Who to vote for?

[Dennise]

Kennedy actually got her start on MTV... just a bit of trivia.......

 

[Nicholas Flamel]

OBITUARY​

THIS IS SAD---- BUT THINK ABOUT IT AFTER YOU READ IT​

In 1887 Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the

University of Edinburgh , had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior:

"A democracy is always Temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent Form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until The time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous Gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority Always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from The public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally Collapse over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a Dictatorship."

The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the Beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 Years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

From bondage to spiritual faith;

From spiritual faith to great courage;

From courage to liberty;

From liberty to abundance;

From abundance to complacency;

From complacency to apathy;

From apathy to dependence;

From dependence back into bondage."


The Obituary follows:



" United States of America ", Born 1776, Died 2016

Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning


The last Presidential election:

Number of States won by: Obama: 19 Romney: 29

Square miles of land won by: Obama: 580,000 Romney: 2,427,000

Population of counties won by: Obama: 127 million Romney: 143 million

Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Obama: 13.2 Romney: 2.1

Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory
Romney won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of the country.
Obama territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in low Income tenements and living off various forms of government Welfare..."

Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the
"complacency and apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of
Democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population
Already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase..

 

[Dennise]

Sadly every word is truth.... If only more would understand and stand up Nicholas we might have a chance but it has become so absurd that you're smacked for saying all lives matter... I'll be surprised if we ever have a 45th president....

 

[Nicholas Flamel]

Does anyone else notice the media is 95% united against Donald Trump? Even half the shows on Fox news are pro hillary. For the past few weeks all the media seems to be interested in reporting is the latest politically incorrect statement by Donald Trump. Meanwhile Obama is exposed for sectretly paying a 400 million dollar ransom to Iran (the worlds leading sponsor of terror)! Emails were released showing Hillary Clinton giving special access and deals to people if they donated to the Clinton Foundation aka Pay to Play. Also if you Bernie people didnt notice there were emails released showing the DNC rigged the game against the Bern. The next day her polls numbers went up lol wtf. The media is not very interested is these topics? This is in your face 100% corruption. How can you vote for this woman? She talks about Trump and Wallstreet but if you look Wallsteet is 100% behind Hillary Clinton. She talks about income inequality but again, if you look she is wearing a 15000 Armani Jacket.

p.s. Why won't the DEA reclassify Marijuana? Polls show 95% of America is for medical marijuana. It has 100s of known medical Benefits. Obama seems to think its less dangerous then alcohol. Because big pharma makes the decisions. Thats what donating huge sums of money to all republican and democrat polititians gets you. They have donated huge sums to Hillary Clinton too. They have sold us out people. Please open your eyes so we can get this plant legalized.

 

[TorturedSoul]

Does anyone else notice the media is 95% united against Donald Trump?

Err... 95% (or more) of the "news" media, at least in this country, are for-profit entities that delight in sensationalism - and the mouth-breathing viewers that such things bring. It's all about the advertising revenue. Okay... It's mostly about that. I suppose that there's also... Well, The United States news entities, collectively, are not controlled to the extent - or, at least, in the same manner - that, for example, British ones are... yet. But there is probably an overwhelming belief among their principals that Mein Fuhreress will be this country's next dictat-- err, President. And they must be thinking... If they denigrate Trump and he manages to get elected, the worst things they're looking at will be a lack of exclusives and poor seats in the White House Press Room (and on Air Force One). If, OtOH, Clinton becomes President and some newsertainment entities have not properly licked her boots, well...

Even half the shows on Fox news are pro hillary.

Why would you have ever doubted that, lol? Fox is at the top of the "All the news that gets us high ratings!" pile. In fact, they pretty much pioneered the practice. Seems like the network didn't even have a news department when it first started - but then they figured out how to make a buck...

It's a little bit off-topic - but tangentially related, methinks... The US "news media" gets away with shenanigans that would see you or I in court (for a brief stop on the journey to jail) if we tried it. But they're allowed to operate under a different set of rules because they're "the news media." That was all well and good, I suppose, up until, what? The late '70s, some time in the '80s? Back when the average news program/etc. was a pretty low-budget affair (compared to the present). When (aside from a few "stars") the people presenting the news just made "regular people" salaries? Because news programs weren't supposed to be money-trees, they were about presenting, well, NEWS. Or, for those of you who were born just a little too late to remember a time when being a US citizen was actually something a person could - with a straight face - be proud of (FFS!), remember when you could flip to Ted Turner's CNN channel and see some kind of NEWS program, and if what you wanted was up-to-the-minute breaking news, you flipped one channel up (or down) to his CNN Headline News channel? You could get an overview of the current news by watching for any uninterrupted half-hour. Now both channels are full of tabloid shit - and it's enough to make a person vomit up their entire stomach contents.

The first time that the head of ANY entity involved in reporting/presenting news (or "news") decided to make a profit from it, they ought to have lost any expectation of any kind of immunity or special treatment in regards to their actions.

Meanwhile Obama is exposed for sectretly paying a 400 million dollar ransom to Iran (the worlds leading sponsor of terror)!

If you aid and/or abet a criminal, that's a crime and you'll go to jail. If a political leader does so - or chooses to finance a terrorist entity - that's just politics and you'll go to sleep in a big white house with (I'm guessing) the most advanced air-filtration system - and bomb shelter - in the free world, so... no worries! If you happen to be the President and get caught, IDK, supplying arms to the wrong side in a human-rights struggle, well, just grab a scapegoat and throw him under the wheels of the bus, then make a public statement that you were, regrettably, misinformed (because everyone knows that the President of the United States must get his/her/its information from those little ads in the back of crackpot magazines - or, at least, that's how everyone MUST think, since they forgive the holder of that office for something or other almost every day that they'd beat their own kid into the middle of next week for being either dumb enough or corrupt enough to do!!!).

I see now why political discussions have, traditionally, been somewhat frowned upon here. It's been a hot, stressful day and I visited the forum out of hopes of getting cheered up. Instead, I now feel like hurling my communications equipment through the window without stopping to pry it open first. Who knows, maybe it'll hit a cute little puppy in the road...

I can just tell it'd be a really good idea to leave my Ruger here when I step out for my nightly walk.

Emails were released showing Hillary Clinton giving special access and deals to people if they donated to the Clinton Foundation aka Pay to Play. Also if you Bernie people didnt notice there were emails released showing the DNC rigged the game against the Bern. The next day her polls numbers went up lol wtf. The media is not very interested is these topics? This is in your face 100% corruption. How can you vote for this woman? She talks about Trump and Wallstreet but if you look Wallsteet is 100% behind Hillary Clinton. She talks about income inequality but again, if you look she is wearing a 15000 Armani Jacket.

None of it matters, man. She's been breaking rules/laws for years and when caught she pretty much shrugs and keeps right on doing it. At least a f*cking used car salesman, when caught selling cars that have wet sand in their ashtrays from being in floods, when nailed for it, will try to figure out a different freaking way to be dishonest.

And you know what? When the bottom drops out and we're all swirling around in the whirlpool on our way down the drain, all we'll be able to say - if we are even close to being honest with ourselves - is that WE DESERVE IT!!! Because none of this mess (and I'm not just talking about today's mess) would have even been thinkable, let alone doable, without the acquiescence/consent/active f*cking help of Joe and Joanne US Citizen. At the very least, if someone sees marauders ride over the hills, and they set fire to the 27 homesteads/farms surrounding that person's - and the person just sits on their front porch rocking in their chair with a stupid grin on their face the entire time... When those marauders burn/rape/pillage that person's place, the person deserves no sympathy.

WE deserve NO sympathy! None. Zero. We haven't "let" this happen - we've begged for it.

Our forefathers would be ashamed.

We should be

Why won't the DEA reclassify Marijuana?

You hear of a lot of entities willingly give up power once they've managed to get it, have you?

Obama seems to think its less dangerous then alcohol.

Well he ought to know. He's probably done almo-- err, more drugs than I have. After reading one of his books, I'd say it's a pretty safe bet that he's sniffed more of them than I ever did.

Because big pharma makes the decisions.

Nah. I used to believe crap like that to, once upon a time. But then one day I woke up and actually opened my eyes, uncovered my ears, and reconnected my brain and I realized... WE make the decisions. We always have, really. You can say to yourself, "Tomorrow morning, I will either decide to go to work or I will decide to go fishing - but my neighbor, he will not decide anything and will just stay home." But the thing is... your neighbor will have also made a decision. It's just one of apathy.

Oh, look, a burning building. Should I rescue the little kid or the old lady? Ah, f*ck it, there's a movie I wanted to see starting in 15 minutes. Hey, TAXI!

And another thing - screw it, what's the use

 

[Dennise]

Nich I really do think I am falling in love with you and Tortured you had me until the last paragraph... You are right on most levels that we do make our own decisions... you can't make me mad... I choose to be mad... I get all that... But your very last sentence... No way... What is the use anyhow???? Leaving a country behind that is even close to the country I grew up in for my children and my grandchildren.... and to be honest... if MJ is legal or not has little to do with it.... I think you are dead wrong about big Pharm giving us a choice... I have type 1 diabetes... can you tell me the choice I have here? I either take my insulin @ the cost of $215 a bottle retail or within 72 hours I'm going to die a somewhat horrible death.... So yes it is my choice but the options suck making that pretty much a given not a choice...
All of that aside... HRC has one thing she worries about and it has nothing to do with you or me... It has nothing to do with what is best for this country or the people of this country... I'm not a Trumpster but He at least gives me hope.... I know without a doubt what she is and what she will do and there will be no coming back from another Obama-Clinton term.... Trump... I can only hope he is the man he says he is.... I have to believe that to be as successful a businessman that he is that he has the good sense to have the best of the best and the smartest of the smartest around him and advising him.... Yes he is arrogant and very much so an A type personality... Could stand to be around him about 5 minutes... Second most arrogant man I have ever heard ( I was married to the first ) and he certainly is a narcissist.... but I again believe that comes with the territory... You would have to have a pretty good ego to think you deserve to be the POTUS.... and at least there is still a little bit of hope that he is not a lying, thieving, murdering, slandering, evil human being.... Just sayin'..::... We know her vision for America... I'm not a socialist nor do I want to be.... Trump has laid out his agenda and I can get on that train... it's time... actually it's way past time and sadly I'm afraid it's our last hope.... I personally don't want my beautiful country to be blown all to hell.... I don't want my grandson to have to worry about going to a movie or to the mall.... Now there's shots being fired in a mall in Raleigh, NC.... this is damn sure not what I want for my babies.... I for one refuse to give up and I don't think I am alone anymore... I think people are starting to wake up... there are always going to be the kumbaya folks that just want to hold hands and sing a song that brings us all together... Good luck with that... This country is very war weary but sometimes you don't go looking for a fight... the fight comes looking for you but none the less you are in a fight...
I'm 57 YO and what I have seen happen to my country in the last 15 years breaks my heart... what I have watched happen to my country in the last couple of years.... I can't even wrap my brain around.... none of it even makes sense.... the police are being murdered and the murderers are being hailed by Hillary's campaign... she has lied to the American people one lie on top of the next and it doesn't seem to matter... Hell it goes all the way back to the Rose law firm... She hails to be a defender of children and woman but there are tapes of her laughing about getting a rapist of a 12 YO little girl off on a technicality and the things she did to Bill's girlfriends... I could go on and on... I grew up in Memphis... just crossed the bridge and was in Arkansas... Her list just goes on and on... I don't have a clue why they are not both locked up other than power... She is running for President... her husband was impeached... lost his law license and they treat him like a God... It all make my head hurt...
Hope you all have a great day........

 

[TorturedSoul]

you can't make me mad.

I wasn't trying to make anyone mad. But if it helps snap the collective population out of its catatonia, then I'm all for it.

Other than that, lol, I've been mad for years - got papers to prove it. It aint no big thing.

Leaving a country behind

Now that you mention it... That is something that I have never been in favor of in the past. People fleeing countries that look like a dust bowl because they don't have enough to feed their 17 kids - we had our own dust bowl (yeah, it was bad, I heard stories from grandparents) but they grow crops there today whether it rains or not. And I'm no genius but I'd think that after... IDK... the tenth kid fell out, its parents would have figured out what caused them and have taken steps. People fleeing wholesale from oppressive regimes/etc., wanting other countries to open the door. That's as may be but common sense dictates that if a neighborhood starts getting a little rough and all the good people head out on the first thing smokin', that neighborhood just went from being a little rough... straight into the sh!tter. But I've got a soft spot for children (believe it or not) - if a bunch of people from TwotRocksandaPileofSandastan start bawling about how there's fighting in the streets and they're worried about their kids, I'll say, "Open the doors!" That's right - open the doors and make a place for... their kids. Give 'em the same level of food, clothes, shelter, and twelve years of half-@ssed education just like I got growing up. Their attitudes would undoubtedly be refreshing... I grew up eating most days but it was food, not treats. I had a place to live and even a bedroom to share with my brother, just big enough for two twin beds and space to walk between them. Some Winter evenings it was kind of neat to be able to see our breath but it being cold enough that any water left in your glass on the dresser would freeze by morning was kind of a PitA. But it was a step up from our old house that was so small the beds had to be in bunkbed configuration. There was even a television (in the living room) later on, and before we grew up we were up to about ten channels. Had all the books we could read, though because there was a library close enough to walk to, more or less, on the other side of town. We thought we had it good, lol - because we did. Stick the average kid today into that environment and in about five seconds he'd be posting twitters to all his twit friends about child abuse (FFS). But a brood from some third-world country, they'd probably be really chuffed about it and saying, "Yes ma'am, no sir, and thank you very much," just like we did - and, NO, I wasn't complaining about what we're having for supper because I can hear you trying to breathe after working hard all week just to put it on the table.

Most people today would think that was some kind of alien world. Everybody's got their hand out. They don't just want it, they expect it. They aren't interested in changing things. Even the so-called sensible f*cks. When is the last time you heard a politician's campaign speech go something like, "Let's face it, people, we're so far in debt right now that we could stop financing our joke of a government altogether and all pay half our gross salaries in tax for the next 75 years and we still wouldn't have it paid off. But I'll make a start by raising taxes!," lol? If he/she did, that person wouldn't be able to get elected to pour p!ss out of a boot. Why? Because people have got their hand out. Gimme gimme. " The American Dream" died in 1970 - ask just about any economist. But it sure was an awesome century before that... We went from transportation that crapped while it was going down the street to landing on the moon. That's one thing I give Kennedy credit for. He said we'd send people to the moon before the end of the decade - at a time when, well, we had only just sent Alan Shepard in the first manned (suborbital) Mercury capsule a few weeks before, and the Soviets had only launched the first ever artificial satellite a few years prior - and we made it to the moon, just eight years later. I have a wristwatch with more computing power than the Apollo 11 spacecraft had. I remember reading that a notable technological breakthrough of that era was creating a pen that was capable of writing in zero gravity, if that tells you anything. Now, though, decades later, with all the technology that we have today... experts have said that the United States could return to the moon if we put our minds to it - in about 27 years. We never even built the replacement for the space shuttle, that project was stillborn. And the space shuttle came from 1969 - it was the only part of the Space Transportation System project (which included things such as a permanent 50-100 person space station, a permanent lunar-orbit station, and craft that would have used the NERVA engine (nuclear powered, over twice the specific impulse of chemical rockets and certified as being adequate to send people to/from Mars) to travel between the planets) which that @sshole Nixon didn't yank funding from. Yep, they were actively developing things for manned Mars (etc.) missions as far back as the late 1960s. Now this country couldn't send people to the moon in less time than it takes for an infant to grow up, go to college, and become a doctor - but by golly we sure are making bigger/thinner/lighter/faster cell phones!

Yeah, I asked, "What's the use," because this country appears to be, for all intents and purposes, in its death throes. And that's pretty horrible to realize. By this time we should have been mining the outer asteroids - but instead we cannot even seem to convince ourselves that we're ruining the climate and poisoning the planet. We should have had well-established colonies on Mars and been about a quarter of the way into a project to reestablish a breathable atmosphere there - and that's a shame, too, because the world is just about at the tipping point of where the amount of people that we have... are less than the number of people that we can feed. We had the power to do so much for the human race as a whole and we didn't even just let it slip from our fingers - we actively threw it away!

if MJ is legal or not has little to do with it.

I agree there. Truth be told, the legality of cannabis is so far down on the list of issues that it might as well not even be on it. In terms of its practical affect on me... I have only lived in five states and spent time in a few more (restless spirit, lol), but all of them were - at the time - ones in which cannabis was completely illegal and I usually managed to find it.

I think you are dead wrong about big Pharm giving us a choice.

I never made that statement; you are misinterpreting my words - and my point. The whole situation of "Big Pharma" could not exist in the first place without our tacit approval.

I have type 1 diabetes.

You have my sympathies. I am not at the point where I need to take insulin yet.

can you tell me the choice I have here?

Okay, let me put it like this: You have the same amount of power that any individual cell within your body has. Which, in the greater scheme of things, is relatively little. But all of those cells together - or even a substantial portion of them - have the power of life. You know (or you should), our Constitution does not begin with the word "I" - the preamble begins with the words, "We, the people." WE (as in a majority, or even a significant minority) could change things. If, you know... we weren't so apathetic and unwilling to give up all the handouts.

I either take my insulin @ the cost of $215 a bottle retail or within 72 hours I'm going to die a somewhat horrible death.

I freely admit that such a thing sucks. I bookmarked a link a while back that talks about the disappearance of animal-sourced insulin (which was, in many ways, a better product - and far cheaper - and which is still available in Canada and many other countries). I remember that at the bottom it mentioned something about ChinaMart carrying a "house brand" that was only around $25 per bottle. Let me dig up the link...
Why Is Insulin So Expensive In The U.S.? : Shots - Health News : NPR

I can only hope he is the man he says he is.

Lol. He is a whack-job. I'm still voting for him, though. I would have been willing to vote for Wilbur the Talking Horse - if he was running against Clinton. Even though...

I have to believe that to be as successful a businessman

<COUGH>SIX bankrupcies<COUGH> :rolleyes3 : '91, '92, '92, '92, '04, and '09.

You would have to have a pretty good ego to think you deserve to be the POTUS.

IDK about a person thinking that they deserve to be President. But I don't imagine that it takes much ego at all to look around and think, "Someone, who actually wants to do the job as it was meant to be done, ought to step up and do it."

and at least there is still a little bit of hope that he is not a lying, thieving, murdering, slandering, evil human being.

Well... He hasn't committed any murders (as far as I am aware). And he may not be evil. As for the other things on your list, that ship has already sunk.

I'm not a socialist nor do I want to be.

We are living in a socialist nation, though. Capitalism, in its pure form, has not existed here for decades (if ever, arguably).

Trump has laid out his agenda and I can get on that train.

Unfortunately, he has no past voting record (having never held political office), nor is there a history of actions while a governent employee. So we cannot form even a potentially accurate picture of what he would be like as President in the usual manner, like we have been able to with most every other candidate for a major political office in the past. And, as far as his business practices, many of them have been downright reprehensible (if not - quite - criminal). But <SHRUGS>... Hillary.

I can't understand it, but it looks like Clinton might carry a large percentage of the women's vote. Actually, lol, I guess I can understand it, because her rival is, to put it politely, a douche bag. It kind of makes me wish that any (other) random woman had run against Trump. She'd probably have nabbed, IDK, about 2/3 of the women's vote purely due to the fact that the thought of voting for her wouldn't have made them feel... unclean. And flip a coin as to whether that random woman had enough brain cells, personality, et cetera to outshine Trump based on her own merit (you know, lol: heads, she does; tails, she does - but if that coin lands on its edge and balances, then maybe Trump could beat any random woman (or man) in a "fair" political challenge).

it's time... actually it's way past time and sadly I'm afraid it's our last hope.

What I fear, and quite seriously... is that our last hope evaporated when those two became THE candidates for President of the United States in the same election.

I personally don't want my beautiful country to be blown all to hell.

Figuratively, it looks like you're years too late. Literally, though... Well, give it four years, 86 days, four and a half hours (give or take). Or less. We've already struck the iceberg. It just remains to be seen whether or not the captain decides to blow a few more holes in the hull.

Now there's shots being fired in a mall in Raleigh, NC.

I was a little suprised when I learned of that. I haven't lived in North Carolina since 1989, but I remember that it was an open-carry state (and a "shall issue" one in regards to concealed carry permits). And that it was not extremely unusual to see someone walking around with a pistol clearly visible. Not really the kind of environment where I'd expect a terrorist - or some nutter - to have a successful shooting spree.

The most recent report I read appeareded to state that the only injuries were from the crowd panicking. It seems that the local LEO are not even really sure as to whether or not there was a shooting (no gunshot wounds, no shell cases, et cetera). But there might be two bullet holes in the ceiling. I read a report that a couple of guys were seen to be arguing and one might have decided to fire shots into the ceiling - which would make the incident a typical "ganstas in da hood" (or, I suppose, drunken rednecks) event instead of something worthy of national attention. But, hey, stick it up between the latest celebrity perversion and today's political badmouthing and it'll keep the viewers glued to their chairs through another round of commercials.

I for one refuse to give up

Good for you. I... mostly manage to have that kind of attitude. <SIGH> Even when I'm at the point in my mental "cycle" where I don't have much hope for anything, I still figure I'll go out fighting (who knows, lol, maybe literally) instead of just laying down and waiting for death.

and I don't think I am alone anymore... I think people are starting to wake up.

Here's hoping.

there are always going to be the kumbaya folks that just want to hold hands and sing a song that brings us all together.

Good luck with that.

This country is very war weary

IDK about that, to be honest. It seems like, for the most part throughout history, the only souls that have ever been truly weary of war... were the poor SoBs that had to fight in one. Which is enough to make a person wonder... I realize that there are good reasons for having a civillian leader of our armed forces. But there are also very good reasons for having such a leader who has "been there, done that" at some time in their past.

none of it even makes sense.

Well, it kind of does if you have studied psychology. But just because a thing makes sense does NOT make that thing good.

the police are being murdered and the murderers are being hailed by Hillary's campaign.

She never did like LEO, not even when she was in college. I believe I listed a few of her (many, many) interactions with them in a previous post.

Hope you all have a great day.

Well... You can always hope. And thank you for doing so. I've been staying at Mom's - she's pretty old, not real healthy at all, worked half to death, has - I've had to face facts - declining mental faculties which are just starting to get to the point where they cannot be ignored (not so bad yet, but a sign of things to come - and, likely, faster and faster), she got banged up (just a little, but... old) from running her car over the hill when the brakes failed, and a few days after I called her little brother and suggested he might make arrangements to return to this state so he could stay with her for a month or so and cheer her up... he died - and I feel "cut off" (turns out I'm somewhat dependent on technology, too, for all I've tried not to be a hypocrite). This forum is the only password that I have memorized, so I have probably been RANTing here more than usual. But Mom is back to being mean as a snake I mean getting around about as well as can be expected so I'll probably be going back home tomorrow evening. I can walk to her house in less than two hours so it's not like I'll be on the other side of the planet... Just, well, lol... Just far enough away to keep BOTH of us from going completely insane. Dear old Mom, heh. I was married once and I remember that at the "hey, we wanted to let everyone know that we got married" dinner, she told us that she hoped we'd do well, "But if you ever have kids and you get so poor that you can't feed them, you're welcome to drop them off at my house for an hour or two and I'll give them supper." And for a family that has always been as dysfunctional (nonfunctional, lol?) as mine has been, that's like someone halfway normal offering to build a wing onto the house and move you in lock, stock, and barrel.

I'm just rambling. It's either that or count how many drops of sweat fall from my face per minute (I'm out of ebooks, <ARGH!!!> ).

 

[Dennise]

Oh no no no... I didn't make myself clear... You didn't make me mad in any way.... I was just trying to make an example as in no one can make you do anything... You choose to.... And all I was saying is if I get mad at anything... Nothing in particular.... It is my choice... No one can make me mad... I chose to be mad.... ... Stoner and I don't say things right at times... I have a TBI so know I would never say anything mean or ugly so if it comes across that way.... Know it's never meant that way.......

 

[Dennise]

I took care of my mom the last 11 years of her life and I will admit I felt put out at times but now I would give everything I own to have her back and healthy if only for a little while... I do have some skin in the game... One son got his Honorable Discharge July 29, 2016... And my oldest son and his x wife are both in... I raised my grandson from 4 months to a little over a year because they were both in the sand box... My youngest went too but it messed with him pretty bad.... He did 7 years and he is done... I do love my country and it sounds like we are about the same age and were raised a lot alike... We ate a lot of game... Not because it was so yummy. Which some of it is... But it was how my folks could afford to feed a family of 5... I had the same room with my sister and the same bunk beds...
I have to have faith if for no other reason than my oldest son puts his ass on the line for my freedoms every day of his life... He bleeds red white and blue and that he learned at home....

 

[TorturedSoul]

Ramble On (might be a wee bit lengthy)

And all I was saying is if I get mad at anything... Nothing in particular.... It is my choice... No one can make me mad... I chose to be mad.

I've never really consciously chosen to get mad, lol. In my younger days, I'd just tend to <SNAP!> and then the next thing I'd know I'd be hip-deep in the proverbial carnage (err... so to speak?). At some point after I got divorced - no, I never went off on her (physically or mentally), although the act of not doing so at times made me... pretty unpleasant for the rest of the world to be around, I suppose - I realized that I hadn't done so in a long time. About five years after that, I realized that I hardly even yelled at anyone any more. I haven't even gone bar-crawling in, IDK, well over a decade (about the only reason I used to was because, well, there were always plenty of people ready and willing to line up to take a beating, and I used to consider such things to be stress relief). Maybe I grew up when I wasn't looking. Err... a little.

Stoner and I don't say things right at times.

I'm a bit crispy around the edges, myself.

I have a TBI

Somehow, even during my wilder "sins of a misspent youth" phase, I managed to avoid that. But in 1989 I had a little head-on collision and have had pretty severe headaches almost every day since (and a couple other issues that don't really affect my life all that much, like having significantly different color-perception from one eye to the other... close one eye and everything is blue tinted, but close the other instead and everything is green tinted). Some days it's almost like having a 100-pound pack strapped on - everything is just that much harder. Other days, they're... bad. When they're not bad but not bad enough that I'm in a ball in a corner somewhere I can be... harsh? Someone who does not make allowances? Especially if I happened to be lucky enough to have work that day. I guess that I really shouldn't attempt to communicate with anyone, in any form (even electronic) during those times, but... IDK, it's so easy to "lock up, shut down, leave the human race," you know? Once in a while, it'd probably not be a big deal, but when it's often... I could very well end up spending more time "away" than not. So I usually just try to deal.

I'd say it's like having a toothache that waxes and wanes but never really goes away, only <SHUDDERS> I've had toothaches, lol. Had one that got worse and worse for, IDK, over nine months (turned out it came about THIS close to killing me, but by that point I had attained a state in which the pain - which must have been considerable, because neighbors later said that I howled/moaned/etc. pretty much constantly for weeks - wasn't even really registering, so it was like I wasn't even there). I'll take my headaches over a toothache every time. Just an old familiar companion.

Oh, sorry. Rambling again. What I meant to type was something like: I experienced some injuries at one point that included ones to the head, and while the fact that I was told "be thankful it wasn't just a little bit worse, because you're still all there" wasn't exactly a solace for a long time, I have since realized that I really was lucky. I still have <COUGH> most of my mental faculties, and did not require any real "retraining" (my coordination returned, et cetera). As "TBI" includes the word "traumatic," you have my sympathies (again). You must have traveled a difficult road.

so know I would never say anything mean or ugly so if it comes across that way.... Know it's never meant that way.

Well, see, you're a good person. Me? I know I'm an @sshole, lol. And I mean to the extent that I have to try constantly not to express it. I realize that... I do not always do a great job. I try to be kind, courteous, helpful, et cetera as a way of making up for it (and because I figure, hey, that's what we're all here for after all). But...

I took care of my mom the last 11 years of her life

I don't know if I could. And by that I don't mean, "...because I am not a saint." More because she's the type of person who'd eat a slug from her .38 if/when she got to the point where she realized that she needed full-time help, or to enter a nursing home, anything like that.

and I will admit I felt put out at times

Ironically... I think that if (when?) she gets to the point where she has classic combative(?) Alzheimer's symptoms, that part of it won't be so difficult to deal with. I mean... Well, at least then there'd be a reason.

Hmm. That might be somewhat harsh. Somewhat. She can actually be reasonably cheerful now and again. It generally happens when she's p!ssed off at all the rest of her family, her neighbors, everyone else she knows. Then she'll be back to going apesh!t on me, lol, and I can at least know that it means she's getting along with somebody again. It doesn't really bother me now. Was tough at times when I was little, though.

but now I would give everything I own to have her back and healthy if only for a little while.

Yeah, I'm sure I'll feel the same way. I was like that with Dad. I've broken my arm and gone on to work 11 hours but what he went through, and for so long... I couldn't do it. There's strong and... it's not me, I guess.

Mom could, I suppose, end up outliving me. It's probably not statistically likely or whatever you'd call it - out of 14 siblings, only her and two of her sisters are left and she is the oldest - but I have some issues of my own. And my brother is less than ten years older than I am and recently learned he has a pretty severe risk of having a heart attack (among other things) - and he's the healthy one. When it comes to goals, my main one is to outlive her by at least a minute so she doesn't have to bury another of her children. Here's hoping.

I do have some skin in the game.

I really have no idea what that means. I just copied and pasted "skin in the game" into the handy Internet search box and it gave me "Skin in the game is a term coined by renowned investor Warren Buffett referring to a situation in which high-ranking insiders use their own money to buy stock in the company they are running."

One son got his Honorable Discharge July 29, 2016... And my oldest son and his x wife are both in... I raised my grandson from 4 months to a little over a year because they were both in the sand box... My youngest went too but it messed with him pretty bad.... He did 7 years and he is done.

I was never in the service. My uncles went. Some were drafted, others thought it might be better if they didn't wait for that so they volunteered (and then learned that it didn't really matter how you ended up going to war). Most of them were even lucky enough to return. More or less. I had quite a few grand-uncles. One of them came back. Pop managed to not get drafted for Korea. By that time, he was the only surviving son of his family, maybe that had something to do with it (IDK). I was told once when I was a youngin' that there were probably more males in my family buried in foreign soil than here. Again, IDK. Some of my cousins (male and female) were in the service; some served in active conflicts, others didn't. Not me. By the time I turned 18 I was already working (and actually making pretty good money at the time). And I was... I guess you could say that I was a living, breathing party, lol. If my body was a temple, services were held regularly and often.

Plus... Don't get me wrong, I have great respect for those who have served - and who continue to do so. But there has been so much in the way of unsavory political agendas behind the conflicts. In the last, gee I don't know, maybe it has always been a case of there not being black and white but, instead, black and a really dark murky gray. Even things that seem clear cut at a glance... If by "the sandbox," you were referring to Afghanistan, your kids probably know about the irony of being shot at with guns... that we supplied. After all, we pretty much fought a proxy war against the Soviets, using the Afghanis as so many pieces on the chessboard. I suppose an outside observer would say that such things would be enough to make lifelong enemies out of anyone. And, NO, I have zero love/sympathy/etc. for the Taliban. (Ironically, I think I might have read somewhere that they burned more poppy fields over there than our side did. But I digress in a post that could already be considered a train-wreck.) But it's situations like that which, when someone asks, "Why does so much of the rest of the world hate us?" cause me to reply, "It's a wonder that there is anyone alive who doesn't." And I'm surprised that anyone who enters one of our armed forces and ends up fighting in one of the conflicts (or who has done so in recent decades past) hasn't come out of it literally crazier than one of my ex-girlfriends (who, by now, has spent more of her adult life "in hospital" than out, I think) simply due to the fact that... IDK, it's late and I'm not at my best so it's probably a poor choice of words. But the suits in charge obviously don't give two shiny sh!ts about human rights and suffering, because there are millions of people dying or (arguably) worse every year in various places around the world, and many of those places are, well... Ones where we obviously wouldn't have to send the cream of the crop or the best of our technology to stomp out the darkness. But we send a little money, maybe, some equipment, a few observers/trainers/agents provocateurs/whatever. At best. So why, then, in a reality where those in charge have a demonstrated lack of caring/compassion/humanity, do they not decide that - in regards to the conflicts that we DO enter - we don't say screw it and fight to win, a war "to the hilt" as they used to say? It sounds harsh - maybe it is, IDFK - but if I owned the armies and didn't care about suffering and I knew that people high up on the other side were hiding in this or that village/town/city/nation then, sure, I'd send troops in... a day or two after the dust cleared from the carpet-bombing runs that I sent first to level the places. F*ck, hardly anyone likes us as it is, lol - and I wouldn't think it'd take too many new economy-sized parking lots around the globe before people started thinking, "Gee, if I turn these miscreants in, there's a chance I'll be killed - but if I don't, my whole village is going to become a big pit filled with rubble in about fifteen minutes."

But war is more profitable (in the short term) than peace. And I don't just mean Halliburton-type massive corruption profitable, either. History shows that a big war can do wonders for the economy (of the winners). One of the biggest periods of economic growth in this country was after WWII, and that's just one example. Plus, regardless of what gets publicly stated, "having a little war on the back burner" can be awfully politically convenient. If there's peace - either because you've actually made peace or because you've kicked the snot out of everyone who would make war with you until they no longer have that capability - then the politicians lose that... and then they have to go and create - or at least facilitate - another one. So it's easier to keep a little stew simmering on the stove than to toss it and have to cook up another pot full when you want it, right?

Here's a little trivia factoid for you: The United States has been at war 93% of the time - 223 out of 240 years - since 1776. We have only been at peace for a total of 21 years since the birth of this nation. 21 years. IDK if that's a record, but either way it's enough to make a strong man weep. That's the kind of statistic that if I walked into a random group of people and asked, "Which country has only been at peace for 21 years since its birth?" someone would probably reply, "One of those bloody war-torn new countries in Africa, right?"

Blood on the bricks. Pick any year since 1776 and there's about a 91% chance that our country was involved in a war during at least some part of it. NO United States President truly qualifies as a peacetime President - all of them can technically be classified as "war Presidents." Our country has never gone an entire decade without war. In fact, the only time in the history of the US that we went as long as five years in a row without being involved in some kind of war was 1935-1940, during our isolationist period of the Great Depression.

When were you born (or pick a year)? I'll tell you which war we were in. Most of the military operations that have been launched since WWII have been launched by our country. US military spending dwarfs that of the entire rest of the world. Worldwide polls have consistently ranked the US as the number one threat to peace on the planet. I wonder why?[/SARCASM]

EDIT: And those are just counting the, what do you call them, "official, non-covert" wars. When you stop to consider covert CIA actions - most of them unconscionable, most of them completely ineffective, and all of them very bloody - just the ones that have been publicly disclosed would be enough to get any other country on the planet branded... a terrorist nation (as some brand us - with good reason!).

I do love my country

I love the concepts upon which it was founded. I cannot really state truthfully that I love it in the form that it presently has. I do feel a duty towards it, if that counts for anything. But much of my country sickens me.

it sounds like we are about the same age

IDK about you, but I'm still a pup .

and were raised a lot alike.

I suppose... that could be considered a good thing? I don't remember ever quitting a job the first time that I realized there'd be work involved, lol. Or, for that matter, felt wronged when I got fired just because I didn't bother to show up (or even found myself in that situation in the first place). And I have pulled off the road to kick the sh!t out of a random stranger who was beating on his wife/girlfriend/woman/sister/I didn't even bother to ask first. I first cooked a meal (eggs, sausage, and toast) when I was three years old because Mom, torn by and living in a nightmare world of grief, wouldn't eat and I - being a stupid kid - thought she might if I made her breakfast. I've been really hungry - yet still given food to someone I didn't know, because I figured they were hungry too. I've never stolen (okay, when I was four or five years old I walked out of a drug store with a pack of Juicy Fruit - but after Mom belted the living <BLEEP> out of me in the parking lot, she sent me back inside to return it, tell the clerk what I did, and to go ahead and call the police so they could take me to jail, and I don't choose to count that one). When I was a teenager, a buddy and I sat on top of the big wall that used to be behind the police station (it was a sativa day, lol) watching two cops give a little physical education to a known wife beater who'd put his OL into the hospital, after she refused to press charges... and all I thought about it was, "I bet that ends up actually getting the message across." One time - this was when I could afford to own a car :rolleyes3 - I put a decent car up for sale so that I could repair my other car and buy a nice street bike that I'd had my eye on with the remainder of the money, and I ended up walking to work for the next month because some dumb kid came up with his seven- or eight-month pregnant girlfriend when he didn't see that for sale sign had an extra 0 in the price and he was hoping to get it for $100 down and get the car when he managed to come up with the "other $200," and I ended up just selling him the thing for the $100 that he had. And other stuff that probably doesn't count for anything, any where but just might, possibly, lighten what is admittedly a heavy karma load...

I cannot say that NONE of the above would have happened, had I been born to different parents. But I might have at least had to think twice about some of it (instead of not having to think at all...) first.

We ate a lot of game.

I got to where I hated deer meat. I still eat it now and then (it's food). Fish, of course, up to about the time when I realized how poisonous our local waterways are. Squirrels are okay - I could eat plenty even when I was little. And I still like rabbits almost as much as my cats do . Various birds, never really cared for bird but I still eat those foul fowl. Had groundhog once, but Mom threw such a fit - because when she was a kid she had to help her dad (too poor to be able to afford to just shoot them) catch them - that Pop never brought another one into the house. Hey, I just remembered the time I took off my hunting coat, dumped some squirrels onto the newspaper spread out on the kitchen floor... and one of the little sh!ts turned out to only have been stunned and took off like it was riding a rocket, lol. That was... Well, it's funny NOW.

Not because it was so yummy.

Yummy? When I was in high school (which wasn't the "I remember when you could get a hamburger for a nickel!" era because I'm nowhere that old) there was a crummy place in town that sold hot dogs for like 12/$1. And in a good year someone brought home hot dogs about once a month - and we considered it to be a special treat. I guess it was a special treat, I broke a tooth on one of those hot dogs because of... something... inside it. I still think it was a piece of bone. Oh, yeah, the weiners were green. Yummy... It was food, FFS.

There were some good ones, too. There was a resturant in town. Just a little hole in the wall diner, really. But you could get a steak (some kind, it wasn't a fancy cut - but it came from a cow) and mashed potatoes & gravy. I got to eat there a couple times a year for maybe three years when the economy was reasonably decent and Dad was working without much in the way of lay-offs. Mom knew the owner (/cook), so he'd come to the table and ask, "What do you want, little man?" and I'd always say, "I want a steak and a hot dog!" and he'd fix me a steak dinner - with a hot dog w/ sauce, onion, and mustard, lol. But there were also countless times when Pop went to work without anything in his lunch box but the little thermos and Mom would say, "Oh, I ate mine in the kitchen when I was putting everyone else's on plates," at supper time, too. You took the good with the bad and never thought about which was which, because that was just how things were and you didn't know any different.

First paycheck I ever got, I bought a whole bunch of Totinos Pizza Rolls. Felt like I'd just won the lottery. And gave my parents rent money (of course).

I had the same room with my sister and the same bunk beds.

Remember hoping that your brother would ruin his pair of shoes, because they couldn't be patched and handed down, lol? (Err... if you were the younger.)

I forgot when I mentioned our bedroom earlier that there was a tiny little black & white television in it. When I was two (well, a few days before), my two brothers were on their way to Church and some drunk pasted everyone in the vehicle except for one of my brothers and he was in a body cast for a long time after he got out of the hospital, couldn't really do anything except lay in bed (and almost certainly torn up even more mentally than physcially after going through the experience of having his older brother bleed out beside him), so Dad somehow found the money to buy it for him. We had that growing up, but it only received one local station (was still a tv, though).

I have to have faith

I have faith... because if I had to go on what I can actually see and hear I'd either end up going postal or eating a bullet. Plus, in tenth grade I was climbing with a friend, maybe 35' up, maybe a little higher, and I stupidly tried to step on air. I remember looking down (so far down...) and seeing this big jagged tree stump seemingly flying towards me like I was a target, so I closed my eyes... and the next thing I was thinking, "If I'm dead, how come my @ss is all wet?" I opened my eyes and saw that I had not only missed the tree stump, I was clear on the other side of the creek that was about 15' from the rocks that we had been climbing, sitting in a couple inches of snow! And the time when I was in 5th grade, coming home from the college one evening from one of those "non-credit courses" (that one was microbiology) when I was sitting in the back seat and there was a wasp in the car and I completely flipped out (background: I have never been afraid of wasps/bees/etc. before or since) until Mom told me I could hop over the front seat while we were sitting behind a big 4wd Ford truck that was stopped waiting to turn left - and about a second after I clicked my seat belt some dumb b!tch hit us so hard in the rear end that the rear differential of that truck was sitting where our windshield used to be, and the back of our car was pressed up against the back of the front seat... We were hit so hard that it knocked my glasses off my head and that's pretty hard because I used to bend the earpieces so that they couldn't get knocked off when I was bouncing around being a kid. LMAO - when they got knocked off, I reached up and plucked them out of the air before they had a chance to get crunched. No, IDK how, either - but doing so caused me to strain a muscle in my arm and that's the only injury I received. If I'd still been in the back seat, it would have been a closed-casket funeral for sure. Someone called it in but they only sent one ambulance. Stupid rip that hit us was bawling because her nose was bleeding (it didn't even look broken - but she was drunk), so they put her in the back of the ambulance and told Mom we'd either have to wait on another one or Mom could sit up front and I could ride on her lap. We rode in, I was checked out and determined to be fine (I told them...) - and about that time someone finally noticed that Mom's pants legs were shredded/bloody and you could see her shin bones (she's always been "pretty tough" but I think that was shock and worrying about her kid - but it sure sucked that she had to have me ride on her lap; they sent a bill for like $75 EACH for the ambulance ride, too). So that wasp, coupled with me going nuts about it instead of ignoring it like I always did every other time I saw one, saved my life. And I have seen pictures of a flower that looks - and smells - exactly like a certain female insect (some kind of wasp, IIRC), and is only pollinized by the male of that species. The wasp tries to mate with it, gets covered in pollen, gets frustrated and flies to the next flower, tries to mate with that one, rinse/lather/repeat. Now I can chalk quite a bit up to random evolution, lol, but there's a point when you've just got to say, "Huh." There are a few more relationships in nature like that. So, yeah, faith I've got. You can't eat it, but it's good to have it.

He bleeds red white and blue

I learned at a young age that it's a lot better to allow the other guy the privelege of bleeding. I'm just sayin', lol.

 

[GoldenEagle]

You should recheck your facts and look at Bill Clinton for the war on drugs.... He signed it into law not a Republican....:

Lets see here. The U.S. "War on Drugs" was initially started with the "Controlled Substances Act." Which is officially called the "Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970." Which was signed into law by the U.S. Republican president Richard Milhous Nixon on October 20, 1970.

 

[TorturedSoul]

Yep, he was so uptight where drugs were concerned it's a wonder he didn't speak with an upper-class British newscaster accent. You could almost see the stick he had lodged up inside him.

 

[Nicholas Flamel]

Lets see here. The U.S. "War on Drugs" was initially started with the "Controlled Substances Act" which is officially called the "Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970" which signed into law by the U.S. Republican president Richard Milhous Nixon on October 20, 1970.

Im pretty sure she was not trying to stand up for Richard Nixon. I think we can all agree his drug policies were horrible. This is what she is talking about.

Bill Clinton presided over the largest increase in federal and state prison inmates of any president in American history. Clinton did not declare the War on Crime or the War on Drugs–those wars were declared before Reagan was elected and long before crack hit the streets–but he escalated it beyond what many had imagined possible. He supported the 100-to-1 sentencing disparity for crack versus powder cocaine, which produced staggering racial injustice in sentencing and boosted funding for drug-law enforcement.
Clinton championed the idea of a federal "three strikes" law in his 1994 State of the Union address and, months later, signed a $30 billion crime bill that created dozens of new federal capital crimes, mandated life sentences for some three-time offenders, and authorized more than $16 billion for state prison grants and the expansion of police forces. The legislation was hailed by mainstream-media outlets as a victory for the Democrats, who "were able to wrest the crime issue from the Republicans and make it their own."
When Clinton left office in 2001, the United States had the highest rate of incarceration in the world. Human Rights Watch reported that in seven states, African Americans constituted 80 to 90 percent of all drug offenders sent to prison, even though they were no more likely than whites to use or sell illegal drugs. Prison admissions for drug offenses reached a level in 2000 for African Americans more than 26 times the level in 1983. All of the presidents since 1980 have contributed to mass incarceration, but as Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson recently observed, "President Clinton's tenure was the worst."

Did you notice Obamas DEA did NOT reschedule cannabis? and please dont tell me that he has no control over what the DEA does. ALL of these politicians are full of shit. How many times must it be proven before people will accept the truth?

"One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We're no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It's simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we've been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back."
―Carl Sagan

 

[GoldenEagle]

Im pretty sure she was not trying to stand up for Richard Nixon. I think we can all agree his drug policies were horrible. This is what she is talking about.

Bill Clinton presided over the largest increase in federal and state prison inmates of any president in American history. Clinton did not declare the War on Crime or the War on Drugs—those wars were declared before Reagan was elected and long before crack hit the streets—but he escalated it beyond what many had imagined possible. He supported the 100-to-1 sentencing disparity for crack versus powder cocaine, which produced staggering racial injustice in sentencing and boosted funding for drug-law enforcement.
Clinton championed the idea of a federal “three strikes” law in his 1994 State of the Union address and, months later, signed a $30 billion crime bill that created dozens of new federal capital crimes, mandated life sentences for some three-time offenders, and authorized more than $16 billion for state prison grants and the expansion of police forces. The legislation was hailed by mainstream-media outlets as a victory for the Democrats, who “were able to wrest the crime issue from the Republicans and make it their own.”
When Clinton left office in 2001, the United States had the highest rate of incarceration in the world. Human Rights Watch reported that in seven states, African Americans constituted 80 to 90 percent of all drug offenders sent to prison, even though they were no more likely than whites to use or sell illegal drugs. Prison admissions for drug offenses reached a level in 2000 for African Americans more than 26 times the level in 1983. All of the presidents since 1980 have contributed to mass incarceration, but as Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson recently observed, “President Clinton’s tenure was the worst.”

Did you notice Obamas DEA did NOT reschedule cannabis? and please dont tell me that he has no control over what the DEA does. ALL of these politicians are full of shit. How many times must it be proven before people will accept the truth?

“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.”
―Carl Sagan

Look, Ms. Dennise suggested I check "My facts." After being away from this particular web forum for a little while, I finally replied back with links proving that a Republican president started your country's "War on Drugs." Which is contrary to the claim that Ms. Dennise made regarding Bill Clinton signing the act into law.

Honestly, speaking and once again. I do not care what your country's DEA does to it's classification of Cannabis for the citizens of the United States.

 

[OlderGrower]

OMFG

I originally found this post this morning and started reading, I clicked on reply with a quote on so many before I even got to page 2 that once I got to the end where I planned on replying, I had read so much BULL SHIT and misinformation I seriously felt ill. Out of all of the posts like 2 to 3 people who only made a couple of posts got the FACTS straight, then when they stated the TRUE facts they were dismissed as if the facts did not matter. Gee sounds much like FOX NEWS.
I am no fan of Hillary Clinton in fact I believe she should be in prison for her lying about her emails, but that being said, GW Bush and his whole cabinet should also be in jail for the WAR crimes they committed, as well as D. Trump, he should be in jail for defrauding the public with Trump University.
I am a Republican, or I am a Democrat, really? You can not think for yourself, you need a party to think for you? I do not need a party to tell me that locking someone up for procession of MJ is wrong, I do not need for a party to tell me that destroying a persons life or a family is wrong all over a plant. I can figure that out all on my own. As to who to vote for, well that is your own personal decision I merely hope you have enough brains to think for yourself and who you vote for is who you vote for, see there is a reason why we have SECRET ballots in this country, it is so each and every one of us can vote as we please and it is no ones business but our OWN.

I have been saying that the war on drugs is almost over and in a few years every state will have the option to do what Colorado, Washington, Alaska and Oregon have done but I may be wrong.
I keep hearing people stating I want to save MY country, or I am worried for MY country. I have news for all of you people who say that, this is NOT YOUR COUNTRY... it is OUR country. Which means YOUR country will never be perfect for you just as my country will never be perfect for me, because not everyone agrees on everything so we have to compromise to appeal to the masses.

I enjoy a good debate on politics but when the person you are debating refuses to admit facts then it no longer becomes a debate, now you are arguing with an idiot. Now before you get your feathers all in an uproar, think about this, if that comment upsets you, just perhaps, just maybe there is some truth to it and your not as smart as you think.

While I would love to spend more time on this subject I have a cat who wants to play with me and is demanding my attention and I need to grab some breakfast before heading to the Oregon Cannabis Growers Fair.

One last comment before I go, for all you 2nd amendment people who keep saying Obama will take your guns and if Hillary is elected she will take your guns. Well go check your gun closet! Are your guns still there? Funny so are mine. Apparently Obama is waiting till the last day of his term to go house to house to get your guns.

THINK PEOPLE

 

[Nicholas Flamel]

OMFG

I originally found this post this morning and started reading, I clicked on reply with a quote on so many before I even got to page 2 that once I got to the end where I planned on replying, I had read so much BULL SHIT and misinformation I seriously felt ill. Out of all of the posts like 2 to 3 people who only made a couple of posts got the FACTS straight, then when they stated the TRUE facts they were dismissed as if the facts did not matter. Gee sounds much like FOX NEWS.
I am no fan of Hillary Clinton in fact I believe she should be in prison for her lying about her emails, but that being said, GW Bush and his whole cabinet should also be in jail for the WAR crimes they committed, as well as D. Trump, he should be in jail for defrauding the public with Trump University.
I am a Republican, or I am a Democrat, really? You can not think for yourself, you need a party to think for you? I do not need a party to tell me that locking someone up for procession of MJ is wrong, I do not need for a party to tell me that destroying a persons life or a family is wrong all over a plant. I can figure that out all on my own. As to who to vote for, well that is your own personal decision I merely hope you have enough brains to think for yourself and who you vote for is who you vote for, see there is a reason why we have SECRET ballots in this country, it is so each and every one of us can vote as we please and it is no ones business but our OWN.

I have been saying that the war on drugs is almost over and in a few years every state will have the option to do what Colorado, Washington, Alaska and Oregon have done but I may be wrong.
I keep hearing people stating I want to save MY country, or I am worried for MY country. I have news for all of you people who say that, this is NOT YOUR COUNTRY... it is OUR country. Which means YOUR country will never be perfect for you just as my country will never be perfect for me, because not everyone agrees on everything so we have to compromise to appeal to the masses.

I enjoy a good debate on politics but when the person you are debating refuses to admit facts then it no longer becomes a debate, now you are arguing with an idiot. Now before you get your feathers all in an uproar, think about this, if that comment upsets you, just perhaps, just maybe there is some truth to it and your not as smart as you think.

While I would love to spend more time on this subject I have a cat who wants to play with me and is demanding my attention and I need to grab some breakfast before heading to the Oregon Cannabis Growers Fair.

One last comment before I go, for all you 2nd amendment people who keep saying Obama will take your guns and if Hillary is elected she will take your guns. Well go check your gun closet! Are your guns still there? Funny so are mine. Apparently Obama is waiting till the last day of his term to go house to house to get your guns.

THINK PEOPLE

I dont know who your talking to but I will respond nonetheless. Do you think when people say "my country" they actually think its their country? No og, they mean my country as in the country that they love, the country that many people in their family has shed blood for to keep "our" freedom. I want this country to be here in 20 years for ALL of us but especially "my" kids. Maybe you think what is being said in this thread is just fearmongering and I hope your right. But "our" concerns are valid nomatter how much Obama and CNN tells you everything is fine. It is Not! They are bullshitting you my friend. I like to get my news from multiple sources including Fox. Thats how i can tell who is blowing smoke and who isnt, and believe me FOX blows alot of smoke too. If you are interested in the truth you can find it on Sirius XM channel 125 everyday of the week.

I dont much care for Trump either but he is by far the lesser of 2 evils, and until a gary johnson can beat hillary clinton then i will be voting for trump. Have a great day

I have said my piece and then some. I will now bow out of this political discussion. My time is too valuable to waste it on a lost cause.

 

[Auggie]

i dont much care for Trump either but he is by far the lesser of 2 evils, and until a gary johnson can beat hillary clinton then i will be voting for trump.

I just wonder why Trump is trying to tank his own campaign?
I mean, based on this last two weeks - he is either stupid, or is purposefully sabotaging his own campaign. And, I don't think he is stupid.
Did he lay awake one nite, unable to sleep and thought, "WTF have I done? I thought I'd stir up a big stink and have some fun. I didn't know I was going to win the nomination to run for POTUS. OMG, what have I done? I don't really want to do this ..."

~ Auggie ~

PS: And yes, Denise ... the world has gone mad. Stark raving mad. "My god is better than your god. Yes he is ... let's fight." I feel like I am watching a slow suicide.

.

 

[TorturedSoul]

I finally replied back with links proving that a Republican president started your country's "War on Drugs."

A democrat (Harry S. Truman) was President in 1952 when the Boggs Act - which instituted mandatory prison sentences for first-time cannabis possession convictions - was passed.

A democrat (Franklin D. Roosevelt) was President in 1937 when the "Marihuana" Tax Act was passed. He was also President in 1936 when the Convention for the Suppression of the Illicit Traffic in Dangerous Drugs took place in Geneva and the US attempted to criminalize cultivation, production, manufacture and distribution of cannabis (/op!um/c0coa and its derivatives). IIRC, the US (representative at the Convention) refused to sign the resulting treaty because it considered the final version to be too weak. Roosevelt wanted to outlaw all recreational drugs.

The Federal Bureau of Narcotics, headed by Harry Anslinger (who held that position for an amazing 32 years!) produced lots of "public service" announcements throughout the 1930s and 1940s. There were several narcotics/drugs Acts passed during the existence of the FBN. Various people - from both major political parties - were President during this time.

A republican (Warren G. Harding) was President in 1922 when the Narcotic Drugs Import and Export Act was passed.

A democrat (Woodrow Wilson) was President in 1914 when the Harrison Narcotics Act was passed.

A republican (Theodore Roosevelt) was President during the early part of 1909 when the Smoking Opium Exclusion Act was passed.

Et cetera. I'm not really sure which President actually began the War on People Who Use, Possess, Bug, Sell, Grow, Manufacture, or Are Otherwise Associated with a Limited Number of Drugs and Substances (to give the thing a more correct name), because it has been going on for so long that it'd take a good bit of research to determine the answer. But I can say, with no doubt whatsoever, that said war has been going on for a LONG time - long before Nixon was President (before he was born, actually).

BtW, I saw a mention of Sirus Satellite Radio channel 125. It's good to be aware of more sources, of course - but isn't that one just another version of extremely biased talk radio (conservative, in this case)? If so, listeners should be sure to balance the editorial bias of the sources they choose to use for news content by spending an equal amount of time listening to one or more sources that are biased towards the liberal side. And, hopefully, throw in some "middle of the road" content - and try to actually find a few unbiased sources as well.

Lol. I just remembered that Nancy Reagan got me to try all kinds of... things. She tried to ram "Just Say No" down my throat. She said that "mary joo wanna" was BAD. Upon realizing that her information was completely false and, therefore, she was either stupid or lying, I decided that all of her statements were suspect. I wonder how many other people the federal government has, with its war, inadvertently caused to go... to the enlightened side?

 

[OlderGrower]

I dont know who your talking to but I will respond nonetheless. Do you think when people say "my country" they actually think its their country? No og, they mean my country as in the country that they love, the country that many people in their family has shed blood for to keep "our" freedom. I want this country to be here in 20 years for ALL of us but especially "my" kids. Maybe you think what is being said in this thread is just fearmongering and I hope your right. But "our" concerns are valid nomatter how much Obama and CNN tells you everything is fine. It is Not! They are bullshitting you my friend. I like to get my news from multiple sources including Fox. Thats how i can tell who is blowing smoke and who isnt, and believe me FOX blows alot of smoke too. If you are interested in the truth you can find it on Sirius XM channel 125 everyday of the week.

I dont much care for Trump either but he is by far the lesser of 2 evils, and until a gary johnson can beat hillary clinton then i will be voting for trump. Have a great day

I have said my piece and then some. I will now bow out of this political discussion. My time is too valuable to waste it on a lost cause.

And this is why we will continue to get what we get.
The game is rigged, it does not matter if a Republican or a Democrat win, both candidates have been bought and paid for and will do exactly what their masters tell them to do and say. I keep hearing people say I do not like either of them but until someone else can win I am going to vote for one or the other. News flash, until people start voting for someone other then the 2 party system we have we will ALWAYS have a 2 party system. See funny thing is, you can not win unless people actually VOTE for you. Yep funny how that works isn't it. People claim they want change but they continue to vote in the same 2 parties over and over again expecting different results. Last I heard that was the definition of insanity.
Our country needs change and I for one will not be voting for either Rep or Dem, I have seen what they have done for the last 56 years and I am not impressed, time to give someone else a go at it. Who, I haven't decided on yet though I am swaying towards Gary Johnson but my mind is not made up yet.
Personally as far as CNN and FOX news are concerned, if I want the truth about what is going on in America, I find just about any foreign news station will report our news more accurately then any American news outlet

 

[TorturedSoul]

Our country needs change and I for one will not be voting for either Rep or Dem, I have seen what they have done for the last 56 years and I am not impressed, time to give someone else a go at it. Who, I haven't decided on yet though I am swaying towards Gary Johnson but my mind is not made up yet.

Yeah, but the trouble with that logic is that ONE of those two major party candidates is going to win this election, lol. Saying that they are both fundamentally the same and that there will be zero difference between either (as President) is a cop-out in my opinion. Yes, there are similarities between the two, and some of those are obvious. But there are differences, too. Yes, either could do harm to this country (and probably would). At this point in time, it is about damage control. Which of those two candidates is likely to do the least harm in the long term? That is who I will be voting for. If I decided not to vote for either of them, I would give up the right to complain when the other one got elected, lol.

Third-party candidates... There was a time to make advances on that front, and that time has passed (for this particular election). That time was much earlier in this election cycle. It is my firm opinion that spending time, effort, money, and votes on third-party candidates at this point in time will only serve to help Clinton get elected.

With the (vast) majority of households in this country having Internet access - plus public libraries and even many (most?) fast food joints offering free access - it should have been possible to advance one or more third-party candidates in a significant way. That obviously has not happened; the world of third-party candidacy remains far too fragmented (overwhelmingly so). Most third-party candidates only became candidates in order to get publicity for one (or a very few) issues that they personally feel strongly about. The election race for the highest office in this country should NOT be used solely as a way to advance one's own agenda by anyone!

I have seen what they have done for the last 56 years and I am not impressed, time to give someone else a go at it.

I do agree with that statement. However... When the likelihood of any third-part candidate getting elected becomes so statistically unlikely as to become a number that, rounded, is effectively zero, lol, it is time to ask one's self, "What can I do to help encourage a situation that provides for the least amount of harm to this country and to the world?"

I am swaying towards Gary Johnson

As I have stated, I won't be voting for him or any other third-party Presidential candidate (in this election). But he is an interesting candidate. Interesting is not necessarily a good thing ("May you live in interesting times" was, after all, a curse - not a blessing). I could respect a person who would consider voting for him. I probably wouldn't, though, because too many of his words/actions seem to be fundamentally opposed to each other. I am also not in favor of neutering the EPA (although I freely admit that, like all government agencies, it could use some (lol) straightening out) or otherwise removing blocks to businesses p!ssing all over the environment. I don't think kicking the borders wide open is the answer to the illegal immigration problem. I am NOT in favor of privatizing our country's prisons! Prison reform, yes - I do not feel that the average prison inmate should have better living conditions than I do (FFS!). But our country's penal system should never be looked at as a profit-making enterprise for anyone. That way leads to madness (madness, I say! ) - and, regardless of what Mr. Johnson has said, an environment that encourages people's incarceration. If you want to privatize a government institution, do so with the US Postal System. It lost 5.1 billion dollars in FY2015 - and more than $46 billion since 2007. Let it sink or swim. Much communications that used to depend on the postal system now take place electronically, and for the rest... We no longer need to worry about messengers being waylaid at every crossroads, lol. It just no longer makes sense to continuously dump money into that pit with the attitude that "we need to have it" - because we don't. And if that fact was made clear to everyone in that organization, they would quickly find that they don't need to p!ss away money by the truckload after all.

I also DO NOT favor lowering taxes. I know people who are reasonably well off, have known people who were quite wealthy, and also know plenty of downright poor people. None of them are looking at not eating because of their tax burden (even those who, realistically, are looking at not eating). IIRC, Mr. Johnson vetoed an increase of the tax on packs of cigarettes. <SCRATCHES HEAD> I am of the opinion that it is better to tax the non-necessities (and I am a smoker!). IDK how anyone can scream about our massive debt load one day and then talk about cutting taxes the next.

I am also not in favor of cutting off ALL support and aid to Israel. There are some issues where such things are concerned, true - but they are one of the few political "friends" that we have in that region... and some of their neighbors have stated that their number one goal is to wipe Israel as a coherent nation state right off the map. Therefore, cutting off all aid makes no sense. (Incidentally, Mr. Johnson also feels that Israel is an important ally - or at least he has made that statement. ) We also provide a great deal of aid to Saudi Arabia. Both of those countries say and do things that I am personally opposed to. But I can see the importance of both of their continued existence. I would favor a scheduled reduction of aid to both countries, a schedule that sees the aid continue to decline until they can decide to be real allies, lol. I would also tie in bonuses for advances on the human rights front and penalties for lack thereof.

Speaking of the Middle East: He has made statements (generally during speeches about how we should leave Afghanistan/etc.) that we have wiped out Al Quaeda. At other times, he has admitted that we have, instead, simply encouraged them to move to other countries (such as Pakistan). Me, I would be far more concerned with the entities that encouraged the terrorist events, set those wheels in motion, and financed them than I would be about the "troops on the ground," as it were; as long as the top of that particular pyramid is allowed to exist in its current form, more such troops can always be found - if someone gets shot, you can stand there wiping up the blood that is oozing down their belly all you want to (and you'd better have a lot of towels :rolleyes3 ), but I think it makes more sense to deal with the bullet wound. <SHRUGS> Those entities might never see justice, though. The powers-that-be in Iran hate us - both as individuals and as a nation (so much so that they refer to the United States as "The Great Satan"). Mr. Johnson does not seem to be worried about Iran. He has made statements that Iran is not a military threat. Perhaps he does not understand that there is more than one form of war? He feels strongly that "Israel can deal with Iran." (Whilst, as has been stated, at the same time calling for the cutting off of ALL aid to Israel. Hmm...) He also feels that Israel is fully capable of, by itself, ensuring that Iran does not build or acquire nuclear weapons. I'm not at all sure that I'd want someone who lives in that reality being the leader of the United States' government.

Et cetera. But every candidate (and person, in general) says/does a combination of things; I like some and dislike others. I feel that my responsibility as a citizen of this country, where this - and every other - Presidential election is concerned is to research the candidates as much as possible. To learn about their stance on as many issues as I can (and their past voting records/actions on same). And then to rank those issues, not as how they affect me as an individual, but their importance and significance to the country as a whole (and to the world). And, having done so, to rank the various candidates. If it was a three-candidate race, I would probably rank Mr. Johnson in second place (but close to third than first).