eagleb1

I have a simple solution. Stop playing the national anthem before an entertainment event. It's not played before every movie and TV show. Why did they start playing it at sporting events?

@groomy is the flu vaccine widely used in Russia?

Well, their point is that the country, or at least its political subdivisions are disrespecting them, and they are calling attention to that. You are quoting the requirements for the pledge of allegiance. We have been talking here about the national anthem. As I said before, I don't see why we customarily play it before certain entertainment events and not all. As to the pledge of allegiance, I recall being required to recite it in school (why?) and before legislative meetings when I was in the town legislature where it makes some sense. By the way, as an atheist, I just refrain from saying "under God."

Well, I pay some very high taxes and expect my government to compassionately use it to take care of the genuinely needy. As to what I've done, remember I'm old (82). Back in the early days of the anti-poverty program I was a leading authority on their management . My masters thesis on the subject was published. I never served in the military because, while I was 1A, not everyone was needed and I wasn't called. If I had been, I would have served as an officer. Currently, service is voluntary and my children have all chosen to pursue other careers. I respect those who choose to serve in the military.

I know what you said and you have every right not to watch the NFL (and MLB if the protest continues to spread there.) I'm increasingly growing concerned about football as we learn more about life-shortening injuries players suffer. What they are protesting is the injustice that we inflict on minorities. If you're not aware of it then maybe their actions will cause you to examine what has been happening for a long time. Yes, they are taking advantage of their celebrity to make the public aware of what many of them have lived through. If grocery baggers could attract the same audience, maybe they would protest too. Why do you assume that calling someone a liberal is a slur? lib·er·al ˈlib(ə)rəl/ adjective 1. open to new behavior or opinions and willing to discard traditional values. "they have more liberal views toward marriage and divorce than some people" noun 1. a person of liberal views.

So you are willing to fight to defend the constitution of the United States except for the first amendment. By the way, why do we play the national anthem before just those entertainment events that happen to be sports games? Do we make sure that all the players are American citizens? If not are those non-citizens permitted to ignore those hypocrites who select when they will honor our country's standards except if it costs them anything in money or their safety.

I didn't see the sex scene pictured above, but I had watched a bit of the snogging that preceded it. I'm a hit or miss viewer of VH, but it seems to me that that was more serious display of what, in my youth, would have been a more normal lead up to sex with a girl you were hoping to have sex with. But, I've rarely, maybe never, seen that here.

Oh, I thought that the sad face quote was after the sex session which she seemed quite happy about. If it was an old quote then that part of my comment is wrong,. Still, I feel that we should be more sensitive in our comments particularly when we know the subject is reading them. I know we explicitly discouraged body shaming a while ago. I just think that, similarly, we should be more sensitive to the feelings of those who are literally and figuratively opening themselves up to us.

I wish I could find a way to block any post with the word blanket in it. Don't all of you think you made your point?

It;s 54 degrees Fahrenheit in St Pete now.

Please don't take this personally @Russ. I just picked your post randomly as an example of the faux voyeur posts that disgust me.. I assume the blanket boy name calling refers to tonight's guy who was on the sleep sofa with Misty a few nights ago. As a freeloader, I was grateful that they decided to go to bed on the free camera rather than the bedroom cam that I can't see. I don't know how well they know each other, but they seemed very comfortable together. They got into bed under a light cover and cuddled as I have with my wife just about every night for over 50 years. And do you know what, sometimes it leads to sex and sometimes just cuddling. Have you ever been in a relationship where that happens? If it does lead to sex, are you even aware of where the blanket is? I'm surprised you didn't comment on how little time the actual sex took. Sometimes, both parties are comfortable with spontaneous sex after whatever foreplay they have. As I'm watching this right now, he's giving her a non-sexual massage. I don't think we'll be surprised where it ends up. This is the closest thing to voyeurism I've seen here.

I don't know who to feel more sorry about --- you or us. Do you understand what he was charged with? The 4th Amendment to OUR constitution prohibits unreasonable search and seizure. Arpaio encouraged his deputies to require individuals to prove their legal right to be in the U.S. simply on the deputy's feeling that they might not have the correct documents. What might give them that feeling? Maybe skin color or accent (unless it's a British accent.) The courts ruled repeatedly that this was UNCONSTITUTIONAL. There was at least one case of a U.S. citizen who was jailed because he couldn't (or wouldn't) produce proof. So, understand the implications of this. Trump could effectively ignore any any constitutional right by simply pardoning the actions of any of his supporters. And they now know it. I guess you're alright with that as long as it's not a right that you cherish.

Oh, I see. You thought that I was agreeing with the post I quoted. On the contrary, I was making the same points you made.

I truly don't understand what point you're making.

What an unrealistic view of real human interaction this site fosters. I guess you;re entitled to the fantasy world you're paying for.

It's Sunday. Maybe they went to church

I don't know how your reply is relevant to my post. I haven't researched your post, but I'm quite sure most of the statistics represent long-term trends that precede Obama by a lot. Actually, as to national debt, Clinton actually REDUCED the debt and GW Bush restarted debt growth due to an irresponsible tax cut and a truly insane war against Iraq. In any event, you can fairly judge Obama only by the first two years of his term. Beyond that, he faced a Republican House and a filibustering Senate whose stated goal was to prevent him from claiming to accomplish anything.

Uh oh. I still think that if Trump was to leave the presidency, it would most likely be through resignation, not impeachment. The loss of Fox News support could be the final thing that puts him over the edge. I pasted below the key opening paragraphs from one of my fake news sources. It represents another chink in the Murdoch family support "At 5:55 p.m. on Thursday, James Murdoch sent an email to a list of blind-copied recipients offering a striking repudiation of President Trump and a pledge to donate $1 million to the Anti-Defamation League. He addressed the note to “friends,” stating in the first line that he was writing it in a “personal capacity, as a concerned citizen and a father.” Yet for the son of the conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who speaks regularly with Mr. Trump, it’s impossible to separate the personal, the political and the corporate. James Murdoch’s message, which he wrote himself, was sent to a number of business associates from his company email address at 21st Century Fox, the global media conglomerate where he reigns as chief executive. And within two hours, it had been leaked to the news media, offering a window into the nuanced internal and external politics of the Murdoch media empire."

All Americans should watch this to get some humility. Our last claim to superiority was our support of democratic ideology --- unless your country happens to have lots of oil or some other resource we crave.

@ThestariderI'm old and getting tired of this so I'll just address a few of the points you made. 1. Most of the media is not wrong. He is an unqualified dangerously unhinged person as the POTUS. Calling it fake news when the media points out his lies is just a device he's used to give red meat to his supporters. If you don't see that he lies every day when there is video of him doing so then there is no point in discussing it. 2. Most of the statues being removed were created during post reconstruction when the bigots who supported Jim Crow laws were trying to undue the gains that blacks had made after the Civil War. And Robert E Lee was a traitor who fought on the losing side. Trump says that he likes winners. 3. Why school prayer? Which particular supreme being should we make our children pray to. 4. I don't understand what you think we should have done at the Bay of Pigs. JFK was embarrassed that we ad anything to do with it. 5. I don't know where you get the idea that we are more respected in the world. We are the laughing stock of the world except that they are scared shitless as to what his next dangerous tweet will be. 6. I'm not familiar with the Mexican flag incident to which you refer. This is a country where many of us feel we are hyphenated Americans. There is nothing wrong with recognizing your ancestral culture but yet are strongly loyal to America..In New York there are many parades celebrating other cultures. It does no harm and it leads to some delicious food choices.

1. I'm a CPA/MBA and a retired partner of one of the four major CPA firms. What are your accounting credentials? 2. Trump has accomplished nothing legislatively. I don't know specifically why the national debt has gone down but even if he had made some changes it takes a very long time before it affects something like the national debt. 3. Yes, I am liberal and probably more relevant to this, I am Jewish. My people are a little sensitive about subjects like swastikas, Nazi ideation, and expressions like "Jew won't take my job." Do you think that the people expressing that would have been qualified to take the jobs of Albert Einstein, Jonas Salk, or Sandy Koufax (who I played basketball against) , among many others? I never labeled the rights actions as terrorism. They simply stand against most of the principles of equality that this country was founded on. The only deaths and injuries among the participants happened to those who were protesting those anti-American positions. As to "liberal media," does that definition now include the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post?

As a free-loader, I like this type of apartment. I know I'll be teased, but I can hope that I get lucky. The problem with Chloe and James (one of the few apartments I checked regularly) was them and not the layout.

Las rambles joins the streets my wife and I had walked on that later suffered terrorist attacks. Barcelona joins London, Nice, Paris, Berlin and Sarajevo on a sad list. Obviously we go to popular places and they are prime targets.