Most Commented Society Blogs (899)

Before cellphones, I had a CB radio in my car where I could call for assistance should I have problems on the road. Channel 19 was used as a call channel when asking for advice. One day, someone asked "What station do they play country music on?" and I had to ask a question due to his question.
I'm in Miami and it's multi-cultural, so naturally, I had to ask "What country?"

It's not often you hear profanity on the call channel!

I think he was angry...

Hey people,.
While the month of July is dedicated to the Ice Cream, today in particular is Junk Food Day ! For many, today can be a treat, for many others today is nothing special, since eating junk food is a norm.
A rather disgusting statistic is that over 1 billion people worldwide defacate outdoors. Yes people, that’s sh*tting in the open. And no country is excluded from this practice .... both literally and figuratively speaking !
Why are you surprised ?
Peace

It's standard business to offer free Wi-Fi nowadays. Donuts shops, restaurants, fast-food establishments. The lobby of the medical clinic has a sign on the wall with the login code to access their free Wi-Fi.

Twenty years ago the place to get online was at an Internet Cafe. I used to video chat with some women in the Philippines who paid by the hour to share time with friends family and the possibility of meeting a guy online. Owning a computer and having an internet at home was only for the wealthy. The cafe was the normal way get a computer and connect with the outside world.

Often, it's dark when I leave my office heading home and pass by a 24 hour McDonalds. I can see groups of people on the outside patio relaxing at tables typing away on their laptops soaking up the free Wi-Fi.

Lots of forum/blogging on our interactions with others. It seems to me that, given the many differences between the sexes, experiences in youth can have a marked influence on subsequent development, interpersonal styles, and success/resilience. Duh. Ya think? Contact sports, formerly the place mostly for males, may be a prime example. Lessons of the rough and tumble likely teach some how to fit in with peers so experienced. Life long. And those lacking these may be at a disadvantage in many life endeavors. Could it be that these dynamics explain parts of bullying, female/male banter, success in business/politics, and much more. Now many females are getting their share of such education, although for relatively shorter time periods, and onto quite different constitutions/sentimentalities. I've known a number of men, chronically inadequate, who find competition of any sort quite jarring. Ladies surely can relate. Equal? Perhaps. But surely different. Aa-V.

Someone cuts you off in traffic, road rage incident follows with knives. Bullied in school, bring the artillery to school and kill a dozen kids and teachers. Travelling the seas in an old inexpensive sailboat, and too close to certain coasts, pirates kill you and your crew/family for a few shekels. The law arrives at a domestic call, and are killed in an ambush. Gang members angry at brave girl who reports them to school administration, and is beaten to death with baseball bats. Soon to arrive, ---court officials, town council members, many lawyers, and mental health professionals,--- will get the same attention. This last situation has already happened, where 3 lady therapists were allegedly just killed by a disgruntled Army vet. Many of these types have pissed off people from time immemorial. But now they are being killed in rage full acting out. What explains this? Probably many factors of modern life. Aa-V.

So I see the Democrats latest brilliant idea is a rehash of the "reparations" proposal that crops up every now and then when the left feels that they haven't thrown enough bad ideas out there recently (how wrong they are!). One by one like lemmings all their 2020 candidates are jumping on the pandering reparations bandwagon.

I'd like to know who would figure out who receives these reparations and who pays them.

Obama is black. His father was born in Kenya, lived most of his privileged government aristocratic life there and only came to America to go to college and graduate from Harvard (oh and get married and divorced a couple of times). B. Hussein also graduated Harvard of course. Now I'll grant you that I know first hand anyone who attended Harvard is deserving of reparations, but nowhere in Obama's family background does slavery appear except maybe at the hands of his African predecessors (since black Africans invented slavery).

And Obama's mother was a white women from America born in Kansas.

Does Obama get reparations?

How about this Rhodes Scholar Kamala Harris? I saw her on TV today jumping on the reparations bandwagon. She's black. Does she qualify? Well let's see. Her mother is a Tamil Indian and her father is from Jamaica. Her mother immigrated to America in 1960 and her father in 1961, 96 years after the 13th Amendment abolished slavery. Does she get the deal?

And what about the descendants of white Northern abolitionists? Should they be forced to pay reparations?

Who is going to figure this all out?

How about if you are 1/4 descendant of of an abolitionist, 1/4 descendant of a slave owner, 1/4 descendant of a slave and 1/4 descendant of someone who never lived in America while slavery existed.

We are going to create a new department of government filled with actuaries, accountants and genealogists to sort it all out?

And who pays for it? My ancestors didn't live in this country when there was slavery here. They had nothing at all to do with it. They were too busy trying to survive persecution and genocide in the countries that they fled.

There isn't a single person alive today who was a slave nor anyone who owned slaves. To reward those who were never wronged by forcing those who never wronged them to compensate them is the definition of unjust.

To people who claim they would be so happy to pay "reparations" to black people, what's stopping you? Go out and find a black person and hand them a wad of your cash. I'm fine with that. But keep your grubby hands out of MY pocket. You can do whatever you want with your money, but not with mine.

Here’s another good idea. Only Democrats owned slaves. The Democrats were the party of slave owners. Republicans didn’t own slaves, the Republican Party was founded for the purpose of defeating the Democrat slave owners and abolishing slavery.

So if there are going to be reparations, clearly only Democrats should pay. I’d be fine with that too.

...when born of wisdom, delivered by the angels themselves. Had a first meeting of a writers' group at the spacious Vierk mansion last night. We sent the dozen servants home early. Biscottis. lollipops and mild stimulants. Guests ( several) seemed pleased. Personality features sure often group together, no? One lady immediately assumed control of what was merely meant to be a get to know planning social. She had us all writing 1500 word pieces, each reading these to the group, for helpful input. After all this, I expected daisy cutter critique, mostly from her. But all were actually gentle and helpful. But she also had us read a but from a favorite author as well. Most read poetry, ---I chose Walden. After which she said---ah, all old white men. At this point, knowing myself, if decades earlier, I would have unloaded on her about such an ageist, racist and sexist comment. And if it occurs at the next meeting (yes, I'll go to at least a few more), I may. But I simply smiled, and let it pass. If the shoe were on the other foot, and all had read from older black female poets, and someone had made a comment in kind, well, many of us know how these things go. Or?

“Quit talkin’ like a jerk, punk.”
“Why I oughda fill ya fulla lead right here”
“Gee, Pa, I didn’t mean’a do it”
“say, who d’ya think ya talkin’ to?”
“Godda hand it t’ya, honey, you’re one helluva classy broad.”
“What would a swell dame like that want with a sap like me?”
“Hollywood, da da da da da, Hollywood”

Yep, been watchin' old black and white American movies again.

...sure, we piss and moan about out towns, but stay, because at some level, we love much about them, no? For believers in climate change, man made or likely otherwise (?both), low lying coastal villages are already in trouble. But there are other phenomena of depopulating towns and centuries old villages. In the mid eastern war zones, for sure. But how about all those places in the former Iron curtain lands? With near zero replacement birth rates, and youth migrations to more attractive cities, some have only old folks, mostly. Yep, another result, longer term, of Communism.

...here in the Great Satan, they don't call it flyover country for nothing. The differences between mean incomes/wealth betwen folks on the coasts, and the vast middle of the country, are vast, along with political tendencies/sentiments. So now we learn that apartheid Israel has the same deal. The wealthy liberals live on the polluted Med,, mostly wanting corrupt, former tewowist Netanahu's hide, while the much poorer folks, "push the Palestinians into the sea", curly side burns, "never saw Palestinian land we don't want to occupy", types, support him. But perhaps this doesn't apply to all countries on the oceans. And what about large lakes? Finally, just what's wrong with someone writing such Blogs, Eh? Another Syndrome?