Displaying 121 To 150 Of 1,384 Comments Cher – It’s that way with a lot of things the Right has to say. On the surface, they sound sort of OK… Free Markets.. ain’t no such thing, never has been, never will be. And see some of my posts about privatization, tax breaks for the rich, or deregulation… never have worked, and no one can say they have. All anyone has to ask is “PROVE IT!” and advocates melt into the woodwork. » Posted By PocketWatch On March 24, 2011 @ 9:08 am On the “Uncertainty Principle”… I have said it before, and I’ll say it again and again, that no sane company hires unless they have reached near capacity in its ability to do work. People are hired because the company has a need. That’s it! It has nothing to do with regulations, taxes or tax breaks, nothing to do with hiring incentives, nothing to do with anything other than that. If I, as a company owner, know that I’m getting $100K in tax breaks next year, what do I do? Do I hire a half dozen people to sit and breathe in and out and nothing more? NO! Do I buy equipment that will sit idle? NO! I will whack that money away and use it for cash flow or profits. That’s it. This whole notion that regulations, tax cuts or tax increases have anything to do with jobs and hiring is a fantasy and a tired old Randian theory that has NEVER worked. » Posted By PocketWatch On March 24, 2011 @ 8:48 am I don’t have the chapter and verse of the War Powers Act(s) or Resolution, so I won’t argue the point. I am ambivalent about our involvement in Libya, but recognize that we have obligations to several international organizations of which we are a part, NATO and the UN being two, so I imagine we have not only authority but an obligation to contribute to those entities’ efforts, whenever and wherever. Finally, in defense of the President (for now), I would simply cite precedent. It seems to me we have fired bullets, bombs and bodies many times over the last 50 years without any formal declaration of war. Why is it now that Congress has its collective panties in a wad? Hmmmm? I suspect that there is a sort of “enough is enough” mood in DC about military conflicts. Too bad they didn’t have that attitude a few years ago. » Posted By PocketWatch On March 23, 2011 @ 4:52 pm How about personal tax dodgers? http://www.tax.com/taxcom/features.nsf/Articles/0DEC0EAA7E4D7A2B852576CD00714692 This article describes the taxation of the richest 400 Americans…. Excerpt: “The annual top 400 report was first made public by the Clinton administration, but the George W. Bush administration shut down access to the report. Its release was resumed a year ago when President Obama took office. The Statistics of Income Division at the IRS created the top 400 reports at the urging of Joel Slemrod, a business professor at the University of Michigan.” “Only 7 of the top 400 have shown up in the report every year, the IRS data showed. Of the 6,400 returns covered by the 16 years of the report, the IRS said that 2,515, or almost 40 percent, appeared one time.” “The report shows that the number of the top 400 who paid an effective tax rate of 0 percent to 10 percent declined slightly, to 25 in 2007 from 31 in 2006. In 1992 only 6 of the top 400 paid an effective income tax rate of less than 10 percent.” THIS WEBSITE AND ARTICLE IS A MUST-READ! My only comment is, OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!! This used to stop people in their tracks over on {spit!}… » Posted By PocketWatch On March 23, 2011 @ 10:02 am We Are Aiding and Abetting the Republicans Truth, the reason no one seriously attacks the current situation in relation to the Fairness Doctrine, is for 2 reasons. First, it is misunderstood. People think that it requires equal time for all parties that are reported on. Any time the issue is brought up, the MSM latches onto that like a limpet and spreads this lie until the issue goes away. The reality is that the Fairness Doctrine as it used to be simply states that when there is an ADVOCACY ad or piece, competing sides need to be OFFERED equal time. It doesn’t have to be for free. Second, the FD has to do with honesty. It used to be that you could not knowingly offer opinion as fact, fudge the facts, make things up, or generally lie about things. Well, we all know who and what will not be happy with THAT being restored! So, again, elements within the MSM will fight to have the status quo maintained at all costs. It is a circular thing… the majority of people will never hear unbiased facts because the very people they listen to or read will never tell them the truth about the Fairness Doctrine and what it really means. Thom Hartman has said a lot about this in the past. » Posted By PocketWatch On March 22, 2011 @ 9:27 am Truth, interestingly enough, it is my understanding that the airwaves and the resulting bandwidth is STILL owned by the people, but the FCC is unwilling or unable to enforce any sort of regulations on the business users of those items. I’m not sure why. Since the FCC is under the auspices of the Presidential part of the government as an agency (yet needs funding from Congress, of course), I suspect that the meme of “private does it better” has taken hold and needs to be shaken loose. Unless and until the American people begin to again have a sense of ownership of both the things we all own in common and that government is needed, I doubt much will change. Unfortunately, solutions are political. » Posted By PocketWatch On March 22, 2011 @ 8:58 am I think there may be a misperception here. I believe that what we call “The Left” (or the far Left, or the radical Left) these days is very, very far to the conservative side of the political spectrum compared to a standard ’60s Leftie. Why do I think that? Because the whole spectrum has shifted over the last 50 years. What we call “Left” these days is very conservative in a lot of ways. Nixon would be a Leftie, and LBJ would be considered a wild-eyed Socialist, even by a standard, run-of-the-mill Joe Sixpack Democrat in this day and age. I take the shift in the media from fairly independent news organizations to corporate infotainment to task for this change in attitudes. The loss of the Fairness Doctrine in media is the ultimate cause, and the loss of the notion that the airwaves and bandwidth is owned by the people, a part of the commons and our very own infrastructure and that must be regulated by our government is also a part of the picture. Once we lost those things, it was all over but the shouting. The idea that information was to be honest and honestly disseminated ensured that the public is critical to democracy, and that is long gone. Now, all most people know is whatever the corporate shills in our government and the media want us to know. The 5% that think and want to know more use the internets. Remember the old adage, “Knowledge is power.” The corollary to that is “Ignorance is weakness.” The powers of fascism work very hard to keep the majority of Americans very, very weak. » Posted By PocketWatch On March 22, 2011 @ 6:19 am Cher & KQ – I’ve been talking to foxislaur on and off. She has family members that are teachers in WI… The lid is on even in the WI media. News reports on the demonstrations that have not stopped is minimal at best. Having said that, there are a lot of behind the scenes legal issues that are being dealt with, mainly having to do with recalling several state senators that can be recalled as well as egregious felonies by Walker and others. I have a feeling that the legal stuff will work. On the other hand, thousands of WI teachers are basically quitting, not renewing their employment. After all, if about half of the parents of the kids you teach think you are a “thug, lazy, overpaid” etc., why in the hell should you sacrifice yourself for their snot-nosed brats? I know that’s how I would feel! » Posted By PocketWatch On March 24, 2011 @ 9:34 am choice – Where do you think I got the name “Maggie” for my cat? I was raised Catholic, and spent 8 years in parochial school taught by the Franciscan nuns, and my mother’s sister was the Dean of a Catholic college and also a Franciscan. At one point, I thought I may become a priest (and probably would have made a fairly good one). As I said above, even in grade school, I never thought that Judas was the bad guy. Josh TOLD Judas to go “betray” him so things could proceed. As far as Mary Magdalene is concerned, I also always have thought that there was something else there, and, according to a lot of current scholars, I may have been ahead of the curve on that one as well. » Posted By PocketWatch On March 24, 2011 @ 2:48 pm Just to give a flavor of how this book goes… Chapter 1 You think you know how this story is going to end, but you don’t. Trust me, I was there. I know. The first time I saw the man who would save the world he was sitting near the central well in Nazareth with a lizard hanging out of his mouth. Just the tail end and hind legs were visible on the outside; the head and forelegs were halfway down the hatch. He was six, like me, and his beard had not come in fully, so he didn’t look much like the pictures you’ve seen of him. And it goes downhill from there… LOL ********EDIT*********** » Posted By PocketWatch On March 23, 2011 @ 10:15 am As a side note, I have always (even as a wee boy in Catholic grade school) doubted the role of Judas as a traitor. If you read it carefully, it has always seemed to me that he not only KNEW what he was going to do, but it was prearranged by none other than Joshua bin Joseph Himself. In order to really kick the whole thing off, Josh HAD to be sacrificed, and He had to have someone tell the Pharisees where He was going to be. In other words, Josh set Himself up. I have never bought the idea that Judas was a bad guy. » Posted By PocketWatch On March 23, 2011 @ 9:37 am A MUST read for all Biblical scholars and humorists: “Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal” One of the truly funniest and thought-provoking books I have ever read. » Posted By PocketWatch On March 23, 2011 @ 9:33 am Friday Music Thread – Comedy Tonight A little classic Firesign Theater… (from “I Think We’re All Bozos on This Bus”)
» Posted By PocketWatch On March 18, 2011 @ 6:28 pm jkk – actually, yes. It is a stack of large steel I-Beams that are rusted and have welding grit all over them. I was looking for just geometric shapes to use as backgrounds and this caught my eye. I liked the colors and the disorientation of not quite being able to see what this is. » Posted By PocketWatch On March 18, 2011 @ 6:14 pm This is more my usual style, though… A view of Lake Truckee, near the Donner Pass in Truckee, CA. [img]https://planetpov.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/TruckeeLake.jpg[/img] » Posted By PocketWatch On March 18, 2011 @ 6:10 pm Here’s something completely different… [img]https://planetpov.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Abstract.jpg[/img] » Posted By PocketWatch On March 18, 2011 @ 6:00 pm jkk – That’s what I was going for, so I guess it worked! Amazing what a few trees and soft light can do… » Posted By PocketWatch On March 18, 2011 @ 5:52 pm Buddy – This I saw as pure pointilism. I got it with a fair-sized telephoto on a drizzly day. No other manipulation. » Posted By PocketWatch On March 18, 2011 @ 5:35 pm Oops! Don’t know what’s going … lemme check the size in the library… *** EDIT *** » Posted By PocketWatch On March 18, 2011 @ 1:30 pm Perhaps a little larger would be better… [img]https://planetpov.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Soft-tree-background-small1.jpg[/img] » Posted By PocketWatch On March 18, 2011 @ 1:29 pm jkk – Wouldn’t want to burn the place down! As I recall, it’s 60. » Posted By PocketWatch On March 18, 2011 @ 1:21 pm Per our earlier discussion, I quickly dug up a photo that I took out in the Rockies, near Lake Tahoe… [img]https://planetpov.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Soft-tree-background-small.jpg[/img] » Posted By PocketWatch On March 18, 2011 @ 1:18 pm Truth & AdLib – Actually, it is. I am trying to figure out how fox knew. I must have told her at some point, but I don’t remember doing so. Ahhhh…. old age is a bitch, isn’t it? I’m not much of a holiday guy… I spent so many years on the road, I sort of got over the habit. One day is pretty much like any other. Sometimes I forget what day it is… it’s all pretty much the same to me. But, having said that, I thank you. And I do appreciate the flowers! » Posted By PocketWatch On March 18, 2011 @ 12:17 pm Buddy, I have no problem setting up the images so they are useless to print but still look good on a computer screen. and I can always use my old AfterImage logo on them (if I still have it stashed away on file somewhere… it’s been a while). I like nature. I used to hike all over the Hudson Valley and the Birkshires when I lived back there, so my stuff is what I call “calendar art”… pretty pictures. » Posted By PocketWatch On March 18, 2011 @ 11:48 am Truth… Um… happy birthday? » Posted By PocketWatch On March 18, 2011 @ 11:44 am Buddy, as you and others may suspect, I am a fair-to-middling photographer. I have sold prints and have been hired a few times. What I do not want to do is to sort of horn in on a more classic approach to art. I know the arguments. I have tried painting and watercolors, sketching and ink drawings, and have never liked the results. It takes a different sort of talent I don’t have, so I decided to attack photography. I built my own darkroom, developed my own film, both color and black and white, and made my own prints as well as did my own matting and framing by hand. Now in the digital age, since I know a fair bit about computers and digital imaging, I use the computer as a darkroom, mostly for just enhancing colors in the print and some mild cropping. All I know is that I am getting what I see in my mind’s eye onto paper much more effectively than I ever could using more classic methods. » Posted By PocketWatch On March 18, 2011 @ 11:31 am I have a question: Is photography art? I’m interested in others’ opinions. I’ve heard it both ways. » Posted By PocketWatch On March 18, 2011 @ 11:17 am THE EAGLE (has trouble) LANDING Bob – Nice pix! I have always found that animal photography one of the hardest things to do. They don’t ever pose for you. Patience IS a virtue. I have that same camera outfit, except for the 300mm lens. For those that think that a camera like that is hard to use, BTW, it is not. As in most photography, I take “insurance” shots in terms of exposures, but I find that most of the time, the AUTO setting works very well. Really just point and shoot for most normal things. As for eagles, I grew up in northern Wisconsin, and our deer hunting territory had a large old-growth white pine tree with TWO eagles’ nests in it. It was one of our landmarks. During the summer, when we would be fishing for muskies or northerns on the Wisconsin River, eagles and osprey were a very common sight. In fact, there were times when we were pitching large suckers for bait (muskies are a large fish and need large bait), we had to be careful because the eagles would literally divebomb the bait in the air as we casted. Not good to get a huge treble hook into a bald eagle! We always fed them the crippled baitfish at the end of the day and watched them swoop and pick up 12″ suckers on the surface 10 yards from the boat. A nice way to end the day… » Posted By PocketWatch On March 19, 2011 @ 10:55 am How do you Build a Million Dollar Mousetrap that Steals Cheese jkk – some chlorine, disinfectant, and fungicide would probably be needed as well. » Posted By PocketWatch On March 17, 2011 @ 5:35 pm Smed – I’m getting old and forgetful…what is that from? I recognize it, but can’t place it. I can even hear the voice in my head… » Posted By PocketWatch On March 17, 2011 @ 5:14 pmComments Posted By PocketWatch
Sorry, this should belong to the comment below about the book “Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff”
Don’t know why this is displaying so small… the library says it’s a full screen sized image. If you right-click on it and select View Image, it comes up full sized…
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