caroljane

lol. Yes, I am familiar with the concept of trade as a powerful progenitor of civilization. Trade today is a shopping mall. Without civilization (and government) it would be a basic exchange of your rabbit for a new axe point if you were lucky, or your rabbit and your body for your life, if you weren't,

We are relatively fortunate because we are not as unfortunate. Because other people are being oppressed does not mean we are better off than we should be. "Civilization" does not provide anything to us, it's what we provide for ourselves, albeit through specialization and trade. What do we own? Our persons and minds. We are not connected in that we do not share ownership of these things to any degree. If civilization does not provide anything to you, I must conclude that you live in a cave and exist on roots, berries and the odd rabbit that you catch and strangle.

Jonathan, you are being too gracious to those young whippersnappers who ought to have more respect for you.I think you should tie on your sunbonnet and grab your hockey stick and sort them out,

My impression was, he patted them on the head for becoming good little capitalists , praising Solidarity for defying the Communists despite his anti-unionism , and putting them in their place as his allies against the Great Satan of socialism, You have said you can't stand Romney, but I feel some sympathy for the guy. He seems willing to say just about anything to get elected. and if elected he might well do a decent job, even become the Reagan Redux he is trying to project. But as a campaigner it is about optics, and I must agree with Baal's inimitable characterization on his new thread. I don't know what a kopf is exactly, but it just sounds right.

Adam, I was incorrect about Utah (but not about the Atlanta Os tackiness!). but I was correct that in pointing out the London preparation problems , Romney was trying to remind US voters of his own superior organizational skills, and he was indeed offending his hosts in so doing. Especially if he was right about the problems, he was foolish to point them out. Again, in Israel, it was unwise of him to publicly contrast the two cultures , however correct his information was; Again, he was sending a message to the American Jewish vote, and brought down the scorn of the foreign press. Would-be statesmen are supposed to impress the foreign press. I never said he was uninformed (even calling Jerusalem the capital of Israel was probably deliberate), just diplomatically inept.

How has he made a fool of himself. Carol? Let me count the ways...criticizing his Brit Olympic hosts, in order to remind the folks back home what a great job he did in making Atlanta the tackiest Olympics ever; congratulating the Israelis on having a superior culture to the Palestinians (which reminds me of a similar statement Ayn Rand made, but I'm sorry, it was a foolish move); patronizing the Poles... and the most foolish thing of all, refusing to answer media questions when he is on a media tour. No doubt there were well-thought-out strategic political reasons for everything... but do you really think he has been sensible, Adam?

Objectivists advocate rights' protection. So do libertarians. You don't. --Brant And you value your right to bear arms above the lives of gun victims --even,perhaps, your own life , if it came to that form of liberty or death. No, I'm not going around that mulberry bush again, but just strongly agree with MM's position.

Romney is not doing himself much good with his '"look at me I'm a statesman" Grand Tour. I suppose it looked like a good idea on paper-- look up some old pals, take in the Olympics,make some safe foreign policy statements-- but he seems to havemade a fool of himself (or is it just the biased reporting of the foreign press ?

"Stop hovering! I've already said the last word, on everything."

George, I am so sad that you have lost your wonderful little friend. There is nothing that can reploce that bond. At least you could be with him at the end and know he died content and loved. We only ever had cats. The matriarch (or patriarch, depending oin how you look at it) was Whiskers, definitely my husband Eddie's cat. He picked him from the Humane Society shelter, becaus he was the shyest and most aloof animal in the place, yet he always averred he felt a connection. He went for a cat to kill the mice with which our basement was overrun at the tiome. He prevailed against the aghast shelter workers who did not in fact shelter mice, but somehow felt that killing them was not right. Whiskers proved to be deathly afraid of mice, even more than Eddie, so guess who got to deal with them. He also produced a litter of 6 within a remarkably short time in our home, although the shelter staff assured us he was a tom. His chief attributes were a large plumy tail which he let down over the TV screen whenever the climax of Masytlock or Magnum PI(, Eddie's favourite shows, were approaching; and a magnificent disregard for anyone but herself- except for Eddie. unlike the rest of the family shewaited up for Eddie to return from the Black Swan on soccer nights, and many times have I seen them in deep converse on the living room rug, staring eye to eye. Whiskers got old and thin, and one day she just disappeared. We did all the usual things, put up notices, scoured the neighbourhood et, but we never saw her again. Despite all evidece I like to think she just crawled under the lilac tree in the back yard where she loved to lie, and went to sleep forever. O George, I am sorry. I know a condolence post cannot be cheerful, but still... it is just, your loss brought back my feline sorrows.. Hope that misery likes compamy at least for a while. Carol

"It goes like this, a fourth, a fifth. A minor fall, a major lift.." May your sixty thirds and fourths and fifths and soever be major lifts, dear Tony, and contain many hallelujahs. As ever, A day late and a loonie short, Carol

She rises again. in the faces of her children She rises again, in the voices of her so-o-ong- She rises again in the waves out on the ocean and in a grungy internet cafe cum bike shop (but soon to better herself!) Apologies to the Barra MacNeills and thanks to Adam.

I edited Nicholas Dykes's last novel which is now on Kindle. Read it, this is a blurb. I did not work very hard at editing or do an especially good job but read it anyway. Nick did work hard and deserves the readership! MSK agrees with me on other thread.

So, according to this story, the man vomited while unconscious. How did he survive without suffocating? Did you ever have the experience of fainting? I tend to assume that unconsciousness lasted for only a few seconds. And "followed by" does not mean immediately. Your nitpick tells me you refuse to believe the last sentence in the story. Why? Oh. come on. If anyone is a nitpicker surely it is a member of the species on your avatar. jts, I cut you a lot of slack when I thought you were just a regular American, but now.... really, even for an Albertan, there is just no excuse for locking yourself in the shed with the crystal set permanently tuned to Radio Kookiepants. I know the Oilers have suffered great injustices in the past decades, but still.

Brant, not me, I don't have a laptop now. It went to Hospice Care at Andy's (he says he has a friend who maybe can fix it, ha)/. Good news is this month I amj working double hours so should be able to earn a new/newer old one in a couple weeks. Bill, dear heart, I only subtracted 1967 from 20012 and added 145 to 1776. No actual thought processes were involved. But I guess I do have a sort of theory about the growth and mqturation of groups (I see Islam as an adolescent religion for instance). Baal I don't know about the penicillin but I think a Canadian had already found the insulin treatment for diabetes, which was quite Respectable to have. My library net time is constrained by the mass of collective Canadian intellectual curiosity here so I will go check out the latest new posts and say a la prochaine. Jts is a Canadian??????!!!!

Too right, Mr Sowell! The trouble with this world is too much damn leadership and not enough followership.

Late Canada Day, and early 4th of July greetings to our dear friends and neighbours, the Southern Provinces. Canada is now 145 years young. In a way we are at the same point of national prosperity, and patriotic optimism, that you in the USA were in 1921... Uh-oh.

Cackle, cackle, rise of hackle........

Not a lot more, though.

Chimp and chump are also commonly confused.

And when you reach Nueavaspania or Romanitas, after falling to your knees and kissing the ground you will immediately learn Spanish or Latin; you will avoid other English speakers, they will have nothing to teach you nor any aid to give. You will strive from the first day to be a Nuevaspaniard, a Romanitan, and you will give all your talents and energies and loyalties to becoming non-American or ex-American. Of course you will.

Interesting statement...I don't know if "better," or, "worse," can be applied to describe this cauldron of evil. I mean, it seems, S adopted in order to abuse, or to continue abuse.

I like#einlein a lot. I see now two sides of an edifice, two I see are blue. I aspire to be a Fair Witness. In banter, O dear. It feels like -- I feel like sayin --- pure impulse. Sorry, if appropriate.

No, no... no cross tread was intended... I was only in banter, sorry. You never offended me. Easily offended was a joke, I am nearly impossible to offend.

I start to understand and more respect McQueary . W/ all to lose, at least MMcQ spoke. Many Unknown Witnesses were silent.