Steve (swn): Hope all is well and very happy to see no major storms this past year. A combination of work, family (aging parents) and personal circumstances have kept me from the Emerald Coast for quite a while.

However, I still check the boards here about once a week to keep up on what is happening (and watch a little Beach TV online, someone get Randy and Wayne a beer). I've been to Hawaii, lived all up and down the west coast, and NO beaches are like the Panhandle! Hope all is well with you also.

I think "The Lounge" is a great idea, but can't believe someone just comes in to post a pile of political stuff each day, and stuff that is old news. It would be one thing for someone (of any political belief) to come in and post a thoughtful essay on why they feel like they do. But just to copy and paste stuff? They must have NO life!

Having said that, nothing wrong with some wide open debate in The Lounge!


JohnChurch: Not true that the top 5% makes all the rules. You can dedicate time to a candidate. They need tons of people (regardless of party). The problem the Dems seem to have is that we in the GOP can absolutely afford to donate cash, but usually not our time.

(Side Note: If you have a business that will help a candidate, might be a sign company or internet knowledge or just run a lunch truck, get hold of the candidate and let them know you don't have the time, but will donate resources).

If you on the Left side of the aisle would start taking the time spent on postings and blogs that few will ever read (or that simply preach to the choir), and instead donate that time to walking door-to-door or other things your candidates need, you might be amazed at how you roll past those of us who can just cut a check.


Final Note: What happened to ThatMoronTed?

I'll tell you this right now: If you want to have the God-given name of Theodore (Ted)... which means God's Gift... you better be ready to step up to the plate.

If you want to come in The Lounge here and yap using talking points from your party that were out-dated years ago... someone might just remind you what a Miserable Failure you are.


Oh... I do hope to make it down Emerald Coast way in Fall of 2007...

And as usual, drinks are on me!

As always, right on point tedinvegas -- oh to be so literally prolific

I still haven't made a trip to Vegas - been around the world but not to your neck of the woods - would love to come to the race out there next year....hmmmm.....

Let us know when you come to PCB - we'll get Wayne, Randy, Steve and the rest of us together for a few brewskis!!!
Yep, this gal can hang w/ the beer drinkers - we should make a wager on that one!

Happy Holidays!

Always good to hear from you Ted! You've got some good points. Look forward to your next visit. Drinks on you, dinner on me and tips for the shoe-models on Randy!

hehe, shoe models!
/I thought they were just payin their way thru college?
//doin my part to promote scholarship
///whatup Ted?!

First of all, I am always a gentleman to the other poster's on this forum. I would never call you a moron. That just shows me a level of maturity that I expect from many of the right wingers I interact with. While people such as yourself are so blinded by greed and money there are people like me that actually think more about humanity and the prosperity of others. Sure I know you're probably thinking that I should move out of the US and go to some communist nation blah blah blah. It's so strange how you "Patriotic" Americans are so quick to jump on someone just because they care about others. I have never once said anything about what I want. I pretty much have always tried to point out injustices done to others.

I think this time I will get personal. Ted, it's people like you that are the downfall of this nation. Your isolationist views and constant belief that the big bad, evil, immoral left is out to get you poor abused righties and all your money is tired. The rift between the poor and the rich is growing exponentially every day that people such as Bush are in office. Bush made you think that he was just "one of the guys" with his dim wit and redneck demeanor. All the while he has been syphoning money from our tax dollars straight into the hands of companies such as the Carlyle Group (owner of Halliburton) and other companies that he and his buddies worked for. It amazes me that you don't see a conflict of interest when our president previously worked for big oil, our vice president worked for halliburton, our now former sec of defense worked for pharmaceutical companies and just about everyone on his staff has worked for lobbying firms, chemical companies, etc. What do you think they're using those connections to get us a better deal?? No they're using those connections to set themselves and all their croney's up for retirement!!

Your vision has been so clouded by people telling you that the mean ol' tax man is after you. We are currently spending 2 billion a week in Iraq, we will soon be approaching a trillion dollars spent on the war if it is not stopped. But hey that's ok, we can just cut education spending, and health care spending, and after school programs and cultural spending such as music programs and art programs.

This sir is why we have moved from #1 in education in 2000 to #24 and falling in 2006.

This sir is why we have the most people per capita with high blood pressure and heart disease.

This sir is why we have fewer and fewer children with the ability to play an instrument or the ability to express themselves creatively.

This sir is why there are kids hanging out in the streets getting into trouble.

You're probably one of those people that drives by some kids walking down the street and you mumble and grumble to yourself that they need to get a job or do something other than hang out in the street. But hey, it's your fault they are there in the first place you ignoramous.
You didn't wanna do your part for this country.

Our founding father's said "no taxation without representation." Not "no taxation."

On the civics lesson, I have taken civics. Maybe you should. I would say that our kids should take it, but with your prescious tax cuts came a price. We no longer offer civics. Social studies is rapidly exiting the corriculum of most schools.

See Ted, you have no idea about the struggle that every day americans go through. I was on of those people with a single mom who had two kids and no one to help her. The government stepped in. Within 3 years we were off welfare. Why? Because my mom used gov't grants to help her through school.(She's white so it was much easier.) Now she is the Director of Quality Management of the Mayo Clinic! Success! So you can stick your tax cuts for the rich where the sun don't shine. People need that money. I would like to finish college as well but no I can't without going into debt with some sallie mae or citibank clamping down on my balls squeezing me fo 10 years at least.

Right now there is a war on the middle class.

Sure you save a few bucks on your tax bill at the end of the year. But that few bucks times 200 million taxpayers could have provided a college education for thousands of college students. Health care for all!

But no, that would be a hand out then. Damn that!!

It's ignoramus' such as yourself that forget that every generation has a responsibility to the next generation when it comes to educating them. Someone paid they're taxes so you could have your publicly funded education. I have no problem paying my taxes and doing my duty as an American when it comes to the prosperity of this nation.(which includes everyone)
You are a sheep. You have been trained to be a consumer. Mine Mine MIne!!! That's not very Christian.

And by the way I know what my name means but since I am not a christian, your interpretation means absolutely squat to me. I am a humanist. Christ was a humanist. He wanted people to give up all their
worldly possessions and help others. So don't you dare bring up Jesus Christ in this conversation when you speak about money as if it is more important than the well being of others.

I went to the seminary to become a clergyman. I saw all the two-faced greedy reality that goes along with organized religion.

For you to bastardize the creator by bringing up it's name while you speak
basically libel on me is wrong in so many ways.

Lastly, because I'm tired of talking to you and since I know it won't make a damn bit of difference, this country is being ran by the top 5%. It is a proven fact that if you don't have the financial backing to run for office, you cannot make it.

Let's see a grass roots campaign with moneys raised at bake sales, and door to door donations go up against the special interest dollars provided for these career politicians embedded in Washington. No contest.

So do us all a favor and come out of the fog of greed and truly act as christian as you claim to be.

I will leave you with some quotes from Thomas Jefferson:
"God... has formed us moral agents... that we may promote the happiness of those with whom He has placed us in society, by acting honestly towards all, benevolently to those who fall within our way, respecting
sacredly their rights, bodily and mental, and cherishing especially their freedom of conscience, as we value our own." --Thomas Jefferson to Miles King, 1814.

"I approved from the first moment of... the power of taxation [in the new Constitution]. I thought at first that [it] might have been limited. A little reflection soon convinced me it ought not to be." --Thomas Jefferson to Francis Hopkinson, 1789.

"How far it may be the interest and the duty of all to submit to this sacrifice [of paying a double taxation on special articles] on other grounds, for instance, to pay for a time an impost on the importation of certain
articles in order to encourage their manufacture at home, or an excise on others injurious to the morals or health of the citizens, will depend on a series of considerations of another order." --Thomas Jefferson: Note to Destutt de Tracy's "Political Economy,"

"The collection of taxes... has been as yet only by duties on consumption. As these fall principally on the rich, it is a general desire to make them contribute the whole money we want, if possible. And we have a hope that they will furnish enough for the expenses of government and the interest of our whole public debt, foreign and domestic." --Thomas Jefferson to Comte de Moustier, 1790

"Having seen the people of all other nations bowed down to the earth under the wars and prodigalities of their rulers, I have cherished their opposites: peace, economy, and riddance of public debt, believing
that these were the high road to public as well as private prosperity and happiness." --Thomas Jefferson to Henry Middleton, 1813(public debt? Approaching 9 trillion!!!!!!!!!!)

PS - I didn't have the internet for more than a year so forgive me pleeeeeeease if my internet babble is old. Thank you and have a pleasant day.

Good points as well, Ted (thatguy). I don't necessarily agree with them, but I see them as respectable opinions nonetheless.

I'm sure Ted (invegas) will have something to say about that, though...

Please allow me to insert a little comedy relief, if I may:

I still want to see the stats that say we were #1 in 2000. I find that hard to believe. Americans have always been behind in education. We're all just a bunch of morons. He's a moron, she's a moron, I'm a moron... wouldn't ya like to be a moron, too?

Actually, that'd be all the McDonald's and Starbucks on every street corner

Actually, we can attribute this disturbing trend to video games. I mean, kids would rather buy a video game that let's them fake playing guitar rather than really learning how to play. And do you know anyone who plays WOW? That will be a serious issue one day. What happens when the WOW servers get a virus and are down for days or weeks? There will be mass murders to deal with.

That's been going on since the beginning of time - or the beginning of streets - and it will never go away... unless we started giving free computers and copies of WOW to every kid.

Good thing I'm not a comedian, or I'd be broke. It sounded funnier as I was thinking it to myself.

If you look at these social democracies i.e. canada, spain, norway, etc. they have very high literacy rates, healthier people, and more balanced kids. I think it is because they didn't surcumb to big business and special interests. We are a society that believes there is a pill for everything. You're fat, take this pill. You're stupid, take this memory enhancing pill, your kids are acting up, give them this pill. The US is the only country in the world along with New Zealand that allow drug companies to advertise. Our FDA is more than 51% funded by private drug companies, and more than 60% of their profits are spent on advertising.(not research like they claim) This is just an example of the way that special interests run our beloved "democracy."

SO YES I WILL ADMIT IT!!!! America has many big fat lazy people looking for easy outs/ins but the lazy people aren't the ones getting rich.
Ted(thatguy) what would you do in a game of poker, I'm sorry the difficulty setting is to high of a level for you but maybe you should change your approach or try a different game. LOL I kid I kid.

There is nothing holding me back but myself.

You go right ahead and believe all that garbage about hard work getting you ahead. We all know it's not what you know, it's who you know. And it's not what you do, it's who you screw. All of the government subsidies are going to huge conglomerates so that's outta the question.

Example: I mean think about it, big oil profitted 360 billion last year and what does our trustworthy gov't do? Give 'em an extra 5 billion to develop alternative fuels. That's 5 billion that could have provided seniors with prescription drug coverage. Pay attention and use the freedom of information act and find out all this information for yourself instead of eating up all this BOVINE FECAL MATTER they keep feeding you.

Dude I'm not looking for the government to give me mine, I'm going to go out and get it that's all I'm saying. It's not garbage man my Dad is rolling with cash, he's a working class man with a high school education and he's out there busting his hump everyday with his own company. The only thing he's getting from the Government is that retirement he spent 20 years in the Air Force to get and trust me that isn't $#!t.

I could be partners with him but I don't want to work so many hours and deal with bocoo amounts of stress.

So admit it the problems with our country aren't holding us back it's because we are lazy not so fat Americans. The hecklers in the back never make as much of a difference as someone who's winning in the current game. Tonya Hearting won't be an Olympic announcer or Judge dude.

I'm saddened by the fact that you think it's ok for the gov't to get over on us and give away out hard earned money. America's love of money will be it's downfall. Just wait you'll see.

the dead flag blues written by:Godspeed You! Black Emperor

the car's on fire and there's no driver at the wheel
and the sewers are all muddied with a thousand lonely suicides
and a dark wind blows

the government is corrupt
and we're on so many drugs
with the radio on and the curtains drawn
we're trapped in the belly of this horrible machine
and the machine is bleeding to death
the sun has fallen down
and the billboards are all leering
and the flags are all dead at the top of their poles
it went like this:
the buildings tumbled in on themselves
mothers clutching babies picked through the rubble
and pulled out their hair
the skyline was beautiful on fire
all twisted metal stretching upwards
everything washed in a thin orange haze
i said: "kiss me, you're beautiful -
these are truly the last days"
you grabbed my hand and we fell into it
like a daydream or a fever
we woke up one morning and fell a little further down -
for sure it's the valley of death i open up my wallet
and it's full of blood

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLskWhGWU0w <--listen to the artist reading his word.
I warn you, this video may be hard to watch, it's kinda deep.


I especially like the line about opening my wallet and it's full of blood. All money when it comes down to it is blood money.

But, here is the root of all evil:

Attached Thumbnails

 

that's gospel, but you should specify it's a necessary evil.

Seriously...
Sometimes I just get a little too deep...At least give me some credit for

But don't think I'm not gonna keep picking your brain like, all the time...

Hasta leugo mi amigos!!!!!!