears the ignorant majority who tries to take what they earn.

If they take as much as what people gripe about, I don’t think ignorant is the adjective that I would use to describe them. That seems like pure genius to me. If they get away with paying “no taxes” and still get a refund on top of that, that’s more genius than ignorant.

However, if the financial geniuses (like Madoff) take money from that same group, you hear nary a peep about it, except for a few. Those geniuses who make people look like idiots are worshipped and lauded, even after case after case turns up. They all do the same thing, yet people are willing to give them money in hopes of that “quick dollar” that never will materialize.

When you really think about it, I think you described the wrong group as ignorant.

Just sayin…

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Dave R.

I agree that fear has it’s political advantages, but fear is all that le petit caporal has. Even his obsession with sex is his way of saying that THE PERVERTS ARE COMING!

While fear is used by all political parties, I believe the negatives far outweigh any advances made by using this tool.

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SoCo, it doesn’t take genius to herd together and force your will through sheer numbers.

You might just as well be describing a herd of cows stampeding through your town. Powerful, but not very bright.

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Dave

Sheer numbers?!!? That whole argument about “people” not paying taxes but getting money in return usually refers to people of color. For 13-16% of the total population to force their will by sheer numbers IS genius. How else would you describe a super minority of the population forcing their will upon the rest of us. You also have to remember that only a percentage of that 13-16% fits that description of not paying taxes. It’s a stampede alright, about a 100 cow stampede trampling over New York City.

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but we do not remain equal based upon our choices and actions in life.

So, if I’d made the right choices, I could play basketball like Michael Jordan or throw a baseball like Nolan Ryan?

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“does the person who puts in 40 hours a week at McDonalds not deserve some kind of healthcare coverage?”

SoCo, no, they don’t DESERVE coverage. Healthcare is not a right. They need to work harder and learn more so that they are no longer capable of only being employed at McDonalds. They DESERVE whatever they are willing to work for.

“So, if I’d made the right choices, I could play basketball like Michael Jordan or throw a baseball like Nolan Ryan?”

Hillbilly, your ACTIONS and choices would have determined that. Those two didn’t just happen, they worked harder and used what they were born with to get to greatness. But no matter what they were born with, they could never have succeeded in their chosen professions without hard work and dedication.

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But no matter what they were born with, they could never have succeeded in their chosen professions without hard work and dedication.

Agreed, that they worked very hard to get where they got. However, I could have worked 24/7 and I’d never have reached the level they did because I didn’t have the God-given athletic talent that they did. To think otherwise is fantasy.

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…because I didn’t have the God-given athletic talent that they did.

Well, obviously God doesn’t love you.

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I heard Ron Paul’s son was nicknamed Rayndy. Probably just another rumor.

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Well, obviously God doesn’t love you.

But He does. He loves us all.

I’m off to enjoy the outdoors. Y’all have fun.

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So, one of the Republican messages is that all people working in lowly food handling, preparation and serving jobs don’t deserve to be healthy and uneducated.

I doubt some folks actually think through the implications. Then again, as long as no one else ever touches your food… who cares!

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eyes:

I’ve been reading that it’s the Japanese people that want the base gone. The PM has been playing to their sentiments. Doesn’t matter now though….reality has hit….it was a midget torpedo.

I’m headed south for the day.

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“We should all be paid $7.50 an hour.”

SC–In case you forgot, that economic system has been tried numerous times, with the same results every time: a low standard of living for everyone except for the politically connected. China and the former Soviet Union are prime examples of why making everyone “equal” doesn’t work. No need to debate theory or even compassion here, we have actual experience to go by.

P.S. Too bad you missed Friday Night Music. We had a small section on white guys who sing like black guys.

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It saved me from reading any further prevarications

I’ve learned to skip most anything addressing the blog host as “Bookman.”

9 times out of 10 they’re whiny, jealous jerks who are filled with rage that someone gets paid to do what they think they could do, oh, like fifty times better, really!

Seriously don’t like anyone who’s that disrespectful–and yeah, goes for left wing louts who pull that kind of stuff over at Kyle’s joint as well.

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Bruno said, The reality remains that anyone with sufficient motivation can achieve success in this country, all of your hand-wringing aside.

American remains the country in which one can dream to do better. However, it is a myth to say that b>everyone is capable of realizing that dream. Environmental issues and circumstance are a factor in whether one can indeed succeed or not. When I was learning to be an educator, I was taught to consider “affective” factors in formulating a lesson plan or syllabus. “If you do not take into account the internalized individual syllabi, “I was told “You will miss so many students.” And again, as I have mentioned earlier, try as I may, my endeavors will not add three inches to my height and allow me to do a slam dunk.

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Bruno

That $7.50 an hour was my attempt at political sarcasm. I’m not able to do sarcasm too well. I understand the differences between capitalism and communism a bit. I was just not feeling that if someone busts their a$$ at Micky D’s for 40 hours a week, they don’t deserve some kind of healthcare coverage.

People from all walks of life praise the capitalist system, yet they fail to realize how vital the little people are to the system. The minimum wagers as well as the “middle class” are what makes this country’s economy so great. The real middle class ($40k-$150k a year) are the one’s shopping at Wal Mart, Target, Home Depot, etc… and eating at Micky D’s, Burger King, and such. That provides those minimum wagers employment. Their employment gives those owners/stockholders the profits they so desire. They, in turn, put some money back into the system in areas that benefit middle class workers (autos, homes, etc…). Then the cycle repeats.

If you remove a spoke from that wheel, it ceases to become a complete circle. Then you end up with a collapsing system. That’s part of the problem we’re facing now. Instead of continuing this class warfare we’re fighting, we need to straighten out our problems to return some stability to the cycle. By far, the largest hurdle is to find areas where jobs can be created. We’ve shipped so many out, there’s not too many areas left to expand here.

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Well, the Rev. Postlewaite sure cut loose on the libruls this a.m. I bet him and this Dave R. would get along reat. The Rev. Postlewaite said if people are poor or ain’t doing good it’s either because they’re lazy bums or else God don’t like them. He still ain’t as good as the Rev. Jim Bob Buice was, but he’s getting better. And people can’t hold it against the Rev. Postlewaite just because the police found the Rev. Jim Bob buck-nekkid in the bushes with that boy.

Anyhow, it’s my birthday. I got a nice voice mail from some guy running for the state senate and wishing me a happy birthday. And my dentist sent me a e-mail and said next time I got my tooth cleaned he’d give me five bucks off. What a nice man.

Anyhow, no need for people to be on here fussing and fighting. Get outside and enjoy this sunshine. You might could meet some nice people like this Dave R. and enjoy yourself. Maybe you could compare notes about how you built your own schoolhouse and hired your own teachers and built your own roads and stuff and never relied on anybody else to be a big success.

Have a good day everybody.

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“When I was learning to be an educator, I was taught to consider “affective” factors in formulating a lesson plan or syllabus. “If you do not take into account the internalized individual syllabi, “I was told “You will miss so many students.”

I’m not sure how exactly you “considered the affective factors”, but you may have been doing your students a grave disservice by accommodating the lesson plans to them and not insisting it be the other way around. Why do I say that? Because once these kids hit the work world, the accommodation stops and they are expected to conform to established standards. I’m not sure of other employers’ experiences, but the youngest generation I’m working with is almost unmanageable.

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eyes
I’ve read several of those twin studies as well. Interesting findings. I have been particularly interested in those that look at the access afforded each and the relative degree of their “success.” I make a to-do here over the various labels born in this household and, yet, at the same time I would be considered “successful” by the terms of discussion here. I would like to say it only goes to show what diligence in “overcoming” those labels can result in. The simple fact of the matter is that one, I was born into privilege as luck of the draw, and two I can easily “pass” into the mainstream, again luck of the draw. Both combine to give me access. Someone who may be far more intelligent and far harder working born into poverty and marked by physical characteristics separating them into a class apart from the mainstream will have that same access limited by “the luck of the draw.”

The first step in overcoming a problem is to admit there is a problem.

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Bruno, perhaps I assumed that everyone understood affective factors. Let me explain. For example, let’s say you are blind. Your blindness will certainly affect how you will learn. I am NOT talking about changing what you will learn – that, indeed, would be a disservice. Let’s make it simple and I will use “teacherese” that all can appreciate. You are, likely aware, that we all respond to different stimuli to various degrees. Thus, some of us are more inclined to respond to a visual approach, oral/aural approach or a tactile approach. A teacher realizes these things, teaches the same content to all, but may provide an example in a slightly different way to ensure that all students are reached.

Finally, socio-economic status, cultural mores, and environment are affective factors.

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RW, it is called a job. When the job ends, you go home. Or it is called military service. In my case, the Air Force reassigned me from Hokkaido, Japan to the NSA headquarters in Maryland. That OK with you?

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“Finally, socio-economic status, cultural mores, and environment are affective factors.”

I was with you until you moved away from physical, documentable differences among people which affect learning ability (blindness, etc.), and crossed into nebulous, non-definable, perceptual differences between people that shouldn’t affect learning ability. Furthermore, whatever cultural mores a child learns at home are ultimately unimportant, because society at large has its own mores which trump those of the individual in a workplace environment.

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“Yes, I know. It’s hard to teach young people today how to kick the dog and stomp on people when they’re down and cheat without being caught. I don’t know what’s to become of us.”

Disgusted–You got anything in your arsenal other than personal attacks on people you’ve never met? Like maybe actual debating skills? Didn’t think so.

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Yes, SoCo was born into a priviledged status–a land owning, small town, educated family with strong moral and religious values, a host of good male role models who showed both the right and wrong way to do things…

Thought I’d help you out just a bit. I’m also of the darker skinned group. I still get a chuckle out of the stereotypical reactions I get from people when I’m not in uniform. I tend to not dress in the yuppie middle-class type dress. I’m a baggy jeans and tshirt kinda guy.

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SoCo
That correction on male role models is well taken. The same here, My father was “what not to do.” His brother was what to do.

Being of the darker skinned and the chuckles you get from “expectations” based on spot-on. Back in the old days when Unmentionable and I would go bar-hopping, we had to deal with being turned back at the door because we “looked like” two straight men and “why do you want to come in here?” Neither one of us being practicioners of public displays of affection, we had to, well, “show our membership cards.”

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“That’s why I love music so much. Soul has no color, and it’s up to the individual interpretation. Either you have it or you don’t.”

I’ll second your nomination of Michael McDonald into the soul section, SC.

Maybe you can help me get my point across to josef and eyes regarding “accommodation”. In my clinic, I treat everyone exactly the same–same level of respect, same set of expectations communicated, same lingo used regardless of skin color. In return, I get a lot of positive feedback from the “darker-skinned” clients for treating them as people, as individuals, and not as members of some “group” which requires “accommodation”. I don’t think I’d get the same response if I tried to “ebono-cize” my approach. I’m a cracker and can’t pretend to be otherwise.

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Bruno–
What you are talking about IS accomodation. It’s called good manners in a professional environment. The old folks (and I sometimes catch myself saying the same thing) always said, “how may I accomodate you?” It simply means to make comfortable and is relative to the conditions of the situation.

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josef–Same scenario for any gay clients who come my way. Same level of respect, same expectations, same lingo–and the same gratitude in return for not letting unimportant differences intrude into our relationship. You have told me yourself that you like the fact that I don’t see you as a “gay man”–I see you as a “man”, period. Who cares about whatever else goes with it? I think that we would have a better society if we could drop the whole “group identity” thing, Northerner/Southerner being one of them. Your counterargument seems to be that these differences can’t go away, and should actually be “accommodated”.

Can you see my point here, jo? Why feed the monster?

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Bruno
In the best of all possible worlds…of course…but that accomodation is a two way street…I have to accomodate myself to that which is as institutionalized in our social structure…I’ll get back with you on the northern-Southern thing, but I would venture that no small part of that is that in this instance you are the target and want to be accomodated…once we accept the basic premise that one is a man or a woman, a human individual, what kind of comes into the equation and no small part of that what kind of is relative to the social factors which came with the luck of the draw…

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Bruno, yes, I too appreciate the speak TO the person, rather that AT him, approach that we have all managed today.

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“I’ll get back with you on the northern-Southern thing, but I would venture that no small part of that is that in this instance you are the target and want to be accomodated…”

josef–My greater point is why should birthplace be considered such an important difference that “accommodation” is required in the first place? Speaking of which, I’ve never asked anyone here in the South to change their accent or diet or anything else to “accommodate” me. All I expect is good manners, which are somehow excused if the birthplaces are different in the minds of many self-styled “Southerners”.

“In the best of all possible worlds…of course”

So why not work toward that “best of all possible worlds” by minimizing the differences between us, rather than aggrandizing and institutionalizing those differences??

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“It would appear that we are not doing a good job of communicating. Let me try again. First, the so called “affective” factors are of various types, and it is beyond the scope of this blogosphere for me to do an adequate representation of them all.”

In case you forgot, eyes, the word “doctor” means “teacher” in Latin. Our jobs are not dissimilar, though I teach only one subject all day: health. I have the same considerations and face the same challenges every day that you teachers do. Except I have to be the teacher and principal all rolled into one.

I understand your point, and am only trying to illustrate that “accommodation” can be a double-edged sword.

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In my world, each person is responsible for their own destiny, health and education included. It’s not a matter of “deserving” or “not deserving”–those terms only apply to people who don’t have the physical or mental capacity to care for themselves. The reality remains that anyone with sufficient motivation can achieve success in this country, all of your hand-wringing aside.

Cough, Cough, went the food preparer. Hack, Hack, went the food server. Sneeze, sneeze, went the food handler. Too bad they simply do not deserve basic health care that cannot be rescinded or cancelled when it is needed. Oh well. All they need is a little motivation.

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AmVet, so why does obozo want to take him out of the race?

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Expectations=Preordained disappointments

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FOX News must condemn Gingrich’s statement and stop giving him a paid platform for promoting this view. FOX News must condemn Gingrich’s statement and stop giving him a paid platform for promoting this view.

We will have a 3rd party president before that happens. Don’t hold your breath…

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“Too bad they simply do not deserve basic health care that cannot be rescinded or cancelled when it is needed. Oh well. All they need is a little motivation.”

To A Gloomy Day In The Life of a Democrat:

Basic health care is available to every American, regardless of income. You are confusing health care with health care insurance. Two different creatures. I don’t carry health insurance, and am happy to pay out of pocket for the minimal care I have needed.

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Stanley Cup Finals, just sayin, mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!

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Off Topic #2:

Just back for a drive-by; wondering how many Bookmaniacs got sucked into a commitment watching Lost all these years, who are committed to the 9-11.30pm extravaganza tonight?

I might be back later, otherwise, a pleasant evening to all and to all a pleasant evening.

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Basic health care is available to every American, regardless of income. You are confusing health care with health care insurance. Two different creatures. I don’t carry health insurance, and am happy to pay out of pocket for the minimal care I have needed.

What! Do you expect sick food servers and food handlers and food preparers to be able to afford to take time off from work . No. They’ll just try not to drip too many of their germs on your meal. After all, it’s not like they deserve any better.

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I don’t carry health insurance, and am happy to pay out of pocket for the minimal care I have needed.

I have not needed health insurance either. What’s your point.

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Just watched a fantastic special on PBS about Lena Horne. Though her music predated me and was not really my thing, wow what a talent! And a really important American. She suffered great personal loss, was one of the last people to see Medgar Evers alive, was blackballed by the McCarthy scumbags, but through it all kept singing that beautiful music.

Normal, as for Gingrich, he clearly is a nut case. Notwithstanding his bookish intellect. And his long track record of philandering, lying and lacking moral courage and integrity is well documented. I suspect even he doesn’t believe the disgusting comparisons he posits but makes BIG money by keeping the ever-enraged fringe he once led, very, very afraid.

Sensationalist, salacious stupidity.

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AmVet

Sorry to have missed the Lena Horne special. I’m a long time fan.Will try and catch it in repeat.

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Not indicative of her career, but what the hell, it’s a laugh…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0TyUOJfpQo

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Del

Love that hot Asian…may be on the menu here tonight. Unmentionable is buddies with the guy who has the Chinese place up the street and Sunday is usually take out from there…but take out prepared for the Cajun palate! Mmmmm! Good stuff…

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AmVet

You ain’t nobody until you’ve made a guest appearance there, in my opinion!

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Del, where is your wife from? My wife is an “original”, straight from Japan.

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In reading through the earlier discussion today, I was reminded of a boy who grew up across the road from me. He was a couple years older than me and his Daddy had a low level job at a dairy. The family lived in a rundown house that the dairy owner owned, in sort of a tenant farmer situation.

They didn’t have much but the whole family worked hard at whatever they could to get along. This boy worked all through school, from the time he was old enough, and managed to graduate from high school but just barely. He was one of those people that nobody talks about, in that he just couldn’t do well at school work. He tried the best he could but he just could never do more than the minimum.

Of course, there were those that made fun of him because he struggled in school or because his clothes weren’t nice, though they were always clean. But he managed to get his diploma and he got married and had a couple of kids. He worked 2 jobs most of the time and sometimes more. Although he never did have a good paying job, he did manage to live a little better than he had as a boy.

And then one day, when he was in his middle or late 20’s (I forget exactly when), he was driving down the highway and somebody ran a stop sign and hit him. He and his entire family were killed.

Every time one of these discussions come up, I always think about him and puzzle over it. To this day, I really don’t see what more he could have done or what choices he could have made, that would have made things any better for him.

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Josef

I think it’s one of those things we aren’t supposed to understand. But anytime I hear somebody say that you just need to work harder or get educated and you’ll succeed, I always think of him. I’m not against hard work, I’ve done more than my share, and I’m not against education, in many cases it is a leg up but it’s not a guaranteed road.

There was a time in this country, if you were physically fit and willing to work, you could get a factory job or something and make your way but that’s getting harder and harder to do. We’ve sent most of those type jobs overseas.

I don’t know the answer but I don’t think we need to just write off the lower whatever percentile. There but for the Grace of God go I and it’s the same for everybody else whether they acknowledge it or not.

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Bill Shipp once referred to the Lottery as “lower class people sending middle class kids to college”. There’s some truth in that, in my opinion.

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Hillbilly
I’m going out on a limb here and will probably regret it. I’ve been in an exchange in a St. Elsewhere with someone who wants us Southerners to “jus fah-git ’bout it.” Your post brings, at least to me, a clarity as to why it is we continue to be so obsessed as a culture with the gothic and seemingly meaningless futility of it all. Just because we don’t know the answer is no reason not to contemplate it and, as you say, there but for the grace of G-d go I. In the long run, no matter who we are or how “successful” we are, the conqueror worm…and yet, if that be the case, then what was the purpose of it all to begin with…?

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Wrong, Redneck, we knew it was a fairy.

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The truth about the lottery is: you haven’t grown up until you stop buying lottery tickers. That’s the right of passage to adulthood in this country: You quit thinking that God will reward you for being “good”.

Try helping others. The path to success is paved with the lives you understand.

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Josef

In spite of what people who’ve read my posts might think, I don’t spend all that much time thinking about it but when the subject comes up, I’m not going to back away from it. To deny who you are and what you come from, is to dishonor those who paved the way for you. What would any of us be without our parents, grandparents or whoever helped mold us along the way? The generations before me (especially the 2 immediate ones) worked like dogs so that I’d have an easier road. So I embrace what I am, warts and all. My folks weren’t always angels and neither were anybody else’s if they know enough to know. If the truth hurts, let it hurt as an ancestor of mine used to say.

So the Southerners won’t forget our roots, just as the Armenians won’t forget the Turks, the Irish won’t forget Cromwell, the slaves, in whatever part of the world they were held in bondage, won’t forget the slave masters, and on and on. It’s part of being human.

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Balls

“Surely you have a clue. Do tell. We’re all listening.”

Not that I would feel comfortable discussing with you.

Curious Observer..
I’ve thought that myself…! But, then, don’t forget what happened to Hulga in “Good Country People…”

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Theyeshaveit,

Ethnic Chinese form the Indochinese Hmong. Been in U.S. a long time and educated here.

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Jindal took over and said sc rew the fed.

They are building barriers.

These cajuns are pi ssed off.

Mention obama might get you hurt down here.

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Jindal took over and said sc rew the fed.

Mention obama might get you hurt down here.

Did you ever see a Cajun when he really got mad
When he really got trouble like a daughter gone bad
It gets real hot down in Louisiana
The stranger better move it or he’s gonna get killed
He’s gonna have to get it or a shotgun will
It ain’t no time for lengthy speeches
There ain’t no time for lengthy speeches.

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“Or are you out to deny us all a little fun, that’s F-U-N? ”

Isn’t that the definition of Puritanism: the fear that someone, somewhere might be having fun?

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Disgusted…
Beat me to it!

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It’s fun, okay? F-U-N…lottery players, and I do nothing more than the scratch offs and even that on a whim, are not spending the grocery money on lottery tickets any more than beer, cigarettes, and any number of vices we tax the snot out of…you certainly have a low opinion of your fellow man to think that they’re so “ignorant.” Please! Okay, Unmentionable brings in a bottle of the high end vino…but that’s okay, right? A weekend at the Gulf Coast or a Convention in Las Vegas are okay, right? Or are you out to deny us all a little fun, that’s F-U-N?

In other words, I was spot on with my assumption that you were indeed uttering, “Let them eat cake.” Further, I hardly assumed anything regarding the ignorance of some of my fellow man. If I had been, I would have made that point in my earlier post.

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Frustrated Louisianans took the oil cleanup into their own hands Sunday, heading out in boats to lay protective booms around a bird sanctuary threatened by a black tide.

“Our crews are out there laying the absorbent boom,” he said, adding that he couldn’t understand why BP and the Coast Guard weren’t doing more to protect his coastal parish.

I know! I know!

Just sayin…

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WASHINGTON — In a newly released video, Anwar al-Awlaki, the Muslim cleric believed to be an inspiration for a series of recent terrorism plots, justifies the mass killing of American civilians and taunts the authorities to come find him in Yemen.

“Those who could have been killed in that plane are a drop in the sea,” Mr. Awlaki said, in a translation provided by the Site Intelligence Group, which monitors statements by jihadists. “And we should treat them the same way they treat us and attack them the same way they attack us.”

Osama has competition. Yemen ain’t THAT big.

Latitude/Longitude
15º 24′ N, 044º 14′ E

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…”A Rose for Emily” is real and I know the family…

I had no idea that there was a real basis for this Faulkner story, josef, although my area of expertise is not American literature. The ending of that story is absolutely horrific and surprising. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. Just finished reading the latest Emory Magazine, in which a scholar discusses a long plantation journal that served as the basis for part of Faulkner’s collection Go Down, Moses. The journal apparently fascinated Faulkner, who was a friend and a hunting partner of the owner. According to one of the descendants of the journal owner, Faulkner would peruse its pages and curse the writer of it over its details about slavery. Yoknapatawpha County was fictional, but many of its events weren’t.

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I may not be a big fan of either Paul, but I could go for this.

Mr. Paul has said that, if elected, one of his first demands will be that Congress print the constitutional justification on any law is passes

Make it clear and concise too. No political jibberish.

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Mr. Paul has said that, if elected, one of his first demands will be that Congress print the constitutional justification on any law it passes.

I suppose that the Supreme Court is useless to Dr. Paul as the final arbiter of what laws are constitutional. Or does Dr. Paul consider the Supreme Court as extra-constitutional?

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Okay. Whatever. Qu’ils mangent de la brioche? Maintenant, êtes-vous heureux?

Saddened. You chose to take time to reply but you never once addressed my issue of simply paying the 868 million as a tax and leaving the rest of the money in the hands of those most in need of it. Where’s the F-U-N in that.

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Curious:

Beats having the laws operational until SCOTUS rules them unconstitutional. I wanna know what motivates them to pile laws upon laws.

I’m willing to bet there are a whole lot of ‘em that wouldn’t get passed if they had to explain their reasons prior to the vote.

I’m a curious sort too, CO.

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SunDay–

I simply don’t grasp your logic…I asked what happened to the other 75% and was not being snarky. That falls under the category of accountability and I have not myself looked at the books. I was hoping that you might provide some insight there. It was when you went off on those who play the lottery and impugning their character with stereotypes that I took issue and said what I did about fun. Government agency accountability and misappropriation of funds is one thing. Tacky comments about lottery players is another.

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Bruno

One branch of my family were Dutch settlers in NYC in the 1650’s. They stayed there awhile then moved into NJ somewhere in the Trenton area. One of the collateral (uncles) ancestors was the first mayor of Trenton. They then migrated into the Montgomery County, Pennsylvania area and into Delaware. They were living on both of the river during the Revolution. Five brothers (one of whom was my Gr-gr-gr-gr-great Grandpa) served in the Continental Army, and all survived the War. After the war, my aforementioned ancestor was killed at St Clair’s Defeat in 1791, in the service of the U S Army. His children were sent to Tennessee to live with a brother who had already migrated there. By the early 1830’s, they had found their way here.

Ironically the cycle repeated, as my Great, Great Grandpa (Great Grandson of the Continental soldier) and 4 of his brothers were in the Confederate Army. He was the only one of those 5 who survived the war. He also had 3 more siblings and a brother in law who died between 1860 and 1870, at least 2 of them as a direct result of the war. So of 14 kids (he and his siblings), 7 of them died during the war or shortly thereafter.

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Josef,

I am sitting here thinking about the words of you and Bruno and HillBilly. Bruno presents the case that each person is largely responsible for his own achievements in life. You feel that because we are not all born in equal circumstances, those born into good care and financial secuirty have a “leg up” on success. Although I certainly see the logic of both arguments, I tend to lean toward Bruno’s conclusion and even part of yours.

While I look at the children of lesser beginng assets, I see that many rise above that status. Then I look at the children of the rich and those in substanial comfort and I find that many of their offspring fail miserably in life. So why did the rich not succeed and the poor succeed or vice versa? Because of their personal efforts and stubborness to succeed whether rich or poor.

Perhaps my “statistics’ are not accurate but the news reports of criminals often mentions that he came from a “good home” or is the son of the CEO of some big company. But, anyway, I am back to strength of character and direction may outweigh even big obstacles.

HILLBILLY, I think the man in your story was a man of great character and perserverance. Seems he never gave up. I don’t doubt that he was a happy man. Hard work is not evil, as some seem to think, It may have some satisfaction.

As to his ending, I can’t explain that or other tragedies that beset so many people who have done nothing to cause it. Survivors of such tragedies are sometimes made stronger. Sometimes not. I would bring the thought of faith and grace here. Many have found comfort with those two.

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josef,

What does it matter what happened to the other 75%. The key point is that only 25% of the proceeds goes toward education. The remainder obviously goes out as winnings to a handful of those that purchased tickets and toward administrative costs. So, the more cost effective approach would be to simply pay the damn tax. Then again, where’s the fun in that. It’s much more fun to get back 1/4 of what is paid in. As for your claim that I impugned someone’s character, back it up and I’ll address your specifics. Otherwise, you simply come across as a grouch who got his feelings hurt.

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Dusty

My point in telling that story wasn’t the way he died. That’s just one of those things that we’ll never know in this life. The point I was trying to make is, had he lived and not had the accident, I don’t think he would have been able to improve his financial standing, much if at all, no matter what he did.

It was aimed at those, not you by the way, who say people would all be comfortable, if not for a lack of effort. Sometimes, that’s just not the case.

And yes, he was a good man and pleasant to be around, for those who took the time to look past his finances.

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Joe nix: Not comfy? About what? A debate is a debate. If you’re not comfy, then why parry the proposition?

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Well, I’ve got to have the electricity to blog! It’s dangerous work, but those that do it consider themselves lucky to be able to put food on the table. Certainly ever effort should be made to make it as safe as possible and violators of safety rules should be prosecuted.

Isn’t it the responsibility of Congress to impeach all these federal judges that members claim are legislating from the bench?

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