General Music Chat

I've found people in the south to be very friendly frankly.

They are Chippy.

And I can tell you that Atlanta is a major city, and Washington DC is a major city, and I have lived for nearly 10 years in EACH of them. In D.C. I could not leave as much as a tire iron in the back of a truck there. Seriously, walk into a store for 20 SECONDS and it is going to be taken. But in Atlanta, I could leave a brand new bicycle in a box from WalMart in the back, come back in an hour, and it is likely to still be there. This is not a joke. It kind of freaked me out, and I couldn't get used to that for awhile, I was so used to locking down everything and leaving an armed guard in place. LOL

In D.C. I had a friend who had crack heads breaking into his car to steak his radio. He finally got tired of the windows being broken and having to put new ones and get a new radio, so he finally got a radio that was removeable, and they still broke the windows to get in there. Finally, he started leaving the doors unlocked, so they could just get in as they pleased. But these crackheads would STILL break the windows from time to time, not even checking the doors first.

Sure its the same elsewhere, just not in NJ.

I lived in a Jersey for awhile. Pennsauken, Cape May and a few others.

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Well, even though I can't trust my stuff there, LOL, I LOVED my time in Jersey. People are just a little tougher there, but I made good friends there, and I LOVE Jersey girls. Love them!

Oh yeah...

Used to be a lot of good live bands in Jersey. Haven't been there is awhile to know if it is still the same?

(See? Music. Still forum related! LOL)

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Politics always brings out the best in people... But, to think all musicians are liberal would be incorrect. Of course I am sorry for his family and his friends and their loss.... He was after all a father, husband, son...

The end of the dynasty he represented is very welcome to me but I actually think there was some good that came at times from his "stay" on capital hill. One thing though, saying being elected to office for that many years is somehow "service to the country" is a serious misrepresentation of what the job really is, what it pays and the dividends it yields.

Not being close to the family I can not know the sacrifices that were made, but we can all see the benefits to himself and family so I'm not so sure "hero" status is warranted. There are no qualifications for being elected, no resume, no minimum requirements.... you can be the most ignorant ass that ever lived and as long as you can fool/convince/pay people into voting for you, you’re in. You need know nothing else.

I work in government and have had personal experience with “lifers” in the elected/political offices and I can say without hesitation, that the “service” being provided is not generally about anything more than staying in office and being elected again. There are exceptions, but it’s the 80/20 rule.. 80% self preservation 20% “the right thing”.

There is a lot of talkin.. but not a lot of walkin…… If you get a chance, go read some of the legislation introduced over the years by our late friend, if you read enough you will see the “vote for me” tidbits slipped in and around the “cause”. So, I wont join some of you in hailing our fallen hero…. But I will join you in giving my condolences to his family and friends who were no doubt many.

X!

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Madmx,

For myself, I just try to keep things in perspective. I am by no means a FAN of Ted Kennedy. I think his character was deplorable MOST of his life. I don't agree with MOST of his political agenda. I have voted for Republicans in every election. Not that I wouldn't vote for a Democrat, but I believe in a strong military and low taxes, and less government.

So I never agreed with Ted Kennedy much.

I also don't agree with much of our current President's positions.

But I respect the offices they have held.

And just because someone is well compensated for their roles, does not mean they are not (or should be) in public service. There are strong perks for firefighters and police as well. It is a job. It is also a public service. True, many poiticians FORGET that they are supposed to be SERVING, but they are in public service none the less. The foundations of our Republic, is civilian run government. Elected offficials REPRESENTING the people.

The people of Massachusettes felt that he represented them well, and they kept him in office. I don't live in Massachusettes, so I cannot very well argue about their choice. It was THEIR choice.

He was an elder statesman. He held office for 40 years. He represented the people of Massachusettes well (in their opinion) and he deserves some semblance of respect in death.

That's all.

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You cannot show me one piece of legislation he authored or signed that I cannot show you where it has damaged our country. Been blatently unconstitutional, and created greater harm then good.
Even the Civil rights legeslation have led to forced descrimination via the quota system where color or gender mattered more than education and qualification, civil, constitutional, and legal abuse by the ACLU.
The muchly decried failure of our public schools, beginning with the removal of GOD and The Pledge of Alegance, total lack of ability to dicipline in our school systems also are all related to this one piece of legeslation in a shitstorm of socalism.
The failure of social security, medicare, abuse of the first and second amendments. Continued attempts by him to rewrite or amend our constitution to give more power to the federal government and less to the people who pay their wages. Amnesty for illegal aliens. The congressional Banking scandal. Unions interfering with legal election process, Federal take over of GM, Finacial institution takeovers. He voted to go to war in Iraq, then just like in Vietnam for political points began calling our brave men and women in the service murderers. ( HE SENT THEM THERE )
I could go on for months about his abuse of power.
He was continually re elected by being richer than his opponents and "celebrity status" in the stary eyes of sheep being lead to slaughter.
I am glad he is gone and hope all whom fit his mold follow soon.

Sounds like you could write a song using some of these quotes...

30 years ago I was walking down the streets of Boston, with three pretty girls and another guy. I had 10 bucks in my pocket, from tuning pianos. The plan was to get some some slices of pizza some where near the Citgo sign.
Some where along this way a scrungy ,older, bedragled,guy steps out. He wasn't big. He did have a kitchen knife, and he did want money from us. My friends backed off real fast.
I became so furious I started to yell at him, Go ahead try to stick me , Who the hell do you think you are, etc,etc,. One thing nice about winter is it is not so easy to punch a knife through a jacket.
Next thing I know this poor guy is crying and apologizing. SORRY ,SORRY.
"I haven't had any thing to eat in 2 days ,I'm freezing, and I feel like no one can help me"...... I,m a nam vet and seems no one wants to listen.
Then he pulls out his FALSE eye and says this is just part of what I lost.
I reached into my pocket and gave him that 10 dollar bill.

The point of this story is Senator Kennedy held up a knife to us too many times,and was very eloquent in telling us that, that was the way it was going to be.If he had been a true statesman, he would have come to the American people, and asked for TRUE help, instead of saying I'm the KING, do as I say!!!!!

As for Ronald Reagan,When he took office we were facing 12% unemployment and 20% mortgage rates.To many people scoff at his "trickle down theory" It put the country back to work. Overtaxed people and corps can not sustain a robust economy. Unfortunately we have had to deal with 20 years of weak presidents that are so concerned with not allowing peple to become wealthy that they have managed to end the REAGAN economic cycle.
Tear Down that wall Mr Gorbachev. No foreign entity would have even considered a 9/11 type attack. The results would have been extreme and unforgiving.
We neeed real leaders today. Leaders that are not looking to suck up to every third world country that comes along. Leaders that are truly looking out for American interests. Leaders that are not chasing after every feels good get the vote project that comes along.
As for senator MCcain from AR, I don't think he had enough spine to be president either.
WE NEED A REAL LEADER.
As for the SOUTH,,, It is so nice to have people that say good morning to every one as they hold the door. Time to clear out of this part of the country where you say good morning and people think you are crazy.

Isn't there a tune called DEAD POLITICIAN?
If not, there should be.

Maybe it's the DEAD KENNEDYS I am tangling up.. lol

I'm moved by your story of compassion in giving the vet your only $10. As to Kennedy, he was a failed individual in many ways, but he was a compasionate and loving person in many ways as well. If anyone here watched his memorials yesterday, you could not help but realize that he REALLY DID have a love and concern for the common man. Whether he went aboout fixing it in the right ways or not, is certainly up for debate.

But a man who motivated so many to self-sacrifice and motivated so many to personal excellence, can't be all bad. Apparently for DECADES he went every tuesday to a local library to read with the kids there. Part of a literacy program. They all separated into reading partners by two's and one of the girls, a young black woman, who is now in college and pursuing a degree in education, traces her pursuits and successes DIRECTLY back to the this experience as Kennedy's reading partner in one of these weely events. She said it made her want to make him proud of her, to do well in school and continue on to college. She was one of hundrends, One of thousands, of lives he touched and motivated.

How many here would give up an afternoon, not just a few times, but one day a week, EVERY WEEK for DECADES? Particularly when you had the wealth and posibilities that Ted Kennedy had. Would you give poor children an afternoon of your time, that often? For that man decades, almost religously?

He watched almsot his entire family be devastated by one tragedy after the next, and the patriarchal responsibilty fell on HIS shoulders, there was no one else left. His entire family, speaks of how loving a person he is, how he was always there, holding the family together, getting them through the grief, motivating them to work hard, and praising them for trying their best, always lauding the responsibility that ALL Americans should have SOME part of their lives be for public service.

Reagan was a GREAT president who came at just the right time. His conservative principles of economics WERE the right ones, although his deregulation of the S&L's is what helped bring about the recession that FOLLOWED the boom his policies ignited.

Reagan/Bush also were a part of negotiating with Iran and trading arms for hostages. As well as using illegal drug money to buy arms for rebels fighting the Sandinistas in Nicaragua.

If Ted Kennedy's delay in reporting the drowning of his mistress and secretary was criminal, so too were some of the policies of Reagan/Bush.

NONE OF THEM were held to account for their respective crimes.

The priveledge of power and wealth.

They all did good, as they understood it, and they were all, no matter their motivations, engaged in criminal behavior.

Those are simply facts.

30 years ago I was walking down the streets of Boston, with three pretty girls and another guy. I had 10 bucks in my pocket, from tuning pianos. The plan was to get some some slices of pizza some where near the Citgo sign.
Some where along this way a scrungy ,older, bedragled,guy steps out. He wasn't big. He did have a kitchen knife, and he did want money from us. My friends backed off real fast.
I became so furious I started to yell at him, Go ahead try to stick me , Who the hell do you think you are, etc,etc,. One thing nice about winter is it is not so easy to punch a knife through a jacket.
Next thing I know this poor guy is crying and apologizing. SORRY ,SORRY.
"I haven't had any thing to eat in 2 days ,I'm freezing, and I feel like no one can help me"...... I,m a nam vet and seems no one wants to listen.
Then he pulls out his FALSE eye and says this is just part of what I lost.
I reached into my pocket and gave him that 10 dollar bill.

The point of this story is Senator Kennedy held up a knife to us too many times,and was very eloquent in telling us that, that was the way it was going to be.If he had been a true statesman, he would have come to the American people, and asked for TRUE help, instead of saying I'm the KING, do as I say!!!!!

Isn't there a tune called DEAD POLITICIAN?
If not, there should be.

Maybe it's the DEAD KENNEDYS I am tangling up.. lol

The Dead Kennedys...

I used to have one of their albums.

Craig , the recession that followed occured because the first Bush eliminated CC deductions and lowered mortgage deductions and in general started to RAISE TAXES. He started us down the same path that hapened 8 years before trickle down. Everythings ok raise taxes.
As an intellect you must realize economic cycles do not occur overnight.
Tax and spend has allready taken bucks of my plate. I have not even gotten the tax bill yet, But I see an awfull number of empty stores here.
One child in a library is not going to make me cry,I don't care how much time a senator spends with one kid. Stop taking food off my plate and allow me to provide jobs for good hard working people. N.Y. just added another tax to bail out the poorly managed transit system.
Enough is enough, I can do a better job as a small business putting people to work than the govt can. My word is GET OFF MY BACK. Regulations and taxes are starting to make welfare look good.
COME ON AND TAKE A FREE RIDE,YEAY,YEA,YEA.

Gonghead,

I'm with you brother! Why do you think I've voted Republical all these years, only recently, the Republicans have been acting more like, well... DEMOCRATS!!!

Especially this last Bush!!!

But the S&L Crisis was in large part responsible for the mess bro. Small S&L's were deregulated and allowed to operate WITHOUT the restrictions and safeguards that real banks had to follow.

This caused them to go NUTS and invest in the "wonderful" real estate boom, where you could do no wrong.... until prices collapsed. Which also then collapsed over 400 S&L's and all of grandpa's money with it, which was then made to be paid back by TAXPAYERS!

But the basic principles of the disparaging term "trickle down economics" is right, which merely states that when big businesses are give tax breaks and incentives, then they will use the additional profits to expand and create new businesses, which creats jobs, lowers prices and increases incomes.

ALL TRUE!

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OK, You are blast, a good blast!
I gotta go watch the jet giant game. much more important.