Chat Spot

[Steve Plonk]

Arcadia, Thanks for the radio link... Our city, county, & national elections are coming up next year...Are you happy with the administration & partisans in your country? We could use a many more Democrats here...

[zero_hero]

Sometimes I think "a dreadful cynicism" is our most serious challenge, overcoming that among Democrats, while the Republics stay so focused on the on the real core issues of their base, Jesus Christ, morals, andgodless communists. No seriously I don't what to do, vote, yeah but what the hell does my vote matter, I live in Texas, we have reelcected Rick Perry three times now, he is the longest serving Govenor in the history of the republic of Texas.

Shit, cynicism just when I think I have overcome my streak of sarcastic posts, I find it sneaking back into this text box.

One thing I am pretty sure of is that nothing going to change by camping out in the parks. We have already lost the war to keep our "commons" they are no long part of the common wealth, the ruling class has decided to take them over for their own "private" use.

The only place that is in desperate need of occupation next november isthe voting booth

It is hard times here in the land of the brave and the home of the free, I like Arcadia's topics because it feels so good not to be so focused on our own problems and read about what is going on in all the americas, sometimes it feels like 1984 to me wow the continents line up, but Argentina seen it all, the hard times that we are facing.

speaking of hard times

Like this song it cheered me up, but I have never seen the movie

[Steve Plonk]

The "occupy Wall Street" is, believe it or not, in this right wing town,
represented by "occupy Chattanooga" and they are camped on our
court house lawn... In addition, there are "Occupy Nashville" protestors
in Capitol square and they have been evicted, only to re-occupy the square
because the judge refused to prosecute...I think things are resonating
throughout the country, but not in the way we, who sympathize with the movement, would like. It is great that there is an alternative to the reactionary "tea party" protests we used to get a year or so ago.
Zero Hero, Sorry that things "suck so royally" in Texas. I have some cousins
there and I feel their pain, too...

Many people around here do not like our local congressional representative...
Even those in the "right wing". "Butter boy" ,as we like to call him, is too far
to the right.

[Arcadia]

but Argentina seen it all, the hard times that we are facing. ... good definition s-t!, maybe our challenge as a country (if there is a thing such that!) is to deal with the feeling that we already have seen "all" (you know that the line between "all" and "nothing" can be blurry sometimes...)... yeah, that´s maybe why there are a lot of psicologists and economists around here and we all tend also to be proto-ones..! . I´ve also heard some conspiracionist friend saying that according some local phrophet (Solari Parravicini) Argentina is a sort of world´s "conejito de Indias"... I guess it´s not a very fortunate idea to live with, either...


Steve: The "occupy Wall Street" is, believe it or not, in this right wing town,
represented by "occupy Chattanooga" and they are camped on our
court house lawn no idea how all you feel about the campings but for here it feels like a healthy current of fresh air... and maybe not all the people necessarily have to do the same, who knows?

Zero Hero, Sorry that things "suck so royally" in Texas. I have some cousins
there and I feel their pain, too... ... Texas must be a land of contrasts!, we have so creative ciber-friends here that are from Texas... let it be!

[Steve Plonk]

By the way, welcome to the new & improved "Chat Spot". Now we have a
deluxe apartment in the Discussion forum. Thanks for posting...

Sorry, folks, Rick Perry, the tongue-wagging "guvna" of Texas, is running for President of the USA, & we don't want him elected. That, to be succinct, is the main beef I've got with Texas. The foolish populace elected him three (count 'em) times.

Hey, I'm a Tennessean now so I have little room to talk--also a "red state". It's the "war of the roses" and I'm with the blue roses, not the red ones...I'm a cavalier & not a round head...SO, let's keep Perry and his ilk out
of the White House!

Yes, Texas is a state of contrasts--I remember it
back in 1963 when JFK was murdered there in Dallas. I lived in San Antonio
at the time and JFK was there the previous day...I "kicked myself" for not cutting class and going to the rally with my peeps. Back then, Texas was LBJ country and there is quite a contrast between now and then...John Connally, the governor of Texas back then, was also shot along with JFK. Gov. Connally was wounded & lucky he didn't get killed...

Folks, you just have to know my history with the state of Texas...I love many
of the people there. I have two grandparents buried there and I have cousins
once removed who still live there. Now, Texas is very much a "red state".
However, the city of Austin usually votes "blue". So there goes the "contrast"
again. I kept up with Texas politics and I liked it better when it was a "blue state". Go figure...So, yes I can't let Texas be Texas because I know Texas
can & will be better.

[Doreen Peri]

Sorry to interrupt... just another idea, I just thought of this.... since it may be difficult to distinguish "Chat Spot" from "Discussion"... we can move this one thread as a STICKY, which stays up at the top of the forum INSIDE the "Discussion" forum. (but you would not be moderator, Steve). This would be instead of having a separate forum if you'd like to keep it to one thread. Please let me know your preference.

(again, sorry to interrupt the conversation)

[stilltrucking]

I thought Rick Perry was going to be the next presidunce of the usa, I underestimated the rest of the country I suppose. He won three terms as governor doing the same thing he tried to pull on the national sceene.

What ever happened to the Texas of Barbara Jordon I wonder? The Texas of Tom DeLay took over I guess.

I am sure republicans probably do not really have horns and a tail, but it seems that way to me.

I miss Molly Ivins a lot, her Texas sense of humor, she could love Texas but still keep her sense of humor about its politics.

Do you remember Billy Sol Estes? One of LBJ's cronnies, he was involved in a massive swindle in the department of agriculture, one of the key witnesses was found shot to death, the death was ruled a suicide. He had been shot five times with a rifle. That's Texas justice for you.

I dearly love Texas, this state has been good to me, it just Texans I can't stand

[Steve Plonk]

Doreen, see my answer to your query in the Announcements forums...

Still Trucking, Yeah, I love Texas, too. Some of the folks I miss, besides Molly Ivins, is my Grandparents, Great Uncle Gordon, and Gov. Ann Richards of Texas. Heck, I miss old LBJ & "Lady Bird" Johnson, too... Dubya defeated Ms. Richards and began his grasping (upward?) climb to the US presidency. I hope there is not a threepeat with Rick Perry, et al. I'd like to see Obama get another term & see the "Occupy Wall Street movement" types take back the Congress for the Democrats. I understand many of the OWS are independents. See my thread in "Stories & Essays" forum entitled: "Progressive Bargaining and Attachments"... Appreciate you, Still Trucking, your aliases,
& many other internet friends & relatives in Texas...Just beefing, as usual...
Wish Texas could be a "blue state" again and folks get changes in attitudes.

Speaking of attachments...Is there still boating in Olmos Park, in San Antonio?
We used to love to go dingy sailboating in Olmos Park's lake.

[Steve Plonk]

As we speak, what kind of shoes are you wearing? I'm wearing grey "converse
all-star" sneakers...

[stilltrucking]

I don't know about the boats in Olmos Park. I will check it out, it sounds like a very cool way to spend a day. Karl Rove defeated Anne Richards. Molly Ivin's called him "Bush's Brain"

I don't mean to sound paranoid but I do believe the left wing press stories about the repbulican party's agenda to disenfranchise as many democratic voters as possible. They are doing this state by state in the legeslatures passing "Jim Crow" laws.

I am barefoot

one of my favorite rolling stone songs about texas
"it don't matter who's in Austin
Lady Bird is still the queen"

[Steve Plonk]

Still Trucking, If you're barefoot, that means the toes have more wiggle room.
Loved your paraphrase from the song sung by the Rolling Stones...

"it don't matter who's in Austin, Lady Bird is still the queen"

That really sums it up...Lady Bird was "something else", and she loved the
outdoors, & championed the environment. For example, Lady Bird started a nationwide custom of planting flowers & shrubs, etc. on the interstate medians.

I read her autobiography. You ought to read it if you get a chance...
A WHITE HOUSE DIARY, copyright 1970, Dell Publishing Co., NYC, NY. It's
a pretty huge book, kind of like Bill Clinton's autobiography, which I also read, but it is definitely worth the read, even after forty some odd years. I read it
about a year before Lady Bird, ie. Claudia T. Johnson, passed away...

[Steve Plonk]

Today, December 7, 2011, is the 70th doleful anniversary of the bombing
of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. I remember the tenth anniversary...It was one
of the first political events I can remember besides Eisenhower's election and
the end of the Korean Conflict. So, I guess I'm old as red clay now...

It was my Mom & Dad's 9-11 event, which precipitated World War 2.
One of my Granddad's was in the Army in that one, & my other Granddad was in
the Merchant Marines. Both of my Granddad's were in World War 1.
My Mom was in the Navy during part of World War 2...and my Dad was in the
Army in World War 2 & Korea, among other things...I'm a proverbial GI brat...

[still.trucking]

Yes I remember the day well, it was my first birthday. No I don't remember my first birthday but I remember things from the war years. My father a veteran of World War 1, that is how he got his citizenship. You could enlist in the military, he joined the Merchant Marine, an immigrant eastern Jew, they put him down below the water line as a stoker. He a hard core atheist all his life, told me about the time he shot a pistol off on Yon Kippur when he was a kid back in Lithuania. He was suppose to go to med school but wound up running a speak easy during prohibition. He "...Made enough money to buy Miami but he pissed it away so fast" A compulsvie gambler suffering from guilt he played to loose, finally in his fifties he kicked his addiction, learned to play chess instead of poker, he played the great Bobby Fischer to a draw. He taught me how to play, he would sit with his back to the board and call out moves to me, he had the whole board in his head. Oh well so much for memories of the old folks, hate to see them forgotton

[Steve Plonk]

As long we tell stories of our folks, & let the public know how we appreciated
their sacrifices, they will always be remembered...

Way back when, on the 10th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor bombing, most of the news of that day was of the Korean War...Pearl Harbor only got a small mention at the bottom of the page of the New York Times & other papers... However, in Hawaii, there was more commemoration--names were read & bells were tolled...

We were living in California at the time...My folks pointed out to my brother & me the news items and we were shown some old photos of the Pearl Harbor Bombing in papers they had saved. We went to the public library... We also saw some old photos of the Battle of Midway...The folks explained World War 2 for us...

Dad was getting ready to go to Korea & he left shortly thereafter...
I had a little toy airport painted on a "matt" and I pretended that the passenger planes were bringing Dad home from the war. The military planes protected the
passenger planes & I had little "ack-ack guns" & half-tracks which protected
the skies in my toy airport...My brother didn't quite get "the hang of it", because
he was about a year younger. However, I let him announce some of the planes
coming in. Mom got a kick out of watching us, as did Grandma...We lived with
my Mom's folks for awhile...Eventually, Dad returned and we got three more
siblings...in the years between 1953 & 1958...But I digress...

[still.trucking]

I exist there fore I digest, digestation and digression all I seem to do anymore. Reading a book called the Coldest Winter about Korea. It is a real eye opener the things the author says about MacArthur

I remember during the war the trucks would come around collecting all our aluminum pots and pans for the war effort, my grandmother saved cooking grease for the war effort. No body been able to explain world war two to me or any other war either for that matter. It seems one war is explained by the last war and so on. When people ask me when I was born I say "Before the war."