Message Forum

Bob,

It caused me no trouble on my computer either.

This same issue has happened with some other posts on this forum, but I've been able to read most of the posts without much problem.

The length of Naomi's article didn't bother me either, as I found all of it to be very revealing and interesting.

I suppose some of it might have caused irritation with some readers however.....but that was part of the wonderousness of the piece, methinks.

03/10/23 05:23 PM

#27018

Janalu,

I hate to burst your bubble on FDR, but he was a Marxist and wanted to be a dictator hence the four terms. I want you to think of him as like Joe Biden. He said one thing to get elected and then did the opposite in practice. He began the racist divide in this country and was an anti semite. He knew the Jews were being exterminated in Europe and did nothing to bring them to America and voted against the International desire to allow them to seek their own homeland. He would have swept the holocaust under the rug had not Eisenhower filmed the camps that were liberated and made the German People bury the dead and care for the dying. Roosevelt put his own encampments in to house Japanese American Citizens. They were given one hour to pack what they could carry in a suitcase and his cronies stole their homes and businesses while they were interned. He supported the voter suppression of blacks in the South and backed the Southern Democrats by supporting poll taxes and literacy exams as well as demanding that multiple voters vouch for a new black voter before they would be allowed to vote. He funnelled money and equipment to Stalin instead of taking Hitler straight on in the west which is what Churchill wanted, ultimately causing half of Europe and East Berlin to come under the Soviet sphere.

03/10/23 05:40 PM

#27019

Tommie's post 27321

He copied my post to Lance and deleted it from his site and deleted his name from my post. A good case of him not following his own rules.

03/10/23 07:18 PM

#27020

David Cordell

I have never taken any illegal drugs, unless you count underage drinking. Same with my wife.

As many of you know, we lost our oldest son Rob to a drug overdose when he was 24. He would have turned 41 next month.

Rob died from a "cocktail" of morphine, cocaine, and xanax. A good friend who is a pathologist looked at the coroner's report and concluded that Rob hadn't been a habitual user. Habitual users build up resistance and need larger and larger doses to get the same effect. Rob didn't have that much in his system.

It only takes once.

I dislike the word overdose. It implies that there is a proper dose that was exceeded.

What is the purpose of fentanyl in the illegal drug world other than to cause addiction, leading to greater profits to the drug dealer. If someone dies from fentanyl without even knowing that they are taking it, it seems to me that it is a poisoning -- murder.

We didn't try to find the source of Rob's death-causing drugs. Perhaps we should have. But it was all too painful. We chose to seek the fastest form of healing, and it is still ongoing after 16 years.

President Biden has experienced grievous personal loss. His first wife and baby daughter died in a car wreck, and his son Beau died of brain cancer. The president had no control over those events.

However, he does have, or should have, control over drug traffic at the southern border. At least he can influence it to some extent.

Over 100,000 Americans died from illegal drugs last year, including an estimated 70,000 from fentanyl. By comparison, 58,000 American servicemen/women died during the entirety of the Viet Nam War.

Remember the collective outrage during Viet Nam? At least it was a war that had a purpose, albeit a questionable one. A war against illegal importation of drugs is a much easier war to fight. The goal is easier to define. And hardly anyone would choose to march in the streets against a legitimate effort to protect innocent Americans, many of whom are children, from the scourge of drug smuggling and the resulting deaths and ruined lives.

Why must we endure 100,000 deaths per year? PER YEAR!

03/10/23 09:24 PM

#27021

David,

WFAA reported in the DFW area last year there were 21 fentonyl deaths with the youngest 11. There are still others waiting pathology reports.

I have never used drugs. Ivalued flying too much. Also I believed in getting high by the activiety I was doing, I have skydived. snow skied, private pilot and done a lot of shooting and hunting.

03/10/23 09:58 PM

#27022

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_drug_overdose_death_rates_and_totals_over_time

Steve,

Why do you say you hate to burst my bubble about FDR?

I praised Teddy Roosevelt for his stance on immigrants coming to the US, in so far as his belief that the newcomers needed to assimilate and become Americans, with all that becoming American entails. I know that T. Roosevelt had some Progressive attitudes concerning his governing inclinations, but his attitude about the immigrants was an attitude with which I agree.

As for FDR, I have many reservations about his reasoning and his programs, but I have to say that he seems to have helped lead our country out of the Depression, although the pathway out of the malaise was by way of WWII; sad situation for sure. I don't know that we could have avoided the war, even if circumstances had been different. I've read several conflicting reports of the history of that era. I don't agree with FDR's social security program, even though he never meant for it to be the sole retirement program it has become. Isn't it basically a Ponzi scheme these days?

He was a Socialist/Progressive, I would say, if I understand his legacy. I know that I need to read more about him to undestand his governing philosophy better. I've heard my grandparents talk about the difficult Depression years, and how they admired the man, but I've also heard my father speak of the foul social security system, (my Dad thinks each man should have been encouraged to start an individual savings plan early in life to have saved the most money possible) as well as other programs put in place by FDR, so I've had numerous accounts of the man's programs tumbling over and over in my head. I've also heard history professors talk about him, with some of them admiring him, while others think he was a cad.

Also, I have heard that Woodrow Wilson was mainly the first one to promote the racial divide in this country. He allowed that movie, "The Birth Of A Nation" to have its initial screening in the White House. He and his cabinet members watched it with glee, even though it was a movie about despicable racial prejudice. Wilson didn't care and encouraged citizens to see the movie.

I believe Andrew Johnson was another racist president in earlier days.

03/11/23 06:47 AM

#27023

David Cordell

Those who watch Fox News know about Benjamin Hall, the war correspondent who lost his left foot and right leg, as well as use of his left hand, left eye, and left ear, from Russian artillery in Ukraine. He was interviewed on Hannity and described the harrowing experience, including a big positive -- the vision of his daughter telling him to get out of the car, which he did, just before it was demolished by another shell. All four of the other occupants of the car died. The Defense Department, Fox News, and even other countries worked very hard to get Hall from Ukraine into Germany. Then he spent six months at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio rather than Walter Reed because Brooke specializes in burns.He has endured 30 operations. There will be a special on March 19 on Fox News about his remarkable experience.. His book about the experience is available for pre-order on Amazon and will be released on March 14 - SAVED: A War Reporter's Mission to Make it Home.

Separately, I was curious about how Texas stacks up to other states in drug deaths. It turns out that Texas had the third lowest rate -- 14.1 deaths per 100,000 population in 2020. Delaware was third worst with 47.3 deaths per 100,000 population.

03/11/23 08:17 AM

#27024

Janalu,

I must have thought you were quoting Franklin instead of Teddy. Teddy is another one I am on the fence about. He was a big game hunter whose alter ego led him to preserve wild places like Yellowstone. He was born a man that lnherited his wealth rather than earn it himself. Folks like that often have a skewed view of what it takes to make it on their own. There are exceptions like our friend Hull.

It is probably a warning to us all to make our kids stand on their own..

03/11/23 09:05 AM

#27025

David and Steve

I just noticed Get TV is airing the old "Gene Autry Show"

03/11/23 01:00 PM

#27026

Steve,

I agree that parents need to teach their kids to stand on their own two feet and work. My parents told us from very young ages that we were going to college after high school, which we didn't understand until we were older. They stressed education all the time, and they gave us chores to do at home. No goofing off! We learned early to goof off outside, because goofing off inside would cause another chore to be assigned. HA!

03/11/23 02:53 PM

#27027

Jaanalu,

Gettiing my degree is what gave me the opportunity to be considered for a job that I could get an education doing. College is not an education, just an indication to a company that you have the ability to complete something you started in a proficient manner. A person like that is one they know they can teach to be a company asset.

03/11/23 03:32 PM

#27028

Yes, much of college is an endurance test. For quite a few students, if you just hang in there long enough, you're probably gonna' get outta' there with a degree. I knew one gal who kept failing a basic English course that she needed to pass to get her degree. She had grown up with parents who were careless about their English (blue-collar people who were super nice folks, but careless with old habits they had developed) so she heard a style of English that was unacceptable to the English Department standards. That young lady hung in for six years, never really mastering proper English skills that well, but finally learning at least enough to pass. (She had some problems with a couple of other courses, too, as she was basically an average student, who was the only one in her family that ever went to college.) We helped her memorize enough proper verb tenses, etc., etc., to finally pass her test with a grade of 73. She got her degree and she got a good job in a west Texas small town, where quite a few people still speak as her parents spoke: old habits die slowly out there, but they are good God-fearing folks, nevertheless! Gotta luv'em, dontcha' know!

03/12/23 01:05 PM

#27029

Tommy,

You posted:

Sandra,

Could you educate Bob with a post here on how to copy and paste content without including formatting that widens the margins (or otherwise affects the formatting of the Forum post) and makes it difficult to read? I could post that in Tech Tips so that everyone could understand how to copy and paste without including formatting that messes up the Forums (Fora?).

Educate Bob? I think Bob can handle whatever he wants to do on this forum or elsewhere without any instruction from me. But, for the record: His post messed with my phone's browser, making it difficult (frankly - it was impossible to read from my phone) to read. I had to go to my new laptop, where it was formatted just fine. Must be the new version of Windows....

The biggest issue with the Copy/Paste directly from a news website, or any website for that matter, is the code that tags along with it. That code can directly affect this website. Class Creator can handle most of it, but more cases than not, it will mess with a browser, or in some cases crash this website, although that is rare, it has happened. Crashing means, you can't edit the post to rid yourself of it and you have to ask to technical help from Class Creator to fix it. I think this has happened a few times.

Bottom line, if you must Copy/Paste, because you want the readers to read it now and not go to an outside link, (force it down their throats so to speak), then at least filter it through a text editor first to clean out the extra code that you can't see, but is there none the less.

03/12/23 01:09 PM

#27030

Women are now allowed to go topless in Berlin's swimming pools.

Ok Boys! It is time to get those passports renewed!

A teaser....

Women in Berlin can now swim topless in the city’s public pools if they choose to – just as men can.

As well as being hailed as a step forward for gender equality in the German capital, the measure introduced this week is symptomatic of Germany’s love of Freikoerperkultur – literally translated as ‘free body culture’ – which has its roots in the late 19th century.

Berlin’s authorities took action after a female swimmer said she was prevented from attending one of the city’s pools without covering her chest in December 2022. The woman lodged a complaint with the city’s ombudsman’s office at the Senate Department for Justice, Diversity and Anti-Discrimination.

Talk about Woke - Wake Up is more like it!

03/12/23 01:49 PM

#27031

All the talk about drugs and illegal and legal etc., etc.

For the record. I have quit drinking alcohol, entirely. Due to my AFIB which developed over a year ago. Apparently, a drink or two can bring it on. The experience of having my heart race uncontolled (200 bpm) cured me of the habit. I have not had as much as a drop in over a year. Crave it? Absolutely. There are times, especially after visting my mother, or when Danny almost died this last December, that a good stiff glass of white wine, red or pink, was wanted. But the thought of that feeling of anxious dread and pounding in my chest, cures the crave in a few moments. Cold turkey was not even an issue. I only drank one or two a week anyway. I also quit caffinated coffee. I still drink regular tea and I eat dark chocolate. That it seems does not mess with me at all. I have to have some vices...for Pete's sake.

Which brings me to the subject of what is really dangerous. True, illegal drugs are very dangerous (I speak of opioids). But when legal, fentanol, for example, can be a life saver - or a real pain saver. Danny had some the past December when they had to shock his heart back into normal rhythm. Apparently, you can feel the shock even though you are out, but not with Fentanol. He had it done three times total. Never felt a thing and he was only out for less than two minutes. They almost had to shock him when he was awake, when his heart rate dipped below 28 bpm. He got lucky that day. Too many legal drugs to control the rate, apparently, almost took him out. It took three days to control the rate in the ICU. No wonder I needed a drink...

Back to what I was posting.

In my opinon, alcohol is as dangerous, and a long term killer. But I would never advocate to make it illegal. Waste of time, money and effort. That has been proven. Cigarettes too, are extremely dangerous and long term killers too. Yet they are still legal and kids get a hold of both alcohol and cigs. Difficult to police and stop. It can be controlled, but not completely eliminated. Hell, even too much caffeine (like too many Red Bulls) can put someone in the hospital. Outlaw that? Not gonna happen. If you did, the black market for both of these drugs would make them more inticing, more valuable, and the cartels would cash in on that.

I think the only way you can curb use of illegal drugs like cocaine, and the like (a whole range of similar drugs - opiates) would be to get at the root cause of their use and abuse. The following issues need to addressed: Mental illness, pre-disposition for abuse of any substance, depression, pain, peer pressure, anxiety, and the list goes on. Getting help for people suffering in pain is paramount. Making pain sufferers feel like criminals is criminal, in my opinion. Same with anyone who suffers from any of the other reasons why a person uses drugs to get relief.

You can close off all of the borders, police the public to the max, and it won't stop drug abuse. Someone desparate enough to risk their lives and livelihood to get drugs won't be stopped, by these measures. They will make the drugs themselves if they have to or rob and steal to get them. The will find the dealers or friends that will help them get the drugs and pay the prices they demand. You have to address the reason they want them in the first place. Even then, you will only slow it down. There will always be people who are intent to destroy their lives in this way.

You by now have noticed I have left off my discussion with no mention of marijuana. I my opinion it is no more dangerous than alcohol, and less dangerous than nicotine. I think it should be legal and taxed. I don't use it. I have tried it. In my experience the two gimlets I had over 50 years ago almost sent me to the hospital. The little grass I had (equally long ago) only made me want to smile, and eat.

03/12/23 02:34 PM

#27032

Lowell Tuttle

Posting while watching The Players and NCAA basketball...and the World Baseball Classic...Seeing that Alabama Canadian 7 footer foul out. Wondering who remembers Randy Matson playing center for A & M when we were all in college...6'5'' shotputter...what a behemouth for those white guy days...

Sandra, I drank...a lot. At my end of drinking days I was going through 1750 ml of Rye whiskey, on top of about 2-3 Shiners a day, and for dinner some Argentinian wine...plus my tri weekly Mexican restaurant visits had 2 of those super size margaritas...

Doctor said, your labs show elevate liver enzymes. Come back in 90 days. I thought, well...I can quit for 90 days, fool the next lab report, get my enzymes down, and get back to drinkin again.

Very stupid...I realized after a few days and decided to quit altogether. It's been 63 months. I really miss it though...and I have supplanted my alchohol with more sugar/bread than before...

03/12/23 02:47 PM

#27033

Jan Alexander

Nice , Sandra. Except, I also hate to see school age kids smoking pot , sad ... we need them to be engaged and get smart to save our earth. For me , it makes me cough and eat too much, don't like gummies either... at 72 if old folks want too , as far as I can see, they can. But I am too old these days to smoke , I aready sit and stare too much as it is...(chuckling right now)

Watching the news today ... last year, public universities paid out 63.2 million in buyouts to coaches that fell short of expectations. NO wonder college is expensive.

03/12/23 03:33 PM

#27034

Jan,

I agree, school aged kids should not smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol or smoke pot, much less use fentanol! How to keep it away from them is the question. Schools are not the bottom line, parents are. Putting the enforcement all on teachers alone won't cut it. If you can't keep a second-grader from shooting their teacher, how the hell are you going to keep them from doing drugs?

In the absence of cigarettes, the kids in Danny's youth, smoked grapevine. Yuck! Once, Danny's father caught him and his brothers stealing cigarettes (from their parents) and smoking them. What his father did, was epic. He told them if they were going to smoke, then smoke big. So they all lit up, and smoked till they all pucked. End of problem. At least till they all reached adulthood. Danny never smoked. Both of this brothers did later in life. Works for some, but not all.

My Dutch grandfather watered down wine for me when I was 12 and let me drink, in his presence and that of my mother too. I felt grand, and I felt like I was included and tested as a potential adult. Later when I was 21 we drank beer together. I did drink cherry slo gin, while still in high school, with friends and beer too.

I will probably never get the chance to corrupt my grandchildren. Since I still don't have any, my chances are quickly deteriorating. In lieu of drinking, I would teach them the fine art of cussing in Dutch!

03/12/23 07:32 PM

#27035

David Cordell

1. Obviously, some of you know more about illegal drugs than I do! I understand that marijuana is much more potent than it used to be. Anyone know anything about that?

2. Lowell. Geez Dude. You're lucky to be alive. Separately, did you watch UT beat up on KU last night?

3. Sandra, my mother was the oldest of six, and she made one of her brothers smoke and smoke and smoke until he turned green. It worked until he was older. He eventually died of lung cancer. Also, while I agree that it is impossible to stop all illegal drug usage, it seems to me that it is possible to reduce the number of deaths dramatically by having strict border policies and giving harsh sentences to dealers. There were over 100,000 opiod deaths in 2022, but fewer than 10,000 in the year 2000. Can we not improve even a little? How about a 10% improvement? Isn't saving 10,000 lives worth the effort?

4. Since Ash Wednesday Martha and I have watched The Ten Commandments, The Greatest Story Ever Told, and King of Kings. But we are enjoying The Chosen series streaming on Prime more than those big screen epics. It seems especially realistic except for some language than seems to be aimed at better communicating with modern day folk, like, "We were freaking out."

By coincidence, we watched an episode last night that included the story of the Woman at the Well, and then it was in the Gospel read at church today. The dramatized version added a great deal of depth and realism to the story.

Steve, I don't expect you to approve!

03/12/23 09:50 PM

#27036

Those that think marijuana is benine need to look at the dealers and runners that get cought. Many times they also have fentanal and meth and other drugs. marijuana appears to be a gateway drug for the dealers.

One question I have for those wanting to leaglize marijuana, I would ask who would you allow to work for you while high,Doctor, ai plpt, auto mechanic and other jobs. Many places like McDonalds and other places do drug testing. Hard to find a job if you use marijuana even in state where it is legal.

marijuana must be addictave because I have seen enough people on shows like Alaska State Troopers where a person has been in jail then cry please don't arrest me for marijuana. Been in jail and will violate pobation/parol and risk going back to jail.

03/13/23 10:45 AM

#27037

Wayne: Your comments are in black, my responses are in purple:

I have never purchase from a dealer, so I don't know if they deal in numerous drugs or not. It is possible sure. If marijuana is legalized, then it would be regulated and all those dispensing it would have to comply with the law - as to liquor stores and grocery stores that sell cigarettes, beer and wine.

Alcohol is legal and airline pilots to my knowledge don't drink before flying. Most high risk jobs check their employees to make sure they are not drunk or high. I doubt seriously this would be an issue. If you suspect your medical doctor is drunk or high, seek a second opinion. I know a lot of nurses who smoke. My sister in law was a respiratory nurse. She smoked on her breaks. In fact, even though she had COPD she still smokes. Very dangerous ane extremely additictive and very legal. Makes no sense to me, but there it is. Making it illegal would only create a black market and people would continue to use it anyway.

Your logic on this one escapes me here. Are all drunks alcoholics? If you have more than one glass of wine or a few beers are you addicted? I believe you can get addicted to anything. Marijuana included. Nicotine is highly addictive Here is an article from the NIH. If you ban all substances that are addictive then you ban cigarettes, cigars, and all pain killers associated with opioids. If you become addicted to anything and admit it, you are subject to intense scrutiny and suspicion, this is especially true for chronic pain sufferers. We punish addicts, instead of helphing them. Addiction is a problem, that should be addressed instead of punished. There is a reason someone would use a drug to ease their pain, be it emotion or physical. You want to curtail illicite use of any drugs, then solve that. Some drugs that illegal actually help some people cope with cancer, anxiety and pain.

03/13/23 10:52 AM

#27038

Lowell Tuttle

Correction. I just re read my alchohol volume post. That 1750 ML of Rye was a (about) 4-5 day amount. Not daily. Jeez...

David, I really was surprised the Horns appeared to be as mature as they should have in that game. They really handled Kansas.

UH got a 1 seed despite losing to a very tough Memphis team...but the Cougs did'nt have Sasser playing due to a slightly pulled groin.

Is it GROIN or GRO in...I think it's groin. You groan when you pull a groin...and usually, you don't pull a groin until you grown...but, you might groan before you have a pullable groin.

03/13/23 11:51 AM

#27039

I just read where US News and World report has rated Texas A&M as the 4th best university in the nation and first in the state for its onlinebachelor's degree programs.

Different subject.

Texas Aggie Turney W. Leonard '42 was killed in action in WW II in Germany and posthunously awarded the Medal of Honor. Two years later a local German teenager found his Aggie Ring and kept it safe for decades. He eventually showed it to his son-in-law who was a German military officer Lt. Volker Lossner who tracked down Turney's famly and in 2009 presented it to the family. This profound experience left a mark on the Lossner family and now two of his sons have graduated from Texas A&M.

03/13/23 12:43 PM

#27040