6502
6502's Journal[VIDEO] President Obama Makes a Statement on the Fiscal Cliff
December 31, 2012 | 9:59
President Obama discusses ongoing fiscal cliff negotiations.
Not just talk... not just try.... do.
Please read it to the end, and if you believe it, please "KICK" it.
I'm totally serious.
I'm talking serious about us building something with more physical staying power than Occupy Wall Street with numbers 4 times bigger than the Million Man March.
We need to call in Occupy, the older schoolers that pulled together the Million Man March, NAACP, all of the working families groups we know, churches, the child protection agiencies, .... (I don't all of them!!! You think of the rest!!!!)
We need to totally occupy everything from the White House to Lincoln's Statue and packing the streets all the way from the Smithsonian to the FBI building.
The President is sticking his neck out big time against a group that has him in their sites -- LITERALLY. All the way from the Republicans to the Tea Partiers to the NRA and others that I will leave unnamed to save space... but you all know the rest.
I want you to picture this.... I mean totally close your eyes and imagine this:
The Republicans are in the Oval Office with Obama, telling him that they will block anything that seeks to limit gun rights. That they will vote as a block AGAINST anything that seeks to restrict gun rights in any way.
Obama with Biden next to him and Hillary Clinton sitting comfortably with a Cheshire Cat smile.
Obama speaks: "Well, I understand what your saying. And, I guess I can't stop you from voting the way you choose. But..."
Obama pauses and waves his hand over to Biden. Biden steps back to the draperies and calmly pulls them back to reveal the window.
Obama continues, "... there are quite a few people outside that appear might become dissatisfied with your vote. I've heard that they might number a million or so...."
Hillary chimes in, "That would be 4 million."
Obama continues, "... I don't believe that we have enough secret service personnel on hand to handle that."
Hillary draws a broad smile.
Now how did you like that image.
I can see you nodding "yes".
But wait, there's more.
You know after these killing... every time... there are mothers and fathers who will hold their children tighter.
Well, let's imagine the Republicans decide to go on with the NRA's bidding.
Before we get onto the rest of this story, let's remember something. Fathers do care for their kids and will brave hell and and high water for them.
But, for all a father will do, all men... women... kids... all creatures of the world know is this:
Never get in between a woman and the kid she wants to have, the kid she's carrying, the kid she went through all the pain to give birth to, send to school, bring up right, and will give her grand-kids. For the love of GOD do not be the thing that gets in the way.
The lady will rip the hide off a polar bear and break its neck before it hits the ground if it makes the mistake of being the obstacle.
So, let's keep on imagining:
Clearly with 4 million people (at last count... more keep arriving) there have to be a lot of moms and daughters and grandmoms. And of course, the men-folk are there, too.
The news media is waiting.
As per instructions by the UAW, Occupy, and all of the other leaders, everyone was to remain completely silent for the last 5 minutes before the vote results were released.
The entire crowd of 4,000,000+ people become completely hush.
You can feel the tension building.
The sweat beading on everyone's brows.
The announcement is now being shouted through the loud speakers, "And then THE RESULT IS..."
Now, let's think about this.
The Republicans might be total boot-kissing toadies for the NRA.
But, they are not totally stupid?
Or... are they?
The announcement continues, "The Republicans successfully block the bill and the NRA wins!!!!"
The crowd goes into a roar!
Shouts of "BOOS!!!" and "BASTARDS!!!!" begin to rise until the whole 4,000,000+ voices begin chanting in unison, "BABY KILLERS!!! BABY KILLERS!!! BABY KILLERS!!!..."
That 5 minutes of silence really wound up a spring of tension in the crowd.
The Republicans try depart in armored Cadillac limousines surrounded by a secret service detail.
Somebody shouts, "There they are!!! The BABY KILLERS are trying to escape!!!"
Then, the whole crowd moves in on the cars... but...
The men-folks are literally being trampled by the women who surge to the front of the attack leaving most of the fellas picking themselves up from the mud.
The women crowd the cars. We see the poor secret service detail just vanish in sea of hands and angry faces... then, they turn to the limousines.
The women grab the vehicles by their bumpers and fenders preventing them from speeding away, then they flip the cars over onto their rooves, punch their way through 2" thick bullet proof glass, rip the doors clean off the cars hurling them 20 feet into the air.
Oh, God... the screams heard from those representatives... Oh, God... no words exist...
And the cameras turn to the men-folks who simply shrug with that "Well, what the hell you think we're gonna do?" look.
Or... maybe the Republicans just vote the way Obama wants.
Now...
Be real.
You like that image.
I can see you nodding "yes".
Now, all we need is to get our butts in gear, our tools together, get calling to every union, church, child services, the NAACP, UAW, Occupy, web developers, media live streaming experts, Democracy Now,.... hey, I can't make this list myself. You know the folks you know and how to contact them... and you know how to even contact the folks you don't know, yet.
Obama needs our back!
And... this is the key point here: Not just talk... not just try.... do.
Get the word out... tweet it... retweet it... Google+ it... Facebook it...
"Not just talk... not just try.... do."
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022008151
#Newtown #Connecticut #wearebetterthanthis
A Black man's opinion on LGBT rights...
... LGBT rights are equivalent to the Civil Rights Movement.
And as a Black person, it is easy to see the connection.
LGBT rights is NOT equivalent to the right to smoke marijuana.
The right to smoke marijuana shares characteristics with the prohibition of alcohol back the day.
And you do not need to be Black to see the difference.
Why do I feel like I have to make this point?
One more time:
LGBT = Civil Rights Movement = Women's Movement = ... you see where this is going...
"Want to smoke weed " DOES NOT EQUAL "any form of civil rights"
I've noticed messages popping up on DU since Obama got re-elected suggesting that there is some kind of Civil Rights connection between LGBT rights and pot. It's like the weeders are trying to high-jack another unrelated issue to push their cause... to create a meme that pushes their cause.
And frankly, by doing so, essentially cheapens and reduces the LGBT Civil Rights issues, The Civil Rights issues of the 60s around race, and the Women's movement to the same level of prohibition of alcohol at best --- and the right to engage in the active sale, trafficking, and consumption of illegal substances.
I saw this play out on some Maher video on the site, but my browser crashed and I lost the link.
That was the last straw!!!!
As a Black man, I have to see this. LGBT rights is equivalent.
I wont go through the details of what qualities we share... I'm sure we all know.
It's these parasitic pro-drug types that, I think, know the difference, but care so much more about wanting to do their stuff anywhere they want, that they are willing to cheapen everything else around them to get it.
I've lost my patience today.
Anyway, that's it.
>> DURec+ it if you're in! OTC = Occupy The Cliff!!!!
DURec+ it if you're in! OTC = Occupy The Cliff!!!!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country!"
--- JFK
Obama had said something like this during his speech, didn't he?
He told us that the work we've done up to the election must continue if we are to move forward.
The "Fiscal Cliff" is our test!
Our challenge!
We have to be occupying right at the front gates of the capital or on the great lawn... but we must be there as big as the Million Man March!
It has to be the case that when the Repugs backed by their Plutocrats and Thugs walk into the Oval Office wanting to cut something we need so that their rich backers don't have to pay their fair share, we have to make it so that Obama does not stand alone, but pulls back the curtain and says: "the people appear to have a different opinion on that".
We have to be there. Our jobs as citizens is to make sure our elected officials do hear our voices... and in his speech, he said that he will listen.
This is our time.
History has given us that chance to learn the hard lesson of not trying... of only waiting... and through it we learned what can be done when we act.
The Fiscal Cliff is not not the practice run... it's not the test.
The Fiscal Cliff is the real 10 alarm fire that we must run in to... we will only know we are ready when we run in.
The proposal: Occupy The Cliff
We get 1,000,000+ people occupying the great lawn right when they are hot in negotiations for as many weeks leading up to the votes. Always building more and more.
History... Divine providence... The great fates... have all thrown down a challenge!
And how do we reply, folks!
BOOHAH!!!!
I've already allocated some resources to get us started. Now what we need is we the people.
I'm gonna help and advice, too... I'm human.
So please, feel free to email me at > OccupyTheCliff@gmail.com <
Mitt Romney Style Gangnam Style Parody!!!
http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6830834/mitt-romney-style-gangnam-style-parodyI dare you to try to drink milk while watching this!!!!
How many children? Why?
In the US, usually, when a couple has many children (like 10+) it is connected to some kind of Christian religious imperative. That imperative makes no sense to me at all.
Here in Japan I have seen a few TV shows featuring couples who have 10-15 children.
In each case there is no religious imperative driving it --- they just seem to have lots of children.
The problem is, I never catch these shows at the proper time when the couple explains why they had so many children... I only know that in each case they are not religious. Another thing, it is very common for people to have just 1 kid here. (I can't get a good answer out of anyone here... everyone I mention it to either say they say they want 0 or 1 kids).
So, I come here.
How many children do people have?
How many were you shooting for?
Were you even shooting for a number?
Anybody wanted to have many children? Why?
[Re: Romney Video]: 7 Deadly Sins in flesh...
(I'm an atheist... but, please read on...)
Listening to the video and re-reading the transcript, I found I had proof for something that I had believed for a while: that Romney and all of them are the 7 Deadly Sins in flesh.
Listen to the audio again... read it again... think of the man speaking:
* Greed: Wanting more and more for himself at the expense of others.
* Wrath: His seething hatred of the poor, the weak, the wounded, the hungry...
* Gluttony: Would deny others food to give himself more than he needs.
* Envy: He envies that the Chinese can exploit their workers as they do.
* Sloth: He makes no effort to use his gifts in the service of God... and if I remember correctly, did not Jesus suggest that we serve him by serving the least among us?
* Lust: Indulgence to excess of worldly pleasures at the expense of all else.
* Pride: The belief that all his gifts and good fortune are his own and places him above all of God's creations.
I'm an atheist... but I grew up Christian...
... and I came to recognize that the 7 Deadly Sins were never religious at all.
They appear religious because they were written in a time when the church was everything and if you were going to be an architect, an horticulturalist, a musician, a composer, or social services manager, or anything that required lots of resources in society, the only institution with the resources to let you do it and not spend all of your days toiling in the fields was the church.
The group that came up with the 7 Deadly Sins were social planners... they spoke in the language of their time... a religious language.
When the age of science came, we recognized the math and physics and geography and others sciences that were supported in the age of religion and pulled them out to continue to grow in the age of science.
But...
... we mistakenly thought the 7 Deadly Sins were just another 10 Commandments due to its religious language.
In fact, I believe it grew out of observations that group in the church made when they tried to answer such questions like:
* Why if there are so many people picking potatoes that people go hungry for want of potatoes?
* Why is it that there are so many people dying in the fields?
* There appears to be good commerce between our province and the neighboring province... why are their children healthier?
* The people toil and pay taxes and do not have enough to eat, while their masters have more than they can ever need... enough to let rot in silos. Why is it like this? How did it get this way?
and so on...
The 7 Deadly Sins are not about what you need to do to get into heaven (or stay out of a particular special place in hell).
It was a warning to the future describing a pathology that can consume an entire world whole.
Make no mistake... this all applies to Romney, but it is not just about Romney...
Think about it...
The people who attended all paid $50,000 per plate.
They are true believers... no mistake... they didn't pay because they would be aghast at what Romney would say. They paid because they already supported it.
Same with Ryan.
Same for the GOP. (Remember the words of different individuals).
ALEC.
The Chamber of Commerce.
Same for the other backers... paying hundreds of millions of dollars...
(Remember their words...)
The Kochs.
The Murdochs.
(Remember their words...)
The Super PACs.
The corporations funnelling money into the Super PACs.
And the peons at the bottom who believe and support this madness.
All true believers... make no mistake about that.
I need help with new Mac for my parents...
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
EDIT NEW INFORMATION HERE UP TOP ORIGINAL INFORMATION AFTER THE LINES BELOW
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
November 13, 2012
OK, folks, I'd been away for while in part because I did go forward and buy the the iMac for my parents. I went with the 27"-er! What I did was tell my parents to go to the local Best Buy and ask them to show them the 21" one because I could not afford the 27".
My mom said it was good. She also really like using the trackpad.
So, I went and ordered teh 27" without telling her, and made the Best Buy people swear that they would say to her that it is a 21". And the fellow from my parent's church as well.
I also bought a new wireless inkjet printer and Time Capsule.
I know somebody did recommend color-laser, but one requirement I came to realize while talking to my parents was that the one thing they hated about the last printer I left was all of the buttons and options. It was confusing and they would botch up the configuration rendering it useless. And walking them through how to bring it back was quite painful for them. And could take hours for me.
Anyway, she was super gleeful when she saw the display. I made sure that I got the Apple Care on a 3 year contract and everything.
Now the fun part.
I talked with Apple's service people and they said that they could help my parents out via screen sharing as part of the service. So, I went and told my mom about this.
Then she says, "So, can you do that with us like you used to with the old computer?"
"No, Mom."...
"Why not."
"Different OS."
"I really wish that you could connect and help us on the screen like you used to..."
Ahhh crap!!! And with that, I went to the local electronics show here in Japan and bought an entire Mac Mini setup that matches my parents (minus a printer, and the fact that I use a Japanese keyboard).
Connected it via HDMI to my 37"
?... I can't remember... but it is plenty big) flat screen TV.
All that money!!! ESPECIALLY AFTER I ALREADY PAID FOR 3 YEARS OF APPLE CARE!!!!!
Set it up so that all menus and dialogs would be in English to match my parent's experience, but still let me type in Japanese whenever I want to.
And after a quite a lot of trying... then waiting for my mom to get better from being sick... and Super Storm Hurricane Sandy + Nor'easater and the follow-up Nor'easter... and more than a week without power.... we finally got screensharing to work last night.
I spent quite a lot of time (4 hours) walking her through things, cleaning stuff up, helping her use GoogleEarth to see her hometown (yes... even with screensharing, it worked... I say the ocean shimmering and everything.). She was really happy about that. When the Linux system went unstable a couple of years ago, it would still run, but the graphics card wouldn't go to high performance mode. Result: GoogleEarth stopped working.
Now she is happy.
I am actually quite happy with the Mac. The service people are really good. The computer takes care of itself, really. And the horsepower is good. Heck, thanks to it, I didn't have to buy a DVD player.
So, Mac is the way to go for a supportable environment even when you are half a world away.
I use Linux for myself and for my devel -- I do quite a bit of Java and need an environment that faithfully keeps up with updates to the latest and greatest version of the JDK. Linux does that for me and does it will. And the Linux environment is really completely under my control. The only limitation is my own level of understanding and time.
But for relaxing and doing online cloud-based document stuff, the Mac is quite nice. Big screen, easy to see.
And when I need GoogleEarth, I can run GoogleEarth on the Mac Mini full screen and still use my twin display Linux machine for documents work and other research.
All is good.
Anyway, thanks for the input. You can add me to the Mac fold.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
[ORIGINAL POST]
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
My parents have been running on Linux since forever.
I set them up with a GNOME environment and they have been happy with it for years.
The problem is that I have been living overseas...
The computer I let with them has finally come to see its last days (hey, all hardware meets its end someday, right?)...
They really wish I could return from overseas and build up a new Linux system for them, but I can't.
They totally *do not want Windows*. (Please, don't suggest this...).
Please do not suggest Linux.
We are already Linux users and know the pros and cons.
If you feel that you must suggest Linux anyway, send it to me via direct message and do not post to the thread ｰｰｰ I'd be happy to explain to you directly why your Linux solution is completely unworkable.
My parents are not techies at all.
So, here is what I was thinking of doing and I would like to know from you folks if I have the right idea or if I am totally missing the mark. Here it goes:
FOR MY PARENTS
* Buy my parents a new 21" iMac.
* Buy a good All-In-One printer (I was thinking HP... any suggestions)
* Pay a service to install the iMac and printer to their network and migrate their documents and emails to the iMac .
* Also *anti-virus*... any good suggestions would be useful. (Edit)
* Have the tech service configure my parents iMac and network (router) to allow me to remote desktop to them so I can help them out. (I used to do this with Linux).
* BONUS POINTS: Have the tech service configure it so that I can ssh into their iMac. Then I could configure things like remote backups and set up cron jobs and such.
FOR ME
* Purchase a Mac OS X 10.6 Mountain Lion on DVD (I can't seem to find the link for it at apple.com... does anybody know how to buy the OS on DVD?)
* Using VirtualBox on my Linux system, create a virtual machine and install the OS there.
The reason for me running my own copy of Mac OS X in a virtual machine on my system is so that I can get used to Mac OS X... try things out *before* I give my parents advice on what to do... and do desktop sharing if Mac OS X is Mac specific, I would have my own running copy of the OS that I could use to do the desktop sharing.
This whole adventure is *very* expensive for me.
But I have to do it.
My only issue with Mac: the menu always at the top of the screen. It confuses me.
I talked with my Mom and asked her if she could get used to that change and she feels that she could... so I am willing to go forward.
I am technical.
Just far away from home.
So, please, don't hold back... whatever I don't understand, I'll ask about.
Thanks.
???What the bloodly hell are Centrists???
I mean, seriously. Help me out here folks.
Why are there so many people enamoured with becoming or being seen as a Centrist or an Independent? It's as if calling oneself such is the same as labelling oneself reasonable while calling the Left and Right equally unreasonable. But does that make sense?
I hear things like "Well, the right is too extreme in one way... and the left is too extreme in the other way, so the best path is in the middle." It's the false equivalence thing again. They make it sound so reasonable --- and make themselves out to be the image of reasonableness -- but what do they really mean when they say that?
For example:
Left/Democrat position on women's rights: Equality -- period.
Right/GOP position: No.
So.... what is the Centrist position on this and why is it better than either of the above? In particular, why is the Left's position on women's rights too extreme for a Centrist?
OK... maybe I'm not being fair. Let me try pitching a soft ball:
Left: Civil Rights Act: good for all society.
Right/GOP: Bad.
So... what is the Centrist position on this one? That discrimination is unacceptable between 10am and 3pm on alternating Thursdays? I mean, help me out here.
OK... maybe that pitch was a little too fast. Let's try this one:
The rights of labor:
Left: supports labor.
Right: against labor.
So, what's the middle ground here? That some amount of intimidation and exploitation is OK?
Really folks... I need help here.
When people call themselves Centrists or Independents, what are they really saying?
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: NY
Home country: USA
Current location: Japan
Member since: Mon Apr 9, 2012, 07:04 AM
Number of posts: 249
