General Discussion, Friday, February 23, 2018

Posted on February 23, 2018 by Stella

Spring

Nothing is so beautiful as spring —
When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush;
Thrush’s eggs look little low heavens, and thrush
Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring
The ear, it strikes like lightnings to hear him sing;
The glassy pear tree leaves and blooms, they brush
The descending blue; that blue is all in a rush
With richness; the racing lambs too have fair their fling.

What is all this juice and all this joy?
A strain of the earth’s sweet being in the beginning
In Eden garden. — Have, get, before it cloy,
Before it cloud, Christ, lord, and sour with sinning,
Innocent mind and Mayday in girl and boy,
Most, O maid’s child, thy choice and worthy the winning.

Gerard Manley Hopkins
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172 Responses to General Discussion, Friday, February 23, 2018

  2. Lucille says:
    February 23, 2018 at 12:14 am

    Dying Man Pleads With Facebook to Find Home For His Dog and the Response is Overwhelming
    https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/dying-man-pleads-facebook-yo-find-home-dog-response-overwhelming/

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
  3. Lucille says:
    February 23, 2018 at 12:20 am

    Another Dog Story…
    Woman Realizes the Old Dog She Just Adopted Was Same One She Had as a Child
    https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/woman-finds-old-dog-is-same-from-childhood/

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply
  4. czarowniczy says:
    February 23, 2018 at 1:38 am

    Well, after a shooting last year and another almost shooting recently, followed by other restaurant shootings recently, my son’s boss has asked him to carry at work. Soi he’s signed up for classes to meet liability/ccw needs and for his b’day instead of something more b’dayish I’m sending him a ccw gun.
    Ain’t the first time – back in the late 80s when another son was managing restaurants in NOLA he was robbed twice during rush hour, once by a couple of thugs waving shotguns. Not much better after he moved back to Denver, his store manager got shot while unloading a ‘secure’ delevery area at the rear of the store at about 5 AM. These stores didn’t allow staff or managers to be armed, store policy was to ‘give it up’ and hope the robber(s) weren’t nut jobs.

    Liked by 5 people

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    • Col.(R) Ken says:
      February 23, 2018 at 5:20 am

      Czar, my prayers your Son will never have too clear leather……….

      Liked by 8 people

      Reply
      • lovely says:
        February 23, 2018 at 9:39 am

        Amen, I join your prayer Col.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply
      • czarowniczy says:
        February 23, 2018 at 11:32 am

        And if you’re shooting in defense of life you can end up in as big of a jam as the bad guy.
        I’ve drilled into all of them that their lives and everything they own or will own rides on any bullet they fire. I’ve been heavy on them for marksmanship as the fewer bullets you have to shoot the less the chance for a miss and unintended strike, You could be shooting at John Wayne Gacy in the middle of preparing dinner, have a miss that wounds a bystander and you’ll be up on charges or at the very least be facing a civil suit.

        Those of us on the department who were chartered to carry a gun frequently bought liability insurance. The department has insurance and lawyers and we’re told that the opposition most surely would go for the deepest pocketsd – the department – in the case of an accidental wounding BUT there was no guarantee they would not come after us too. When you consider the attitude of the folks we most oftenest worked with had towards us, and that in case suich happened we knew we’d be thrown to the wolves. Heaven help a civilian who has to shoot to save a life, especially if the attacker’s a member of a group whose behaviors we are constantly apologizing for…

        Liked by 2 people

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        • Sharon says:
          February 23, 2018 at 12:42 pm

          Yes. When our son was LEO with Portland he was the first officer onscene at a home invasion armed robbery. No one answered the door. He heard yelling. He went around to the back of the house where there were barred windows. Through a window he saw two men fighting on the floor, one of them obviously getting the worst of it. Our son (Police officer) yelled all the right stuff. Fighters did not hear or respond. Then man on top shows a gun in his hand, begins to pistol whip the man on the bottom, then begins to turn the gun in apparent prep for a head shot. So –

          Our son shot the guy on top to prevent him from killing the guy on the bottom. Non-lethal (but very serious) wounds to guy on top.

          Turns out the guy on top was the householder about ready to kill the guy on the bottom – invader.

          The householder sued the police department and our son, each, for ten million dollars. (I remember asking him at the time if he was planning to set that up on payments are would he just be writing a check…………)

          PD defense provisions for son were minimal and weak. They pressured him (extremely) to agree to a settlement, which they had to have him involved in – they were all hot to trot on a settlement. Police KNOW they are completely on their own and cannot expect effective defense from their superiors.

          Son has a sort of right/wrong sense of life (don’t know where he got that from….) and said to them, repeatedly, “No. Not one dime. If he gets one dime that communicates that I did something wrong. I did not do anything wrong. I did exactly what my training told me to do.”

          Because of his refusal to go along, both he and the police department ended up winning the case. The guy didn’t get a dime.

          Very frightening weeks with a full blown trial.

          He always told us that if he was killed on duty to 1) never talk to the investigators early on; 2) demand a full transcription of all investigations; 3) demand accounting of every step of who handled his weapon and its location after the incident. Anything that would make it VERY difficult for them to communicate that the situation was officer error since that is always the goal from the political snakes’ nest that is the police commander’s office in Portland, OR.

          That was almost 20 years ago now – so none of this new, as your report illustrates. None of it is new at all.

          Liked by 4 people

          Reply
          • czarowniczy says:
            February 23, 2018 at 2:59 pm

            Yup, you get astraight-line training in deadly force, training that stays right along the legal justification in state law. Problem is thelaw readsobjectively but the soul of it’s subjective. You shoot and it’s first up to the political structure of the jurisdiction to determine your fate. Then it’s up to the community and a sea of tort lawyers all willing to maunfacture an alternative trurh and sell it to twelve folks who are motivated by their own experiences and prejudices.
            If you shoot a perp waving a gun that other side is going to go o and on about ‘how could you be sure he was going to shoot’ and ‘why didn’;t you just try to shoot the gun out of his hand or wound him?’. Trick here is if you do that, and your shot doesn’t wound anyone else, you can STILL be sued…it’s the job.
            Then we have the domestic incident where, upon stopping the attacking partner, the injured partner turns and attacks you for attacking the partner who was doing the attacking. Sigh…glad it’s all behind me.

            Liked by 1 person

            Reply
            • czarowniczy says:
              February 23, 2018 at 3:33 pm

              One of my top favs is security footage of a medical schhol student, late at night, rushing to the aid of a young woman being forcibly shoved into a car in an attempted kidnapping. The thug wrenches away from the rescuer, pulls a KG-99(!!!) out of his pants and shoots the student in the stomach. The student’s on the ground in pain and you see the thug put the gun to the stiudent’s head THREE times and try to fire – the gun jammed.
              The student lived, took up a residency and pracrice in New York then started a charity in NOLA to try and rescue at-risk thugs….errrr, children. Not that we don’t already have an army of them but I guess if that’s how he fed his denial that’s his thing.
              Local news treated it as another case od GUNNNNNNN VIOLENNNNNCE, heaven forbid we refer to it as yet another example of the almost daily black thug violence that plagues the city. Thug was arrested after, the very next day, he abducted a married couple and raped/robbed both of them. He received more time in jail than he’ll ever live thru but the nagging question is would he have received those sentences had his case not been so politicized?

              Liked by 2 people

              Reply
  5. Lucille says:
    February 23, 2018 at 2:57 am

    No wonder the Left gets along so well with these crackpots…birds of a feather….

    Video: Muslims burn piles of diapers because cartoon cat’s whiskers resemble Arabic for Muhammad
    February 22, 2018 by Robert Spencer
    https://www.jihadwatch.org/2018/02/video-muslims-burn-piles-of-diapers-because-cartoon-cats-whiskers-resemble-arabic-for-muhammad

    Liked by 4 people

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  6. Valerie Curren says:
    February 23, 2018 at 4:14 am

    Dear Stellarites,

    Would you please pray for my son Brandon today? He’s having orthopedic surgery later this morning on his broken & displaced collarbone, following a snowboarding fall on a fun event to begin his Spring Break from college a couple days ago (thankfully he hasn’t been in much pain). His twin brother, Josiah, & I will be accompanying him to the hospital & J has been showing him the surgery ropes having been under the knife so many times himself…

    Please pray that the surgery would go well & that he won’t need an in-patient stay; that he can have some financial favor (the co-pays, “thanks” to Obamacare, look to be roughly 1/2 of his gross earnings for 2017); that he can heal quickly; that he’ll not fall behind in his studies (he’s a couple months from college graduation); that work can make some adjustments so he can continue with some income (he’s a waiter at a local restaurant); that the Lord would guide & direct his footsteps for the next phase of his life; that we can all shine the light & love of Jesus wherever we go (this isn’t the hospital where J has had all his surgeries so is unfamiliar territory); & that God will be glorified throughout these adventures. Thanks so much for your prayers!!!

    Blessings to you all!

    Liked by 12 people

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  7. nyetneetot says:
    February 23, 2018 at 5:59 am

    Mornin’ stella! (Smiter of those that ought to be smote) 😎 🍸 (Long Island Iced Tea)
    Mornin’ WeeWeed! (Master Mixologist Extrodinare) 😎 🍸 (Old Fashioned)
    Mornin’ Menagerie! 😎 |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| (Jack Daniels – Single Barrel )
    Mornin’ Ad rem! (Queen Felis catus) 🐱 🍸 (Flaming Lamborghini)
    Mornin’ Sharon! 😎 🍸 🍸 (earthquake)
    Mornin’ ytz4mee! 😎 🍸 (cosmopolitan)
    Mornin’ waltzingmtilda! 🙂 🍸 (white wine and perrier)
    Mornin’ partyzantski! 🙂 |_| (Tom Collins)
    Mornin’ texan59! 🙂 |_| (Black & Tan)
    Mornin’ ZurichMike! 🙂 🍸 (fuzzy navel)
    Mornin’ Col.(R) Ken! (hand salute) 🙂 |_| (Boilermaker)
    Mornin’ czarina33! (aka czarina) 🙂 🍸 (Lynchburg Lemonade)
    Mornin’ czarowniczy! 🙂 |_| (Wild Turkey Rare Breed)
    Mornin’ letjusticeprevail2014! 🙂 |_| (Irish Car Bomb)
    Mornin’ Patriot1783-ctdar! (aka “ctdar”) 🙂 🍸 (grasshopper)
    Mornin’ tessa50! 🙂 🍸 (flaming volcano)
    Mornin’ waltzingmtilda! 🙂 🍸 (sidecar)
    Mornin’ varsityward! 🙂 |_| (Godfather)
    Mornin’ MaryfromMarin! 😀 |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| (Mortlach)
    Mornin’ Wooly Covfefe! (aka “Wooly Phlox” aka “taqiyyologist”) 🙂 |_| (Roy Rogers)
    Mornin’ Howie! (aka “doodahdaze”) 🙂 |_| (Classic Daiquiri)
    Mornin’ TwoLaine! 🙂 |_| (Gin & Tonic)
    Mornin’ Sha! 🙂 🍸 (Lemon Drop)
    Mornin’ BigMamaTEA! 🙂 🍸 (Harvey Wallbanger)
    Mornin’ cetera5! (aka “Cetera”) 🙂 |_| (Blackberry wine)
    Mornin’ The Tundra PA! 🙂 🍸 (Gentleman Jack Whiskey Sling)
    Mornin’ lovely! 🙂 |_| (Backdraft)
    Mornin’ michellc! 🙂 🍸 (Salty dog)
    Mornin’ auscitizenmom! 🙂 🍸 (Kiss on the Lips)
    Mornin’ Margaret-Ann! 🙂 🍸 (White Russian)
    Mornin’ Auntie Lib! 🙂 🍸 (Tom and Jerry)
    Mornin’ holly100! 🙂 🍸 (Jack & Coke)
    Mornin’ Pam! 🙂 (Not even water)
    Mornin’ Ms.Tee! 🙂 🍸 (Mojito)
    Mornin’ koolkosherkitchen! 🙂 🍸 🍸 (Cuba Libre)
    Mornin’ ImpeachEmAll 🙂 |_| (Flaming Dr. Pepper)
    Mornin’ Monroe! 🙂 |_| (Stinger)
    Mornin’ Les! 🙂 |_| (Rusty Nail)
    Mornin’ shiloh1973! 🙂 |_| (Jack Daniels)
    Mornin’ TexasRanger! 🙂 |_| (Whiskey Smash)
    Mornin’ Ziiggii! 🙂 |_| (B52)
    Mornin’ oldiadguy! 🙂 |_| (Rum & Coke)
    Mornin’ smiley! (“stuck in spambucket”) 🙂 🍸 (Spanish coffee)
    Mornin’ derk! (“Stellars”) 🙂 🍸 (Kamikaze)
    Mornin’ Jacqueline Taylor Robson 🙂 🍸 (Shirley Temple)
    Mornin’ facebkwallflower! 🙂 |_| (Night Train Express)
    Mornin’ Ms. Cindy! (aka “Ms Cynlynn” aka “ms cynlynn”) 🙂 🍸 (1970 ducru beaucaillou)
    Mornin’ sandandsea2015! 🙂 🍸 (1961 Château Montrose)
    Mornin’ amwick! 🙂 🍸 (Blue motorcycle)
    Mornin’ hocuspocus13! 🙂 🍸 (1970 Chateau Latour)
    Mornin’ Sloth1963! 🙂 🍸 (1971 Moulin Touchais)
    Mornin’ MTeresa! (Ex-lurker) 🙂 |_| (Albanian Raki Moskat)
    Mornin’ rheavolans! (aka “Rhea Salacia Volans”) 🙂 |_| (Hot Buttered Rum)
    Mornin’ joshua! 🙂 |_| (Mudslide)
    Mornin’ John Denney! 🙂 |_| (RumChata)
    Mornin’ litenmaus! 🙂 |_| (Stolichnaya elit, no ice)
    Mornin’ kinthenorthwest! 🙂 🍸 (A Lonely Island Lost in the Middle of a Foggy Sea)
    Mornin’ TwoLaine! 🙂 |_| (Smoking Bishop)
    Mornin’ patternpuzzler! 🙂 🍸 (Old Lady)
    Mornin’ Senatssekretär FREISTAAT DANZIG! 🙂 |_| (Red Russian)
    Mornin’ G-d&Country! 🙂 🍸 (Blind Russian)
    Mornin’ Gary! 🙂 |_| (Yuengling)
    Mornin’ valeriecurren! 🙂 🍸 (Flaming Sambuca)
    Mornin’ Lucille! 🙂 🍸 (Peach Schnapps)
    Mornin’ Lburg! 🙂 🍸 (Lburg lemonade)
    Mornin’ davidhuntpe! 🙂 |_| (Baileys Irish Cream on the rocks)
    Mornin’ skipper1961! 🙂 |_| (Brompton’s Cocktail – No cherry, no umbrella, no plastic monkey)
    Mornin’ mightyconservative! 🙂 |_| (Benjamin Franklin’s clarified milk punch)
    Mornin’ whiners and complainers! 😛 (No drink for you!)
    Mornin’ to people posting that I missed. 😳
    Mornin’ to all you lurkers! 😕

    Also just in case someday; mornin’ to Elvis Chupacabra, F.D.R. in Hell and sundance! :mrgreen:

    Breakfast!

    NEW and IMPROVED breakfast with extra bacon for ZurichMike!

    Doughnuts and coffee!

    Liked by 9 people

    Reply
  9. litenmaus says:
    February 23, 2018 at 9:54 am

    Wooly, I made a promise that when my world got a little bit more stable, I would figure out Imgur and introduce you to Squeaks. At this point, I recognize that my world has been so altered that I’m chasing an illusive unicorn waiting for ‘stable’ to happen……..

    With that said..I introduce Squeaks.

    Liked by 9 people

    Reply
  10. stella says:
    February 23, 2018 at 1:04 pm

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
    • Lucille says:
      February 23, 2018 at 3:29 pm

      No doubt many of us are challenged on the “love” part when we bounce up against a difficult personality, be it friend, family, co-worker or fellow church member. If we’re Christian, we full well know we should follow Jesus’s example on this.

      Also, in the highly-charged atmosphere of political opposition it’s easy to let our emotions get the better of us. Thus, we slide into personal attacks against people rather than their policies (Matthew 7:12: “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets”).

      I must say that it was always a challenge to pray for President Obama, even keeping in mind the command to pray for those in authority over us. Obviously I’d never met him, but his persona on so many occasions seemed unlikable.

      On the other hand, it’s easy to pray for President Trump and asking God to guide him and his policies. He’s certainly far from perfect, but it seems much easier to connect with him. His what-you-see-is-what-you-get persona is much easier to like for me.

      All this being said, “love” is something I need to work on.

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply
  11. Lucille says:
    February 23, 2018 at 3:31 pm

    “Depression Course for Teens Gets High Marks”
    Written by Cathy Cassata on February 1, 2018

    A psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins has developed a proactive way to get high school students thinking about the seriousness of depression.

    https://www.healthline.com/health-news/depression-course-for-teens-gets-high-marks

    Like

    Reply
  12. stella says:
    February 23, 2018 at 3:54 pm

    Author Triggered by Norwegian Flag

    https://www.truthrevolt.org/news/author-triggered-norwegian-flag

    She thought it was a Confederate flag. Ha!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
    • Lburg says:
      February 23, 2018 at 6:15 pm

      Not only is she ignorant, she considers her concern a ‘news tip’ and sent this to the paper????

      “Hi. Suddenly there is a Confederate flag flying in front of a house in my Greenwood neighborhood. It is at the north-east corner of 92nd and Palatine, just a block west of 92nd and Greenwood Ave N. I would love to know what this ‘means’ … but of course don’t want to knock on their door. Maybe others in the area are flying the flag? Maybe it’s a story? Thank you.”

      So this ‘veteran journalist’ gets triggered, refuses to actual do anything resembling journalism, doxxes one of her neighbors, assumes responsibility for the neighborhood’s political correctness (it’s no longer OUR neighborhood but MY neighborhood), proves beyond doubt that she’s a lazy concern troll and that the NYT bestseller list is filled with dopey authors – all in a single paragraph?

      Impressive.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply
    • Lucille says:
      February 23, 2018 at 7:11 pm

      Sorry I stepped on your post upthread, Stella. Pays to read the entire blog before posting anything.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  13. Valerie Curren says:
    February 23, 2018 at 6:15 pm

    Some people have asked for some updates on my son’s surgery…so here’s some of what I shared at the CTH Prayer Request Page here:
    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2011/02/01/prayer-requests-9/

    “Valerie Curren says:
    February 23, 2018 at 3:45 am
    Thank you so much! We, Josiah & I, are taking Brandon to the hospital for that surgery later this morning. He, B, seems to be doing pretty well & thankfully not in much pain. Josiah being such a veteran of Many surgeries (I think 19 now) Really Wanted to come for Brandon’s event–he’s being a real support & encouragement to his twin! It’s always great (& surprising, given Autism) to see him so focused on someone else’s needs…

    Valerie Curren says:
    February 23, 2018 at 12:03 pm
    Hey Prayer Warriors
    Josiah & I got called back to see Brandon & just before he went back for his surgery my husband unexpectedly showed up! He (fortuitously?) had jury duty today…& wasn’t picked! So the three of us are hanging out in the waiting room. Michael just spoke with the OR & B’s procedure starts soon. We should see him in about an hour & a half…

    Thanks for your prayers & encouragement…

    Valerie Curren says:
    February 23, 2018 at 4:11 pm
    Thank you all so much for praying for us today. Brandon came through surgery well with only a little little queasiness & dizziness. He & Josiah are heading home now with my husband & I’m getting blessed with some live piano music as I pause to write this post..Thank you Lord for this extra measure of grace& beauty at the end of a long & trying week (that included having our 27 year old furnace& A/C replaced)…

    We are All very thankful… & also very tired…God bless you all!”

    We are all back home from the hospital & pretty worn out. Brandon is resting comfortably & my husband just laid down for a nap…Me, I’m sharing updates here first! Blessings…

    Liked by 6 people

    Reply
  14. stella says:
    February 23, 2018 at 7:11 pm

    Nanette Fabray, Charming Singer, Dancer and Comedienne, Dies at 97

    https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/nanette-fabray-dead-caesars-hour-879513

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  15. michellc says:
    February 23, 2018 at 8:03 pm

    It has been pouring rain for 6 hours straight now on top of all the rain and ice we’ve had all week. Everyone is getting cranky, including the animals. I was checking on goats earlier, the girls are all pregnant and huge, kidding can start any time up to the end of March. They were all butting each other and doing their goat growls at each other. My DH asked what the heck their problem was. I told him spoken like a true man, they’re fat, miserable and stuck inside a barn, he’d be a little cranky as well. 🙂

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
    • Lburg says:
      February 23, 2018 at 8:29 pm

      My brother and his then girlfriend once traveled from Hawaii to visit our family in Maryland. He caught a cold while in transit and was upstairs recouperating. His girlfriend went to check on him and on her return to the kitchen announced, “I don’t know whether to give him an aspirin or an Oscar.”

      The girlfriend didn’t last – but her line did!

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply
    • Lucille says:
      February 23, 2018 at 10:44 pm

      My parents lived with me until they passed–from November 1980 to May 1989 for my father and until March 2006 for my mother. Each day as I move toward the last days of my own life I realize how fortunate it was that they both were so stoic about their health matters, though they were pretty severe. Drama just wasn’t their style.

      When a young teen my friends used to occasionally tell me they envied me my parents. I was usually rather amused because they were just my folks and what was so unusual about them? Now that I’m up in years, the realization that they really WERE unusual–out of the ordinary in attitudes and in their caring ways towards family and others outside the family–and I’m ever so grateful.

      Liked by 5 people

      Reply
  16. auscitizenmom says:
    February 23, 2018 at 9:00 pm

    lilbirdee12’s prayer:

    Our Heavenly Father, Your children come to you tonight to ask for healing and peace throughout our country so that we may return to being One Nation Under God. Guide us to be leaders in Your Kingdom, spreading Your Love and Salvation to all. Forgive us our sins and deliver us from evil.

    Lord, we ask for a blanket of protection over all our troops and law enforcement who serve to defend and protect us. Bless our representatives with the strength and wisdom they need to achieve the path You have chosen for us.

    Please place Your Guardian Angels of Protection around Donald Trump and Mike Pence and their families as they seek to lead America back to You.

    Grant us patience, Lord, as the evil ones try to anger us and cause us to fall.
    Spread blessings over Israel and Netanyahu.

    We humbly ask that You please comfort those who are grieving and in pain.
    Thank you Father, for Your Love and the gift of Life.

    In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.

    Liked by 4 people

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