Open Thread – Try Again
This is one of my favorite pictures of all time. It used to belong to a dear friend of mine, but now she is gone and it sits atop my desk.
December 18, 2024
Thursday, August 3, 2023
The Quitter Returns! -Monday, March 21, 2022
Putting the goober in gubernatorial -Friday, January 28, 2022
This is one of my favorite pictures of all time. It used to belong to a dear friend of mine, but now she is gone and it sits atop my desk.
It looks like Mayor Sullivan’s been offering budgetary courses at The Learning Annex.
http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/editorial/article_61064e9a-27b0-5f28-b6d1-a57c8b2aaaf6.html
That picture reminds me of the old poem “Cremation of Sam McGee”. I kind of expect the boat to be named the “Alice May”.
I love you and what you speak for, but I can say that I was disappointed that you did not put up a post on Wednesday about Elizabeth Peratrovich. She was a force in native civil rights, 20 years before King. I would hope that you would honor her with a small post.
I had intended to do just that, but life happened. She was an amazing person and Alaska’s own Diane Benson has played her in a documentary which I have mentioned here. I will certainly mention her in the future. AKM
I will agree that they should pay Social security like the rest of us and they already went along with the raise in their pensions(them paying part) and higher cost for insurance,What is being done in Wisconsin is union busting pure and simple.and those people have a right to have a union to back them.Unions gave workers safer work places and stopped the harassment fro higher ups which would run rampid if this was allowed to happen.Even those exempted have joined in solidarity.It isn’t about keeping bad employees it is about the right to have a union represent you and your co-workers.The Police and firefighters know they will be next to be thrown under the bus.Walker put Wisconsin where it is.If ya read back you will see where he gave friends while in Milwaukee big raises just before he left.He also made big tax cuts for his business friends which is why Wisconsin has a deficit.Actually My sister has a pension and my dad did also thru a private company but because the did not actually put money in they both hve to pay taxes on the whole thing and in my dads case they gave up cost of living increases and it went into the pot for the union pension and if not for that my folks would have lost everything..That union knew how to invest for the future of their members.
That union knew how to invest for the future of their members.
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This is exactly why EVERYONE should be paying into social security. Retirements shouldn’t be dependent upon its funds not having been raided by politicians the way social security has. I also believe EVERYONE should pay some of their income in taxes. ALL AMERICANS should have skin in the game. When politicians cause pain, we should ALL feel the pain and we should ALL hold them accountable.
You do know about the Windfall Elimination, yes? If a current public employee paid into Social Security at other employment before working under a defined contribution plan (the one that puts money in stocks, etc.) that employee can loose a good chunk of their social security so that they can’t get money from both. One would have to have made ‘significant’ contributions to SSI for 30 years to not loose Social Sec. benefits. They may not be paying in, but they aren’t going to get much, if anything back under this provision. So if they worked elsewhere before, they are helping to pay others benefits, with no assurance that they will get anything in return after retirement.
All public sector union employees should have to pay into social security like everyone else. They should not be protected from being fired by incompetence or being replaced if they can be replaced by more competent workers. Their salaries should be similar to similar positions in the private sector (could mean higher or could mean lower, just close to the same).
Then there would be no issues with public sector unions…
Private sector unions are different and they should be able to ask for anything they want since they will destroy their host and then be looking for jobs themselves if they suck too much blood out.
Clarification:
If private sector unions destroy their host (the private company) by sucking too much blood out, the company will fail and the public will not be hurt (except for the private sector jobs that private company provided). But the company has negotiating power so that they don’t have to agree or worry about votes for politicians.
If public sector unions, the host is the public. The negotiators are the politicians wanting votes. We can’t have the public destroyed by politicians catering for votes…
bob.benner said: “All public sector union employees should have to pay into social security like everyone else. They should not be protected from being fired by incompetence or being replaced if they can be replaced by more competent workers. ”
What makes you think they DON’T pay social security? I was a public sector union employee for 31+ years and SS & Medicare came right off the top of every paycheck – after taxes.
I also saw plenty of people fired for incompetence over the years, that again is a strawman argument. While Union shop steward roles are to make sure the employee gets a fair shake, they don’t want to have to work along incompetent co-workers either. Nobody wants to have to carry their weight.
What makes you think they DON’T pay social security?
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What makes you think they ALL pay social security? I merely mentioned the guidelines under which I thought public sector union employees would get my support. If you meet the criteria, then you would have my support.
In Alaska, many public employees do not pay social security, but instead money is put in a Wall Street investment fund. If there is anything there at retirement – congratulations. If not, oh, well…. no guarantees, no recourse.
All public service sector union employees should have 401K’s and social security for their retirements. Nothing more and nothing less. If social security is bankrupt, then we ALL suffer, private sector and public sector alike. Public service sector unions shouldn’t have their own investment funds for retirement. And they shouldn’t be able to opt out of social security or have an option of being able to put money into a separate retirement fund…
I am in a public sector employees union and I’ve been paying into SS for almost 30 years. I’ve been in various positions with several agencies in the NY State system but have always paid FICA, regardless of my title or where I worked.
In none of those agencies were employees prevented from being fired for incompetence. Yes, the union protects employees from being fired without cause, but I’ve known people in all of those agencies who were fired for doing a bad job or breaking employee rules. The idea that public union employees cannot be fired is a myth. It just requires some effort on the part of the supervisor to document infractions.
I agree. Right up there with Dred Scott, Plessy v Ferguson, the Exxon Valdez.
AAk! This was supposed to be an answer to 30!
Try this video to get an idea of the power the Anti-Walker protesters in Wisconsin!
http://vimeo.com/20089255
M. Paul
Been waiting for an open thread that I got in a timely manner to post this about unions.IMO all GOP states should beware of the same thing happening. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_wisconsin_budget_unions
Of course nothing like this could ever happen here in Alaska:
“Scotland’s wild salmon face ‘calamity’ from trade deal with China”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/feb/20/scotland-salmon-threat-china-deal
Really, Knik? I think it’s old Homer, on the beach at Mud Bay.
The first thing that my most trusted confidante Outside said to me when I told him I’d just met McGuiness was,”You know not to trust him, right?”.
for real Kitten? truly for real? this is bad, this is not good..
Does that happen to be the boat out by Knik Lake, off KGB Road ?
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/mike-huckabee-infuriated-by-christian-church-allowing-muslims-to-pray-there/
Huckabee compares Muslim religion to pornography, made because small church allowed Muslims to worship there while their mosque was being built.
Guess he was tired of Palin getting all the headlines for outlandish and bombastic statements.
Huckabee gives me the creeps too. Hear his one or two-minute comments on the radio off and on and there is always a bit of lying or changing the truth in his statements (especially when he talks about President Obama). Isn’t he, or wasn’t he a preacher at some point. Don’t trust him!
He reminds me of the Baker clan and am waiting for him to fall
Mike Huckabee is a disgusting pig… I saved the photos of the Christians & Muslims in Egypt protecting each other WHILE THEY PRAYED! I wept with joy at that sight- it was and still is, beautiful.. Huckabee shames and embarrasses himself by speaking so stupidly, and this I know: he is NOT a Christian…! Jesus would not know him.. and I cringe when I look at the lowlife Fox personality he has been all along.
And some people actually voted for this joker,although there wasn’t really any good choices this last election cycle and 2012 looks no better right now.
All day I’ve been wondering which Bailey has been occupying more of Sarah’s time: Frank or the Irish Cream. Or is it Shailey? There’s a joke in there somewhere.
Completely off any topic, a feel good moment which could have had an ugly ending but didn’t:
http://tinyurl.com/4dx998d
It is really nice to read a news story with a happy ending.
thanks. what a wonderful story. sort of balances things out. doesn’t it?
Warning to anyone who plans to read this story: have some tissues handy!
What a beautiful story and what a brave little girl.
Nice story.
Writing from Alaska——thanks for the web site-Egypt for Wisc.
I noticed the word OKER on the sign.
I find this means—cow worker!
cow-orker – Wiktionary Sep 27, 2010 … The above quote has been rated as gross, digusting, and tacky by my cow-orkers at work…are you a cow orker? …
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cow-orker – Cached – Similar
It says “workers.” The W is taken from Wisconsin, the “o” is a cog. The full message is Egypt supports Wisconsin workers. One world, one pain.”
Some things never change.
My oldest sister died a little over 20 years ago. When I was a kid, she used to take me for rides to the beach and, when she died, her ashes were scattered at sea, so the water has always had a special connection for us. Every year on her birthday, I visit the water wherever I happen to be. It used to be the ocean when I lived on Long Island and now it’s Lake Ontario (which kinda looks like the ocean this time of year!).
Yesterday, it was partly sunny and 51 degrees out. Much of the snow cover had melted and the birdies were chirping. But it wasn’t her birthday, and I’m stubborn.
Today – her birthday – it was 19 degrees with wind chills of 6 degrees, snow squalls and wind gusts of 50 mph. It was really, really, really cold on the beach with nothing to block the winds coming across the water. The snow was blowing sideways and the sand, which had been uncovered by the warmer temperatures over the past two days, was flying right along with it. And there I was, the only lunatic crazy enough to be on the beach today, bundled up in about 6 layers and squinting to keep the wind, snow and sand out of my eyes. It turned out to be one of the quicker visits.
Sigh…my sister always DID have a knack of making life more challenging for the rest of us!
((((Leenie)))
Thanks for sharing your story.
I could see it –
There is no hope for American politics until, at the very least for a start, all elections are publicly funded, with a prohibition on any money from outside sources. And, equal media access and time constraints. Otherwise, leadership will remain a joke (Palin?), our system will further serve the monied interests, and the USA will continue its decay into a land of fools, fanatics and greedy connivers.
I believe that the Citizens United decision by the SCOTUS will turn out to be one of the most damaging rulings in history. It gives all the power to the big corporations and billionaires, and reduces ‘We the People’ to spectators in our own political system. And the only people who have the power to change it are the very people who profit the most by its outcome.
I agree!.. unless there is a way for the SCOTUS to suffer repercussions for their corrupt decision… this is why lifetime appointments should never exist… the corporations don’t care…they never will… bottom line for them is always profits for today, not thinking about tomorrow… the rich will survive and pass their riches down, but the rest of us are screwed! ..how can THIS be repealed? there must be loopholes as there are in every other thing!
In the last Congress they made an attempt to at least limit the impact by creating a law that all the money had to at least be disclosed. It was defeated by the obedient R’s.
Lainey that’s what I keep asking and it seems no one has an answer or at least has said nothing.If ya can impeach a president ya should be able to do the same to those judges.
jojobo1- according to article 3 of the Constitution,justices serve for a lifetime if they exhibit “good behaviour”. They can be removed by impeachment in the House of Representatives and trial in the Senate,for the same type high-crimes as the Potus. And we all remember how low the bar was set to impeach Clinton.Unfortunately house rethugs wouldn’t consider impeaching their justices and Dems don’t have the stomach for the job.
And by “outside”, I’d include any money *not* from constituents who’ll be voting for (or against) them! A.N.Y money.
It bugs the chit out of me that money-bag New Yorkers can fill the coffers of North Dakota Sleezebag, and, on the strength of having more funding to run circles around the opponent in the way of saturating the airwaves and mailboxes with ‘information’ about said opponent, Sleezebag gets elected.
I’d restrict party support of a candidate on a sliding scale in proportion to the impact/import the elected office holds — ie: a candidate for POTUS would be allotted X-amount of money, but mayor of major city would be allotted G-amount and mayor of itty-bitty town would be allotted C-amount. Party funding would have a *maximum* they could give to candidates running for (any given) office. beth.
The GOP has become more short sighted and shameless than any time in history. This is an excellent article regarding their desire to destroy Planned Parenthood:
“This is a big win for Rep. Mike Pence, the Indiana Republican whose deficit-minded crusade against Planned Parenthood hinges not on the argument that taxpayer money shouldn’t pay for abortions (the Hyde Amendment put a stop to that in the mid 1970s), but on the conviction that taxpayer money should not go to organizations that provide abortion services, regardless of what else they might do.
“Pence’s plan, which will likely stall in the Senate, would mean the end of federal support for an organization that each year provides more than 800,000 women with breast exams, more than 4 million Americans with testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, and 2.5 million people with contraception, which, not for nothing, is the stuff that prevents unintended pregnancy, and thus abortion, to begin with.”
http://www.salon.com/news/abortion/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2011/02/18/traister_speier_abortion
Why in the world would a woman ever,ever vote for these nutter politicians? It would have to be against their best interests,in my humble opinion.
History is rife with people working against their own best interests. The most insidious enemy is the enemy within.
In my search for more immediate information on the events in Wisconsin, I have been on the WORT community radio site. Right now they are only playing music but there is a Twitter feed up on the protest – found this gem, a must share.
http://twitpic.com/419nfm
Just now got an email ‘alert’ from a uber-right-wing site asking “All Patriots” to “Join Andrew Breibart & Jim Hoft at Wisconsin Freedom Rally to Support Scott Walker Saturday”.
I’m pretty sure won’t be making it to the “Freedom Rally” today… guess I’m not a patriot — and I guess I hate the Constitution, and I’m anti-America, and I’m going to hell, and… beth.
Well, if you’re going to hell I suspect you’ll have some mudpuppy company. See you there! 😉
Yeah, you sure won’t be alone, but you will be in good company! See you there, hehe.
Limbaugh called the union activists and protesters working against the bill–which seeks to strip public sector workers of their collective bargaining rights–“freeloaders.”
Video: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/19/ed-schultz-limbaugh-wisconsin_n_825601.html
I’ll bring the marshmallows and hotdogs. Anyone have some looong roasting forks? 🙂
If people like Breibart are in Heaven, you know it’s a cheap knock off! ;-D
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/18/fox-reporter-greeted-with-fox-lies-chants_n_825393.html
People from Wisconsin know fox lies
I love that! “Egypt supports Wisconsin. One World. One Pain.”
This just makes my day! Thanks, Writing from Alaska, many thanks!
🙂 You are so welcome.
Love it!
this photo truly touched me too. It reminds me that this world cannot strip you of your spirit of hope and love, it may refine your character plenty, but our souls still soar as we follow our own moral compass thru the storms.
Beautiful sentiment!
Here is a story from my fishing days that I would like to share.
A guy bought a boat and named her after his girlfriend. The boat was “Ruth”.
The girlfriend consented to join him in his lifestyle, moved onto the boat and fished with him. He changed the name of the boat to “Ruth and I”
Alas, the relationship did not last more than a season, and when I saw the boat again, he had again changed the name to “Ruthless”
True story.
That was a great story!
great story. liked it.
The friend I got the picture from is named Ruth. True story. 🙂
I had to touch this photograph.
Let me try to explain…
As far back as I can remember, when something inanimate moves me exceptionally, I have to put out my hand to touch it. No, it’s not an OCD deal, it’s a completely conscious thing on my part…and it only happens infrequently. But when it does: Whoa, Nelly; is there a reason for it!
It might be a poem, a drawing, a rock, a picture, a piece of pottery or porcelain, a passage of prose, a tree, an architectural detail –there’s no telling what it might be that’s making such an impact, but when I see it, I know; my hand goes out to touch it.
I’m sure there’s some expert explanation in the annals of psychology for this behaviour, but I’ve reached my own conclusions on this bit of oddness of mine: Seeing something that greatly moves me on an intellectual and/or emotional-level, stores that ‘something’ in the part of my memory reserved for the inexplicable beauty and joyously unfathomable of the world; touching it, seals it there for me.
In actually touching the ‘something’ (either physically or virtually [hand-reached-out in its visually-observed direction]) I get to create my personal treasure trove of wonderful and wonders — an unfailing treasure trove incorporated into the very soul of me and to which I can turn when the world becomes almost too heavy to bear. The world sometimes does that, you know.
I’m content with this conclusion of mine. Thank you for the photograph, AKM — I touched it. beth.
your touch adds to the visual memory to make it tactile memory as well, adding another dimension to the feeling created in you when you see the ‘something’. I do the same thing.
I got an email from MoveOn that I’d like to share with all of you:
Top 10 Shocking Attacks from the GOP War on Women
1) Republicans not only want to reduce women’s access to abortion care, they’re actually trying to redefine rape. After a major backlash, they promised to stop. But they haven’t.
2) A state legislator in Georgia wants to change the legal term for victims of rape, stalking, and domestic violence to “accuser.” But victims of other less gendered crimes, like burglary, would remain “victims.”
3) In South Dakota, Republicans proposed a bill that could make it legal to murder a doctor who provides abortion care. (Yep, for real.)
4) Republicans want to cut nearly a billion dollars of food and other aid to low-income pregnant women, mothers, babies, and kids.
5) In Congress, Republicans have proposed a bill that would let hospitals allow a woman to die rather than perform an abortion necessary to save her life.
6) Maryland Republicans ended all county money for a low-income kids’ preschool program. Why? No need, they said. Women should really be home with the kids, not out working.
7) And at the federal level, Republicans want to cut that same program, Head Start, by $1 billion. That means over 200,000 kids could lose their spots in preschool.
8) Two-thirds of the elderly poor are women, and Republicans are taking aim at them too. A spending bill would cut funding for employment services, meals, and housing for senior citizens.
9) Congress voted yesterday on a Republican amendment to cut all federal funding from Planned Parenthood health centers, one of the most trusted providers of basic health care and family planning in our country.
10) And if that wasn’t enough, Republicans are pushing to eliminate all funds for the only federal family planning program. (For humans. But Republican Dan Burton has a bill to provide contraception for wild horses. You can’t make this stuff up).
Amazing, isn’t it, that all these zeroes who got elected on a platform of putting Americans back to work and dealing with the federal debt are spending all their time on a moribund social agenda. I hope it bites them with very sharp teeth on their misguided asses in ’12. They’re watching our country slide into third world status, and could care less, as long as their rich cronies get to pay fewer taxes and all pregnancies have to be carried to term. Who cares if the kids are scientifically and mathematically literate? Who cares if there are more mouths to feed (all those babies carried to term) and no food to put into them? (Yeah, let’s just leave it to Monsanto, Bayer, and Archer-Daniels-Midland.) I’m more disgusted than I can say without resorting to expletives that I’d rather not use on a family blog. I’d call them pigs, but porkers have far more integrity than they.
…And they call themselves christians.
Therein is the biggest scandal to me. They seem, almost to a person, to be boasting of their Christian creds but don’t seem to realize what their faith means or demands of them. They instead pledge allegiance to cruel modern interpretations most likely devised by misogynist leaders instead of the compassionate, caring and nurturing tenants of Christ. That they got their power by portraying themselves to be followers of Christ but don’t understand the essence of his teachings is beyond sad; it is immoral.
Even though I do not attend church or follow a specific faith, I seem to embrace more of Christ’s teachings than do these self-proclaimed Christians who use the faith for their own personal gain and power so they can inflict untold pain upon those who trusted them.
They seem to have no shame in what they are doing, none at all. I hope the Hell they believe in exists, for they certainly have earned their place right in the middle of it!
They are truly despicable…I was going to finish with ‘human beings’ but I’m not sure they qualify.
In the past the Catholic Church was not opposed to abortion. Later it was ok for roughly the first 90 days, but get this: later a male could be aborted in the first 40 day, but it the embryo was female it was ok for the first 80 days.
http://faculty.cua.edu/Pennington/Law111/CatholicHistory.htm
http://www.libchrist.com/other/abortion/catholic.html
What’s the problem? A couple new boards, a little hammering, scrape the hull, a new coat of paint, she’ll be seaworthy in no time. C’mon, we’re taking “Try Again” on a test run out to Kodiak next weekend. Anybody?
Any part of the world I can’t see from the shore,doesn’t exist. Thanks but no thanks. Take that back-if the water is frozen enough so I can drive on it, I would expand my horizon.
You’re what is referred to as a “land lubber.” c’mon Mike. Didn’t your ancestors get here in some sort of water craft at some point in the historical time line? Sailing’s in every American’s blood–or at least walking over ice bridges. 🙂
As near as I can tell,most of my ancestors came from Missouri,Kansas and Oklahoma. I guess you could count covered wagons as “prairie schooners”.
count me in Slip. i’ ll bring some paint. think i got a box of watercolors around here someplace
I am a former fisherman. As we used to say (standing on the dock in early spring, looking over the mess on deck) “Hey – little bondo, little paint, She’s good as new!”
Hundred-mile-an-hour / duct / duck tape? You need some of that? I’ve got a huge roll of silver and a huge roll of white – which would you prefer – I can bring either, or both. I’ve got a big bottle of Gorilla Glue, too. And, of course, Elmers water-proof glue. Let me know. beth.
We’ve got plaid. One Campbell, one Black Watch. That’s what one gets when kilts played a prominent role in one’s ancestors’ lives. And since the Scots were and are sailors, I’m sure our duct tape can take salt water without corroding! 🙂
Me timbers are shiverin’ to set sail- count me in too, also.
Well, I have a new shero (I don’t like heroine, because it sounds like the drug): Rep. Jackie Speier (Democrat from CA 12th District). She had the courage to stand on the floor of the House and announce that she had had a medically necessary abortion. The video is breathtaking:
http://www.care2.com/causes/politics/blog/congresswoman-tells-of-her-own-abortion-during-title-x-debate/
She really gave those meddlesome men what for!
Good for her. Most Rethuglican men are pigs. Too bad he can’t be forced to become pregnant and then have an abortion,or have that option taken away from him.
Clarification-most rethuglican politicians are pigs.
she was awesome. thanks Zyxomma
Hurray!
She was great. She was on Larry O last night too.
She’s had an interesting life, she was Leo Ryan’s congressional aide, she made out a will before traveling with him to Jonestown, and on the runway where he and others were killed, she was shot 5 times and waited 22 hours for help. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Speier I thought her name sounded familiar.
Boy did she ever I put it on my facebook so My Wisconsin friends can see what the GOP is not doing and that is working on JOBS JOBS JOBS..Thats because they know they really can’t just pull them out of their hats!!!!!!!
McCain’s “danged fence.” A real deterrent. 🙂
http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Editorial-Board-Blog/2011/0218/Lighter-side-of-the-immigration-debate-fact-checking-gems-from-YouTube
Oh, PS: I have a photo of a little Mudflatter bird on my blog today. Wearing yellow boots! Stop by if you like. 🙂
stopped by Ripley. i loved your pictures. well done.
Thanks, Ripley. Visited for a spell.
me three
Ripley, you have real talent. Thank you for sharing it with us.
themudflats is such a wonderful place to visit each day because not only to we get opportunities to serve, things to ponder, a space to vent and visit, but we also get subsistence for our souls. No wonder you enjoy it as well; you and AKM share such a gift for seeing the beauty around us.
Awesome pictures Ripley I have been to the Pacific but not the Atlantic or the Gulf
Sarah has attacked the Pres and he won’t bite. So now she is throwing barbs at Michelle. SP’s jeolousy runs deep!
Yes—a lot of states are in trouble. But if one looks at the Gov of these states, they are doing quite well. Our Iowa Gov is “double dipping”. He has a $50,000.00 penison plus his Gov salary. Yet gov workers are about to lose their jobs. Don’t see any of the thousands of jobs he promised Iowans. So far the newly elected are focused on the Social agenda.
Guv Braindead is probably running two sets of state finances books again,to make it look like we’re on the road to recovery while he gives stuff away.
Governor will be doing the same and yets wants to take away workers rights to have a union/
Boats ride the tumultuous waves and brave the elements so they can plumb the unseen depths for what is needed to progress.
Sounds like our country to me. We’re sailing some very stormy seas right now, but we’ll weather the storm and come out the better for it.
It’s hard to see when you’re in the middle of it all that things are progressing, but one sure sign is that the lies opposing progress get louder and louder and that people who are hurt most by the lies are taken in and take up their cause. It’s always been that way. We’ve just to stick with it.
How much do you know about US Presidents?
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2011/0219/President-s-Day-Quiz/Longest-Inaugural-Address
I look at the picture and wonder what color the boat is.
I love those kind of wonders. Simple pondering.
I thought the same thing, tallimat. And what, if anything, was left onboard; was it on purpose? Discarded or just forgotten? I’d love to hear the boat’s own story.
It’s a beautiful photo, AKM. Happy, sad or thought provoking, your friend left you a treasure.
My first boat was a Columbia River double ender. Engine under the galley table. The inside was painted moss green and the galley table cushion was stuffed with deer hair. I fished that boat 5 seasons. Best time of my life.
Think of the stories this Try Again boat beholds.
Love the thought of it.
My wife and I are also looking forward to reading the “thrown under the bus book”. It sounds so titillating and hopefully a better seller than SP’s. By the way, thank you AKM for biting the bullet and giving a synopsis of her books. You are a brave person to have interpreted her “word salad” for us.
The photo speaks volumes.
Clearly, the owner of that boat was an eternal optimist. We could learn a lesson from the name of that boat, no matter its eventual fate.
This picture reminds me of the person who passes away doing what they love, even though everyone warned them not to.
A bit melancholy, the Try Again, there.
We try again as long as we have anything left to give…then we fade into the mystic.
Ashes to ashes. Stardust.
News from my home state:
“Less than two weeks ago, the Green Bay Packers—the only fan-owned, non-profit franchise in major American sports—won the Super Bowl, bringing the Lombardi trophy back to Wisconsin. But now, past and present members of the “People’s Team” are girding up for one more fight and this time, it’s against their own Governor, Scott Walker.”
http://www.thenation.com/blog/158636/green-bay-packers-vs-tackling-dummy-wisconsin-gov-scott-walker
It’s a beautiful day in the forest so I’m headed outside shortly. Saw the first robins of spring (??!) yesterday; a whole big flock of them in a clearing near the pond. “When the red red robin comes bob bob bobbin’ along, along…”
I’m going to prune some brush and clear some debris on the hedgerows and in the gardens. It’s sunny, so I’ll load the solar clothes dryer, also, too. (Peg my laundry out on the clothesline, eh?) I’m almost finished one book and have two trilogies waiting, so I’ll relax on the swing in the sun by the pond some. (Dang rooster pecked my toe yesterday evening while I was minding my own business reading on the swing. I’ll have to keep an eye on him!) I’ll be back inside about dark thirty. 🙂
L’Shalom,
thatcrowwoman
No offense,but Dubya is looking for steady work and after all the vacations he took in office,he got to be adequate at clearing brush and putting up roadblocks in front of women and minorities. I have no use for him either. Glad to hear the robins are alive. They will show up here in a few weeks as most of the snow is melted. Hand that nasty rooster a beakful of vapo-rub and he will stop pecking pretty pronto. Thanks for making me smile so much.
Beautiful photo. Reminds me of the old fishing boats you can still see in Leland MI.
I think that all of us are going to have to do what is being done in Wisconsin. Here in Michigan our gazillionaire (? sp) governor, who by the way refuses to live in the Governor’s Mansion in Lansing, wants to do in the public workers. This used to be a very strong union state but I think the unions have been exhausted by decades of giving in and giving in. Good for Wisconsin! May Michigan follow along!
This morning, not to be in too good a mood, I read on another website that county commissioners (are they all old men?) in Frederick MD have just done in the county Head Start program. Why, they say, should some moms be able to send their children to preschool and not have to stay home like their wives did and why, they say, should “productive” citizens have to pay taxes to help unproductive people? I don’t think they consider the less wealthy to be co-equal citizens. They obviously fail to understand what great things Head Start has done for children in this country and they obviously do not understand that early education/intervention is crucial. Their children would probably have benefitted from Head Start. I doubt if these dads ever read stories to their children. There needs to be a BIG demonstration in Frederick.
On a brighter note, we had major wind and sun here yesterday and the beagles were nervous about it but they were so happy about the sunshine that they actually settled down together, touching backs, and snoozed in the dining room sunlight. It was a first and I was delighted. Our first beagle, Annie, has always been very tolerant of our second beagle, Tippy, but sharing has not always come easily. How nice to see her, after two years, showing us that she can cuddle up next to Tippy.
On another brighter note, the Bailey book will be that much better because of Jeanne Devon’s contribution! Way to go!!
It’s hauntingly poetic:)
I find that more inspirational than anything from tyrannical figures like Vince Lombardi that passes off as Motivational Posters in business offices.
Looking at such a revered figure like Vince today, it makes me think of how the Tea Party long for Lombardi days where they could wield their unquestionable power and punish those that questioned. It was a “simpler” time, I’m surprised Sarah Palin doesn’t use him more often (chosing instead, to wrongfully credit the wrong Coach Wooden (Leg.)
So many people evoke the ghost of Lombardi when they long for the way things used to be. Coaches use his name to justify their unearned authority, so do many corporate or political leaders.
Some say he died prematurely due to cancer at exactly the right time. Politics were changing, children were growing shaggy hair and crying for peace. The channels of control were deteriorating and Lombardi seemed irritated that the players’ union was gaining power. Think Wisconsin.
Many have wondered if this is a world in which Lombardi would not be able to exist. The Tea Party is trying to recapture a romantic notion of their superiority, when it was only a thinly veiled tyranny over people who did not look or live like their ideal image of “Real Americans.”
Good morning mudpups, have a good day.
and a splendid good morning to you. here is something beautiful to start your day my friends:
http://i.imgur.com/qH3Y1.jpg
bubbles, that is absolutely out of this world or other worldly. Beautiful, unreal.
thank you Bubbles. My Daughter and I are in awe:)
Wow. Gave me a peyote flashback. Thanks.
((((El Jefe!!!))))
I love it!
I read Jeanne that you helped co authored a book about palin.
Congratulations! i am so glad that you helped do this.
Courage, you has it!
i feel so sad and lost and abandoned when i look at this picture. it is compelling. thank you.
Just look for a lighthouse as your beacon of hope……..
Maybe its just me. That poor boat was at one time someone’s hope for the future and a livelihood,all rolled into one lifetime of hard work and tears and memories. Now it seems to be a metaphor for our Country. At least those of us on the lower rungs whose lives and futures are trashed. What kind of economic tidalwave will it take to refloat our Nation for all of us?
Your comment is poetic and touching. It’s emotion resonates well with the image. I love how art – and how could this moving photograph not be classified as art, right? – moves us beyond the superficial and into our most sensitive selves.
Art also has the power to mean different things to different people. This is one such instance. When I saw the photograph, it gave me hope and made me happy to realize that no matter how battered our dreams may become, the traces of them live on to sustain us to “try again.” The wooden remnants remain recognizable; its structure survives. We know that is a boat formed by the hand of man to fulfill dreams, to sustain needs, and provide adventure.
Someone cared so much in crafting that boat that it, even in its beached condition, has retained its essence, its “boat-ness.” I can only hope that my dreams, my sincere attempts to create the life I want or hope to live will survive whatever challenges or beachings that come my way. If our daughter can look at my life and still ascertain what it was that I cared enough about to invest my energies and dreams, then I hope she will draw strength from it to continue to try and try again.
Whoever named that boat seems to me at least, to be an optimist. Of course, it may be just be that I am the kind of person who, like those blow-up clown toys with the ballast in the bottom, kept popping back up each time a child took a swipe at it. Now, that betrays my age, doesn’t it?
Thank you, Mike, for your comment because it was a true and moving one that made me reflect on the photograph in a deeper, if different way. Art is magical, and we have both been touched by AKM’s sharing of this quiet but powerful image.
You are gonna make me cry,aren’t you? This picture can represent any emotion a person has the ability to conjure up. You probably couldn’t tell I’m an eternal optimist,could you? BTW-I had one of those Bozo Clowns that would pop up after you belted it. Made me unhappy he wouldn’t stay down. Thanks for your thoughtful post. I will cherish it forever.
My thoughts as well…
Beautiful picture. Sad though. Makes one wonder how much that boat experienced through good waves or hard ones. Makes one think.
In solidarity with our sisters and brothers in Wisconsin, listen to Strawbs play Part of the Union!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdOCWUgwiWs
I love this song!
I love it. And the hair and clothes were a fun/scary flashback. Gotta love 1973. 😉
Palin’s hypocrisy gets noticed:
http://politico-junkie.blogspot.com/2011/02/uk-palins-mocking-of-first-lady-gets.html
$arah deserves to have her face washed in a toilet bowl. She is disgusting.
What a wonderful gift. It is beautiful. I love it.
AKM, I was just thinking how delightful it was meeting you a year ago. Last night we took our younger daughter and her wonderful husband to dinner, and I had a Kir Royale on the strength of that meeting!
Well, the Legislature in Illinois seems to have been bitten in the tush by Wisconsin. We are in fiscal distress, as are most states, and cuts will need to be made. One side of the aisle is all for cutting everything, of course. The other side is a little saner – but not much. Don’t know what they are going to end up with, but the state is so far behind in paying bills it isn’t funny. Our little town may need to cut school bus service even more if the danged state doesn’t pay up!
I sure wish some journalist would look into why so many states are in financial distress.
Why haven’t states created “savings accounts” for rainy days? Because the GOP is opposed to this. If they see any surplus they give out tax cuts. Or like WI they give it back to their supporters in business.
Why are so many public pension funds in “trouble”? Many suffered huge losses in 2008. Also Wall Street larded many up with the toxic mortgage securities. Those will never recover. Here in CA I’ve been doing some research and have discovered that our funds had to keep to “conservative” investments until 1984 when the R governor pushed a measure that allowed them to “invest” in stocks of any quality. Also during the stock market go go years, they suspended state payments into the fund because “investment” returns were so good. I have to wonder why the state pensions that were sold toxic mortgages aren’t suing the Wall Street firms who sold this waste for “clawback” of their money with damages? It was fraud.
Wall Street took all the pension money and the states have to make it up. Wall Street bankers have the states’ money now. It really is that simple.
Thanks for this info. I have had those same questions over the last few years as one state after another keeps going into financial distress. It feels like we’re turning into a 3rd world country from all the Wall St and corporate greed.
The states are in distress, because many of them have given tax credits to industry, and they got hurt in the housing bubble. And then some have just not been diligent about their finances. Wisconsin is like our federal government in that it had a surplus on January l, 2011, and then gave tax breaks to industry which caused the shortfall. Kock Industries made out well in Wisconsin.
Google the Kock family, and research their backgound. You will be surprised.
Also go over to The Daily Kos, and read the diaries. Lots of good stuff.
As to why the Journalists are not reporting, It is because they do as Murdock tells them, and they who own them are all Republican or some form thereof.
Colorado is still dealing with TABOR- it requires revenue collected above a certain level to be given back to the taxpayers. We can’t budget over a one year period, and it’s hard to create rainy day funds. If a year is bad, it rachets the cost of government down, not allowing excess revenues to go toward delayed projects. And, during the boom years, our Legislature, dominated by GOPers, decreased the amount of money going into pensions. Now it’s a problem- and (typical) they blame public employees…like Wisconsin, Ohio, and others. 🙁
Thanks Lee People have been trying to get that point across but it seems Walker just talks right over them
Just a friendly correction. It’s Koch, not Kock. Pronounced ‘coke’
I, too, would like to know why the states aren’t suing. Many states required investment only in AAA rated bonds. Some of the “toxic waste” was rated AAA when it wasn’t.
On Wisconsin, lets not lose sight of the fact that the fight isn’t about money, its about the RIGHT to negotiate. Here in Washington, some unions are negotiating lesser pay or benefits because the money isn’t there, but they are not giving up their right to negotiate.
Listen to this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXHqjOCxPxM and this is a good read http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/12372 About WI. http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/116519738.html?rememberMe=y
IL. Thanks Governor Walker for the jobs he gave them instead of keeping themin Wi.
http://www.senatedem.ilga.gov/index.php/features/1501-illinois-senate-president-continues-to-thank-wisconsin-gov-scott-walker-for-marketing-effort?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4d6055f2d0f71d3b%2C1
Sorry was just putting up links to what is happening in Wisconsin under our new GOP governor.
No need to apologize… Any topic is a good topic in open forum…
I like it too – something about the process of old wooden structures going back tto nature is so very touching.
Beautiful. . . .
What a fabulous photo this is…..it kinda says it all.