Comments on: Entitlement Reform, Please

By: heru-ur

heru-ur — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 23:30:58 +0000

I went from 307 to 210 several years ago and then held at 225 for a long, long time until an accident prevented me from exercising. This time I’ll stick with diet only.

I eat all I want as long as it is lean meat, fruits, and non-starchy vegetables plus a few nuts once in a while. No sugar, starch, cereal grains, legumes, or processed foods. As a hillbilly, I miss pinto beans the most. (I truly am just poor white trash)

Well, see all later — I must really get to reading now.

By: cocktailhag

cocktailhag — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 23:23:22 +0000

Congratulations, Heru. It’s very tough to lose weight, but my theory is that mirrors actually help, especially near the refrigerator. (and in another five pounds or so, they will become a big encouragement….)

By: cocktailhag

cocktailhag — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 23:20:18 +0000

I always leave my glasses at the door, WT….

By: heru-ur

heru-ur — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 23:20:12 +0000

I can not rule out a golden age in China because Lao Tzu refers to one that was ancient even in his day. Most view this age as myth, but I can not say if it was a myth of Lao Tzu’s or not. But, I think I can safely rule out any golden age in the western world. Certainly not the 14th or 15th centuries.

On the other had perhaps there was a tiny area in the Languedoc region of France and some other parts of Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries that had a “golden age” but the pope and the king of France put an end to that. (the Cathars were destroyed)

Come to think of it, if one can define the area small enough there has been a few “golden ages” of man. Unfortunately, they have been destroyed by other men each time.

And so it goes, as a famous pundit liked to say.

(and off I go to read a little on my latest book; my but micro-biology has progressed in the last decade)

By: cocktailhag

cocktailhag — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 23:18:57 +0000

They are far more virulently anti-gay (and every other minority) than I am anti-South, and please quit whining about ONE SENTENCE in a much more nuanced post; it’s unbecoming and Palin-like of you to continue to do so. You need to understand what a culture like that looks like to an outsider who has had to live with the likes of Jesse Helms and Strom Thurmond, and about a hundred other imitators all these years. I’ve met many Southerners that I like and admire, but their votes don’t count for much down there.

By: cocktailhag

cocktailhag — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 23:12:38 +0000

Obviously, I was speaking metaphorically, but the South’s chip on its shoulder really gets my goat, as do their politicians, their racism, and proud ignorance. I’m generalizing, of course, but their poisonous thinking has infected the whole country, and when Bush got “elected” I couldn’t help but question who ended up winning that war.

By: William Timberman

William Timberman — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 22:54:05 +0000

Especially if we’re talking about the supposedly golden age of the 14th and 15th centuries, when the entire south coast of europe was depopulated by North African raiders, and its villagers sent off to row the Ottoman galleys. Venice and Spain returned the favor, of course, and the whole miserable mess went on for another century, even after the battle of Lepanto, until sailing technology advanced far enough to make galleys more trouble than they were worth.

By: heru-ur

heru-ur — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 22:24:58 +0000

I thought that you would notice my typo (boarders v. borders) although both seem to work in the sentence.

Oddly, I just went on a diet and I am 4 weeks into it. Down 11 pounds and only 51 to go. Please have hag hide the mirrors until I am at 210 again.

By: William Timberman

William Timberman — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 22:13:27 +0000

I usually like to think of myself as a sail, not an anchor, but at my age, this is possible only if you stay away from mirrors. (I’ll have to speak to the Hag about the full length spectacle which ambushes the unsuspecting as they enter the CHNN powder room.)

By: heru-ur

heru-ur — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 21:01:01 +0000

Thanks co-anchor. (I was done, but you invited)

I think little governments (or ones of any size) can be very brutal just as you point out. The more powerful the government, however, the more it can project brutality outside its boarders. This would seem hard to argue against. In my lifetime, the USA has done some horrible things and I would like to see the USA at peace for a few decades — but empires are never at peace. What now? Well, a breakup seems the only way out.

Over to you if you want. …