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Post by epaul on Aug 31, 2023 22:16:35 GMT -5
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Post by epaul on Aug 31, 2023 21:59:27 GMT -5
Criticism is a political necessity, but I don't understand vitriol present in the Republican attacks on Biden. Yes, he is a Democrat, but consider him in the light of the Democrats that might have been in his stead but for South Carolina. Picture a president Warren or Sanders or Buttigieg or any number of others. Then shiver.
A rational reaction would be, "you know, for a Democrat, Biden isn't half bad". The current bitter, malicious spewing of irrational invective directed at Biden is insane!
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Post by epaul on Aug 31, 2023 21:51:12 GMT -5
Ukraine. Well, thanks to Biden and NATO, there still is a Ukraine.
It's not over, but if it had been Trump, Russian tanks would have rolled freely across the Ukraine and a Putin Puppet would now be pretending to run the place.
With Biden, Putin was stopped. And NATO is now stronger than ever with Sweden and Finland on board.
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Post by epaul on Aug 31, 2023 21:37:05 GMT -5
Illegal Immigration.
Until he was forced to stop by the courts, Biden was doing the exact same darn thing to control illegals that Trump was, requiring that applications for asylum be filed on the other side of the border.
And the border walls Biden didn't build are working just as well as hundred miles or so of new wall that Trump built. And Biden's non-wall cost 15 billion less than Trump's patchwork of partial walls with holes in them did.
Bottom line, there is no solution to illegal immigration, and Biden's plans are not working just as well as Trump's plans didn't work.
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Post by epaul on Aug 31, 2023 21:27:59 GMT -5
Economy.
The economy is as good as it ever is. The party out of power always bitches about the economy (and there is always something to bitch about). But, the economy is working as well as it ever has and better than it often does.
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Post by epaul on Aug 31, 2023 21:25:42 GMT -5
I'm surprised at the confidence in President Biden's competency. I don't see it at all. I think Biden has done a darn good job, so far. Energy. Republicans, by and large, deny or ignore the effect of our energy systems on global warming/climate change. They fight the attempts to reduce/replace the use of fossil fuels with Green alternatives. Democrats for the most part and progressives for the entire part are all over human-induced global warming/climate change and want to eliminate the use of fossil fuels and replace them with Green alternatives as quickly as possible, and in many cases, before possible. Ok, so there’s plenty of room in the above for quibbles and “yah buts”, but I’m not far off of either party’s convention platform or any number of party line votes on energy issues. So cut me some slack as I transition to my point, Joe Biden, who has made several sensible energy decisions in a political arena where sense is seldom found. Against the wishes of his party and to the complete chagrin of progressives, Biden has backed, and supported in court, two major oil pipelines, approved expanded drilling for oil in Alaska, and is backing clean coal projects in North Dakota and Wyoming against strenuous Green objections. And (this is real cool) Biden is supporting a plan in which nickel mined in water sensitive NE Minnesota will be shipped to and then processed in North Dakota, satisfying both the impending incredible need for nickel (batteries) and the protection needs of the sensitive Lake Superior watershed. Prior to this Biden-supported split mining/processing plan, mining for critical minerals in NE Minnesota has been sued to near extinction and was dead in the water (because of water). Of course this Biden-backed plan is being sued by environmentalists (whose only apparent objective is to ban mining. Period.) And progressive Democrats are mad as hell at Biden. (hey! where are all these EV batteries going to come from, e-holes!) But it is a great plan, one which might work for the mining of other critical metal deposits found up and down the environmentally touchy Arrowhead region. And the Biden administration is promoting it. (The e-bugaboo with precious metals mining isn’t the mining, it’s the intensive processing of the ores and the threat this processing might pose to the sensitive water aquifers. Solution? Mine in Minnesota, process in North Dakota. We in ND will welcome the stuff. It’s what we do. Good Job, Joe!) Ok, so Republicans aren’t happy with Biden on energy, of course they aren’t. But neither are Democrats, especially the progressives. They are very unhappy. So what is Biden doing on energy that makes everyone unhappy? He is advancing Green Energy projects while simultaneously understanding that fossil fuels are needed for the foreseeable future and can’t be abandoned. He is supporting both wind energy and clean coal plants that sequester the CO2 they release through combustion. He is promoting a transition to EVs while understanding that increased domestic mining for metals will be necessary to make the damn batteries for the things. And he is pushing for the electrification of our transportation sector with the realization that a compromise approach will need to be in place if it can't be made ready within the time frame it would need to be ready in. Biden is striking a sensible balance that leaves neither side happy. But, I’m happy with it. And so is North Dakota (not that they will ever vote for him, but on energy, he is OK by ND.)
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Post by epaul on Aug 31, 2023 12:56:23 GMT -5
I think the "primaries are dominated by the fringes" deal is overplayed. Not that it isn't a hand, just an over-played one.
Trump wasn't and isn't the choice of "fringe" Republicans, he is the solid choice of a wide swath of run of the mill Republicans. The fringe R's are the ones polling at 2%. That's a fringe. 2%. 40% isn't a fringe.
It's true that caucuses, traditional caucuses that select delegates to represent a precinct, can be, and often are, filled with nutjobs (but a closer analysis might indicate that those nutjobs are very representative of the party as a whole).
But, it's more true that opinion polls and the primaries have replaced traditional caucuses, and both are very open and easy to participate in and do represent a very broad, and fair, slice of the electorate (we the people).
Even the argument that money rules stumbles when faced with the greater influence of opinion polls and primaries. Money flows to the winners, not the losers.
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Post by epaul on Aug 31, 2023 12:19:22 GMT -5
The people that matter are the people that vote in the primaries.
And the people that respond to opinion polls. Which, in effect, are just another primary.
Not complicated or secretive. Painfully simple.
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Post by epaul on Aug 31, 2023 10:47:14 GMT -5
Biden is 80. Trump is 77.
Biden is slim and eats vegetables. Trump is fat and gobbles down Big Macs and Sugar Pops.
Either could kick off any time, but I expect most doctors would put money on Biden outlasting Trump.
Mentally? It is matter of opinion, but mine is that Biden has been a rational actor while Trump is deranged.
Any partisan charge of "too old" is a boomerang. Both are too old. But, both are where they are because too few of the people that matter want anyone else.
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Post by epaul on Aug 31, 2023 10:05:50 GMT -5
My Mubuna tank: a school of 9 Chindongo Saulosi from Lake Malawi in Africa. As they mature, the dominant males will turn a vibrant blue. (yep, Kevin is John's long lost cousin from Africa)
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Post by epaul on Aug 31, 2023 10:00:53 GMT -5
Morning. Enough of a shower just blew by to drive the cat in. Now, cool and cloudy with the expectation it will give way to a partly sunny 80F degree day. I will be fiddling around the flower beds and setting up a species tank for a half-dozen shellies/shell dwellers (Neolamprologus multifasciatus) I will pick up this weekend. Shellies (or Multies) are a small (2-3") cichlid from Lake Tanganyika in Africa. As the name suggests, they make their homes in shells. A pair will pick out a shell, claim it as their own, and defend against all comers, using it to raise and protect their family and as a place of refuge when harm swims by. aquaticsunlimited.com/product/cichlid-shell-dweller-multifasciatus-neolamprologus-multifasciatus/Of the five tanks currently in my fish/music room, only one is a "community tank" (a decorative tank with a mixed assortment of 'get along' fish. The other four are all species tanks intended to mimic (to the degree possible) a specific bio-type, and they are stocked lightly with a particular species that would be found in a slice of that section of lake or river (ok, the one tank has two species in it, but they are closely associated with each other).
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Post by epaul on Aug 30, 2023 9:27:40 GMT -5
Maintaining a backyard ice rink is a lot less work than maintaining a pool. Fresh ice every winter. Easy clean up every spring.
North Dakota. Your Winter Playground!
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Post by epaul on Aug 29, 2023 21:06:13 GMT -5
Just start telling the story.
Storytellers were telling stories long, long, long before someone came up with the analytic tools called 1st person, 2nd person, 3d person, and all knowing person (omniscient). Storytellers are free to do whatever works for them with any voice with any name at any time... whatever works, feels right, sounds right. You aren't limited to just one voice, can use any voice at any time. If the story wants you to switch from one "voice" to another "voice" for a paragraph, page, or chapter, let it. Let the analysts debate whether the switch works or doesn't, it's your story, not theirs. And worrying about details will just keep you from telling it.
One tip. Just start writing the thing. Don't worry about details like voice, order, or sequence. Start in the middle, if need be, the beginning will show up later. Just get it down, clean it up afterwords.
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Post by epaul on Aug 29, 2023 18:55:20 GMT -5
This woman should not be permitted to teach guitar or make teaching videos. It might be a great human service if she were also prevented from playing a guitar. Apparently she's quite a joke, but I am too unskilled to get the joke. What is so bad about her video. Please elaborate. Rob, if an analogy helps, asking Dub for his reaction to this little 'guitar for beginners' video is like asking Oppenheimer to critique some guy's Youtube short on "How to construct a pipe bomb in five minutes for $25"... "This fool's little "bang bang" is not a real bomb. There is so much more that can be done, so much more to be understood. The physics behind a bomb that make a bomb a bomb... the knowledge that allows the growth from a little bang bang to one hell of a big boom.... it's, it's, just not there! It is completely lacking! This video is a travesty! Shameful!"
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Post by epaul on Aug 29, 2023 17:40:59 GMT -5
I bought a dozen eggs today for $1.27. Ok, so they were laid by enslaved chickens laboring in fowl conditions, but, still, there were 12 of them and they had yolks and that white stuff with the funny name. $1.27. A year and half ago, they hit $6.00 a dozen at Gopher's Grocery in Newfolden. So, at least as far as eggs are concerned, the Covid Inflation Era is over. And not just eggs, the shelves in Walmart are packed with toilet paper floor to ceiling.
It's morning in America.
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Post by epaul on Aug 29, 2023 17:18:59 GMT -5
Ok, so it only had 5 G chords instead of 7, I'm on a budget. I mean, Todd's a good guy and all, but I'm not breaking the bank.
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Post by epaul on Aug 29, 2023 9:07:40 GMT -5
Morning, Soundhole Gang!
A cool, overcast morning, and I was so looking forward to a breakfast of oatmeal infused with a couple soft boiled eggs. Alas, we had run out of eggs. All I got was the oatmeal.
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Post by epaul on Aug 29, 2023 9:03:09 GMT -5
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Post by epaul on Aug 28, 2023 9:54:08 GMT -5
Writers write. Analyzers analyze.
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Post by epaul on Aug 28, 2023 9:34:11 GMT -5
This one's especially for the "Minnesota Mafia." Wow! Never thought Prince would do a Bangles cover.
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