SSDD in the Senate: Republicans are blocking almost all legislation from moving forward, and continue to block the President’s nominees for important offices.
With the biggest disaster to hit this country going on in the Gulf, a disaster that will touch all of our lives before it’s over, obstruction is still SOP for Republicans in the Senate. Exactly what is it going to take for the American people to say ENOUGH!!!? Stop spending all your time trying to de-legitimize this President, and do the job you were elected to do — for the people.
Here’s something to discuss in the comments section: What event or events can we point to that sounded the death-knell to the importance of the People in this country? When did ‘We the People’ lose our footing, on this slippery slope to oligarchy? Suggestions on how we can fix this mess?
This is our daily open thread.
Feel free to discuss this topic or anything else on your mind.
oh I’m sure the good doctor will provide a brilliant apology for them…Funny he carries water for the GOP but says he’s not a Republican…
funny how the posters on the other side are not Republican but sure go about bending over backwards to defend them…
“It’s Father’s Day, so to all you fathers out there, Happy Birthday!” – Ralph Kiner, NY Mets sportscaster
As for fixing the mess, Zooey, I prefer to use education as the means. We need to teach our fellow citizens why they are wrong to believe that anyone in DC can be trusted to watch out for their interests. Sure it will take longer, but I would rather achieve our goals peacefully rather than through any use of violence.
As for your “death-knell moment”, it’s so hard to choose one. Things have always been stacked against the average American, but I would nominate the moment when Reagan signed the law de-regulating the Savings and Loan Industry. After signing it, he turned to the people gathered around him (Republicans who thought this was a great idea) and said, “Gentlemen, we’ve just hit the jackpot.” It’s been downhill for the average American ever since. And, FTR, I will never forgive Bill Clinton for his role in all this (repealing Glass-Steagle).
What event or events can we point to that sounded the death-knell to the importance of the People in this country?
The creation of the Senate. From its inception it was intended to function as that portion of the legislative branch that could act as a check on the peoples house, the House of Representatives. The Senate was intended to be the house of the aristocracy, and has functioned in that role since its creation.
Next, since each branch of the legislature is free to set its own rules, the filibuster is an extra-contitutional method by which the miniority of aristocrats can protect their interests from the tyranny of the majority.
Let’s face it, the American Revolution was instigated because of the economic interests of the merchant class. They were the ones getting squeezed by Britian’s taxes and Monarch-created monopolies. They rallied the working class to aid in their revolution. When independence was won, the greatest concern, besides military security, was regulation of commerce, of trade between the states and between the United States and the rest of the world.
Jefferson himself espoused laissez-faire, regulation-free commerce. That was his reaction to government-created monopolies.
Point is, from the onset, the United States was created by and for the economic interests of the wealthy.
Point is, from the onset, the United States was created by and for the economic interests of the wealthy.
I have to admit that, while I knew this on a theoretical basis, it didn’t really strike home until I watched the series on John Adams. I know, I know, pathetic but most of my reading on history has been outside the US. After watching the series, I decided I needed to get a more solid grounding but was completely intimidated by the number of books, and by the lack of an obvious starting point.
I would say, however, that it wasn’t just the merchant class but also the landed gentry, particularly in the South.
Good questions and post Zooey.
I wish I could say I’m optimistic about America, but I have the feeling I’m watching the fall of a great nation and empire from within.
In my sixty plus years, I have never seen this much hate and division amongst the people of this country. It seems there is no middle ground which can bring people together for the betterment of us all.
It seems the only thing that moves this country is fear, hate and anger. We see movements in this country that are firmly based in fear, hate and anger. Fascism is on the rise. Citizens are being forced to take sides, and there seems to be no options, except how far to the right we are going to slide.
We on the left are losing this battle. Progressives and the left have no overriding issue to bring us together and speak with one voice. The right has fear, hate and anger to rally around, and it is selling.
Sorry for my dire post, but it’s how I feel. I’m sure I will have more to say as other posters bring their thoughts to your excellent questions and post.
Yesterday, we celebrated Father’s Day by visiting a winery and then going fly fishing in the Pohocopo (http://www.troutnut.com/topic/872). This winery and stream are located in the NE PA area at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It’s lightly populated, part of what is called the “T”. While driving, we were listening to some of the craziest radio stations. On the way home, I heard this song.
Happy Father’s Day!
I miss my papa. Even though he became somewhat of a cranky old man later in life, he was a good father and as far as I know, he never caused anyone harm.
I’m with BnF on this question. It was James Madison that spoke up for the creation of “The People’s House”. Otherwise, we would be a nation of an Executive branch which could have been a king and a Congress that would consist of just a Senate. Listen to the tea bag wearers that want to change the 17th amendment and go back to when the powerful moneyed people chose our Senators. An interesting book that I read about one year ago addresses this very issue. It’s called Young Patriots by Charles Cerami. The description is “the remarkable story of two men, their impossible plan and the revolution that created the Constitution”.
Reagan began just another era of dismantling government by the people when he broke the air traffic controller’s union.
America was built around the practice of privilege. And our wealthier citizens honed it to a fine art. The most glaring example of this was how we ‘bought’ land from people who claimed it and then conquered the people actually did hold title.
The times we have indulged in living up to the high ideals of the Constitution were met with vociferous resistance. The labor movements of the 20th Century, Social Security and the Medicare and Civil Rights acts in the 60′s were all opposed as being destructive to the US. This was true considering the resistance came from the privileged and those ‘social’ actions were totally counter to their idea of America.
The big problem today is we no longer have any real bad guys to plunder anymore so the privileged have to do something to maintain their position. It seems they have decided to remake the US more in the image of a classed society. For 30 years they have been slowly chipping away at ideas like society and honor and justice, denigrating them and replacing them with their standards of greed and selfishness. Sadly, it has worked.
The only possible hope I see is a rather dark one. The thing that may turn the bulk of society across the world is a common enemy or threat. The privileged have thoughtfully provided a possibility. Global climate change accelerated by the oil in the Gulf. This is something that will effect everyone and throwing money at it or hiding behind money will mean little. The planet doesn’t negotiate. It can’t be bribed. And ignoring the problem will only last so long.
The planet doesn’t negotiate. It can’t be bribed. And ignoring the problem will only last so long.
Wow! Well said. In the end, the planet will win. It always has and always will. The planet doesn’t give a rat’s dupa about money.
I could rant for hours.
The problem is the system of lobbyist’s.
Hooda, that is the dirty secret that the elites seek to keep hidden. If you read James Loewen’s Lies my Teacher Told Me, he argues that class is one of the taboo subjects that is not discussed in our schools. We are not told that class warfare has been going on, but rather given a history that has been mythologized for the benefit of the elites. We have been spoon-fed a mythology of a classless society in a history that espouses a feel-good America as a force of good narrative filled with great heroes, usually men that ignores the class struggles perpetrated by the elites who have used crass tactics like racism and manipulation of those beneath them in the economic ladder.
The Patriot’s History is an interesting read and it does go into the whole lie by omission tactic. While it does raise some valid questions like a discussion on the scholarly debate of how many indigenous peoples lived in the Americas before 1492, it ignores so far the intersection between class and race and how it has unleashed a painful legacy that America has yet to overcome. It’s narrative is that America is a city on a hill, but a truer narrative would be one where our problem of race deserves a more profound discussion.
Loewen goes into an excellent discussion about how textbooks reflect the elite’s insistence of upward mobility that is gained through hard work and personal responsibility. Lincoln himself espoused many of this when he compared free labor vs. slavery. Yet Loewen then strikes this myth down with a brutally honest appraisal about how social class affects the outcome of lives, whether it’s access through health care or upper-class and middle-class students having an advantage in the SAT because they have a frame of reference in the background and the vocabulary used in the test.
Our students need to see a reflection of themselves in the history we present. Otherwise, we risk alienating them from history, a subject which should be studied not just so we do not “repeat the mistakes of the past,” but rather to learn how seemingly powerless people have joined together to rise up to force change upon a bunch of out of touch elitists who then take credit for the change. This lesson on change is the one which is dangerous for the elitists and one they seek to obscure and hide away.
I’m not so sure that would even do it. When 9/11, Americans of all ideologies rallied behind Bush. Sadly, if a 9/11 style event occurred now, I can’t imagine that the right-wingers would rally behind Obama.
Therein lies the difference. We on the left want the country to work, and accept at times that we don’t always get what we want. When the right doesn’t get what they want, the first words the resort to is revolution.
I wonder, if you could ask a 2nd-amendment-remedy type of person (and get them to talk truthfully), who exactly do they plan to shoot? Politicians? Neighbors?
The Tea Baggers are thinking that if they wave their guns around that we on the left will just say “oh okay, you win.” All I can say is I’m not going down without a fight. Or to use words their simple minds can understand: Bring it on.
The myth of America versus the reality of America, kitty. An interesting bit of evidence that supports the idea of class manipulation (to me anyway) is the growth of what I call hypercompetition.
In the last 50 years our society has been slowly pumped up with the idea that competition is the end all and be all, the only game worth playing. Professional football is the poster child for this progression. Modern gladiator games designed to distract and entertain the general public while teaching them the ‘proper’ values.
A secondary proof is what has happened in our education system as a result of this. More money is spent on sports, turning our high schools and colleges into farm clubs for the pros. It is a sad commentary that so many scholarships are given to support a school’s sports teams.
They project a lot too…They accused us of celebrating the terrorist attacks because they happened under Bush. They accused us of dancing over the graves of our fallen soldiers in Iraq and they accused us of everything short of treason and even treason itself. Yet when I hear the right-wing, I detect a certain cynical glee that the oil spill happened, because it happened under Obama, the Gulf Coast be damned…
Hooda, you should see the elementary school football league that I used to coach back a few years ago. We had one coach who was screaming at his players and insulting my players (I was referring the game on his side of the field) and it just grew so ridiculous. These were fifth-graders. The important thing was to teach them how to work together as a team, instead of having individuals run around for their own glory instead of the team’s.
The Romans used to have the gladiator games to distract the populace from their discontent. I mean naval battles where the participants died were not uncommon and the more bloodier the event, the more the populace got into it. I think St. Augustine was talking about how his friend who had vowed never to watch those games was suckered into watching one and was transformed into one of the fanatical fans. I agree with your analysis of football, which as a disclaimer, I do like. The elites have always needed a distraction to keep the discontent of those underneath them in the economic ladder occupied so that they would not rise up against them.
The myth of competition would be valid if everyone had the same start. However, those who espouse it fail intentionally to note that there are those who start 50 meters behind the starting line and there are those who start 10 meters behind the finish line. It is predictable who then wins the race.
There is a major difference between a 9/11 type incident and the Gulf disaster. The first can be hyped and manipulated and has an enemy that the Right can focus societal attention on. This is what they do very well.
The Gulf disaster is beyond human control. There is no ‘enemy’. There is no ideology to blame. Our military might is meaningless. Our Exceptionalism moot. The problem cannot be hidden, only minimalized for a time by the media but eventually it will make itself known on a level that can’t be ignored.
I’m guessing that will happen by the end of summer.
When did ‘We the People’ lose our footing, on this slippery slope to oligarchy?
We, the People have lost and regained our footing several times over the past 2 centuries. Perhaps the first big gain came with the labor movement inspired by the Triangle Fire tragedy. Another big gain came with the 60′s civil rights movement.
The current loss traces to Reagan’s destruction of the Air Traffic Controller’s Union. Add to that NAFTA, the outsourcing of jobs and subsequent de-regulations of various industries (with their consequential tax-payer funded bailouts).
The one thing that’s different now is the ability of intelligent people to communicate instantly across the continent and between nations, unfiltered by Corporate Media. Why else are corporations so eager to be able to filter and control the flow of information on the internet?
The notion of cooperation has been discarded in favor of Hooda’s hypercompetition. I saw it constantly when the head coach and I heard kids arguing over who would be the quarterback. One of the hardest lessons to teach was the notion that the quarterback may get all the hype and glory but without those working with him, he is nothing. It means nothing to have a great arm if you are constantly getting sacked because the offensive line is not doing their jobs.
Hmmmm, I’m going to work on a lesson plan…Where does change come from?
I can imagine the answers I might elicit from that question in the beginning of class…
Another interesting thing is the myth vs reality in free market capitalism that competition is good and healthy. The myth says this is so and would be if the reality wasn’t that the elite hate competition.
If the myth was true we would see a constant influx of businesses, each holding a share of a given market. Much like the car market of the 60′s. Instead what we have is a clear movement towards monopolization of any given market. Hypercompetition in the economic market is becoming some weird ass variation of the Highlander.
There can be only one!
Suggestions on how we can fix this mess?
Orwell pointed out in 1984 that this “mess” is perpetual. Revolutions, even French-style, merely replace the current aristocracy with a new one, and the poor remain just as used as ever.
Christ said ‘there will be poor always.’
It is the poor and ignorant who are used by the aristocracy and the middle-class aspiring to aristocracy groups.
By now, it should be a given that literacy alone will not solve the problem – people willing to be controlled by selfishness, fear, anger and hatred continue to exist. Masses willing to kill and die still exist. Evolution has not eliminated that tendency from our gene pool, much like the ground squirrels who run safely to one side of the road, only to turn around and run back and become road kill.
But evolution is the solution. One theory has it that we are evolving further apart on the spectrum from light to dark. We are certainly more aware of the dark now than any time in recent history of manunkind.
But what about those of us evolving towards the light? What about the so-called Indigo children?
Could it be that the increasing incidents of autism are a result of evolution re-wiring the brain and occasionally misfiring in the process?
The solution lies in transcending the human condition, beginning with level flight…..
It’s funny how the talk of how the neutered public option would have destroyed competition was raised to the heavens by people who only give lip-service to the notion. Don’t health insurers enjoy a virtual monopoly in the more rural states like Maine? Funny how there was no talk about how we needed to get a competitor in there to let the free market work and we then wonder why the prices for premiums are so astronomically high? Hell, if my tin-foil cap wasn’t like attached to my head, I would think there is collusion between the health insurers…
kitty, what do you teach?
I hope to teach history…I am a teacher candidate…I should have made that clear.
BnF, I think fear of losing self is the biggest hold back to enlightened evolution. The smaller the world gets, the closer humankind will come to having to accept the concept that we are all in the same boat.
As long as we have things like nationalism and deity-based religions, we will remain separate. Here in the US the general reactions of the elite to the concepts of the League of Nations and the UN, global government shows how deep the fear is. Feeling superior for artificial reasons is what drives the elite.
but I like making lesson plans and I’m really fond of a lesson plan I did at San Jose State which not only discussed Athenian democracy but the flaws such as the small number of those who enjoyed the right to vote. I called it “No Athenian Left Behind.”
Basically it was a card game where I passed out cards to the “students” (my fellow candidates as 6th graders) that depicted the various groups of Athens: citizen, metic, women, children, slaves and out of 28 that day, I only put in 4 citizens. Then we had a discussion that tied in the concept of enfranchisement to today such as voting in the Student Council elections or the classroom. Lastly, I had the students in the lesson plan write a persuasive oration that would argue for or against increasing access to the democracy…
good luck on your candidacy, kitty. I think you’ll make a fine teacher.
usakitty – you will make a great history teacher. I would feel privileged to have someone like you teach my grandchildren.
vinylspear,
I agree that lobbyists are a major problem. I think the first problem with them is in defining what they are and who they represent. Personally, I have no problem with a group of citizens choosing (even hiring for pay) someone to act as their spokesperson when dealing with Congress Critters. But I do have a problem with corporations that hire people to lobby Congressmen because corporations are not citizens, no matter what the SCOTUS erroneously believes. They do not vote and, therefore, should not have “their views” represented in Congress.
I do not equate corporations with “the people” who have a right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Corporations are entities created on paper for purposes of conducting commerce. People are flesh and blood real people. Therefore, IMHO, the right of”the people” to petition their government for a redress of grievances does not extend to corporations.
Thank you guys…That is much comfort to me.
BnF – you make an interesting point regarding the evolution of light to dark.
In order for good to exist, there needs to be opposition. An atom has both positive and negative charges and is always seeking balance. Life is Yin and Yang. We cannot have the “indigo children” without the opposite (fill in the blank).
usakitty – I’m a “gal”
Good discussion. I must check out for awhile and get ready for the little family get together later today. Here’s wishing and hoping that everyone has a father or two or more or a father figure that has provided them with love and guidance.
oh hehe…yeah I’ll find a more gender-neutral term…like KITTIES! I tend to forget that guys is well the same as man…and I haven’t been too keen on using man as a collective term…
usckitty, you went from being a Spartan to a Trojan!
(if my assumption that USC is So. Cal).
You’ll do very well as a teacher.
SJSU – a fine school. Even the local Peregrines think so. Last evening we were running all over campus watching them fly and alight on the Res Hall, business tower and they even like to sit in the highest Redwood tree! There maybe a dead pigeon on a walkway – as there was a missed mid-air exchange between the adult female and one of the juveniles!
Are you in SJ proper – or its environs?
Back quickly to share this… as stated, there needs to be a positive in order for the negative to exist and there needs to be humor to wash away the dreary.
Another song that we heard while driving through the countryside in PA. We laughed our dupas off listening to this one.
Well, for some more giggles…
2ebb, I am going to be honest and say I am both a Spartan and Trojan. I am placed on hold at SJSU because I took a long time in passing the CSET and well, I found out that I could not reapply until the Fall of 2010. So I jumped at the chance when USC called after I called them and well actually got in!
I am in Santa Clara, right next to San Jose. I hang out at the Recycle Bookstore sometimes and Bookbuyers in downtown Mountain View.
2ebb… nice story. Okay, this time I’m back to the preparations for our little Father’s day gathering.
USCKitty,
hopefully you’ll find a district where you’ll actually be allowed to teach. Those are very, very rare this day and age.
Survival in the teaching profession is not based upon being a good teacher, but upon a mix of good luck and appeasing the children, parents and administration. Those teachers who survive past probationary status in California are usually those who have learned to keep their mouth shut, to not challenge the status quo, and to give the courtesy “C” to students regardless of performance.
Rare is the district and administration that will employ a teacher deviating from the above.
ugh…BnF…that is what I’m afraid of, but we’ll see what happens.
I’ve always had a problem with the whole light/dark, good/evil, polar world idea. If you take man out of the equation and look at the world, it doesn’t exist. The world is on a constant path through light to dark, changes daily and dark isn’t a bad thing. Also, no real ‘evil’ in the natural world.
Yes, there are balancing forces, cycles of growth and destruction but they are totally impersonal with no concept of winning or losing. I just don’t get the reasoning that for good to exist, there has to be bad.
I think there is a analogous concept to “winning” in the non-human world: survival. “Losing” would be death.
hooda,
I agree that “good” and “evil” are human constructs.
In nature, there is that which creates, and that which destroys. Both are necessary.
In human costructs, that which creates is good, that which destroys is evil; light – good, dark – evil.
It’s just our limited way of perceiving known reality.
zxbe, isn’t that anthropomorphizing nature? With the possible exception of cetaceans, I highly doubt any animal has ever imagined things like an afterlife, which would be necessary to field a concept like surviving is winning/dying is losing.
So equating living with winning and dying with losing has to be a human thing and a strange one to boot since we really have no idea of what happens after we die. Since we don’t, dying has to be ‘bad’.
BnF,
Yup. Evil is one of mankind’s gifts to the world. Without man, evil would not exist. Sort of like ice cream. We did a better job with that one.
I see the world much like hooda has expressed.
Sunlight is an energy giver and disinfectant but the darkness/night is also vibrant in its ways.
The concept of ‘evil’ equated with darkness is baffling to me. Humans need to be more in tune with how Mother Nature really works. Stop being afraid of the dark – step outside after sunset the world is still very much alive!
Sort of like ice cream. We did a better job with that one.
Well somebody did a really good job making that ice cream bar I just ate. Thanks for the suggestion.
hooda, I don’t think it is. I think the concepts of competition and winning and losing, exist in nature, regardless of us.
There’s competition over food, water, and in many species competition for territory. Winning and losing doesn’t always have to be quite as dire as living or dying. Those were just examples.
In the case of fighting over food. One animal may be successful in deterring another from getting at a food source. That wouldn’t have to result in the death of either animal, but it is an example of competition, and it does have a win/lose outcome. One animal gets the food, the other does not.
These things exist in nature, with or without us.
I’m certainly not suggesting that these animals have an awareness of the concepts of win/lose, or competition. It’s much more primitive than that; it’s the survival instinct.
Perhaps, given that we come from the same primordial soup as the rest of the animal kingdom, we’re hard-wired to behave in much the same way. We definitely wage territorial battles. Some places still see humans having to compete over the basics for survival (food, water). In other places where those needs are readily satisfied, we compete over other things we value; mostly just useless stuff.
“Perhaps, given that we come from the same primordial soup as the rest of the animal kingdom, we’re hard-wired to behave in much the same way.”
Perhaps so. But we are able to not only understand the concept but also to reason out that there is more to existence than survival. After several thousand years of ‘civilization’ we certainly behave in primitive fashion.
Bring on the Age of Aquarius, please. Before we kill ourselves off.
On my way out the door, but thought I’d share this shot, I got about an hour ago. Sometimes you get lucky.
http://www.thezxbecollection.com/2010/06/for-birds.html
I hate it when this happens, I’m somehow cut off from most websites. I don’t know whether this will come through, but it’s worth a try.
http://www.consumerenergyreport.com/2010/06/20/internal-document-bp-estimates-spill-rate-up-to-100000-bpd/
Ed Markey released BP document about spill. I would have loved to post today, but all I can get out here is this measly comment after 45 minutes of trying
See you all tomorrow, I hope.
Wonderful discussion today, Critters and Zoosters. Just what I was hoping for.
EV, I just got your email. I’m glad you made it here, even if only for a moment.
Zxbe,
Superb photo!
Another interesting article from the same site EV found the sickening article about the oil gusher:
Wireless Electricity is Real and Can Change the World.
Apparently Nicola Tesla was experimenting with this technology in the late 1800s.
Thanks to the Kratt Brothers:
Tesla had this figured out at the turn of the century but when he presented the idea to his financial backer it was turned down because there was no way to charge the public for it.
His money guy was JP Morgan.
“Money, money, money – moneeey…”
From the article:
We simply must steer ourselves to conservation – the simplest actions add up.
Unplug, where applicable and practical, when not in use.
Just imagine where we would be today if electrical power had been made available pretty much anywhere at anytime.
If an electric car didn’t need massive batteries except as backup like your laptop.
If we didn’t have to string high tension wires.
We had a shot at it over 100 years ago. We are just rediscovering it today.
Mankind has a nasty habit of hobbling itself in the name of profit or religion. Or profit and religion. Or just plain religion for profit.
“Mankind has a nasty habit of hobbling itself in the name of profit or religion. Or profit and religion. Or just plain religion for profit.”
“Amen sister” – sing it loud!
The crowd seems to be in a herd mentality.
Recall the ‘invention’ and introduction of cable tv?
You could now pay for what was already free (over the air). Under the guise of ‘commercial’ free viewing…yeah, how’d that work out?
Now you can’t even get a picture with the old rabbit ears. I’m so glad I canceled my cable. Now, instead of being enslaved to the boob tube, I’m enslaved to the computer monitor.
I’ve found something a bit more provocative than usual for next week’s Sunday Roast. After the nice discussion today, I’m looking forward to next Sunday already.
This was the call to action:
And I just received this e-mail from South Bay Mobilization:
“This morning was the first half of a victory. 1,000 picketers from around the SF Bay. The first shift [of dockworkers] for unloading the Israeli ZIM Line ship was cancelled. That is historic, but only if we finish the job by being there again at 4:00 pm this afternoon and staying until at least 8:00 p.m.”
That is awesome, Ebb. And hey, we’re not even meeting them in international waters to board and kill them.
Ebb, thanks. I actually just added another photo to the post. The feeder was very busy with them today, and the light was good.
http://www.thezxbecollection.com/2010/06/for-birds.html
Wow, very nice composition, zxbe.
Bring on the Age of Aquarius, please. Before we kill ourselves off.
Indeed.
Z, thank-you.
That’s a good video, zxbe. I always wished I could sing like that or dance weird in the park.
I recently went to see Hair on Broadway. What a great show which opens with Aquarius and has a sad ending with the song Let the Sunshine in. At the end of the show, the audience is invited onto the stage to dance with the performers. A very interactive show. If I move to the West Coast, I will miss Broadway. This video is the closest to the actual stage performance. The movie doesn’t do it justice.
Cats, if I ever get to New York, I want to see a Broadway play, visit all the wonderful art museums, and ride in a horse-drawn carriage through Central Park and ride to the top of the Empire State Building (cuz I like marking myself as a wide-eyed tourist).
One more thing about Hair, I found this to be the song with the greatest impact.
Three Five Zero Zero
Zooey – New York City is like no other city. It is a special place. When I go to NYC, I enter the city through the Holland Tunnel. There is a wall with art deco lighting and other fixtures at the entrance to the tunnel (on the Jersey side) which is in big need of restoration. It’s so sad to see something so beautiful being ignored. We will probably be moving to your neck of the woods in about 3 to 4 years. I will miss the “oldness” of the East Coast.
Cats, I would think they’d keep something like that nice for the visitors. Maybe they get enough without having to do it.
We have a different kind of oldness out here — the oldness of geologic time that you can actually see up close and personal, and the oldness of Native American history. And space — lots of space for everyone.
In 3 or 4 years, I probably won’t be in Idaho anymore, Cats. But I’m sure I’ll still be in the Northwest, so we’ll definitely have to get together!
I haven’t been to The City in a long time. (I don’t count Shea Stadium as The City. That’s Queens.)
Zooey, you’ll love going up to the top of the Empire State Building. The view is amazing.
Other than the Museum of Natural History, I haven’t been to any NYC museums. And I’ve never ridden in a NYC horse-drawn carriage. We have hayrides in horse-drawn wagons around Halloween round these parts, but no hansom (sp?) cabs through The Park.
Hair Cast – Three-Five-Zero-Zero Lyrics
Ripped open by metal explosion
Caught in barbed wire
Fireball
Bullet shock
Bayonet
Electricity
Shrapnel
Throbbing meat
Electronic data processing
Black uniforms
Bare feet, carbines
Mail-order rifles
Shoot the muscles
256 Viet Cong captured
256 Viet Cong captured
Prisoners in Niggertown
It’s a dirty little war
Three Five Zero Zero
Take weapons up and begin to kill
Watch the long long armies drifting home
Nothing has changed. Only the names are different. It has always been this way for mankind. The Indigo child is a dream.
Wayne – you can take the train to the city
Zooey – as long as we are friends, then I will find you.
Yes, I can, Cats, and I have before. And I may do again one day. Time will tell.
Oh, just found this… it’s a bootleg and it was recorded illegally. It’s from the current stage version of Hair.
I think it’s hilarious that the “motormouth” troll keeps bringing up the fact that I post comments from work, when it was my bosses who set me up with the internet all those years ago so I’d have something to do in the slow times. As long as I’m getting my work done — which I certainly do every single day — they don’t care what I do online. One of them even showed me how to play the ping pong game on my computer! But I don’t play it at work, because I love the sound effects, not just a silent screen. Oh yeah, and Solitaire.
But like I said, I don’t answer to flies.
Apparently he has never heard of Facebook…
Heh, the one place I don’t go at work!
The trolls are bonding on TP. There’s spit and piss everywhere…
‘The trolls are bonding on TP. There’s spit and piss everywhere.”
Before I head over there – kitty, tell me have you been toying with the motormouse?
You do get him flustered at times.
heh, 2ebb…I’ll let you figure that out.
but yeah, he should act his part. He needs to act like a doctor or a professor with a Ph.D. This trollish act disappoints me…very sad to see a person of his stature debase himself and degrade himself in the eyes of everyone except the trolls…
kitty, he’s got a Ph.D. like I’m Peregrine falcon that can type. It ‘ain’t what it appears to be = ;>
No one with an advanced degree cuts and pastes that much. Generally thinking comes into play – not with that one though.
perhaps he is too busy to rely on anything but talking points…I understand…If you’re so busy with work and research, you won’t have time to do your research on the issues as well…
let’s just say that I take full advantage of my screenname at TP…
USCKitty: To the trolls that claim to have Ph.Ds and MBAs…Act like it…
Dozens die in central China mine blast
State television said a store of gunpowder kept underground had detonated at 0140 (1740 GMT on Sunday).
According to official figures, 2,631 coal miners died in 1,616 mine accidents in China in 2009, down 18% from the previous year.
But independent labour groups say the figure could be much higher, as accidents are covered up to prevent mine closures.
Most accidents are blamed on failures to follow safety rules, including a lack of required ventilation or fire control equipment.
“Coal-generated power accounts for about 70% of China’s electricity needs.”
Update