Gone fishing … literally
If anybody needs to find me over the next week or so, here’s where I’ll be.
Oh, and you’re going to need a helicopter or a whitewater raft to get there.
Photo by R. Dobkin
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
5,196 comments Add your comment
Uncle Jed
July 24th, 2011
4:37 pm
Dave R.
July 24th, 2011
4:32 pm
Fishin’? For a solid week?
I mean, I’d have trouble doing any one thing for a week at a time, but fishin’?
Really?
++++++++++++
Need to borrow a pair of glasses and a decoder ring?
(see 4:15)
pogo
July 24th, 2011
4:39 pm
Obama is now being revealed for exactly what he is; he is the equivalent of some rich kid that whose sponsor keeps telling the schools and the universities he attends to make sure that the he succeeds, no matter how unqualified or how unprepared he might be. And all the time, the sponsor’s only wish is to use the kid to further it’s own interests. Obama is a naieve pawn being used by his sponsor’s in a very serious game. Is Obama intelligent? I think he is. Did he ever posess the qualities that are necessary to make a good leader? No way. He is not a leader and he is has made our country seem even weaker than it really is. The country is ready to flush him for the failed experiment he is. Layoffs are increasing and he does nothing but continue to spend.
josef
July 24th, 2011
4:44 pm
I been looking at the Imam’s Ansel Adams’ photo shop. What they doin’ with them lawn chairs out there in the wild? Sumpin’ ain’t right there…
carlosgvv
July 24th, 2011
4:45 pm
josef
A great many of the Jews who were about to be herded into the gas chambers at the death camps prayed to God too. They got no answer and were far more than pissed off in their last moments.
Dusty
July 24th, 2011
4:55 pm
BRUNO
I was wondering if you had ever done any work with Doctors Without Borders. Their organization sounds like it does a lot of good work and very efficiently. I was most impressed when they had portable ORs they used in Haiti among other things. Their health providers go around the world and often in some very distressed places. I’m amazed at the volunteers they attract.
josef
July 24th, 2011
4:55 pm
Carlos
It’s interesting that you should bring up the Shoah. That is a question that everyone who identifies self as a Jew has to come to terms with at some point or another. With 2000 years of experience, it’s not a new question to us, just the latest chapter. The mistake you make, though, is that Judaism does not look for “salvation” from humanity’s inhumanity, but for an explanation thereof and a quest for justice.
I have had the opportunity/blessing of working closely with survivors of the Shoah. It has always been a bit of a conumdrum to me how many of them who lost children, parents, siblings and saw their entire communities slaughtered who have maintained their faith. I’m not sure I could. But, too, you must remember that Judaism permits, nay encourages, its adherents to be pissed off at G-d.
It is a religion for the here and now and not pie in the sky by and by.
@@
July 24th, 2011
4:56 pm
Christopher Hitchens really nailed the American left in this video.
According to Hitchens, those who went along unknowingly are harmless twits. How many on jay’s team fit that bill?
carlosgvv
July 24th, 2011
5:06 pm
Joseph
So, have you gotten an explanation for all that horror inflicted on all those people and, were all those murdering Nazi’s brought to justice? If my religion for “the here and now” would allow millions of my fellow adherents to be brutally murdered, I think I would find a new religion.
Dusty
July 24th, 2011
5:09 pm
Ah Josef,
You said: (Judaism) is a religion for here and now and not pie in the sky by and by.
Would you not consider that to have both of the above is a far better thing? Are not the Jews expecting a saving one to come but don’t believe he has come yet?
“Pie in the sky” is a little light for salvation but it has a ring to it.
Thomas
July 24th, 2011
5:13 pm
“Keep telling yourself how much richer and more powerful you are than I am if it makes you feel better about that fact that you can’t win a debate on an anonymous blog.”
You never stated the debate. Never said I was rich. One can become very poor hiring folks. Not much into anonymous blogothons where the end result is massive deflection and name calling.
Man up- put some $ up and let’s go. Until then, enjoy your time as humanities professor.
pogo
July 24th, 2011
5:13 pm
As I see it, the world is one heck of a mess. On the one hand if a country doesn’t cater to Islamic law then they are targeted as being infidels and become targets for Islamic inspired terrorism. And if they do give into Islam (as many of the European countries have and it appears that the US is now doing), then citizen terrorists rise up. Quite a conundrum isn’t it? Either way, we are all targets for psychos and unfortunately, there appears to be an endless supply of them out there (as if we didn’t already have enough problems) who are willing to kill human beings. Sad world we live in.
They BOTH suck
July 24th, 2011
5:14 pm
@@
Nice vid on Hitchens……..
You also know that he is an atheist who says that organized religion is “intolerant, violent and racists……..”, right?/
Figured in your quest to be “fair and balanced”…… you wouldn’t want to leave out anything
Thomas
July 24th, 2011
5:18 pm
Did you attend last years National gathering in Detroit?
Uh no Kam- just got back in from Portland though. Were you in Detroit?
They BOTH suck
July 24th, 2011
5:21 pm
@@
How about what Hitchens said about Republicans and Christians?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l4bN5c3RfA
josef
July 24th, 2011
5:21 pm
Carlos
No, I do not have an explanation. And why limit it to Jews, Hitler and the Shoah? The story of mankind is punctuated by just such. Why? There is some fatal flaw in our evolution which we have yet to truly address in either religious or secular terms. Both just “accept it.” You and I sit here ensconced in comfort while millions are dying in the Horn of Africa. The question is not does G-d give a sh*t, but do we. And, no, we do not. Neither your anger nor my acquiescence means a thing there in the here and now.
DUSTY
But as to the question of the Messiah. The Christian and the Jewish interpretations are quite different. The Jewish “savior” is not some conductor with a ticket to Nirvana, but a very earthly one who “saves” us as a people, and by extension, us as a species.
Well, you know a Christian IS a Jew with an insurance policy!
@@
July 24th, 2011
5:23 pm
They BOTH suck:
You also know that he is an atheist who says that organized religion is “intolerant, violent and racists……..”, right?/
Yeah, I knew…doesn’t everyone? I know some atheists personally, like ‘em too. We talk about a lot of things…religion just isn’t one of ‘em. It’s not intentional…a person is more than his faith.
We have an atheist attending our church…not sure why, but HEY!!! all are welcome. Nice guy!
Kamchak
July 24th, 2011
5:26 pm
Were you in Detroit?
Good heavens no. I’m not much of a joiner, though the secretary of the Atlanta chapter has been after me to join since before he was elected. I spoke to him about the propensity of some posters to name drop using MENSA — seems that MENSA holds a dim view of members using the name in public forums in political discussions. He emailed me a link to a section in the by-laws but since it was a members only thing, I couldn’t access it.
Dusty
July 24th, 2011
5:27 pm
Uncle Jed,
Bookman’s fishing expedition? NIce picture he left but……I doubt that he wants to portray an accurate location and some doofus showing up from the blog.
I suspect he is on a deep sea fishing boat off the coast of Cape Hatteras with a baited line trailing behind while he throws beer bottles at the sea gulls.
Now that’s a real fishing trip, none of this throwing “flies” and sloshing around in wading boots. I can swat flies at home much cheaper.
Dusty
July 24th, 2011
5:38 pm
Well, JOSEF, as you know we believe we have already passed through God as human, the son of God in fact. We believe he came and died for everybody not just certain people. Our chosen people are “every man”.
As to Nirvana, that may be a term at synagogue but I’ve never heard it at church. Buddhist maybe?
carlosgvv
July 24th, 2011
5:40 pm
Josef
I don’t mean any disrespect to you, but I must call this one as I see it. It Jews don’t have a heaven, and if the Jewish God has made it abundately clear, as in the Holocaust, that He could not possibly care less about them, then why they still worship Him is a mystery to me.
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
July 24th, 2011
5:45 pm
Well, things was hopping at the Ryans in Dawsonville. I guess the manager can just write up a loss for the week. The missus about cleaned them out. That woman sure can eat.
I’m just sorry folks here got nothing better to do than fuss about the Bible or religion. There’s all kind of stuff going on that they could talk about. Like the hybrid animals they’re making in the labs—part human and part animal. I read someplace that they got 15 diffrent hybrids already. I expect it’s just a way to break us in to eating people. Next on the menu will be something like a hucow or maybe a huhog. After awhile we’ll just settle for eating old Mrs. Duggle down the street when she dies. People will say it’s a shame to let all that meat go to waste by burying it in the ground. We might need to eat it if the economy goes bust and we’re all out of a job.
Anyhow, I’m getting ready to watch Fox News and then I’ll hit the sack and get ready for more hauling and lugging on Monday. Have a good Sabbath everybody.
Doggone/GA
July 24th, 2011
5:45 pm
“as you know we believe we”
But you don’t speak for ALL Christians. And if “we believe” “Our chosen people are “every man”.” then how could any Christian justify the exclusion and condemation of people like gays?
@@
July 24th, 2011
5:50 pm
Hucows? Huhogs?
Chinese Hu?
Uncle Jed
July 24th, 2011
5:52 pm
Dusty
July 24th, 2011
5:27 pm
Uncle Jed,
Bookman’s fishing expedition? NIce picture he left but……I doubt that he wants to portray an accurate location and some doofus showing up from the blog.
++++++++++++++++++
Doofus? From THIS blog?
Jay is probably too environment-aware to be burning fossil fuel out in the ocean. Now sitting at an oyster bar, one well stocked with chillies sounds pretty green.
Dusty
July 24th, 2011
5:54 pm
Doggone,
I can’t speak for all Christians. Just the ones I know. Obviously I know more than you. Our church welcomes gays. Don’t care. The doors are open and we welcome everybody that comes. As the old song says “they are welcomed in HIS sight.”
That said, I don’t expect perfection for any group of humans. They/we/I try but as I said, we are all human and have our faults. That is why we are so pleased to be forgiven.
Dusty
July 24th, 2011
5:59 pm
Uncle Jed,
I suspect Bookman said “to heck with the environment” as he hirriedly slammed the door on his way to vacation. Anybody get a postcard yet? Did it smell like seaweed or mountain pine? Budweiser?
Doggone/GA
July 24th, 2011
6:00 pm
“I can’t speak for all Christians”
And yet you did that with no qualifications: WE believe. You didn’t say “those Christians I know, or those Christians I worship with – you ONLY said “we” Clearly not ALL Christians believe as you do…or there would not be so many variations of the same religion.
Uncle Jed
July 24th, 2011
6:01 pm
Chinese Hu?
++++++++++++
Hu Flung Du
+++++++++++++++++
What do you call a square dance party on Stewart Avenue? Ho Down.
(Jay just called in again and told me to rest it for a few hours–good advice)
Dusty
July 24th, 2011
6:01 pm
I spelled hirriedly as I was in a hirriey..
Dusty
July 24th, 2011
6:03 pm
OK Doggone
I speak for Dusty. How’s that?
Doggone/GA
July 24th, 2011
6:05 pm
“I speak for Dusty. How’s that?”
then do you appear to be afraid to say *I* believe?
josef
July 24th, 2011
6:07 pm
It is not that Jews do not “beleive” in heaven, maybe there is and maybe there isn’t. We don’t know. If you choose to believe in one, that is fine and not at odds with the teachings. If you choose not to, the same thing.
In the Jewish Cosmos, put in terms that those unfamiliar with the tenants can understand, G-d created the earth and gave man dominion thereover. And, lapsing a bit into the common vernacular here, “said, okay, Pombo, make of it what you will” and then went back to observing what was going on in H-s celestial petri dish. Any answers we may find as to the origin and meaning of things are entirely of our own doings. The ultimate responsibility for the state of things here and now falls on man, not G-d.
That’s at its most simplistic version. As I made mention of earlier, we can take it to the extreme of how many angels can dance on the head of a pin or pretty much ignore it all and get on with the mundane.
As I said, you zero in on the Shoah. This has been going on for thousands of years. The whole of the quest is to try and understand that in human terms for the human existence. Simply throwing your hands up and saying “I quit” gets you no closer to a resolution of that human flaw. But, again, no disrespect meant, if that floats your boat, who am I to judge?
Uncle Jed
July 24th, 2011
6:07 pm
Dusty can speak for me for a little while as long as it is American Sign Language
Gone to mow.
@@
July 24th, 2011
6:07 pm
Hu Flung Du
Certainly not me.
(ISH)
BADA BING
July 24th, 2011
6:11 pm
Dusty….Jay is not green, he bragged about his economy car yesterday, but how about the jet/helicopter fuel to get him to the campsite? Don’t it make your brown eyes blue?
Dusty
July 24th, 2011
6:15 pm
Whoowee Doggone,
If I speak for myself then whom do I mean? You must feel the need for an argument. Bad day at the waterfall?
Doggone/GA
July 24th, 2011
6:15 pm
“but how about the jet/helicopter fuel to get him to the campsite?”
but he didn’t say they helicoptored in. Based on last years trip, and the year before – they got there by whitewater raft.
BADA BING
July 24th, 2011
6:15 pm
Topic change for me. I hate these weekend news shows and online news sources that don’t update tneir stories. The non reporting to save money on the weekends keeps me in the dark. I need info!
Doggone/GA
July 24th, 2011
6:17 pm
“Bad day at the waterfall?”
Nope, good day in fact…but I dislike anyone speaking for Christians as if what they say is the ONLY way to BE a Christian. NO ONE has all the answers. No one.
BADA BING
July 24th, 2011
6:18 pm
Jet fuel to get there, truck fuel to get the rafts and equipment to and from the river. Fuel for campstoves and lanterns. Nothing green about it.
Brosephus
July 24th, 2011
6:19 pm
All those who say they want government run like a business may want to take notice and reconsider their stance…
DALLAS — Some airline customers won’t see savings this weekend even though several federal taxes on tickets have expired.
US Airways and American Airlines raised fares to offset the tax savings.
That means instead of passing along the savings from expired taxes, the carriers are pocketing the money while customers pay the same amount as before.
But other airlines left their prices unchanged on Saturday. Consumers could save money by shopping around.
The expired taxes can total $25 or more on a typical $300 round-trip ticket. For a September trip between Dallas and San Francisco, the cheapest American flight on Travelocity.com was $24 higher than offerings from United, Continental, Delta and Virgin America, which did not raise fares.
The taxes expired after midnight Friday night when Congress failed to pass legislation to keep the Federal Aviation Administration running.
http://www.ajc.com/business/some-flyers-may-not-1038472.html
Seems like some of these businesses are gonna stick it to passengers instead of not charging them for a tax they don’t have to pay. And then there will still be people who say tax cuts spur business growth. Well, I guess it does tend to help boost profits, but not so much on the employment side of things.
josef
July 24th, 2011
6:20 pm
Doggone
“NO ONE has all the answers. No one.”
Not being snippy with this, but no one has all the questions, either. And that’s what keeps us on this magnificent journey from the trees to the stars, imho.
josef
July 24th, 2011
6:23 pm
Hey Brosephus…
Good to see you here…thought maybe you’d found out how to pronounce a certain word! Reckon that’s what happened to Hillbilly?
Doggone/GA
July 24th, 2011
6:23 pm
“Not being snippy with this, but no one has all the questions, either”
but that is a different issue from seeming to speak for all of a particular persuasion. I’ve been taken to task here, in the past, for appearing to do the same thing. It’s interesting that the accusation is easier to make thant it is to take.
poison pen
July 24th, 2011
6:24 pm
BADA BING
” I need info! ”
Well you came to the right place, oops! you said info.
BADA BING
July 24th, 2011
6:24 pm
Depending on the State and the river he is on, Natl Park, etc., the rafting companies have to carry everything in and everything out. All trash and even human waste has to be carried out. There are porta potty type recepticals on the rafts. Don’t know the laws because I don’t know where he is.
Dusty
July 24th, 2011
6:26 pm
BADABING,
I have to admit it. Forgive me but I have GREEN eyes.
Bookman aint worried about no green stuff (except Uncle Sammies’s dollar bills). But we all understand that. Those $$$ are getting thinner and paler. I think the hot printing presses are getting low on ink from running day & night…
Now…time to eat….again….grits & ham tonight!!!
Paulo977
July 24th, 2011
6:27 pm
As we think about Jay….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqdtzJvliMk&feature=related
@@
July 24th, 2011
6:28 pm
Congress ditches Obama on debt talks
Obama’s been driven into the ditch?
Michael Steel, a Boehner spokesman, said that “defaulting on the full faith and credit” is not an option, and that a two-step process is now inevitable since Democrats had yet to put forward a plan of their own to cut spending and raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling.
The Democrats have wasted a lot of time arguing over something that doesn’t exist. The GOP are the only ones who’ve put up something in writing.
RW-(the original)
July 24th, 2011
6:28 pm
Brosephus,
Back during the Clinton years one of those airline taxes expired. In that case it was 10% and at first the airlines were going to keep the money, but as soon as a couple of them dropped it from their fares the rest followed. That time it lasted a few months and I was flying every week so it seemed nice until the government reinstated the tax. Of course as soon as they did they started blaming the airlines for raising their fares so I can understand why the airlines would prefer not to take that heat when they know full well the tax is coming back.
@@
July 24th, 2011
6:29 pm
Oops! Should’ve said “The Democrats have wasted a lot of time arguing for something that doesn’t exist.”
Paulo977
July 24th, 2011
6:30 pm
Josef you are so wise ..
“Any answers we may find as to the origin and meaning of things are entirely of our own doings. The ultimate responsibility for the state of things here and now falls on man, not G-d.”
josef
July 24th, 2011
6:31 pm
Doggone
Oh, how well I know what you’re talking about there! I’m always nervous when coming in on these. Folks too often think that because you make a statement pertinent to the dogmata of this that or the other philosophical paradigm, then therefore you must be an adherent thereto.
Dusty
July 24th, 2011
6:34 pm
Brosephus,
Was that your picture on the home page here? A big guy in uniform looking seriously at the newly changed scans to satisfy airline passsengers? Fess up!! They took your picture!! We got us a celebrity, folks!!!
Gone for grits & ham…..
josef
July 24th, 2011
6:34 pm
DUSTY
Ooooh! Green eyes! You the devil, Girl!
But I knew we had something in common!
PAULO
It there is any wisdom in that, it is not mine, but my Grandfather’s, may his memory be blessed.
Fred
July 24th, 2011
6:38 pm
Oh, how well I know what you’re talking about there! I’m always nervous when coming in on these. Folks too often think that because you make a statement pertinent to the dogmata of this that or the other philosophical paradigm, then therefore you must be an adherent thereto.
I love it when you talk lawyerese.
Dusty
July 24th, 2011
6:45 pm
Oh hush, JOSEF
I gotta go cook. Glad you found something we have in common. Now let’s see. What was it? Brilliant deductions, I’m sure. Yes, that’s it!! (I think you wear green contacts. That’s cheatin’.)
josef
July 24th, 2011
6:47 pm
FRED
Donc, préfères-tu que je parle la langue du diable?
Brosephus
July 24th, 2011
6:50 pm
josef
I peeked in a few times, but I refuse to get involved in a religious debate. I’d much rather get into a slap-boxing match with a hungry and pregnant grizzly bear.
RW
Seems like the airlines are taking heat for not passing on that drop, even if it is temporary. I guess you can’t win for losing some times.
Brosephus
July 24th, 2011
6:53 pm
Dusty
Wasn’t me. You’d have to search far and wide to find any photos of me in uniform. I don’t even have an “official” photo other than my class photo at graduation. There, you’d have to pick me out of a crowd of 45.
Fred
July 24th, 2011
7:04 pm
josef: Naw, better the devil you know………. But when you you wane into the lawyerese I KNOW you are expounding using your extraordinary vocabulary to make a point. one that can not be misconstrued when read by those fully functional in the English language.
We Americans have gotten so lazy and dramatic of late. “We” use huge when we really mean large, and then when huge is trivialized by it’s overuse and misuse we go to gigantic. Or we make up words because we don’t fully understand the use of the language. “Disrespect” is a classic example. Can you say “disrespected?” One of my pet peeves.
Fred
July 24th, 2011
7:06 pm
josef: I got that late. You meant the french and I thought you meant the “lawyereze.” Easily misconstrued as BOTH are the devil’s tongue lol.
Fred
July 24th, 2011
7:07 pm
So what would that make the speech of a french lawyer? Interesting thought………
1811/0311
July 24th, 2011
7:08 pm
Hung Out to Dry:
You must be new ??
How about this one ? I hope it passes for San Francisco because as someone said the other day, “the world needs to see just what happens when liberalism is unfettered”.:
Headline: “San Francisco Considers Legal Protection for Criminals”
“A legislative proposal in San Francisco seeks to make ex-cons and felons a protected class, along with existing categories of residents like African-Americans, people with disabilities and pregnant women. If passed by city supervisors, landlords and employers would be prohibited from asking applicants about their criminal past.”
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/07/22/san-francisco-considers-legal-protection-for-criminals/#ixzz1T4Brm0lp
1811/0311
July 24th, 2011
7:10 pm
carlosgvv:
“1811/0311
I want you to look me in the eye and tell me you honestly think hard fact and Christian faith are one and the same.”
As I have quoted before: “Without faith it is impossible to please God.”
I choose faith.
josef
July 24th, 2011
7:18 pm
FRED
“Les gens pensent trop souvent que, parce que vous faites une déclaration pertinente aux dogmes de l’une ou de l’autre paradigme philosophique, donc vous y devez être une adhérent.”
You happy now, Mec?
Fred
July 24th, 2011
7:21 pm
josef; You already said that lol.
You vex me.
@@
July 24th, 2011
7:25 pm
Ahem!
“Les gens pensent trop souvent que, parce que vous faites une déclaration pertinente aux dogmes de l’une ou de l’autre paradigme philosophique, donc vous y devez être une adhérent.”
That’s guttural talk.
Brosephus
July 24th, 2011
7:28 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNG0mek35cA&feature=related
josef
July 24th, 2011
7:30 pm
FRED
Jokes aside, what you were saying about trying to put it in terms as clearly as possible without falling victim to emotional and knee-jerk reactionary. So many of us in this day and age never really stop for a second and consider the word or phrase we are about to use. We no longer seem capable of distinguishing betwee the gut “feeling” and the considered mental process. What I “feel” and what I “think” are more often than not at odds one with the other.
Hung Out to Dry
July 24th, 2011
7:31 pm
Hung Out to Dry:
You must be new ??
In other words, you already had your coming out party. Do ass, do tail.
josef
July 24th, 2011
7:32 pm
Brosephus
@ 7:28
That was good! I’m amazed at what we can do with film and “manipulating reality.”
@@
July 24th, 2011
7:33 pm
Democratic sources say the two sides have reached an impasse and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has begun preparing his own plan.
So what was stopping Harry before now? Can’t be well thought out with the little time he has left.
Any hopes the president and the Speaker will reunite for further talks are all but over. Boehner said Sunday evening that the path forward does not include an agreement between him and the president.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/07/24/eveningnews/main20082723.shtml#comments
josef
July 24th, 2011
7:36 pm
@@
at 7:25
Shows you where MY mind is, eh? ISH
Brosephus
July 24th, 2011
7:37 pm
I know I’ll be accused of attacking a Republican for this, but I honestly now consider Sen. Coburn to be THE jackassiest of jackasses!!!!!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/tom-coburns-cuts-militarys-tricare-prime-health-care-program-targeted/2011/07/20/gIQAtZl6WI_story.html
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) wants to cut taxpayer funding for non-military elements of the Defense Department, starting with making retired, uninjured service members pay more for what he described as “extremely low-cost health care for life” for themselves, their wives and dependents under the Tricare Prime system.
For military retirees eligible for Medicare, he also wants to raise the co-payments that they are charged to be in Tricare for life, the second payer for health care after Medicare. In addition, he wants to increase low fees that Tricare beneficiaries pay for pharmaceuticals purchased at their local drugstores.
Former defense secretary Robert M. Gates proposed raising Tricare Prime enrollment fees for single retirees from $230 a year to $260 a year and fees for retiree families from $460 a year to $520 a year. Coburn wants the fees to be much higher and more in line with private-sector health plans.
Part of his concern is fairness, first for uninjured veterans who, for example, served in Iraq and/or Afghanistan but “leave the military without serving 20 years [and] are not entitled to any of these health-care benefits.” They represent some 70 percent of those serving, according to Pentagon officials.
He says he’s doing that out of fairness. I say F**K Coburn!!! If he wants fairness, then everybody with a pulse should have to do a tour or two in Iraq, Afghanistan, or anywhere else we have troops facing death every day. That’s one area where I think veterans should have to pay absolutely nothing for. If someone volunteers to risk their life to keep us safe, it’s a small price to pay to ensure they and their families are healthy. I may rile some feathers here as well, but if anybody agrees with Coburn, then I reserve the same sentiment addressed earlier to them. There’s plenty of areas to make cuts without spitting in the face of those whom we’ve asked to risk their asses time and time again.
Sorry about the rant, but that just pisses me off….
Feedom fom Taxes
July 24th, 2011
7:38 pm
Look Ma! No tax hikes!
AmVet
July 24th, 2011
7:40 pm
Bro, for that 7:37…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1KtScrqtbc
Good Samaritan
July 24th, 2011
7:41 pm
“And if “we believe” “Our chosen people are “every man”.” then how could any Christian justify the exclusion and condemation of people like gays?”
Exclusion is one thing and condemnation is another. It’s perfectly fine to exclude people from fellowship (because their behavior jeopardizes the community of believers), but it is not okay to condemn them (as if anyone had the right or power to consign them to any fate).
The Bible unequivocally regards the practice of homosexuality as a sin. But, that being said, it is no different from any other sin (such as adultery, theft, murder, deceit and so on). If the Bible is not to be believed on this point, it is not to be believed on any point. True Christianity cannot be separated from the Bible – I mean, apart from a few passing historical references and some non-canonical writings, there is no other source of information about Christ. Trying to create a version of Christianity not fully based on the Bible is like cooking a meal without a recipe: you get something, but it’s not what the recipe should produce.
Now, there are plenty of religious groups and churches that proclaim their adherence to the Bible. Yet almost all organizations depart from that to one extent or another. For example, the word “baptism” is hardly ever translated from the Greek – it is transliterated instead. What its means is to immerse or submerge. Perhaps that is why it was never translated over the centuries, because so many groups were sprinkling people rather than immersing them. Again, it is plainly taught that one needs to believe and repent in order to become a Christian. Yet infants, who cannot even speak a language, in some groups go through ritual of some sort to be brought into the community of believers. And so on and so on. The list of departures can be made quite long. Allowing people who practice homosexuality (as opposed to those who used to do so and fight to not revert to that practice) to be part of the church is biblically no different that allowing, say, a person who makes his living by theft into it. That does not mean practicing homosexuals or thieves cannot visit a church (as long as they are not there merely to protest and disrupt the service); it just means they would not be considered part of the church until, among other things, they gave up that behavior.
I have known more that a couple former homosexuals in the churches I have attended, and know of support Christian groups for them as well. For some people, giving up homosexuality is as hard or harder than for an alcoholic to give up drinking. Some people who wind up practicing homosexuality actually chose to do so in their teenage or adult years. But the majority did not choose to be that way – they were (I believe) imprinted that way in childhood by some experience. They are truly “oriented” that way through no fault of their own (but through the behavior of someone else) – kind of like a baby born addicted to crack cocaine to a mother who is an addict. That is very unfortunate and they deserve a lot of empathy and understanding with their condition.
josef
July 24th, 2011
7:43 pm
BROSEPHUS
And a rousing Amen from the choir, here!
Feedom fom Taxes
Ah, the things you read! I glanced at your nom de blog and read it as “Freedom from TEXAS!”
josef
July 24th, 2011
7:49 pm
Good Samaritan…
Oy! I’ll leave it to the practicing Christians to sort that one out! But I would suggest that you choose a different nom de blog…say, something along the lines of Jackass on the Road to Damascus?
ZamVet
One of the cartoons on my wall is the boy coming up to Boy’s Town and telling the Good Father, “he’s my brother and he weighs a fr*cken ton!”
Doggone/GA
July 24th, 2011
7:56 pm
“The Bible unequivocally regards the practice of homosexuality as a sin.”
And I don’t agree that it does.
Brosephus
July 24th, 2011
7:57 pm
AmVet
Appreciate the sentiments, but it’s not necessary. Frankly, I’m beginning to get pissed off at this whole benefits cutting crap anyway. I’ve seen proposals to freeze our pay for 5 years, increase our contributions to our retirement pensions by I can’t recall how many times, and cutting all other kind of benefits that would result in me taking about a 10%-20% pay cut for the next 5 years. I read about them trying to give retired military the shaft with TriCare. However, I haven’t heard one damned peep about cutting congressional benefits, pay or anything else. Why is it that the rank and file people end up being the scapegoats and suffering when the ones making the damned decisions don’t have to pony up a dime? That goes beyond narcissism in my book to downright disrespect for the people who do the very jobs that actually keep this country moving.
I have no problem with what they want me to accept IF Congress feels the pain right along with me. However, I’m not one to fall on the sword just so they can continue to collect their $175k AND benefits.
Doggone/GA
July 24th, 2011
7:58 pm
“Why is it that the rank and file people end up being the scapegoats and suffering when the ones making the damned decisions don’t have to pony up a dime?”
That one’s easy: they have the power and we don’t.
AmVet
July 24th, 2011
8:00 pm
Niiice, jonix. Taking cheap shots at the fatties. (grin)
Boys Town, that good old progressive and pioneering Nebraska spirit that became a shining example for the rest of the world almost a century ago. Courtesy of a local papist named Edward J. Flanagan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4JZvpEubo0&feature=fvst
Recon (2nd.and 3rd.)
July 24th, 2011
8:01 pm
Good Samaritan,
Pretty good commentary. Sin is Sin and should not be celebrated or accepted in any form. Hate the sin but love the sinner.
@@
July 24th, 2011
8:04 pm
Fees in lieu of taxes?
No problem for me.
Critics of fee increases say lawmakers who favor them often believe taxpayers won’t notice a small fee increase. Rhode Island state Rep. Robert Watson disputes that, saying consumers often will change their behavior to avoid higher fees.
“I think people make decisions based on being nickeled and dimed,” said Watson, an East Greenwich Republican. “People will drive across town to save a dollar. I absolutely think people might decide to go to a certain beach because the fee is lower.”
Some disgruntled fee-payers are considering even bigger moves.
Tom Tompkins was blunt when asked about the fee increases while walking out of a motor vehicle office in Annapolis, Md.
“I want to move to Delaware,” said Tom Tompkins, 63, of Glen Burnie, Md. Tompkins, who is retired, cited an increase in Maryland’s sales tax rate from 5 to 6 percent, approved in 2007. The lifelong Maryland resident said Delaware, which has no sales tax, looks more inviting all the time.
That’s the way it’s supposed to work.
Rhode Island:
Taxes paid by residents as pct. of income: 10.7%
Total state and local taxes collected: $9.4 billion
Pct. of total taxes paid by residents: 70.9%
Pct. of total taxes paid by non-residents: 29.1%
Rhode Island is one of the smallest states and has one of the smallest revenues. Despite this, residents’ tax burdens are among the highest. Each year, the average Rhode Islander pays $671 in state “sin taxes,” or taxes on things such as alcohol, tobacco, and gambling. This is the second highest amount in the country, behind only Delaware. Part of the reason for this is that the state taxes each pack of cigarettes $3.46, the second highest in the country. The state’s tax burden is hurting business as well. Rhode Island has an exceptionally high corporate tax rate of 9% and was recently rated as the worst state for business by CNBC.
Brosephus
July 24th, 2011
8:12 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n4xXc25wPE&NR=1
I imagine this is probably Jay’s version of fishing…..
Recon (2nd.and 3rd.)
July 24th, 2011
8:18 pm
The problem we face is that we cannot continue along as we have been. When we’ve reached the point where we borrow .42 cents for each dollar we spend it’s clear that we’re in extremely serious trouble. We should have recognized that we were moving toward the edge of the cliff when we were borrowing .05 cents for every dollar spent. Sorry folks but it’s a big $hit sandwich and everyone is going to have to take a bite.
md
July 24th, 2011
8:19 pm
“That one’s easy: they have the power and we don’t.”
Is this coming from the same individual that argues against term limits due to the power of the vote??
Good Samaritan
July 24th, 2011
8:19 pm
“And I don’t agree that it does.”
And perhaps some people don’t believe the world is round. That doesn’t make it not so. People will always find ways to make the Bible say what they want it to say. But the question is: using proper rules of interpretation, what can we most reasonably conclude that it actually says?
md
July 24th, 2011
8:22 pm
“I think people make decisions based on being nickeled and dimed,” said Watson, an East Greenwich Republican. “People will drive across town to save a dollar.”
And he’s right……folks will do the same with gas prices without ever doing the math……..they’ll drive across town to save 5 cents a gallon ($1 on 20 gallons) while burning a gallon to do it ($4)………
A big $hit sandwich
July 24th, 2011
8:23 pm
“We should have recognized that we were moving toward the edge of the cliff”
But the smoking gun is the mushroom cloud.
@@
July 24th, 2011
8:28 pm
Sorry folks but it’s a big $hit sandwich and everyone is going to have to take a bite.
ew
Howzabout a Three Musketeers — “ALL for ONE and ONE for ALL?”
@@
July 24th, 2011
8:31 pm
md:
And he’s right……folks will do the same with gas prices without ever doing the math……..they’ll drive across town to save 5 cents a gallon ($1 on 20 gallons) while burning a gallon to do it ($4)
Not me! I organize my trips, limit my driving. I have a Kroger gas card.
Brosephus
July 24th, 2011
8:32 pm
Sorry folks but it’s a big $hit sandwich and everyone is going to have to take a bite.
If that was indeed the prevailing line of thought for the “debt plans”, I see nothing wrong with that. When both parties are hellbent on protecting ideological ground and saving their political asses, then I have a problem with that. To Obama’s credit, he set the Left out to dry by putting entitlements into the mix, although he did it with the caveat of having revenues, or tax increases if you see it a such, as part of the bargain as well. To the Republicans credit, they have basically comandeered the national dialogue to the point that talk of jobs and the economy have fallen behind the debt ceiling and spending cuts in the national context.
It should be noted that throughout this whole economic upheaval, it has been the American public that has bore the brunt of the blows and has shown resilience far beyond anything that would seem possible. With millions upon millions of jobs lost, the American worker has continued to increase productivity with or without the aid of technology. The least productive part of our society has been our elected officials whom we expect to do things and do them in a timely fashion. We had a budget debate that went on for more than half a year. We knew the debt limit would need to be increased as early as January. It is damn near the end of July, they have yet to produce anything. As far as I’m concerned, I’d as well replace those 535 in DC with 535 of the more productive average Americans who have shown that even under adversity, they can do the damned job and do it well.
Doggone/GA
July 24th, 2011
8:35 pm
“Is this coming from the same individual that argues against term limits due to the power of the vote??”
Yes. Because we get what we vote for. We don’t have the power to make the decisions on the legislation, but we DO have the power to vote for who DOES make those decisions. If we vote poorly, we get poor results. And we deserve to.
Doggone/GA
July 24th, 2011
8:36 pm
“But the question is: using proper rules of interpretation, what can we most reasonably conclude that it actually says?”
I don’t even think we can do that, unless we have some idea of what the stories and concepts meant to the people of the time.
md
July 24th, 2011
8:39 pm
“If we vote poorly, we get poor results. And we deserve to.”
Then the same applies in the case of the little guy taking the fall……we voted them in did we not?
I guess we need to make it a little more clear that we expect them to anti up a bit as well……….
"Anti" up
July 24th, 2011
8:42 pm
Just call me “down”.
Recon (2nd.and 3rd.)
July 24th, 2011
8:43 pm
I certainly agree that the least productive of society has been our elected officials and I put Obama squarely in that category. He mentioned cuts to entitlements without specifics, which has been his M.O. all along. When the congressional Democrats pitched a fit over his mere words, Mr. Obama backed off like an Iraqi tank. Whose kidding who.