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steve2470
steve2470's Journal
steve2470's Journal
February 6, 2018
I'm guessing all you regulars have seen my post in GD about Chris Long ? It makes me tear up because the vast majority of humans I have ever met would never even consider such a thing. Of course, 99.999% of us cannot do this even if we wanted to. Still, the very fact he did it touches me tremendously.
He's very human I am sure, but he is one of the very best of us. This kind of generosity of spirit is to be encouraged, when possible.
All the best to you, Chris Long and to your family. I see you have a small son. He is extremely lucky. So is your wife.
All the best to all forum regulars
"silly" thing that makes me tear up today
THIS IS THE MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT GROUP. Abrasive and unkind comments are not welcome here.I'm guessing all you regulars have seen my post in GD about Chris Long ? It makes me tear up because the vast majority of humans I have ever met would never even consider such a thing. Of course, 99.999% of us cannot do this even if we wanted to. Still, the very fact he did it touches me tremendously.
He's very human I am sure, but he is one of the very best of us. This kind of generosity of spirit is to be encouraged, when possible.
All the best to you, Chris Long and to your family. I see you have a small son. He is extremely lucky. So is your wife.
All the best to all forum regulars
February 5, 2018
Jeebus such corrupt bastards.
Exclusive: U.S. consumer protection official puts Equifax probe on ice - sources
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-equifax-cfpb/exclusive-u-s-consumer-protection-official-puts-equifax-probe-on-ice-sources-idUSKBN1FP0IZWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mick Mulvaney, head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has pulled back from a full-scale probe of how Equifax Inc failed to protect the personal data of millions of consumers, according to people familiar with the matter.
Equifax (EFX.N) said in September that hackers stole personal data it had collected on some 143 million Americans. Richard Cordray, then the CFPB director, authorized an investigation that month, said former officials familiar with the probe.
But Cordray resigned in November and was replaced by Mulvaney, President Donald Trumps budget chief. The CFPB effort against Equifax has sputtered since then, said several government and industry sources, raising questions about how Mulvaney will police a data-warehousing industry that has enormous sway over how much consumers pay to borrow money.
The CFPB has the tools to examine a data breach like Equifax, said John Czwartacki, a spokesman, but the agency is not permitted to acknowledge an open investigation. The bureau has the desire, expertise, and know-how in-house to vigorously pursue hypothetical matters such as these, he said.
Equifax (EFX.N) said in September that hackers stole personal data it had collected on some 143 million Americans. Richard Cordray, then the CFPB director, authorized an investigation that month, said former officials familiar with the probe.
But Cordray resigned in November and was replaced by Mulvaney, President Donald Trumps budget chief. The CFPB effort against Equifax has sputtered since then, said several government and industry sources, raising questions about how Mulvaney will police a data-warehousing industry that has enormous sway over how much consumers pay to borrow money.
The CFPB has the tools to examine a data breach like Equifax, said John Czwartacki, a spokesman, but the agency is not permitted to acknowledge an open investigation. The bureau has the desire, expertise, and know-how in-house to vigorously pursue hypothetical matters such as these, he said.
Jeebus such corrupt bastards.
February 5, 2018
https://twitter.com/EdKrassen/status/960301007745044480
Just an incredible thing to do, very touching.
This is Philadelphia Eagles player Chris Long. He donated his entire season's income to charity....
This is Philadelphia Eagles player Chris Long. He donated his entire season's income to charity, including his first 6 paychecks to Charlottesville Scholarship programs. Long also says he WILL NOT attend the WH to meet with Trump if the Eagles win the #SuperBowl #FlyEaglesFly
https://twitter.com/EdKrassen/status/960301007745044480
Just an incredible thing to do, very touching.
February 5, 2018
New York Times: 36 Hours in Orlando
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/01/travel/what-to-do-36-hours-in-orlando-florida.htmlDont equate Orlando with mouse ears and thrill rides: The city is a checkerboard of intriguing neighborhoods filled with galleries, shops and restaurants.
Ever since the early 1960s, when Walt Disney chose Central Florida as the location for his most extensive theme park, Walt Disney World, Orlando has been synonymous with mouse ears, thrill rides and daily parades. But most locals readily divulge that fantasy fulfillment has little to do with the real life of urban Orlando. From the downtown region heading north to well-to-do Winter Park, the city is a checkerboard of intriguing neighborhoods filled with historic bungalows, interesting galleries and cafes catering to the creative class. Nature is also a central attraction in the lake-filled city and suburbs that include warm springs preserves and parks with live oak stands. The glass-walled Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, opened in 2014, has given downtown a cultural bump, while homegrown creative endeavors include a new orchestra devoted to modern classics and unstarched performances.
snip
Make the Orlando Museum of Art (admission, $15) your first stop in erasing theme park stereotypes. It holds an engrossing collection of American art, including paintings by Thomas Moran, Georgia OKeeffe and John Singer Sargent. But its contemporary galleries, featuring digital artworks by artists like Jennifer Steinkamp are, perhaps, most compelling. The museum annually awards the Florida Prize in Contemporary Art; last years finalists dealt with issues from social justice to violence in Syria. A new show, State of Excellence: Treasures from Florida Private Collections, runs through April 29, and focuses on European and American art.
snip
Set design does not begin and end with Disney, as the new Mathers Social Gathering lounge testifies. The downtown speakeasy-style bar resides on the third floor of a 19th-century furniture store. Patrons must find the hidden door in the foyers bookshelves to gain entry to the cavernous room with exposed brick walls and beams and conversation areas anchored by tufted leather couches and steamer-trunk coffee tables. Go at happy hour before the club-hoppers flood the place to indulge your design appreciation over a gin-and-cucumber Mathers Fizz ($15) and a bowl of roast fava beans ($8) served on silver platters.
Ever since the early 1960s, when Walt Disney chose Central Florida as the location for his most extensive theme park, Walt Disney World, Orlando has been synonymous with mouse ears, thrill rides and daily parades. But most locals readily divulge that fantasy fulfillment has little to do with the real life of urban Orlando. From the downtown region heading north to well-to-do Winter Park, the city is a checkerboard of intriguing neighborhoods filled with historic bungalows, interesting galleries and cafes catering to the creative class. Nature is also a central attraction in the lake-filled city and suburbs that include warm springs preserves and parks with live oak stands. The glass-walled Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, opened in 2014, has given downtown a cultural bump, while homegrown creative endeavors include a new orchestra devoted to modern classics and unstarched performances.
snip
Make the Orlando Museum of Art (admission, $15) your first stop in erasing theme park stereotypes. It holds an engrossing collection of American art, including paintings by Thomas Moran, Georgia OKeeffe and John Singer Sargent. But its contemporary galleries, featuring digital artworks by artists like Jennifer Steinkamp are, perhaps, most compelling. The museum annually awards the Florida Prize in Contemporary Art; last years finalists dealt with issues from social justice to violence in Syria. A new show, State of Excellence: Treasures from Florida Private Collections, runs through April 29, and focuses on European and American art.
snip
Set design does not begin and end with Disney, as the new Mathers Social Gathering lounge testifies. The downtown speakeasy-style bar resides on the third floor of a 19th-century furniture store. Patrons must find the hidden door in the foyers bookshelves to gain entry to the cavernous room with exposed brick walls and beams and conversation areas anchored by tufted leather couches and steamer-trunk coffee tables. Go at happy hour before the club-hoppers flood the place to indulge your design appreciation over a gin-and-cucumber Mathers Fizz ($15) and a bowl of roast fava beans ($8) served on silver platters.
February 5, 2018
I must still be doing a massive biochemical readjustment, because I'm STILL more emotional than usual.
At any rate, after 50+ years, it popped back into my brain that my father was an unflagging supporter of my competence. For whatever reason, I would say "I cannot do it" and he would instantly say no, you can, keep trying, let's keep working on this, etc.
He had the right attitude for a father and a parent. Yes, of course, there are some things in life we just cannot do for whatever idiosyncratic reason, but at least give it a decent try. If you give something a decent try and you just cannot do it without going insane, then, ok, you did your best and time to move on. Sometimes we need tutoring. Sometimes we need time. Sometimes we don't have the right equipment or training or materials, etc etc.
If you did not have a father figure or father, my sympathies. I hope, if you did have a father, that he was a decent one. My father had his flaws, as we all do, but allowing me to give up too early was NOT one of them.
All the best to you this February 2018.
quick tribute to my father
THIS IS THE MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT GROUP. Abrasive and unkind comments not welcome here.I must still be doing a massive biochemical readjustment, because I'm STILL more emotional than usual.
At any rate, after 50+ years, it popped back into my brain that my father was an unflagging supporter of my competence. For whatever reason, I would say "I cannot do it" and he would instantly say no, you can, keep trying, let's keep working on this, etc.
He had the right attitude for a father and a parent. Yes, of course, there are some things in life we just cannot do for whatever idiosyncratic reason, but at least give it a decent try. If you give something a decent try and you just cannot do it without going insane, then, ok, you did your best and time to move on. Sometimes we need tutoring. Sometimes we need time. Sometimes we don't have the right equipment or training or materials, etc etc.
If you did not have a father figure or father, my sympathies. I hope, if you did have a father, that he was a decent one. My father had his flaws, as we all do, but allowing me to give up too early was NOT one of them.
All the best to you this February 2018.
February 4, 2018
https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/holocaust-denier-arthur-jones-republican-3rd-congressional-district-lipinski-newman/
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY: THE NEW (and old) PARTY OF THE NEO-NAZIS.
Overton Window keeps moving to the right, people...... only 5 or so years ago this would have been unthinkable.
JEWISH GROUP: Holocaust denier poised to claim GOP nomination in Illinois race for Congress
THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP. RESPECT!https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/holocaust-denier-arthur-jones-republican-3rd-congressional-district-lipinski-newman/
Arthur Jones an outspoken Holocaust denier, activist anti-Semite and white supremacist is poised to become the Republican nominee for an Illinois congressional seat representing parts of Chicago and nearby suburbs.
Well first of all, Im running for Congress not the chancellor of Germany. All right. To me the Holocaust is what I said it is: Its an international extortion racket, Jones told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Indeed, Jones website for his latest congressional run includes a section titled The Holocaust Racket where he calls the genocide carried out by the German Nazi regime and collaborators in other nations the biggest blackest lie in history.
Jones, 70, a retired insurance agent who lives in suburban Lyons, has unsuccessfully run for elected offices in the Chicago area and Milwaukee since the 1970s.
Well first of all, Im running for Congress not the chancellor of Germany. All right. To me the Holocaust is what I said it is: Its an international extortion racket, Jones told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Indeed, Jones website for his latest congressional run includes a section titled The Holocaust Racket where he calls the genocide carried out by the German Nazi regime and collaborators in other nations the biggest blackest lie in history.
Jones, 70, a retired insurance agent who lives in suburban Lyons, has unsuccessfully run for elected offices in the Chicago area and Milwaukee since the 1970s.
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY: THE NEW (and old) PARTY OF THE NEO-NAZIS.
Overton Window keeps moving to the right, people...... only 5 or so years ago this would have been unthinkable.
February 4, 2018
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY: THE NEW (and old) PARTY OF THE NEO-NAZIS.
Overton Window keeps moving to the right, people...... only 5 or so years ago this would have been unthinkable.
Holocaust denier poised to claim GOP nomination in Illinois race for Congress
https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/holocaust-denier-arthur-jones-republican-3rd-congressional-district-lipinski-newman/Arthur Jones an outspoken Holocaust denier, activist anti-Semite and white supremacist is poised to become the Republican nominee for an Illinois congressional seat representing parts of Chicago and nearby suburbs.
Well first of all, Im running for Congress not the chancellor of Germany. All right. To me the Holocaust is what I said it is: Its an international extortion racket, Jones told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Indeed, Jones website for his latest congressional run includes a section titled The Holocaust Racket where he calls the genocide carried out by the German Nazi regime and collaborators in other nations the biggest blackest lie in history.
Jones, 70, a retired insurance agent who lives in suburban Lyons, has unsuccessfully run for elected offices in the Chicago area and Milwaukee since the 1970s.
Well first of all, Im running for Congress not the chancellor of Germany. All right. To me the Holocaust is what I said it is: Its an international extortion racket, Jones told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Indeed, Jones website for his latest congressional run includes a section titled The Holocaust Racket where he calls the genocide carried out by the German Nazi regime and collaborators in other nations the biggest blackest lie in history.
Jones, 70, a retired insurance agent who lives in suburban Lyons, has unsuccessfully run for elected offices in the Chicago area and Milwaukee since the 1970s.
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY: THE NEW (and old) PARTY OF THE NEO-NAZIS.
Overton Window keeps moving to the right, people...... only 5 or so years ago this would have been unthinkable.
February 4, 2018
Berlin's forgotten victims of communism
http://www.dw.com/en/berlin-24-7-berlins-forgotten-victims-of-communism/a-42305680"Mauergleiche" (literally, wall equal): It's a word that even I, as a German, needed to Google to decipher its meaning. Or do you know what it's about?
Why am I asking? A friend has just invited me to a "Mauergleiche" party. Is it just another one of Berlin's typical excuses for unrestrained alcohol consumption?
Party for the Berlin Wall?
The invitation details helped me to understand what they meant with "Mauergleiche."
"The Berlin Wall stood for 10,316 days and will have been gone for just as many days on February 6, 2018. Let's drink to that!"
Why am I asking? A friend has just invited me to a "Mauergleiche" party. Is it just another one of Berlin's typical excuses for unrestrained alcohol consumption?
Party for the Berlin Wall?
The invitation details helped me to understand what they meant with "Mauergleiche."
"The Berlin Wall stood for 10,316 days and will have been gone for just as many days on February 6, 2018. Let's drink to that!"
February 4, 2018
and the ignorant Republican/right wing rank and file will continue to ignorantly claim that...
the Republicans are the party of fiscal discipline, small government, blah blah blah. Hell, some pundits will continue to do it too, some with ignorance and some with no ignorance at all.
February 3, 2018
The rest is history. With FBI Director Wray and his FBI agents also telling Trump NO, we can hope for similar results. I had never heard this story until today.
June 17, 1972: John Ehrlichman orders the FBI investigation of Watergate to be shut down
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/oct/24/how-fbi-bosses-us-presidentsAn FBI supervisor named Daniel Bledsoe was running the major crimes desk at the FBI on the morning of Sunday, 17 June 1972, when he picked up the overnight report of the break-in. He recognised Liddy's name; he had met him at the FBI a decade before. When he heard that the burglars had been caught with eavesdropping equipment, he immediately opened a case under the federal wiretapping statutes. At about four in the afternoon, his secretary answered the phone and told him the White House was calling.
snip
"That's right. I have a mandate from the President of the United States," Ehrlichman said. "The FBI is to terminate the investigation of the break-in." Bledsoe was silent.
"Did you hear what I said?" Ehrlichman thundered. "Are you going to terminate the investigation?"
"No," Bledsoe said."
snip
"That's right. I have a mandate from the President of the United States," Ehrlichman said. "The FBI is to terminate the investigation of the break-in." Bledsoe was silent.
"Did you hear what I said?" Ehrlichman thundered. "Are you going to terminate the investigation?"
"No," Bledsoe said."
The rest is history. With FBI Director Wray and his FBI agents also telling Trump NO, we can hope for similar results. I had never heard this story until today.
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