Engorgeous George

I have not, and never will support Trump, even against such an odious choice as between he and Harris. I suppose to an extent I have strains of Libertarianism in me, Constitutionalism probably more so. I believe in freedom for the individual, not service of some amorphous collective we are trying to bring to some progressive utopia. I believe in equality, not forced equity. I believe in responsibility. I believe in helping my family and my friends and my community and fellow man, but when I want to, when I see need and worth, not when coercively forced to by those who pander to the indolent for votes so they might stay in power.

I was raised Catholic. The Catholics have a procedure called beatification. It involvers trying to elevate the status of a perrson so they may be canonized a saint someday. Truth and myth are supposed to be seperated in the process and positive truth put forward, but in the end a new myth is forged. Why i mention this in a discussion of Ms. harris who is in her 19th "relaunch" in the lasst four years I leave to you.

Seems Tim left out Churchill and Lincoln.

Probably so. Had trump done so I would have criticism aplenty for him. The fact however is I was not looking for a whataboutism. Biden is President, Trump is not. Also Trump is not running against Biden (though he certainly will try to tie Harris to Biden's record, so I sort of get it). The funny thing to me is you consider me a Trump supporter simply because I am not a reflex Democrat as are you. The Trump supporters here consider me a reflex Democrat as they don't like me criticizing Trump. I know many have disdain for those who sell themselves here as independant. I do not, I simply maintain I am neither Republican nor Democrat, though I have my partisanships. I am no independant weighing a choice between the two major, and currently in vogue, parties. I simply reject both major parties.

I just wish, for once, in my fevered imaginings, that one of the candidates would come out and be honest, and so too their supporters by saying as bad as we are, we are the lesser of two evils. So vote for evil, but the lesser one!

No, the Cop is not well within his rights. There was no reasonable articulable suspicion of any illegal activity. There was no investigation. If the Cop thought the scene was worthy of further observation or consensual inquiry that's fine but demanding I.D. under the circumstance was not justified nor, was going hands on. This was a case of a Cop not having been properly trained and not wanting to feel on equal terrms with a citizen when that is exactly what he was. He was overly officious to try to establish authority and he was so as he was poorly trained. The Cop did not understand the situation. How the Cop should have handled it. Cop: Good morning citizens,! Out for a predawn walk? Dad: Yes we like to go for a walk when we wake up. Cop: Well be aware that we are out here, patrolling your neighbor, keeping things safe. Say which house is yours? We like to get to know the folks on our beat. Dad: The blue one, third house on the left. Cop: Well if you ever need anything ask for me, I'm Officer Friendly, and you are...? Dad: Answers whatever his name happens to be. Cop: (Turning to and addresing child) And who do we have here? Kid: Answers whatever. Cop: And is that your brother you are out walking with? Kid: (laughing) No, that's my Dad. Cop: Well you two be safe and have a nice walk. Say, do you want a stricker of a police badge, I have some in the car? Kid: Dad, can I. Dad: Sure: Make sure you thank Officer Friendly. Cop could easily have gotten his information consensually and in a manner both friendly and making a positive impact. Instead he chose to be a deeck because he thinks that is being a Cop. He is wrong.

Dude could not find a katata fish.

Neither candidate is a good speaker byany traditioanl sense of the term, yet both seem to appeal to their base,

Can a person grab him in a non-inappropriate manner? (Sorry for the double negative but it really works in this context)

So you are saying she is unburdened by what has been evenj when what has been has been her trying to be relevant on the national stage?

Seems to me when I made an argument structured much as this one is structured you excoriated me publicly in several posts, and in extremely unkind terms for having done so. Now, when it serves your purpose you make the same kind of argument. Interesting.

It would have kept me from making the trade. The captives and their families are pleased but your family and mine and everybody elses has been endangered. I expect Presidents to make the hard decisions for the good of the country not the momentarily popular decision for the good of a very few and for the press it will garner. There are other levers to use to obtain the release of wrongfully detained person other than the release, the swap, of dangerous international criminals for our citizens. If the Brittany Griners of the world want to carry pot into Russia, if the Joshua Fattals, Sarah Shourds and Shane Bauers of the world want to adventure let them undertake it at their own risk I Have traveled to countries at war with their neighbor. I have traveled to regions controlled by narco-lords suspicios that all Americans are CIA. I knowingly assumed a risk. I do not do such things with my family.

What if it was? Do you believe child trafficking involves strolling down allys with the child unrestrained and then not avoiding contact with the police when they turn into the alley? This is America, we are allowed to walk with our children in the quite of dawn before the heat and the noise of the 4th of July explodes. We would be allowed to walk our dogs, go for a predawn run, or push our babies in strollers and that is not considered, as the Cop said, "supicious activity". Apparently to that Cop not being sealed up in one's home with the doors locked and the shades drawn is suspuicious activity and of course if you were behind locked doors whith the shades drawn that Cop would ahve claimed tyhat is consistent with the activity at a meth den or crack house. This Cop was way out of line. He should be severely discioplined and retrained before being allowed to continue his career. The Citizen should get a nice settlement from the City, nothing outlandish, but some settlement to address his civil rights being violated and his son being traumatized.

To one extent or another this has been true. I should have said continues and reinforces rahter than establishes. I chose my words poorly. That said reinforcing and strengthening a bad precedent is a oproblem. You could see thius in oth4er instances or examples sucvh as slavery or denying women the vote. It applies here as well. endangering the world and u.S. citizens in particular, all of us, to get back a few folks who voluntarily entered a danger zone against, in many instances, State Department travel warnings is bad policy. Presidents do this as the press and the families howl, but the citizenry as a whole is silent as the press wants their story, not our interest forwarded. You are right though, this has been going on forever. The first one in my memory, specificaly, involved the U.S.S. Pueblo's men (the ship itself still sits in North Korea. i was somewhat aware of Gary Powers and of course all the POWs from the Viet Nam police action. I was aware of several instances, the amalgam of which made for the Movie Midnight Express. When I was still fairly young and forced to go to church our church tried to create a furor iover the holding of an american teenager, a woman, in turkey for a few grams of hash she was smuggling home for personal use. The matter was relevant to that church in that her family attended. Her sister was my classmate. (Jenny developed early and was quite compelling. We played slap and tickle in the woods behind her house when we were in 5th grade.) We need to get it through Americans heads that if they travel for any reasons to countries on the State Department's advisory oist that we will not engage in efforts to repatriate them if they are detained. An advisory to this effect this should be the last thing they read and sign before boarding international flights and should be the last thing they sign before obtaining their passports.

Perhaps because it establishes the practice of wrongfully detaining our citizens to use them as chips in getting back spys, arms dealers, terrorists, and assassins.

She has no descendants. She had ancestors.

Driving out tomorrow to catch Dead & Co at the Sphere on Jerry's birthday. Will catch the Friday show as well. I was at the Tuscany for opening weekend of their residency. I sat for three sessions of black jack and won in each session. Nothing to write home about, but I did tip my waitresses and my dealers and leave the table each side with 150% of the money I sat down with. This time I booked late and got stuck at the Stratosphere the first night but got in at the Venetian for the second. The Statosphere sucked 25 years ago and i doubt time has been kind to it., The Venetian should be alright given its access to the Sphere.

i love this typo in this context. Not laughing at you over this, but with you as I am the King of typos.

I would discuss this more but I have some chores to do before heading out to Vegas to catch another set of Dead and Company shows at the Sphere. BTW, the shows are inbcredible and the venue is amazing as well. Maybe I will check in later.

I believe you when you say you do not intend to deceive me. The problem is you do intend to deceive yourself. You are not examining issues, you are just running around looking for justification for a skewed viewpoint.

But you do need me to live in your society so you can continue to milk me. I am tired of being Boxer from Animal Farm. I am tired of pulling the wagon for the nonproductive who then want to lecture me on the manner in which I pull the wagon they have chosen to hitch a ride in though it is already overful with produce they have neither grown nor harvested. .

I am willing to let people die in the streets. Very willing. If those people have any prospect of being productive the health care providers will extend them credit and care. If they are inherently unoproductive cull them from society. Your compassion requires my partial privation and so too the privation of my family and friends. If you want to exercise compassion on your dime I encourage that.

Looks pretty buff for a fella his age. Whetyher that is due to good nutrition and good exercise habits I have my doubts. Still, he looks good.

Make it then. When you do please discuss not how it benefits the loan forgivees and the potential, if not the actuality, that they will buy homes fueling the economy or at least one sector thereof, but address the fact that this shifting of debt prevents those to whom it is shifted from using their capital to fuel the same economic benefits. Discuss how teaching irresponsibility for debts undertaken will correct the system which allowed, even encouraged, those idiots to overspend on an unproductive and overpriced education. You are encouraging continuation of a broken system taking advantage of fools. Explain to me how legislators seeking power, and not production, who take a share for themselves while producing nothing is efficient. Explain how rewarding mediocrity or worse over excellence and effort improves the lot of society as a whole rather than of the mediocre. You enable the lowest common denominator while shackling the extraordinary.