I say yes, you say no, OR People are Strange

1Athena1

Wonderful news, GG!! You must feel relief.

I'm a carnivore and have no problem with killing prey (which includes plants, BTW) but I am against declawing. I believe we need to accommodate to the animals in our lives, not the other way around. I am against tail cutting, miniature breeding and declawing (and making poodles go the full monty).

The reason why I don't have pets is because I don't have a large house, garden and servants to have the ones I like, which are large dogs. Not joking. They need space and 24/7 attention, IMO. I could have a litty in my DC box, I suppose, but I wouldn't want to risk the furniture scratching. But I want a real animal with all of the parts. Couldn't even bring myself to castrate any living being that doesn't have the ability to give consent. I realize, though, that this may be needed as a public health issue.

CherrylH

GG, I was going to write something, but you summed it up nicely!

bluedahlia

I took it and I ain't giving it back!

gardengumby

Thanks, Athena.



Seriously, IMO both left and right are in a stranger situation in thE last 10 to 15 years than any other time in at least my lifetime. Conservatives set forth a plan to take over complete control of the country in the late 70's. Democrats were living in the land of "everything is just" fine, and really weren't paying any attention to the fact that the landscape was changing. They had run Congress for what seemed like forever, and they simply didn't realize that many of the changes that were happening were being done specifically to wrest control of the country from the "liberals". A number of catch-phrases were developed that were meant to imply bad behavior. It didn't matter if the phrases were true or not-it only mattered if they created the "correct" visceral response.



When Republicans took control of Congress in the 90's and then Bush won TWICE in the 00's, well, they really didn't think they were going to lose control for probably a generation - at least - but they did.



But the 1st few years of Obama's presidency gave them hope - they thought he was weak and would buckle at the slightest opposition. Now, not so much. So now they are even more making ridiculous claims about his presidency.



Ok - getting down off my soapbox for now. But my bones ache so think I'll just sit here 4 a few minutes.

IllinoisLady

Well GG, what you said............and of course I agree to the nth. degree.  These people are so desperately boring and they can't count....especially when it is landslide numbers and lately 90 percent.  Can't change and and the rigidity is evident every where. 

Time for me to go fill my face.  Love the Golden with the baby kittens.

Jackie

1Athena1

Yorkie, do you have anymore of those picture games - Blue's cats, above, reminded me of the last one you posted where we had to find the cat in the garbage.

IllinoisLady

Other side shoud check their facts on Woodward.......

Jackie

Wabbit

IllinoisLady

A legendary reporter whines about the Obama White House, only to be exposed by his own email. But facts don't matter to right-wing media.

Tonight on “The Ed Show” at 8p & 11pET on msnbc, Ed Schultz welcomes Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), Michael Tomasky, Special Correspondent, The Daily Beast, and David Corn, DC Bureau Chief for Mother Jones Magazine and Columnist for PoliticsDaily.com, to comment on Bob Woodward’s embarrassment and why it’s a symptom of a much larger problem.

lewing

I'm baaaacccckkk!  Had a wonderful, wonderful Trinibagonian honeymoon.  What beautiful islands, and how fascinating, too!  Trinidad, in particular, is a melange of African, Indian (both Hindu and Muslim), and European cultures.  (In Tobago most people are of African descent.)  So in Port of Spain, for instance, the city was still decked out for its pre-Lenten Carnival but walls were also splattered with paint from the Hindu festival of Holi.  Multiple religions = lots of holidays, meaning lots of opportunities to have parties and go to the beach. 

Oh, and the country is mad for its athletes, too, and has a great running culture.  (I almost jumped in to a 10K the day we arrived in Port of Spain, but contented myself with cheering from the sidelines.)

And the natural beauty of the mountains and seas -- wow.  It's also the birdiest place I've ever been.  Seventeen different species of hummingbirds (I saw ten of them), great flocks of scarlet ibis, rolly polly manakins that put on elaborate mating displays, mot mots with streamers instead of tails. 

The only downside was spotty wifi service at the places we stayed, which after a few days of withdrawal I concluded was really an upside.  Who needs to stay in touch with the rest of the world when you're someplace this beautiful?

So I've missed a lot here, and plan to slowly catch up.  In the meantime, it is so great to "see" all of you again.

Linda

1Athena1

Lewing! ANOTHER one who should post more often. Glad you enjoyed your trip. Post some pictures if you can.

pupmom

Linda, so glad to hear about your wonderful honeymoon!! Sounds divine! Welcome back!

bluedahlia

bluedahlia

bluedahlia

alexandria58

Hi all.  Haven't had time to catch up on all the posts - and this is just a quick check in.  So, my mother in law has proven the doctors wrong - and is not only hanging in there, but improving.  I do wonder if part of the prediction of her imminent demise was the respiratory doctor trying to get us to agree to no further medical treatment for her.  While we will not put her on  a respirator and she is DNR, we decided that if there was any chance of her having a few months with some quality of life, we would take it, so we've insisted on giving her antibiotics, steroids, and she's been on something called a bi=pac, which does allow her to breath on her own but also forces air into her lungs -as a temporary measure, giving her some time for her to be able to breathe on her own, which looks like she might be able to do. She was alert last night, drinking ensure, talking to us. We are not popular at the hospital, but that's okay.

She's a bit of a minor celebrity, btw.  She'll be featured on a PBS documentary about women in the military, which will be out in November, and she's got a chapter about her in a book coming out on the Angels of Bataan.  She is the subject of a chapter entitled, the Last Woman Standing, since she is the very last living Angel of Bataan, 75 nurses who spent three years in captivity during WWII in Manilla.

IllinoisLady

Welcome back Linda.  What a divine sounding honeymoon.  I'm afraid I would have just stayed there and not come back.  I'm a wonderful armchair traveler and can't wait to hear more.

Blue...the pics are always fantastic and George Carlin as he always did get right into the heart of things, reducing it out of its disguise to just how it REALLY is for everyone.  Why it seems do we only get the truth from comedians? 

Alexandria...not sure I said it here, but the 'soul' knows always what others do not.  That is who or what decides when it is time to make the exit from this life into the next life area.  I'm so glad that it seems your MIL will still be sticking around for awhile and that your actions provided the push for her body to take over and keep everything going.  If that is her will, then it will happen.  Glad you did not 'let' the Dr's choose. 

Hope all the Repugs are having a good day.  I do think Boehner is definitely on his way out.  Not much of a loss.

Jackie

River_Rat

Welcome back Linda - sounds wonderful. I second Athena's request for pics.

Alexandria, I'm glad things are looking better for your MIL. She sounds like an amazing woman who has led an amazingly useful life.

Anonymous

Happy Dance for Alexandria's MIL - we are CHEERING FOR YOU!!!!!  And want you to be here with us to WATCH the PBS show in November - so please take all those good meds, and rest....more Happy Dance...

GG- congrats on your house.  You could live with me in my little cabin - wood floors and no cats, ahhh-chooo, but it's a little crowded in here - mostly my toys ( art supplies) but so understand your allergies.  If I walk into a room that has cats, I get hives if I touch anything.  Most dogs too...so I admire from a distance..or take lotsa antihistamines b4 I visit friends - where the resident cat ALWAYS jumps up onto my lap as soon as I sit down, and purrs...so they like me, but I can't pet her.

Lewing - birdiest - best word I've heard in a long time - I am SO JEALOUS of your seeing all those birds...must put Trinidad on my list...you've missed political madness, truly unbelievable craziness - best joke of recent days is the Ole Watergate reporter who must really miss the attention - and forgot to remember about EMAILS - which show he is just playing the perfect clown, of course, on Faux news...fabulous theater - Gene Sperling comes out the Hero in this, ah, drama...

Anybody who enjoyed finger painting has gotta check out these new gelli arts plate - more fun than FP and you can keep your hands clean...who knew growing up ( which I may do some day!) could be such fun.

Happy today all....

pupmom

So happy for your MIL, Alexandria! Shows how little these doctors' predictions mean sometimes. My high school BFF's father was seriously wounded in WWII. The VA docs gave him 5 years. Well, he lasted another 30.

Meanwhile for your morning enjoyment...

pip57

The whole Woodward thing was confusing to me.  This article helped.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/02/28/bob-woodward-s-so-called-thinking-sort-of-explained.html

I never had the slightest idea of what Woodward meant by saying that Obama was "moving the goalposts." The Washington Post's Erik Wemple now helpfully clears that up:

Obama “got what he needed,” says Woodward, referring to the raising of the debt ceiling. “So then the supercommittee failed, the sequester’s there, so now he wants more revenue. He should just get up and say, ‘We’re moving the goal posts, we averted the calamity of 2011, we won the election and I want more revenue.’” The way Woodward appears to see things, the supercommittee negotiations were the place where a deficit reduction was on the table; they broke down in November 2011. That leaves us with the sequester, to Woodward’s thinking, which was negotiated as a package of spending cuts, period.

Okay, that makes sense as an explanation, but it leaves me baffled, quite frankly, about Woodward's grasp of very basic facts. Woodward is supposing that the supercommittee was the only place for discussions about a bargain including revenues. That's crazy. Once the supercommittee failed, the action shifted to the White House and Congress to negotiate. That's all.

I don't remember anyone seriously thinking the supercommittee was going to get the job done. Actually I slightly take that back. There were a few credulous types around. Woodward was probably one. But it was certainly no shocker when it dissolved in acrimony. And when it did, Obama said...guess what? He wanted revenues to be part of any sequester-avoiding deal! This is from a CNN.com article from November 2011, back when the supercommittee collapsed:

"The only way these spending cuts will not take place is if Congress gets back to work and agrees on a balanced plan to reduce the deficit by at least $1.2 trillion," he told reporters. "That's exactly what they need to do. That's the job they promised to do. And they've still got a year to figure it out."

He didn't use the word "revenues" there, but he did say balanced plan to reduce the deficit, which means a plan that includes revenues.

So in other words, Obama said in November 2011 exactly what he said for the next year, and exactly what he is saying today! Those goal posts are now looking more and more stationary, aren't they?

The notion that the supercommittee was the only place where revenues could be discussed is so wrong that it really makes me wonder how intelligent Bob Woodward is. It was understood in November 2011 that Congress still had 13 months to come up with something until the January 2013 deadline. And Obama has wanted revenues that entire time. Sheesh.

GG...good news about the house!

pupmom

Friday brain teaser!

Wabbit

Obama has always insisted on a balanced approach ... revenue and cuts both.  Before the election, during the election, after the election.  How anybody could have any confusion about that boggles the mind.  I read the emails they are talking about.   There is no 'there' there. 

Welcome back Lewing!  Glad you had a good time ... we missed you though.

I read a short article a while ago about a new drug they are coming up with for people with cat allergies.  This may make it possible for you also to be assimilated into the ranks of cat slaves.  

Meanwhile on the home front ... one of my dogs keeps getting in the bathroom trash.  And I cannot catch the offender to figure out which one it is!  I see the evidence and they both just look at me with that 'what is your problem' expression.  They are much smarter than we give them credit for I think.

Wabbit

Fun brain teaser!  I had a hard time with the first one ... but once I got my brain in the mode for it the rest were easy.  Strange.

1Athena1

Managed to say them out loud correctly, but it wasn't easy! Thanks for this - LOVE these brain teasers.

1Athena1

Sandy, humbug the hospital - they can't write off a WW II heroine that easily! Kudos to your MIL. Hope she is gaining some QOL and is comfortable.

I said I wouldn't bother to wade into the Woodward controversy, but I have a big mouth. :-) Woodward's Watergate ways are as long gone as good journalism is. Woodward was practically the unofficial Bush-Cheney bard on Iraq, so I lost respect for him many years ago. He has become hopelerssly naive and his command of the facts is waning. Wonder if he's getting as gaga as poor Clint Eastwood.

River_Rat

Athena, re "wonder if he's getting as gaga as poor Clint Eastwood," after reading the entire text of the email he's got his shorts in a knot over I would have to say, "Yes."

pip57

RR...I was thinking the same thing.

Lewing...forget to welcome you back.  Sounds like you had a wonderful time.  It is so nice to get a blast of sunshine in the middle of winter.

I love the brain teasers too.  The colour thing is one I have seen before so I knew to concentrate on the colour not the word.  Still not easy!

pupmom

pip57

  Love it!