ww_watcher

Here's a good example of musical humor.

How many of you know about Dave Weckl?

I don't know...it looks like a perfect opportunity for a wet T-shirt contest. Pot 'O Gold and Rainbows and all that rot. What? [spoken with Maturin's accent]

I don't how many of our friends were affected by that but I hope they are safe. I have a videographer friend, there, who was nearby but safe. ..Boy! Take off a week or so for a Triple Bypass and the world ...er...continues to go mad.

I hope all of our UK friends are safe...and dry too.

My first computer, like Maturin, was a teletype machine w/ acoustic couplers for a phone's receiver (circa 1972). We also logged onto a time sharing system with the phone company. It was part of our second year algebra and/or physics classes. My first home computer was Tandy (Radio Shack) TRS-80 (Trash80) Color computer. I used it to control an articulated cockpit seat I was trying to invent to lessen the G-stress on fighter pilots. My first business computer was made by Mars-Sinclair and was a "lunchbox" style Z-80 powered computer with two 5.25" floppy drives. I used it to help develop a computer which communicated with the directional drilling equipment for Eastman-Whipstock. As I remember it, DOS started out as a Navy/Air Force (NavAir) construct for field-use computing of various kinds, then it was bought and modified for civilian use by Heath, then adopted/stolen (adapted) into MS-DOS for Micro-Shaft and DR-DOS for Compaq. But alas I never knew the truth nor cared. I still have (though I don't know why) one of the monitors (spare parts R us), for the Compaq Lunch Box, along with its Hercules monochrome graphics card. I also had, until recently - now belongs to Goodwill, an 8086 CPU card, and a 30MB "flash dive" (hard drive on a board) for a Zenith Desktop. The Zenith, truly open architecture, only had the bus installed (8 16bit slots) and everything installed plugged into the bus including the CPU card.

Yea, you're right. His laissez faire attitude toward Putin could be easily be seen as enabling.

Strutting cocks, ruffling their feathers at each other... LOL

I see another "Afghanistan" coming. I thought it funny when General Kovanekov made the reference to our new F-35s as "invisible jets" and us getting a disappointing surprise. I had a rather heated argument with a cousin, who is a retired marine aviator, over the wisdom of using this terribly over-hyped and ridiculously poorly designed aircraft. He defended it's efficacy with the usual crap about me not knowing what he knows about aircraft, while I said they were using tech that was easy to defeat, breaks down at the drop of a hat and expensive to repair, and their expectations will be more costly than reality and that reliance on this air frame is foolish at best. He will never admit that I have been in the engineering technologies (though his nuclear physicist dad and I talk tech for hours over cigars and beer) for so long that I am rarely fooled by the marketing and sales pitches used by powers that be (buy).

Just for the record. I am biggoted but not a racist. My likes and dislikes of people are based on individual behavior, not skin color. But I am not naive to mob rule issues. When you hear a black person complaining about how their neighborhood has been abandoned and they want a better place for their children to grow up, keep in mind that it costs nothing to pick up the garbage out of your yard; or just not trashing your home in the first place. How hard is it to keep your neighborhood clean? Do you think that the garbage trucks don't go into places like Camden, NJ or the Watts area of LA, CA, because the whites forgot about 'em? NO, it isn't safe to go there. The cops get shot at daily in places like that. Does that happen in predominately white neighborhoods? If you don't have much money is it wise to have more children than you can feed? Is a fancy cell phone, gold teeth, $3000 rims on a $1500 car (that could be your food budget for 6 months), the gaming platforms, or a fairly expensive car ( I remember a brand new Buick Riviera with a "diamond in the back" leather interior, and wing shaped CB antenna sitting in front of a 400sqft stick built home whose walls you could see through with the tar paper hanging off of), more important than paying the bills that benefit your household? What about staying in school and learning to speak clearly and read competently? Even in severely depressed areas you can always identify the pockets of folks who are determined to make it using the honest resources available to them (you know, like gardens and such). Is theft and pillage of those who worked for what they have ever a good thing? Most of the black part of our society has long since learned how to earn what they have and raise good families. The squeaky cogs (violent protesters and whiners) we are experiencing do not represent the black people as a whole and we should never emulate the dregs of our society, i.e. baseball caps cocked to one side and the britches hanging down around the knees, gratuitously sexually explicit "musical" performances (extravaganzas) on disc and stage, and acceptance of foul language as "cool". So, until we restart calling a spade a spade we will always have this "race and downtrodden poor" problem.

Mr Eagle, this is a very narrow view. Our flag is also a symbol of the abolishment of slavery; I believe the first country in the world to do so. It is also a symbol of a country which comes to the aid of their friends, or the downtrodden, and the acceptance of others (our country is made up of a lot more than a few bigots). Don't forget all the handouts and support we give to worldwide disaster victims. Many of the the disease vectors in the world have been identified and countered (some still on-going) by the CDC in the US. It is a symbol of what you can accomplish with the proper amount of hard work and perseverance. It also is a symbol of the men and women who have given their lives to making the world a better place (mainly it is greedy politicians who have mucked it all up). So when a person protests these symbols they are also protesting the many more good things which have been accomplished under it. Kaperneak ( I only use him as a recent example) is protesting a problem which has been so badly misrepresented that it is no longer valid...and yet many still beat their chests while voicing their primal screams over it. The high-schoolers and post high-schoolers (collegiate attendees ) are following suit and are just as misinformed; but since they are teens, and know everything, they will not listen to reason. After all, their heroes are doing it; it must be right. The BLM movement and the NBPG are founded on violent overthrow instead of civil discourse and correction. They don't even have the social responsibility to clean up their own huge problems of murdering themselves at an incredible rate before violently protesting an incredibly small percentage of wrongs by cops. They have proven this many times both here and in the country of their ancestors; which they are always ready to shove in your face. Keep in mind that this gentleman was raised abandoned by his black parents and adopted and raised by white parents. These folks gave him a good home in a country which allowed him to follow his dreams and now he makes millions merely providing entertainment to others. His protest has no teeth. ( I use that quip a lot, don't I?)

Ah yes, I see it. you are right, she is hotter. I always thought SMG to skinny.

I doubt that he is any more articulate or credible than you, though I disagree with him on several points. One of the main points I have a problem with, is that "it is easier for whites because we didn't have to live through slavery and the problems associated with it later on." Those who buy into this narrative are walking a dangerously precipitous path to a dead end. Very few people born in the last 50 years know anyone or have known anyone, who was a slave. The vast majority of black colored Americans have a job that affords them a good life. The ones you see rioting and protesting are protesting for no better reason than a good excuse to violate someone's hard earned living by rioting and looting. The whites who are with them are even more ludicrous because they are validating bad behavior in the name of what? Social injustice? They represent a closet full of skeletons of their own making. They need to spend more time reading about what the root problems truly are and acting on them in a productive -not destructive- manner. In most cases they won't even need government assistance. Before anything like this will happen, though, they will have to assume the responsibility for their own behavior, only then will they understand what they need to do to fix their own problems. Kaepernick and his ilk are disconnected from the reality of where and how they live. He had adopted parents who are white and gave him everything he needed to earn the multi-million dollar paychecks; so where is the white on black injustice. He could not have done this in any other country in the world. Has he ever been harassed by the police? Probably no more than I, when I was a teenager. Does he really think that cops target blacks? Only when a black person paints a target on their back. The BLM rabble have never acknowledged the truth of the matter concerning racism and violence in their own communities; they simply ignore that they are their own worst enemy. They only want what they want and if we (the haves not the whites) don't give it to them they destroy everything within their grasp. That is little more than the tantrums of a petulant child. The truth is that the police aren't any harder on them than they are on anyone else - black or otherwise. There are just to many facts and figures out there that don't support their cry-babying. To the contrary their are to many examples of successful black Americans Here's a good question. Would you hire a person who comes sauntering in to a job interview wearing their baseball cap cocked sideways at a jaunty angle with their pants hangin' down to their knees and boxers showing, talking in a ghetto style language? Don't confuse this question as stereotypical. I have had that happen many times and gotten fired once, at the insistence of the NAACP, for telling the applicant to come back when they have learned to dress and speak in a manor that best represents the company they will work for. You don't have to wear a tie but don't look like this is a short stop before you head back to the crib to chill with your homeys and dab queens. This job was simple and I taught the applicants the skills they would need for the job; and it paid $10/hrs + benefits ...in the 80's. This country is great - even with the extensive problems we are having. We give more food and money and medicines and medical help and technologies to more countries than any other country on this planet. We are having a management crisis right now and the BLM group is centered on their own personal problems.

BB. I have been trying to remember where I've seen your avatar. Is it Carrie Dobro who played Dureena Nafeel on the "Babylon 5" offshoot "Crusade?" Sorry this is off-topic.

I think extremists are always a problem in that they cannot see the wisdom of any other through the glare of their own self-proclaimed piety.

There is profit but it isn't meant to pay the salaries of the University staff. I think it falls within the insanity to take monetary endowments to build buildings that can't be completely staffed, just to get your name on a plaque.

I have mixed feelings on this subject so I fall back on my upbringing for certain things. I will always stand in respect for national anthems of other nations who hold the views of freedom similar to most Americans. Its just respectful. My beef with those two athletes is that they are representing an organisation whose only concern is getting what they want by violence and a terrible aversion to looking at themselves for answers. There are too many really good examples of black Americans who have risen above petty disobedience, and other irresponsible behavior, to contribute to the betterment of all. I can name three who were one or less generations out of slavery and have contributed immensely to the world. The worst part is that I am "cracker white" -and Hispanic, German, Italian, and Scot- and still know more about Black History than the jokers you see at the BLM gatherings and the NBP party. Those who can match my knowledge are the ones you don't hear about because they are busy making a living for their families and/or leaving some kind endow-able legacy. None of BLM's ilk have ever stopped to think that Martin Luther King Jr. Did more without the use of violence than they ever will - oh there was violence, but Dr. King strictly and vocally eschewed it - and have set the civil right movements back decades. The squeeky gear gets the grease but many of the quiet ones have learned how to make the grease so they don't have to squeek.

"Insane" wasn't my choice of words but you might be a nicer person than I. However, be careful with that "knowing". Many "smarter" people than I have tried to convince me of the same thing about many of our greatest college football players. They rely on the premise that I won't look it up. All state paychecks and budgets are open record for public viewing and since my arguments reflect that research they write me off as another uninformed disgruntled employee who hasn't seen a raise in about a decade while they are thinking of paying the college athletes.

No, it isn't. Most colleges don't make much money from the sports team proceeds. In the case of the Uni I work for, most of the money made from brand sales, tickets, and other methods goes into paying the coaching staff and players' boondoggles to other cities. Our football coach gets $7M per year and the previous one was paid $12M a year not counting bonuses which made him the single highest paid state employee ever! How much went back to the University? Less than 10%. The total profits made by the proceeds was nearly the same amount as the yearly operating expenses of the entire university! Our university is laying people off, replacing honest staff with outside contractors, and building buildings they will never complete or fully staff. The coaches make more than the Uni president and the top professors combined.There other problem with this is that no student, except the student athletes, come to this great university for its football team especially the foreign students who make up a very large percentage of the student population. Among the top Uni's in the country few have a great football team and most don't even have one. MIT, Cal Poly, Harvard...etc. College sports only pays for itself, nothing more; but they have access to the same loans and grants we do, and some that normal students do not. Few of these athletes will make it to the pros and fewer still will make it very far.

15) I think you were supposed to leave off the "a" in soya. Don't worry BB, Americans and Canadians aren't a race, we are many races. Here are a few I can think of: *Though some of us live in a rat hole; we all have experienced the rat race. **Every so often there's a race at the Indianapolis Raceway...for the snowbirds there's the Daytona Raceway. ***Sometimes we have to race to the loo; it can be a race against time. ****Sometimes we like to watch racy movies, though sometimes they can drag on and on... *****Did you know that wheel bearings have races...it's true. ******I didn't want to mention the presidential race because it ain't funny... The average American -and Canuk- isn't a racist. In my experience those who cry "Racism" the most and/or loudest fall into two categories; those who want to cause trouble to acquire something (notoriety, money, etc...) they did not earn, or, someone who is in trouble for something they did earn and want to "weazle" out of it.

http://nicerdays.org/j-hilarious-joke-bill-hillary-clinton/

I wish they had interviewed more vets.

BOYS! Stop that madness! I won't take sides in this adolescent squabble and I didn't join this discussion to watch a spitting match between adults. I set an example of no name calling and/or belittling anyone's viewpoint ...at least not by insult. I expect the same behavior from each of you. I may not agree with your viewpoint, but I also may not always agree with those who think they see things as I do. I lose my respect for those who spit their ideologies at another, regardless of which side of the fence they sit.

Mr Box. If an organization like ISIS formed in the US it would not be tolerated for long and we would squash it or render it impotent as we have the KKK. We didn't run away to another country and rely on others to do our dirty work for us. Mrs. Raza didn't mention that most Muslims don't agree with ISIS because very likely she considers it irrelevant. ISIS is causing death and destruction on a global scale (OK, only the western part of the globe) and they are using Islam as their basis for their jihad and the Muslim populous is doing little or nothing about it. They are fleeing here and to Europe and nowhere else. The Jihadi Terrorists are hiding among them as they flee here because the "non-violent" Muslims won't do or say anything about it. If we are to only fight the terrorists how are we to tell the difference between the nice peace-nicks and the violent peace-nicks. It would be easier if the nice Muslims would point out the bad guys among them and do something about it. Until they take part of the onus, of this problem, on their own shoulders the whole Muslim community is going to be suspect. I can't say what Trump's actual plans are for this (and I am willing to bet neither do you) but I can tell you that the other candidates haven't even begun to deal with the threat. They are still trying to find a political correct name for a deadly problem or redirecting the blame to an inanimate object; and more than that they are going to make the problem even worse by accelerating the migration of these folks here (as is Hilary Clinton's plan) and in Europe because they are, at the moment, powerless to stop it and things are getting worse unbelievable fast. We already have pockets of Muslims here in the US who are trying to establish Sharia Law to the exclusion of the laws of the land. I believe the same thing is even worse where you live. The war has already started and they are carrying it here. This last part you brought up really bothers me. Do you not realize that they are and have been fully aware of our western values? The ones who fully integrated themselves into our society knew them just as long as the ones who won't. That is what they want to destroy and replace with their own. Many of our best values have been around for nearly 1000 years. How much more time do they need? Where do you think many of the radicalized converts come from? Have you not heard the British accents from some of the ones who decapitated the hostages on video. Where do you think the educated among them come from; they don't have any Universities of their own because they haven't bothered to build them. They have the money but not the motivation to do so. They can take it from us. We will gladly share with them - and do...but never the other way around. They have always been happy to take advantage of what we have to offer. Some integrate well and become contributing members of society, but others have taken what we have offered and used it against us. No other society, that I can think of, has ever done that; especially one old as the present followers of Islam.

Some of you out there have been repeating the rhetoric of the President and Hilary, et al, concerning the use of the term "Radical Islam." You must stop doing this and start thinking for yourselves. Political correctness has always been a problem in the face of our right to free speech. It also hampers our ability to properly identify what we actually see, it dilutes the importance of an accurate responce to any situation and allows the enemies of our country and society to hide behind the apron strings of our hamstrung government. Since those same folks would call -or are calling- me an Islamaphobe for my views on the Jihadist movement within that religion I will give you a lesson by Raheel Raza, a Sunni Moslem woman. I have other sources for my views on this if this interests you. I am not a repeater of heresay and dirt and maybe this will help you understand what you are seeing. Please watch the whole thing and think about it before responding.