birdog1960

no one, absolutely no one has touched gun control in years. was barely mentioned in the campaigns. conventional wisdom was that the nra and gun lobby were too strong. unfortunately, conventional wisdom was correct and that's a sad fact that the country must now accept. at least he tried. few others would have had the courage just like in health care reform. the fact that the bill was written by someone highly rated by the nra just shows that the negative vote wasn't about substance but rather politics. the message was loud and clear: "don't try this again".

what is untenable is any reasonable, defensible argument against backround checks http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/04/12/conservative-pro-gun-senator-demolishes-arguments-against-background-checks/ that i've heard including the "slippery slope" arguments made here. a vote against this bill was a vote to maintain gun votes and special interest money. simple as that.

it's like you're a jerk. manchant had as much or more to lose in wv as these losers did in their gun states but he did the correct, moral thing. you think those 4 voted their conscience? never mind, i'm pretty sure you don't know what that is.

friggin wimps...i know we have a big blue tent but i'm just not sure it's big enough for these 4. shame indeed.

using common sense and providing cost effective health policy is to the benefit of the patient and to society as a whole. that's what he's saying. and he's absolutely correct: fee for service is the engine that drives these ridiculous costs. unfortunately, he's preaching to the choir: many ACP members are already on board (i'd have liked to be in SF for this conference, it's one of the best medical conferences in the world, imo). this message needs to be taken to the proceduralists. that's a much harder sell.

it produces revenue. we need both revenue and spending cuts to balance the budget despite the stupid rhetoric. it certainly doesn't serve the purpose of making the wealthy dependent on the govt nor is it meant to.

while i don't necessarily agree with this plan (i think the better revenue option is higher capital gains taxes), the "class warrior" here is the wsj columnist who announces the purpose of this proposal is to make everyone dependent on the gov't. does anyone really believe that those with $3 mil in retirement will be any more dependent on the gov't under this plan than under the current arrangement ?(other than their needs for roads and bridges and ambulances and schools to train the people they rely on to keep things running and law enforcement and national defense and airports and border patrols and ...)

amazing! and i move on when i run into a snake fishing. feels kinda silly now.

we always had a push mower growing up too. at on time, even a push powered reel type mower. have to admit i didn't find that relaxing. but there are few other tasks in my life that are completed so soon with visible good results. i find that very satisfying. and the oil can of beer afterward that has become my tradition is pretty good too.

my brit in-laws say the same things. funny thing though, while they generally greatly liked thatcher, most of them would be considered quite liberal in the current US political environment. liberal and conservative are definitely relative terms.

last night, i did my now most favorite form of meditation - mowed the lawn. strange but true.

was recently taught a relaxation breathing technique at a work sponsored seminar. seems like meditation to me but not sure. you close your eyes and breathing very slowly, silently saying "breath in", "breath out" "pause" and repeat til you feel yourself relax. has worked well when i feel myself getting hyped up at work. of course, praying works, too.

is it possible to buy furniture that isn't overpriced? i have only one piece that i think might survive to be used by the next generation...and it was custom built in a small now, out-of business shop in hickory, nc. everything else i expect to be junk long before i go.

funny video. i thought the hdmi cable was the best or worst (depending on whether you're the seller or buyer). doesn't surprise me that monster made something similar. they are master monsters of rip off. a few others that come to mind - anything by bang and olufsen (only makes sense if you have a $15k sofa, an arc lamp and some original calder art in your living room and then, the whole pretentious mess makes even less sense) and finally, just about anything by bose. oh, and i listened to those headphones in target and thought the same thing as this guy.

not so sure about that, but she was a self made woman who stuck to her convictions whether popular or not. those are things i admire. some of the interesting thoughts from the interviews: campbell said she has to laugh when she hears people calling obama's america socialist. she said they need to look at the uk when thatcher got started to get an idea of what western socialism really looks like. baker and schultz both argued that she changed the labour party in england, making it more conservative. that's quite a feat. sure wish a liberal leader in the us could get the same result from their opposition party.

if you haven't seen it, watch pbs' piece on thatcher featuring interviews with james baker, george schultz and kim campbell (the canadian prime minister). amazing stuff. all agreed that she altered the curve of history for the better. she clearly deserves our admiration and respect.

gonna have to give "i am sam" a listen. i've heard the sarah mclachlan "blackbird" cover and love it but not heard any of the others as far as i know.saw "the master" about scientology and a WWII vet recently. great soundtrack, very weird movie that i can't really recommend. the sound track is interesting as it's period from post war with cuts from singers like ella fitzgerald but then a lot of stuff written and produced by one of the guys from radiohead.

an interesting take on the subject : http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-bonobo-and-the-atheist-frans-de-waal/1111076983 the author is a nonbeliever but concludes that religion is very important to society and peaceful, cooperative human behavior. i'm a believer yet i'm in total agreement with his conclusion.

"city of angles" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Angels:_Music_from_the_Motion_Picture, "garden State", and "o brother where art thou" top my list.

a means to an end....

good lord! you and all the echo chamber analysts were wrong. and it cost you...and it will continue to cost you. wake the hell up. the demographics will only worsen in regards to your perspective. i really want two (or more) viable, reasonable parties. guys like you make that very unlikely.

unfortunately, there's plenty of hate to go around: http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/hate-map. by my reckoning, nc isn't in the top 5 for the east. kinda scary...

i thought that as well especially since the same guy did studies on primates empathy for each other. probably find more of that on off the wall than ppp though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KSryJXDpZo listened to the guy that ran these experiments on the radio today. interesting (and funny) stuff...

i suppose it depends on where in the food chain you are and your confidence in remaining at that level or higher.