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

QuinnCat

Lindasa - maybe that explains why my mother never made those marshmallow'y things.  The last time I was in Canada was for Thanksgiving in the late 90's with my Mom's younger sister (who outlived her brca BC!!) -same food my mother cooked, but I guess since my parents are/were both Canadian, we've always had Canadian Thanksgiving in America.

alexandria58

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!  And happy Columbus Day - or, as it's celebrated in one of the Dakotas, Happy Native American Day.

IllinoisLady

Add my well wishes to Canadian Thanksgiving.  Every day in many ways is a holiday to me.  I feel fortunate to be alive and in relative health.....relative to age and a few medical issues that had a strong propensity to remove my physical presence.  Hope everyone celebrating a holiday....no matter where, or just which one, enjoys the day to the fullest. 

Jackie

p.s.  Loved the video.

covertanjou

www.toxel.com/inspiration/2012/02/05/yoga-cats

 

These are the cutest pictures of cats doing yoga.  Total cuteness!

ananda8

The real differences may not be open to influence by argument. I think one can look at the tone between the two threads and see the differences. Click on the ProCon.org link to see more detail of the differences.

***

Conservatives and liberals may have one less thing in common: neurology.

ProCon.org has gathered 13 peer-reviewed studies of behavioral and neurological studies and come to the conclusion that differences between Republicans and Democrats are more than skin-deep.

"Basically, the different sides have been yelling at each other for millennia, and we're trying to figure out what could be the root cause of this," said Steven Markoff, ProCon.org's founder.

The studies looked at things like differences between groups' perception of eye movement, and aversion to threatening noises.  Researchers also noted that Democrats had larger anterior cingulate cortexes, which are associated with tolerance to uncertainty, while Republicans had larger right amygdalas, which are associated with sensitivity to fear....

Although Markoff concluded the studies combine to mean that the different groups communicate in different ways, psychiatrist Greg Appelbaum said the studies point toward conservatives' tendency to avoid something called self-harm, while liberals avoid collective group harm. 

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/09/03/conservatives-and-liberals-have-different-brains-studies-show/

YramAL

rosemary-b

TLC=the learing channel?

QuinnCat

They say the happiest people in the world are Danes.  If given a chance to rate themselves, most will give themselves a score of an 8, 9 or 10 out of 10 for happiness according to ABC News.

Danes do have one potential complaint: high taxes. The happiest people in the world pay some of the highest taxes in the world -- between 50 percent and 70 percent of their incomes. In exchange, the government covers all health care and education, and spends more on children and the elderly than any country in the world per capita. With just 5.5 million people, the system is efficient, and people feel "tryghed" -- the Danish word for "tucked in" -- like a snug child.

Those high taxes have another effect. Since a banker can end up taking home as much money as an artist, people don't chose careers based on income or status. "They have this thing called 'Jante-lov,' which essentially says, 'You're no better then anybody else,'" said Buettner. "A garbage man can live in a middle-class neighborhood and hold his head high." 

When I grew up, my family was considered upper middle class.  We lived in a house that is now priced beyond the reach of most, but back then, a carpenter lived up the street, a widow next door, a grandmother across the street.  The guy who had the biggest fortune cookie company lived on the corner.  In other words, "middle class" spaned a range of professions and incomes...wealth was concentrated in the middle class back then...not in the 1%.  We had very high marginal tax rates which contributed to this strong middle class. Consumerism was not a weekend recreational activity.   Shopping malls were non-existent.  There were shops...for shoe repair, for buying fish, for toys.....everyone took part in the economy, not just large corporations.

My friend's father was a CEO of a Fortune 500 company.  He would have been my father's age.  In his retirement, he was appalled at the salaries his modern day counterparts took while denying worker's pensions, wage increases, etc.  Our flattened tax structure has sent more money into the pockets of the greedy while some elderly living on SS must choose between food and heat.  Our income tax system is screwed up.  We need to go back to a more progressive structure that strengthens the middle class.....and as they say, a rising tide lifts all boats.

A flat tax (which we almost have now) is NOT fair.  Someone making $20k a year does not value their last dollar the same as someone making a $1 million.  You cannot say it is fair to tax each of these last dollars equally.   Any economist worth their salt will agree with this.

Ok....just ranting  

RetiredLibby

Applauding, Kam!

L

CherrylH

Definitely what Kam said!!

IllinoisLady

notself....I saw that piece a day or so ago and would have posted myself but I'm not good at links.  I thought it was pretty interesting and I could see much of myself in it and my family as well. 

Kam --- cheering enthusiastically.

Enjoyful

Orioles vs Yanks! It's the first time in about 4,000 years that the Orioles have made it to the post-season!



And now....back to our regular programming...

CherrylH

FlippyScoot, I'm not a baseball fan, but should I root for the O's?

pip57

 I am a bit confused.  Apparently no notes are allowed at the debate and they are questioning whether it was a hanky or paper that Romney took from his pocket at the begining.  

I clearly remember him going back over to his podium after his family came on stage at the end.  He picked up some papers, handed them to another man beside him who then slipped them in his pocket.  I didn't think much about it at the time because I didn't know about the 'no notes' rule.  I do remember thinking that he seemed to want to get them out of there so others wouldn't see what his notes were.  I wondered why Obama didn't go back to get his.  Did anyone else see this? 

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/05/mitt-romney-handkerchief-cheat-sheet-debate_n_1942790.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

River_Rat

They put writing material at each candidate's lectern for them to use during the debate, they just can't bring in their own notes to start with.  There is debate as to whether or not Romney brought in notes but I tend to think it was just his handkerchief but I don't know.  An aide to Obama removed his notes (once again any notes he made during the debate) after the debate.  It was suspicious the way that Romney hurried over to get his notes but I really don't think this is worth pursuing. I saw still shots, slowed down video and enlarged shots at a site the other day and couldn't make a judgement. 

YramAL

Sure is a highly starched handkerchief. It has a lot of stiffness and heft to it.

I'd rather not entertain conspiracy theories though. 

Mary 

ananda8

Both the President and Romney took notes during the debate.  Perhaps this was what Romney handed to an aide.

The video of Romney looks like he took an handkerchief out of his pocket.  Frankly, I think prepared notes should be allowed on the lectern, however, earpieces and instructions from off stage will always be cheating in my book.

pip57

Okay, well that would make sense that he wouldn't want anyone to see notes that he may have made. Thanks for explaining.

Enjoyful

Yes please! Root for the O's!



Pip...

I saw some facebook comments re the notes Romney may or may not have had with him at the podium. Though some say it's against the rules, I found no published rules for the presidential debates. Apparently, the candidates negotiate the rules and sign an agreement. That agreement has not been released to the general public so we don't know the official note-carrying guidance.



I believe the handkerchief story. Whatever supplement he's taking sure did make him sweat a lot. And blink. My goodness, what a talented blinker is our Romney!

River_Rat

notself, I agree, I've always thought notes should be allowed.

The object also doesn't appear all that stiff to me, looks like a handkerchief. My eyes aren't very good though and I kept wondering if I was missing something. I think the fact that I don't like Romney made me want to see something but I just don't and when you consider the fact that they might not want whatever notes they made during the debate to be made public it makes sense that they would make sure to retrieve them.  Also maybe not so suspicious the way that Romney retrieved his as he seemed "geeked up" throughtout the entire debate, probably just still was.

IllinoisLady

No, no notes are allowed.  I'm not totally sure what it was....some said a handkerchief....one was used by him I think, however, given that there was a total flip-flop  and at least 27 lies ( all fact-checked ) in my opinion, it may have occurred to him to make something "appear" to be  something it was not ---- perhaps a bit more spice if flip-flopping didn't get the desired effect. We may never know.

Jackie

typing along with some of the rest of you.  I'd have to watch again, but I thought the moderator brought up "the no notes" rule/stipulation for the night.  Could be way off though.....

pip57

When I watched the video again I did see that there were papers already there so it makes sense that they were for note taking.  My dad used handkerchiefs all the time (yuck!) and what Romney took out of his pocket made me think of them.  A bit more starched than my dad's, but probably very expensive and only used once!

Enjoyful

Jackie - where did you find the note rules? I couldn't find them.

IllinoisLady

Enjoyful.....I thought the moderator gave that as a rule/stimpulation right before the debates started.

Jackie

Enjoyful

Ah okay. Thanks, Jackie!

Enjoyful

It's remarkable that we can all watch the same video and reach a conclusion that goes against our instincts. Reason triumphs again!



Now, if that were Obama, not only would he have notes, they would be super secret Muslim Brotherhood instructions to establish a one-world socialist dictatorship government.

QuinnCat

LOL - on the Obama notes Joyful!!

Before the conspiricy theories, when I was watching the debate, live, on CSpan, I distinctly noticed Romney pull something out of his pocket and put it at the lecturn.  I have not looked at the video, as I don't want to taint my original memory or impression, but I remember the camera was pointed at an angle to the back of his lecturn.  What I remember thinking is why is he being so sneaky with whatever he is pulling out of his pocket....it struck me as notes, not a hankerchief, but that could have been my prejudice speaking rather than objective observation. It was the way he did it that caught my attention, whatever it was. 

IllinoisLady

This is a little something from Paul Krugman on today's MTP Round Table:

Paul
Krugman then blasted debate moderator Jim Lehrer and the media for failing to
call GOP Candidate Mitt Romney out on his blatant lies.

I
don't know whether to blame Lehrer or the president, but it was kind of amazing
because Romney was not only saying things that are not true, he was saying
things that his own campaign had previously said weren't true ... The one that
got me was not about taxes but the thing about covering people with pre-existing
conditions, which his plan does not, which he has said that before, and his
campaign has walked it back in the past, and there he was right again saying,
well, my plan covers pre-existing conditions, which is to show contempt.

Just one of the items that makes Romney a person to give wide berth too.  How could anyone have any trust or faith in someone who chooses willfully to lie.  His own campaign people do not influence him for the better.   Just my opinion but this time the apple doesn't seem able to fall anywhere near the tree, which again in my opinion makes him a rather well dressed thief. I'd love to ask Mr. Romney about why he lies, and as far as the lying...my one question to him might go something like this....Mr. Romney, did you learn how to lie like that in school, or does it just come natural????

Jackie

Enjoyful

Well, his plan does cover pre-existing conditions as long as you already have coverage. But wait...pre-existing, by definition, means that the condition existed prior to coverage. Hmmmm....I guess that's why his minions constantly "explain" his statements.

QuinnCat

 Starting in 2014, the federal Affordable Care Act says insurance companies can no longer reject people with bad health histories — nor can they charge them more.

That's already true in Massachusetts under the law Romney signed as governor. But Romney's current plan for the nation, should he be elected president, wouldn't necessarily guarantee that same protection.

"Actually, governor, that isn't what your plan does," President Obama told Romney at the debate Wednesday. "What your plan does is to duplicate what's already the law."The president was referring to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA. It's a 1996 law that says, among other things, that once you have health insurance you can continue to purchase it, as long as there's no interruption in your coverage of more than 63 days.

 

Just one of the things Romney was wrong about...was it a lie he tried to slip in, or just incompetence??

He also goes on and on about how he will create 12 million new jobs.....that is the growth rate the Congressional Budget Office already projects.  Liar or incompetent? 

These Wednesday night Romney debate lies are just the tip of the iceberg.  Why people would believe him (when he is on record with conflicting statements) is an example of their own incompetence and lying behavior. 

I am f'*** sick of this immoral LDS man.  As far as his $250 million...if he was a true Christian, he wouldn't own that much money, a car elevator and how many homes?  This sort of wealth is unnecessary when others are hungry and cold.  I'm sick of Christians defending this immorality.