chuck kottke

Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina

On a hill chatting with Violet. :sunny::laugh3:

Hello Drummer Girl Bellamie from British Columbia! :cool: It's a site, YES! Poifect, nada, but you might enjoy the quirkiness around the edges. Glad you could join, and just which white shadows are you hiding behind?:P

:rolleyes: the mysteries abound.. Well it sounds like Gary's doing a great job rounding up the desired talent! Interesting reading about Cliff Richard, I didn't really know all that much about him, quite the entertainer! Cliff Richard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I only know one or two of his hit songs, a little before my time! Now he's more into pop music and a little gospel, a nice change of pace from time to time.

It would be worthwhile to read the bill, though time is not an infinite quantity for any of us. I am not the least surprised though, if this bill truly is as Orwellian as some are saying it is. It's us against the Blue Meanies! Habeas Corpus is already partially shredded, sure hope Obama doesn't sign this into law, and it is that bad. One can't legislate away our rights, they exist because they are natural rights even if they are suppressed, and a matter of correction is in order to restore those rights to their rightful place. These provisions defile the very intent of the U.S. Constitution, which was very specific on preventing an all-powerful state from arresting individuals without clear evidence and a warrant properly obtained, and with guarantees of a speedy public trial by an impartial jury. And this concept of a "war on terror" - this is completely the wrong way to deal with the matter. If anything, terrorism is the product of economic and social inequities that enables radical elements to find willing recruits, and the organizations and individuals responsible for acts of terror need to be investigated and detained in a manner respectful of individual rights, and dealt with in an international court IMHO, for to declare war on some amorphous thing, and to consider anyone on this planet as somehow possibly subject to US "enemy combatant status" if there is even the slightest suspicion about their affiliation with a criminal terror group is, simply put, insane. The whole matter of grabbing people at random, and holding them indefinitely in detention sounds and is eerily like a police state, something we fought against in the revolutionary war, something that is simply wrong both then and now. What if the headlines read "US holds historic elections as military council resists calls to transfer power to civilians." Let's not let it get any further, and let's start undoing the mistakes of the recent past.

Sounds interesting Nancy, though it seems that electric cars need to play a larger role, considering all the planetary risks and environmental risks associated with our current trajectory of fossil fuel usage. I suppose we will only catch up with that reality when we make it so? Seems like Denmark would be ideally suited for the electric car, commuted being not so large, distance apart reasonable? Perhaps the barriers in the Danish Laws are the principal hurtle to be overcome? Here, it seems that there is a knowledge gap, where the average consumer knows little about the realities of the planet's ecological and biosphere systems even in this day of enlightenment. Perhaps that is changing though, as even the Gulf Coast area now realizes, after the oil spill wiped out the fisheries and messed up the waters and beaches and air quality, that everything we do affects the web of life, and we are intimately woven into it. Looking forward to that post!

Options vary, but perhaps it's impossible to rate such things, like choosing favorite flowers or which instrument is the best. To each fish it's own ocean.

I've got the answer. Simply switch off the headlamps! Use them sparingly, otherwise just use the clearance lights. :laugh3: Travel as though you're in a military convoy at night..:cool: Or maybe LED headlamps will save the day? I guess I get annoyed here as well, especially when one enters one of those "headlights on for safety" test zones, which maybe is a good idea on a cloudy or dark day, obviously at night, but I always think about the energy costs to doing that.

Well then, think boring thoughts, meditate on thinking nothing, wait for the brain buzzing to go down a bit, and drink a glass of milk. :operator: Operators are still standing by, counting those sheep for you! :P

A new type of Insomnia, Grr Insomnia, spreading throughout greater Pepperland, and now affecting over 1 person! :laugh3: But wait, that's not all. If you act now, we'll even throw in this beautiful ornate refrigerator magnet:elephant:, absolutely free with your order over the minimum free-refrigerator-magnet order amount! Call now, operators are standing by. :elf:

To b or not to b, that is the question, by a Charlie Brown Chris tmas.

Yes.:sunny:

Can you say "Conflict of Interest" :rolleyes::laugh3: Naah, it just can't be so! However, that overlap neglects the Republicans, who are at least as complicit with corporate America. It's not a party thing, it's an anti-corruption thing, this Occupy Wall Street Movement thing. I found it informative that the practice of using child labor indentured to plantations in Africa to grow produce the raw cocoa beans is still very much the case. From a consumer point-of-view, buying fair-trade chocolate is one option, but from a political point-of-view, ending the buying of our governments restores the ability of government legislatively to set trade policies that can penalize bad actors who employ child slave labor in their products, and promote good actors who treat their employees fairly. A call to all who care: Chocolate Isn't Worth Child Slavery - The Petition Site

Just jingle some bells, and you're set!:P Fascinating to meet someone who worked at Steinway in New York, interesting to hear how those fabulous pianos are made!! ..a jig to hold the piano, and flip it over to install the feet and pedals makes so much more sense than having 7 workers flip each one! It was an expensive risk to take, especially when one gets dropped every now and then!:laugh3: Good fix for the problem Paul. ;)

:) Good Night Viri! Sleep well, dream of something interesting.

hm.. sounds like he has an ego problem, so he's selfish & has no consideration for what matters in life, the sincerity of his relationship with his wife and with you and your brothers. I knew a teacher in high school who behaved in a very similar way. Sorry to hear the news, it sounds like your mom would be better off getting a divorce, from what I am hearing, and should get custody of your brother(s), but I'm no expert on that aspect of the law. So tragic and complicated, my heart goes out to you. If you just kept her company, over the phone or however, that might help some. And don't blame yourself or get overly depressed about it, you need the strength to carry on in life, and to be there for her and for your brothers.

Alabama, not Albania? :stunned: All this time, I've been so mistaken!:confused:? Albuquerque?? Bored, in this day and age?? Hm, trying to imagine that... are you in a waiting room somewhere?

Are you hiding out under the mint bowl, or just plying the Adriatic sea?:P (and Reilly, Viri is in Albania, that's what she told told me, so it must be true!:laugh3:)

Hello Viri, where in Albania are you?

We need more gentleness in this world, to bring the warmth of our hearts back to where it belongs. Had a good thanksgiving, though the Lasagna was a surprise! Must have been a Garfield Thanksgiving. :laugh3:

Here is US Representative Ted Deutch's Proposed Amendment: Article___ Section 1. The rights protected by the Constitution of the United States are the rights of natural persons and do not extend to for-profit corporations, limited liability companies, or other private entities established for business purposes or to promote business interests under the laws of any state, the United States, or any foreign state. Section 2. Such corporate and other private entities established under law are subject to regulation by the people through the legislative process so long as such regulations are consistent with the powers of Congress and the States and do not limit the freedom of the press. Section 3. Such corporate and other private entities shall be prohibited from making contributions or expenditures in any election of any candidate for public office or the vote upon any ballot measure submitted to the people. Section 4. Congress and the States shall have the power to regulate and set limits on all election contributions and expenditures, including a candidate's own spending and to authorize the establishment of political committees to receive, spend, and publicly disclose the sources of those contributions and expenditures. DEUTCH_036_xml.pdf (application/pdf Object) Deutch amendment to overturn Citizens United introduced, Report on grassroots organizing parties for January 21 Day of Action « CitizenVox

Guitar Bridge jumps the chasm into musical mysteries of unwritten volume. Volumes of space and curved space time, occupying minds with wild vines, fruiting Muscadine, Chardonnay, Concord all wines. Paradise lost, paradise found, paradise 9 days old, baked in a round. Rounds and rounds of rounded rounds, so perfectly wound round, they could not even be found.

I wander off for a moment; guitar bridge, dental bridge, natural bridge, suspension bridge?:P Runalongsentenceshowdidchristmaslightsgo?

I haven't followed the matter, but it could be buried in a bill someone introduced, it's possible if your government in NZ is anything as good as ours is at passing bills without reading them! News of Promise and Hope for Humanity: This Black Friday, as millions of Americans scramble to find the "best deals" on consumer goods, thousands of Chinese manufacturing workers are striking to demand livable wages, job security, and other basic rights. In Huangjiang alone, 8,000 striking shoe factory workers took the streets Thursday, blocking roads and standing down lines of riot police. Their factory, owned Yue Yuen Industrial Holdings, is a major provider to the sportswear company New Balance. It seems fair to say these workers are striking for a "new balance" with their management, and the system of global exploitation that management serves. Facing police repression and media censorship, striking Chinese workers are standing up against the same unfair economic system we are fighting on Wall Street and across the world. Today, Occupiers everywhere are standing up to Boycott Black Friday in an effort to raise awareness about the exploitation and inequalities that produce the goods Americans purchase. Occupy Wall Street | NYC Protest for World Revolution

Kansas City, Kansas