March 24, 2014

The ONLY time Congress is reflective of the overriding American will is....

when Americans call Capitol Hill in overwhelming numbers, flooding switchboards, threatening electoral defeat, etc. When Americans actually write snail mail letters in huge amounts, that works too. I'm not sure how reactive they are to emails. Showing up at town halls and screaming bloody murder ( DON'T TOUCH MY MEDICAREEEEEEEEEEE ) works also.

When Americans don't overwhelm Congress, the default is to go with big business and whoever pays the most in campaign contributions.

I've been watching politics for 39 years, and this is the standard template. Of course, Congress is going to do the brain dead easy stuff like post offices and fund DoD, but if Americans really want significant change, they have to actually call or write a snail mail letter or show up to protest in the hundreds of thousands.

Oh, and by the way, the invasion of Iraq happened despite huge protests. So, my point about protesting is diminished by that fact.

I know you're not going to agree with me, Manny, so let's just agree to disagree, shall we ? Have a pleasant evening.

March 24, 2014

Bristol named Britain’s best city to live in

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/bristol-named-britains-best-city-to-live-in-9210931.html

Bristol has been named as the best city in the UK to live in, thanks to its “great shopping, great scenery and great social scene”.

The accolade was awarded in the second instalment of the Sunday Times’ Best Places to Live in Britain, which last week saw Skipton in North Yorkshire come out as number one in a less urban 101 Best Places to Live list.

The latest list did not provide ranks beyond the best overall winner, but profiled each one of the 64 cities in Britain.

Bristol, it said, boasts “one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, varied and beautiful housing stock, decent schools, buzzy culture and night life and access to some fantastic countryside”.

March 23, 2014

imho 90% of du'ers have their minds made up

That leaves about 10% willing to entertain a new perspective/opinion. The trick is to converse with those willing to entertain something new. I'm talking about politics here, not music or movies, etc. People, imho, typically come here to argue their point and "win". I'm not into that. I have my opinions, which are not shared by X% of DU. No sense banging heads and getting hides.

IMHO. It's saved me tons of "pissing matches" over the last 9.5 years. Best of luck to you.


Steve

March 23, 2014

Democrats have votes to release CIA report

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/cia-report-dianne-feinstein-104928.html?hp=t1_s

The Senate Intelligence Committee is poised to send a long-awaited report on the CIA’s interrogation practices to President Barack Obama’s desk for his approval — or redaction.

Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) says she has the votes on the narrowly divided panel to publicly reveal the executive summary and key conclusions of a 6,300-page report on Bush-era interrogation tactics, a move sure to fuel the Senate’s intense dispute with the CIA over how the panel pieced together the study. That vote is likely to happen sometime this week.

But rather than a strong bipartisan signal from Congress, a vote to unveil the study appears set to divide along party lines because of that dispute.

All of the committee’s Democrats, except Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, said in interviews or through aides that they will bless the public release of the document. Warner has not publicly indicated how he will vote, but he supported approving the final classified report on the same subject in December 2012. The committee has been bickering with the CIA ever since over the report’s accuracy, as well as Feinstein’s insistence that the study’s key findings be released publicly.

March 23, 2014

What are you listening to right now, musically ?

March 23, 2014

Obama family portrait

Enjoy !


Steve

March 23, 2014

GD: " The sky is blue "

Poster01: Yes, it is.
Poster02: No, it's not. It's azure, you fascist.
Poster03: No, it's cobalt you moron.
Poster04: You're all wrong. It's got clouds. Authoritarians.

etc.

March 23, 2014

sincere question about public campaigning for socialist progressives

I'm really NOT asking this question to be a troll or stir shit. Honest. I think my track record is very good for that.

What sort of reactions do you get when you publicly campaign, distribute literature, set up tables, that sort of thing ? My guess...and it's only a guess...is that here in Florida, you would get threatened with bodily violence. Seriously. Not by everyone of course, but at least one guy would. Guaranteed. For the record, I think the US needs to morph into our version of Sweden. Maybe one day, huh ?

Honest, I'm only curious. If this thread causes disruption, I will be happy to self delete.


Steve

March 23, 2014

Meteorology: love it, hate it, meh, other ?

I love it personally. Atmospheric physics. Too bad we don't have more measuring stations to improve forecasts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteorology

March 23, 2014

Florida Man Arrested for Car Dealership Burglary: Left ID at Scene, Posted Pics of Stolen Keys......

Florida Man Arrested for Car Dealership Burglary: Left ID at Scene, Posted Pics of Stolen Keys in Mouth to Facebook

https://twitter.com/_FloridaMan/status/446631069157445632

He's a real professional, he is.