denis_p

Very nicely done, D'Artangon!  Can you do Cruz or the Huckster next? 

Let us be perfectly frank here: Even to Donald Trump, Trump's candidacy is a farce.
 
He likes to call names, play games, make up "simple and intelligent" solutions to complex problems and he thinks that full on dictators like Putin will take him seriously.  He is little more than a very smart carnival barker with some experience in the real estate game.  His understanding of government only extends to what he "thinks" the executive branch of the United States government is.  He has no idea of the political acumen required to get even a simple, common sense, imminently necessary bill through congress, even with a congress made up of allies instead of ideological opponents.
 
Let us remember what is on this man's resume for the temp job he hasn't even filled out the necessary applications for, as of this posting.  He has a very popular reality television show where the premise is he gets to fire people.  So he is basically already killing jobs, professionally.  He has raised buildings using other peoples money and puts his name on them.  Which is akin to either plagiarism or stealing a scientific paper.  He's filed for bankruptcy several times,  yet he tells the world that he is worth over $9 billion US Dollars.  He complains that other politicians can't fill a room, yet he hired actors and basically bribed people off the street with T-shirts to get people into his announcement speech.
 
This man actually was a paid performer for the WWE.  Allegations have come out, that I am still seeking verification of, that he dodged the draft.  This man changes political parties like some people change socks.  In the last presidential election, He first opposed, then backed Mitt Romney, and after the election was lost, he threw Mitt Romney under the bus.  This is not the team player or even team leader the Republican party needs.
 
People who know me, know I am a centrist with some liberal leanings and some conservative leanings.  I think it is good for the country as a whole when both parties, while keeping their unique identities, work together.  Believe it or not, both sides want change and have their own ideas about what changes are needed.  There has been resistance to opposing views with such vehemence of late that it almost seems reactionary.  Which saddens me.  However, I think even my Republican/Conservative friends can agree that this "candidate" is only out for himself.  He has always been talk and bluster, lacking substance of any sort or any idea of what actual policy might be.  He has put his name in for political office before only to withdraw when he has to debate with actual politicians, who will chew him up and spit him out like a little school boy caught cheating on a quiz. 
 
Brass is not gold, Mr. Trump.  Your record shows you are full of hot air, cheap shine on cheaper product, and that you change your positions on the whim of what you think people want to hear.  Beating up Rosy O'Donnel in the media doesn't mean you've won an intellectual championship.  A man of your supposed intelligence should know that you don't eat New York Pizza in the open with a fork, and never with Sarah Palin (Its the green eggs and ham rule, you should know better).  And honestly, whom do you believe you are fooling with that billion dollar comb over hyper weird brain covering oddity you refer to as a hairstyle? 
 
He's as phony a candidate as he is at everything else he does.  How he manages to keep billions of dollars, a sense of self respect, the respect of anyone he's not paying, for that matter, is completely beyond me.  Part of me wants him to stay in the race and have the other Republicans cut him to shreds so he will finally go away.  Part of me wants him to stay in it so he can waste millions of his own fortune, only to realize he's way out of his league.  Part of me wants his candidacy to be a short cut for someone else in the Republican nomination pack to emerge as a clear, logical, thoughtful, intelligent, persuasive, capable leader who can make the party no longer the joke it's become of late.
 
Yeah, part of me wants to see all that.  But the more sane and sensible part of me just wants this buffoon to go away.  You stain the process, sir, with your idiocy and flash.  You cheapen the office you claim to run for, and the other candidates, by not being serious and simply looking for attention.  In short, Mr. Trump, please desist.  You haven't got it in you, and with any common sense at all, the whole country will realize it.  You can't tell Putin "you're fired" and expect him to take you seriously.  You can't claim China is stealing all our jobs when your clothing line is produced there.  You can't claim the American Dream is dead (with respect to the recent loss of Dusty Rhodes) while you're living high on the hog.  You can't expect to lead Americans when you consider them so far beneath you.  Even Darryl Issa knows that wont fly.
 
Thoughts, anyone?

9 Peppermint Pies
 
 
This is one of my favorite holiday treats.  Easy to make and incorporates a bit of violence, on a small scale.
You will need:
 
1  Premade Grahme Cracker Pie Crust
2  3.3 oz  Boxes of Instant Pudding/Pie Filling (vanilla, French vanilla or white chocolate work best)
2 3/4 cups of cold half & half
ether 4 to 8 normal sized candy canes (peppermint type)
or one 6 inch segment of thick candy cane (the straight type with no hook, typically about an inch across)
Ziploc bag or clean dish rag/hand towel
rolling pin
hammer - yes, hammer.
shaved coconut or almond bark - optionals
 
Typically, I'll use the white chocolate type pie filling.  It's more seasonal.  Mix it using Half & Half to help the filling be thicker as it sets.  Often I'll put the mixing bowl, beaters and the pie shell in the freezer about twenty minutes before making the filling, to chill things down.  Pour the filling into the pie crust and put into the freezer or refrigerator,
 
While the pie filling is setting, take the candy canes and bust them up in the ziploc bag or hand towel.  Use the hammer to break up the bigger chunks and then the rolling pin to pulverize them a bit more.  It is okay to have different sized chunks, but a good amount of crumbs works well.  When you have the candy canes fairly reduced, get the pie crust out of the cooling device and spread the crumbs over the top of the pie evenly.  They will settle into the pie filing, partly dissolving as they sink in.  this will take about half an hour more in the freezer or fridge.
 
When you are ready to serve, sprinkle more candy cane crumbles or coconut shavings on top.  You could also shave slivers of almond bark on top with the edge of a knife, just scrape the surface and let the shavings fall onto the pie.  You can even use multiple types of toppings together. 
 
Also, I found these additional peppermint candy enhances treat ideas.  Enjoy!
http://www.makeandtakes.com/were-adding-crushed-peppermint-candies-to-almost-everything
 
Don't Forget to check back daily until christmas for new treats
and don't Forget on Christmas Morning Forum Members get a very Special Treat 
Check it out in 

(clap)    

I realize that this is an old topic, but I hope no one minds if I resurrect it.  

I remember reading the "Joe-My-God" article about Steve King.  Personally, I think he's a buffoon who doesn't belong in Congress.  He's an embarrassment to the state of Iowa and he does nothing but drag down the, at present, meager reputation of Congress as a whole.  Ted Yoho from Florida and Minnesota's former representative, Michelle Bachmann also fit into that category.

I am a gladly lapsed Catholic.  In fact, at this point in my life, I have no use for organized religion at all.  I believe the harm religions have caused far outweigh any benefits they provide.  I'm not sure that I'd call myself an atheist, but I doubt that there even IS a "heaven."  It boggles my mind that some folks NEED the promise of a reward (heaven) or eternal punishment (hell) in order to be a good person.  I just do not buy the claim by some that ALL morality comes from religion, and that atheists are incapable of establishing a sense of morality without some guy in a goofy hat telling them what to do.  So, Steve King may be right.  There may be no gays in heaven.  But there won't be anyone else there either since it doesn't exist.  I'd like to believe that where we are right now is our heaven or hell, depending on what we make of it.

As for Republicans, the last one I voted for was Reagan, but in my defense, I was young and my votes reflected the "guidance" I was getting from those around me.  It wasn't until I was in the Army, and experiencing the world outside my little piece of the planet, that I started to see things from a different perspective.  I started to realize that Republican policies of enriching the wealthy, which would then benefit the rest of us, were nothing but a horrible fallacy.  It was a lie in the 1980's, and it's still a lie now, 35 years later.  The only vote I've ever cast that I regretted was the second one for Reagan.  

Several posters here have stated that they are Republicans but they don't accept the "rap" they get about being anti-gay or racist.  That may very well be true, and I applaud your open-minded positions, but those elected officials, and those R's running for office very often do.  As someone who is looking at the Republican party from the outside, those seem to be the folks who are currently running the party, namely Tea Party "patriots" and Evangelical Christians.  I think these people have WAY too much power, and the party, as a whole, will not recover until they lose the bulk of this influence.  I believe Eric Aune said much the same thing.  But, these people seem to be in charge, and one look at the Republican party platform for the last few election cycles proves not only their opposition to gay rights, but their animus toward the LGBT community as a whole.  Some of you folks here may not hold those biased views, but those you vote for, in fact, do.

Some Republicans will say that just because they want to "protect traditional marriage" doesn't mean that they're anti-gay.  Well, yes it does.  The result is the same.  By fighting against gays and lesbians realizing all of the benefits and responsibilities of marriage, they are sentencing them, and their families, to a second class citizenship.  And this resistence mostly seems to stem from a few lines in a book that has been translated and "interpreted" (read bastardized) multiple times to fit the ideology of men in the search for power.  The word "homosexual" didn't even exist until the 1870's when it was coined by, I believe, a German psychiatrist or psychologist.  I recently had a "discussion" with a religious zealot who was steadfast in his assertion that the word appears in his King James version of the bible which he says was written in 1671.  How could a word that didn't exist appear in something written 200 years prior to its coming into existence?  So, if this bible has been manipulated to serve someone else's agenda, isn't it possible that nothing in there should be taken as the literal word of "God?"

And that brings us back to the Republicans.  This current gaggle of Republican presidential "contenders" is chock full of zealots and theocrats who slyly imply that they would govern not by the secular documents that founded this country, but by that book of questionable heritage.

I hope I've not offended anyone as that is not my intention, but I would welcome any comments.

Yeah, they'll all be standing behind me, all right. With knives, swords and other sharp pointy things!!
 
 
You forget... I edit for all those guys!
 

YEAAAAHHHH... about time.... 

YEAAAAHHHH... about time.... 

Benji and I just got back from our local Relay for Life event.  For those that do not know, Relay is a walk-a-thon style fund raiser that typically has all sorts of minor carnival type things going on.  Balloons, volley ball nets, area vendors setting up food booths and donating time and funds, Pipe and Drum brigades, live bands, and the solemn reminder of all those who have fallen to cancer.  It's a great event, and me and the Kat both got to take whacks at a dinged up car with sledge hammers (it is such a stress reliever to be able to beat the crap out of something with a 16 pound hunk of unforgiving steel).
 
The event usually ends with the Luminaria, a ring of glowing bags around the track.  Each bag has a candle inside, and is inscribed with the name of someone who has left us while fighting cancer.  It is a sad, solemn moment, but one filled with hope that one day, we wont need to have such events.
 
I have lost two in my time on this world to cancer.  One who I cherished who was as close as I'll likely ever see to being a son, and one I thought I knew but only understood after he was gone, that being my Dad.  I know we're funded by donations here, but I ask that you look to your own families, your own friends.  If there's something small you can do to help the Relay folks, or any of the many, worthy cancer charities out there, please do.  You never know when it might be you or one of your own that may need the cure we all hope for. 
 
May that cure come soon.  Stay Purple, Stay Strong, Fight to the End.
 

Benji,
 
I do not know about others, but I for one want you to do anything you want as long as you continue to write and then share what you will with the rest of us...
 
Though sharing would always be great... Writing... especially YOUR writing is what is important in the long run... for as I said earlier...
 
 

Benji...
 
I want to let you know how moved I was reading your story... I really liked it... and I wanted to thank you for sharing it with us all.
 
If you are not a Author you SHOULD BE!!!

Benji...
 
I want to let you know how moved I was reading your story... I really liked it... and I wanted to thank you for sharing it with us all.
 
If you are not a Author you SHOULD BE!!!

Benji...
 
I want to let you know how moved I was reading your story... I really liked it... and I wanted to thank you for sharing it with us all.
 
If you are not a Author you SHOULD BE!!!

This one based on a dream I had...
 
THE CAMP
 
There it was, right in front of me. The high grey stone walls mocking me with their very existence. It was a place I had read about in a story. A story I had thought was fiction, despite the person who the story was about telling me it wasn’t.
 
I had talked with him online, fallen in love with him at some point. He had served time in a juvenile detention camp. The way he had described it had been unbelievable to me. Why, if it really was as he had described, they would agree to give tours or allow visitors to this place I had no idea. I was about to find out. Furthermore, I had to know what I was fighting against.
 
We, the visitors, stood in endless lines waiting to get in to see someone. Each of us likely there to see someone different. Me, I was there just for a tour. The person who I would have seen hadn’t been there in over 10 years. And he had been dead for almost 4. But I wanted to know, no, I HAD to know what exactly he had gone through during his time at this mysterious youth camp.
 
And so I waited in the endless lines, flashing my I-D upon request. My jacket did little to stiffle the onslaught of the howling wind.
 
When I finally got through the door, I had almost expected to find an enclosed area or rows of tents or something. I had thought it would be like a camp. But no, it was nothing like that.
 
The ground was completely barren, various things that were little more than simple lean-tos set up in long rows. There were kids anywhere from 14 to 18 chained to stakes in the ground like they were dogs. Occasionally down the rows there was a wooden wall like the wall of a stable or something, but it would only be the one wall. Two forming a L on the end caps of each row.
 
I made my way through the rows, an armed guard with me at all times clutching his G36C in a military ready position. We walked all the way to the last row on the end furthest from where we started. There it was, an empty stall. Empty for now. This was supposedly where he had been held during his time here.
 
I couldn’t believe it, I was staring it in the face and I couldn’t process it mentally. For one thing, places like this weren’t just fiction dreamed up on the internet as I had thought all this time. For another, He had actually beeen here. He had stayed in this small lean to with 2 walls and a tarp for a roof. It was strange, and people generally don’t believe me when I say this but I could feel His presence. It was as if He was trying to reassure me from the beyond this world that it would be okay.
I took a deep breath and gulped, looking over at my ‘companion’ before speaking up, “I have seen all I need to.” The guard nodded and escorted me to the exit. The feeling of hopelessness and shame coming off the kids who were in there would haunt me for a very long time. It was almost a physical thing that manifested itself in their eyes and in the way they stood in their voices as they spoke what few words they dared among themselves.
 
I couldn’t reach the exit to that place fast enough, and I picked up my pace a little bit feeling eyes on me from all sides. Their stares penetrated me, saw through me to every shameful thing I had ever done. The armed guard of course matched my pace.
 
I waded my way back through the guard stations and security check points back to the parking lot. When I got there, my boyfriend was waiting for me. The gates shut behind me, the guard long gone left behind at the entrance.
 
I collapsed into my boyfriends arms, sobbing. “Oh, God... How could they... How DARE they...” My questions were never fully expressed, but they didn’t need to be. There had to be some kind of law against what was going on here, didn’t there? Not, apparently, in this universe.
 
“Shhh... It will be okay.” My boyfriend cooed in my ear softly, stroking fingers through my hair and occasionally brushing past my ear gently tickling the skin there. “It will be okay.” He reitterated firmly and with such care and surety that I had to believe that at some point it WOULD be okay.
 
We got in his car and drove away from there, not looking back. This terrible place that they used to house children. It was reminiscent of one of those camps you hear about from World War 2. We would be back sooner or later. We would have to return to shut this place down. 
 
Had the kids in the camp done wrong? Probably. Did they deserve the kind of treatment they were getting in this place? Nobody deserved that.
 
I took a look over my shoulder at the large grey stone walls that faded into the distance. I didn’t know what supposed crime these kids had committed, but this punishment was too extreme.
 
 And I knew the next time I saw them it would be as a conqueror. A liberator of the innocent and the not so innocent that may be there.

In days long gone by, people actually used to sit in their living room and tell each other stories. These stories were generally oral traditions handed down. Perhaps in some cases they were based on dreams or perhaps based on actual events that happened.
 
This could be a story about what you did during your day or about anything you can imagine. Try to keep it relatively short.

seahawks...
 
                                     Seahawks... 
 
SEAHAWKS...
 
REPEAT... REPEAT... REPEAT!!!
 
 
GO SEAHAWKS!!!

Thinking 'about Disney World'...  

No... it makes you smart... and shows your good taste...

You said it...  D' Artagnon... It is what I've alway said...
 
We have the same thing here in the Pacific NW... Every time we get just a little snow every NUT out there thinks they can drive in snow... so they go out there and prove how stupid they really are...
 
I've always said that just once I would like to see it snow 3 feet and last for 3 months so the idiots will go out and try to drive in it... where they end up crashing their car... where they overload the local body shops causing a 3 month back up... So they are without a car... leaving the streets open and free for those of us that really do know how to drive in the stuff... [40 years + of driving up to the local Ski area with out one accident to prove it.]
 
This is sooo true... especially true for those citified idiots that have four wheel drive... they are the first ones to go out and prove how much of a idiot they are... well at least here...
Down in Southern California... the same happens but with them it is the rain they can not drive in...
 
Yes snow is lovely... but only if you are sitting at home or in the lodge in front of a nice real log fire drinking a mug of good Hot Chocolate or 'Royal Dutch Coffee' [blue Mountain Coffee with dark chocolate and a splash of Raspberry syrup]... Yummmm

yeah the like o meter sucks!  simple as that! LOL 

I agree, D'Artagnon. Tom Brady said he did not cheat and in my opinion he is innocent until proven guilty. It is pretty bad when the whole thing was the first story on the news last night. That is one reason we also watch BBC news. You get a lot more international news. Americans have such a "America-centric" view at times.

When people forget that all religion is properly about SELF-GOVERNANCE by each individual,  and try to make it into political governance of other people, we are going to have problems, and the brand of religion is immaterial.  If you wish for me to follow your religion, set me an example I will want to follow.  If you threaten me or attempt to force me, you do so at your own physical AND moral peril.
 
I have traveled extensively in Latin America and in Europe and have in nearly all cases been treated with cordiality and congeniality.  A waiter in Spain tried to pick a quarrel with me about Ronald Reagan one time; in spite of being a life-long Democrat and no fan of the Republican Idol, I replied "He is my commander-in-chief.  I will not argue with any foreigner about any elected American leader.  I am here for a pleasant dinner.  Desist."  People of many nationalities seated at other tables in the establishment cheered and applauded.  In another instance in Acapulco where a table of Americans embarrassed me by being obnoxiously drunk and free-handed with the waitresses, I left the girls an exceptional tip and told them, "We are not all like that."  They all grinned and thanked me, and told me it was a pretty regular thing for people on vacation, wherever they were from.
 
I appreciate Dennis P.'s quote; it is one of my favorites also.  I am embarrassed by the lengths our government has gone to with spying and re-regulating everything from banking to flying to firearms purchases as a result, all in the name of "security".  I think it is a shame that our schools do not have ranges and armories and required instruction in marksmanship and firearms safety and maintenance. I think we should be vigilant about explosives on public transportation, but personal weapons, rather than being forbidden, should be encouraged.  I think the intelligence agencies of western nations should combine forces to locate and kill all members of terrorist organizations.  Those who would bomb or shoot as a result of expression of opinion need to just be eliminated, in the same way as any rabid animal is, quickly.  Those who blow up buildings in America or shoot soldiers in Great Britain or shoot up a magazine publisher in France or murder school boys and abduct school girls in Nigeria need to just be found and put instantly to death.  Consistently.  There needs to be an understanding that such individuals and groups are not permitted on our planet.  Religion is not a sufficient excuse.  Nothing is.  

I'm proud to be a Canadian fr several reason, one we invented making love in a canoe,   two we gave you curling, three we have the beaver, and apoligise for the Bieber, four we apologize a lot, five we where a toque not a stocking hat, six we are allowed to own guns, and don't have to many issues. seven we can drink americans under the table, our beer is much stronger.   eight we spell correctly a doughnut is a doughnut not a donut, colour favourite and honour, not to mention a few other words. 9 this # is a number sign not a hash tag, hash is something you eat, and tag is a game you play… Ok I'm being goofy but I'm allowed to. and ten most of Americas best actors and movies are filmed in Canada even if they say they are in Seattle!  Sorry if I offended anyone and sorry for saying sorry to much it's just how we are in Canada sorry if it offends you.  And as we like to say: "American beer is like making love in a canoe…. It's Fucking close to water!"  Oh and there are more Tim Hortons then McDonalds in Canada and it's named after a famous hockey player,  Poutine is a national food and they are called chips not fries and we use malt vinegar instead of ketchup on our chips and it's good!  Yes I am Proud to be a Canadian even though Harper is an ass and trying to act like we need a bigger army! and for what? Half of Vancouver and Toronto are terrorists! And we don't have any problems with them!  Sorry once again I'm just rambling I do apoligize for that. Sorry it wont happen again        ok i'm off t shoot some more of the vermin army the keep deserting me  I think I need a new job  

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
 
 
Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759      

Ken, as Grand Vizier you can probably get away with that. Me, I'm a lowly knight, barely allowed into the royal audience hall. One false step and I'll be assigned to patrolling the swamps and keeping the trolls at bay. Plus, my sword is as dull as a butter knife - the quartermaster did not have confidence in my sword-swinging skills. Okay, so I dropped it a couple of times trying to get it into the holder thingy, and yes, maybe I did nick his ear a little when he got too close, but the bleeding stopped right away, and - well, I think he looks better with one ear shorter than the other. We can't all go through life perfectly symmetrical. It's boring. I'm sure I did him a favor. So why did he take that shiny sword away and give me this one, which weighs a ton. And it took me nearly a week to scrape off the rust and who knows what else was on it. Some of that was gross, man. But, hey, I almost have the hang of it I think, and I don't walk so crooked anymore from the weight of it around my waist. I can even lift it all the way over my head if I use two hands, so if my enemy is right in front of me, and holds perfectly still, I can probably deliver a strong blow - if the wind is just right. Baby steps, right? Everybody has to start somewhere, right?