Open Thread…………………………………………………Saturday, December 10
December 9th, 2011
The world looks different now than it did several weeks ago. All the leaves are finally down on most trees. What didn’t fall off got blown away by the wind and the rain. Is the world more transparent now the leaves are gone? Have you been up on the Skyline Drive when there were no leaves? Fabulous! You can look into the soul of the forest.
Categories: General
Santa is on the move in Sudley and Westgate. Early early early. 10:30 am
Osbourn High School Band Wrapping Booth every day until Christmas at Manassas Mall, across from Victoria’s Secret. Please come out and support these kids.
Love the thread picture.
Thanks, Emma. I liked it too. Thanks also for the tip about where to get your gifts wrapped. I so hate that job!!
Thank you, City of Manassas. The 1/4 acre of leaves, that took us six weeks to rake to the curb were sucked up by the vacuum truck in about 9 minutes.
Vote once a day until Dec 31 for OHS to win a $25K grant for new band uniforms
http://www.refresheverything.com/osbournbanduniforms
The ones they’re wearing now are 15 years old.
I have 1/2 less of a tree in my yard…that looks different all right. As does my shed and my neighbor’s shed. 360 degrees to fall and it hits BOTH sheds.
Big storms down your way, Cargo?
Can you use the wood? What kind of tree was it?
@Moon-howler
It’s pine. Apparently we have pine beetles…so I expect my other pines to give up the ghost. I didn’t know this one was dead as it had needles on it this summer. But there are dead trees to either side of it. I haven’t cut one down because its full of woodpeckers and the other is near a power line. I didn’t have the money to take them down.
I guess I’ll have to find the moola now. Or…just wait until the next hurricane. The trees are abaout 75-100 ft tall and over 3 ft thick. They’re probably 60 + years old.
Bull pines? I lost a white pine year before last. Snow storm. It wasn’t all the big around in the trunk but it was sure taller than I had thought. It just tippled over with the wind in one of those blizzards.
Taking a tree down costs a fortune. Around here drunks who need booze money stop by and negotiate the cost of taking a tree down. I usually run them off….drunks and chain saws are just not a good mix. Send pictures of your felled trees. We always like visuals from Cargo.
@Cargosquid
Depending on which power company you have, you may be able to get them to take the tree down for nothing rather than have it fall on their lines.
It’s the line running to my house. They don’t care. The trees in my back yard are all huge. At least 75-100 feet tall. Those farthest from the lines could still hit it if they fell the right way.
Get some tissues. The link somehow makes your room kick up some dust…that’s it…dust in my eye…
http://floppingaces.net/2011/12/09/photo-of-the-day-12/#comment-351481
Semper Fi.
As I was picking up some dinner at one of my neighborhood restaurants, I noticed that one of the stores in the shopping center had closed. The $1 movie store at the corner of 28/Cockrell and Zimbro is gone. I didn’t rent movies from there, because they had an x-rated section in the back, behind two swinging doors. I suspect the video sale/rental market decline as a result of new on-demand delivery technologies is the main driver. So one of the 4 “adult-oriented” businesses listed in the study commissoned by the CoM has closed. This got me thinking: I wonder how badly this market trend is hitting MVC, as my understanding of their business model is videos are their core offering? I wouldn’t mind seeing MVC go away and KK’s decide to drop the “non-instructional” video line they sell, as well.
Wanna have a chuckle before going to bed?
( Bob Rusbasan’s Home Page)
Google “Real Life Thoughts from Newt”
-Adjunct Professor Newt Gingrich, Reinhardt College, January 7,1995,
“Renewing American Civilization”
If you have extra time, also read “Newt on Male Behaviour: An Informal Poll”
Steve, I expect what will happen is that the MVC type stores will become more adult video because regular movies are so available from Comcast, Fios, Amazon, Netflix, HBO Go, HULU, Bestbuy and all the other sources for movies. The major video sources won’t go but so sleazy. There is sleazy and then there is jumping off the cliff sleazy that you and I have talked about. (professionally of course)
The porn business is huge. I expect you’re counting your chickens before they hatch if you want stores like MVC to go away. Truthfully, I drove past MVC every day of my life for 6 years and never realized it was there. It wasn’t high on my radar screen. I think it must appeal to a certain demographic that I just don’t fit in to.
I wouldn’t fight you on the video stores, as we have discussed. I might not join you but I wouldn’t fight you.
In 2011, 400,000 illegal immigrants were deported from the United States.
That’s getting close to a half million people a year being deported. So much for the feds not doing their job.
Punchak,
this one?
http://www.rusbasan.com/Humor/Newt.html
@Moon-howler
Yes, that one! Newt, the giraff hunter!!!
Moon, you have a good point. The folks that buy this stuff, have to buy it somewhere. But technology is changing. Set-top web streaming boxes are changing the way all content is delivered. The Porn industry was one of the first to leverage VCR technology, which virtually killed the X-rated theaters, and in doing so, influenced the debate over Beta vs. VHS. They were one of the first to jump on the Laserdisc and then DVD technology changes. They heavily influenced the debate over HD-DVD vs. BluRay. They were one of the first industries to levearge the internet to deliver their content. The technology itself is amoral. You can use it to deliver a Disney movie, as easily as you can a pornographic film. Because you are using the internet to do so, there’s less regulatory restrictions. Cable can only go so far. Localities decide which cable company will serve their residents. While the adult video store might be one of the last to feel the impacts of these technology changes, I don’t think they are immune to them either. Best thing is, it is the changes in the market that will drive these places out of business, or force them to change their business model. It won’t be the actions of local government.
Who says Congress isn’t in touch with mainstream American priorities? In a thread last week some on here were concerned that a change to the UCMJ was going to allow military members to sodomize goats with impunity. Even though the last (and only as far as I know) court-martial for a service member commiting a foul with a fowl (or any other animal) was in the late 1950s, Congress (since they have no other legislative priorities hanging over their heads at the moment) jumped in and removed the offending language from the Nat’l Defense Authorization Act. Surely not more than a few hundred thousand tax dollars were spent making things right on this pivotial social issue.
http://www.stripes.com/language-banning-sodomy-bestiality-to-stay-in-ucmj-1.163380
Steve, I think I am going to challenge you on one thing. You and I obviously agree for whatever reason, pornography is harmful to people. It isn’t going to go away.
Is it more dangerous out there and in the open like at stores like MVP or is it more dangerous sneaking into your house via the internet and all the varous places that distribute it?
I don’t know the answer of if there is an answer. I am just not ready to say that getting rid of it in just your town serves the overall good. I tend to see porn as first off damaging those who participate in its production, especially the women. Many of them to this to support voracious drug habits. Of course kiddie porn is just unspeakable and will always be under rocks etc. I don’t even want to talk about it I find it and its ramifications so horrifying.
Then there are the stats that link porn to crimes and violence. How much of it stimulates rape? I have no idea and I don’t think experts agree on the damage. I just know there are more perverts today than there used to be.
I guess I am leading up to the fact that I don’t care whether a house of gross movies is in your town or my county. Moving it does no good. Maybe I would rather just know where it is so that someone can keep an eye on it. Running stores like that off doesn’t really get rid of the problem. Maybe knowing what comes in to your own house is about as good as it gets. I am not sure if that can even be controlled.
I don’t disagree with you about the actions of local government. I was just musing….
@Morris Davis
Well thank God! Goats and chickens can now sleep with both eyes closed.
Congress has nothing better to do that respond to homophobes and PETA. Fire all of them and take away their pensions. What a pack of fools.
Get answers to your questions and learn about sex trafficking in our local area — the warning signs, how victims are recruited into slavery and how you as a member of the community can help put a stop to this practice.
Soroptimist International of Manassas, an international non-profit organization aimed at improving the lives of women and girls, is sponsoring a 2012 Human and Sex Trafficking Awareness Program on Wed., Jan. 11, 2012 from 7-9pm at the Verizon Auditorium on George Mason University’s Prince William Campus, 10900 University Boulevard, in Manassas, Virginia.
The Program will consist of a film, “CALL+RESPONSE,” which is a documentary that provides information about Modern Day Slavery. Following the film, Youth for Tomorrow, Immigrants First, PLLC and Restoration Ministries will provide a panel of experts in the field.
Moon,
I don’t think we are disagreeing about anything. It won’t go away. My point was the way it is being delivered will be changing. We’ve already seen the mainstream video market changing. Netflicks will eventually spin off the dvd rental division. Blockbuster is changing to compete with Redbox. I think we are starting to see the trickle-down effects of the broader market change, to the local porn video store. Whether or not an individual chooses to stream that into their home, via a set-top box, is their business. There are parental controls on most set-top boxes, just as there are in traditional cable services. If the brick-and-mortar shops stop selling them, I see that as a good thing, as it impacts the entire community.
@Steve, but the sewage is still in your community, regardless of the path it takes. I am pretty much a non-censorship person, regardless of how offensive….for others. There are viideos that test this belief sorely, to the point that I put it right up there with kiddie porn.
So I guess I am not really a non-censorship person. I think I want the brick and morter to stay where I can see it. It reminds me that stuff like that is out there. Remember, I drove past MVC for 6 years and missed it. I knew about Fashion Fantasy. That wasn’t movies. That was other things that I wouldn’t want to censor. I don’t know where the line is for me. As long as I can see buildings I am reminded that it is out there. I guess think about sewage leaks. If it comes in under the house, you are knee deep beofre you realize it. If a stream comes rushing down the street, you know its there.
No, we aren’t disagreeing.
People actually still go to stores for porn? Haven’t they heard of the internet? Its….free. And not hard to find. AND it gets past school filters when my daughter has to find pictures for her english class, matching pictures to her words. Which is why we help her look.
Christine O’Donnell, who is neither a witch nor a Senator, but is on Fox News, indorses Mitt Romney … so he’s got that going for him.
I guess Mitt should be counting his blessings.
BOHICA 2012!
Screwed/Again 2012!
You are going to have to explain what that means, Cargo. I don’t get it. Its probably me though.
Sooooo…
What do you guys think about the SMART meter technology being pushed at us?
Does anyone watch the remake of Hawaii 5-0?
http://www.850koa.com/pages/cmn.html?article=9501489
You cat people better watch out! DC recycle moonbats go through your trash to make sure you aren’t tossing out perfectly good cat poop that they could make bio-fuels out of: http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/dc/dc-resident-fined-thousands-for-not-recycling-cat-litter-121311#ixzz1gSaP6zTy
Totally nasty. How do we know they aren’t really identity thieves?
I think we need a Patriot’s Pledge for all voters to sign before casting ballots. If patriots are committed to defending our country against the things that threaten our way of life, then they should be willing to pledge to eliminate the gravest threat of all … our government. Congress has an approval rating of about 10 percent (who knew they had that many relatives and paid staff members … or as I read somewhere, they’re like a string of Christmas lights: half don’t work and the rest are dim bulbs) and fewer that half approve of the job the President is doing. People say “throw the bums out!,” but when we say “the bums” it often appears we actually mean “all of the bums except that bum from MY state/district/party.” If the 90 percent who disapprove of Congress take the pledge and we actually throw all of the bums out and start with a clean slate in January 2013 then perhaps we can save our country from ourselves. Insanity is repeating the same behavior over and over and expecting a different result. We keep repeating year after year how fed up with are with those who are supposed to represent us but seem to do best at looking after themselves, so why don’t we pledge to end the insanity and act like patriots?
@Morris Davis
Hear hear! Welcome to the Tea Party, Morris! Vote them ALL out!
We need a “none of the above” on the ballot. When that gets the majority…..we start over and those that had already tried….too bad.
You’re sounding downright libertarianish. Were you hanging out with some Ron Paul guys over the weekend?
Can MSNBC get ANY MORE idiotic?
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/12/14/msnbc_likens_romney_to_the_kkk_with_his_keep_america_american_slogan.html
Regardless what you think about Romney or his slogan….really? The KKK? Really?
Tell me again how MSNBC stays on the air?
Manufactured, Scurrilous, News Bereft of Content
MSNBC
Oh dear God. Take another lookand listen. MSNBC reported that Romney was no longer saying Keep America American AFTER the progressive blog Americablog pointed out that the expression was used the the KKK back in the 20′s.
What do you mean can they get more idiotic? They were reporting a story. Would you say that if the Foxies reported that story, which by now they might have?
That’s more of that half baked right wing blog crap Cargo…that takes snippets out of things to stir the pot.
ps I like Romney ok. He is one of the few GOP candidates (and Huntsman) that I can envision looking presidential and not like a buffoon in the oval office.
@Cargosquid
I like your “none of the above” idea and I suspect it would be the majority choice in most cases. I don’t agree with Ron Paul on some things, but I’m convinced he’s the most honest candidate from either party in the race. I have to disagree with you on MSNBC. I watched it earlier and Krystal Ball was on, which makes it worth watching even if you have to turn the sound off.
@Morris
I hope Ms. Ball remembered to thank Greg and Riley for her new 6 figure job, thanks to their efforts to discredit her. I bet both of them which they could change places with her. Maybe even enough to play “reindeer games.”
I haven’t seen Krystal Ball, so I’ll take your word for it.
@Cargo, actually, you probably did. Think Christmas party with her ex husband on a leash. She ran for Congress in the 1st as a blue dog Democrat.
Here is a great piece on Newt Gingrich that does NOT promote or denigrate him. It attempts to explain his position on politics, his type of conservatism, etc.
I think that it does a pretty good job.
http://www.redstate.com/dan_mclaughlin/2011/12/14/taking-newt-gingrichs-ideas-seriously/#comment-9208
@Cargosquid
On the downside, Gary Busey withdrew his Gingrich endorsement today. With Christine O’Donnell’s endorsement of Romney it appears Newt may be losing his crazy support.
Those who watch MSNBC are more informed about issues than the viewers who watch Fox, says poll from Farleigh Dickinson University – http://publicmind.fdu.edu/2011/knowless/
Even Jon Stewart watchers are more informed.
It probably has to do with watching news to learn rather than watching news to have your own ideas validated. @Pat
I wonder how Fox justifies or excuses this report.
I wouldn’t jump on the MSNBC KKK bandwagon…
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/msnbc-reports-mitt-romney-used-ku-klux-klan-rallying-cry-keep-america-american/
From the link above.
Update: Inside Cable News points out that, according to Robert Sickels‘ The 1940s, Republic Steel encouraged the use of the phrase in a GI-themed ad campaign, although Sickels doesn’t say whether it ever caught on.
Update 2: An NBC insider tells Mediaite that NBC News President Steve Capus addressed this story this morning at an editorial meeting, and stressed the need for accuracy, fairness, and caution before proceeding. Capus is reportedly furious at the way the story was handled, and MSNBC is in the process of apologizing to the Romney campaign.
Update 3: On Hardball tonight, host Chris Matthews issued a public apology to the Romney campaign for the “appalling judgment” used in reporting this story.
“During the 11AM hour on MSNBC,” Mathhews said, “we reported on a blog item that compared a phrase used by the Romney campaign to one used by the KKK in the 1920s. It was irresponsible and incendiary of us to do this and showed an appalling lack of judgment. We apologize to the Romney campaign.”
Update 4: Rev. Al Sharpton reinforced the apology on Politics Nation, agreeing that MSNBC “did the right thing” by apologizing:
I would say that the entire discussion gets more and more third-graderish the more I read. In the first place, I can’t find where MSNBC said Romney did anything wrong. What I initially heard following Cargo’s lead was that MSNBC reported on a blog’s comments. Somewhere I heard that Romeny was not going to use that expression any more. I don’t understand what MSNBC is apologizing for. Any time Al Sharpton apologizes for anything I grow suspicious. It isn’t in his nature to do that.
At any rate, Cargo needs to get over his shock and awe. I hear stupidity out of faux news all morning long and no one bats an eye. Why? Its just what they do. I don’t listen to MSNBC mid morning. They might be horrible also. I found turning the news off puts me in a better frame of mind.
It sounds like it wa a slow news day if MSNBC is reporting on what happens on a blog anyway. Why don’t they come interview US?
Wonderful interview by Piers Morgan with Tom Brokaw tonight.
Great to have an interviewer who doesn’t interrupt the inviewee at all times.
or shout over his/her guest to get a point across, and never hear or listen to the guest.
@Morris Davis
“With Christine O’Donnell’s endorsement of Romney it appears Newt may be losing his crazy support.”
Now that’s funny!
@Moon-howler
“I found turning the news off puts me in a better frame of mind.”
Getting rid of cable has done wonders for my outlook. No Fox, MSNBC, HBO, MTV…We don’t even have rabbit ears to get broadcast TV. Just DVD/VCR internet news sites. The biggest benefit is I am reading more than ever. History. News and opinion. Gardening books. The Bible and spiritual books. Newspapers. Wife and daughter are reading more as well.
@Steve, I can’t quite go that cold turkey. I just keep the sound off.
I have a mental illness over TV. On 9-11,. I was where I could get NO news. It did something to me. I have to be where I can get it. Operative word is can. That includes in the night also. I will have it on but I am not listening or watching. That way if something critical happens I will know it because of the flashing etc. I know…mentally ill.
But I just can’t listen to the cable news 24/7. I found it really did some negative stuff to me. I can select programs to watch but thats about it. So I like to hit Morning Joe and Shep Smith in the afternoon. I am frantically looking for my ipod now for my book I am ‘reading.’ It vanished.
I think everyone is better off with less TV. Did you actually drop your cable?
http://denverpost.com/littwin/ci_19548988?source=rss
Zany? May not agree with all of Ron Paul’s ideas but you have to respect him for
not swaying with every political breeze in an attempt to garner votes.
I have the perfect campaign ad for Rick Perry:
HI! Ah’m Rick Perry.
You know my two competitors? Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich?
Yeeaaahhhh ……(smiles and drawls)
Ah’m not either of those two guys.
Vote for the real conservative.
Bless their hearts.
Have a nice day.
Ah’m Rick Perry and Ah approve this message.
@Moon-howler
In the first place, I can’t find where MSNBC said Romney did anything wrong.
Look at the picture of MSNBC at the link scrolling “KKK?”
That’s all I was pointing out. I just felt it was ludicrous and partisan. But…I know that MSNBC is partisan, so I just tune that out.
Last year, Congressman (and alleged Democrat) Gerry Connolly stood with Eric Cantor to extend the Bush tax breaks for the highest earners … I mean “job creators” … saying “It wouldn’t do to penalize that segment of the population.” Earlier this year he stood with Cantor and voted to extend the Bush-era PATRIOT Act provisions that were about to sunset (4 more years of roving electronic surveillance). This week he stood with Eric Cantor and voted for a bill that says anyone suspected of involvement with terrorism can be detained indefinitely by the military at Gitmo, including Americans. I don’t know that I needed another reason to back the ABC 2012 movement (Anybody But Connolly in 2012), but he gave me one anyway.
Like I said, Morris.
Vote them all out! Welcome to the Tea Party and Libertarianism.
Kill the Patriot Act.
Kill this new bill.
Dismantle the DHS. (I noticed that not even Ron Paul said to do that.)
Government ALWAYS keeps any power its has grasped, either by gift or by taking it.
@Moon-howler
“Did you actually drop your cable?”
We did. I had a few days of withdrawls, especially when the presidential debates started, but I got over it. Addison didn’t even notice. We hit up McKay’s and bought up a bunch of kids movies, and she’s just fine. Me and Mrs. T found we get alot more constructive stuff done, and if we feel like watching something we just go to the shelf.
@Steve, how do you keep up with current events?
How does one keep up with current events?
NPR, is one option. Nothing better than a comfy chair, a warm cup of tea
and All Things Considered!
(Hated watching all the drug ads on Network evening news — with
those lengthy this-may-well-kill you-but-we-warned-you legal disclaimers)
@Big Dog, I agree! Couple that with the open season for gap and rx insurance and you felt like gripping your chest and keeling over.
With BBC (107 on FIOS) one gets news from around the world AND the US.
Normal looking anchors – no longhaired blondes with deep vee necklines -
Not too many commercials,
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/candidate-match-game
My test showed (1)Huntsman and tied for (2) Obama and, gazooks, Gingrich!
Take the test and find out who you best match up with for 2012.
check out the beta test site for the revamped PWC gov website (more user-efficient):
beta.pwcgov.org
I like how it links directly with town and neighborhood websites. What do you think, Lafayette?
@Big Dog
1. Huntsman
2 and 3. Gingrich (gazooks here too) and Romney (tie)