Comment Archives: stories: Columns
Re: “Peace, love and misunderstanding”
Robin, I'm not a Unitarian or an atheist. I've been to a few UU services. They seem to me to be a very inclusive bunch, so it makes sense that they would also open their arms, as you claim, to atheists. Do you not see the irony of lambasting Unitarians for denigrating certain groups, while you are busy denigrating Unitarians and atheists?
Re: “Peace, love and misunderstanding”
"Why, in our quest to make our youth stronger, do we feel we have to do it by denigrating other groups?"
You might want to run that question by UUA President Rev. Peter Morales and other U*U clergy who are guilty of denigrating other groups in their own misguided efforts to booster the "tiny, declining, fringe religion" known as Unitarian Universalism. . .
Re: “Peace, love and misunderstanding”
Farrakhan is not making young black men strong, he is making them angry and antisocial.
A true religious leader would be preaching peace and inclusion. While there are many who truly believe the religious message they preach, there are charlatans preaching in most religions.
Re: “The real voter fraud”
That is not the only fraud - another is the computerized voting machines used across the country. NC uses iVotronic - a known hackable machine. I drove voters to the polls in 2004 - many, upon returning to my car, told me they voted for Kerry, but when they reviewed their choices, the vote had flipped to McCain and they were UNABLE TO RESOLVE THIS! The computerized machines are privately owned and leased to the states - their software is proprietary and therefore, cannot come under examination by anyone other than an employee of the voting machine company! THERE IS NO TRANSPARENCY! http://www.opednews.com/articles/Who-Needs…
Re: “The real voter fraud”
Just ran across your blog here and thought I'd let you know...there is some MASSIVE voter fraud going on in NC right now. The FBI is investigating. Last count I had was 1477, and only 42 of them were men. Someone doesn't want women voting this year!! People had their information changed in the computer, even though they never moved, never changed it themselves. Some had counties changed, some had counties and parties changed. And this is only in one area of NC. I bet Strategic got it's work done before they got fired up here!
Re: “The real voter fraud”
Winston Churchill was correct. "The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter."
People see what they want to see and disregard the rest.
Re: “Peace, love and misunderstanding”
"UU's have been called everything from godless devils to lazy thinkers who are unwilling to take specific stands on god and other matters of theology. I could go on about how neither of those statements is true, but that's not necessary nor appropriate in this space."
Well a certain percentage of UUs are quite devout atheists, indeed *some* UUs are rather dogmatic "fundamentalist atheists" who have no qualms whatsoever about taking the stand from their Wayward Pulpit to the effect that God is "a non-existent being" and that belief in God "seems primitive". Sadly rather too many UUs are lazy thinkers, indeed I have personally witnessed a great deal of lazy thinking amongst UUs including UU clergy and top level UUA leaders. . .
Re: “Kids and politics”
Yes! We're unschoolers, and an unschooling friend posted this yesterday: "The only expectation I have of unschoolers is that they attain adulthood with their sense of selves intact." Exactly! So much in our society works *against* that; your son is lucky you had this awareness and will not be! It's in me *living* my values, not espousing or enforcing them, that my kids have learned my values, and feel free to live their own.
Re: “How Obamacare saved my life”
Wrong DLP; John is the "Me" generation, epitomized by the "Why should I have to pay for that? It's expensive! It should be free to me and SOMEONE else should have to bear the cost."
I'm GenX, meaning I have to pick up your tab as I have thirty more years to work taking home less than 60% of my income due to Federal and State tax loads, and AMT (a "right-wing" thing) makes sure I get squat for deductions.
I'm not a "right-winger", or even a republican. I'm a taxpayer who is fed up with the fact that I keep picking up the tab. Pay your share. That's all I ask. No pre-existing condition pool? Fine, but pay the taxpayer back after receiving the care. Most people will drop the premium after running up the bill. God and the Government, we adore, in times of sickness, not before. The sickness pass and the situation righted, God is forgotten and the taxpayer slighted.
Government can't pay for anything unless it has first taken. Pay your fair share. If you have expensive surgeries on the taxpayer, why shouldn't you pay that pool back over the following years? You used the care didn't you? Starting a high premium pool that accepts pre-existing conditions is great, right up until the people that run up the bill leave because they don't want to pay the high premiums after receiving the care. And that's what happens. Watch.
Re: “Train travel out of Charlotte is borderline orgasmic”
Har, har, Eric! HAHAHA It is hypnotizing, I'll give you that! ;)
Re: “Train travel out of Charlotte is borderline orgasmic”
And here I was thinking it had something to do with the vibration of the clickity clackity tracks and the hum of the desiel-electric engine.
Re: “How Obamacare saved my life”
Obama Care is like a cute little puppy at this stage: small, energetic, affordable. But in a few years it is going to grow into an out-of-control great dane sized mongrel that wil be enormously expensive to maintain.
Re: “Boys and Girls”
Both times that we were expecting, many people asked us if we were hoping for a boy or a girl. I always gave the same answer and it was absolutely honest: "We honestly do not care as long as it has one head, two arms, and the feet point forward." That was my way of saying that we were hoping for a normal, healthy, child. Maybe it was just me remembering Thalidomide.
Re: “How Obamacare saved my life”
I used to wonder what the world would be like when the "Me" generation grew up. Now we know.
Someone has chosen to ignore the fact that insurance companies don't have to sell you a policy if they think you might actually make claims. A very large number of people cannot buy insurance at any price, and many more simply cannot afford it. Medical insurance should not be a for profit industry.
Right wing people show there true colors when they express disgust as they sarcastically state "some people think they are entitled to food and healthcare".
Re: “How Obamacare saved my life”
Obamacare also saved my life. In my case it was throat cancer. Would have died in April before my 50th birthday. I thank god every day for being so lucky!
Re: “Are the Avett Brothers America's last great rock band?”
It is interesting that they have changed their sound ever so slightly over the years, but to me it is far more interesting in the fact they have any consistency at all in their sound considering their roots musically. I used to play shows with those guys back when they were Margo, Nemo, and a few other obscure bands in the 1990s. There sound / sounds were anything from 90s grunge rock, to metal, and even rap core. Seriously, the sounded just like Stuck Mojo or Limp Biscuit at one point in time, if you can believe that. When they started playing acoustic initially, i just assumed it was because they wanted to get more gigs inside of coffee shops and venues that didn't allow loud music. Who knows why they changed, but they did and they have been more consistent in the last 10 years than they were for the first 10 that's 100% for sure.
Re: “How Obamacare saved my life”
Of course the care should be provided. Point to where I said otherwise.
Here is the point, in case you missed it, and apparently you did.
Pay your fair share. Pay an amount that approximates the risk. Before and after a catastrophic medical event; Don't dump the excess cost on "the system" because that's code for taxpayers. Remember, as a premium payer, the taxpayer that pays the outrageous health insurance premiums, inflated by medical inefficiency, medical excess and medical inflation, ALREADY covers the median risk of the pool. Now they get to pick up the bill for those who decide coverage is too expensive, but jump in at the last minute to lay the claims at the taxpayers feet. That's like buying insurance at the scene of an at-fault accident, from a state pool that can't say no, and which then drops the cost to the taxpayer.
Re: “Train travel out of Charlotte is borderline orgasmic”
I took the Crescent Line from ATL to NOLA on my 30th birthday. We played cards with strangers and drank from the bottles of liquor we were allowed to bring onboard. An acoustic guitar player boarded in Alabama, along with a singer and they played our little party car all the way to its destination. It was magical.