Everything NOT Appliances......and Loving It: Page ONE
Submitted by advisor on Mon, 11/02/2009 - 11:37am.
Feel free to discuss anything here. Communism, Marxism, Paganism, Fire Worship, Circumcision of pets, etc. If a particular comment on communism, marxism, paganism, fire worship and the circumcision of pets has some direct impact on appliances, feel free to discuss it here or in other places on this site.
Sad Day
Today is a sad day for our Republic. After a year of arm twisting, back room deals, political payoffs and rule manipulation the most gigantic and life altering legislation of my lifetime was passed in the most partisan and contentious way. The activists of the past who's battle cry was for the government "keep your hands off my uterus" were quite content to let them have EVERY OTHER PART. This bill is so bloated that we won't even know everything in it for some time. This bill does nothing to contain costs or offer any competition. Refusing to pay the costs is not controlling costs! The quality of your healthcare will go down the tubes. Did you know that over 80% of Nobel Prize winners in medicine are from the United States! If you have cancer this was the country you wanted to have it in. No more, No more. They will remove the profit motive and you will eventually have the equivalent of your local Wal-Mart cashier for all your medical needs. Oh, and they also took over College Loans too! I weep for my children.
Appliance Specific Thoughts
Yes, other than that Mrs Lincoln.......but do you have any appliance specific thoughts?
Does this help or hurt small business owners, i.e. dealers?
Does it help or hurt appliance manufacturers vs global competition?
Could it somehow help develop competition by releasing entrepreneurs from pre-existing condition based job-lock.
It was my understanding that GM was profitable pre-bankruptcy, except for the health care costs. Does this legislation lift the burden carried by GE, Whirlpool, Dacor, Viking, or not so much?
Gosh, I Wish I Said This ...
In my Sunday reading I discovered this bit it of postulation which brought a lot into focus for me:
"You hear of an event when the weather's warm and it's proof of global warming. Then if the weather's cold, that proof of global warming as well." "And that reveals the problem with the theory that man-made green-house gas are causing a climate catastrophe ... It's not falsiable." "Serious scientists, when the look at this, say 'this is an example of a theory that cannot be falsified' ... and a theory that cannot be falsified is not science ... It's religion !!!"
"When Einstein put forth his theory of relativity, he described three ways in which it could be tested. He went on to state that the theory would be debunked if it failed just one of those tests ..."
The glaringly simple point is that without an ability to test Global Warming with well-defined methodologies which are articulable to the masses, it is "religion", which is, in and of itself, faith based and not fact based !!!
The masses
I would love to see you prove relativity to the masses.
But ...
... @ least it's not fear mongering ... which, by strange coincidence is a tactic some religions use to recruit and hold victims ... I mean, followers !!!
Blizzards & Global Warming ...
OK, folks ... every major news portal is pointing out the "supposed" contradiction in that we have had extreme winter weather this year ... especially if you are in Al Gore's former domicile !!!
Personally, as someone who is not one of the knee jerk Global Warming folks, but one who believes we take the contentions under serious consideration, I'm interested in what others here think ...
So, what say you ???
Global warming and moisture
Well BB...I have a limited grasp on the effects on Global Warming, but as I understand it, one of the bi-products of a warmer globe is an increase in moisture as the ice caps are melting. With the concurrent increase in heat, it is natural to expect higher levels of precipitation. These comments are well documented long before the recent storm in DC. It will, of course, snow in winter where it is supposed to (sometimes in greater amounts). There's a phrase called "planet wierding" as the weather will behave erratically. There's no doubt that our average temperatures have trended upward over the last 100 years, as this is well documented by the national weather service. I will leave it to much more intelligent people to determine if we, humans, have caused or at least contributed to this phenomenon. What I do know for sure is that our planet will be here long after we're one. Our own survival in our current form may well be in question. So, what would it hurt if we took the measures of being more environmentally responsible? The benefits of developing cars that consume something other than gasoline, using renewable sources for heating fuel and burning natural gas and clean coal is a reduction of our dependence on foreign oil. Not to mention a reduction in smog and other health hazards…And if by chance we reduce global warming or slow it down, it would be a double win…
Ice caps melting......not so much.
Interesting theory except:
The fact is that we do not know enough about "Global Warming" or "Global Cooling" or "Global Climate Change" to attribute it to anything. I am 100% in favor of allowing the market to respond to the science and let the market to develop new and more efficient technologies. That is the way it should work in the United States. I am 100% against what has been happening, the politization of this subject by a bunch of liberal and progressive lawmakers and elites, that they can use this to control business and the population at large by increasing taxes on everything in sight and regulating every aspect of business and our lives.
As Long as We Don't Become ...
... like that satire car commercial where the "Green Police" have domain over us to the ridiculous extent they poked fun @ in the commercial !!!
I fear that the "Global Warming" & "Green" advocates have attained "PC" status and therefore objecting to anything associated with them is as much a violation as using the "N-Word" ... and that's simply wrong !!!
OK, but ...
Thanks for weighing in Dram ...
The funny thing about this past blizzard ... and it was a classic blizzard here ... is that the outside temperature was 31-32 degrees throughout the whole storm !!! I know because I am the President of out Condo Association and as such I keep track of the plows so I was up and down all night ...
That means that the upper atmosphere had to be colder to produce snow, expecially the light crystalline type we got ...
I heard the theory you mention on a few news reports, but it was quickly downplayed for reasons I did not quite catch ...
Kinda makes you go Hmmmmmmmmm, eh ???
Out of Left Field
"Can there be climate change, if it just snowed 3' in DC?"
In statistical analysis, there is so little information in a single data point that data points that don't fit any trends are called "outliers" and are eliminated from the analysis. If DC gets 3' of snow next year, and the year after, that would be interesting, but again some of the theoretical secondary effects of warming regionally are pretty far reaching, including freezing Europe. (Take that, strong Euro!). Predicted secondary effects include drier, wetter, warmer, colder, depending on changes in weather patterns.
I have no idea if global warming or climate change played a significant role in burying DC, but very small changes in input have big changes in output, as el Nino might suggest, or Mt Pinatubo, or the cyclic effects of the Earth wobble.
It is predicted that the North and South poles, which are deserts will get more snow as the air's ability to hold moisture increases. Kind of makes sense. There's a whole lot more going on in the DC storm since it was the merger of storms that created the mess.
Agreed with One Reservation ...
The idea of "outliers" puzzles me, even more so after reading one "daffy-nition" ...
"An outlying observation, or "outlier", is one that appears to deviate markedly from other members of the sample in which it occurs.
That seems to discount weather cycles ... for instance, in the 17 years we have lived here, we have had a number of winters when we had snow-storm after snow-storm ... plow-jockeys know that this is when to make up for the years when snow is just a memory ... but it seems to be cyclical, like every 3-4 years ... the only REAL differential is that the storms seem to be affecting states further and further south ...
Friends in North Carolina report that their kids have already gone thru their Easter Vacation time and are lengthening the school year into the summer .. primarily because they are unaccustomed and ill-equipped to handle any aberrant weather ...
Floridians have lost their citrus crop and can be heard shivering in ever Facebook post they make !!!
The DC deluge of snow (the amount anyway) should be directly relative to their positioning near a body of water, similar to the effect of the Great Lakes which we are all familiar with ... just like the oppressive humidity of their summer derives from the Potomac !!!
Many old timers (and I got there yesterday myself) will recall weather anomalies when it snowed on Easter and deep even into April ... they are the odd chance that the weather gods got things mixed up and provided something out of seasonal character ...
Why assign a "daffy-nition" to something generations have experience for, well, generations !!!
Table for one
Much of what you are reporting is "qualitative", individual reports from around the nation. A climate analysis requires "quantitative" data. Washington's data could be part of a normal trend, and not an outlier, if the snow increases in the future, OR if the weather paterns for Washington (and the rest of the Southeast) become more unstable, more wild increaseing the standard deviation (my memory of statistics, don't fail me now). If Washington weather does not become any more unstable and if snow fall like this never again returns, than this winter might be discarded as an outlier.
I don't live in DC, but it seems you have some recollection that thought the amount is larger, large snow storms over the last 17 years are quite common in the area. So this could be "significant" in someone's statistical analysis.
The argument had been made by others that snow in DC meant that Global Warming is dead. My comment was only that no conclusion can be made by one data point.
This Reminds Me of the Old Adage ...
... that the only absolutely true aspect of "absolutes" is that there are NO "absolutes" !!!
Kinda falls in the category of "death & taxes" ... eh ???
Am I Missing Something ???
Ever since Katrina struck and annihilated New Orleans we have seen and heard about the debacle the response was to the plight of OUR OWN PEOPLE !!!
So, I have to ask, how is it that within 24 hours of an earthquake in Haiti, the US Government fixed the landing strip and has a regular schedule of C-130's arriving with aid from the USA and other countries around the world ... there are funds being set up ... and you can't get away from the media coverage ???
Now, far be it from me to not wish to do everything possible for our fellow man in his hour of need ... BUT ... Doesn't this strike anyone else as being strange when OUR OWN PEOPLE are still living in trailers and/or in squalor ???
Good Question
You ask a good question. Considering that the federal government has dumped at least $51 billion dollars (our tax dollars) into rebuilding New Orleans, something is not right. I'm sure it has a lot to do with the usual government corruption and incompetence that we have all become so used to that we don't even notice until someone asks a good question.
so I am not the only one
I was driving home tonight, listening to the news and marveled at the swiftness of the repsonse to this tragedy. The supplies etc were already there with planes stacked up waiting to land with more aid. Then I thought of the response to the devastation on New Orleans and how slow help was in getting there and how to this day, there are people living in terrible conditions. whole areas that were destoyed have not changed one bit.with all due respect to the plight of the Haitians, how can others be helped before you help your own.
Doing Nothing
I can never tell if you’re pulling my leg…….I hope you’re pulling my leg.
Helping folks across the street crushed under cement is just the thing you do. Not helping would be a bit uncivilized.
Haiti has critical problems while the trailer folks only have chronic problems. It would be nice to get folks in trailers a better house with a bigger kitchen, yet since their problems don’t include amputation, trauma, social breakdown, bleeding out, starvation, dehydration, dysentery or cholera, they can wait....as if the reason they are in trailers has anything to do with Haiti.
Critical care is not all that expensive when compared to the chronic problems of Hait or New Orlean, and quite a bit less expensive than the cost to our international position if we chose to do nothing. Doing nothing would bring us deserved shame, and would not go over well either with our allies, or most Americans, no matter their political affiliation.
If your real question is, “Why didn’t we do better in New Orleans?” I completely agree.
Well, now ...
... I wasn't pulling you leg, but being more of a contemplative "Devil's Advocate" while marveling @ what can be done when they want to ...
That's why I said "... far be it from me to not wish to do everything possible for our fellow man in his hour of need ... "
Then I agree.....I think
Then I agree. One of the greatest things our country does is show up at some far flung corner of the world with all our marines, amphibious vehicles, heavy lift equipment and helicopters, perhaps Indonesia, Turkey, Greece, Africa, any place that took delivery of 25 years of bad luck all in one day.
They could have done the same in New Orleans of course, but the administration at the time had different priorities.
Yup ... Yup ... Yup !!!
Did anyone catch GW and Billy BJ on the talk shows today ??? What a travesty ... it was Billy whose administration funds and kept Aristide in power thru two (2) juntas - and now Aristide wants to come out of exile because he heard the word "Clinton" mentioned ... and it was GW's administration that forsook New Orleans ... what a pretty pair !!!
After watching the last 4-5 days worth of news, doing plenty of reading, and looking for more critical views instead of the common knee-jerk reactions, I heard today from the Commender of US Troops in Haiti that " ... we're here to assist the Haitian government ..." to wit I say: "With What ???" The infrastructure is gone, just like the palace (which is a great visualization of my point) ... everything is in disarray ... and these people were warned 1.5-2 years ago that this was a metaphysical certainty !!!
My question is simple: Are the countries of the world going to aid these people in their time of need (yes, we should !!!) and then return them to the government which neglected them, stole from them, and impoverished them ??? Why are the contributing countries not forming an alliance and enacting something akin to the Marshall Plan ???
Essentially, I am trying to point out that after the remediation of this disaster - knowing that it is highly probable that it can happen again - what are the responding nations of the world doing to guarantee that this does not have the same impact years down the road ??? If we don't do that, aren't we like the proverb of "If you give a man a fish he will starve eventually, but if you teach him to fish, he will never go hungry ..." ???
International Guardianship
May I second the gentlemen from Bermuda?
There are more than a few places in the world which would benefit by hitting the reset button. Haiti pre-quake was certainly one of those places. A nasty place without the habit of democracy, civil society, justice, clean water, or education.
Who would take the lead for this? The UN, France (language and history), Canada (language and demeaner), Brazil (current position in Haiti), US (proximity and experience rebuilding other countries).
Well ...
Well, if only I were from Bermuda !!!
1. We cannot trust the UN (aka "Unable to do "Nuttin") because they already use us then spit n us ...
2. France probably isn't interested ... primarily because the French don't care what you say as long as you pronounce it correctly ... Haitian is a bastardization of French ...
3. Brazil has too many problems right now with crime, poverty, and the cost of the coming Olympics ... hell, they're trying to hire Rudy Giuliani to train their people how to straighten things out !!!
4. The US ... well, maybe, but what would we get for our troubles, another Puerto Rico - a territory of the US with all the rights of Americans but who don't pay federal taxes because they're not a state, and don't want to be ???
I think we split the consortium according to the relative investment in the effort to straighten Haiti out ...
We need to train the people to be self-reliant and prove to the world what can be done with the right mindset, not the imperialistic bombasts which the free world is seen as ...
Glad I'm Not Flyin' ...
Before I got sick and had my transplant I loved to travel either for business or pleasure and did so 12-18 times a year, but I gotta tell you I'm glad I'm not able to travel right now !!!
1. There's the Swine Flu and since the air is only circulated and not filtered, if the Pilot has a cold the last guy in the plane could get it ... since we know the Swine Flu can be transmitted thru airbourne and/or contact means, I'll stay home where I'm safe, thank-you-very-much !!!
2. There's Janet Napolitano - Secretary of HomeLand Security, who was recently described as being so unqualified that she could not arrange a weekend tryst for Tiger Woods @ the Mustang Ranch !!! With so many people available, why was this political hack place in such an important position, except that she's just another expert @ the politician's "flip-flop" !!!
The recent problems are the responsibility of her leadership and she's been there long enough to be held responsible and should be forced to resign !!!
3. There's the ineptitude of HomeLand Security to adequately protect us from yet another terrorist who wanted to light up a body part !!! Have you ever wondered how come you've never met someone who is your intellectual equal scrutinizing you @ the airport ???
4. There's the knee jerk reactions to the latest event as opposed to utilizing the technology we have ... So what do we do now ???
A. Swine Flu - get your vaccination; keep some anti-bacterial spray and use it often; stay away from inconsiderate sick people and if you have the crops, call them out and scold them !!!
B. Janet needs to be replaced with a life-long professional expert in world-wide security ... write your Congressman/woman and Senator ... and anyone else you can find an address for !!! Tell them we DEMAND a professional !!!
C. Unfortunately, you wouldn't take that job, so I have no resolution to this conundrum, but remember that airport personnel are over-stressed by rude, condescending, and frustrated people ... don't be one of them ... if you're treated fairly then thank them, if you're not get a name and report them when you get home - not @ the airport, because I guarantee you won't make your flight !!!
D. Until we become a society who is unwilling to extend our rights to people who wish to deprive us of them, we will be demonized by ridiculous knee-jerk reactions like taking your shoes off ... In my world, if a person were found with explosives on himself, he would be summarily removed from the plane and executed in world-wide TV !!! A little harsh, I agree, but this kid hated our way of life, so why extend our legal system to him ???
... and for those who recall the chat over GitMo, did you hear that two (2) Yemen releasees from GitMo have admitted to being part of this plot ??? I say keep GitMo ad infinitum !!! We have no moral or ethical right to extend our rights of due process to those who wanted to deny us of them !!!
Thanks, I feel better now !!!
Swine Flu
Janet Napolitano: Beyond her pin headed comment about everying being just swell, she inherited the problem of federal fiefdoms not exchanging information but she hasn't fixed the problem either.
The Boxers Stuffer: Though normally I am not for capital punishment, it does have its attraction in this case. Still, I think it better we not execute this guy, simply as a consolation prize for his father, who seemed to go above and beyond in his attempt to avoid all of this. It would be ungracious after all his father had done.
Cuba to Yeman Direct Flights: I read that it's 1 out of 8 released prisoners become terrorists. We should be so lucky to have such a low recidivism rate in State and Federal prisons. What they need in there is some training in HVAC and Appliance repair......but I kid.
Airport Security: I recently traveled from Japan to Chicago and went through security in both places. In was an unfortunate juxtaposition for the Chicago security folks and a fine howdoyoudo for the passengers. The only rude people were working the X-ray machine.
Your final comment is a bit troubling since you are assuming facts not in evidence. You can't know they mean to deny you your rights unless they have a trial.
Rights ???
If "they" demonstrate behavour which would deny American citizens of rights guaranteed by the constitution, I do not believe they should not be extending rights to our justice system ... a system they tried to deny us by their terrorism ... granted, there might have been some human rights violations, but for me a simple evidentiary hearing stating the reason for confinement is sufficient to hold them ... as they hold us hostage of their terror ...
A recidivism rate of one (1) is enough for me ... one terrorist who is released and returned to terror means the system does provide the safety it is supposed to ...
As far as searches ... I believe that no search is too invasive if it provides even a modicum of protection and peace of mind !!! You may have heard the old saying by Police Officers that "Driving is a Privilege and not a Right" ... well so is travel ... No one should be exempt, for an reason, if it means possibly risking th lives of another !!!
In yesterday's NYTimes there was an excellent article about what makes ElAl so safe ... we need to decide what is more important to us, peace of mind or a piece of time !!!
I think you are answering
I think you are answering this question based on the perfect case.....hmmm, say a guy with barbequed man-parts and smokey underwear proving his bad intentions. I think that you will find that Gitmo is stuffed with folks handed to us by folks who might just as well be in Gitmo themselves. We're talking about a bunch of unshaved folks on horses with AK-47s one upping another tribe on horses with AK-47's. How much can you trust any of them or the prisoners they brought in hog tied?
In your comment, you have sentenced all the prisoners in Gitmo to life in prison, but would I be wrong to guess that you know nothing about them? Not the details or even a summary of their crimes. Wouldn't you, (YOU), have to know something before you, (YOU), lock them up forever? The hunt for perfect security is what drove California to 3-strikes, and bankruptcy, and incidentally drove us to Iraq, and yet perfect security does not exist.
Then there is the question of what is terrorism? Is it terrorism when you had to go to their backyard to find it? Seems that there is a difference between the embassy bombings (US territory), the shoe bomber, the crotch bomber, and 9/11 all of whom came to bomb America, and anything that happens, however unpleasant, by Iraqis in Iraq, Afghanis in Afghanistan, or Vietnamese in Vietnam?
Are you suggesting that a cavity search of a driver would be ok even if he or she did not seem drunk? How about if he or she did seem drunk? For every right you are willing to give away, there are 10 people lining up to take them off your hands.
Judged by One's Own Actions ...
My premise is that if we discover someone who has expressed intent to do us harm, and in doing so could possibly deny an American of the rights we believe in then that person - in the case we're talking a terrorist - can be detained and should not be extended OUR rights which they find so repugnant !!! The "knickers bomber" has previously not only made unquestionably terroristic posts on line, but his Dear Old Daddy reported him to us ... and now we're gonna give him three (3) squares a day in a US prison for 20 years ??? Not in my world !!!
I'm sorry if it seems harsh, but tell that to the families who lost loves ones in Fort Hood and now he's going to receive the best medical care money can buy, a paid-for defense, and those three (3) squares !!! Sorry, they should have finished the job that day ...
Might there be unreasonably held prisoners in GitMo, maybe ... that's why I said I wanted a statement of their charges in some evidentiary hearing ... but if keeping them there for life saves one life, I'm all for it !!!
... and if they request execution, then allow them their path !!!I couldn't care less about any other terrorism unless it affects Americans or our allies ... our REAL allies, not those faire-weather friends out there who play both sides of the fence ...
As far as searches are concerned ... I'm talking about the "BackScatter" X-Ray which is relatively anonymous ... it violates nothing personal as it is a silhouette type of scan ... actually, the person having to sit in front of it all day might be due so type of visual stress compensation having to sit thru all of we uglies !!!
... and for whatever it is worth ... First, a driver before being given a breath test is arrested and therefore handcuffed and searched for the safety of the officer... full cavity searches are rare unless something untoward is suspected ... Secondly, I believe in most states, if a Police Officer arrests a driver and the driver refuses the breath test, he/she can be locked up for doing so and guilt is virtually automatic ... and/or Thirdly, in some cases a driver may be compelled and even restrained so as to render a blood test in a DWI arrest ...
Driving ... like Air Travel (and I dare say travel by public means, in general) ... is a privilege ... not a right !!! No one has the right to endanger another ... you wouldn't allow a leper on a train, plane, or bus, would you ??? As a matter of fact it is against the law because it endangers the welfare of the public, so how is it we can't protect ourselves from hidden dangers ???
The 2nd to last word
I agree with most of what you got here. I can't argue with much here except the first point. It always seems that our darkest history is reserved for those moments when we felt that expediency rather justice was the best path forward. Native Americans, Japanese Americans, African Americans, Union busting. If Americans are going to do it, than there needs to be a system of justice in how it's done. We have the Constitution and we have the Geneva Convention, and possibly some sort of military tribunal, those are your choices at the moment. If there's a need for another option, someone should be out there writing the manual, the manual should be approved by Congress, and the manual is what we will do.
Me thinks that someone who is trying to kill himself, isn't afraid of dying, so perhaps an execution is not the deterrent we might think over here. Speeding them off to their virgins might be a wee bit counterproductive for us and a tad attractive for them. Bad enough that Homeland Security was too incompetent to stop Fancy-pants, but if the story ends with an execution, could it be less than entirely persuasive for other families considering calling us with tomorrow's information.
YMCA's maybe, but lepers can't get on trains? Are you sure about that? That is a hard disease to catch.
The Diminution of Civility and Manners ...
One of the unfortunate bi-products of the anti-rejection drugs I have been taking post-transplant is an occasional bout with insomnia, so like any other red-blooded guy I grab the tuner and channel surf sometime until dawn ...
The other night (morning) I came across the always entertaining, but equally mind numbing "Deal or No Deal" and quickly noticed that whenever the host, Howie Mandel wanted one of the lovely ladies to open her case, he did not ask in a way I would have thought would be automatic ... he would simply say " ... (name) Open Your Case ..." which led me to wonder ...
Why didn't he say "PLEASE" ???
Would it be too much to speak like a gentlemen ??? Certainly it would take little or no extra breath ... Would he be violating so sort of "non-PC" rule ??? Wouldn't it be a nice example for young and even not-so-young viewers ???
... and while we're at it ... when was the last time you were in a store of any kind and heard an announcement asking a sales associate to do something followed by the word "PLEASE" ??? Unfortunately, I can't recall, either ...
Has "PLEASE" eluded us ... or, simply been forgotten ... or, maybe simply courteous civility and manners are no longer "PC" or "cool" ...
Gee, I hope not !!!
Matters of Civility
I think it would difficult to reach any conclusions based on Deal or No Deal. The assumption is that the woman is desperate to open the box too. Same as "Start your engines" in auto racing, or "Move that bus" on Extreme Home Makeover. The line was written by the producers in hopes it would gain some sort of mental traction and excitement.
Now for the rest of the world. Is the world ruder? Until you watch Mad Men, or better yet, a contemporary source like The Apartment, it's hard to remember what has changed over the decades. Here's my belief. Based on those examples and what I know about history, the world is less polite in less important ways, and more respectful in more important ways. One doesn't cancel out the other, but the take away at least isn't "we're going to hell in a handbasket", but we could do better.
Now get some sleep.
Unfortunately ...
I chalk a lot of it up to the "Dumbing Down of America" ... we have less respect for each other ... and even less recognition of individualism !!!
In their effort to become "PC" we no longer have Chairmen and Chairwomen, we have Chairpersons (which, by the way is an incorrect jointure of two words), thus "disengendering" everyone ...
Think of it ... a group of ladies sit down in a chair restaurant and the "server" greets them by saying "Hi Guys !!!" ... look again, kiddo !!!
Women worked damned hard to be "granted" equality and that "server" just put them back generations ... and I say that as the father of daughters, and grandfather to a granddaughter !!!
I once had a client for whom I held the door ... she promptly told me I DID NOT HAVE TO do that ... I told her I knew that, and that I was not holding it for her because I HAD TO, I did so because I WANTED TO ... because I was a gentleman !!! She didn't understand ... and now he son will grow up "dumbed down" ...
This is not a liberal or conservative issue ... it's a matter of common courtesy and civility, otherwise we will digress into robotic oblivion !!!
Another News Dry Spell
As we await any news about the WC Wood sale, and the Q1 start of Cash for Clunkers in the dreary news doldrums, send us your news, whatever it is. Babies, hernias, or hyenas, send us your news.
Stolen cars, new bathrooms, 3rd honeymoons, send us your news.
Promotions, marital spats, a new roof, send us your news.
Kids in prison, in college, in the military, in Iraq or back, send us your news.
While we await the next thing to happen, how have you been? You look fantastic. Tell us your secret.
No Bernia but...
Knee surgery for Dram. i'll go under the knife on Thursday at 10:00 am EST. so when those of you on the "Left Coast" can enjoy the fact that I am a little frightened by the experience while you are sipping your morning coffee. I will however make a full recovery and be back in the gym to work my fine physique back to fighting form! my laptop will be...well...in my lap, so send me contreversial topic to argue about...
Dram
How is the knee doing??? That first month is a rough one but gets better after that. A nice little hottie at rehab helps a ton too.
Thank you Cincy
It has been about thirty days and improving quite rapidly. unfortunately, my assigned therapy person is a big muscular dude named Cody. nice guy, but just not my type. i am actually very mobile and surprised by the progress. still have a little pain, but nothing i can't tolerate. Thank you for asking.
Excellent !!!
Glad you're on the mend, Mate !!!
Your Therapist reminds me of mine ... a wisp of a gal who had less than something like 2% body fat ... looked right our of American Gladiators ... she was excellent but I always had that thought in the back of my mind that if I did not progress the way she expected I get a butt kicking !!! Now there's motivation, eh ???
I found that my PT time was best accomplished in the pool, where, I could do twice as much because of the lack of strain on the joints ... of course, in winter, the pool might feel like bath water !!!
Further good luck to you in your recovery ... and don;'t forget those Pina Coladas for the pain when the meds run out !!! (Hee-Hee-Hee !!!)
Glad to hear you are doing
Glad to hear you are doing well. It is all in all pretty amazing. I had my ACL and meniscus done a few years back. Funny thing, my motivation was getting my butt to the garage to hit the beer tap, liquid motivation I guess. If you had something similar done it is one full year before it feels right and spot on one year. Now I’m back to running and back on the bike. Keep the rehab up, I know its rough but don’t cut it short.
Best Wishes !!!
Hey Dram ... you didn't mention what you were being operated on for, but in 2002 I had a torn meniscus repaired and it went swimmingly ... in other words, once I was cleared for therapy I did it in a pool !!! Try it, Mate ... it made it so much more bearable !!!
Now, while you recover, might I suggest a pitcher of Pina Colada's and a gallon of vanilla ice cream to pour it over ???
Good Luck, Mate !!!
Thank you Bob
Got it done yesterday! so far i am a little more stationnary than what i am used to but, at least i can handle the pain. i'll take the pool therapy under real consideration. it actually sounds pleasant. Thanks for the tip.
Get well
The "left coast" wishes you a speedy recovery. Use a magic marker to indicate the leg needing surgery ... surgeons can get bit forgetful at times.
Surgical Markers
Actually, you need to mark BOTH knees. "This Knee" and "Not This Knee".
If your problem was a long term chronic issue, you will wonder what took you so long.
The advances in joint repair in the last 2 decades has been fantastic, but except for holistic medications, the efficacy of which I know nothing about, has there been much work or even success in joint preventative maintenance to avoid invasive surgery?
Gee thanks guys
I have a real fear of a sharp instrument cutting into my flesh (call me crazy), I put a ribbon on the good knee, no wait; I'll switch it to the other one, so they'll get it right...by the way Cohiba, i refer to the "left cost" with great affection. my love for this country is not based on geography, so i hope you took it as such. it was only a time zone related comment. having said this, i am confident that i will be good as new by the end of this year.incidently, any one wish to comment on the need for more troops in Afghanistan? how about the trials going to NYC?
NYC Trial ...
Moving the trial to NYC is Eric Holder grandstanding ... why put the good people of NYC thru the expense and inconvenience of another high profile event ... when they could take testimony via a streaming line to Guantanamo, which I do not believe we should close !!!
The trial of the week
New York? Have you been to New York? This thing won't even make page 3.
There seems to be an over-reaction about a bunch of guys in orange jumpers and ankle chains, who, if I may be so bold, could not hold a candle to our own crazy s.o.b's. The good people of Virginia survived the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, New York will hardly notice.
As for Guantanamo, it is my understanding that it was built so that it was outside the laws of the United States. That doesn't seem like such a great idea for a democracy based on laws to say these guys fall neither within our own laws or the Geneva Convention. And if there is a 3rd way between those two, shouldn't we have developed a legal understanding of what that is by now, 8 years later? Winging it in the field by low level flunkies is not the best way.
Put them in their own prison if you like, but that prison should be in Illinois. Enough out-sourcing. Bring jobs back to America.
Guantanamo is best ...
... because it is outside the continental United States ... what if the followers of these crazies decide to do stage a seige to bust out their people ???
... In GitMo they're in Cuba ... in Illinois it's the homeland !!!
Bye the way ... we should not kill them, we should make them live a long as possible and keep deny them all those virgins !!!
i like your thought process Bob
But; you do know that we will allow visitors to these guys which will provide possible leads into who they're connected with from family, friends and possibly terrorist ties. in addition to jobs this will serve us well. as far as staging a seige goes, what is to stop them from going it today on the mainland? i truly believe this will energize the American public again. we tend to forget very quickly (which is a truly great quality that moves us forward...) unless we're constantly reminded. and as far as killing them goes, i can go either way, but do lean more towards "offing" them...
NYC is would work
I frankly want the public forum for this, so the whole world, especially the Muslim, knows what these people did in detail while using the name of God to accomplish it...Gitmo wouldn't provide enough and it would be shorwded with secracy. this will anger especially the families of the victims, but in all honesty it will also rally our nation around them yet again. it may sound crazy, but it will help them cope a little better, as they will never truly recover from such cruelty. my heart goes out to them. and as AA said, NYC has dealt with guys in jumbers before. if i had to choose being in a cell with one of our own nut jobs or one the Gitmo gang, i'll take my chances with the Gitmo dude. they pose a lot less threat one on one than our own criminals...and it could provide me a shot at beating the tar out of one of them...
NYC trial is beyond reckless
Terrorists are not covered under the Geneva Convention or the Constitution of the United States. Terrorists have never observed or claimed to observe the Geneva Convention, nor are they covered by it. Under the rules of American criminal law the prosecution is going to have to turn over all sorts of information to the defense. Information that will tell our enemies what we know about them, how we learned and who may have helped us. This administration does not view the loss of 3,000 lives on September 11 as an act of war. On top of that, how much help can we count on from any of our close or not so close allies, to provide us with support, tips and information if they see that when we do capture high value targets their help may be exposed to all. It is one thing to demand a public trial for all to see, to make those demands on the world stage for all to hear; but in truth the rules of the jungle are the same for us all. If I live in a neighborhood surrounded by violence, crime and drug dealers I would cry for lienency and a fair trial for the perpetrators too as I tip the police as to who is responsible for what and help behind the scenes to put them away for as long as possible. This is nothing but a tactic these other nations use because we are all dealing with this threat. IT IS A WAR! This is yet one more example of how our present administration is extremely naive and dangerous.
War on terror
My own view is that this is a "war on terror". This is not a "nation war". Rather, it is analogous to the "war on drugs" in that we have declared war against a concept ("terror") and are combating those that practice it. We don't lock up drug lords without a trial and throw away the key and we don't prosecute them in a military tribunal. Those that participated in the planning of the attacks on the Twin Towers (or the USS Cole for that matter) need to be hunted down and brought to justice. And, just like the "drug lords" they should be tried in a civilian court. Don't elevate their "status" by treating them like "military combatants"; they are terrorists... murderers. Treat them accordingly.