caroljane

Stephen - thanks for not choosing Snodgrass or Ferlinghetti!

I can't compete with Stowe, you know, The shoals of art I sink on-- On this your day I can but say, Rock On! dear friend, and Kink On!

Dear Shirley, I never expected my comments to make you feel bad and I'm sure they didn't. You gave me an opportunity to make cracks and I took it. I am technology illiterate, and well aware of it. The Eagle riff arose from your helpful translation of your own comment, which cracked me up and for which thank you.

Patriotism in my lexicon is a devotion to country which is embodied in citizenship of that country. Not by abandoning that country to live in permanent exile when its current government thwarts and outrages me. But I am not an American and perhaps should not comment on this subject. And thank you for the lesson on virtues. I see that they come in descending order, depending on context.

And I will be there with the champagne when you do !

Wrong, it is tougher when they know it is running through their fingers.

But the Populism part could attract a lot of Undecided apoliticals and other fringe types...could be a lot of votes there. Anyone who is against crony capitalism or Big anything, or Obama or city hall.. not impossible.

The very broad outline seems to be here, a new book proposes a way to force the federal government to downsize itself. And relinquish more powers to the states.., Those powers may or may not include the right to secede from the Union. The book is about the way, the method, etc and nobody has read it. The discussion is about who thinks what should happen if the federal government is forced to get smaller.\ Am I entirely off the trolley here?

This sounds like the most pertinent and sensible thing that has been said on the topic so far. Brant, is this really you?

At least you didn't say your right one.

And too bad the remaining half of the Solo sorority will not read this, she is kass in my book for knowing a Dog when she saw one. Tribute from a socialist would mean nothing to Lady Olivia, but hey, the Colonel's lady and Judy O'Grady, were sisters under the skin.

Well then it should not be mislabelled as argument from anything, it is just intimidation to forestall argument.

All we can know is what has already happened. Regions join or are conquered by other regions, nations grow, some become empires, they lose territory and shrink, nations reform, regions rise again and... "all ignorance toboggans into Know\ then trudges up to Ignorance again" -cummings

And surely argument from intimidation is self defeating anyway. Name dropping and offtopic snark and so on do not address the topic at hand and would not intimidate someone who had a sound argument about it.

Well, OK, but since mocking and snark and intimidation do not actually persuade people of anything, how does this help anyone achieve a covert agenda?

Actually I just assumed she was married or had a partner. As a single lawyer with two kids she would never have time to post so copiously on Solo.

No, I have no idea - I know she has two schoolage kids, I never heard she was Mrs "Baade" but as they were the only two Xians on the site....seems plausible, look at Kat and Michael!

Michael, thanks for the reply. I have seen the argument from intimidation phrase a lot, but did not really know how broad it was. I don't think I have ever seen it work here, though. Maybe OLers just refuse to be intimidated. It just seems like a form of offtopic bullying as you show it. And yet,does this really fit FF's very first post\? If I saw a book outlined, and recognized its theme as similar to one I already knew of, I might make a post just like his, maybe not worded the same, but pointing out that previous thinkers had already commented, etc. It would be a comment, not an argument. You said that you had skimmed his posts over time, but I read them all (there aren't many) and maybe there is something in the subject matter itself I am not getting. I do not know this area at all and where Adam got the Nazi stuff beats me. I know of course that if you do not like an author there are subtle ways to show it, but that still does not detract from the actual topic and the author's character is usually not relevant to the work he produces, anyway.

Oh, oh. I want to give Shadow a whole retroactive kittenhood in our cattery. Better not send him though. He is better off with you.

Why am I getting Weird Rand flashbacks? He didn't know or care anything about the Constituion.

Dear Diary, I just got a briefing from the Press Office to cease mentioning Georgie's loudness in future press-the-fleshers. Not that this has displeased, indeed the crowds love those "common touches", but it is time to move to a new response. It would not do to give an impression that he is louder or more vocally gifted than other British babies, or that I have less tolerance forthis crying than other British fathers. This has caused me to reflect, because in fact I think I may have a heightened sensitivity in this area. I was not exposed to much loudness as a child, and though enjoying clubs, that was a chosen loudness which I could cause to cease at any time. Ceremonial loudness such as cheering crowds, fanfares, fly-pasts etc., I learned to adjust to and the source of the loudness and it was always at a respectful distance. My son, by contrast, screams directly into my ear, at avolume which seems impossible for less than Pavarotti, usually while clutching other parts of my person and simultaneously drooling upon me (obviously he will do well at multi-tasking). I expect nothing of the Great British Public who give all to me, I only hope that they can realize at times, the ways in which I am at one with them. Ich dien W

UPDATE Despite being pleaded with, Doug remains absent and resolute. Go he must and go he will. And guess who's going with him? Rosie, one half of the female population of the Soloverse, and the nicest person in it! And a Christian and a married woman to boot! This is better than Lydia and Wickham in Pride and Prejudice.

Back at you, You are brilliant at improv and I would be nuttin' without you.

Michael, I'm not a fan of FF;s, never having encountered him before , but his statements seem reasonable to a constitutional ignoramus. and I am a fan of yours. And from the face of this thread, you seem uncharacteristically abrasive yourself... just puzzled

Taken is the exact word. He gave a whole new meaning to "swept off your feet". And sure, the view from his place was breathtaking. And he promised to get rid of all the bones and leashes and turn it into a true "love nest." But it became a prison of the spirit,I tell you. And those nephews of his would peck me half to death and he never said a word. Vile bald little bastards. He never held a steady job, just preying, and working Fourth of July parades and the odd Objectivist wedding, and never let me come to those because he had to look "alone and independent" and never brought home any decent leftovers. I just hope my story will help others, who might be tempted by soaring and swooping . Life at the top is not what it looks like from the bottom.