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Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Open Thread


In looking back through my posts, I see that it has been over a year since this blog has opened a full-on open thread.

Here are two links to get the conversation started:

1. 3-Way Lead as Dem 2020 Picture Shifts: Sanders and Warren rise; Biden drops

2. Why Everything They Say About The Amazon, Including That It's The 'Lungs Of The World,' Is Wrong

So, what's on your mind?

Here is your chance to opine within the parameters listed below:

We welcome civil dialogue at Always on Watch. Comments that include any of the following are subject to deletion:
1. Any use of profanity or abusive language
2. Off topic comments and spam
3. Use of personal invective


Note: comments consisting of blog gossip will be deleted as soon as an administrator of this blog becomes aware of such comments.

102 comments:

  1. I think we need to spend much more time acknowledging God's constant presence in our lives, and openly speaking of our need to trust in Him, and rely on Him to guide us. We also need to spend more time engaged in prayer, meditation and contemptation.

    We should consider it our duty to count our blessings every day, and to express gratitude to the Lord for all He has given us.

    "Be still and k'now that I am God ..."

    ~ from Psalm 46 - KJV

    We couldn't ask for beter advice than that.

    So, let us please spend less time "fretting oursselves over evildoers" and more time cultivating confidence based on our faith, which is, whether we know it or not, the bedrock of our earthly existence.

    O rest in the Lord; wait patiently for Him,
    And He shall give thee thy heart's desires

    Commit thy ways unto Him, and trust in Him
    And fret not thyself because of evildoers
    O rest in the Lord wait patiently for Him . . ."


    ~ Contralto aria from Mendelssohn's Saint Paul

    Also these lines from St. teresa of Avila:

    Let nothing disturb thee, nothing afright thee
    All things are passing
    Patient endurance attaineth o all things
    To whom God pleaseth in nothing is lacking.
    Alone God sufficeth."


    ~ St. Teresa of Avila - lines write in her breviary
    As translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope this doesn't sound sanctimonious? People have generally given up acknowledging the spiritual aspect of our lives for fear of being called "Kooky" or "Holier than Thou."

      Alas! religious faith is not considered "cool" these days, and society is suffering mightily for its absence. That IS at the heart of most of what's wrong, I believe.

      I know ALL the arguments the Left has mounted to sttack Christianity and the very idea that God could possi]bly exist, and in they are RIGHT, but ONLY in their attack on the TEMPORAL-"POLITICAL aspects of organized religion. The Left knows nothing of spirituality.

      God got lost in the instituional Church's accumulation of Political Power, Material stealth, The Pride and Arrogance of Self-Righteousness, and the ever-present desire too many have to be able to FORCE others to live in a certain way.

      Whenever FORCE enters the picture, love for God gets shoved aside. He designed us to be able to CHOOSE to love and obey Him –– or not. He wouldn't want us any other way than to humble ourselves, and come to Him VOLUNTARILY.

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    2. "Be still and know that I am God" is the line that begins my first meditation of each day. There is no second line, it's just the phrase that puts me where I need to be.

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    3. Yes. SImple home truths (most of them found in the Bible) clearly and succinctly stated are more helpful in putting ourselves on a right track –– and keeping us there –– than whole libraries filled with ponderous philosophical tomes.

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    5. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    6. Some tech-svvy BASTARD has stolen both my avatar, AND my moniker, and is posting all over trying to make me look bad.

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    7. But that WAS your post at the top that was wonderful to read, right?

      Delete
    8. Freethinke: "Some tech-svvy BASTARD has stolen both my avatar, AND my moniker, and is posting all over trying to make me look bad ... and that's MY job!"

      true. ;)

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    9. Hi, Ed. Yes, and thank you very much for the compliment. Right now I am "under sieige" by one or more unscrupulous frankly vicious leftists.

      I'm sure many find me tiresome,because I am an anachronsm who fits nobody's "mold." but I honestly do try to make sense and say something I believe needs saying whenever I post here or at Kid's blog –– or my own.

      When I am at Who's Your Daddy? aka "Lisa's Latrine" or "Lisa's Litterbox" ;-) it's often a different story, because there are SO MANY really NASTY, incredibly STUPID, unserious LEFTISTS there it's really impossible to have a decent exchange of varying concepts with any of them.

      ALL they do is MOCK and JEER, MOCK and JEER, MOCK and JEER, MOCK and JEER, MOCK and JEER.

      So, I do a lot of "BURLESQUING" over there in an attempt to help neutralize and deodorize at least some of the stinking garbage they dump there.

      The Left makes a MOCKERY of EVERYTHING decent people
      e hold dear. They always have. It's their Stock-in-Trade.


      But I Ain't No Saint. And I aint no HYPOCRITE either. };^)>

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    10. The Rules for leading a decent, respectable, productive, reasonably contented life are very simple It's persuading people to FOLLOW them that gets complicated. ;-)

      The Devil is always at work telling people "The Rules are only there to protect People in High Places who want to Keep You Down." Then the Devil tells tham, "There's an EASIER way to achieve Success and Happiness, by deliberately DISREGARDING The Rules," –– and THAT's why we have would-be LEFTIST TYRANTS screaming their fool heads off all over the globe, and people getting KILEd by the TENS of MILLIONS.

      And as the great "Christian Apologist," C.S. LEWIS, said, "SATAN'S GREATEST ACCOMLISHMENT to DATE has been to CONVINCE the MAJORITY (of sc-called "Thinking People") that HE DOES NOT EXIST!"

      But he DOES, Virginia, he DOES.

      Or as late great cartoonist Charles Addams put it, as he illustrated a monster sitting behind a typewriter at an editor's desk in the dark of night, "Yes, Virginia, there really IS a Bogeyman."

      ];^}>

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    11. Jez,

      "BADNESS" is like BEAUTY; it exists primarily in the mentality of the BEHOLDER.

      As I said earlier, When a LEFTIST looks at a DOUGHNUT, he sees only the HOLE. The CONSERVATIVE-LIBERTARIAN on the other hand sees a tempting tasty TREAT.

      ];^}>

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    12. Franco,
      ALL they do is MOCK and JEER, MOCK and JEER, MOCK and JEER, MOCK and JEER, MOCK and JEER.

      I found out a long time ago that there is no way to fix the blogosphere. It is what it is!

      "God grant me the wisdom...", etc.

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    13. :) FT, when I read your comments I see both the ring and the hole. xx

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    14. If so, Jez, I've failed to see any evidence to that effect. Perhaps it's my lack of perception and understanding? Unlike so many others I never have claimed to have supreme intelligence or godlike powers. If I've misunderstood you, I apologize.

      As Max Ehrmann said, "As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons.
 Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.


      Max was a much better man than I, so I've often looked to him for guidance..

      Delete
    15. GOOD NEWS! GOOD NEWS! GOOD NEWS!

      ANOTHER GREAT DAY at the NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE:

      26,362.25 +326.15 (1.25%)

      UP THREE-HUNDRED TWENTY-SIX - FAR ABOVE TWENTY-SIX-THOUSAND AGAIN.

      Oh the ocean waves may roll
      And the stormy winds my blow
      Whi;e we poor sailors go skipping to the top
      While the Landlubbers lies down below ho ho ho HO!
      While the Landlubbers lie down below.


      REJOICE NOW WHILE YOU C_A_N, FOR WHO KNOWS WHAT TOMORROW MAY BRING.

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    16. AOW,

      I don't disagree with your conclusions abut the toxic nature of internet communication, BUT way back in high school we were told by one of our most enlghtened teachers "Men becme heroes because they do not traffic with inevitables."

      That has stuck with me through more thn six decades, and has stood me in good stead. My recent recording of one of Chopin's most notoriously difficult etudes, which I shared with you not long ago, has PROVEN the adage to me conclusively.

      It's a VERY challenging piece; one that many successful concert pianists have refused to program, because it's so demanding that the risk of an em/barrassing public failure is much too great.

      SO, I was advised as a prmising young student NOT to bother studying the piece, because the possiblity of achieving success was practically nil.

      The belief then was "If you haven't done it by age twelve or thirteen, you never will."

      I took that as a CHALLNGE instead of giving up, as advised, and though it took me several DECADES to be able to give a good account of the thing, I finally was able to do it–– at AGE SEVENTY-EIGHT no less!

      I say this not with conceit or even pride, but simply to illustrate the truth of my belief that we CAN ovecome obstacles and CAN fulfill at least SOME of ourfondest dreams provideing we NEVER GIVE UP. I would like to think the fact of my latter-day achievement would help inspire others to continue pursuing THEIR dreams too –– NO MATTER WHAT.

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    17. Franco,
      Another way to look at the matter....

      Back in the day when I worked for a wonderful private school (1978-1996), the director often reminded us of this Bible verse when students were disenrolled by parents mid-year because our standards were so high and we faculty became discouraged:

      Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days (Ecclesiastes 11:1).

      I'm taking that kind of "long ball" view.

      Delete
  2. ______________ DESIDERATA _____________

    Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.


    As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons.

    Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.


    Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.

    If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

    Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
    
Keep interested in your career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

    
Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery.
    
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.

    Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection.

    
Neither be critical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.

    Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
    
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings.

    
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

    You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.

    
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

    Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

    
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy.


    ~ Max Ehrmann (1872-1945)

    ReplyDelete
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    1. "Desiderata" is one of my favorite meditations.

      It was also a favorite of one of my parents' friends -- especially when he was struck by fatal brain cancer (glioblastoma). He kept a copy of "Desiderata" on the wall of his room, which was, of course, set up like a hospital room.

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    2. Good! It's been a lifelong help and inspiratin to me too.

      One of my aunts kept a framed copy of Desiderata in her guest room. As a frequent visitor in her house I became familiar with Ehrmann's gentle wisdom at an early age.

      Did you know Max Ehremann was born and raised in Terre Haute, Indiana? He was a lovely person, even if he did finish his academic career at Harvard. ;-)

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  3. I taste a liquor never brewed ––
    ___ from Tankards scooped in pearl
    Not all the Vats upn the Rhine
    ___ yield such an Alcohol.

    Inebriate of Air am I –– an debauché of Dew
    __ reeling through endless summer days
    ___ from Inns of molten blue!

    Not tll the Landlord truns the Bee ––
    __ ouf the Foxglove's Door ––
    ______ till Butterflies renounce their Drams ––
    I shall but drink the more!

    Till Seraphs swing the snowy Hats ––
    ___ and Saints to windoes run ––
    ______ to see the little Tippler
    Leaning against the Sun!


    ~ Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

    A RARE EVOCATION OF PUREST BLISS FROM A LADY WHO LIVED A RICH FULL LIFE LARGELY WITHIN THE CONFINES OF HER EXTRAORDINARY MIND AND SPIRIT.

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  4. As long as a tree/forest is growing by mass, it's clearly diverting some of the carbon it stripped from CO2 away from the photosynthesis -> glucose -> respiration cycle, therefore it's producing net O2, n'est pas? So if we harvest wood (and don't burn it) and replace the trees we chop down, they're producing oxygen, right?

    I believe the above is the outline of a faithful argument, the gaps can be filled in if anyone's interested. The growing assumption is too often unspoken, I agree.

    It's funny, I was on holiday last week thinking about trees and how we see them upside down; the business end of a tree is underground, and the trunk, branches and leaves are just there to support that subterranian activity. Thinking of it that way round, the tired "lungs" cliche seemed reasonably profound.

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    Replies
    1. Heh... it didn't occur to me that anybody might be worried about running low on oxygen.

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    2. I had never thought about it. I just ingested the middle school science as explained in the article.

      See my comment below. We are facing very real climate concerns, and the Amazon is vital to life in South America.

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    3. Point is, I always assume we're arguing about whether trees capture of CO2 (which is arguably* germane to climate change), not whether they produce O2. The linked article is making a big deal over the latter not being a big deal. I wonder who they think they're talking to that they'd have to make that point?

      *but not in good faith IMO. Only politicians (professional or amateur) argue against the greenhouse effect.

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    4. "the business end of a tree is underground, and the trunk, branches and leaves are just there to support that subterranian activity"

      That's an overly simplistic view of how plants work. The traffic goes two ways.

      The plant needs minerals, nitrogen for one, but others too, and water which it gets from its roots. It also needs carbohydrates (sugars mostly) which it manufactures in its leaves through photosynthesis. It sends nutrients upward and carbs downward through a complex system of sap passages. The roots very much need what they receive from the leaves, and the leaves very mush need what they receive from the roots.

      When we dig up a plant to transport it we remove some of its root system. We therefor make it a point to reduce the leaf mass so that when we replant it the plant maintains hydrostatic balance and the up and down flow of food and nutrients keeps the plant healthy. Otherwise the transplant stands a high chance of failing. Tht is also the reason that over pruning a tree or bush is very bad for it.

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    5. Definitely agree it's simplistic. Also, I'm anthropomorphising; if a tree had volition, where would its attention lie? At a casual glance, it strikes me that root behaviour is more "intelligent".

      Just trying to have some fun, dammit.

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    7. But in general, I think that Greg Greenwald and his crusade against his Brazilian lover's enemies is getting far too much exposure and press...

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    8. As for O2, the Amazon consumes as much as it produces. The "surplus" on our planet comes from ocean plankton.

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  5. Concerning the Amazon fire.... as I posted today:
    NASA map shows Africa has more fires burning than Brazil

    Over a period of two days last week, Angola had approximately three times more fires than Brazil , according to data that Bloomberg news agency obtained from Weather Source.
    On Sunday, 6,902 fires were recorded in Angola and 3,395 in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo , compared to 2,127 fires in Brazil. In the last 48 hours, Zambia ranked fourth in the list of countries with the most fires and Bolivia, a neighbor of Brazil, ranked sixth.

    Anything to hawk climate change... of course the fires are not good, but fires raged across the earth long before humans entered the scene.. Nature's way

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    1. Bunkerville,
      I'll make sure to stop by your site today to take a look.

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    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  6. We're missing the point on the Amazon fires. Screaming hysterics from clueless celeb pseudo-activists should not be met with revenge point-scoring.

    Yes, the Amazon is not the Earth's lungs, but it is one of the richest habitats and sources of biodiversity on the planet, and it is a wellspring of life, flora and fauna for South America. It's climate also produces needed rainfall.

    Yes, there is a lot of BS out there--The Amazon forest is not on fire. the fires are from slash piles, and also, during the dry season, jungle underbrush burns, often obscuring the sun.

    I have been to the Amazon--granted, only the fringes--many times, and I have lived in Central America--which also has rainforests, so I have seen all this with my own eyes.

    South America has around 4X more bird species than North America, and an astonishing variety of edible roots, plants, fruits and vegetables, most of which most people outside the continent have never heard of.

    Despite the hysteria, loss of habitat is a real concern. Deforestation creates deserts.

    By all means, let's counter the agenda-driven hysteria, but not with a callous disregard for our environment and an ignorant dismissal of very real environmental concerns.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Agree to your point.
      Untold damage has been done to the US ecosystem by not permitting the normal ebb and flow of forest fires.
      It has only been since the last century that we had airplanes to address raging wildfires. Until then, forests rejuvenated themselves naturally providing food for wildlife.
      I believe that the stat is over 90 percent of species that inhabited the earth are now extinct. Not suggesting that is a good thing, but how the thing works.
      In case I have lost my point - All fires are not bad. It seems it is difficult for many to appreciate. But your point is well taken.

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    2. I'm with you that the biodiversity is a bigger concern than gas exchange, except insofar as biodiversity is dependent upon that gas exchange, a point around which there is too much bogus controversy.

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    4. Not getting enough attention, FreeThinke?

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    5. ..from WYD, no doubt. My guess? Patriot Mueller, the Franco obsessed doxxer...

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    6. I think so, but have no way of proving it –– so far.

      A tech savvy son-of-a-bitch is hard to cmbat effectively.

      Delete
    7. Leftists always have to LIE, CHEAT, STEAL MISREPRESENT, MOCK, JEER –– and ven KILL –– to get their way, And getting THEIR way is ALL they care about –– damn the consequnces.

      Leftists don't believe in PRINCIPLES. They are champions of DESPOTISM, even tough few-if-any-of-them would ever ADMIT it. I doubt if most of their "rank and file" are even aware of it.

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    8. Spoofer's blogger ID - https://www.blogger.com/profile/15005240045090963811

      Franco's blogger ID - https://www.blogger.com/profile/11088635482766081825

      So unless Franco is spoofing folks it's clear some low life has stolen Franco's identity.

      Check PatriotMueller's blogger ID and compare it to the spoofer's. Then you'll know.

      Delete
    9. RN,
      Via my site meter, I've also determined the spoofer's geographic location and his IP number. **grin**

      I generally don't get involved in blog feuds.

      BUT when trolling gets particularly nasty, I WILL get involved. And I'm not a tech-tard. **grin again**

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    10. BEWARE: Trollish characters who support the Left are ALWAYS at their most DANGEROUS when they affect a quietly reasonable, "quasi-HELPFUL" tone.

      Delete
  7. NBC News ran film clips of the Brazilian "aftermath of the rain forest burning" the other night. None of the trees were more than about 15' tall and none were more than 8" in diameter. Some of the trees may have been three years old, but none were older than that. Most of the aerial shots were not even forests at all, but were grassland.

    Interesting how the media keeps running video clips which demonstrate visually that the story it is telling is false.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jayhawk,
      Most of the aerial shots were not even forests at all, but were grassland.

      In the shots I saw, it sure looked that way to me.

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    2. Greg Greenwald is on a crusade against Bolsonaro and the Brazilian government (in defense of his gay lover)... and the other media outlets are now giving him a a gay-mafia news story boost. 'F the fires in Brazil!

      Delete
    3. Que sera sera! Whatever will be will be . . .

      Delete
  8. Is America's growing passion for "Socialism" and other forms of "Identity Politics" a direct result of the decline of the traditional nuclear American Family...?

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. The article fails to establish a connection between "identity politics" and family breakup. It would be hard to deny the weakening of family but the link to identity politics is tenuous.
      At any rate it is just one of many competing theories from consumerism in The Lonely Crowd through the corporation in Growing Up Absurd to social media and technology in Bowling Alone .
      They take a view of cultural malaise that goes far deeper than the ill defined identity politics.

      Delete
    3. That group identity politics represents a substitute for familial identifications (ie -links between siblings) is a tenuous link? Doesn't sound very tenuous to me.

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    4. You don't think that "trans" see "other trans" as "brothers/sisters from another mother"?

      You don't think that many gays, rejected by their families, view other gays as their "new extended families"?

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    5. In those cases a family can reject a trans or gay member but it isn't what we commonly think of as dysfunctional.

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    6. Hence the re- association with a non-std "identity" group.... leading to more and more dysfunction in the nuclear family model.

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    7. Like Trump coming out as a deity and preferring the company of authoritarians.

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    8. TC and the rest of you moron libtards: You are not going to like the country you are living in in 20 years, and NO, it wasn't the fault of the 'republicans' :) Enjoy !

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    9. Yes, Franco. RINO's galore!

      We have had a uni-party for a long time now -- starting with George H.W. Bush.

      Just sayin'.

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    10. The Democrats will take us straight to hell.

      The Republicans take the scenic route.

      The secrete hand shake--good ole boys, strike
      again.
      Someone said that they were all good and Honorable
      people, yeah--Harry Reed, Richard Gepphard, Charles Schummer, Both Commos (New York Rulers)-even the Women-[Eastern Stars] Nancy, Hillory, Barbra, you know the rest.
      Yes Bill and Barak (Bubba and Barry).

      Comey walks.

      We can start a campaign by asking, which
      OATH COMES FIRST?

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  9. OF ALL THE THNGS YOU COULD LOSE YOUR MIND IS BY FAR THE WORST.

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    1. A helluvalotts folks've fallen into that category, haven't they?

      };^)>

      Delete
    2. I used to say that if you lose your mind you don't miss it, because you don't have anything to miss it with. Seeing people with Alzheimers has made me quit saying that. It's no longer even remotely funny.

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    3. Jayhawk,
      I know what you mean about people with Alzheimer's: my uncle and my mother-in-law, to name two. My mother-in-law seemed happy all the way up to her final day; my uncle, on the other hand, was clearly miserable.

      Delete
  10. I recently read where only 20% of folks 39 or younger place any value on American Values which include Religion, Patriotism, Sensible Immigration laws, etc.

    This country is F*

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    Replies
    1. Maybe the problem lies less with the young generations who have turned away from those values, and more with the older generations who have cheapened them.
      Religion can be lovely, but is unneccessary and sometimes dangerous.
      Likewise, there's nothing wrong with patriotism, except that it has been appropriated by conmen. I'm on guard whenever any politician appeals to it.
      A sensible immigration policy is by definition fine (that's what "sensible" means), but would not resemble the draconian hard-man nonsense that the phrase is usually code for. At least in Britain, the home office's "hostile environment policy" and resulting Windrush scandal are national disgraces.

      Delete
    2. Hans Sachs spricht

      Also sprach ein typische verzubene Frankfurter. Sehr traurig.

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    3. Likewise, there's nothing wrong with patriotism, except that it has been appropriated by conmen.

      +1. Well said.

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    4. Sie ticken doch ganz nicht richtig. Sie gehen mir tierisch auf den Keks.

      Delete
  11. ...and now to go to an American college means suffering an indoctrination where one must confess of their "white privilege" and every Southerner bears culpability for the slavery that 600,000 Americans died exterminating.

    ReplyDelete
  12. from Wiki:

    The ideas of collective guilt and collective punishment originated not with the US and British people, but on higher policy levels.[73] Not until late in the war did the U.S. public assign collective responsibility to the German people.[73] The most notable policy document containing elements of collective guilt and collective punishment is JCS 1067 from early 1945.[73] Eventually horrific footage from the concentration camps would serve to harden public opinion and bring it more in line with that of policymakers.[73]

    Already in 1944, prominent U.S. opinion makers had initiated a domestic propaganda campaign (which was to continue until 1948) arguing for a harsh peace for Germany, with a particular aim to end the apparent habit in the U.S. of viewing the Nazis and the German people as separate entities.[74]

    Statements made by the British and U.S. governments, both before and immediately after Germany's surrender, indicate that the German nation as a whole was to be held responsible for the actions of the Nazi regime, often using the terms "collective guilt" and "collective responsibility".[75]

    To that end, as the Allies began their post-war denazification efforts, the Psychological Warfare Division (PWD) of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force undertook a psychological propaganda campaign for the purpose of developing a German sense of collective responsibility.[76]


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  13. (cont)

    The Public Relations and Information Services Control Group of the British Element (CCG/BE) of the Allied Control Commission for Germany began in 1945 to issue directives to officers in charge of producing newspapers and radio broadcasts for the German population to emphasize "the moral responsibility of all Germans for Nazi crimes".[77] Similarly, among U.S. authorities, such a sense of collective guilt was "considered a prerequisite to any long-term education of the German people".[76]

    Using the German press, which was under Allied control, as well as posters and pamphlets, a program was conducted to acquaint ordinary Germans with what had taken place in the concentration camps. For example, using posters with images of concentration camp victims coupled to text such as "YOU ARE GUILTY OF THIS!"[78][79] or "These atrocities: your fault!"[Notes 2]

    The introduction text of one pamphlet published in 1945 by the American War Information Unit (Amerikanischen Kriegsinformationsamt) entitled Bildbericht aus fünf Konzentrationslagern (Photo Report from Five Concentration Camps) contained this explanation of the pamphlet's purpose:[80][81]


    Thousands of Germans who live near these places were led through the camps to see with their own eyes which crimes were committed in their name. But it is not possible for most Germans to view a KZ. This pictorial report is intended for them.[82]





    U.S. Army soldiers show the German civilians of Weimar the corpses found in Buchenwald concentration camp, 16 April 1945.
    A number of films showing the concentration camps were made and screened to the German public, such as Die Todesmühlen, released in the U.S. zone in January 1946, and Welt im Film No. 5 in June 1945. A film that was never finished due partly to delays and the existence of the other films was Memory of the Camps. According to Sidney Bernstein, chief of PWD, the object of the film was:


    To shake and humiliate the Germans and prove to them beyond any possible challenge that these German crimes against humanity were committed and that the German people – and not just the Nazis and SS – bore responsibility.[83]

    Delays led to the decision that the approach to the film was not as good as other extant films, and the footage and unread script were shelved.[84]

    Part of the reason the film was scrapped was that the harsh attitudes toward Germans had changed. Initially the denazification had a more harsh goal. English writer James Stern recounted an example in a German town soon after the German surrender.


    [a] crowd is gathered around a series of photographs which though initially seeming to depict garbage instead reveal dead human bodies. Each photograph has a heading "WHO IS GUILTY?". The spectators are silent, appearing hypnotised and eventually retreat one by one. The placards are later replaced with clearer photographs and placards proclaiming "THIS TOWN IS GUILTY! YOU ARE GUILTY!"[85]

    Immediately upon the liberation of the concentration camps, many German civilians were forced to see the conditions in the camps, bury rotting corpses and exhume mass graves.[86] In some instances, civilians were also made to provide items for former concentration camp inmates.[86

    ReplyDelete
  14. Take your BS propaganda methods someplace else, RN. I for one, am tired of them.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I just got home from a funeral and immediately hit IBA to find out what happened with Comey. He skates!

    And he's gloating all over Twitter.

    Sheesh.

    ReplyDelete
  16. AOW said... "I just got home from a funeral and immediately hit IBA to find out what happened with Comey. He skates!"

    According to the Trump Justice Department, there was no evidence to show/prove that Comey broke the law. Using Trumpian logic, even though Comey violated a Justice Department Policy, he [Comey] was totally exonerated.

    Hard to believe, as the evidence is not even dispute, that the Barr led Justice Dept would not have charged Comey had the evidence showed he broke the law.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm not sure that the matter of the FISA warrants has been on the table yet, though.

      I could be wrong. I haven't followed the ins and outs of all this. Too busy here with THE BIG CLEANOUT! Some 72 years' worth of stuff because my family has lived here since 1947.

      Delete
    2. A rather nasty report from the IG.

      Ah, well. Let's see what shakes out down the line.

      Delete
    3. The big clean out?

      Over 50 years... my in laws have lived in the same home since 1965. Too soon I fear, I'll be helping my wife on our own Big Clean Out.

      I'm dedicated to making sure my son doesn't suffer the same fate when I'm gone.

      Good luck.

      Someone once told me to take pictures of the stuff. And then get rid of it. At least you'll have the memory.

      Delete
    4. Dave,
      Taking pictures is a good idea, but sometimes those "platforms" fail.

      I'm trying to follow that Japanese joy method insofar as as I can. Trouble is that I have so much that brings me joy.

      All the books, on the other hand, must be weeded out.

      Delete
    5. Using Trumpian logic, even though Comey violated a Justice Department Policy, he [Comey] was totally exonerated.

      Ah, but you know that quaint notions of standards aren't en vogue anymore, right?

      Delete
  17. AOC said today that 'today's young people are much better informed".

    ahahAHAHFSHASAHDFHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHhahjahahahAHAHAHAHAHAHHHhahahah

    Man, they in for a Shock.

    She also said she is afraid of what the country is going to look like in 20-30 years (at least 8 after the planet is destroyed according to an earlier prediction of hers)
    Well, she got this one right.

    The USA is going to be a complete shithole(sorry) in 20-30 years.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MUCH sooner than that, Kid, if President Trump should fail to win reelection.

      After that, however, we will go the way of ancient Greece, Rome, Babylon, Czarist Russia, Chiang Kai Shek's China, Hitler's Germany, and the British Empire unless a miracle occurs.

      EVERYTHING moves in cycles. We, Alas! are no exception.

      Just remember "A Thousand Ages in God's Sight are Nothing More than a SINGLE DAY in His way of Looking at His Creation."

      Behold all flesh is as the grass,
      And all the goodliness of Man
      Is like the flower of grass.
      For lo the grass withereth,
      And the flow thereof decayeth ...


      ~ First Chorus from A German Requiem by Johannes Brahms (based on selected biblical texts)

      Delete
    2. Kid,
      This morning, I watched AOC's entire nutty video this morning.

      Sheesh.

      And no need to apologize for your last statement. The term fits!

      Delete
    3. Addendum:
      Not only nutty but also ignorantly egocentric in the extreme.

      Delete
    4. AOW, Unreal isn't it the vermin put into positions of power?

      Delete
  18. Kid published a pithy, very perceptive dystopian "novella" earlier this morning. "Anonymous" wanted to lay the blame all the woe at the feet of those eager to ban guns. I disagreed and said the following:

    It's much MUCH worse than THAT, Anonymous, with the LEFT'S infiltratiion and eventual domination of our Educational System,, Entertainment, News and Information Industries, Publishng Houses, and the Legal Profession the Left has stealthily over several decades arranged to rob several younger generations of their HEARTS, MINDS, and very SOULS.

    They have produced several generatiins now of MORAL, SPIRITUAL and INTELLECTUAL G_E_L_D_I_N_G_S. –– dutiful , obedient, mindless AUTOMATA who vainly IMAGINE they can think, but i[nstead can only parrot the Leftist Propaganda fed to them since infancy.
    _
    Being systematically MISINFORMED [i.e. BRAINWASHED] by clever, smooth-talking, faux-humanitarian intellectual PERVERTS who advocate ATHEISM, COLLECTIVISM, MARXISM [i.e. "EQUALiTY" achieved at the point of a GUN through MUTUALLY SHARED POVERtY] and the SURRENDER of both PRIVACY and PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS has made Kid's deadly quasi-Orwellian scenario quite possible.

    ReplyDelete
  19. My homestay student is from Porta Allegre, Brazil...he can't understand the kerfuffle about the fires, said he hadn't heard about them during his 5 week vacation back home in Brazil...that this happens nearly every year. Do I think it's good there are huge fires? No. Does it seem to me that there's an agenda getting off on the fires? Hell yes.

    I'm pretty consumed with that self righteous B**tard Comey right now....that'd be my humble contribution to your OPEN blog ...haven't the time or energy to read all 98 of the comments here, though I'm sure they're excellent....got my own loyalists to enjoy at my place, but also don't want to read the hypocrisy of your liberals...not even checking to see if they're here. Anybody who believes Comey deserves getting past this first hurdle, isn't thinking or hates justice. Let's keep hoping Barr's got special things coming from which this nasty human being can't escape.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'd love to know what your student thinks of Bolsonaro, Z? Have you discussed the current Brazilian government with him?

      Bolsonaro, of course is suppoxed to be conservative therefore anti-socialist. So naturallyhe's going to draw fire from the leftists who control the Worldwide Enemedia.

      "Agenda" these days carries with it an odor renarkably similar to that of BS or Doo-Doo. PHEW!

      };^)>

      Delete
  20. ____ A .... B____R____I____G____H____T .... I____D____E____A____! _____

    THIS WOULD BE A GREAT THEME SONG FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP

    I’VE GOTTA CROW

    CONCEITED?
    Not me!
    It's just that I am what I am
    And I'm me!

    When I look at myself
    And I see in myself
    All the wonderful things that I see
    If I'm pleased with myself
    I have ev'ry good reason to be.

    I've gotta crow!
    I'm just the cleverest fellow
    'Twas ever my fortune to know;
    I taught a trick to my shadow
    To stick to the tip of my toe
    I've gotta crow!

    I've gotta brag!
    I think it's sweet
    I have fingers and feet I can wiggle and wag.
    I can climb trees and play tag with the breeze
    In the meadows below
    I've gotta crow!I

    f I were a very ordinary
    Ev'ry day thing,
    I'd never be heard cock-a-doodling
    'Round like a bird!

    So Naturally
    When I discover the cleverness of a remarkable me,
    How can I hide it
    When deep down inside it just tickles me so
    That I've gotta let go and crow!

    I'm really a rare thing,
    Such a fair thing,
    I can't keep still!
    I'm bursting with pride
    And I just couldn't keep it inside
    If I tried so...Naturally
    When I discover the cleverness of a remarkable me,
    How can I hide it
    When deep down inside it just tickles me so
    That I've gotta let go and crow!


    ... Comden and Greene from Peter Pan (1954)

    IF ANYBODY DESERVES TO SAY THAT OF HIMSELF, IT CERTAINLY WOULD BE OUR PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP, WHO APPEARS TO BE GETTING YOUNGER AND STRONGER EVERY DAY –– A "RARE THING," INDEED!

    §;^D=.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Franco,
      PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP, WHO APPEARS TO BE GETTING YOUNGER AND STRONGER EVERY DAY

      Sure 'nuff!

      Delete
    2. Apparently, our most excellent president positively THRIVES on ADVERSITY.

      I honestly believes he's ENJOYNG himself most of the time.

      A rare person indeed!

      Delete

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