Grateful Dead

Oh baby, it's another hot one! Ran the sprinkler all morning to keep the gardens from burning up. This is day 9 of 100 degree heat in the central USA. I even skipped going out to see Dark Star Orchestra last night, just to keep cool and safe at home. On this day in 1990, Grateful Dead played in shorts under direct sunlight at Sandstone amphitheater in Bonner Springs, west of Kansas city. It was so hot, tires were picking up asphalt from the parking lots, just ask David Lemieux !! Great to see the wonderful NBC camera coverage of the Tour de France. I have to keep getting my maps out to see what the land and water features are in Belgium, France Spain and Switzerland. Meanwhile in America, 7 time champ Lance Armstrong again is being hounded for doping allegations. Later this weekend, my granddaughter, Willow, will come visit for the next 4 weeks !! Next week the Major League All Star baseball game comes to town, so all sorts of activities are planned, from festivals, games, home run derby to the game itself on Tuesday, 7/10. After that, I'll look forward to the Summer Olympics!

July is tour de France month, so I take the time to watch as much of the bike race, on the television, as I can. I really like the amazing helicopter shots of the mountains, hills, streams and today, the Mediterranean coastline. Did I spot Cosmic in his swim costume along the beach in Agde ? Tomorrow looks like a smaller race before le tour moves into the Pyrenees. Someday, I will make it across the pond to be one of the millions of fans who stand along the route of the tour. I'll choose a Belgian and Swiss border stage to watch. Isn't there some good beer in Belgium?

And we thought it only happened to the Grateful Dead! ***** At the climax of his three-hour set, Springsteen and McCartney, backed by the E Street Band and Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, played a storming rendition of "I Saw Her Standing There" to a rapturous crowd. Springsteen's delight was palpable: He grinned throughout, his face lit up like a child with a super-sized Christmas gift. The supergroup then segued into a sizzling version of "Twist and Shout" -- but as the night peaked against a backdrop of fireworks, a drably dressed man with sensible hair could be seen waving frantically at the back of the stage, indicating the rock legends' time was drawing to a close. Then, at 10:40 p.m. local time, as Springsteen and McCartney were winding up the extended "Twist and Shout," the sound suddenly dampened, and went quiet. At first, the Boss didn't seem to notice. He attempted to address the crowd, apparently unaware that they couldn't hear him. But as it became clear that there was no amplification, he and lead guitarist Stevie Van Zandt played what looked to be a brief a cappella goodnight for the benefit of the front rows, shrugged, and left the stage. (read the entire article at: http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/14/showbiz/music/springsteen-mccartney-power…) ***** Talk about a buzz-crusher! I'm not a big fan of either but if the same thing happened to me with Jerry pairing up with (take your pick) Grisman in 1985 I'd be so ripped... Why don't bands/promoters put something in their contract that allows them to play a specified "overtime" period if they pay a specified amount that covers everybody's overtime? How would you have felt if the final "Box" had been cut at Soldier Field in '95'?

Officious dweebs like that should be chained to the front of the "It's a small world after all" exhibit at the Disney park least convenient to them for a week. And then billed for the airfare, transfers and entrance fees required. You'd think Sir Paulie could have requested Special Dispensation from his pal Her Majesty...

It is so very hard to be interested in anything that comes out of either candidate's mouth these days. You just want to scream "Give me fresh air!" Nobody is talking about anything remotely interesting and the debate is so very carefully framed. The level of discussion has fallen to such a low point that it takes barely a sentence from the moderator's mouth before the two sides go at it tooth and nail. This has turned everybody off to such a degree that nobody wants to discuss it. And I don't blame anybody for that attitude, At the midpoint of summer the campaign still appears to be a close contest if it were based on the popular vote. Unfortunately, under our arcane system, it is the electoral college, the elite 535 (435 Reps. & 100 Senators) that actually determine the next ruler. This gives greater weight to the more populated states. Representatives are apportioned per 500,000 people, Given this system, the managers of campaigns split the country into sure win, sure lose and those states that have a chance to go either way. In the 12 swing states this year Obama has a healthy lead in the majority of them and the undertone of the campaign is a heady optimism on the side of the Obamites and general hand-wringing on the part of the Romulans. While it appears that Romney has only a very slight chance of winning the election Obama would be well advised to read the lyrics of Uncle John's Band: "When life looks like easy street there is danger at your door". Current events can undo the most carefully laid plans and it certainly is a minefield out there. Negativity rules the day. Why it is human nature to respond to negativity rather than ignore it and pay attention to positivity is beyond me. I think people feel so unempowered and disenfranchised by the current system where there are two parties for the rich and corporate elite. The only debate among them is how much alms to give to the poor. It is really outrageous that our "republican' form of "democracy" has come to this. And a sad joke for the rest of the world churning in our wake. Will I vote this year? No, because the state I live in makes it a certainty that it doesn't matter. If I had a chance to vote in a critical swing state would I? Yes, because I believe I am my brother's keeper and I want more alms to go to the poor. It is sadly reduced to this. I wish I had choices that made more of a difference. I think the common people picking their own leaders has always been an elaborate hoax,

and I think it's incredibly pathetic that it has to be us." - Jerry Garcia "Representative" democracy creates consolidation of political power, and that creates the financial equivalent of mechanical advantage. So called "special interests" buy legislators votes for backing the proposed legislation that their own staffers write which is designed to enhance their own market position and presence. And it only works because it's economically viable to make it happen. Remember, with these special interests, the bottom line is always dollars, specifically the Net Present Value of those dollars. For those of you not familiar with the term, NPV is math, not philosophy. It's nothing more than a calculation. It's the Lowest Common Denominator for how MBA types look at the universe. The founding fathers had a pretty good idea, although I suspect they would scarcely recognize what it's turned into. I won't pretend to speak for them, but I have a strong inkling given their contemporaneous writings that they would be appalled by what has evolved as the Legislative branch. I choose to believe they opted for the representative model rather than the Athenian model of strict pluracracy to address the the inherent latency in communications extant in their time. That latency no longer exists. I believe that the next phase of the American Revolution should be focused on this issue in particular. I may be naive, but I'm prepared to have some faith in the rank and file population to choose to do the Right Things, and eschew the Wrong Things, like war in support of enhanced corporate profits marketed under the banner of Patriotism. It's high time people started pointing out that that particular emperor has no clothes. It is economically unviable to buy off a majority of a national direct electorate. Problem solved in the only terms these types understand and respect. Our government here in the USA has long since stopped fearing its citizens, and that's the first thing that has to change. We The People are supposed to be the Boss, and it's high time we started acting not only like we understood that, but that we actually meant it.

...but we're too strung out to achieve that kind of function. In his Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right, Karl Marx notes that "Religion is the opium of the people (Die Religion... ist das Opium des Volkes)." Marx' statement rings true to me, only what's changed now is that we worship at the altar of commerce much more than we did in Marx' time. At this point, I'd say it's highly unlikely that the People will ever take back the power because we've become dependent on the system to which we've ceded our authority; it'd be like a junkie trying to get clean by killing his or her dealer.

The Greens just held their nominating convention last weekend. This group along with the Libertarians have been the most organized and long-standing political entities trying to mount a challenge to the current political paradigm. The Libs has some success this year and they had a number of delegates pledged to Ron Paul to go to the nominating convention with and make some noise. In Massachusetts those delegates had supplanted some long-standing Republicans who were not going to be able to attend. Invoking some made-up rule the Repubs. stripped those delegates of their credential because they had "failed to deliver in time an affidavit swearing, under the penalty of perjury, that they would support Mitt Romney’s nomination for president." My point here is that whenever a third party makes a challenge the Dems or Repubs flex their muscles and throw them out. Jon Stewart made a point of spotlighting how the press ignored Ron Paul. There are so many institutions that marginalize third party candidates that it would seem to be impossible for one to break through. Then there is the argument that Ralph Nader's independent run for the White House only allowed Bush to beat Al Gore in 2000. He got 2% of the vote but the election was so close it is hard to deny the logic of it. Even though it really only becomes true when the election ends up being that close. The point of all this is to say we have the illusion of voting for who rules us. In fact, it takes such a huge amount of money to run a campaign and qualify for the ballot in all 50 states that there really is no way a third party that is not in the "Big Money" circle can mount a serious challenge. It's despicable, And the people who deny this reality are silly and stupid. I liked Johnman when he was on this thread but he was one of those people who really believe we have meaningful choices within the system. It's such a joke. I hate to vent without having anything new or creative to offer up but I just don't see a set of circumstances that would allow a charismatic leader to rise up and be elected by hordes of followers. The powers that be would be calling him/her the anti-christ, among other things.

As I've mentioned several times, the ongoing dispute between the US/Israel (backed by other Western nations) and Iran is still picking up steam. Israel/West wants Iran to give up all nuclear ambitions. Iran says these ambitions are only peaceful. Nobody believes that Iran is not involved in uranium enrichment that will ultimately result in the 2nd country to possess an Islam Bomb (Pakistan being the other). The war is well underway. Israel has bombed targets in Iran before suspected of nuclear ambitions, at Osiris I believe, and the US/Israel have engaged in cyber-warfare to destroy centrifuges. Israel has threatened to bomb the suspected sites unilaterally once again but has not done so mainly due to US diplomatic pressure exerted to allow sanctions to work. These sanctions are very severe. The world financial community has even pulled Iran's SWIFT code. This does not allow them to transfer money bank-to-bank anywhere in the world. The latest development is that Iranian-backed militants blew up a bus full of Israeli tourists in Bulgaria yesterday, killing seven and wounding more than a score others. A week or so ago the US engaged in nuclear saber-rattling. This all looks very dark. There aren't many bluffs left for the West/israel to play if they get no deal from Iran. Syria is about to fall. The Middle East is in turmoil. I know I'm only getting bits and pieces of this story. Ominous. Biblical. Don't think we'll have to wait for the end of the Mayan calender for this to play out.

"Apocalypse Now" - Colonel Kurtz's monologue at the end "I've seen horrors... horrors that you've seen. But you have no right to call me a murderer. You have a right to kill me. You have a right to do that... but you have no right to judge me. It's impossible for words to describe what is necessary to those who do not know what horror means. Horror. Horror has a face... and you must make a friend of horror. Horror and moral terror are your friends. If they are not then they are enemies to be feared. They are truly enemies. I remember when I was with Special Forces. Seems a thousand centuries ago. We went into a camp to inoculate the children. We left the camp after we had inoculated the children for Polio, and this old man came running after us and he was crying. He couldn't see. We went back there and they had come and hacked off every inoculated arm. There they were in a pile. A pile of little arms. And I remember... I... I... I cried. I wept like some grandmother. I wanted to tear my teeth out. I didn't know what I wanted to do. And I want to remember it. I never want to forget it. I never want to forget. And then I realized... like I was shot... like I was shot with a diamond... a diamond bullet right through my forehead. And I thought: My God... the genius of that. The genius. The will to do that. Perfect, genuine, complete, crystalline, pure. And then I realized they were stronger than we. Because they could stand that these were not monsters. These were men... trained cadres. These men who fought with their hearts, who had families, who had children, who were filled with love... but they had the strength... the strength... to do that. If I had ten divisions of those men our troubles here would be over very quickly. You have to have men who are moral... and at the same time who are able to utilize their primordial instincts to kill without feeling... without passion... without judgment... without judgment. Because it's judgment that defeats us." (Boy, I'm in a mood today)

Earlier in the week, there was a story in the news about a NYC bus driver who caught a 7 year old girl who had fallen from a three story building. Had that bus driver used his better judgment, instead of inserting himself into the space between the 40-50 pound falling object and the ground, the girl would have likely died. Our judgment is mostly a function of our intellect, but reason is only a part of who we are.

The current trend is for more and more of the over 30,000,000 Americans addicted to opiate painkillers such as Hydro and Oxycodone to turn to heroin in the face of a massive crackdown against doctors, pharmacies and patients/users. This in turn is leading to a sharp upward trend in overdoses. Also trending are treatment options. When the US started to gear up in Afghanistan in 2008-9 after Obama got elected I said here, in Deadheads For Obama, that it was a mistake. I said we were there for the poppies and not for any imagined political purpose. Turns out it would appear I am correct. Instead of wiping out the Taliban and building a democracy in Afghanistan (what a joke that was!) "interests" within the US have teamed up with the opium warlords who opposed them and imported raw opium/morphine/heroin in massive quantities. Think about this for a second. The Bush administration had ample opportunity to stop internet purveyors of these narcotics but did nothing. Over 30,000,000 Americans got hooked. Then, after Bush's War in Iraq was finished, Obama ramped up to 130,000 troops in Afghanistan... What happens in the chaos of that kind of massive scale military operation? Lots and lots and lots of things slip between the cracks. Now the pharmacy supply is systematically being taken away and few are going to stop their habits. They are turning to heroin in massive numbers. There is so much money to be made now it staggers the imagination. The GOD business (Guns, Oil & Drugs), opening a franchise in a neighborhood near you soon, minus the guns and oil. They made boatloads of money off crack and now they are making long-term boatloads of money off heroin and rehab. They got'em coming and going. Maybe in the funeral home business too...

who has been following the Tour de France? No chat about it this year....where are Ted and Lilly? Anyway it has been thrilling for us Brits this year. Wiggins ( a mod and a Who fan) is the winner and Cavendish the best sprinter. Cav's win in Stage 18 is just about the single most excting sporting moment I have seen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-nVQmhbLlI&feature=share

edited out

After the nut-job in the Denver area did his thing the American public was once again polled on what they think would have prevented this type of tragedy... More guns got more votes by 3 a 1 margin than gun control. How sick and ridiculous!

Oh I've been keeping up with le tour, CB, just not as fervently as before, as I'm doing daycare for both my 85 year old father-in-law and my 2 year old granddaughter.Willow is vacationing here for a month, from Ft Collins, CO. Congratulations to Bradley Wiggins for being the first Brit to win le Tour. Help from teammate Chris Froome up the steep climbs helped him a lot. Cadel Evans was left in the dust! Unfortunately there was 1 day when someone tossed nails or tacks onto the pavement, disabling plenty of tires: Evans 3 times! Gentleman Wiggins held up the peloton to allow Cadel to catch up! NBC Sports had there usual incredible video coverage from helicopter showing the beautiful landscapes of Belgium, Switzerland and France. I liked the photo in today's KC paper of Bradley riding thru Paris with his young son. Mark Cavendish is quite the sprinter!

what a senseless tragedy. Evidently if all the people in the cinema had been armed to the teeth as well, it would never have happened. It seems that the price of this 'freedom' is considered acceptable by the majority.

Glad you caught the Tour amidst your demanding duties :-)

and we should all wear body armor too, especially this summer of sick heart!

I meant heat, but heart seems to work as well in this context...

"If a responsible gun-bearing citizen had been in the audience this tragedy could have been avoided." Yeahhh, right. So, say I'm going to the new Batman movie with my fourteen year-old daughter. I live in a "Right To Pack" state so I've got my .45 magnum in my hip holster. My daughter's friends are all there and she is sitting and giggling with them and I'm sitting behind them with some other parents. Suddenly a young man carrying an automatic rifle burst through the exit door and starts firing like Rambo non-stop at the audience. I jump out of my seat and whip out my .45 and get off 7 shots, three of which hit center body mass. The guy is knocked off balance but quickly recovers and starts spraying bullets at me and the kids in front of me, including my own. Why? Some survivalist right-wing NRA freak sold him the latest full body armor. Sorry Mr. sicko Politician from Colorodo, a responsible gun-bearing citizen would not have stopped this shooter unless he got off a miracle head-shot in the dark. In this country you can own an assault rifle and purchase armor-piercing rounds capable of shooting a 747 out of the sky. Hoo-ray for the 2nd Amendment. This is insanity.

El-Assad is now threatening to use chemical and biological weapons on outside powers threatening him. Many Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia started arming the rebels when their diplomacy failed. If El-Assad makes good on this threat against his neighbors it is sure to draw the US into the conflict. While it may be a calculated move by Syria's strongman to limit the strength of the Free Syrian armed forces, it may also provide the justification for his use of these armaments against his own people, which he has pledged not to. The Four Horsemen are riding full gallop through the Middle East right now. Hang tight as the ground shakes and quakes!

Should he get a meal ticket and a bed?Taxpayer provided? I am a peace-loving hippie- however... I often realm this kinda matter- fathom; do unto others as you would have done unto you. It's a terrible state of affairs...having this belief that severe brutality will be tolerated and you're now entitled to a free life of food, shelter, and medical care. Jail sucks but you can still jerk off. I hate war and destruction but it's tolerated. We need a new and improved way to process things of this matter. PSA - Work towards non-violence, every second of the day and it will be easy to engage the problem areas. Peace is easy to attain if we all find and identify love and what is not love. Then make a decision for all and not asking for money to provide for what is not but be steadfast in providing that which is. I say give all the money it will cost to jail this man for his sentence to the families of the victims and send him on his way. Gonna get there...I don't know. It's hypocritical of me however it's a real issue and it does not devalue my principles by stating these things. For thoes proven guilty there is no free ride, you can sleep on our dime no more. Heck, I'll give the shot or pull the trigger. I am sure about myself, are you? God Bless Our Armed Forces and Every Good Man and Woman Police Officer Respectfully Protecting Me and Everyone of You. May the Education Systems teach PEACE every year of all Our children's lives so there may be a day in the distant future joy conquers hatred, and love abound on the entire planet. Then... A gun shot heard is merely someone bringing home a meal. My heart aches, at this news, a burden so unforgettable. I vented here with ya's as to unload the confusion my mind possesses. What would the answer be? See ya later, bye. If the m'f'ing TV can show and report and not care what graphic and harmful images are shown during regular broadcasting hours...I request this be televised-nationwide AND he can start a new show called Freeing Up Tax Dollars One Person At A Time! We can get the wrap sheet, proof of the verdict-with precision, and perhaps a final- heartfelt apology and to watch 'em smoke one final puff. Game over. I bet the f'ing rating would be off the charts, wanna bet! I would love to make a guest appearance, I could pray, chant, and dance for the family members of the victims- praying they might find peace and move on. And whatever else I might be invited to do. Heck, I'd host the show! And I do believe, in my heart of hearts the crime rate in Our Nation would drop. I would be a host...promoting that as the one of goals of the show. And indeed, I would love those the victim's left behind with a love that could be affirmed as real. Well, I am humble for my rant here, very humble... and it is factually an early 28th day for me so, I have the zesty-bitch factor that only bleeding brings out. I cannot summon it, damn it, but I can't miss it when it hits me like a brick. Rrrrrrrrr. So, I embrace this opportunity to "whistle through my teeth and spit..." Each show could feature different types of MF'er's None get buried, all get burned then they go into a sealed plastic cell at the landfill, never to be apart of the earth again, just like the garbage, garbage cells. Well, I need a remedy for this nasty-vibe and it is time to go create that. My apologies for the chide I've expressed. Just doin' that rag thing and seeing what often cannot break-through my everlasting vibe of lovingkindness. I am interesting packaged... 2 days a month, as it's been a process of the change for me. --->But um Yeah! it's like truth-serum for the oppression's my realities and all of that which I love. Have a good aim but...when your hungry for game. A bird in the eye at 45 feet is a victory. I think I may have gotten him, but alas I wasn't there and didn't have a gun. If you read this, I did say truth serum, I just can't believe I would make it useful like this. :(how sad. "Come on people shine on your brother, everybody get together and try to love one another, right now...right now...right now..."

with the remedy approaching...I wanted to state I have a huge opinion on this type of killing. My best friend of 32 years was shot in the head at an intersection; he fell to the ground and died right there. He had no idea he was in danger either. He is not forgotten and lives in my heart...one of the biggest dead-heads ever and we toured back when you could still hitch-hike, use pay-phones and ride seat-belt-less, sitting on the car windows edge hollering to friends when you hit the lot. The absence of his presence is over-ridden by the love I have for him that can just never fade away. The gun-men have not been caught and are roaming free; as I wonder if they even possess remorse or if it is that which they thrive on most seconds of their days. My friend was harmless, his love amazing, and his spirit is surely home free. This haunts his Mom and family...an how his son has suffered....still suffers for it. We are often doubtful his killers will be caught but hopeful to a fault. This Colorado killer is in custody....how many days will it take, how much money of the taxpayers will it cost, how many people will come in to ear-shot of the nonsense of arriving at his sentence and what will the tax-budget need to plan on for all of his needs to be met for probably the rest of his life. His life, ironic, lol...his life. To Jesse, your smile is still with me, xo! Last thing we said to each other from waayyyy across the lot at the top of our lungs was.... I love you. 2 days later, he's gone.

The tragic unexplained loss of your friend is heart-wrenching. Someday I hope that reason prevails and senseless gun killings will no longer be daily news.

I have not lost anybody close to me due to senseless violent crime. I like to think I would be different and not call for blood if somebody killed my wife and/or kids. Most likely I wouldn't be any different then people willing to pull the trigger or run the show. It's a natural urge. The alternative of incarcerating somebody for life at the current price of about 38k a year also rankles some people. I do think that prisoners suffer more with that punishment. It seems like the easy way out to just kill them. Doin' life without parole is an ocean of pain, depression and anxiety. Perhaps we need to dump such killers on small islands with other such violent criminals and let them grow their own vegetarian food, No rules or guards or medicine. No escape. It seems to me to be an attractive option. Killing people who kill can never be right. It cannot be justified. There is a tremendous loss of energy that comes along with that. Even as tax-payers we involve ourselves in a collective karma that is never-ending unless we finally see the result and have remorse. Not bloody likely for Americans. My heart goes out to SherBear and every person who has lost a close friend or family member to violent crime. Try to see clear through to another day.

I've been teaching my students about Rationalization, which describes the human tendency to privilege logic over emotion. This idea is illustrated by the progression of civilization over the last 10,000 years or so, and the develoment of things like agriculture, cities, machine guns and smallpox vaccines. The funny thing about Rationalization is that these logical processes also produce irrationalities; Nazi death camps are one example. Another one is the recent increase in gun sales in the US following the theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado last week. Guns are the products of logical manufacturing systems and they are acquired for logical reasons; when people feel fear, they seek to defend themselves by extending their abilities. Buying a handgun is a fairly inexpensive way for a person to feel powerful, but with that purchase, the gun-owner also becomes a threat to everyone else's security. What we're seeing with the recent increase in gun sales is a completely irrational response to the problem of gun violence; acquiring guns is not a rational response to gun violence.

Hey now, Thanks for thinking of Jesse with me, XO! To steer clear from this mess, that of which I would be there to help in a minute...for sure. But I, I, I must steer clear into a sea of green-blue; where the horned goats watch near the jaggedness of the peaked mountains staggered cliffs. And The water soothes the battered mind as it makes hair dance to the movement of you and it, combined in intertwined delight. Nothing is real when your underwater swimming. Ahhhh, where was I...yeah thinking of the Grateful Dead Hour and the incredibly awesome pieces of music I found there on the 1st time through. Later-bye to the work day, hello to the night time. In this time, I own my thoughts and memories. That is where I am heading. I am going to be happy that Jesse is remembered, embraced, not-forgotten, treasured as an example of lovingkindness, and is beloved for the beautiful love he has sher'd with us, all. I've learned to keep on smiling and to smile ~anyways. All this now just off the top of my head. Now a truth, we are not every second of the day, we are owed by various systems participating in the unthinkable; for those things we are guilty however, we are also innocent depending on the level of reality involved. I LOVE YOU, ALL XO --------------------------(-----@ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

sherbear, I hope you don't mind my hack job, but I found lines of verse in your prose: Water soothes battered minds makes hair dance The movement of you and it combined intertwined delight Nothing is real when you're under water swimming

Excellent!

In this campaign season the president has hardly opened his mouth on the matter of addressing gun control in the wake of the Denver area slaughter. His genuflection at the alter of the NRA is not reassuring to those of us who believe he has a liberal agenda. At least this time around there has been some analysis of the psychology behind why Americans run to purchase more guns and ammunition in the wake of such tragedies. I am left asking the question: Do gun shop owners pray for such incidents the same way people in the building trades in California pray for an earthquake? Please don't think I am being cynical. I used to work in the building trades in Northridge, Ca.. I am also left wondering if Obama has any liberal agenda at all. It would seem that presidents of either stripe vary very little from the center line and hew an extremely narrow path during election seasons. What a system!

Friends will never leave you as long as you refuse to relinquish your memories of them. The fact that they're no longer contributing new content doesn't diminish the import of the content they've already contributed. We need the Second Amendment for exactly the purpose that gave rise to its existence to begin with: To protect ourselves from our Government. As Dean Wormer so succinctly noted, "Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life." Unarmed might be a useful amendment to that pick list, not because I'm a such big fan of violence (which I'm not) but because you can only communicate with people using symbology that they understand. Unfortunately, when dealing with enforcement elements of government, weapons is about as sophisticated as they can generally comprehend. I certainly hope that one day soon we're more evolved than that, and we can completely dispense with childish notions like armament and weaponized bullying. But we're not there yet.

...but for comic relief, at least we've got Mitt Romney shooting his mouth off, in what appears to be an all-out assault on his own two feet, with his recent comments about the Anglo-Saxon connection that he, but not Obama, shares with the British, as well as his less-than-gracious observations about London's preparation for the Olympics. But it's not Romney's comments that concern me, so much as it is his easy ability to deny things he's said and done, and the willingness of many registered voters to accept Romney's distortions, deceptions and denials as the truth.

bad off now, just wait till I get through with it! ~ Rufus T. Firefly If he gets his Mitts on it, it will be the Bain of our existence...

Stopped by here and read your poetic findand I think that is terrific! It's interesting to read only those lines, cool. I don't mind at all. So many other things to say but... I'm having a pre-birthday party for Jerry and all else must wait. We are in the Waiting For A Miracle JGB '91 2nd set I hope for everyone to see a miracle in whatever form and that you would receive it and pass it on and keep the chain unbroken. (Any broken links must see maintenance immediately. Guess who runs that department? ha!) Have a super sweet weekend filled with the goodness I wish you, all right now! For every goodness that you may come upon shall it bring you happiness regardless of how simple it may be. Continue....it's passed...

The following people were online with me this Sunday morning: LacyDowns1957 JoshuaRamsey1992 NyssaWalsh1978 MalloryMcneil1981 JonahPratt1984 Anna rRxia AvyeLawson1976 CassadySanford1965 BerthaSalinas1994 ( A self-described DEA agent) I felt like a surfer in the middle of a feeding frenzy! What can we do about this? I know that freedom means anybody with an e-mail address gets to post. I feel for the people who have to clean up the mess left behind when they spam without mercy. Can't somebody write some code that would prevent spammers, with four numbers after two proper names, from posting? It wouldn't prevent the problem but would eliminate a good part of it...

"We need the Second Amendment for exactly the purpose that gave rise to its existence to begin with: To protect ourselves from our Government." A, Mr. Pid? Any person who expresses this sentiment is considered to be a terrorist.

Mitt Romney is off on a foreign affairs trip to make it look like he has the credibility to be president. After putting his foot in his mouth in Britain he went on to Israel to egg on the Israeli's to nuke Iran. This man will say or do anything to become president of the US, even to the point of starting WW III. Increasingly desperate men will do increasingly desperate things to draw strong comparisons between themselves and their opponents. Mitt Romney is already at that point and it is only the end of July. Who knows what he'll be calling for in October. Mitt? Just go back to Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire or one of your other homes and concede defeat. You are done, toasted, washed up, kaput. Nothing left to so but smile, smile, smile.

can this really be the best conservative opponent that can be found? Don't get me wrong, my overwhelming preference would be for second Obama term, but how can your system come up with this guy as a credible alternative? And even more scary, how can he have any chance of getting elected?

When his run for the presidency against Bubba fell on the rocks. I remember it well, he started foaming at the mouth -- his forehead protruded and his eyes were bugging out. Next day he was fine. The problem is Mitt isn't going to take his medicine. He'll just get increasingly more desperate until his vision becomes darkly Old Testament. This will be "American political noir" theater. Get ready for the mental collapse of Mitt Romney. The sky is falling!

In Tampa, Florida starting on August 27th. Now this will be good. The best stuff will be outside among the protesters. The inside stuff will be the attempted coronation of the Mittster with the Paulies going crazy trying desperately to raise a stink. OMG!!! I'll be there, on the outside, with bells on. I already have a "Convention Special" hotel package at a four-star near the site. I wish I had Ralph Steadman to do the line drawings of rich, blue-haired old ladies holding their husbands who, sensing defeat is near at hand, are hopelessly drunk and throwing up on their shoes in the hotel lobby. Ohhh, it will be priceless. I hope there is a hurricane. It would be the perfect metaphor!

> how can [Romney] have any chance of getting elected? Romney's chances of getting elected are greatly increased by his relationships with billionaires who head Super-PACS. As of last Saturday, July 21st, Romney's campaign had raised $153,537,758, which is a little more than half of the $300,134,364 Obama's campaign had taken in, but the money race is just really getting started. What's nearly certain at this point in US history is that the candidate who raises the most money will win the election. One dollar, one vote; it couldn't be simpler.