BerniePragle

We all have paid taxes that go directly to Big Oil to drill for oil. Have for many years. I know quite a number of years ago, the federal government gave Exxon Mobil $30 billion one year. That's $100 per man, woman, child in the US, if everyone paid taxes equally, which we know doesn't happen. $500 for our family before the kids left. I wasn't/ am not happy about that. Definitely not free market. Gas and diesel are cheap enough to haul garbage all over NY and Pennsylvania. Garbage from NYC, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, etc is hauled to landfills in Bradford County, PA, Corning, NY, etc, etc. I see the damn garbage haulers wearing out the interstates every day. Interstates that my taxes built. Again, not free market. The trucking industry is another one supported by my tax dollars, and unsurprisingly, has a large lobby in DC. I remember going to buy a bag of Cheez-its in the grocery store about maybe a year and a half ago. The price had doubled. I said something to a manager and he said their shipping costs had increased. I asked, rhetorically, How many bags of Cheez-its can you get in a tractor trailer for God's sake? The increased shipping cost thing has been blown way, way out of proportion. Maybe we'll have to quit trying to compete with each other to drive the biggest, most ostentatious rig on the road and go back to driving personal vehicles that serve the purpose of getting from a to b. That would burn a lot less fuel and hypothetically in a free market solve many of these problems. Lord, I think I'm almost un-American. So where is the carbon tax supposed to go? Whose pocket?

You're beginning to sound like this guy, lol.

Cool. I'm a campfire guitar listener. If I could play any instrument, it would be a harmonica. I always thought it would be cool to be able to just pull it out of your pocket and start playing wherever. Alas, I have less than zero musical ability, although I enjoy listening. I have the rhythm of Steve Martin in The Jerk. I'm also fascinated by music's effect on people, and also by the Mathematics of Music. Music Theory is the only mathematics that left me scratching my head. Here's a little good advice from Roger Miller. "You can't (xxx), but you can be happy if you've a mind to."

There's a feller who has lived a full life. I'm amazed by the things he's done and the songs he's written. I saw Hoyt Axton sing this song once, great version, but could find nothing on YT. Here's a last-minute replacement.

This is the guy you want to listen to if you really want to know what's going on, not a sugar coated version by those with financial incentives in your ignorance.

But it's on the respirator.

Trump has been playing the US people since at least 1972 when he was named "Mr Bone Spurs".

It would be interesting to see a plot on here of "Children killed by the bad guy breaking into someone's house". Isn't/Wasn't that one of the main justifications of having firearms? At least it was before the "I just want them and the 2A says I can" culture that's been nurtured by gun and ammo mfgs to make money. I doubt the numbers would even show on the graph unless they were fudged by someone with a financial interest.

Easy, boys. I said a LITTLE. My roommate had a stereo and we listened to the Brothers and Sisters record album all weekend studying for finals in '74. This was playing for about 2 hours before he realized the record was skipping. I was in the zone. Don't worry for me Well I'm all right Lord knows I"m having, A natural good time, Pocket full of money Gonna boogie all night; There ain't nobody tell me that's crime For me, Pony Boy and Maxwell's Equations are inseparable.

@MPhillips Do they sound a little like the Allmans back when?

What rivalry?

I'd love to shake some hands and have a few laughs. Maybe one of these years...

So, this means my taxes go down? (Rhetorical question.) I very clearly remember the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union. There was a feeling that there would be a new peace in the world. But, amazingly (lol) we found many more countries to fight with. Anyone with a sense of history and a lick of common sense should be able to see that the US DoD is an out of control monster that constantly needs to be fed more and more, and is empowered by the politicians that are well rewarded for their support of the DoD. How do we keep electing these turds? I'm full of rhetorical questions this morning.

If this weren't written 135 years earlier, I'd swear it was about DJT: “The man who lies to himself can be more easily offended than anyone else. You know it is sometimes very pleasant to take offense, isn't it? A man may know that nobody has insulted him, but that he has invented the insult for himself, has lied and exaggerated to make it picturesque, has caught at a word and made a mountain out of a molehill--he knows that himself, yet he will be the first to take offense, and will revel in his resentment till he feels great pleasure in it.” ― Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov If people read instead of watching the boob tube, and read something besides social media, they may have a vastly different opinion of the jerk. Many, many verses from the bible and quotes from great writers that could be paraphrased "Don't be a Trump".

Here's a dad bringin em up right. Having fun and a good lesson.

And... Who besides Ann Wilson has the pipes to be heard over all of that.

And, showing up on a riding mower wearing a coontail cap.

"The taking wouldn't have even happened during my administration" Exactly how does the Orange Imbicile figure that? Would he have been at Russian customs and overpowered them?

It is if you want it to be.

For up and down and round, says he Goes all appointed things, And losses on the roundabouts Means profits on the swings -Patrick R Chalmers Irish banker and poet

I was told by very reliable sources (lol) that Biden was putting all that extra money we were paying for gas right directly into his pockets. Maybe his pockets got full and he couldn't fit any more in. Musk, Bezos, etc weren't proud of him.

You want spoons? https://youtu.be/_dGo_OJnKrc We saw Dwayne Dopsie once. I was exhausted just watching them. Make sure to watch till the end. This IS the hardest workin man in show biz.

Somehow this reminds me of the Ross Perot, Roger Smith, EDS, GM thing back in the early 80s. It was a lesson in big egos and corporate politics. The bottom line was GM paid Perot $750 million to stop saying bad things about Smith, GM CEO. That's how I saw it, but I'm a simple guy. A refesher course for the older guys, a lesson for the younger: https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2019/07/09/ross-perot-gm-roger-smith/1682342001/

This brings back fond memories. When my kids were little sometimes they would argure about something. Eventually, it would always devolve into arguing about what they were arguing about. Ah, the good ole days.