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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 26 to 50 of 61. Go back in thread:
Posted by floatingbridge on September 27, 2011, at 16:08:52
In reply to Re: Bitter substances » floatingbridge, posted by sigismund on September 27, 2011, at 15:20:02
Well, things are better here and they are not. I mean, they are a lot better. Yet....
The way gay was said only ten years ago in that East Coast school carried a bit of weight. Maybe not that of p**ft*r (I first heard that on Monty Python). But enough to make me pity the theoretical and silent 10% of the class who had best remain quiet if they did not want their car tires slashed or deal with other such playful high spirits. Plus that pussy term sends me over the edge every time. Or the West Coast
version: stop crying, you sound like a girl.I don't know. We have Hollywood here. Everything is cool, right? Like we are so over that. Maybe there will always be some excuse to beat the daylights out of someone else.
I can't wait for the first, you're weird mom. That will be akin to losing a first tooth.
My son plays with children with 'two mommies', and that is the way it is. We live in a very liberal area, so much so that it is sometimrs as oppressive being politically correct as it is for me to be 'positive' or upbeat 24/7.
Posted by sigismund on September 27, 2011, at 19:07:46
In reply to Re: Bitter substances » sigismund, posted by floatingbridge on September 27, 2011, at 16:08:52
Posted by floatingbridge on September 28, 2011, at 1:35:10
In reply to Re: Bitter substances » floatingbridge, posted by sigismund on September 27, 2011, at 19:07:46
That was interesting; the comments especially. Some went over my head in their references. I am paranoid so try to steer clear of the deeper conspiracy theory. I am more comfortable with terms like anti-social sociopaths and psychopaths rather than believing those in power are Satanists as one commenter suggested.
I live here. What can I say that hasn't been said? And all that money poured into such inhumane ends, our infrastructure collapsing while the home team keeps cheering onward.
Still, I take humor when it comes. I liked this comment:
____________
"It also did irreparable and perhaps permanent damage to the economic capability of the United States to wage imperial wars. "
Good Freaking God, I hope so.
_____________
Posted by sigismund on September 28, 2011, at 12:03:10
In reply to Re: Bitter substances » sigismund, posted by floatingbridge on September 28, 2011, at 1:35:10
Well yes, but only at terrible cost at home.
I was speaking to an old fashioned Scottish socialist, almost a Marxist (they can be like that in Scotland) and he had done some work with the Americans in one of the intelligence agencies, and I asked him how he felt about doing it, and basically he said 'They're our family'.
Posted by floatingbridge on September 28, 2011, at 12:39:24
In reply to Re: Bitter substances » floatingbridge, posted by sigismund on September 28, 2011, at 12:03:10
Thanks sigi. My husband and I were talking about the cold war and how mother Russia wrecked herself keeping up. China is doing the same. So are the States. It's a shame because of the insustainabilty of it, and all the other life forms going down, the oceans and deep forests. Those are the last refuges, and I think of them as the last refuge of human wonder.
The default Buddhist (maybe Catholic?) perspective of one big boat we row together. Even with the flippin' psychopaths.
Of course, when my husband can no longer work and we have no health coverage, my posts will have a different tenor. There is a terribly steep rise in methamphetamine sales here. There is the war on terror and the war on drugs. Twin catastrophes.
Posted by sigismund on September 28, 2011, at 14:41:21
In reply to Re: Bitter substances » sigismund, posted by floatingbridge on September 28, 2011, at 12:39:24
Back then I mocked that Norman Rockwell world I knew from growing up in a similar one, but I don't feel like that now.
I think instead 'These people had MORPHINE available OTC and they didn't radically abuse it, they had HEROIN available in unit doses for HANGOVERS, now they are talking about banning Seroquel in jails.'
Human society has always had its awful aspects. We went through a very positive time here in the late 70s where the government of Malcolm Fraser (who famously lost his trousers in New Orleans) let in a quarter of a million (I think) Vietnamese refugees after the end of the war there. No attempt was made by either party to turn this into a nightmare from which they would save us. That is inconceivable now. Nothing good will come of it. It's all spin and focus groups and fear. The lies are so deep and the positioning to cast blame on the other so complex you have difficulty working the truth out about anything.
Posted by floatingbridge on September 28, 2011, at 15:06:39
In reply to Re: Bitter substances, posted by sigismund on September 28, 2011, at 14:41:21
and coca cola, which I crave occasionally. I try to get the sucrose sweetened cola. We say the Mexican import is best (we=husband and friends).
There is a picture of my grandmother at a soda fountain drinking a cola. She wears a kerchief on her head and looks very cheerful. Post-1904 cocaine deletion.
I wonder when they stopped coke syrup (not the cola syrup). My father used to talk about this remedy from boyhood.
From wiki:
When launched Coca-Cola's two key ingredients were cocaine (benzoylmethyl ecgonine) and caffeine. The cocaine was derived from the coca leaf and the caffeine from kola nut, leading to the name Coca-Cola (the "K" in Kola was replaced with a "C" for marketing purposes).[25][26]
Coca cocaine
Pemberton called for five ounces of coca leaf per gallon of syrup, a significant dose; in 1891, Candler claimed his formula (altered extensively from Pemberton's original) contained only a tenth of this amount. Coca-Cola did once contain an estimated nine milligrams of cocaine per glass, but in 1903 it was removed.[27] Coca-Cola still contains coca flavoring.
After 1904, instead of using fresh leaves, Coca-Cola started using "spent" leaves the leftovers of the cocaine-extraction process with cocaine trace levels left over at a molecular level.[28] To this day, Coca-Cola uses as an ingredient a cocaine-free coca leaf extract prepared at a Stepan Company plant in Maywood, New Jersey.
In the United States, the Stepan Company is the only manufacturing plant authorized by the Federal Government to import and process the coca plant,[29] which it obtains mainly from Peru and, to a lesser extent, Bolivia. Besides producing the coca flavoring agent for Coca-Cola, the Stepan Company extracts cocaine from the coca leaves, which it sells to Mallinckrodt, a St. Louis, Missouri pharmaceutical manufacturer that is the only company in the United States licensed to purify cocaine for medicinal use.[30]
Kola nuts caffeine
Kola nuts act as a flavoring and the source of caffeine in Coca-Cola. In Britain, for example, the ingredient label states "Flavourings (Including Caffeine)."[31] Kola nuts contain about 2 percent to 3.5 percent caffeine, are of bitter flavor and are commonly used in cola soft drinks. In 1911, the U.S. government initiated United States v. Forty Barrels and Twenty Kegs of Coca-Cola, hoping to force Coca-Cola to remove caffeine from its formula. The case was decided in favor of Coca-Cola. Subsequently, in 1912 the U.S. Pure Food and Drug Act was amended, adding caffeine to the list of "habit-forming" and "deleterious" substances which must be listed on a product's label.
Coca-Cola contains 46 mg of caffeine per 12 fluid ounces (12.9 mg per 100 ml).
Posted by floatingbridge on September 28, 2011, at 15:14:58
In reply to Bitter and sweet, posted by floatingbridge on September 28, 2011, at 15:06:39
It was the cola syrup my father used to settle his stomach. We could drink a little cola as children when ill. That and ginger ale.
I wonder about kola nut vs coffee bean. I always attributed the lift from coca cola to just the mix of caffiene and sugar.
Posted by floatingbridge on October 1, 2011, at 19:00:08
In reply to Another day on Wall Street, posted by floatingbridge on September 25, 2011, at 1:52:47
http://blog.timparkinson.net/2011/09/30/lies-damn-lies-and-photoshop/
About the falsifying of the photo:
"People can make this an issue but when the food runs out I am eating them."
Oh well. To even further compound the matter, there it is. Not 'if' but 'when' the food runs out.
Has it always been so difficult?
Posted by floatingbridge on October 1, 2011, at 19:29:05
In reply to Re: Another day on Wall Street, posted by floatingbridge on October 1, 2011, at 19:00:08
>Has it always been so difficult?
Even without a working knowledge of world history, the question seems foolish.
The rest, in my head, was 'to be idealistic'.
I imagine that's the provenience of the young.
During the US Civil War, uniforms were sold the Union army that were so shoddy they tore in the rain.
There has to be a way to remain humane.
Posted by sigismund on October 2, 2011, at 4:13:54
In reply to Re: Another day on Wall Street, posted by floatingbridge on October 1, 2011, at 19:29:05
You will find a way to remain humane. It might be easier if you are not?
I enjoyed "Life and Fate" on that general subject (but you may not!).
I'm travelling for a bit and will look in from time to time.
Not sure I want to travel any more (that's the sort of thing you think in the departure lounge). I prefer Pilates and rainforest regeneration.
Should be catching a local train from Dakar to Bamako. Maybe. Visa permitting. If I survive the 22 hour flight to Madrid.
Posted by sigismund on October 2, 2011, at 4:16:49
In reply to Re: Another day on Wall Street » floatingbridge, posted by sigismund on October 2, 2011, at 4:13:54
Negative reviews are always interesting. The most negative ended with....
In trying to give Grossman the benefit of the doubt, I forced myself to read the whole book. It wasn't worth it. To be fair, though, Grossman's book is less propagandistic than a speech by Ben Bernanke.
Posted by sigismund on October 2, 2011, at 4:19:54
In reply to Re: Another day on Wall Street, posted by floatingbridge on October 1, 2011, at 19:29:05
You will find a way to remain humane. It might be easier if you are not?
I enjoyed "Life and Fate" on that general subject (but you may not!).
I'm travelling for a bit and will look in from time to time.
Not sure I want to travel any more (that's the sort of thing you think in the departure lounge). I prefer Pilates and rainforest regeneration.
Should be catching a local train from Dakar to Bamako. Maybe. Visa permitting. If I survive the 22 hour flight to Madrid.
Posted by floatingbridge on October 2, 2011, at 7:32:49
In reply to Re: Another day on Wall Street » floatingbridge, posted by sigismund on October 2, 2011, at 4:19:54
Happy traveling. The destinations look fantastic. Yes, I would love an update from time to time. I'm sure others would, too.
Good music in Bamako?
Cheers, sigi!
Posted by floatingbridge on October 3, 2011, at 11:08:07
In reply to Re: Another day on Wall Street, posted by sigismund on October 2, 2011, at 4:16:49
Seems to be going strong despite negative reviews....
Was pleased to read this (and to find out I needn't go to SF to participate. There will be an occupation here).
http://www.truth-out.org/five-ways-occupy-wall-street-has-succeeded/1317476360
I hope your travel is pleasurably engrossing now.
Posted by sigismund on October 4, 2011, at 10:03:06
In reply to Re: Another day on Wall Street » sigismund, posted by floatingbridge on October 2, 2011, at 7:32:49
My feet eventually gave way in the Prado.
(Some of the Christianity is a bit wearing. I couldn´t help thinking of Lou since so much of the collection seems to come from Phillip II and often shows that old fashioned Christian antisemitism.)
But I did get to see some things I really liked. The Garden of Early Delights was spine tingling, the Breughels were pretty good but I wanted more, there were a couple of rooms of El Grecos (that kind of Christianity never bugged me) and lots of Goyas (including his black paintings). And some Rafaels.
Madrid is hot. Am I just imagining that it a bit run down? Unemployment is 20%? Some homeless, some begging, nothing you wouldn´t be used to though. It can´t be so hard to sleep out for now.
Posted by sigismund on October 5, 2011, at 4:49:20
In reply to Re: Another day on Wall Street, posted by sigismund on October 4, 2011, at 10:03:06
My feet are swelling up. And I don´t even take Nardil.
The worst painting of that sort was one where the Virgin is in purgatory and either she or some infant (I forget) squeezes her nipple so her milk falls on the heads of those suffering the torments to relieve them.
Posted by floatingbridge on October 5, 2011, at 8:25:15
In reply to Re: Another day on Wall Street, posted by sigismund on October 5, 2011, at 4:49:20
Sigi, do you know I just laughed about that. Thanks. That's the surreal catholicism I remember growing up. Though not that particular image.
Is the garden of earthly delights the same as the garden of early delights, or did the later come first?
Well, as I get older, I do a normal activity like walk all day, and my feet swell or my hips hurt. I am beginning to get used to this, but resent the impingement. I hope your feet
aren't really, really swollen. Are they? Keep them up. Arnica oil massaged into them and lower leg?Did you sleep well last night? I would have seen all the paintings of that day when I closed my eyes at night. I haven't been so overstimulated by art for years. I find it delightful. Maybe you have other descriptions.
What's on the agenda today? Your wife is surviving this art onslaught well?
How I wish I could see some of the Prado.
Posted by sigismund on October 10, 2011, at 5:03:17
In reply to Re: Another day on Wall Street » sigismund, posted by floatingbridge on October 5, 2011, at 8:25:15
I saw demonstrations in Madrid. One of many thousands which must have been about cuts to public education, and another one which looked like a trade union one.
I wonder what is happening? Is this deleveraging an economy? Negotiating the end of the American Empire? The start of a completely new politics as the next generation (and the 99%) discover how completely they have been ripped off?
There was so much bad attitude to the mind/body thing on evidence in the Prado. Christianity has some wonderful points, mainly literary ones, I suppose, but the attitude to the body and sex is just so bad in so many ways it astonishes me.
Posted by sigismund on October 16, 2011, at 6:16:29
In reply to Re: Another day on Wall Street, posted by sigismund on October 10, 2011, at 5:03:17
There are big manifastasiones (as I think they call them) all over Spain. Los indignados filled up the Puerta del Sol in Madrid, and there was a big one here in Seville. I can see that because this started in the Anglosphere resistance will be hardest there. I think, but I may be wrong, that the Occupy Wall St movement had Spanish origins? I wouldn't say that it feels prerevolutionary here, but the feeling is palpable, even up to amusing gafitti such as 'F*ck Wikipedia'. I doubt that Spain has an equivalent of Michelle Bachman. I would like to know that.
It's always good to go to the local services anywhere (except at home), and I find them more moving for not understanding them completely. Spanish churches have so much gold and silver you cannot help wondering where it came from. Did any Amerindians die for it? They are amazing places nonetheless. No young people though.
I wonder if Christianity's martyrology is connected to its bloody history? Like Islam's perhaps? But Judaism? Of course after the Holocaust, Israel.
Posted by floatingbridge on October 16, 2011, at 17:37:54
In reply to Re: Another day on Wall Street, posted by sigismund on October 16, 2011, at 6:16:29
I think Occupy Wall Street has origins in and shares origins with Los Indignados. I think, but am not sure they are inspired by the Arab Spring movement. Where the Arab Spring movement draws from, I don't know.
(Gratuitous Hedges footage. Apologies.)
I would think the gold you saw was mined by Amerindians. But I don't know where European gold came from before the new world.
The reminders of that very evident in California, but nowhere near what I imagine in SA. Here, every fifth street seems
to have some mission reference. Then there are the preserved missions themselves. Yes, so much shame of the body. As in Australia I imagine.About christian martyrs, I can't wrap my head around that question, but I imagine so. There are so many gruesome images. The most extreme I've seen from Mexico. Though Spain might have some fine relics. But even where I am from, very removed from California, the images and icons were pretty bloody. Hard not to have the imagery affect (reflect?) one's bearings.
Posted by sigismund on October 17, 2011, at 10:21:22
In reply to Re: Arab Spring » sigismund, posted by floatingbridge on October 16, 2011, at 17:37:54
500,000 in the Puerta del Sol
500 in SydneyI'm sick of the values based culture wars in the Anglosphere. The whole thing is moronic.
And we have 10 years of Tony Abbott's tough love to which to look forward.
I'm currently in a lobby. I will watch the Hedges with interest later. Ever since I heard about his speech night thing I have followed him with interest.
I think my Hotmail account has been hacked by los bandidos espanoles. I hear that Hotmail is a sewer anyway. Maybe I will just abandon it and the viruses can multiply unvisited by me. I don't know how to change my password, and I have been sending people emails giving them spurious unsolicited financial advice.
Posted by floatingbridge on October 17, 2011, at 13:47:10
In reply to Re: Arab Spring » floatingbridge, posted by sigismund on October 17, 2011, at 10:21:22
Very sorry about your email hacking. I would most likely not remember my password either. Very frustrating.
Too bad the advice your account is distributing isn't any good.
Hedges in an article mentions Julia Gulliard from Australia. Did I get the name right?
Other than the email glitch, I hope your travels are great.
Posted by floatingbridge on October 18, 2011, at 13:06:25
In reply to Re: Arab Spring » floatingbridge, posted by sigismund on October 17, 2011, at 10:21:22
Hey, I want to say I am sorry for thinking you would say anything personally critical (the sh*t post) because that isn't my experience of you. All I can say is that I am a bit of a nut and wasn't feeling well on top of it.
If I was in Europe, I would see some tapestries. Maybe you have already.
Very best on your travels. And with emails.
Posted by sigismund on October 18, 2011, at 15:01:04
In reply to Re: Arab Spring » sigismund, posted by floatingbridge on October 18, 2011, at 13:06:25
Sometimes I am incautious and just say things.
There is a thought out controlled style of posting which just isn't me and I don't try to do it.
What I like here is certain kinds of personal connection, feelings, I guess, rather than thoughts.
Granada is nice. Beautiful climate, lovely city. I hate humidity.
I see Slavoj Zizek adresed the Occupy Wall St crowd. I haven't got to listen to Chris Hedges yet.
I suspect the difference between European politics and Anglo politics is that Anglo politics has gone tribal, with every issue subject to a 'Whose side are you on?' question.
Which is dumb, because these are real issues and deserve to be treated on their merits.
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