Monday, January 21, 2008

Winter Frost

Posted by Mickey Z on 01/21 at 04:22 PM

  2. “I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.”

    We are butterflies on the face of the earth-- our desire is to endure; our emancipation is to love others.

    News from San Francisco:
    http://tinyurl.com/3yr8yb

    Glad you are back Mickey-- wanted to tell everyone that I’ve seen RMJ’s recent essay which I am pleased to see is getting picked up by the inscrutable search engines:

    http://tinyurl.com/2yoqak

    Posted by Robert B. Livingston from San Francisco, California  on  01/21  at  05:10 PM

  3. Welcome back to your home, Mickey. We missed you but never a day passed that you weren’t in our hearts.
    Hi Robert...thanks for your kind words - especially since one of the new articles has a couple typos. I hate it when that happens, but life is too short to go chasing after perfection -so sometimes there will be typos.

    Posted by RMJ from Mickey Z 4 Prez Hdqts  on  01/21  at  06:41 PM

  4. On a lighter note...I often tell people that things are so tough up here that when I needed an operation to remove my gall bladder, the man across the street did the surgery. That’s a true story. But oh yes, his name is Dr. Frost, Head of Surgery at the hospital. He lives across the street from me. He is a descendant of Robert Frost.

    Posted by RMJ from Mickey Z 4 Prez Hdqts  on  01/21  at  06:50 PM

  5. I’m glad you are back, too, Mickey!  And Robert Frost is soo right: life does indeed go on, and it will go on for you, for your Dad and for your sister. 

    Thanks, Rosemarie, for saying this: ‘We missed you but never a day passed that you weren’t in our hearts.’ Now I have to read your essay. 

    ‘Hi’ also to Robert B. Livingston from a quite cool Daylesford - although we are in the middle of summer down under, it can’t be more than 68F outside and it was blowing a gale last night. 

    Take care!
    Helga from Australia

    Posted by Helga Fremlin from Daylesford, Australia  on  01/21  at  07:03 PM

  6. Hi Helga...It’s bitter cold up here. I can’t wait till Spring.

    Posted by RMJ from Mickey Z 4 Prez Hdqts  on  01/21  at  07:08 PM

  7. Hello Expendables from chilly NYC. Even captcha sez “cold” at the moment.

    Some folks have Jack Frost nipping at their nose but RMJ has Dr. Frost nipping at her gall bladder, huh?

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  01/21  at  07:12 PM

  8. Well, I hope spring is not too far away, Rosemarie! 

    Here are some funny one-liners from Noam Chomsky - courtesy of ‘The Guardian’:
    http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/01/chomsky_cracks_me_up.html

    Hope you find them funny as well ..

    Posted by Helga Fremlin from Daylesford, Australia  on  01/21  at  07:31 PM

  9. Mickey #6...very funny - actually that couple of days in the hospital was the closest thing to a vacation that I have had in a long time...and even the food was good.

    Hi Helga...here’s a link that’s NOT very funny.
    http://tinyurl.com/ywlerk

    Kucinich will be on the Primary ballot in Vermont.

    Posted by RMJ from Mickey Z 4 Prez Hdqts  on  01/22  at  02:01 PM

  10. Padilla was just sentenced to 17 years. Hummmmmm. Ain’t no justice unless you have enough money to buy it.

    http://tinyurl.com/3cotql

    Posted by RMJ from Mickey Z 4 Prez Hdqts  on  01/22  at  02:15 PM

  11. Do you ever begin to think that hardly anyone has a memory anymore RMJ?

    I certainly do.

    Thanks for the reminder.

    Posted by Robert B. Livingston from San Francisco, California  on  01/22  at  02:24 PM

  12. Robert...you are right. No memory and therefore we don’t learn from past experiences. Are you following the news today about the stock market? It seems to me that it would be a good thing if the market fails. The feds met in the middle of the night to try and fix things - the banks might get a “fix” but the people won’t. If they were serious about stimulating the economy, there are a lot of things they would do. A Single Payer health plan for starters. Then limit the interest on credit cards. Credit cards have a bad reputation because too many have fallen for the myth that they are used for frivolous, unnecessary expenses. I know people who HAVE to use their credit cards for food, medical expenses, fuel, etc......

    Posted by RMJ from Mickey Z 4 Prez Hdqts  on  01/22  at  04:24 PM

  13. Welcome back, MZ. This (normal) winter weather makes springtime much more welcome.

    RMJ, that’s a great Nader article...he’s my go-to write-in this year. I loved his “Campaign Taboos” article from last week. http://tinyurl.com/2ser57 I’m not as sanguine about Dennis Kucinich, however. When he stiffed his supporters at the door of the ‘04 convention, over something as meaningless as a platform plank, that was enough for me.

    Greetings to Robert, Helga, and Expendables near and far.

    Posted by Zen Prole from Urth  on  01/22  at  05:56 PM

  14. Greetings to Zen Prole and all the other expendables who have already commented or might do so in the future!

    Robert B. Livingston # 10 and Rosemarie #11, you are so right:  ‘no memory any more’.  But then if those who are supposed to write the ‘first draft of history’ aka journalists have no memory, what do you expect? 
    Now I’ll click on Rosemarie’s not-so-funny link ..

    Posted by Helga Fremlin from Daylesford, Australia  on  01/22  at  07:07 PM

  15. Rosemarie, what a chilling link!  Just read the ‘Guardian’ piece. Here’s a quote: 
    ‘... The five commanders argue that the west’s values and way of life are under threat, but the west is struggling to summon the will to defend them. The key threats are:

    · Political fanaticism and religious fundamentalism.’
    You know what came to my mind almost immediately:  what about the threat WITHIN the US from your very own Christian fundamentalists - the ones who commit terrorist acts such as bombing abortion clinics, etc. 

    A wake-up call indeed, but not in the way described in the piece.

    Posted by Helga Fremlin from Daylesford, Australia  on  01/22  at  07:12 PM

  16. As I don’t have stock or hardly two cents to scrape together, I haven’t payed that close attention to the Stock Market Rosemarie.

    I don’t want to see the destruction because it will mean real pain for the small people, but I fear it is happening. We always hope that champions will come to our rescue-- maybe, maybe not.

    A loaf of decent bread at a grocery runs about $4 in San Francisco now-- I marvel at the well-off people who unthinkingly spend small fortunes on trifling delicacies at Whole Foods.  (Before they built one a block away from me, they invited us in to convince us that they would always have affordable items to allay fears that they would gentrify our neighbhood.  I can tell you now that they plainly lied. 

    But what does that matter-- low income people are leaving the city fast; memory here is no longer important).  I especially bristle at all the health and good-looks of the shoppers-- who think little about the poor they have unwittingly punished. 

    Give me a bag of chips and my diet coke full of aspartame-- let me stand with the proles!

    (That’s how I feel all too often-- sigh.)

    Posted by Robert B. Livingston from San Francisco, California  on  01/22  at  07:33 PM

  17. oh, RMJ, I forgot… the Tarot card of the week:

    http://tinyurl.com/2pnrlh

    Posted by Robert B. Livingston from San Francisco, California  on  01/22  at  07:43 PM

  18. Zen...that is a good link to Nader’s article. Thanks.

    Helga...and I think that one of those who contributed to that report was “part” of the Clinton administration.

    Robert...I don’t have any stock either and I have no sympathy for the big investors. About the “little” people getting hurt - yes, in the short run they will suffer but maybe if the Market failed it would lead to a new system.  I have been hearing a lot of negative things about “While Foods”. It is almost impossible to afford organic food. Food prices have gotten to be a real problem.  Up here things like dental care and eyeglasses are considered to be luxuries for only the wealthy. Where is the outrage?  Maybe someone needs to write a fictional short story about a town where the residents are in so much pain from lack of dental care that they take a dentist hostage and have him give dental services at the point of a gun. Everybody remember to floss tonight.

    Posted by RMJ from Mickey Z 4 Prez Hdqts  on  01/22  at  07:56 PM

  19. Hello Expendables. When I was in Texas, my Dad gave me some old coins he had saved so I could sell them for money to come back and see him soon. So, I’m talking to the guy who buys coins in my neighborhood and the stock market crash comes up. He says (and I paraphrase): “Too bad it’s all pork bellies and precious metals. Imagine if we put similar value on democracy, solidarity, and justice.”

    Captcha sez: word

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  01/22  at  08:10 PM

  20. Don’t you just love those little carry-along flossers on a bow?  You see ‘em in parking lots everywhere!

    I am goping to try to see Michael Parenti tonight-- any messages to pass on?

    http://tinyurl.com/ypvlen

    Let me know!  I leave in about 45 min.

    Posted by Robert B. Livingston from San Francisco, California  on  01/22  at  08:15 PM

  21. Robert: Michael Parenti just e-mailed me yesterday about my Mom passing away. He’s a genuinely nice man, one who has taught me plenty. If you get to say hello tonight, please tell him I deeply appreciated his good wishes.

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  01/22  at  08:37 PM

  22. I certainly will!

    Posted by Robert B. Livingston from San Francisco, California  on  01/22  at  08:46 PM

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