No I didn't watch the Youtube video and yes I think it is anecdotal evidence. (Did she say where and when this incident happened? I thought I had done yeoman labor for the Institute by uncovering the publication source, date, and author. Surely the article itself is just a click away, I would have thought that one of the dawgs would have followed up on my lead.
I don't remember the source of everything I read, but if it seems a bit doubtful I almost always do internet research before I put it in my post, hence my recent discovery that it was Emerson and not Napoleon who said that thing about knocking off the king.
The Chicks up Front thing, seemed like a hateful smear on a group of people I was once a part of, why I am continuing this discussion.. If this was more than something bandied about by a fringe, Beagles should have no problem showing us photos of 60s demonstrations with chicks up front. Of course there will always be a few chicks up front because we hippies were very egalitarian, but a whole brigade of only chicks up front, as the slogan implies, I posit never happened.
Trump didn't make up the Caravan, he publicized it. If the prez talks something up it is news and the press has to carry it.
The founding fathers did indeed abhor political parties. Just google founding fathers and political parties and there are pages of sites backing that up. Of course a single party is unlikely to come about or to last very long. I believe I said so. It is meant simply as a thought experiment, something to bat around in these ivied halls.
Lately I have taken to watching those NatGeo airplane disaster stories. They start like the murder channel does with the quiet little town where everybody gets along and nothing really ever happens, only in this case it is a flight into Cleveland on a sunny afternoon with all the passengers chatting among themselves and the stewardesses cracking jokes, and then something odd happens, but it doesn't seem to be a big deal, but then something else, and then kablooey. Pretty good kablooeys, but then the second half of the show is the investigation. Instrument failure? Pilot error? Act of God? Nothing to be done about an act of God, but if it's the former two, changes can be made that will decrease crashes in the future.
There has been a spate of shootings lately, and the first thing that is asked is was this an act of terrorism, and often later on was this a hate crime?. Here Uncle Ken has to ask, Who cares? What difference does it make? If the act can be traced back to say ISIS, or the KKK, or the antifa then by all means punish the guilty parties, like those airplane crashes,find the source and solve the problem. But if it's one lone guy, and it almost always is, and usually he is dead, and if not he turns out to be some incoherent asshole, then what is to be done? Nothing, It is an act of God. Quit the jabbering. So says Uncle Ken on this Friday before another weekend of deep research by the 'Stonians!.
Friday, November 9, 2018
Thursday, November 8, 2018
Chicks and Parties
Uncle Ken, did you listen to the poem that was performed in the You Tube reference that Old Dog gave us? The lady said that she was one of he chicks that went up front, and that the reason for the tactic was the protesters didn't think the police would harm women, but that some of the women were actually harmed. Okay, it's anecdotal evidence, but it suggests that the tactic was actually practiced. I remember reading about it at the time, but I don't remember my source. Do you remember the source of everything you read 50 years ago? I might have taken notes if I had known there was going to be a test on it someday. The way I remember it, the leaders of the protests expected the chicks to be harmed and ordered them up front because they thought it would gain public sympathy for their cause if they were.
I don't know what became of the Caravan, but I find it hard to believe that Trump just made the whole thing up. How would he persuade the news media, which he has called "the enemy of the people" to give it so much coverage? Maybe we will hear more about it after the election hysteria dies down.
I don't think we would have only one political party in this country for long. Historically, whenever a political party has gone out of business, another party soon arose to take its place. The replacement of the Whigs by the New Republicans comes to mind. If either of our two major parties were to shut down, there are several third parties waiting in line to take their place, or a totally new party might be formed. I don't know if the Founding Fathers contemplated the rise of political parties. There is no mention of them in the Constitution, but England had them.
Michigan Republicans lost some seats in our state legislature, but they managed to hold on to their majority in both houses. We have Democrats for Governor, Attorney General, and Secretary of State. As far as I know, all of our local township and county offices remain Republican. It's not the end of the world, but there are rumors of Red Heifer sightings.
I don't know what became of the Caravan, but I find it hard to believe that Trump just made the whole thing up. How would he persuade the news media, which he has called "the enemy of the people" to give it so much coverage? Maybe we will hear more about it after the election hysteria dies down.
I don't think we would have only one political party in this country for long. Historically, whenever a political party has gone out of business, another party soon arose to take its place. The replacement of the Whigs by the New Republicans comes to mind. If either of our two major parties were to shut down, there are several third parties waiting in line to take their place, or a totally new party might be formed. I don't know if the Founding Fathers contemplated the rise of political parties. There is no mention of them in the Constitution, but England had them.
Michigan Republicans lost some seats in our state legislature, but they managed to hold on to their majority in both houses. We have Democrats for Governor, Attorney General, and Secretary of State. As far as I know, all of our local township and county offices remain Republican. It's not the end of the world, but there are rumors of Red Heifer sightings.
Walden Pond anyone?
I never said that nobody ever said Chicks up front. What I said is that it was not a thing, as in was widely spoken of, or put into practice anywhere. The difficulty of tracking it down attests to the former, and also to the latter, which common sense also inveighs against. Who would do such a thing?.
I think not enough was made about the increase in democratic governors. It is good that Beagles will now enjoy the good government that the dems provide and I was especially pleased that the pissant in our neighbor to the north came a cropper. This will be a census year and the governors will have a heavy hand in redistricting. Note how Pennsylvania, stripped of its republican gerrymandering, delivered four congressional pickups to the dems.
The only people speaking of impeachment are the more extreme elements of our base and the reps who would love nothing more than for the dems to attempt it. As Beagles well knows removal requires two thirds of the senate which will never happen. Why impeach if you cannot remove?
If you are going to strike at the king you better kill him, otherwise keep your powder dry. I added the dry powder part, but I thought the former was from Napoleon, but being unsure I went to the google and it turns out that it was Emerson. One normally doesn't think of Emerson giving advice on such subjects. But then one doesn't think much of Emerson at all. Those transcendentalists, I think they tried to shove them down my throat in high school, but they were even more boring than the founding fathers.
Actually the founding fathers aren't that boring at all. It's just that the way we were taught in school where they were all a bunch of goodly saints, makes one reluctant to pick up a serious book on them. In reality they were quite a cast of characters, and they were doing something brand new, and cynic that I am I have to admit they did a pretty good job. It boggles the mind however how they thought they could avoid political parties.
This just in to my brain and not fully thought out. What if either the reps or the dems completely annihilated the other so that there was only one party? Since there would still be liberals and conservatives in the public, the party would have to accommodate them, so there would be factions within The Party, but factions are looser coalitions than parties, and pols can slip much easier between them so maybe there would be more congeniality.
What do the dawgs think of this? I am not saying that anything like this could ever happen, it is just a thought experiment.
While Beagles is looking up the JC quote, maybe he can also find out whatever happened to The Caravan which was menacing our nation not all that long ago. Surely it was not just a shiny bauble that has now lost its usefulness.. .
I think not enough was made about the increase in democratic governors. It is good that Beagles will now enjoy the good government that the dems provide and I was especially pleased that the pissant in our neighbor to the north came a cropper. This will be a census year and the governors will have a heavy hand in redistricting. Note how Pennsylvania, stripped of its republican gerrymandering, delivered four congressional pickups to the dems.
The only people speaking of impeachment are the more extreme elements of our base and the reps who would love nothing more than for the dems to attempt it. As Beagles well knows removal requires two thirds of the senate which will never happen. Why impeach if you cannot remove?
If you are going to strike at the king you better kill him, otherwise keep your powder dry. I added the dry powder part, but I thought the former was from Napoleon, but being unsure I went to the google and it turns out that it was Emerson. One normally doesn't think of Emerson giving advice on such subjects. But then one doesn't think much of Emerson at all. Those transcendentalists, I think they tried to shove them down my throat in high school, but they were even more boring than the founding fathers.
Actually the founding fathers aren't that boring at all. It's just that the way we were taught in school where they were all a bunch of goodly saints, makes one reluctant to pick up a serious book on them. In reality they were quite a cast of characters, and they were doing something brand new, and cynic that I am I have to admit they did a pretty good job. It boggles the mind however how they thought they could avoid political parties.
This just in to my brain and not fully thought out. What if either the reps or the dems completely annihilated the other so that there was only one party? Since there would still be liberals and conservatives in the public, the party would have to accommodate them, so there would be factions within The Party, but factions are looser coalitions than parties, and pols can slip much easier between them so maybe there would be more congeniality.
What do the dawgs think of this? I am not saying that anything like this could ever happen, it is just a thought experiment.
While Beagles is looking up the JC quote, maybe he can also find out whatever happened to The Caravan which was menacing our nation not all that long ago. Surely it was not just a shiny bauble that has now lost its usefulness.. .
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
The Pink Wave
I saw a thing on the TV news this evening that said the big winners in this election were the women. They said there will be more women in the new congress than any time in history. They called it "The Pink Wave". Michigan elected a new female governor and retained their female US senator, which was what the polls had predicted. Too bad they're both Democrats. At least our congressional district managed to hang onto our Republican representative.
I don't mind the prospect of Trump's impeachment. The Mueller probe doesn't seem to be getting anywhere, so this might be the only way to find out if Trump is guilty or not so we can get on with our lives. Like I said before, "Shit or get off the pot already".
Thanks to Old Dog for his contribution to the "chicks up front" controversy. At this point I think I'm ready to let go of it and get on with my own life. Uncle Ken will never be convinced, but I am satisfied that something like that did indeed happen, even if it wasn't exactly the way I remember it. The next item on my agenda is to track down that quote from the late J.C.
I don't mind the prospect of Trump's impeachment. The Mueller probe doesn't seem to be getting anywhere, so this might be the only way to find out if Trump is guilty or not so we can get on with our lives. Like I said before, "Shit or get off the pot already".
Thanks to Old Dog for his contribution to the "chicks up front" controversy. At this point I think I'm ready to let go of it and get on with my own life. Uncle Ken will never be convinced, but I am satisfied that something like that did indeed happen, even if it wasn't exactly the way I remember it. The next item on my agenda is to track down that quote from the late J.C.
the morning after
What planet is Old Dog living on where he dismisses the midterms with a snide whoop de doo?? No way in hell did Trump come out ahead. Things will be investigated now, income tax forms will be revealed, nothing like that tax break for the rich will ever become law. This makes a big difference on the planet Earth where the rest of us live. Trump never had a problem finding people to rile up, but now when he attacks the dems he will learn that they have teeth. Not that that will slow him down any, but he will get bit, a lot, and that will be sweet.
The dems did not get bamboozled by Trump's game (if you can call an infant (Grand Master???) reaching out for a shiny bauble a game). While he was screaming Caravan, Caravan, Caravan, the dems were cooing Health Care, Health Care, Health Care. Expect the dire threat of the Caravan to fade away. Beagles need no longer fear for Beaglesonia, though he will have to wipe down his table himself.
An interesting trend is the bluing of the burbs, and the reddening of the rural areas. The people who are profiting the most from Trump's booming economy voted against him and the ones who stand to lose the most, voted for him. There is something unreal about Trump's booming economy. On graph paper it is just an extension of the Obama economy, and there is this fear of the gaping budget deficit and nobody giving even lip service to doing anything about it, and the rumbling of the tariffs. And there is the odd aspect that Trump himself doesn't seem very interested in it. The happy peaceful village bores him, what he likes is Godzilla. Battle after battle, after battle is what he lives for.
And speaking of which the reps who lost their seats were relatively moderate, hoping to run on the economy, but Trump had no interest in that and screamed about the Caravan which offended their relatively moderate constituents and they went down. So now what remains of the reps in congress is only the truest of the Trumpists which can only please the preener in chief. Not good for getting any legislation done, but fine for swinging the old battle axe with reckless abandon.
You know I was going to call the truest Trumpists the most ruby red, but ruby doesn't feel right because it implies conservative and republican, and Trump is only incidentally either. Seems to me that instead of red and blue, it should be orange and blue.
And what to make of what used to be called establishment republicans, those who believed in certain principles as opposed to whatever Trump said the last time he spoke? I would ask Beagles, but though he is conservative he never cared much for the party.
There is a fringe of them among the pundits, but they are all talk, if they ever try to occupy a position of power they know they can never do that without kissing the odious ring.
The dems did not get bamboozled by Trump's game (if you can call an infant (Grand Master???) reaching out for a shiny bauble a game). While he was screaming Caravan, Caravan, Caravan, the dems were cooing Health Care, Health Care, Health Care. Expect the dire threat of the Caravan to fade away. Beagles need no longer fear for Beaglesonia, though he will have to wipe down his table himself.
An interesting trend is the bluing of the burbs, and the reddening of the rural areas. The people who are profiting the most from Trump's booming economy voted against him and the ones who stand to lose the most, voted for him. There is something unreal about Trump's booming economy. On graph paper it is just an extension of the Obama economy, and there is this fear of the gaping budget deficit and nobody giving even lip service to doing anything about it, and the rumbling of the tariffs. And there is the odd aspect that Trump himself doesn't seem very interested in it. The happy peaceful village bores him, what he likes is Godzilla. Battle after battle, after battle is what he lives for.
And speaking of which the reps who lost their seats were relatively moderate, hoping to run on the economy, but Trump had no interest in that and screamed about the Caravan which offended their relatively moderate constituents and they went down. So now what remains of the reps in congress is only the truest of the Trumpists which can only please the preener in chief. Not good for getting any legislation done, but fine for swinging the old battle axe with reckless abandon.
You know I was going to call the truest Trumpists the most ruby red, but ruby doesn't feel right because it implies conservative and republican, and Trump is only incidentally either. Seems to me that instead of red and blue, it should be orange and blue.
And what to make of what used to be called establishment republicans, those who believed in certain principles as opposed to whatever Trump said the last time he spoke? I would ask Beagles, but though he is conservative he never cared much for the party.
There is a fringe of them among the pundits, but they are all talk, if they ever try to occupy a position of power they know they can never do that without kissing the odious ring.
Tuesday, November 6, 2018
A Long Day With No Nap
I showed up at the polling place at the crack of noon, hoping to beat the after work crowd. One of the election workers told me that a thousand people had already voted before me, which is more than our little township usually turns out in the whole day. Back in 2012 I had to stand in line for an hour or so but, since then, they have gotten more booths and changed the layout of the room to make it more efficient. The place was certainly busy today, but the process moved right along and there was no long line.
I already reported that the Esquire article was in the February 1969 issue, but I didn't know that it was the cover story, and that silly picture doesn't look familiar to me. I only remember glancing at copies of Esquire a few times in my youth, and I'm pretty sure that my knowledge of "chicks up front" didn't come from there. I just looked up the Kent State shooting incident of 1970, thinking that it might have come from there because I read a book about it once, but I didn't find any mention of "chicks up front". I plan to check out Old Dog's links on the subject, but not tonight. I'm pretty sure that the quote I attributed to the late J.C. came from the Bible. I would have to scan through all four gospels to find it and I'm not doing that tonight either. It's been a long day for me, with no nap to take advantage of the good sleeping weather.
I found a cheaper brand of cigarettes yesterday, "Eagle", at about $44 a carton. I'm planning too get some heat in the garage by this weekend and will see if that makes my home mades load any better.
I already reported that the Esquire article was in the February 1969 issue, but I didn't know that it was the cover story, and that silly picture doesn't look familiar to me. I only remember glancing at copies of Esquire a few times in my youth, and I'm pretty sure that my knowledge of "chicks up front" didn't come from there. I just looked up the Kent State shooting incident of 1970, thinking that it might have come from there because I read a book about it once, but I didn't find any mention of "chicks up front". I plan to check out Old Dog's links on the subject, but not tonight. I'm pretty sure that the quote I attributed to the late J.C. came from the Bible. I would have to scan through all four gospels to find it and I'm not doing that tonight either. It's been a long day for me, with no nap to take advantage of the good sleeping weather.
I found a cheaper brand of cigarettes yesterday, "Eagle", at about $44 a carton. I'm planning too get some heat in the garage by this weekend and will see if that makes my home mades load any better.
Smoke 'em if you got 'em
A while back Mr. Beagles mentioned his surprise at the high cost for a carton of smokes, more than seventy dollars, but at our age just about everything was much cheaper back in the day. Seventy dollars isn't that bad when you consider the cost in other parts of the world. An article I found compares the cost of a pack of Marlboros around the world and the price range is staggering, from a low of $1.50/pack in Manila to $22.70/pack in Melbourne; that's more than a dollar per cigarette so you can literally see your money go up in smoke.
Mr. Beagles might be out of luck buying Salems in some parts of Chicago. I was at the local supermarket today and since they sell cigarettes I asked if they sold tobacco for rolling your own. They don't, the lady said, only packs but not menthol cigarettes. Apparently the sale of menthols is banned within a certain distance of schools. That's a new rule that I've never heard of before.
-----
Before we close out the "chicks up front" topic I'd like to mention a couple of other references I've found. The first is an article from a conservative website and the second is a YouTube video of a lady reciting her poem "Chicks Up Front," which touches on her participation in demonstrations and protests. Neither site delves very deeply in the subject but I thought it should be included in the record.
-----
Election Day, whoop-de-doo! Regardless of the results I think Trump will come out ahead. If the Republicans get clobbered Trump will find new people to blame and further rile up his core group of supporters. If the Democrats get hosed they they will find other parties responsible for their loss, adding to the divisive game that is being played by both sides. As long as the Democrats continue to get bamboozled into playing Trump's game they will lose; he is the Grand Master and they need a different game to play if they want to bring him down.
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Unless Mr. Beagles is referring to Señor Mendoza at the local body shop Jesus never said "Better the evil you know than the evil you do not know." In fact, Google came up with only one hit for that phrase, leading to a lady named . But when I removed the quotation marks and tried again Google changed it to "Better the devil you know..." and had a lot more hits. The best info I've found traces it back to a collection of proverbs by R. Taverner, in the year 1539, and is of Irish origin.
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Uncle Ken has a good memory; I found that New Yorker article from twenty years back. It isn't just the birth of the red heifer that's the big deal; it has to be sacrificed and the ashes used to rebuild the Temple. Details, details...unless a major construction project is announced in Jerusalem I don't think we have anything to worry about. And the recently born red heifer probably came from a herd that originated in Nebraska. Small world, isn't it?
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Rachel Maddow has an ongoing podcast series entitled "Bagman" which chronicles the downfall of Spiro Agnew and it's fascinating. The parallels to the modern day are striking, especially in the Republican modus operandi of undercutting the media and the Justice Department. Some things just don't change and we know how well things turned out for them. Will history repeat itself?
Mr. Beagles might be out of luck buying Salems in some parts of Chicago. I was at the local supermarket today and since they sell cigarettes I asked if they sold tobacco for rolling your own. They don't, the lady said, only packs but not menthol cigarettes. Apparently the sale of menthols is banned within a certain distance of schools. That's a new rule that I've never heard of before.
-----
Before we close out the "chicks up front" topic I'd like to mention a couple of other references I've found. The first is an article from a conservative website and the second is a YouTube video of a lady reciting her poem "Chicks Up Front," which touches on her participation in demonstrations and protests. Neither site delves very deeply in the subject but I thought it should be included in the record.
-----
Election Day, whoop-de-doo! Regardless of the results I think Trump will come out ahead. If the Republicans get clobbered Trump will find new people to blame and further rile up his core group of supporters. If the Democrats get hosed they they will find other parties responsible for their loss, adding to the divisive game that is being played by both sides. As long as the Democrats continue to get bamboozled into playing Trump's game they will lose; he is the Grand Master and they need a different game to play if they want to bring him down.
-----
Unless Mr. Beagles is referring to Señor Mendoza at the local body shop Jesus never said "Better the evil you know than the evil you do not know." In fact, Google came up with only one hit for that phrase, leading to a lady named . But when I removed the quotation marks and tried again Google changed it to "Better the devil you know..." and had a lot more hits. The best info I've found traces it back to a collection of proverbs by R. Taverner, in the year 1539, and is of Irish origin.
-----
Uncle Ken has a good memory; I found that New Yorker article from twenty years back. It isn't just the birth of the red heifer that's the big deal; it has to be sacrificed and the ashes used to rebuild the Temple. Details, details...unless a major construction project is announced in Jerusalem I don't think we have anything to worry about. And the recently born red heifer probably came from a herd that originated in Nebraska. Small world, isn't it?
-----
Rachel Maddow has an ongoing podcast series entitled "Bagman" which chronicles the downfall of Spiro Agnew and it's fascinating. The parallels to the modern day are striking, especially in the Republican modus operandi of undercutting the media and the Justice Department. Some things just don't change and we know how well things turned out for them. Will history repeat itself?
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