A question -

[waiting for hope]

How many of us left is totally turned off by what's going on on this board, and I'm not just talking GD P, it's in all the big three. ?? I know I am, I read a post earlier with attack points to use against HRC supporters that had all the right wing smear tactics laid out. Granted, I haven't been around much lately and I've had the channel turned on to actually interesting, mind opening stuff (yeah, big on History Channel and National Geographic) but is a just a bit lopsided or what did I miss?

[balantz]

1. When people follow an energetic movement, such as the underlying

nature of a campaign, they take on that energy pattern and reflect it in their expressions.

[adnelson60087]

2. I stay only in this forum, and visit education and economy forums.

I cannot abide the others right now.

[Lugnut]

3. I am.

This is not the same place I joined in 2001. None of it is. I am beyond distressed at what has become the garbage dump that is now GD-P. There is no civil discourse and anything goes. Those who attemp to post facts with substantiating links have their posts deleted and are TSed. I feel like I'm in an alternative universe when I'm here. I expected better from this place.

[saltpoint]

4. Hi, waiting for hope. It's clear that both Obama and Clinton supporters,

includng several former Edwards supporters, have been playing rough.

The admins hold an umbrella over these boards. If they didn't want the rough play, they'd put a swift halt to it.

They condoned it in 2004 and they're condoning it now. It's their show. They make the rules.

The History Channel and National Georgraphic are terrific stations.

[Ninga]

5. Good day, OC. In my estimation, politics is akin to a moving train, with passengers

constantly jumping on and off. So many take the journey with different destinations in mind. Some find they hate trains. Some find that they prefer flying. I like to think of myself as the solitary passenger who sits by the window, and contemplates the changing landscape and at the end of day a gathers a mental picture to store away in the album of political factoids.

Much as it is here at DU. Some days, it seems like a train wreck and one has to sift through the rubble to find the flashes of brilliance.

The written word is a tricky, tricky thing without inflection, the content loses nuance.

So many of the posters are hell bent on nuance, that they forget about content.

And so it goes............

[saltpoint]

7. Hi, Ninga. Politics is a business for work clothes and not one's best duds.

The mystic contemplative may have it all over the mud-and-blood-stained masses, even if he or she is thought odd and isolative.

For immediate purposes, I think the Republicans are the ones who should be worried. They've just nominated a walking corpse and at the present, both of our frontrunners lead him in national polling.

[waiting for hope]

8. I hear ya OC - it is their site to

do what they will. I didn't join till 2005 so I missed the last primary season but I understand it got ugly then too. I just guess I have gotten used to slamming the republicans and promoting positive stories about Edwards (which was so easy to do - :) ). I guess I am just finding the vitriol hate here a bit sour and I really don't see either side supporting the nominee.

I also love the Discovery Channel - only when they are not showing blowing things up...

[saltpoint]

9. C-Span is pretty good most of the time. I like it that you don't get

bombarded with Buick ads and so on. It's quiet and steady and usually informative.

When politics gets ugly, we always head for the bohemian video shop and rent some films.

In the movies, the explosions are all fictional!

[bpeale]

12. i usually watch Discovery Health

very interesting stuff on that station.

[waiting for hope]

14. I've watched it a few times -

but hubby has a weak stomach and the kids get yucked out too. TLC has a bunch of health stuff on their channel too - plus I like Little People, Big World and John and Kate Plus Eight (whew on that one!).

[bpeale]

18. i watch all of those too! my fave on discovery health is Mystery Diagnosis

they have really good stuff on there.

[waiting for hope]

19. The people on that show

are heartbreaking! Gawds, can you imagine some of the things those dear people have been through? Now I miss Edwards again, we really do need to overhaul our health system.

[pamela]

6. I rarely click on those threads anymore.

Occasionally, out of curiosity, I'll click on a couple of Hillary/Obama threads just to see how crazy it's gotten. It holds the same level of interest for me that I might feel at a zoo watching the monkeys flinging poo. Actually, that's not a good analogy because the poo-flinging monkeys would be infinitely more interesting.

There's still good stuff on DU, though, just not much in those forums. Some of the poverty threads have been amazing lately-really, really interesting and very eye-opening. I've been checking out more of the group forums, too, like the frugal living and gardening and cooking groups. We are living in interesting times and I'm thinking it might be a good idea to further develop my "sustainable living" skills. I haven't jumped into those groups yet because I'm kind of shy but I'm absorbing stuff these days. I'm trying to kind of simultaneously open my eyes and mind to what everyone is facing while also making sure I'm prepared to deal with whatever shit might hit the fan next. I'm not getting the feeling that McCain, Obama or Clinton are going to come up with any creative solutions for the problems this country is facing.

But, I'm like you, I'm spending a lot less time on DU. I've been reading more and watching more movies. I can't wait for warmer weather to get here. My husband and I bought a camper van last year and we spent a lot of weekends at nearby state parks last summer. We have a tv onboard that gets about 2 channels. We'll turn it on to catch the weather report but that's about it. I find that after a few days of fishing, walking in the woods or hanging out at the campsite reading, all of this stuff just seems even crazier when I come back to it. I suspect I won't be around much once the weather breaks.

[waiting for hope]

10. We are thinking of camping this

summer (weekend type trip only - jobs are not that forgiving) at the beach and am so looking forward to it. My youngest is old enough now to do something like that (she'll be about 3 1/2 when we go) and my oldest will be seven, he'll have a blast. For my honeymoon, it was my idea to do a house boat on the Atchafalaya Basin and fish for six days. Mr. WFH was in heaven. I figured we had just had a mad three month rush to get married, why not relax? After the first day, he accused me of dating Bill Dance, didn't know I could fish that well!



Not our actual house boat but close







Atchafalaya Basin - one of God's wonders.

[pamela]

11. Wonderful pictures!

I lived on a houseboat for 5 years. It was great (but hard, too.) I love the one in your picture. Mine looked more like a boat than a house. I miss it though, except in the winter.

Our camper van is more like a small RV than a van. It has a raised roof so you can stand up in it and it has a refrigerator, sink, cabinets, microwave and a small, enclosed bathroom and a seating area that makes up into a full sized bed. It fits in a regular parking space though. It's amazing what they were able to fit in it. It's not exactly roughing it, but after living on the boat, I lost my enthusiasm for roughing it. This was a good compromise. We are able to get out in nature without the hassle of a big RV but still have a few comforts. We took a cross-country roadtrip last Fall and it was perfect for that, too.

I hope you get to go camping this summer. I don't have kids but I think it's a great lifestyle for kids. I love to see them turning off the video games and tv and enjoying the outdoors.

[bobbolink]

15. Could I please sleep in your camper, when you're not? ^_^

Just having a bathroom in proximity to an old lady's bladder sounds like heaven!

:hi: :)

[pamela]

22. You'd be welcome anytime, Bobbie.

And boy, do I hear you on the bathroom thing. My husband teases me that the only reason I wanted this van was the bathroom. He says I know where every bathroom is within a 300 mile radius of our house.

[bobbolink]

26. I'll be right there!

My kingdom for a handy bathroom!!

:rofl:

p.s..... Will you do the Tom Bodette thing and "leave the light on" for me? :rofl:

Oh, and some supper in the oven...

REally, thanks for the kind thoughts, and the chuckle! :hi:

[waiting for hope]

17. The houseboat we rented was a scream -

You had to hook the toilet up to a battery to flush and the shower was outside on the back porch - it had an accordion curtain on one side and the other was just a vinyl one that you put into place with thumb tacks. There was another house boat moored not far from where we were, I had been checking them out with our nifty new binoculars we had gotten for bird watching, so let's just say that when a gust of wind blew the vinyl curtain while I was bathing....I screamed. Mr. WFH thought a gator had crawled up onto the porch - I was thinking the people in the other houseboat where watching me...:blush: What goes around, comes around. But, I will have to say, that was the best trip of my life.

Here's the place we rented from (almost 14 years ago!)

http://home.centurytel.net/swla/bhome/houseboatadv/index.html

[pamela]

24. My husband is cursing you for showing me that website.

I've been itching to take a trip south this spring and now those houseboats are calling my name.

[waiting for hope]

25. Tell your hubby I'm sorry -

but I do have to say, that area is just beautiful. The Cypress trees are magnificent, and they are hundreds of years old. There is abundant wildlife and the fishing is great. I'd love to go back, but between the air fare (NC to LA) and rental car plus expenses to rent the houseboat, just not doable. But, camping on the beach is!

[bpeale]

13. i bought heirloom tomato seeds from Seed Savers today

gonna try my hand at tomatoes this year. should be fun & interesting. i, too, see the necessity for practical living skills & am trying to bone up on them.

[pamela]

23. Good luck with your tomatoes.

We live in a very tiny condo with a fairly nice sized patio so I'm looking into container gardening. I have such a brown thumb that I'm not sure how successful it will be. I'm just feeling a very strong urge to get back to basics and to be less dependent on our mass consumption culture. I find that even going into a store lately almost repulses me. I guess I sound strange but it's just where my head is at lately.

[glowing]

27. I bought a home.. may have to ditch the c.c. (oh well).. and I started

my fist round in the garden... its going to be interesting.. Without a JE platform, this country is going to colapse.. and colapse hard.. I don't think Obama or Clinton and def. not McCain can lead appropriately to fix this.. I'm just hoping maybe with the whole Obama savior thing, perhaps people will pay attention and hold him accountable.. maybe not.. he is not the shining progressive they wish him to be.

[iris5426]

16. I know I haven't been checking in here like I was...

and I haven't been really watching news or even Keith anymore...it's been giving me extra time to devote to work with tax season and we just got a dog so that's taking up a lot of time...so maybe my disinterest is well timed, but it's weird not to care what's going on, I've never felt that before...

Plus I live in PA, which is about to get insane...the good citizen and politics nut wants to go see H and O when they come to Pittsburgh, just to check it out...but the doesn't give a shit part of me just doesn't give a shit and doesn't even really want to hear what either of them have to say...part of me feels like I should vote for one of them (probably H) just because PA actually matters for once, and the other (I think bigger) part of me wants to still write JRE in - and I think I probably will.

[waiting for hope]

20. I don't even watch Keith anymore

either - it's funny, I've been here three years and my avatars have been in this order:

John Edwards
Dave Matthews
Annie Lennox
Keith Olbermann
John Edwards 08 banner and now I'm back too:
John Edwards

I should have stayed with my first choice all that time in between. Keith has jumped the shark and even his special comments have lost meaning for what change have they really affected? He's railed against Congress about a dozen times since Nov 2006 and they are still (they are getting a bit better) are pandering to the RW. We need a revolution! George Washington is a second cousin, nine generations removed as well as George Mason (first cousin) .. I think I can muster a revolt!

[iris5426]

21. Let's do it!

I've been saying for a while we're ripe for a revolution...I want in :)

[flyarm]

29. I put MSNBC on Child block after Iowa..i was so angry they ignored John

i have had Fox on child block since 2001...and MSNBC and KO just got the honorable distinction of that honor..

that way no one can flip past it and they pick up a rating..off the cable box..

no thanks..they will get no rating from my home!!

fly

[flyarm]

28. i stayed away all day today..and its raining here in Fla..but seriously

i go to Larry Johnsons web site..more..

http://noquarterusa.net/blog/


and i read Talk Left...

http://www.talkleft.com/

i post there and read alot of the comments..

and i am reading the Shock Doctrine..

i don't have patients for these childish bullshit fights by these young un's here..that is why Obama zero'ed in on the college age ones..he needed a base like bush did with the fundies..people who will post propaganda all day and all night..hey i saw all this same shit with bush in 2000 and 2001..where the bush bots ..told us to leave the country if we didn't agree with them..

you know all that uniter shit we are seeing from the obamabrats..same stuff..just for a different guy...


hey i raised my kids..and put them through college..and if there is not a mother here that doesn't recoginise the same college kid bullshit..well...i just don't need a re-run...

i saw it up close!..don't we all..they know it all don't you know??????????

and respect???? oh mercy me....they forgot it back in the dorm...you know the place they never cleaned..and you dumped a shit load of money into??????????


nope i am done playing with the little kids..

just let them come back here into Fla..Hillary will win by such big numbers...that is unless Dean gets what he wants..and has wanted when he sanctioned us.. by delaying this second vote..and he gets a caucus..but i think he will find out the grown ups here..we are not playing!!

and won't.

night all..fly