The Message Forum is an ongoing dialogue among classmates. The goal is to encourage friendly interaction, including interaction among classmates who really didn't know each other. Experience on the site has revealed that certain topics tend to cause friction and hard feelings, especially politics and religion. 

Although politics and religion are not completely off-limits, classmates are asked to be positive in their posts and not to be too repetitive or allow a dialog to degenerate into an argument. 

Forums work when people participate - so don't be bashful! Click the "Post Response" button to add your entry to the forum.

David Cordell

Janalu,

I am operating under the assumption that Trump will win the Republican nomination. He has so much baggage and he acts so stupidly that I think he would have a hard time winning the general election.Bringing up the possible 2020 election irregularities doesn't get anyone to change their mind to vote for him, yet he keeps babbling about it. And the name-calling is ridiculous.

Trump has an extremely faithful following, but thre is a larger number of people who will vote for anyone but him and who will walk over glass to vote against him. I'm not sure there is a large enough group between those two that he can pull to his side.

Obviously, I have no love for Newsom, but he would be an attractive candidate for Democrats. He checks all the important boxes. Californians, who have seen him close up, will vote for him in spite of what has happened  there. People in other states haven't seen that situation. Besides, about 40% of the population will vote for anyone with a D behind their name.

David Cordell

Recent Gallup Poll --

Poud to be an American?

Republicans, Democrats, Independents

Wayne Gary

David,

Just in from Babylon Bee

Tweet View Limit Forces Man To Interact With Real Life

https://babylonbee.com/news/tweet-view-limit-forces-man-to-interact-with-real-life

Bob Davidson

Lowell Tuttle

Bob, the greyish area of voters is who the rhetoric is directed to.   At best, that's about a 20% swing.   They are bascially undecided...

So, not being Trump alone captures a bunch of them...

Lowell

Of course, you might lose some Trumpers who will go home with their toys and not vote...

Janalu Jeanes (Parchman)

I've heard from Kellyanne Conway that the best chance Republicans have of getting rid of mindless Biden is that Black guy, Cornell West, forming a third party choice to extract votes from Progressive Democrats who think Biden has not gone far enough to the left to suit their Marxist wishes.  Maybe that development will come to fruition.  Hope springs eternal!

Also, what is this notion of "a protected class?"  I thought we had a classless society here in the US.  I've heard some saying that gays are a protected class.  How can gays be anymore protected than anyone else in our society?  We're all equal aren't we?

Wayne Gary

Janalu,

Cornell West will do to Biden and the Dems  what Ross Perot did to Geo H.W. Bush and the Repblicans.  Will attract some undecided but a lot of the far left like AOC and her followers.  Will really help the Repbulicans.

I read their plans and it sounds like a member of our class would jump in and support Cornell and his platform.  Pay off all student loans, free college education for all,  disband NATO and bring all of out troups back from foreign countries and many more socialist ideas.

The disbanding of NATO and bringing home all of our troups sounds like the isolationists befor WW II and we know how that worked out.

David Cordell

Janalu,

I should have mentioned in my scenario that I expect Dems to become revitalized and enthusiastic when they jettison Biden. They know he's a dud.

Bob D.,

Of course Dems will attack any  Republican with vigor. They are bare knuckles streetfighters while we Republicans play by Queensberry rules. (We're getting tougher, e.g., Hunter.) Recall Bush's brother in the S&L crisis, or his daughters' fake IDs. Or his drinking, before becoming a teetotaler. I suspect that the establishment Dems feel burned by the embarrassing revelations in the Russian hoax, but that won't keep rogue actors fro doing their thing.

By the way, Bob, what do you think about the federal judge's injunction that the Biden administration must steer clear of social media management for the time being?

Lowell Tuttle

I believe you can go back to any Presidential election campaign and find backstabbing, slanderous, disengenuous attacks by or against any campaign strategist or press related stance.

It is part of our historical political process.

Lincoln even changed the name of his party affiliation in the 1864 campaign so as not to disuage anti Republican Party voters...

Running for President is a rough and tumble business.   Putting yourself out there is a never ending give and take of bad vibes.

Except for Jimmy Carter...and maybe Harry Truman (because of the hat)

David Cordell

Those of you with a Houston connection might be interested in this book review.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/we-hold-our-breath-review-on-the-banks-of-buffalo-bayou-8a0542f8?mod=Searchresults_pos1&page=1

Meanwhile, here is an opinion piece from The Wall Street Journal that relates to the Supreme Court decision on affirmative action.

Jim Bedwell

David C,

Justice Jackson was probably one of the black IDIOTS who went bananas the second that the OJ-criminal-trial result was broadcast in 1995.

David Cordell

President Biden refuses to acknowledge his granddaughter.

My first reaction -- that's terrible.

My second reaction -- we'll take her!!!

Lowell Tuttle

Just reviewed a file of a customer who has been with me since 1995.   Mike West helped me write her up.   Her occupation was entertainer...

Still with me 28 years...

I think maybe one loss...

Sort of amazing to look back at the old paperwork and carriers and software generated policies, quotes, etc. back in the old days...

I do have one customer who has had liability with me since about 1980 or 81... That was before computers.  

We actually looked up rates on a card or a page in a book.   No credit scoring.   No CLUE reports...

Stories abound.

I kept a lot of stupid paperwork...

Progressive rep'd since 1976...they require we keep signatures on rejections and application forever...

I went on a tour of their Cleveland compound in about 2004.   They had a bunker which could be run by one or two persons and had records and data for the whole country's business.   There were 4 or 5 bunkers around the US.   Supposedly, impervious to even nuclear damage.   There was a document retrieval room in the bunker I saw where there were robots running around the room filing and pulling documents for cases.   I am sure their processes have changed since then.   When I look at accounts that go back before 2018, I am unable to view the documents.   I have to physically have the documents.   Most business since 2018 has been e sign.   Customers almost never come into sign anymore.   

Progressive marketing and other companies' marketing has changed recently.   They are stopping me from providing a quote unless I get underwriting pre approval...and there is no quote generated.  The world is changing to a very hard market for auto and home insurance.

Rising interest rates have complicated the reinsurance process.   Managment of assets has radically changed in the environment of property and casualty insurance.

Rates are going up a lot.   

Oh well...No problem except shopping for that homeowner rerate/rewrite...Expect 20-40% increases if you have not already...

Bob Davidson

Born and raised in Kentucky in 1963-a state that has been recently leaning toward more liberal values, we might add–Jamie, a divorcee, father, grandfather and proud owner of a few lots in the trailer park, had had enough and up and died on us on June 14th in order to avoid another Presidential stolen-election mishap in the near future.

As a gluttonous eater of fried foods and snack cakes, as well as the occasional chili cheese dog, James, tried in vain to give up the ghost by clogging his arteries and having a stroke in 2015. His twin boys, Rocky and Rodney, had other plans and made him go to the hospital. While waiting in the ER at the hospital, he was heard saying, "Let's make a break for it!", only to be heard by one of the hospital staff and forced to go through the procedure. He wasn't too excited about the prospect, but went anyway.

On many occasions in life, James was seen in his back yard at the trailer park during the early hours of the morning, hammering beers, standing over country-style ribs, and yelling, "It's got a head like a cat on it!", while nearby neighbors would peek out their windows bearing looks of disgust and amazement, as his party guests were slurring remarks about needing to speed up his cooking style. "We've been here since 5 o'clock," they would say. "I've got work in the morning."

We don't know if he was married, but he definitely was a lady's man. There was Kathy, Mary Lou, Tammy, Debra, Carrie, Tina, etc., etc. "It's the bones", he told us as proudly pointed his skinny, pasty-white legs. "Women love a good shin". We think he might even have some females waiting for him on the other side. Jamie loved his family more than anything else in the world...except ice-cold Busch, room-temperature Busch, T-bones, New York strip, prime rib, shrimp, swimming, poker, hatch-back Mustang GTs, tank-tops, Kentucky Men's basketball, and his personal copy of Eddie Murphy's Raw.

He leaves behind his second-favorite son, Rocky(and Lizeth) Loveless of Arizona City, AZ, his favorite son, Rodney Loveless of Science Hill, KY, a younger brother, Joey, and unofficial daughter Melissa(and Coy) Vance of the trailer park, as well as a pair of old boxers which have 'Buttweiser the King of Rears' printed on the design. He will be moderately missed.

Kurt Fischer

Lowell:

Your story about Progressive's caverns and robots running around reminds me of a visit to USAA in the late 90s.

I worked for Arthur Andersen at the time and we were helping them increase the productivity of their customer facing staff.  They came up with a way to display the microfiched records on a display screen.  How?

First they microfiched all of the customer files.

Second, they stored the microfiches on "spindles" that would rotate.

Third, they indexed the location of microfiches.

Fourth, they developed a mainframe system which stored the location of microfiches on the spindles.

Last, they developed a robot-like system which was fed the location of the desire microfiche and would rotate to the correct spindle, select the microfiche and lay it on a reading device.  The image was then displayed on a mainframe monitor for the agent.  The agents had two monitors, one for their mainframe systems and one to display the microfiche records.

Talk about a Rube Goldberg design...  They spent a lot of money, only to have the technology superseded by the ability to electronically store and display documents.

Jim Bedwell

Bob D,

That recent obit about James/Jamie sounds like my family!!!!

The obit writer couldn't figure out if the guy had been married or not but at least he did ferret out the tasteless universal communication of child favortism by the ne-er-do-well. And the writer also neglected to mention, in light of the a woman's "love for a good shin", a man's corresponding love for a good shi..... - former US Secretary of Agriculture (under Nixon & Ford) Earl Butz didn't. Finally, the writer forgot to mention how, back in the day, James/Jamie at long last had to buy a VCR because that was the only way he could watch wrestling since it aired when he was at work.

Jim

Jim Bedwell

Robert DeNiro's 19-year-old grandson by his 1st wife Diahann Abbott has died of an overdose, and she is saying that fentanyl was part of an adulterated pill he took. That's a true tragedy but as the "Reverend" Jeremiah Wright said, the "chickens are coming home to roost". We'll see if this alters DeNiro's political thinking; after all, like Mark Twain said, "Loyalty to petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul".

David Cordell

I think I mentioned that I told my wife that I wanted to be cremated, and she made an appointment for the next day.

Lame jokes aside, has anyone bought a pre-paid cremation or funeral contract? We bought a pre-paid cremation contract. Then we decided that we paid too much and canceled it. We already bought a niche in the columbarium at our church. Not in a hurry to use it. But we may want to pre-pay for the cremation. 

Turns out that the prepayment deal is actually an insurance contract. If you die locally, the funeral home you purchased it from takes care of the arrangements. If you die elsewhere, your company makes arrangements for you to be cremated there and to have your ashes sent back home. The funeral home I am now considering insures through Homestead Life Company (Iowa) which has been in business for 100 years and specializes in this type of arrangement. It is rated A- (Excellent) by AM Best. (That's for Lowell.) Their charge for current cremations is $799 and for pre-paid it's $899. Essentially, it seems that you are paying an extra $100 to lock in a price.

Any thoughts?

Wayne Gary

David,

If you donate your body to SW Medical school they will do the cremation after they are finished with you cadiver and return your ashed at no cost to you or your family.  It will be 1-2 years before they return the ashes.  Both of my parents donated their bodies.

David Cordell

Interesting possibility, Wayne, but my wife and I would rather complete the entire process with minimum delay.

ADDENDUM:

Again, we are in no hurry to start the process!

Wayne Gary

Lowell Tuttle

I bought a cremation (funeral service included) for my mother in law.   I wanted her to use the same premium to buy a 10,000 no med life insurance, but she insisted.   It got paid for (about 56.00 a month for 5 years.)   The service was all taken care of including snacks and a memorial service room for friends and such.   It was Heights Funeral Home here in H town.

You are counting on the company being solvent 30-40 years from now (lol) but you might just instruct your heirs or executor to take care of it cash and carry when it happens...

It is insurance.   And, supposedly no one has ever lost $ on a life insurance contract...I don't know if the contract for  this service is life..(It is final expense life insurance.)  But, you are buying a service.  Whoever survives just gives the hospital a link...card...phone number...and it's done.

A- at present it pretty good.   Monitoring the AM best rating, however, would be a pain in the ass.   And I know you would do it.

Luckily my Dad had his and my mom's stuff taken care of by Arlington National Cemetray via my deceased baby sister at 6 months back in 1952 or 53...Since she was interred at Arlington, the parents of her HAD to be interred, or had the right to be interred there.   At the hospital we informed them in both cases.  The internment was a month or two later...and it was basically all free, including services...Quite amazing...Even our limo's from the Key Bridge Marriott to Arlington was covered.  (But not the hotel or our air fare.)

David Cordell

Thanks, Lowell.

As I think of it, we won't have a problem coming up with the cash for the first of us to die. A bigger issue is having a plan, i.e., what to do when someone dies. I think I am going to send an item out to the class about what to do if a loved one dies. Main thing with regard to this discussion is where to take the deceased. It would be good to know in advance where to go for embalming or cremation.  It's not exactly the type of decision that you want to make at that time. After my father died, we piddled around for a few days to decide what to do. Result: an extra $750 in charges even though the hospice people picked him up about an hour after he died.

David Cordell

Yeah, although I count eight decades.

Ron Knight

To All

I am not one to dabble much in religion or politics on the Forum or anywhere for that matter. I believe it to be most private. But events with my son and my daughter being entrenched Democrats makes me feel even more compelled to speak out. I believe in the rights of all (legal) citizens to have the right to vote. I know some of you will argue with me. But from what I have seen brewing over the last several elections, this country has only become a two party VERY divided nation of voters. I have made it known that I am a moderate Republican, much in the footsteps of John McCain. Some call that an oxymoron. I know we have tried to have a third party from time-to-time, reminds of Ross Perot dividing the votes to allow Clinton to become President over emcumbent George HW Bush (41). As our population grows I believe it will be necessary to have a true third party to keep our Democratic Society in check. There MUST be a place for those somewhere in the middle to have a home in our political system.