Framing the Dialogue

Archive for July, 2010

Spam De Ja Vu

Spammers spew spam surreptitiously squelching sane speech sans serious sentances…..

As long as spammers post silly spam I will have a place where I can make fun of them.  This collection is the best(or worst) of the best from Akismet’s 5,000 caught spam since my last 5,000 caught spam (that is 10,000 spam in case you did not want to do the math).  I don’t embellish or fix their spelling:

December 7, 2009:  “This is my first word” [and they shared it on Framing The Dialogue.  We are truly blessed]

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Congress acts, but bank bill has work ahead

In this series I choose a current news article and you decide via a multiple choice format which terms were used and whether others would have been more accurate…….

WASHINGTON — In the end, it’s only a beginning.

The __________ (comprehensive, far-reaching, power grabbing, socialist) new banking and consumer protection bill awaiting President Barack Obama’s signature now shifts from the politicians to the technocrats.

The legislation gives regulators __________( latitude, unlimited power, control, plenty of campaign contributions)  and time to come up with new rules, requires scores of studies and, in some instances, depends on international __________ (approval, loans, agreements, scorn) falling into place.

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Use of Knowledge

So why does the average American accept economic policies that are bound to bankrupt this country?  Logic tells us in our personal lives tells us that if we spend way more than we make we incur debt.  Anyone who has ever had a loan or a credit card balance knows that there are interest charges on that debt which must be paid on a monthly basis.  When we still keep spending beyond our means our debt increases and so does our monthly payments which a greater percentage of goes to pay the interest on the debt.

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Rules of Engagement

I walked into our living room a few nights ago and my daughter was watching Miracle which is the Hollywood version of the United States’ hockey team winning the Olympic Gold Medal at the 1980 games in Lake Placid, New York.  I had stuff to do, but I made the mistake of sitting down and got hooked.  I had seen the movie before and remembered the actual event (I even think I had saved the Sports Illustrated magazine that came out after the win).

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The Steel Wave

“My goal is to tell you a good story by taking you into the minds of several of the key participants, the men who made this history, to show you the events as they saw them, to hear their words and their thoughts as this extraordinary drama unfolds…the most gratifying parts of my research were the surprises I found, the voices I hadn’t heard before.”

Jeff Shaara (To The Reader – The Steel Wave)

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Separated At Birth – Tweety/Gibbs

 Tweety Bird:  Tweety is, for the most part, a good-natured character happily spending life in his cage or a nest. However, when a cat or other adversary threatens him, he can become downright malicious and devious, even kicking his enemy when he’s down. In many of Tweety’s appearances the bird is shown accompanying his owner, Granny.  His darker side frequently is masked beneath the surface and though “cute” viewers, after a time, start cheering for his adversaries.  Who didn’t want the coyote to catch the roadrunner just once?   Tweety’s catch-phrase;

“I taut I taw a puddy tat”

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Wyatt’s Torch

Part of my morning drive took me along a country road that would along a stream.  Homes were scattered along the road in pockets and shaded by rather large sycamore trees.  One drive home this spring as I approached this curvy stretch I heard a very loud blowing sound.  I had been traveling this way for months and had never noticed it before and wondered if it had always been there and I never noticed it because my car windows had been shut during the winter commutes.

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The Art Of War

Perhaps one of the most famous ancient books on warfare, Sun-tzu’s The Art of War has been translated many times.  This translation by Ralph D. Sawyer caught my eye in a book store and I had been wanting to read it for some time.

As I began reading I expected some introductions, explanations, etc., but what I did not expect or want was 162 pages of history before even getting to Sun-tzu.  I could only read sixty pages before I found myself flipping ahead to the thirteen sections of The Art Of War.  My impatience got the best of me, but I really wanted to read only Sun-tzu’s work and I found it very interesting and perhaps would be useful reading by some of our political leaders.

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Social Security “Trust” Fund

Social Security wisdom passed along by Rich:

History Lesson on your Social Security Card that you won’t see in the main-stream media–now or ever.  Learn these facts–they’re relevant!!!

  •  Social Security Cards up until the 1980s expressly stated the number and card were not to be used for identification purposes.  Since nearly everyone in the United States now has a number, it became convenient to  use it anyway and the message was removed.  I compared my SS Card with my daughters and the note regarding it not to be used as identification has been removed.
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The Rising Tide

You pretty much know all of the famous names like Eisenhower, Hitler, Patton, Rommel, Bradley, Churchill, Montgomery, etc. and you probably have seen at least 10 movies about World War II.  So what’s new to write about the “Greatest War?”

Jeff Shaara is one of the greatest storytellers of this genre and the new part is that Shaara pulls together a great deal of research and pulls it together into a fantastic tale.  Even though you know that we win the details and drama captured me all the way through The Rising Tide.  Shaara, as expected, does not disappoint.

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