I am confused as well.
rated with love

Thank you Poetess. I was wondering if I'm off base here.

Dew-Silla
If you are referring to my post I am very very sick tonight. I would have loved to kept the comments open but I feel if I cannot reply then I shut them down.

I really appreciate anyone commenting on my blog but the last 4 hours have been brutal.
Apologies if I confused anyone. It was not meant to be.
I am just upset that one of our own is going through a lot and no matter what I posted before no one took notice.

We are a family after all somehow.

Well, you know the drill: all unpleasantness must be swept under the carpet in the interest of decorum. That is much more important than protecting people from being conned. That said, I didn't know about Fred.

My thoughts exactly. xox

Better to be nice and let many more be scammed than deal with the elephant in the blogosphere. No disrespect to anyone going through a rough time, but that does not in anyway diminish the pain inflicted by others, nor should it be a reason to excuse criminal behavior.

There's plenty of room for both. What Linda said. Also what Jason Mills said, whatever that was.

I find marketing fascinating, don't you ?

Not so much Fred in hospital - I think Linda just cut to the chase here, about something we might otherwise not have even noticed.

Dear Drew-Silla,
may a bumblebee never land on your eye

regards,

Linda, I do sympathize. From time to time I feel under the weather, and sometimes the feed sickens me. Sometimes both things happen at once. Never, though, would I presume to do a post saying what should or shouldn't be said on Open Salon. It just seems a little... totalitarian.

Emma, what has happened to Fred is awful. From what I've seen of him he is a good person who doesn't deserve that. Who does? I wish him the best. Still, I don't cotton well to orders from on high saying what is or is not appropriate for us to say.

Auntie, whoever you are, please keep up the good work.

RU; as per my remark to Auntie, you are doing a good thing.

Kim, I suppose it was just Linda cutting to the chase, though it looked a lot like marching orders. I'm worried about Fred, and saddened at what happened to him. He's one of the handsomest men in OS and also a funny, smart, genuinely nice person.

Ume, bees avoid me; my blood is lacking in the sustenance they need to carry on their daily affairs. :(

Linda had a decent point, and I felt a bit shamed. I consider Fred a friend and need to go leave a kind thought.
That said, it, this thing here, is open. The issues I addressed needed addressed and the large response would seem to validate that.

So the fuckmuppets are restless?

Not only do I not get it -- I neither want nor need to get it.

Human emotions are not binary. We are complex creatures capable of processing multiple events and emotions and that ability deserves respect.

Trig, go comment on Fred's post. He needs all the support we can give him.

Drew-Silla
and this is the last I will say on this. Anyone that knows me knows that I do not order anyone to do anything. EVER.

The last time I posted only two people cared. Something had to be done as sometimes we need to look up from our own problems and see that there are others hurting.

I know how that feels when you are sick and I do not want anyone else to feel like that EVER.

and believe me this is not under the weather.

Thank you for your concern. I appreciate it. Now let's all hope Fred pulls through

Nick, the honesty behind admitting your lack of getting it is appreciated. It is a state I dwell in very often.

RU; exactly!

I realize (now) you didn't mean it as an order, Linda. It sure looks like one though, and appearances are important, wouldn't you agree? And yes, let's all wish the best for Fred, and let's all try to avoid issuing orders via blog post.

Oh, my god, Linda blogging diarrhea shut the fuck up.

Pity the poor and unwitting
who post on os
in the middle of a dust-up
And yea, pity the poor
who post on os
during super-bowl
And verily, pity those
who post on os
Tis not without shame I say
I am one of these
Yea, verily, I am among you
For I am come Here to witness
The mills and the malfeasance,
the Buggery and Debauchery of os
and it is my will
I'll tell My Father.

hey since when did WE care?

It seems to me that there is a larger question here. Who, exactly, gets to determine what should or should not be in the feed? Myself, I have a low tolerance for fuckmuppetry and the disgusting, braindead ass-kissing that goes with it. I've said as much before on my blog. But never have I tried to dictate what should or should not go into the feed. The editors, if they were so inclined, could do so, but given that they don't give a fuck, at what point does it become my job to act as the impromptu Feed Police? Answer: at no point ever is that my job, nor should it be anyone else's unless they have an Internet Morality Enforcement Squad badge on their shoulder.

Kim, I made that comment before reading your pome.

{{{HUGZ}}}

may you hit the "fuckmuppetry and the disgusting, braindead ass-kissing that goes with it" someday like the great authors have

Thank you for that, Ume. My tastes, unfortunately, incline more towards Bukowski than Hemingway, so I doubt that sort of adulation will ever come my way.

I hate it when you hug me like that.

I just want everybody to get along, so...~group hug~ Even the ugly people!!!

its the feed fer fucks sake... sometimes its full of fuckmuppetry, sometimes its full of sob sister bullshit and sometimes its full of dust up stuff. it is what it is *shrug*

oddly enough, never ever has it been full of excellent writing.

wouldnt that be cool?

So, wait. If you dump on the universe you get special treatment? People who cope and manage their pain are to kow tow to the dumpers? Sorry.

Take a private pity room.

Everyone here is beautiful!

Didn't realize there were dust-ups about but I'm certain that Linda's post was well meant. And of course we'd wish all the best for Fred. I do enjoy your tartness Drew-Silla.

my name has been dragged through the mud
filled with statements of hate and lies
exaggerations with partial truth
I did nothing to defend until the dustup
took me out of my shell
fear held me there
of more nasty lies
fear will hold me no more
for I am a sorceress
and am weaving a spell
salting a cloud
to float over Seattle
a cloud to spread its truth seeking serums
over the Mills/Sneed/Hardie homestead
filled with scopolamine,
3-quinuclidinyl benzilate,
temazepam,
and sodium thiopental
(commonly known as sodium pentothal)
then pray there is a soul in there
that will open to reality
when faced with truth.
I am also sending a cloud of love
to Orange Park Regional Medical Center
between 2 and 4 Eastern time
when Dear Fred goes under the knife
and comes out of it
able to walk
and return to the life he had
before this horrible infection took hold.
Light and Love
Truth and Triumph

Tilapia (that's a delicious fish by the way, and very versatile), the rule is that sadness and woe trumps everything else. Without those attributes Open Salon wouldn't even exist.

Lorianne, the excellent writing is usually off in the margins, in the places no one looks.

Drew, can you run a pool for me:

Robin will next feign suicide?

Robin will next feign terminal illness?

Robin will next feign rape ( low odds, done 4 times)

Robin will find her Black Jewish parents?

Robin was the love child of Sammy Davis and Barbara Steisand?

Next pool:

Which one of her fans will take her in this time?

Matt Poust? Fusun? Dr. Justis? ...... Make your bets.

Abrawang, a little tartness is OK, n'est-ce pas?

Poetess, that is just... it is excellent. I know little about poetry but I know genuine emotion and feeling when I see it, and I love the way your mind flows. Bless you.

Tilapia, I'll run either or both of those pools, sure. My money is on her being the love child of Sammy Davis Jr. and Barbara Steisand. They did after all both live in the LA area at the time of her birth.

between tink on the, ahem, other post and the fish on this one, i am laughing so hard i have cheek cramps. no, not those .. oh, never mind.

Of course, it's hard to pass up the certitude of more rape charges in the near future. Dangit, I don't know what's gonna happen, but I do know it will involve further persecution of poor, poor Robin.

Cheek cramps? You obviously didn't do any warm-up exercises before logging in this evening.

Seattle is one of the most expensive cities around, isn't it? I thought that she was in Minneapolis. That's the Northwest, but only as it existed in 1840. Am I behind the story arc of the Nubian Hebrew lesbian traveller?

Totally unrelated, but I was watching a documentary the other day that had a lot of footage of interviews with Ayn Rand, whom I had never seen or watched before. And, before all these dusting ups appeared, it struck me that perhaps she was the long lost mother of Robin Sneed, as they bear a striking semblance and also some personality traits. I was hoping that was the missing family she sought. Poetess, you deserve your own love-in post.

Candace
We shouldn't feel inhibited - I use Comforts, but there are so many options.
Apparently Re-Lax have a product that's barely noticeable, for golf and things.

Oryoki, Poetess does indeed deserve some love. It was eight months, apparently, that she endured Robin, and nary a word of complaint. That stands in stark contrast to Robin's very public attacks on her benefactress as soon it became expedient to do so. Regarding Ayn Rand, wasn't she Alan Greenspans' guru, and thus, ultimately, responsible for the ruination of our economy? As I understand it she was also a speed freak; they did prescription benzedrine back in those days, just like William Burroughs; tsk tsk tsk.

Kim, if those are laxatives, please evacuate on someone else's blog.

you guys clearly do not go back to the true stoner days when long, long impossible-to-stop laugh sessions (usually at something that wasn't all that funny if you weren't high) resulted in that grin that wouldn't let your face relax.

which has nothing to do with wearing adult diapers or eating laxatives. ewww. where's rita? she would have a spliff about now.

You misunderestimate me. I know very well the soreness in one's cheeks from laughing too long and too hard; I just haven't experienced it since it the last time I tripped. We need to take more acid and/or mushrooms; it should be mandatory.

Q, that is worrisome indeed. :(

if i hang around tink and nana long enough, they happen when i'm sober, too. if i drank while i was live on OS, things could really get nasty.

good thing there are a couple sober, intelligent people here not getting involved in any of this lunacy. uh, right.

I haven't laughed like that in a long, long time.

Emma, I recall a story you told once about taking mushrooms somewhere out in the mountains of BC. I wish I could have been there.

Candace; excessive, compulsive masturbation is the fast track to hell. I only mention that because you brought up Tink.

Everybody is beautiful, even the ugly people!!

~wanders off~

I saw on FB that there is a dustup. What did I miss?

Reading Tink is a fast track to Hell...It's in the Bible...Romans 1.

Teeheehee!!!

I needed to laugh again, so I read tilapia's comment, and it struck me that I've always been very confused by robin's assertion of a black father and Jewish mother.

I thought she meant her bio parents were the black/Jewish combo. But now (not then) she says she could never find out anything about her bio parents. Well, except that their names are Gene and Lorraine or whatever she wrote on the Cousins site (but who's counting, right?) but she claims that SHE is Jewish, so is that like adopted-Jewish and not the deeply rooted cultural and ethnic and religious kind of Jewish that she's made it sound like?

I feel like Vinnie Barbarino with my hands on the sides of my head "I'm so confused, Mistah Kottah,"

Drew, that'll teach ya to slink around with all those different identities!! Watch your step for pete's sake.

hey!
i might be a skank, but i am NOT a liar!

Are you fucking kidding me?

Linda finds herself caught between a rock and a hard place, having discovered that her good friend Robin Sneed is a no-good con, she attempts to divert the topic by using, yes, I say using another's bad fortune to divert attention? I reviewed her blog (not an easy thing to do for someone who posts so prolifically), and there is absolutely no previous mention of this blogger's plight. There isn't even a workable link I could follow to add my sympathy. Saint Linda with all her devoted fans could have surely brought attention to this man's plight weeks ago. She used him to divert attention from Robin Sn4eed today and and THAT is simply despicable!

I see two other cowards also used the post and close comments tactics today - good old dangerous Robin and her alter Weiner.

So, tell us how you REALLY feel kellylark?

Robin Sneed, whoever she is in real life. is a dangerous person who brings mayhem and malice wherever she goes. People on OS need to know that, or else, people on OS deserve what they get when they befriend her. NO amount of writing talent (or sob story life) excuse what she has done to good people in real life.

AND dear Saint Linda, closing comments makes you the 3rd coward, I don't care how sick you are. Using Fred this way, despicably priceless!!!!!!!!!!!!

PS: I delete unwanted PMs unread, so don't bother.

Damn it Candace, you're confusing me now, and I had it figured out.

Her Bio-Family(Me and Trig and such) are black-Jewish-polish-germans-Chinese-Wallawallabees who were torn away from our parents in 1902.

We discovered each other on Open but it wasn't a very nice reunion, so Robin, now RaBin, said, TRIG, TINK, ED I TOR, YOU CAN GO BE WHATEVER THE HELL YOU ARE --- so I decided to begin my journey to become the woman I always wanted to be.

Then, Kerry Lauerman discovered that he was our long lost sister, named Kerrie. Trig was very confused and lost whatever mind he had and decided he was Katie Couric.

I think that's how it all went. I think Drew is my ninth wife twice removed, we had children named OOPSI and OOPSI TOO and well, there's Rejina Lova named after my biological mother SARAH PALIN.

Now that you understand it all, maybe you could explain, HOW THE HELL DO WE GET OUT OF HERE AND GO BACK TO REALITY??

Thank you.

P.S.

Cap'n is our uncle, the one who says, PUT YOUR HAND IN MY POCKET AND GET THE CANDY OUT...TEEHEEHEE!! :D

Drew, yeah, make sure you're signed in correctly, I know for myself, sometimes, my good friend Mary Lin likes to login when I go off to take a pee.

Oh, RaBin. That clears everything up, Rah/been. (I had to blow my nose after all the water I was drinking flew out of it. That'll teach me to be thirsty while reading Tink.)

But I don't think I was ever in cappy's pocket, was I? No, I'm sure I ...

Candace, I only have the one identity; having multiples would be against the OS TOS. kpfffft.

Whosits, you must make that point over at Trig's place!

Craze, given your history of running around making comments while posing as me, I find it hard to take anything you say seriously.

Kelly; I wasn't aware of that, but it strikes me as standard OS fuckmuppetry. This place is somethin, aint' it?

Tink, Cappy is like that uncle who our parents always said "don't go in the back room with Unky Cap" or "don't go in the woods with Unky Cap." I mean that in the nicest, most non-libelous way possible. Cappy has never molested me!

Craze again: for you to worry about how irritating someone is would be like feces worrying about getting shit on it.

Joisey, yep, I'm irritating as hell, like a bad rash that won't go away!!! And grab that handle cause you 'nailed' it (see, nailed and...ahhh ferget it!!!) I'm Robin Sneed's nephew!!!

No wait...or am I her uncle?

Her uncle!! :D

Drew, Cap'n molested me and it was the best time I ever had at the old Miller's place back in the woods.

What?

:D

(chortle) Go fuck yerself CrazeCzar, and preen about your outsider status while conveniently failing to mention how you started an account just so you could pose as me. Fuckstain.

I'm heading off to the nest, guys, faster than you can say Bob's your uncle. Wait. Is that ... No, surely not.

Xox ( no, not that kind)

xoX Candace. Not that kind though.

Q; CrazeCzar, as a probable paranoiac, has alters on the brain. I sometimes wonder what he is like in person; then I shudder.

I never have to worry about the in-person thing? What a relief; I thought for a moment there you had my address, and oh, whatever would have happened then? I will, however, pay good money to see you beat Trig at table tennis and "bend him over the table." Homo-erotica is fun!

And you figured out I am really, ah crap, I forgot who the hell I am, besides irritating, that's a giving. :D

Candace, night night, tuck tuck tuck.

I'm still wide awake.....got to stop drinking all that coffee!!! :D

You're NEVER irritating, except to East Coast Megalopolis fuckstains with a chip on their shoulder. C'mere you lug, let's see if we can make a baby.

*wet kissing noises*

Kellylark- I happen to know that Linda's concern for Fred and her desire for other OS members to support him before he has dangerous surgery Tuesday is genuine. In no way was it an attempt to divert attention from the Robin Sneed affair, and to accuse her of that and of being Robin's devoted ally makes you as delusional and unpleasant as Lady Robin herself.

I like Linda. The truth is though, aside from a small handful of people who I trust completely, I have no idea what motivates anyone to post or say the things they do in Open Salon. Nor is it any of my business. Have you rated this post?

I LOVE YOU DREW!!!! ~grabs her and flees into the thorn bushes~

Oh my... goooodness!

And no, Ian did not rate this post. Thanks for NOTHING Ian. I'll repay the favor some day.

Tink, get your hands off my genitalia!

Your disdain is... very disdainful. Pity stories leave me cold. Whatever, Jester.

Let's cut through all the confusion: Only MY posts should be in the feed! And that is an order.

You're welcome.

Hee-hee, I see you couldn't resist...

Linda, others: Fred is getting lots of attention - his post has been at the top of the feed all night and it was there at the time I noticed Linda's post. His original post about his condition brought lots of sympathy too. (Tho, granted, I didn't look up the timing and it's possible Linda got all the current attention to Fred going.)

While I appreciate Linda's sentiments, not doing 'dust-ups' means ignoring the nasty stuff that goes on, and ignoring it facilitates it, gets more victims. The timing of this kerfuffle has come about due to 'Wiener' and 'Red Rocket'...tho, perhaps wrongly, I interpreted the rebuke to be aimed at Tr ig. Perhaps because his post consolidated commentary and was more noticeable to all than the hit-and-run comments of W and RR.

At any rate, rebukes, complaints, rational discourse - none of it has much effect: people will do what people will do. (Sometimes it's useful to have advance warning, tho... Or after-the-fact confirmation.)

This has been my morning first-coffee plonk. May this be a better day - Linda feeling better, Fred getting thru a successful op, the dust-uppers feeling victorious, who-know-who checking into rehab....I'm off now to read about the idiot debate last night (the one on TV!) I couldn't watch it for myself because the leaves are on the trees...

1. I don't read the so-called dust-up posts; they're a bore and I never take 'sides'. I know that makes me churlish but I am not interested in re-enrolling in junior high school, ever.
2. Regardless of what she says abt being (temporarily) angry at everyone, Ms Seccaspina adores me because I give her inside-info, dramatic info, on 'Who Killed Rosie Larsen'.

Calls 'em as you sees 'em, Drew. Honesty is a much maligned virtue that has been buried beneath all that fake "love" stuff.

Fake love earns contempt - honesty earns respect.

(ᴼᴥᴼ)
.

yes indeed

I didn't know you were such a sensitive creature- Drew. My comment was only made on this thread because Kellylark so bravely asserted she won't read unwanted PM's, and this was the only way to reply to her baseless accusation in the same forum in which it was made. That's something I thought important to do.

It was no way intended to be an attack or insult aimed at you- but if that's how you take it- nothing I can do about it.

May I add a comment to this discussion?
Here is what I feel makes this convoluted, for me. It is a childish desire to want to belong to the community within the community for the selfish reason that those involved seem to attract the greatest number of readers (and I admit, ratings, though I should not care about that, I shamefully do).
It almost seems as if one needs to be “absorbed” or “assimilated” (to use my favorite Star Trek clichés) into the drama, become embroiled in it, before one is truly “one of the gang”. And as much as I should not want to be one of the gang, part of me does.
And I don’t want to dismiss or belittle the efforts of others to reach out, show that we are an empathetic and sympathetic community. I care, and I am sad to hear that there are those here with friends and relatives who are suffering.
But does suffering have to be the thing that gets all of the attention? Seems, to me anyway, that this tendency, for the suffering to draw attention, that drives some people (people who, as I have learned from the teachings of Epictetus, are in my perspective making choices that seem unwise but I must tell myself that if do not know the story behind those choices I should not assume that I know why they have made those choices) to behave in ways that appear to me to be hurtful, or manipulative.
I don’t know the details, and yet I want to not only know them, but be part of them, because it seems like that is where all the action is. I know that that sounds like it is coming from my own place of insecurity, and it is, but that is honestly how I feel.
I delight that we all can speak to these issues, and exchange our ideas, thoughts, and humor regarding them. But for now I will stay disconnected, continue to write my own little stories and poems, and tell myself that the few people who read my work here, and leave nice comments, are enough for me.

Thank you,
David

Kelly Lark is way off the mark in her comments about Linda. Linda is no coward and fearlessly writes about what she believes to be fair with a great deal of kindness. I am one of her biggest fans. I am sorry I missed her comment or I would have been more timely in this response. Linda is an angel and a true saint of those who need her support. I am so happy that she got people to go and give their best wishes to Fred, she truly understands what people in pain need.

Robin has taken a comments are closed stand on her latest post filled with lies and fabrications of her curious mind. She says she was ignited by a sorceress blogger who is sending a chemical cloud over Seattle. In my little- silly poem below, I do say that but she does not mention that it is a cloud of truth serum ingredients.
I fear only that living in lies so long, she believes they are truth.
I wish only that someday she would discover the reality of what she has said and done to hurt others.

I'm late getting here and I think most of the dust has settled, but I wanted to speak up on behalf of Linda Seccaspina. From what I know of Linda I think her only motives are to spread good will. She is a cheerleader to anyone who needs it.

Poetess and Lschmoopie, I have no beef with Linda. She came here and politely explained her intent, then I politely explained mine, and there is no problem as far as I'm concerned. As I said last night though, it seems to me there's a larger question here. Who, exactly, gets to determine what should or should not be in the feed? Myself, I have a low tolerance for fuckmuppetry and the disgusting, braindead ass-kissing that goes with it. I've said as much before on my blog, but never have I tried to dictate what should or should not go into the feed. The editors, if they were so inclined, could do so, but given that they don't give a fuck, at what point does it become my job to act as the impromptu Feed Police? Answer: at no point ever is that my job, nor should it be anyone else's unless they have an Internet Morality Enforcement Squad badge on their shoulder.

That seems clear enough, and is not directed at Linda specifically, but rather at this puritanical tendency that periodically rears its head in Open Salon about what is proper for us to be saying here. This isn't kindergarten, nor is it the Happy Happy OS Fun Time Show, so when someone - anyone - begins wagging their finger and going all Church Lady, it irritates me.

Sir Harry, yours and mine both. De nada.

Myriad, thank you for plonking. Even on your first coffee you make more sense than the average bear. Not that you're a bear; that's just an expression we use here in the States.

Jonathan, who did kill Rosie Larsen?

Jester; fuck 'em then and let's leave it at that. Forgive the snippy tone I took in my comment this morning; my python was having a hard time passing the last rabbit she ate.

Skypixie0, absolutely, and how did you make that delightful text face? Is it a puppy or a kangaroo rat or what?

Thank you Inverted Interrobang; I like laconic men.

Ian, while it's true I'm a delicate, nightblooming flower of rare refinement and gentility, I'm not sure what in my comment to you seemed "sensitive." You didn't rate the post so I bitched at you about it; if you took it to mean something else, there's nothing I can do about that.

Yes, I'm a rate whore.

DH; very well said. I can't remember when, if ever, I've seen Epictetus referenced in an OS comment.

you always misunderstand, cuz you=
just a gal.

ha.

i have no earthly idea what u are talking about
except that yesterday was a very unpleasant
day for me. on os. don't give a goddamn
shit about anything, really, on os, unless
it makes me think. dustups i certainly
follow, but in the end it is all
wasted damn energy.

my sovereign opinion.me

I disagree about dust-ups being wasted energy. Such conflicts, while not pretty, can sometimes serve a useful purpose. It is an unfortunate fact that there are people in our little Shangri-La who are predators or who are just toxic, and it seems to me that trying to pretend such characters don't exist or that they "didn't really mean it and will be nicer from now on" does us all a disservice and just enables further destructive behavior. Not all dust-ups are useful in that regard, but even when they aren't, so what? Human nature being what it is, sometimes people just don't get along, and wringing our hands about it isn't going to change that fact.

well said, drew.

what i was hoping for, to poke your fire.

what i meant i suppose was yeah
it is important if someone fucks you over to fuck em up good, but i have not ever had much trouble doing that, i must say.

i love revenge. hot or cold.

except suddenly i find myself without enemies or
those who want to humiliate me.

what is a boy to do?

ha

:-)

well said, drew.

what i was hoping for, to poke your fire.

what i meant i suppose was yeah
it is important if someone fucks you over to fuck em up good, but i have not ever had much trouble doing that, i must say.

i love revenge. hot or cold.

except suddenly i find myself without enemies or
those who want to humiliate me.

what is a boy to do?

ha

:-)

You are enemyless? How do you get out of bed in the morning?

good heaven's woman,
tis the only way i can

Say the word and I'll donate some of my enemies. I have extras.

"Craze again: for you to worry about how irritating someone is would be like feces worrying about getting shit on it."

This should be a T-Shirt in the Open Salon gift shop.

They're having a special this week; if you buy a Bonnie Russell bobblehead doll you get a This Is A Very Moving Post - Rated coffee mug for half price.

well i got out of bed this morning with only one enemy---
me---
but i kicked his ass good
and then did my tai chi.
sort of tai chi.
i got a few of the chakras, i think.
i drank 3 gallons of coffee and went twitching and lurching
around town, looking for that damn enemy everywhere,
but so far
he is
very quiet.

i think he's hiding under the bed.
i am scared to look.

You need to get a snake; once you turn a twelve foot Burmese python loose in your apartment nothing will be able to hide under the bed or anywhere else.

Dr. Amy? I'd take being compared to that poodle-haired charlatan as an insult, except I know you're just upset at what you see as an attack on Linda. Speaking of whom, of course I read her post. Did you read my comment explaining precisely why I posted this? I'd repeat it but I already have; if you're interested scroll back up to the comment that begins "Poetess and Lschmoopie, I have no beef with Linda..." As far as "can we take a moment away from the bullshit to offer one of us who is truly in trouble a kind word": 1. it seemed to me there was no shortage of people saying a kind word to Fred, and 2. who gets to determine what is or is not bullshit? Linda? You? Baby Jesus? My point here was that we don't need to be told what to do and when to do it, not by anyone and no matter how well-intentioned they are.

Any update on the Bonnie Pinatas that have been on back order since May 5th?

They've been held up at customs for containing lead paint. I've tried explaining that in this case "the more toxic the better" but so far the bureaucrats won't listen. On a more positive note, the "I Caught Herpes at the Open Salon Las Vegas Meet-up" bumperstickers are in.

Oh, so you're the only one who can tell people what to think or do? Glad to know that, as I was wondering who the queen drone was around here.

i took yr advice, drew, and went to the local animal shelter
to find a snake. all i could afford was a free-to-a good-home
3 foot rattler who had been cut cleanly in half by an effeminate
middle class husband, reluctantly, at the behest of his botox bitch
of a wife. they say my new friend, whom i shall name fred in honor
of whoever fred is, hope he got help, etc,
will regenerate his other 3 feet
in due time, so i shall have
a fine 6 foot snake
shedding his
skin
under
my
bed

Matt Pouts: thank you for acknowledging my sovereignty. Now curtsy. bzzzz bzzzz bzzzz

James, the average snake is entirely footless, so once you have a six-footed one you'll be famouser than that guy who invented the cattle prod. They may even ask you to host American Idol.

Boa constrictors are more conservative but they have teeth like a hyena and are more vicious than Ann Coulter. The trick is to make sure they have live, warmblooded prey so they won't go for you, and just as with Ann it's important to not feed them something with a skull too large to shit out easily.

Skull Shitter; next to Taint Hammer that's my favorite potential name for a black metal band.

I just Googled Taint Hammer and it turns out it already is a name for some band in Georgia, though they added "666" to it. Let's hope Skull Shitter isn't taken.

Pre-sauced buns are the coming thing; who has time in this hectic era to sauce their buns manually?

I completely fail to see how this measured post can be seen as "bashing Linda," although I can see how the truly single-minded and self-absorbed can fail to understand that people and the feed are capable of juggling multiple thoughts and emotions simultaneously (guess what; it's not all about you).

It's not black or white, me or you, us or them. I also note that those who have a problem with this post have absolutely no problem supporting the grifter in the midst and in doing so, in their black and white world, are more than happy to throw Romantic Poetess, Pretend Farmer and countless other good samaritan OSers under the bus for the good feelings they get stroking the Sneed as she grooms up her next victim.

Let those who continue to blindly (or not so much) stroke and stoke the grifter of OS be her next victim. You take her into your house, you give her your money, you stand by while she violates your reputation on the feed for hours and days on end, while the minions like you (who you may have considered "friends") applaud her for her "creativity" and bemoan poor her and her situation and all those evil OSers.

Fascist.

RUFKM; I see Robin is still drawing in the suckers like shit draws flies. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

Babs! Thanks for coming by to state where you fall on the political spectrum; your honesty is greatly appreciated.

oh drew. whom did drew love best?

well a man.

she created a havoc of a world to get him yet he eschewed her
for the blonde, who died horribly.

angel indeed. then he got with that scientifically illiterate gal
bones and had to be a damn food. i mean fool.
as for snakes,

emily d. wrote a good one on her. see the archfiend artjames,
whom i deconstruct on my last blog, i mean latest.

big deal, men.

easy prey for vampire gals.

except there are true Vampire Men here, seductive
and bloodthirsty and erotic
and since buffy
gave her blonde life for him,

woman approved.

there are alot of cool custumers.

i know you have no interest in decreasing controversy,
and i make no judgments
cept you do work i got no tummy for.

ia m all about the luv. love. Love, love. whatever.
which is
unemotional. detached.

went for 3 minutes into the Infinite Fountain of wisdom
the internet,
and found two odd facts,

1.tr ig said he=u in o9

and more relevantly

A young psychic in Victorian London with a potential for sainthood, Drusilla was driven insane by Angel before he eventually turned her into a vampire. In Angel, the character recurs both in the present-day narrative and in flashbacks which depict the title character's adventures across Europe and Asia with Drusilla and Spike. After Angel ended in 2005, the character continued to appear in Expanded Universe materials in other media. Landau went on to co-write a two-issue Drusilla story arc for IDW Publishing's Angel comic book series in 2009, continuing her character's storyline.

huh. spike or angel, bette r fuck?

spike a ghost with a disappearing problem.
he gave his all to buffy.
damn blonde bitch.

James really knows his BtVS!

James does know his Buffy, but then he's a scholar.

James; Spike wasn't really a man, nor was Angel, but I get your point. Love is wonderful, but without its opposite for context it loses meaning. If Heaven is made up of people sitting on clouds loving each other all the time and never saying a discordant thing, I'll take Hell. As David Byrne once said, "Heaven is a place where nothing ever happens." Regarding your question about Spike vs. Angel, your impertinence will not go unpunished.

Jester, I immediately cranked up Irresponsible Hate Anthem here, so your ear worm has been foiled.

DREWSIE. You are so silly. You have, of course, no idea of my politics, but I understand that for people like you, it doesn't matter.

And anyone who - unless VERY OBVIOUSLY joking compares Stalin to Bush no matter HOW MUCH THEY HATE GEORGE, is someone who makes light of a mass-murderer and really minimizes the deaths of 50 to 60 million Russians.

Crack open a book on the Gulag you silly thing.

Good try, Babs, but pretensions of intellectual superiority, even when coupled with repeated use of the word silly, aren't very impressive. I do admire your persistence though, and your belief that I give an ant's pecker what a monomaniacal harpy such as yourself thinks is quite touching.

Good luck on your next ear worm attack; my shields are on full power. I do wonder how Babs might answer "How many must one kill for no reason in order to make it on to this top 10 list of assholes?" Whatever her reply I have no doubt it will involve constipated blithering.

I'm familiar with the numbers myself. My point was more that people like Babs are unwilling to see the totalitarian ideals inherent in modern American conservatism, and she would deny to her dying breath the similarities between Stalinist Russia and the security state which Bush/Cheney worked to build after 9/11. While we haven't yet gone as far down that road as the Soviets did, our government has very effectively used fear to erode many of our constitutional protections, and that's a process which so far shows no sign of reversing itself. The difference between us and them isn't in kind but in degree, though I'm sure Babs see it differently.

Guerrilla - I clearly stated that 20 to 60 millions RUSSIANS were killed in the USSR. I didn't say that they were all killed by Stalin. Here are the facts. Pipes estimates 20 to 30 million killed in the USSR (not just by Stalin). In the "Gulag Archipelago" the author goes to 60 million. Other studies, including ones done by the Russians, put the numbers at closer to 60 than 20 or 30.

To compare Bush to Stalin (and by implication to mass murderers) is to trivialize mass murder. If this moron of a writer wants to do so, fine, but I will call her on it.

And you as well. Where oh where are the millions killed by Bush? AND, if he is a murderer, id she calling Ms. Clinton one (a supporter of the war) and Mr. Kerry one (ditto) and Mr. Clinton one (ditto) and Mr. Gore one? You get my drift.

Sorry, id, should have been "is".

Good God, this Guerrilla person compares post-war USSR to the US of today?

They weren't free to travel, to print what they wanted, to read what they wanted, they weren't free to practice religion, they weren't free to live where they wanted, millions were in the Gulag and hundreds of thousands more were arrested and shot for no reason. Do you really believe this is happening in the USA? WHERE? I am free to travel, to worship, to print, to read, to protest, etc., It is not perfect, but it is a far, far, far cry from a totalitarian state and a state in which millions of people were murdered. What planet are you on and have you ever read the "Gulag Archipelago" or "Gulag" by Anne Applebaum? I implore you to give them a try.

Comparing the USA to the USSR in the sense of saying they are the same is a real insult to the millions upon millions murdered by the latter.

I hope you are just very young.

Drew, if you think I'm pretentious, then whatever. How utterly weird.

But thanks for calling me Babs. It's sweet and reminds me of someone I admired.

BTW, I live in Russia and no one here that I've ever met thinks the US is like the USSR was - and most of them have the missing relatives to know more than I of what they speak. But, who cares!

11 million in the Holocaust, Guerrilla.

DS, if you knew anything about Stalinist Russia, I suspect you TOO would deny to your dying breath any real similarities between the current US and the USSR. Any decent person would. We are not rounding up millions of people and shipping them to a system of camps, and that is true no matter how we come down on the war (s) or security actions taken by Bush and, now, Obama. The fact that people RAN TO the USA and ran FROM the USSR is also another clue.

And Guerrilla, it was not just Stalin. I should have made that VERY clear. The murders started with Lenin. The entire Soviet machine was a killing operation. It started after their coup in Oct. of 1918. And the numbers from the famines, man-made, the Gulag (pre, during and post Stalin) and the political murders should separate the US from the USSR, just as the US, no matter how imperfect, is not like Nazi Germany.

My point is that when we callously, in my view, and carelessly, compare Bush to Stalin (or Hitler) we are trivializing, through ignorance and/or anger I suppose, the deaths of millions of Stalin's and/or Hitler's victims.

http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/how-many-civilians-have-been-killed-in-iraq-63/

And the moral failure of some to see the difference between victims in a war and victims of murder is very depressing. But I'll buck up.

One more point. A difference in degree IS a difference in kind. (Not that I agree with that premise here, but obviously, terrible as it is to murder - not accidentally kill - one person, it is worse to kill a million. One is thus not just a murderer but a MASS murderer. Difference in degree is often a difference in kind. One can actually make the point literally by noting that a difference in actual temperature degrees results in a difference of kind. The difference, for example, between a bit cold and deathly cold as evidenced in minus 10 C compared to minus 50 for example.)

Point two. Actually a question. The "Russians", who were victims of the murderers called the Bolsheviks, would have given a lot to flee that hell. (Some gave their lives trying.) If you feel the US is nearly a USSR type of hell, why are you sticking around? Seriously. Why aren't you all trying to escape?

BS anyone? Nah.

"And the moral failure of some to see the difference between victims in a war and victims of murder is very depressing. But I'll buck up.
Barbara Joanne"

Um - what about the moral failure of some to see the difference between a legitimate "war" (if in fact you want to suggest there IS such a thing) and an illegal one? See, I don't recall ever seeing a "Declaration of War" from Congress concerning Afghanistan and Iraq.

Did YOU?

One last thing Barb: If you're going to throw numbers around please do your homework.

It was 6 million Jews in the Holocaust as Guerilla Jester stated. NOT 11 million as YOU stated. I can even back up his figure.

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/history.html

Gosh, I had no idea the moral midget, almost as ignorant as the idiot, apisa was back, and soliloquizing in the same inane manner as in a post I made highlighting her, while she was gone.

I think the word "shrew" was invented to characterize bj.

Quatto - I said 11 million in the Holocaust. I believe these figures are taken as correct. It was 6 million Jews and 5 million other people such as homosexuals, Gypsies, inconvenient clergy, handicapped or disabled people, Poles, Russians, etc.

I didn't say 11 million Jews. If that was, mistakenly, implied by weak sentence structure, I have made it clear here.

Thanks for thinking about it.

I still think the inability for people to see the difference between a war and murder is depressing.

You might want to check into the "run up" to the Iraq war by the way. Not everyone - including many of the leaders of the Democratic party - would agree with your analysis. But whether - just for the sake of argument - it was properly as to legal steps embarked upon, there is a difference, at least to many of us, between people killed in the course of a war and people targeted for murder. It's why soldiers are not, unless committing war crimes, prosecuted for murder. That is the only point I was making. I believe that to compare killing in the course of a war - however you may feel about the legalistic aspects of that war - and the murder of from 30 to perhaps 60 million in the USSR well, hum, sad.

G. - I do see that I simply wrote "11 million in the Holocaust" to you. So, now I have clarified. I should have been clear that it was not 11 million JEWS, which you assumed, but it was 11 million people, of whom, as said, 6 were Jews and 5 million others deemed "wrong" in some way.

Mark, calm down man.

G. - I do see that I simply wrote "11 million in the Holocaust" to you. So, now I have clarified. I should have been clear that it was not 11 million JEWS, which you assumed, but it was 11 million people, of whom, as said, 6 were Jews and 5 million others deemed "wrong" in some way.

Sorry, I should have written "Q", not G. Wouldn't want you all to call the typo police.

"You might want to check into the "run up" to the Iraq war by the way. Not everyone - including many of the leaders of the Democratic party - would agree with your analysis. But whether - just for the sake of argument - it was properly as to legal steps embarked upon, there is a difference, at least to many of us, between people killed in the course of a war and people targeted for murder.
Barbara Joanne"

Barb - Please pay attention, because it WILL help your reading comprehension. There isn't any "analysis" going on here - it is a fucking plain-as-day fact that congress NEVER issued a declaration of war.

According to the law here in the U.S., congress MUST pass a declaration of war before this country enters into armed conflict with another nation. The president DOES NOT have the power to simply say, "We're at war, so let's get the troops moving!" and have it happen. Legally, that is.

Please note that, IMHO, the use of AUMFs is a direct violation of the Constitution which states inArticle 1 Section 1 (in black and white - no "analysis" necessary) that Congress alone is granted the powers, "To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;" - you can find that in Article 1 Section 8.

In case you have trouble finding an official transcript:

http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#A1Sec8

See, it doesn't say there that, should Congress decide to wimp out, they can absolve themselves of the decision-making process and give it directly to the president. If it does say that, kindly point it out with a link because I sure as shit didn't see it.

Go check your run-up to the Iraq conflict. GW thought by not using the actual word "war" that he could circumvent the law. Bullshit, I call. He committed an illegal act and should have been charged, along with Dick and Donny and the whole dog-and-pony show.

As far as "murder" is concerned, maybe you should check with Saddam Hussein's family - or Osama Bin Laden's. While I shed no tears over the deaths of those two, PLEASE tell me you're not going to call that "war". It was assassination, plain and simple. Something THIS COUNTRY is NOT SUPPOSED TO CONDONE NOR PERFORM.

And I wonder, yes I do Barb, if you think the U.S. is such a great place (and I ain't saying it ISN'T but I ain't saying it IS either) why the hell are YOU living in MOSCOW?

Just curious - no need to answer, though.

Oh, and just as an afterthought (because, see - I THINK about my comments before I submit them so that I can get away with submitting JUST ONE OR TWO) do YOU see any difference between the way "democracy" was "exported" to the USSR and the way it was "exported" to Iraq and Afghanistan?

'Cause I sure as shit do.

Hi Q. I would suggest you check out the END of the Gulf War, the UN resolutions on Iraq and so on. Also, I am not saying there WAS a declaration of war. I am saying that there were legal "hoops" that were jumped through in the way that, I suspect, should it have been Mr. Clinton - who supported the Iraq war - would have been sufficient for the Left.

I live in Moscow because it is where I work.

I think the US is a great place but, of course, not a perfect place. I do not think it comparable to the USSR in any of the latter's permutations. I also think the current Russia is super, but far, far from great. Still it is a freer place now than it ever was when it was run by a gang of thugs. (To use the old cliche.)

Yes, I see a difference between how the new Russia found "democracy" and how the countries you site did. I think it is more comparable with Iraq and Afghanistan to compare the attempt to "export" democracy there to post-war Japan.

BTW, sorry if I post too much to suit you. It is my style. I am in between a lot of stuff. Please also note that, Q., I am not using obscenity to rather vicariously insult you.

Q, respectfully, I suggest, "Who Is Lying About Iraq?" By: Norman Podhoretz
CommentaryMagazine.com | Friday, November 11, 2005
This explains the run-up to the war.

Q.... you will see that a Declaration of War (as an issue) is not as straight forward as some suppose. If you like, I can point you to some articles about this legal issue.

Take care.

I think it is more comparable with Iraq and Afghanistan to compare the attempt to "export" democracy there to post-war Japan.

I should have written, I think it more reasonable OR more suitable or something like that.

So, sorry Q. I am so stupid that it IS difficult for me.

All the best.

"Also, I am not saying there WAS a declaration of war. I am saying that there were legal "hoops" that were jumped through in the way that, I suspect, should it have been Mr. Clinton - who supported the Iraq war - would have been sufficient for the Left."

Barb, I've been told I am a liberal. I don't see myself that way, but since other people do let me just say that, as an accused "lefty" it would not matter to me one bit WHICH president did it, it is still a violation of the Constitution. Something the president takes an oath to PROTECT.

"Please also note that, Q., I am not using obscenity to rather vicariously insult you."

Um - Barb? I don't "vicariously insult" people - if I want to insult you, you'll know. My use of obscenity is calculated. If it bothers you, well - it's a bad ole' world out there, Barb, and not everyone is going to acquiesce to the proprieties you like.

"If you like, I can point you to some articles about this legal issue."

Please - feel free to post links to articles where you get your information. I reserve the right to read them or not, but at least we'll know where the info is coming from.

You never responded to my queries about murder, Barb. So, I assume that you think murder and political assassination are entirely different things and cannot be equated.

Not to be nitpicky, but I'm curious, Barb - do YOU think the United States was justified in its invasion of Iraq? Afghanistan, I can see a case for - Al Qaeda had bases there, so if we wanted OBL then it was going to mean going to Afghanistan. But Iraq?

Remember, we aren't talking about "war" since Bush the Lesser NEVER GOT A DECLARATION OF WAR. We aren't at "war" in Iraq.

So, do all those Iraqi civilians who were "killed" qualify as murder victims? What about OUR SOLDIERS who were killed, are still being killed in Iraq?


I'd also appreciate hearing from Drew-Silla, since this is HER post. You and I have had a couple of back-and-forths now, and I've tried to be as concise as possible with my replies. But it IS way off topic from the original, so before we make this the thread that never ends, it would be nice if the host weighed in with how appropriate it is to continue on this tangent.

Q

Barb, I've been told I am a liberal. I don't see myself that way, but since other people do let me just say that, as an accused "lefty" it would not matter to me one bit WHICH president did it, it is still a violation of the Constitution. Something the president takes an oath to PROTECT.

OK. Fine. I believe the declaration of war issue is one that - for better or worse (and I may not like it) has been adjudicated in various ways. At some point, I'll have to find the sites for you. This war was one (Iraq) that both parties voted for and that had the approval of the UN and, in my view, was a continuation of the first Gulf War and a response to Iraq's failure to adhere to the demands made on it at the end of that war. (For example, Bill Clinton - along with the UK - bombed Iraq at various times for this reason.) I don't believe I accused to of only caring about what Leftist presidents do. But if you think I DID, I'm sorry. If you call yourself a Liberal, then fine. (I call myself one as well, albeit a "classical liberal".)

I had written: "Please also note that, Q., I am not using obscenity to rather vicariously insult you."

You said, "Um - Barb? I don't "vicariously insult" people - if I want to insult you, you'll know. My use of obscenity is calculated. If it bothers you, well - it's a bad ole' world out there, Barb, and not everyone is going to acquiesce to the proprieties you like."

Fine, you don't think this is vicariously insulting people. Okay. I think it is. I think it crass too. I think it obnoxious. We have different views on this and I was not saying you have to agree to my proprieties. I was, however, saying what MY proprieties are and saying you are rude and vulgar. I stand by that.

You wrote: "If you like, I can point you to some articles about this legal issue."

I'd suggest starting with the previously suggest Podhoretz article. (You can, I believe, find it on Larry Elder's site or via Google.)

You wrote: "Please - feel free to post links to articles where you get your information. I reserve the right to read them or not, but at least we'll know where the info is coming from."

See response above re: Podhoretz. I'll try to get more, although not necessarily today.

You wrote: "You never responded to my queries about murder, Barb. So, I assume that you think murder and political assassination are entirely different things and cannot be equated."

I thought I had stated that MURDER (as in the USSR of millions of people) and killing in war (IF the innocents are not TARGETED) are different. If I didn't say so, I say so here. It is why we don't prosecute soldiers for murder unless they have committed a war crime. Political assassination, as in JFK? Castro? (attempted). Ah, not for it.

"Not to be nitpicky, but I'm curious, Barb - do YOU think the United States was justified in its invasion of Iraq? Afghanistan, I can see a case for - Al Qaeda had bases there, so if we wanted OBL then it was going to mean going to Afghanistan. But Iraq?"

The Podhoretz article would sum up my view for the most part. Also Bill Clinton's arguments at the beginning of the war in Iraq and Albright's previous to that and Gore's previous to that (the war) would sum up my view. You can find them in that article.

Remember, we aren't talking about "war" since Bush the Lesser NEVER GOT A DECLARATION OF WAR. We aren't at "war" in Iraq.

Yes, we've discussed that. Not all wars, in quotes, have been declared in the way you like. This includes, Korea, Viet Nam, and, I believe the first G. War. This is an issue that is interesting, but not of primary importance to me in terms of this war or those.

You wrote: "So, do all those Iraqi civilians who were "killed" qualify as murder victims? What about OUR SOLDIERS who were killed, are still being killed in Iraq?"

No. I don't know where you think I SAID they DID qualify as murder victims. They are victims in a war. And, no, I don't think the soldiers are murder victims.


You wrote: "I'd also appreciate hearing from Drew-Silla, since this is HER post. You and I have had a couple of back-and-forths now, and I've tried to be as concise as possible with my replies. But it IS way off topic from the original, so before we make this the thread that never ends, it would be nice if the host weighed in with how appropriate it is to continue on this tangent."

My view is that it is not appropriate. You can write to me on my blogs if you like and we'll let Drew have her own space back.

Gotta go. Thanks.

Barb - Sorry, I don't do PMs so I'll just give you my final response here. After this, I'm done commenting as I agree, Drew-Silla should have her space.

You keep mis-interpreting my comments even as you copy them verbatim. I can't decide if you're just trying to see if you catch me in a mis-statement or if you truly have no clue as to what I'm saying.

One thing I don't understand, Barb, is if you consider me rude and vulgar then why "favorite" me? Indeed, why even keep up this silly debate? Let's face it, Barb: I'm the kind of guy that will say whatever the fuck he wants. I am also the kind of guy that owns what he says. So if you have an issue with my LANGUAGE (which amuses me to no end - I mean, I use profanity and you bitch about it, and then I don't and you bitch about it anyway) then I respectfully suggest you stop addressing comments to me.

You keep on bringing up things that are actually at odds with your beliefs (ex. Vietnam was not a "war", Barb. The MSM may have USED that word, but the administration of the day always called it a "police action". Again, there was NEVER a declaration of war with Vietnam, so how could it actually BE a war?). The Constitution is quite clear regarding armed conflict. And yes, while Congress may have attempted to "adjudicate" that responsibility, it does not and has not altered the constitutional requirement in any way, shape or form. If it has, point me to the constitutional amendment where I can read about it.

I appreciate your candor, Barb. And I do thank you for the nice PM (for others reading this, that isn't sarcasm - she actually DID send me a NICE PM) but as I stated, I don't do PMs. Also, if you've read anything I've written, you'll note that I don't often comment on others posts either.

I'm not here to make friends. I don't believe in entering popularity contests. Nor am I just a troll looking to stir up shit. So you won't find me running around, dropping comments on everyone's posts. But you're free to believe whatever you want about me, assume whatever you want as to my motives.

Thanks for the convo - it's been interesting.

Hi Q. I was using "war" in the popular way - i.e., as something most of us know was a war, declared or not. Perhaps I should have clarified.

I was saying that not all "conflicts", wars, if you will, are declared.

I only sent the PM to tell you we can discuss this, should you like, on your blog or mine, but that it best, I felt, to leave this lady's.

You wrote: "So if you have an issue with my LANGUAGE (which amuses me to no end - I mean, I use profanity and you bitch about it, and then I don't and you bitch about it anyway) then I respectfully suggest you stop addressing comments to me."

I was only complaining about the original use.

Just because someone uses profanity to converse does not mean I won't talk to them.

I made you a favourite because I like to read what could be called, and I don't mean this in any insulting way, "the other side". I have lots of favourites I don't agree with.

Thanks for the chat. It wasn't silly to me and I appreciated it.

Bye.