and Russia has retaken the Crimea. What to think, say or do? Firstly, it was very nice of Mr Putin to wait until after the Olympics to invade a neighbouring, autonomous, country. After all, when you are going to do something drastic, best to put on a nice public relations show first. Bread and Circuses for the masses, backed up with a little tank action.
But the cranky conservatives that I still enjoy listening too, as they are so often correct in theory and wrong in practise, stole the whole opinion thing with the title of their podcast, Crimea River. [Now if you go there, don’t shoot the messenger. I cannot now remember which humorous pundit mentioned this, but it stuck with me: what he said was that he tried not to listen to things he agreed with because that just stoked his fury and confirmed his biases, but when he listened to things he thought he disagreed with it informed his opinions much better. At the least it helped him understand how his seeming opponents framed their argument so he could communicate better his different understanding, or it actually changed his mind. Now oddly, I used to agree much more wholeheartedly with the conservative mind set, but I do not think in terms of opponents or winning and while I now disagree with some of their thinking I still enjoy listening to what they think and have experienced, and since they do it mostly with good humour, it is an added bonus. It will be much more irritating to American ears, especially those who side with the Democrats. And that is a fault of the podcasters. They see a political solution in supporting the Republicans, but so much of their frustration comes from the party system, that again I would have to say that the country is much too big to govern. And amongst all this, you legalized pot before us, proving that local government is the best way to go. Ah what a hornets’ nest.]
But where I do agree is this. There is nothing particular that can be done about this from the west. And that is probably a good thing in the long run.
Which leads us back to the ostrich question. When do you need to know something? I did explain to Mikey, as we were bored to tears by the Olympic closing ceremonies, to remember that we were watching a closed society, and that those performers lead a controlled life and that it was all a show in which Putin was the star as the endless anthem played on and on as if it were a great work of Soviet composition.
Had Americans elected a more firm, less flexible, president, then this might not have happened. But the world is too full of tyrants for America to be the policeman. It is untenable. Thank god for oceans is about my feeling. I would think that North America should somehow agree on having a great Navy and Coast Guard, and I am okay with defensive missiles too. Having seen the map of u boats in the St. Lawrence, I am still a little freaked out by the extent of the German invasion. And the Japanese tried to set the Prairies alight. There just are and were bad people out there. But stop Russia from regaining its only fresh water port? When most of the population speaks Russian?
Bah humbug. Now if it turns out this was just the beginning of Putin trying to re-establish the USSR, then that is a horse of a different colour.
I wouldn’t put it past him. Maybe then the west could show a strong rebuke, like not inviting Putin to some summit or something, for a token month of fake censure. I gather not attending a G8 meeting in Sochi next summer has been touted, but I expect the accommodations are lovely, and a reason to play detente will assure that no caviar is left un-snorkled from the trough of appeasement.
I still end up defending going to war against Hitler, which I find tiresome. Aiding and abetting his attempted genocide was a gross shame on many countries, Canada included. That he was coddled and believed, and that Chamberlain could have been so stupid as to declare Peace in Our Time, is horrific to look back on. But once you have a tyrant, they are a little tricky to depose. And Putin, everyone loves to forget, was the head of the KGB in the old Soviet Union. He remembers a lot and has forgiven nothing and enjoys his power immensely. Why people expect him to behave nicely is beyond me. America evil? Maybe, but take a number.
So there you have it, Xty’s foreign policy digest: something happened, we can’t and shouldn’t do anything about it, and if people had only taken proper, principled, steps, many ages ago, none of this could have happened. Now where is that sand so I can stick my head back in it, just like Mikey used to do.
I think she just called me a Jap? Seriously though, never heard that one.
And as for #3- brilliant.
Maybe- Do, do, go tumidly into that good night
Rage, rage, against the dying of the might.
I usually dislike daylight saving time- it’s just not natural and when you get to my age, you might not have enough energy to enjoy that extra hour of daylight anyway. But today I enjoyed the benefit of the sun coming up “later” so I could catch this.
and this
OK, so I just had a long and cleverly written post about Russia/Ukraine/Crimea, with a comment about silver to boot, go up in smoke on me as soon as I hit “post comment”.
I won’t rewrite it. The short version is “ignore all of it”. And truth be told, the short version of pretty much anything is usually the best version.
More tea.
And…Good Morning!
let’s start off by shooting the messenger for the goofy error message.
yes Putin despite his fine INTJ qualities, is no saint. but in his shoes (empathy) i would have done the same.
i am going to put a positive spin on it. maybe this marks the beginning of the end of the meddling and nation building that none of us voted for, but paid for in our taxes, and also in our grand children’s living standard. and the end of the hypocrisy.
nice photos again Dude.
sorry for the setback EO.
more coffee, and guten Morgen!
Wow, awesome pics Dude. what a pretty place.
As for the Ukraine theater, indeed Xty B, nothing much can be done from the West that wasn’t already done in coordination with at least one from the west.
The media’s ability to push my buttons by left -vs- right, or party a -vs- party b packaging ended long ago. and it’s been rather ‘clarifying(?)’
Ukraine (following up on Syria) was a staged Putin and Frank Jr. infomercial to again show great Russian political/military strength and U.S.A. weakness.
The wife and I NetFlixed this a couple of years ago, and now the fruit is being born… their “plan” is finallly coming together
http://www.obamasrealfather.com
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Sarah Palin calling for, and getting, his firing before summer is over.
No sand here, but now we’ve had a couple of warm days, so in a week i’ll have plenty of pollen to bury my head in… it’s always something!! lol
Conservatives’ Bizarre Obsession With Uncovering Obama’s “Real” Father
Chart: Almost Every Obama Conspiracy Theory Ever
Will the Latest Obama Conspiracy Help Him Win Ohio?
The Debunker’s Guide to Obama Conspiracy Theories
nah, i don’t drink either flavor of that kool-aid.
just saw the documentary, which if nothing else showed that mama spent much naked/alone time with Frank Sr.
Frank Sr. published books with her pics in them, way back then. Next B.O. grows up and looks almost exactly like Frank Sr.
lol, i wasn’t trying to push the E.O. button, although i think it’s an anti-‘politician’ button rather than a particular flavor, but apologies if i’m mistaken.
I have nothing personal against him, whoever he is.
But given the documentary facts, the Syria and Ukraine thing have played out as would be expected.
Give it an honest, agnostic look..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6jrrnkKmUzo
imo it fits right in with the article,
but now i’ve been called to spaghetti, dinner is ready!!! gotta go!
“This fascinating narrative is based in part on 2 years of research, interviews, newly unearthed footage and photos, and the writings of Davis and Obama himself. Dreams from My Real Father weaves together the proven facts with reasoned logic in an attempt to fill-in the obvious gaps in Obama’s history. Is this the story Barack Obama should have told, revealing his true agenda for “fundamentally transforming America?” Director Joel Gilbert concludes, “To understand Obama’s plans for America, the question is ’Who is the real father?’”
or you could just smoke a little weed.
Ra lives.
Peter Tosh is he really the long lost son of Bob Marley!! A Jamaican… the national flag of which uses the same exact colors of the Yellowman Zungalungzung CD!! or maybe even just close?!
No weed… will some Blackberry Shine suffice?
nuff a dem a ask me how me have nuff girlfriend, true
arguments, I have nuff arguments, Lord!
Arguments, I have nuff arguments
me enter in the house of parliament
prime minister and his wife haffe keep silent
a true Yellowman a chat intelligent...
Why aren’t we all in a giant beach house right now?? good times… ocean sounds and scenes… no place to go, no “HAVE” to do’s… good stuff
INFP Depression Issue, by an INFP (i think) lady who is very nice.
Notice how nice and caring she is, whereas me (ENTP) might care just as much and want to help explain this just as much… but would come across like a lecturing jerk. Nice lady…
Earthquakes… interesting.
I am glad to see a fist fight didn’t break out. My outsiders take on Obama is that he must have a terrible university transcript and there is something hidden there that he should have simply dealt with openly. And his mother sounds like a disaster of selfishness so Obama’s desire for approval is easy to understand. No matter what happens it will fit someone’s bizarre theory, as long as the timelines are shifted, and we will never know much more than we already do. It is certainly obvious that he was not raised by his putative father. But this is not a good place to figure this out, obviously, as rancour will enter the halls of the lighthouse and we will still fail.
Now if we were in a beach house somewhere, maybe we could succeed! That is how we could all meet someday – rent a villa in the Bahamas and chill, on a neutral country’s sandy soil, once we figure out how to finance it all.
I would fix the link, but I don’t think EO’s blood pressure could stand it. Suffice it to say I still go to a web site called Ricochet, where the intelligentsia of the American right hang out, and it was their main podcast I was linking to.
Now to find out about depression, which I am concerned I might actually be kind of suffering from, despite my ability to rally. Today it is going to be above freezing though, so that might help.
And Good Morning.
Good Morning
Xty, I looked at your 10 day forecast on weather.com, hoping to see warm weather for you.
after what I saw, I think the only help I can provide is to keep posting beach house stories, and keep the conversation warm and friendly.
to that end, here’s a quick story that was a big eye-opener for me…. About 4 years ago I did such a huge clean out that a Yard Sale wouldn’t handle it, so I rented a big storage unit at a flea market and in 8 weekends I trucked/sold enough “stuff” to outfit a planet full of gypsies.
Everything sold no matter how low I had to go. I wanted rid of this stuff and sold it all. Except Books.
I had encyclopedias, novels, ALL kinds of books, and could not sell ONE!
Now fast forward a few months and I’m at the United States Post Office Auction in Atlanta. It’s huge. it’s where all lost or non-addressed items in the U.S. are sold. I was there to bid on the Silver and Gold and nothing else. (no more flea market ammo for me)
So i’m at the auction before the bidding starts and walking through the warehouse looking at all the random lots of stuff. Amidst everything else were probably 10 big crate boxes filled with random books. “Good Luck selling those I thought,… they’ll probably have to burn ’em…”
So we’re all back in the little auditorium with our lists of items, and the auction starts… lot 1, then 2, then 3, etc… and then they get to a number that was one of those crates of books, and the auctioner started the bidding at like a thousand dollars!! But before I could laugh somebody quickly bid! then another and another 5, 6, 7,000 7,500. My mind was blown. I even ducked out and went and checked that I was looking at the same crates of random books.
Some of these crates of books went for over 10,000 bucks.
One guy that kept bidding up to about 5,000 was sitting close to me. He never got a crate of books, but he bid on all of them. Finally I couldn’t stand it and had to ask his buddy that was sitting closer to me… “Why in the world are you guys bidding on those book crates?” and in a few minutes I got quite an education. The bidder guy is about 25 years old and he’s a millionaire. Selling used books on Amazon is all he does. (they had driven to Atlanta from the East coast just for this auction)
That’s what all those that were bidding on them do. (<–as Xty cringes at that sentence!)
The boxes and boxes of gold jewelry sold for about 100k per box to guys who own chains of pawn shops, but that didn't even matter. After my weeks of selling everything imaginable EXCEPT books, which I concluded were impossible to sell, I had just had one of the biggest bizarre experiences of my life. But it made sense after they explained it to me.
An old warehouse, buy books in bulk and stick them on amazon. Kid Millionaire has one employee who lists and ships the books. Who woulda thunk it? I was days processing this..
I just had a similar moment when wifey and I were watching 'House Hunters'. where home buyers are shown 3 properties and we are supposed to guess which one they ended up buying.
So here were these 2 guys looking to buy an entire Island resort in Fiji. and they set out showing them the first island. It was a big island, with coral blue perfect beaches. (although my Puerto Rican friend says it's not polite to talk about beaches, and that I should refer to them as "ladies")
anyway, big island, the weather is perfect, it's a paradise. maybe 50 acres, with 30 or 40 nice little Fijian vacation cabins,… how much for the whole paradise island, including the properties? 2 million, "2" Million dollars, that's it, for everything.
I was getting that weird Postal Auction feeling all over again, except in reverse.
What'll you have for your 2 million?- A developed, livable, luxury, paradise island?… Or 200 or so crates of old used books?
Well, I say the island, but maybe I just don't get it. Hey, do islands in Fiji have lighthouses? hmmm….
(oh, and the lady explaining INFP depression in yesterday’s video….she is an INFJ. my edit time had expired)