DonCoquixote
DonCoquixote's JournalHow do they make Hot Dogs where you live?
http://www.seriouseats.com/2008/07/america-regional-hot-dog-styles-coneys-half-smokes-reds-whites.htmlThis started because of another thread, but as I used to sell Hot Dogs, I was curious, namely because I never realized there were so many variants on the hot dog. It is not politics, I know, but it is American, as we have adopted Hot Dogs as an American food, yet have variants, which might say something about us.
Why being forced to work retail on T day is a big deal
There are always buisnesses open on T day: convenience stores, Pharmacies, first responders, people who either provided a service that can mean life or death, or small buisnesses that can be run by one or two people and close up early.
However, retail is NOT that sort of buisness. Retail will need tons of human-power to run, even more so than usual, as Madison Avenue is busy whipping the masses into a frenzy with sales called "doorbusters." They picked that term, though a more honest term would be "run over the employees." Bad behavior is encouraged, and employees will rightfully look upon this day with DREAD.
But what is worse is that Thanksgiving is the Holiday the starts the season, a holiday we in the US are supposed to share in common. Even if you want to cut out the religious/pilgrim side of it, every culture has had some sort of fall harvest festival to celebrate this time of year. That is because all cultures recognize the need for a Holiday, a time when people devote attention to their family, or even simple leisure. In a Holiday, commerce needs to hand over the wheel, and let people drive the culture for a while, however, brief it is.
When retail works on a Holiday, it means that nothign is sacred, and that the oligarchs realize they do not even need to pretend at virtue. They have moved on from trying to seduce us into givign up whatever dignity we had, to outright raping it out of us. Yes, I use that term, because to quote Eric Hoffer, we rightfully condemn those that would rape the body, but often ignore those who commit the rape of the mind." When even the most treasured holidays, that ones that families use to define their own sense of self, are subject to the whim of the oligarchs, it is something that violates us, something that forces us to say "because you are rich and I am poor, I have no right to resist you taking from me whatver you want, however you want it, sir."
City of Tampa will not be reimbursed for $677,000 in RNC costs
http://www.wmnf.org/news_stories/city-of-tampa-will-not-be-reimbursed-for-677000-in-rnc-costsNo surprise at all. Not only were GOP people known for trying to haggle hotel rates that were already low, but contractors made a point to try and discourage GOP types from actually doing things in the city. In part, that was because Ron paul was threatenign all sorts of mayhem.
Iran accord Talk me down
I am happy about this, but frankly, part me me is afraid that
A) the folks in Tel Aviv will start playing dirty pool
B) said act of dirty poll will be Hillary talking about hwo SHE would gladly go to war with Tehran.
What is ugly about the GOp trying to claim JFK.
It is funny to see the GOp try to claim JFK was closer to their side of the street. Yes, the so called "moderates" are very careful not to publicly slam JFK, RFK, or MLK; they leave that work to the Talk Radio goons and the people dressed in three corner hats at Tea Party Rallies. However, read what the GOp was saying about JFK, and the symmetry between their hate of that Catholic, liberal president and Obama is apparent. Both presidents had to deal with Dixie trying to wage the Civil War by other means, and both had the oligrachs heap hate upon them.
Let's face facts, the same GOP bastards that cry crocodile tears over JFK are the same bastards that would pop champagne if someone shot Barack Obama, just like they popped champagne 50 years ago today, wther they dare admit it or not.
In the spirit of Maher, a new rule for 2016 discussions
If you want to go ahead and talk about the 2016 election, you should be able to taste what you are doing for the 2014 election, because the 2014 election will determine the fate of whatever poor soul gets the Oval Office next.
I will offer an example: I am in Florida, so my job will be to get Rick Scott the hell out of office. I will also support Alex Sink in her bid to take the seat vac ated by the death of Bill Young. It would be nice to think either of the Clintons or Obama will help, but I will work regardless. This will help in 2016 as we do NOT want Rick Scott trying to cook the votes for the GOP, especially since a lot of the old cast and crew from 2000 are ready willing and able to help him.
Yes, single payer is the goal
Yes, Obama should have let the medicare for all advocates get on stage and make a pitch, maybe even let them take over second half of a national address. If dean and Dennis failed, they coudl take the blame
Yes, the public option should have been kept
Yes, he should have pillioried Joe Liberman, even though Joe would cry "look at what this ->boy<- is doing to me!"
Even though Hillary would have secretly applauded the mayhem and used it for her 2012 or 2016 "you shoulda voted me in" campaign.
and yes, him trusting the insurance companies to NOT stab him was foolish. We know they are just biding their time till 2014 and 2016, when they can win elections and make Galt's Gulch look like a hippie commune.
However, there is one two things I notice:
One, a lot of people assume this would be quick and easy. It took the Canadians 60 years to get to single payer, and they did not have the GOP. While there is a lot of genuine criticism of Obama, a lot of it is still "why doesnt he snap his magic fingers and make it happen NOW!" Folks, we have a fifth colum. No, I will not call the GOP opposition. A fifth column that is well finded by people who wants to actually DESTROY the government, period!
And sadly, many of the people who complain that their cheap ass insurance is gone are the same no necks idiots that vote GOP, because they think nuttin ever happens to GOOD people. And of course, we reward Bill Clinton again for acting as president of the peanut gallery, just like when he told Obama not to be a "wuss."
But if the left wants to win, they cannot fall for the division, and to be persistent, neither Bill Clinton nor the GOp let anything stand in the way of consitency, so sadly, we need to be firm, even if it means 'wrong and strong". If we carve up the ACa in the name of "see Obama, you should have lsitened to me!" then all we will do is make it easy for the right to mow us down. that is reality, like it or not.
If the ACA fails, single payer dies, that is a fact,like it or not.
If you want to know why we are losing
This op has some fine examples.
Manny said that this country has fallen from a much better place. True
Frazzled said that this country was not a good placed unless you were a White Guy. True
Manny overlooks the fact that for many, this never was the land of milk and honey. Frazzled overlooks the fact that as bad as America was, it was still head and shoulders better and safer than most of the world, at least until Reagan got into power. Neither of them makes this mistake out of malice, but simply because we are all limited by our life experiences, which, if this were a movie, would be improved by people honestly sharing life exerpeinces here at DU, more on this later.
1strongblackman says that it would have been nice if the White Guys realized things were NOT going all that well for everyone else, before they found out the powers that be planned to disposes of them all along. True.
Now if this were the wizard of oz, this is where everyone would see that the wizard behind the curtian is a snake oil salesman. They woudl then work together to see what is true, what is not, but much more impprtantly, how to make America's promise true FOR EVERYONE. Everyone would realize that,like or not, they are in the same boat, and will all have to work together as one, or fall separately, to paraphrase Ben franklin.
But no, here we are, fighting at each other's throats, because we know that the GOP enemies would not have the brainstems to even argue with. I understand that it is useless to argue with the apes and subhuman GOp that cannot even form a point, that have to have slime pumped into their spinal cord and other orifices by Faux News and Alec, but that is not a good excuse for playing games of "My angst is more serious the Yours" games thta are so common among the left. We are easy to divide, and thus, easy to topple.
And before the three people I mentioned think I mean this as a slight, I read all of you, and like all of you, and I say this because the last thing I need to hear is that because of nfighting, we end up in 2020 with the GOP bringing out the kettle will be ALL be boiled in, white, black, rioch, poor, hell, we know that the rest of the world will be in it as well.
The VA and NJ races: a common factor
What if the reason the races were conducted as they were was to simply highlight the Clintons as the winners. They took someone in VA, a person who frankly was not that popular, and who had exemplified many of the worst traits of the status quo, and made him king. Granted, they need to kill the Cooch, because VA is a swing state, which translates to a state that the GOp will try to steal.
However, they spent time putting in Cory Booker. It is obvious that they were not going to avoid NJ. As a former NJ resident, I can tell you that they could have easily stumped for Buono as well as Booker, it's not like NJ is a wide, large state like Florida. But they did not, why.
A) it sends the message that we neeeed Bill and Hillary.
B) it helped keep CC alive. Yes, he will keep the TP boil festering, but he can also be sold as that guy who appeals to this "center", the same exact people Hillary will.
In other words, the left still gets to wait their turn, after Hillary, then whoever she picks, etc. And of course, they will say "if Obama only played VP in 2008, Hillary woulda made him a strong president in 2020."
Let's analyze this: (long but worth it)
And before the NJ folks come at me, I was raised in Jersey City. My first experience in politics was my parents dragging me off a front porch where I was screaming to vote in Tony Cucci for mayor, in an election that got national press for people getting beat up.
"Christie won the unofficial support — and admiration — of George Norcross, the South Jersey insurance executive and the state’s most powerful Democrat, by carrying out an overhaul of the state’s higher education system that poured more money into that region. He wooed Democratic-allied construction unions by financing massive transportation projects and backing tax incentives for long-dormant mega-projects in Atlantic City and the Meadowlands. He used his clout to secure approvals for large Port Authority of New York and New Jersey projects in Democratic towns."
Ok, let's see some key words
""Christie won the unofficial support — and admiration — of George Norcross, the South Jersey insurance executive and the state’s most powerful Democrat."
Ok Houston, we have a major problem right here..You know this Norcross gent probably was against Health care reform from the get go. You think this gent will support a liberal?
"He wooed Democratic-allied construction unions by financing massive transportation projects"
Which, with all due respect to Unions, means they sold their allegiance to him for the equivalent of 30 pieces of Silver. If a Labor Union is stupid enough to endorse any GOP, and think they will not be next on the chopping block, they are idiots.
"And although Cory Booker formally endorsed Buono, Booker, the state’s most popular Democrat, publicly praised Christie during a Newark supermarket groundbreaking. It was Booker’s first public event after winning the U.S. Senate seat last month."
This needs NO explanation. How much you want to bet Cory is lining up to be Hillary's Veep? Then again, not like Hillary could bother endorising a FEMALE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE, one that was miles from her home in NYC. She was too busy helping Terry Mc take VA.
"Christie revived the transactional, political dynamic that vanished during the rocky tenure of Corzine, his predecessor. Legislators and mayors — who care more about obtaining environmental permits and road project funding and financing for community clubhouses — fumed at Corzine’s clumsy deal-making and his CEO-like aloofness."
In other words, the Mayors wanted to deal make for Pork barrels, and hated aloofness, which is slang for not being willing to kiss ass. Gee, sounds like what all these conservative democrats and maureen Dowd complain about Obama for.
"For some Democrats, it was an easy decision. They saw no advantage in tangling with a governor whose popularity only seemed to soar with every attack on sewerage authority bureaucrats, teacher union leaders and the occasional mayor, like Atlantic City’s Lorenzo Langford, one of the few big-city mayors who openly clashed with Christie."
In other words, the right wing targets people that Johnnie and Jane sixpack hate anyway. First, they came for the teachers, then...et cetera. While I do want a system that does respond to working class America, I will be the first to say, that sometimes, our proletariat pisses me off, because all you have to do is punch a few hippies to gain their love. Yup, the same dynamic that NJ likes to make fun of in Dixie is in FULL effect. Archie Bunker is alive and well!
"Some Democratic donors also helped Christie with their checkbooks. He received $6,300 from lawyers at DeCotiis, FitzPatrick and Cole of Teaneck. Listed among the donors is Al DeCotiis, a longtime member of the Democratic National Committee and a fundraiser for Bill and Hillary Clinton, and Michael DeCotiis, who served as chief counsel to McGreevey.
Buono received nothing from the firm. The DeCotiis family members were unavailable for comment, said William Murray, a spokesman."
OK,this is the unkidnest cut of all. I know that the Hillary 2016 crowd may get mad, but when the same machine that has Clinton's fingerprints on it actually GIVES THE GOP MONEY, and does not even give the Democrat ONE RED CENT! Come now, at least pretend to fight!
So,in the long run, helping CC was really the first shot of those reagan democrats, those sensible woodchucks, those people who know that the base is sick of them, to maintain power. Of course, this also means they are helping Wall Street keep power, as neither Clinton nor Chrstie will rock the boat, and of course, this is what some people here at DU call "political expertise."
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Member since: Thu Apr 17, 2008, 05:51 PMNumber of posts: 13,616