Divernan
Divernan's JournalI have observed more and more white people seething with rage, hatred and racism.
Not just the proverbial old white guys, but men and women, young and old - one common denominator seems to be a low level of education and/or intelligence, often evidenced by atrocious spelling and grammar. Many are Republicans/tea partiers, but some are lifelong Democrats as well. They are swarming out of the woodwork to comment on threads such as the local paper (the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), sans logic, sans common sense, sans any civility whatsoever. I see and hear them "live" as well, in daily interactions at stores, library, filling station, etc.
My explanation: I think they know the sun is setting on the era of white majority/rule in the US and it is causing psychotic breaks.
After the last election, I saw one man - whom the GOP had once run(unsuccessfully, thank god!) for sheriff in Allegheny County(Pittsburgh is part of that county) - put on an incredibly offensive and juvenile display at the polling place. He had been stationed there as an observer by the GOP & I had to repeatedly stop him from violating the rules as to what an observer could do/say throughout the day.
After the polls closed, he went outside to remove the GOP candidates' signs. He also started taking down the Democrats' signs, but when he got to Obama's, he jerked his hands back as if he'd burned them, said "Ewwww. This is dirty!", while mincing around on his tip toes, and holding his little pinkie fingers out like he was delicately drinking tea. Then he shouted that Obama was a thug. Keep in mind that this guy is built like a sumo wrestler - minimally 300 lbs. It was not a pretty picture! I've known this man and his wife for years - they live in my neighborhood. I've been a guest in their home. I knew he was very conservative - but he'd always been pleasant in political disagreements. It's like when neighbors of serial killers are interviewed: "But he was always such a nice guy!"
That's all you got? "most vulnerable" is entirely too vague, subjective and arbitrary.
But Obama's comfortable throwing out exact income amounts when it comes to placating the Republicans. $250,000 to start, and that gets raised to $400,000. So why can't Obama spell it out for seniors?
ANYONE concerned with protecting the most vulnerable would not only stay away from the chained cola, but improve the current formula which does not take into account the different proportions of expenses carried by ALL seniors. We're talking percentage of income spent on fuel, utilities, food, medicine and medical care. Social Security recipients are getting a 1.7% COLA for 2013. However, the formula used to calculate COLAs for Pennsylvania's House & Senate members is more generously calculated:
HARRISBURG, PA- The base salary for state lawmakers will automatically increase 2.2 percent to $83,802 effective Dec. 1, 2012.
Isn't that special? And don't forget, what meager savings we've managed to hang on to earn no effective interest from all those banks Obama bailed out. They were too big to fail; we seniors are too insignificant to survive.
Vulnerable? I'll give you vulnerable - there are precious few Americans who are not one medical catastrophe away from bankruptcy, even with basic health insurance - co-pays/deductibles take a huge bite out of one's budget . The stocks I owned dropped 60% in value and stopped paying dividends in 2008 and have never regained value nor resumed dividends. My $6,000 hearing aids are now 12 years old - should have been replaced/upgraded 8 years ago. My roof is past due for replacement. I buy my reading glasses off a drugstore rack. However since my income is not at poverty level, guess I'm not "vulnerable".
John Cleese explained why you don't want to piss off a Scot!
"ALERTS TO THREATS IN 2012 EUROPE: BY JOHN CLEESE
The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent events in Syria and have therefore raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when the tea supplies nearly ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance." The last time theBritish issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.
The Scots have raised their threat level from "pissed off" to "Let's Get the Bastards!" They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used in the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.
I sent this to a friend whom I stayed with in the Highlands last year and she said that as a Scot she felt the description was not far off.
Here's a link to the national anthem the Scottish "tartan army" football fans sing - I've never heard a national song sung with more passion. It's called Flower of Scotland
O Flower of Scotland
When will we see
Your like again
That fought and died for
Your wee bit hill and glen
And stood against him
Proud Edward's army
And sent him homeward
Tae think again.
The hills are bare now
And Autumn leaves
Lie thick and still
O'er land that is lost now
Which those so dearly held
That stood against him
Proud Edward's army
And sent him homeward
Tae think again.
[- From: http://www.elyrics.net -]
Those days are past now
And in the past
They must remain
But we can still rise now
And be the nation again
That stood against him
Proud Edward's army
And sent him homeward
Tae think again.
O Flower of Scotland
When will we see
Your like again
That fought and died for
Your wee bit hill and glen
And stood against him
Proud Edward's army
And sent him homeward
Tae think again.
On edit, as per Muriel Volstranger's post, the song refers to the victory of the Scots, led by Robert the Bruce, over England's Edward II at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.
An earlier Edward, Edward I,was known as Edward Longshanks. The joke tells how:
He came to Scotland to conquer the Scots. He brings 4,000 men with him.
As he nears the battlefield there suddenly appears a solitary figure on the crest of the hill. A short, ginger-haired guy in a kilt.
'Hammer O the Scots?' yells the wee Scottish guy on the hill. 'Come up here, ye English b*st*rds, and I'll give ye a hammerin'!'
Edward turns to his commander. 'Send 20 men to deal with that little Scottish upstart,' he says.
The commander sends 20 of his best men over the hill to kill the Scotsman. Ten minutes later, at the crest of the hill, the wee Scot appears again.
'Ye English diddies!' he yells. 'Come on the rest of ye!! Come on, I'll have ye all!'
Edward is getting somewhat annoyed. He turns to his commander. 'Send 100 men to kill that little guttersnipe!'
The commander sends 100 men over the hill to do the job. Ten minutes later, the wee Scot appears at the top of the hill once more, his hair all sticking up, his shirt a wee bit torn.
'Ye English SCUM!' he yells.. 'I'm just warming up!! Come and get me, ye English sh*te!!'
Edward losses patience. 'Commander, take 400 men and personally WIPE HIM OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH!' he yells. The commander gulps, but leads 400 men on horseback over the crest of the hill.
Ten minutes later, the wee Scotsman is back. His clothing is all torn, his face is covered in blood and snot.
'Is that the best ye can do??? Ye'r bloody WUMMIN!!! Come on!! Come and have a go, ye bunch of English sh*te!!!' he yells.
Edward turns to his second in command. 'Take 1,000 men over that hill and don't come back till you've killed him!' he commands. The second in command gathers the men and they ride off over the hill to their fate. Ten minutes later, one of the English troops appears back at the top of the hill. He's covered in blood and his clothes are all torn.
'Your Majesty!' he yells. 'It's a trap.................There's TWO of them!!!'
Sea Trial Leaves Shell's Arctic Oil-Spill Gear "Crushed Like a Beer Can."
In an all too rare example of excellent investigative reporting, KUOW (Seattle) radio station's John Ryan used Freedom of Information Requests to crack the tight lipped wall of silence by Shell and its federal regulators on the spectacular failure of oil spill gear last September, which has forced the energy giant to postpone drilling into oil-bearing rocks beneath the Arctic Ocean until next summer, at the earliest.
As one environmentalist observed, The equipment failed under very calm, tranquil conditions in the best time of year in the Pacific Northwest (Puget Sound). "If it can’t handle the best we have here, I really have my doubts it can handle even a little adversity in the Arctic."
http://www.kuow.org/post/sea-trial-leaves-shells-arctic-oil-spill-gear-crushed-beer-can
“Breached like a whale" and "Crushed like a beer can."
According to BSEE internal emails obtained by KUOW, the containment dome test was supposed to take about a day. That estimate proved to be wildly optimistic.
Day 1: The Arctic Challenger's massive steel dome comes unhooked from some of the winches used to maneuver it underwater. The crew has to recover it and repair it.
Day 2: A remote-controlled submarine gets tangled in some anchor lines. It takes divers about 24 hours to rescue the submarine.
Day 5: The test has its worst accident. On that dead-calm Friday night, Mark Fesmire, the head of BSEE’s Alaska office, is on board the Challenger. He’s watching the underwater video feed from the remote-control submarine when, a little after midnight, the video screen suddenly fills with bubbles. The 20-foot-tall containment dome then shoots to the surface. The massive white dome “breached like a whale,” Fesmire e-mails a colleague at BSEE headquarters.
Then the dome sinks more than 120 feet. A safety buoy, basically a giant balloon, catches it before it hits bottom. About 12 hours later, the crew of the Challenger manages to get the dome back to the surface. “As bad as I thought,” Fesmire writes his BSEE colleague. “Basically the top half is crushed like a beer can.”
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