tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post3050161050705142762..comments2024-03-26T13:46:42.738-05:00Comments on 4 Quarters, 10 Dimes: Continued Stray Thoughts on the Current Political ClimateDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463621516644789183noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-85716099997792302002018-05-21T16:34:06.358-05:002018-05-21T16:34:06.358-05:00You're definitely right about the process requ...You're definitely right about the process required for rehabbing an addiction and the importance of having all three parts. At this point I am not convinced that most Americans are on board with all three parts. Some are. But there is a loud and ignorant segment of the population that is inordinately proud of the fact that they have a gun addiction and neither see it as a problem nor want to fix it.<br /><br />Those are the ones who are willing to "sacrifice" other people's children to preserve their toys.<br /><br />They can all, individually and collectively, shove their favorite firearm(s) deeply into their lower intestines, fully loaded, and go jogging.<br /><br />I'm not sure what the solution is either, but I sure as hell know what it is NOT: putting more guns in the hands of the same idiots who are causing the problem in the first place; doing absolutely nothing; offering blisteringly offensive "thoughts and prayers" to the bereaved. Fuck. That. Sideways.<br /><br />Passion? I can match it.<br /><br />A willingness to look for a solution is the first step. Would that more people would take it.<br /><br />I'll definitely make time to watch John Oliver, then. We live in an age where some of the best news analysts are comedians (Oliver, Jon Stewart, etc.) and some of the most popular "news" sources are jokes.<br /><br />I congratulate you on beating your own addiction, and on understanding what you need to do to keep winning that battle every day. Hat's off to you, sir.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03463621516644789183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-20274830253831525692018-05-21T08:59:26.683-05:002018-05-21T08:59:26.683-05:0020. Having no experience with swine (other than Se...20. Having no experience with swine (other than Senator Dean Heller (Repugthug-NV)) I will bow to your unfortunate aromatic experience. <br /><br />25. More or less, Haslam appears to be in the same political league as monsieur Teabag. Even Faux News describes Greitans as being in a league of his own,<br /><br />On that last bit:<br /><br />As with all addictions, there is a process. First, you have to recognize that the problem exists. Next, you have to admit to yourself that you actually have an addiction. And then, you have to sincerely want to fix it.<br /><br />Unfortunately, without all three of those elements, there ain’t a lot of hope. Even the best of treatment plans are likely to fail if you are not on board and working to beat the addiction. <br /><br />Worse, few of the treatment centers out there are worth the cost of the sign out front. My brother-in-law spent 9 months in rehab and died from a heroin overdose 3 weeks after being declared “cured”. The people who operate those rehab centers appear to be more interested in getting your insurance money than actually helping you beat the addiction. Sober people ain’t worth a dime to those assholes.<br /><br />Coincidentally, John Oliver absolutely went right to the heart of the problem last night:<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWQiXv0sn9Y<br /><br />Well worth the 20 minutes. (Comedy my ass. John has a better handle on the problems in this country than any native-born citizen. This time, this subject, I cried. Actually cried. Hits way to close to where I live.)<br /><br />Beating an addiction on your own is hell. I did it once, but I doubt that I’m strong enough to go through that again, so vigilance is my watchword. I’m afraid my passion on this subject is showing again.<br /><br />Getting back to guns, I’ve quite literally spent years studying and thinking about this, and I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m just not smart enough to see a viable solution. And yet, still, I’m willing to look.<br /><br />LucyLucyInDisguisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08169432604954981941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-91930545205737349972018-05-20T16:20:58.755-05:002018-05-20T16:20:58.755-05:0020. Now that Lauren has turned toward the Swine Pr...20. Now that Lauren has turned toward the Swine Project in 4H, I confess I miss the smell of chickens, turkeys, and even cows. There is nothing as malodorous as pigs. Not even the turkeys.<br /><br />25. I suspect we were talking past each other, then. I saw your comment as saying that Governor Teabagger was worse than Greitans. Oh well.<br /><br />As for the addiction/obsession, I confess that my doctorate is in the liberal arts rather than medicine, but I think you're right here - based on that article I'd say that the American obsession with guns has soured into addiction. You know, I'm not really happy about being right about this. I really don't see much of a way out of it, at least not a way that doesn't get a whole lot worse before it gets better. I'd be happy to be wrong about that, certainly.<br /><br />--<br /><br />*I <i>KNOW!</i> :)Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03463621516644789183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-91386909544187866822018-05-20T09:49:49.976-05:002018-05-20T09:49:49.976-05:00Took me a while to get back to my computer. This w...Took me a while to get back to my computer. This whole weekend is going sideways. I need a year off. 😩<br /><br />4. Many more where those came from. You’ve earned ‘em.<br /><br />11. I share that blog post with every gun nut I run into. Not that it does much good. And, you’d probably have to hold a mini-gun on Jim to get him to take the job …<br /><br />20. Uncle. Seriously. <br /><br />And I worked on a cattle ranch for 2 years. I know a thing or two about those, particularly horrendous, emissions. Like hanging out in a bar with free popcorn and pizza. No, actually, now that I think about it, there isn’t a smell quite like that. <br /><br />24. So let it be written, so let it be done. Or something.<br /><br />25. As written, I interpreted the “moral abdication” bit as a reference to the statements of Bill Haslam, Right (dis)Honorable Governor of the State of Tennessee, not Greitans, hence the comparison. Perhaps, and this is entirely likely, it is possible that I misread that?<br /><br />20. Update: Upon further reflection, turkey farm. Definitely worse.<br /><br />On the addiction vs obsession point: <br /><br />It has actually been a number of years since I had to explain the difference, so I went out and asked god (the internet) to refresh my memory.<br /><br />Obsession deals with … Oh, hell, here’s a very short article that explains this better than I ever could:<br /><br />https://www.addictions.com/blog/addiction-vs-obsession-whats-the-difference/<br /><br />It really is a short article, (about 7 paragraphs or so) and well worth the read. TLDR*: the whole gun thing may, in this country, have passed beyond obsession into actual. addiction. The point on which this turns is behavior resulting in a danger of physical harm to self or others. To wit (from the article):<br /><br /><i>“When a person is addicted to something, like a drug or a behavior, it almost always causes problematic results, especially dangerous or harmful ones that affect the individual and everyone around them.”</i><br /><br />Swap gun for drug and a clearer description of the status quo does not exist, so I’m going to call myself on this one and bow right back at the man with the Ph.D.<br /><br />Will ceases ever wonder? I think not.<br /><br />Lucy<br /><br />* Really? You’re kidding me, right?LucyInDisguisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08169432604954981941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-23962783480560063342018-05-19T14:09:11.985-05:002018-05-19T14:09:11.985-05:00Well, I'm glad I can provide basking material!...Well, I'm glad I can provide basking material! Hopefully not too much misery.<br /><br />4. Gold stars always appreciated. Thanks!<br /><br />5. We have, in certain circumstances. But mostly it's been a more metaphorical and less combat-oriented assault, so I'll stick with contempt, ridicule, and ostracization for now.<br /><br />11. I actually think Jim would be a good president for the NRA. He'd bring that group back to its roots of being an advocate for responsible gun ownership and not a sponsor of domestic terrorism (a switch that happened in the late 1970s). He had a blog post a few years back that basically said you could pass quality gun legislation simply by making the NRA's own official guidelines into federal law. I'd like to see that happen.<br /><br />13. Unfortunately I suspect not. Remember how CPAC had a conference that ended up defending slavery as good for blacks? They were roundly criticized for it, but that's what they say to each other when they think civilized adult humans aren't listening. The modern right wing is built on a foundation of white supremacy (it's not Roe v. Wade that established the New Right in the 1970s, much as they'd like us to think so, but Green v. Connelly) and there is a sizeable chunk of that movement that would dearly love to repeal the 13th Amendment.<br /><br />18. Wouldn't take that bet, no sir. If there is any tasteless, offensive, fuck-you gesture to be conceived of, he's on it like orange on a carrot.<br /><br />20. Come smell our Dairy Air!<br /><br />22. At least the Rosenbergs were motivated by high ideals, however misguided they might have been. This guy is just tawdry down to the bone.<br /><br />24. Understatement! Going for that restrained, arch thing here. :)<br /><br />25. Governor Teabagger, for all of his assaults on everything worthwhile about Wisconsin, is not to my knowledge a misogynistic criminal. His many immoral, shortsighted, cruel and downright counterproductive policies are just that - policies. I have no idea what he is like as a human being, and I rather suspect he isn't like anything much at all - I don't think there's any <i>there</i> there, really. Greitans is a walking turd who needs to be put in jail, a rapist and a thug, and for his fellow Republicans to let that slide in the name of partisan advantage is a crime far worse than merely supporting a right-wing idiot like Walker. <br /><br />35. Now if we're headed into those baths, we need to rethink who's taking them. Let's get to the source of the troubles here. It's the whole "Vogon poetry" thing that Douglas Adams used to talk about. The quote went something like: "Vogon poetry was so bad that it would make you wish you hadn't been born, or if you were a clearer minded thinker, that the Vogon had never been born."<br /><br />38. Sometimes I hit a good one. :) Take it with my blessings.<br /><br />It's a fine line between obsession and addiction, and I'll bow to your expertise on this one. But in either case it is an unhealthy and counterproductive fixation on a device whose sole purpose is to kill people, and no good will come until that fixation is broken.<br /><br />Academics have a weird sense of fun and entertainment - you should know that by now. :)Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03463621516644789183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-62685966926884378532018-05-19T10:44:12.803-05:002018-05-19T10:44:12.803-05:00Also, I love it when you publish these things on F...Also, I love it when you publish these things on Fridays. Gives me the whole of Saturday morning to bask in your glory.<br /><br />And come up with snarky stuff in response. Maybe even some relevant observations. But mostly snark.<br /><br />Misery does so love company?<br /><br />LucyLucyInDisguisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08169432604954981941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-78381004258232753692018-05-19T10:40:58.435-05:002018-05-19T10:40:58.435-05:00This one was fun.*
1. I absolute love Giuliani. S...This one was fun.*<br /><br />1. I absolute love Giuliani. Stan Laurel reincarnated. Not quite as funny, timing al little off, but Stan none the less. Come to think of it, the fat man … no, I couldn’t insult Oliver in that way …<br /><br />4. I would like to add my opinion. <br /><br />Except that would be seriously redundant. A hearty “Hear, Hear!” maybe? Definitely an “attaboy”. In any case, you may take two gold stars out of the box and place them upon your forehead.<br /><br />5. Except that we have been fired upon. And they are using an orange shit cannon.<br /><br />6. It is definitely not just you; sorry.<br /><br />8. Thank god. (Thor and Odin be praised.)<br /><br />11. Jim Wright for President. Of the NRA. (Not really)<br /><br />13. Can the restoration of actual slavery be far behind?<br /><br />18. I’m giving 2:1 that he shows up anyway. It is literally the most inhuman thing he could do.<br /><br />19. Crickets.<br /><br />20. “the Dairy State.” That’s udderly ridiculous.<br /><br />(No, I’m not going to apologize, either.)<br /><br />22. As bad as they were, I do believe that you just mightily insulted Julius & Ethel.<br /><br />24. “interesting”? Really? Couldn’t come up with a better adjective? This is where you usually send me off in search of a dictionary. Level of disappointment just went up a notch. Or two.<br /><br />25. “A clearer moral abdication you will never see.” ReallY??? I give you Governor Teabagger (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Koch Industries). Annnnd, you can keep him, too!<br /><br />27. Why not? Look how well it worked over in Flint. ?<br /><br />35. I’ve had a shower. Didn’t work. Think more like sulfuric acid bath. Or maybe a Lysergic acid diethylamide bath.<br /><br />38. “They talk in ever-narrowing circles until they disappear up their own lower intestines.” I do believe that you outdid yourself on this one, but, in this case, one could only wish that they disappeared up their own lower intestines. The reality is that they just go home, wrap themselves in a flag, and come back and do it again.<br /><br />Also, I am <i><b>sooo</b></i> stealing this.<br /><br />Additionally, as a recovering alcoholic, I believe I have a fairly good handle on addiction, and what is required to break that addiction. The country is not “drunk on guns”.<br /><br />Gunnz are not an addiction. Obsession? Maybe. Psychosis? All too frequently. Definitely NOT an addiction. I do not have anything to contribute as far as solving the problem, short of heavily regulating the objective devices.<br /><br />43. Don’t just leave that here. Print it. Frame it. Hang it prominently at every entrance to every legislative hall in the nation.<br /><br />I am now actually out of hot wings. I return you now to your regularly scheduled whatever.<br /><br />Lucy<br /><br />* Well, maybe not <i>fun</i> in the academic sense, however, most certainly entertaining.**<br /><br />** Well, maybe not <i>entertaining …</i><br />LucyInDisguisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08169432604954981941noreply@blogger.com