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05/13/22 03:33 PM #11113    

 

John Maxwell

Dre Jim,
How about the whole concept of awards? What seems to be implied by such things is people need reinforcement of excellence by "expert" peerage. All it does is single out an individual person or group as the "best". Meanwhile all others are considered "losers". To me it's a bunch of hooey. But I have seen award shows and pagents, athletic contests, etc. So, is the real question why do they exist. Most athletic contests are based on elimination. But there can only be one winner. If for some reason society changes its mind about this absurd concept and just appreciate the skill, intelligence, uniqueness of the individual and anything else that appeals. Then I suppose there would be socialistic outcry by those who feel cheated that their desire of a super person to admire would disappear leaving them sad and cull of dispair. Besides awards are just used to make more money. More money for advertisers, TV execs, CEO's and all that can profit. That really enhances the BS factors and creates the most prestigeous award ever, The Intergalactic Award.

05/14/22 11:50 PM #11114    

 

Joseph D. McCarthy

An editoriol from todays Wall Street Journal that I found very interesting.

 

05/16/22 01:17 PM #11115    

 

David Mitchell

Thank God for the voices of Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger. Kinzinger's "replacement theory" sounds like a winner to me.

The deafening silence you hear is the rest of the Repubilican Party. They are probably busy working on their next speech about defending the 2nd Amendment - or some plan to cut down on the number of voting machines in the South. Why don't they just legalize "fully automatic" weapons. I mean, why limit it to just "semi-automtic" weapons? 

 

Meanwhile the "Left" is marching to defend the "right" for us to toss a few more thousands of babies into plastic trash cans.  

 

In the immortal words of Yakov Smirnoff - "What a country!"

 

 

(new video shows there is at least one "Lyft" driver out there with some balls and a conscience)

 

 

05/16/22 01:36 PM #11116    

 

David Mitchell

05/17/22 12:14 PM #11117    

 

Mary Margaret Clark (Schultheis)

"Because conservatives tolerate leftist speech and leftist won't tolerate the right, Twitter opts to censor the right as 'balance'". -Twitter employee

https://twitter.com/i/status/1526336405663776768

 

05/17/22 01:26 PM #11118    

 

Michael McLeod

Just seeing "conservatives" and "tolerance" in the same sentence makes me think there's been a misprint.

Whereas, if you go by the dictionary:

 

See definitions in:
All
Politics
Theology
Education
adjective
  1. 1.
    willing to respect or accept behavior or opinions different from one's own; open to new ideas.
  2. 2.
    relating to or denoting a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise.
     
     
     
    Meanwhile more from my idol Garrison Keillor, this being the beginning of his new book:
     
     
     
    Chapter 1:

    I flew back home to Minnesota for my best friend’s funeral last spring over the objections of my wife who was leery of COVID, which was raging in Minnesota thanks to anti-vaxxers, many of them devout Christians like my cousins who put up “Prepare to meet thy God” signs along the road and who believed the virus meant a quicker trip to glory but Norm went down from cardiac arrest in his driveway, an easy death. He wanted to go in his sleep, but anyway it was quick. He was a big person in my life and so was his sister Arlene and to skip the funeral out of fear of infection seemed to me unworthy and a denial of reality even worse than the evangelicals’ resistance to medical science so I boarded Delta at Terminal D at LaGuardia and returned to my origins. He died on May Day and it was a shock but not a surprise: Norm always said, when asked how he was, “Never better,” but in March he switched to “Okay” and a few weeks later to “Not bad,” a rather steep decline.

    I rented a car at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport and drove north to Lake Wobegon and noticed, nearing town, that the “Prepare to meet thy God” sign was gone. I stopped and got out of the car. It lay in tall weeds by a barbed-wire fence. Someone had shot it with a shotgun and the Pre was gone and the stake was busted. I left it lying there but the phrase “Pare to meet thy God” stuck with me. Cut back on excess, trim the nonessential. A good motto for a man nearing 80. Set aside ego and the craving for widespread approval, ditch your bag of stupid regrets, abandon pleasures no longer pleasurable, love your neighbor, and you will find yourself in God’s presence. My cousin Rose, who was named not for the flower but for the Resurrection, sends me a birthday card every year: God is moving the waters. He is bringing this dispensation to a close. We may not be here tomorrow. I pray you are waiting on Him. It’s sweet. To think of someone waiting decades for Rapturization. I do appreciate her interest in me.

    I called Giselle in New York and left a message that I love her and drove into town and noticed the ruins of the EZFreeze. Not much happened in the town of my youth and when something did, my dad would say, “It was the biggest thing since they got the bug zapper at the EZFreeze.” The zapper was a big neon ring under the eave that electro- cuted mosquitos. Now it’s gone, the symbol of progress.

    So is the Lake Wobegon Maternity Hospital, the big white house where I was born in the summer of 1942, which caused no stir at the time nor does the fact that I’m still living. I am here as a result of good luck. As a kid, I stood on the front seat of the car, no seat belt, as Dad drove 80 mph on a two-lane road to get to Bible camp in the Badlands of South Dakota, driving at top speed so we wouldn’t need to stop at a motel. I survived it and also the preaching, which was all about imminent death, ships sinking, car crashes, furnaces blowing up, storms with lightning. We fundamentalists were grim, like people living in a coal mine, but if I looked grim, my cheerful mother would say, “What’s the matter? Did the dog pee on your cinnamon toast?” and that made me smile, and it still does, imagining a dog going to the trouble of getting up on the table to do that. Wobegonians were cheerful stoics and if you asked “How are you?” they said “Fine” unless they were lying on the ground and there was external bleeding. Lighten up. Life is good. It could be worse. Don’t feel sorry for yourself. Winter is not a personal experience: everybody else is just as cold as you are. Take it one day at a time. Make something of yourself. Don’t be a ten-dollar haircut on a 59-cent head. Find out what you’re good at and do it. That was our way.

     
     

05/17/22 03:40 PM #11119    

 

Mary Margaret Clark (Schultheis)

Mike.....liberalism is not what is being espoused in the current politically correct culture. 

05/17/22 09:48 PM #11120    

 

David Mitchell

So Mary Margaret,

I guess you are saying that Tuckerio Rose Carlson can spew any kind of cowardly, racist, disgusting, crap, but anyone from the opposition who calls him out is guilty of "hate-speech"?  Give me a break!

I guess he and I have a different idea of what "hate speech" is. Frankly, I liked it better when he was talking about men having their balls roasted with a red light. At least that was funny. 

He sure made a fool out of himself the other night trying to explain how his views are not at all like the kid from Buffalo. Oh, really? 

 

 

He (and Sean and Laura) still owe an apology to those four Captial policemen whom he belittled, mocked, and humiliated on the air after they testified before congress about their experience defending them at the Jan 6th riots.

Or are we calling that a "patriotic demonstration"?

 

05/18/22 08:15 AM #11121    

 

Frank Ganley

Mike m and Dave m you both are missing all the points of a corrupt administration. Your beliefs that "liberal" are as express in the OWD first the adjective or adverbs as bob applied ointment liberally but to discredit the left that was in todays politically charged atmosphere is completely wrong. Your attacks on Trump are irritatingly boring. He has been out of office almost two years but you liberals are still claiming he mounted an insurrection on the Capitol. Why is it trump called up 20000 guardsmen but Pelosi ordered them to stand down. You proof is thin and searching. What about all the riots over the past two summers of bond and antifa staged riots. Countless killed, injured and cities destroyed by this group of liberals but no you claim they were peaceful assembly's yet no one has been arrested, investigated, or incarcerated! Why is that? Why has" hunter the idiot not ban prosecuted even with proof of Biden the criminals involvement. You all make me sick. Constantly throwing buckshit at us as if we're the gospel according to mike and Dave with aid from John. Your intolerance of any fact or argument that those who support the constitution , free speech and fair and honest elections. Oh I know that was investigated by Dems. Why wereJim Jordan and other republicans ousted from the jan6 committee. If you are so sure of that the last presidential election was fair why have the Dems failed to open their books but at the same time want to see trumps tax returns. Screw that I want to see all of Congress income. I want term limits and the left start to try to curb inflation and gas. Oh I forgot it is trumps fault. Bullshit and you know it. How is your gas, your groceries oh I almost forgot baby formula a dire shortage unless you go to the border and see it stockpile for illegals. You libtards go on spouting your lies and you crooked belief system. Turn us into Venezuela because boys and girls we are on our way and for the most of you you don't speak Spanish

05/18/22 12:04 PM #11122    

 

Joseph D. McCarthy

Frank did you by chance overlook Post # 11114 regarding Baby fromula?

 

05/18/22 01:28 PM #11123    

 

John Maxwell

OMG!
I've entered the Twilight Zone. I was down at the street picking up the trash that litters my little bit of grass that grows between the curb and sidewalk bordering my woods. As I was out there a pickup truck drives by and the driver honked the horn. As I turned to look at the heavily bumper stickered cap on his truck bed with the myraid of Trump/Pense, NRA slogans and other conservative speak stickers I couldn't help think about how my actions of picking up the trash seemed conservative in nature. Does this mean that I am a conservative? Or am I confusing conservativism with conservation? Cleaning up the environment and keeping my property neat in appearance. Just then out of the driver's side window came a wad of trash. Fastfood wrappers drink cups, etc. I instantly thought, what a liberal jerk, tossing his trash out willy nilly like it was his God given right to foul the environment and insult the earth! Why would he or she do that? Did they think it was funny? Then I thought about the 'Pure Michigan' slogan that was adopted by the Whitmer administration followed by the irony that ensued. I didn't know this person who obviously believed he or she was entitled to use the street as their personal dumping site for their garbage, but then I thought maybe this is how it should be. Just don't care about any consequence of an indiscriminate action like tossing trash out of one's vehicle. I guess they figured I'd pick it up and dispose of it for them. Perhaps the thought of a true conservative? "Oh let someone else pick up my trash." I did pick it up and put it in my trash can I keep by my driveway. So perhaps it was someone who may be physically or mentally incapacitated enough not to handle it themselves. Glad to help. It's amazing the trash I find in that patch of grass sometimes. The road hasn't been improved for over twenty years. The potholes are so deep that I swear I've seen Chinamen sticking their heads out of them. The road commission's idea of road repair is a few shovels full of fresh asphalt piled a few inches above the rim of the holes, to be mashed down by the traffic. Probably a solution come up by some republican politician with financial ties to the Venezualan oil industry. They are the largest producer of asphalt as a by-product of their oil. The problem is the "repair" to the road is fleeting as the holes return deeper and wider in a week or so as the stone and tar lift out of the holes and are strewn about in the grass and gutter in big chunks. A couple times a year I shovel up as much of this stupidity and public funded waste and dump it in my driveway, thus saving the cost of several yards of crushed limestone from the local landscape supplier. Over the years I've recovered tons of stone and tar covered rock providing me with a smooth driveway. Since I've lived here I've worn out three wheelbarrows.
Since I have not the savvy to post photographic documentation on this site I will try to post my video of the Pothole Rhapsody on the facebook site. Enjoy.

05/18/22 02:37 PM #11124    

 

Michael McLeod

when I see people say "politically correct" I always wonder: what's wrong with being correct?

when they say "woke" like it's a bad thing I always think being awakened is a good thing.

Oh and there's libtards. And sheeples.

I know so many bad words and insults for liberals but I swear I can't think of any commonly used derogatory slang words for conservatives.

Clue me in so I can use a few.

 

 

05/18/22 03:25 PM #11125    

 

Mary Margaret Clark (Schultheis)

Mike.... try mysoginist, racist, sexist, homophobe, Trumpster, tea-bagger, extremist, conspiracy-theorist, basket of deplorables, bitter clinger.    "Ultra-Maga" being currently used over and over the past couple of days by Biden. 

05/18/22 03:43 PM #11126    

 

Mark Schweickart

I mentioend before how I had never heard of this musical group OK Go, but since then I have enjoyed several of the mind-blowing visual efforts that they have come up with (that totally overshadow the original song it is supposed to be enhancing, but who's complaining).  Here's one where they traveled to Russia to get a ride (well, several rides over a two week period I think it was) on the Russian version of the Vomit Comet, the high-altitlude aircraft that can make an up and down parabola-shaped flight pattern that induces 27 seconds of weightlessness per each parabola-shaped maneuver.



Here's a video explaining how they did it:

05/18/22 05:14 PM #11127    

 

Mary Margaret Clark (Schultheis)

RE: baby formula 
https://fb.watch/d56OCtMCE1/

05/18/22 07:03 PM #11128    

 

Michael Boulware

I would like to thank Fred Clem for organizing the Watterson class of 1966 monthly lunch. We had a group a wonderful friends gather, everyone shared laughs and smiles,; we had a great time at Massey's in Graceland. Present were Dave Roesch, Fred Clem, Mike Del Bianco, Bill McCray, Brian McNamara, Chuck Kaps, Al Morse, Bill Lehner and me. Looking forward to the next one.

05/19/22 01:35 AM #11129    

 

David Mitchell

Mike B. 

I'd swear those names sound familiar !  

Maybe from a past life?

 

 

And Frank,

I may have said this before, but I wish you would stop "sugar coating" everything and tell us how you really feel.

 

05/19/22 01:47 AM #11130    

 

David Mitchell

Mark,

In my experience, gravity is somewhat overrated.

05/19/22 08:41 AM #11131    

 

Frank Ganley

Mike m, here is a list of word that you can use to describe conservative republicans, trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly,  courteous, kind, obedient , cheerful, thrifty, clean, and reverent . If we follow these rules of how to act we would stop all of this bickering and divisiveness and we would all live in harmony

 

 

05/19/22 09:12 AM #11132    

 

Michael Boulware

Dsave Mitchell. Our lunch bunch would love to have you as guest speaker if you ever get the chance to join us. I just found out that Dave Roesch was an Evans Scholarship recipient, Charlie Kaps and Bill Lehner are recognized as "MASTER" sailors, and Bill McCray is still the coolest guy around.

05/19/22 12:22 PM #11133    

 

Michael McLeod

Hey that's great, Frank. I appreciate your selection of words and will check my preconceptions at the door next time I am with a self-described conservative and assume that they have all or most of those qualities and we will see how it all works out. Although Orlando is a hotbed of gays and entertainers, and I'm in two professions as a journalist and college professor that surround me with liberals, I'm sure, based on how the voting goes in Florida, that I'll run into a conservative or two now and then. 

 

Now: Forgive me if I've done this before.

But if anybody who reads this has a few minutes to spare and want to see and hear something splendid and sublime,  check this out. A breathtaking piece of music meets an equally breathtaking performer. And you should see what she does with the great Russian composers - which I will be lucky enough to enjoy when she comes down her to Orlando to perform with our philharmonic this upcoming season. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce3OERuCY0E

 

05/19/22 05:46 PM #11134    

 

David Mitchell

Mike B.

I would be flattered to oblidge you. Maybe when I drive up in the fall for the reunion, we could work out some alternate day for that group. As a result of two local articles about a reunion I organized about 8 year ago, I have been asked to speak to large groups (200 to 800 people) on several occasions. I can keep it as light and "safe' as you prefer.

I had the honor of being the main speaker at my local town of Bluffton's Memorial Day celebration a few years back. But my first time, about 8 years ago was a real eye opener. A crowd of about 350 (all Vietnam Vets and a few local officials) gave me such an ovation that I was stunned. 

Our unusual mission and tactic is so widley unknown that some who hear it for the first time are skeptical*. But I can refer them to a couple of You Tube videos that confirm our story. We think there were probably only a few hundred of us L.O.H. ("Loach") pilots out of over 40,000 (I think) American helicopter pilots in all of Vietnam. Many Vietnam Veterans are unaware of our story - unless they were attatched to, or based near one of our units. I think there may have been only 8 or 10 helicopter squadrons (out of hundreds of squadrons) that were equipped to employ this tactic.

 

* I was once called a liar at a cocktail party years ago in Denver - standing in a group of four when my host asked me to share a bit of my story. In those days I was very guarded about doing that with strangers, but I gave them a little brief overview. The guy on my left - an well-known attorney as I recall, holding a martini, suddeny walked away saying, "You expect me to believe this bullshit?"

And my oldest daughter - a graduate of Watterson and John Carroll (and captain of both swim teams) -  wrote a short story of one of my more unusual episodes in a graduate school writing class at the Cal State branch in Pasadena, CA. She got the paper back from the teacher with a low grade and a written comment in the margin- "This is ridiiculous! This could never have happened." 

I was not too thrilled when she told me about it.  

05/19/22 07:17 PM #11135    

 

James Hamilton, M. D.

Dave M., 

Seriously: more good reasons to write that book and include photographs from you and your fellow LOACH team members who took on those dangerous missions.

Sarcastically: if you write it from the viewpoint of the VC or with a certain tilt, it may become required reading by some school boards! 🙄

Jim

 

 

05/19/22 10:15 PM #11136    

 

David Mitchell

True Greatness - Aim for the stars!

  (or at least, the "arches")

 

I just couldn't resist this inspiring story of "great expectations".                   Charles Dickens, eat your heart out. This will probably move you to tears............, (or maybe indigestion). 

 

(gotta love that hair do)

05/19/22 10:20 PM #11137    

 

David Mitchell

You heard him right. He has saved every receipt and every carton. 

YIKES ! 

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