By SJWNY, a Trail Mix Contributor
The NPR show On Point featured an interesting interview Tuesday with guest Erick Erickson. He talked about how we can have hundreds of followers on Twitter or friends on Facebook but not know the name of our next door neighbor.
Yep.
As a society we’ve lost the human part of humanity. This isn’t some evil plan by outside forces, this is by our own doing. Technology is grand but at what price?
I tweet very little nowadays, only when the spirit moves me, which isn’t often. Last year’s political hoodoo & ensuing ugliness soured me right quick on social media.
Facebook has no appeal to me. I dabbled just long enough to realize it equaled the worst aspects of the world’s biggest high school. Also the knowledge that many people I know are addicted to this stuff scares me …. I got out before I really got in.
Do you know your neighbor? Take a walk & see the trees, hear the birds, notice the sunset? Is it too late as a society to realize what really matters: the people around us? The wall we have to worry about isn’t the one built on the border; it is the wall we build around ourselves.
More Posts by SJWNY
sjwny, love the title! wonderful image too of the crappo in chief being capped with crap. echoing some of john McCain’s last speech and truly profound is your conclusion “The wall we have to worry about isn’t the one built on the border; it is the wall we build around ourselves.” the consequences of such walled cages are also reminiscent of angelou’s line
…a bird that stalks down his narrow cage can seldom see through his bars of rage … from
Caged Bird
By Maya Angelou
A free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wing
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.
But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.
The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn
and he names the sky his own
But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.
I live in SC…..I could use a bigger wall around myself.
A beautiful morning glory to the trail and boy do I know walls! I am surrounded by rock walls of the most exquisite design loaded with fossils from another era before the great die-off. I am glad for those walls as I do know my neighbors. One neighbor I have known for 23 years, the other is a repug, used the ‘n’ word for Obama and moved-in 2005. Both neighbors are Hispanic and senior citizens. The repug flies the flag and never served in the military. The dem is a veteran and never wraps himself in the flag. As for other walls? I have attempted to build a strong firewall against trump.
I went retro in 2013 and left fb. I believe Jack has also left fb. I do not know if other mixers left. Some need to stay to keep us tethered to the sewer of fake news and raw emotions. Nice post.
(Photo: Pears from our tree and I did share with ‘pomegranate neighbor’ as he is a good democrat.)
Stinky zinke being sued by California and New Mexico.
Stinky zinke supporter now disillusioned for promoting stinky for the Interior job via junior.
bw & sj, never got on facebook or twitter. at one point I was tempted but comments made on the trail (flatus and some other mixer who knew the evils lurking in cyber world) reminded me of the danger inherent in that path. thus was saved from the lilting lure of the pied piper tweets and facebook sharings.
though the lack of those connections is not the reason, I feel fortunate that not only do I know my neighbors’ names and like most of them, I know their dogs names and their barks as well.
The little man over at Justice testifies today, expect ‘clarity’ on all of those issues except the ruskies. Congress trying to rush through trump/ruskie investigations…nothing to see here folks. The successful push back of the repugs by the weinstein eposure along with stepping-up any old and tired investigations on the Clintons. Meanwhile, why is trump stalling on the russian sanctions, yet showing great alacrity in punishing Americans by cancelling their health care?
For the record, I do give gifts and cards to my neighbors for Christmas and do wish them both a Merry Christmas. The repug neighbor has the solar lighted Madonna statue in his backyard. Hubby and I have solar hummingbird and butterfly lights. Each of us with our own religion. I am proud of being a sun worshiper and unbeknownst to the repug neighbor? It is the sun that powers his night Madonna. Not some superstition.
as eric holder said “stop the damn lying”… here’s another example of twit mendacity
https://youtu.be/CCHhLVhk9_Q
but as reported by huffpo Trump Claims Congresswoman Lied About His Call To Army Widow
President Donald Trump on Wednesday accused Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) of fabricating the claim that he told the widow of a soldier killed in combat that she “must’ve known what he signed up for.”
“I have proof,” Trump tweeted. He offered no evidence.
Wilson stood by her account of the president’s phone call with the widow, telling CNN’s “New Day” that she, too, has proof of Trump’s conversation. “He is a sick man,” she said. “He’s cold-hearted and he feels no pity or sympathy for anyone.”
In an interview before Trump’s tweet on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Wilson called Trump’s conversation with Johnson’s widow “absolutely crazy” and said the president didn’t even remember her husband’s name.
Army Sgt. La David Johnson was killed during an ambush in Niger earlier this month. Myeshia Johnson, his pregnant widow, received a call from Trump on Tuesday. Wilson was with Johnson at the time and recounted the exchange to South Florida’s NBC affiliate.
“Sarcastically he said: ‘But you know he must have known what he signed up for,’” Wilson told NBC6. “How could you say that to a grieving widow? I couldn’t believe … and he said it more than once. I said this man has no feelings for anyone. This is a young woman with child who is grieved to her soul.”
Trump claimed Monday that past presidents didn’t honor fallen soldiers the way he does. His predecessors, namely President Barack Obama, “didn’t make calls” themselves, he said.
The statement was widely disputed, and Trump went on the attack. He invoked his chief of staff John Kelly’s late son, Robert, who died in Afghanistan in 2011, to continue lambasting Obama.
“You could ask General Kelly, did he get a call from Obama?” Trump told Fox News on Tuesday.
Social media requires time and work. I’ve never got enough out of it to make the effort worthwhile. Most of what I’ve seen on face book and all of twitter is people blasting out in a very narcissistic way. A mega phone to the world except the world is not listening. Face book was a nice bulletin board type of way to keep up with lost friends and family but it seems the megaphone posts have overpowered the bulletin board posts. I shut my family facebook id down 3 years ago, way before the last election. There just weren’t enough cute grandbabies to overcome the stupidity.
My “Jack” facebook id (to keep track of lost trailmixers) is still up and active but I only check it a couple of times a week and for the election I sent several mega phones users to purgatory just for my peace of mind. I released them all after the election.
As to being one of the masses commenting on Wapo ? Why bother?
I still hang out around here because we do get some back and forth on ideas although from a left wing pov. It is still a conversation.
Jack
Jack
Love the pears, Blonde Wino. We had an old pear tree behind our farmhouse; hoot owl perched there, letting us know he was around all night. Those pears made the best fruit butter.
Anyone still can or preserve? I miss that. Peaches?, pears?, lots of tomatoes?. We survived winter on “Goulash, Spaghetti & Spanish Rice” all thanks to those tomatoes. The seasons were marked by what Mom was putting up. *Will give bonus points to any Trail Mixer who has eaten a rutabaga or a parsnip: Root Cellar time!
patd, I am lucky a very nice couple moved in next door (after some not so nice ones.) They have a couple dogs, one so small I call him Pocket Pooch. The little guy has the biggest bark! It’s a hoot. Good neighbors make a big difference in your daily outlook. Bad neighbors are hell.
Patd, Kelly must be furious with trump by using the death of his son in such a public way. trump’s way of keeping everyone in line and loyal to him. The trumpence junta crowd looks so old and decrepit even mcconnell’s knees are shot…he can hardly navigate the Rose Garden steps. The repug hellbound train filled with wounded and old humans.
Glad Whskyjack & all our other friends are here. Haven’t seen blueINdallas for a few days. Bink, wherefore art thou? You can’t scold us if you’re not around.
Ping Pong: You were one of two people around here who called 2016 correctly. Add your point of view – bud, you read the tea leaves now tell us the future.
Trail Mix is a sane haven. Jack is correct in that there is one dominant pov here but that is a reflection of the majority of the participants, not because some preset algorithm brought us together. We can be nice, mean, intelligent, stupid. Just as in real life. Howdy, neighbor.
Beets, me, sj! We have planted beets in our garden for a winter harvest. My brother makes hard boiled eggs in beet juice for Easter. Hubby and I do not grow enough to save or preserve food. When I have extra tomatoes? I make sauce. We have changed our backyard garden and covered with a netted ‘hut design’ made with pvc. Hubby made me a door as my old back was tired of twisting, bending and stretching with low netting over the garden. The netting also did solve the squirrel problem. I can walk-in and in the summer we cover with a garden fabric for the heat and insects. Without the cloth we would be unable to grow tomatoes. On my patios? I have also switched my container plants, etc. to mostly succulents. An exotic pass time for me and easier to control & propagate.
I have never met an algorithm I didn’t like.
Ha, imagine if we had the mute or block feature here. OK, maybe not ?
Blonde Wino, my garden has five rows of beets. My favorites are Cylindra & Lutz. Also have five rows of kale. Curly blue still the tops. Kale sautéed with garlic & fresh ginger … yum.
On one side we have the “House With Two Big Dogs Barking”. They seem nice enough and wave while going in and out. On the other side we have Roger and crew. Their son Raven has been my grandson’s companion since Raven entered in the world. Son Chris and Roger have built a fence together and are now doing time on the patio and eventual landscaping. We know each other well enough to have key exchange privileges, since there is no telling when awful might happen.
I tweet to relieve Trump rage. Facebook is for staying in touch with granddaughter in Tx and a friends in FL, CA, and TX but not a major part of my life except for the ongoing game of scrabble if anyone wants to play.
sjwny, sure thing, you can’t have a decent roasted root veggies dish in wintertime without parsnips, beets, bagas, taters, turnips, carrots, onions, yams and herbs thrown in for good measure. so how many bonus points do I get?
Beets and kale? Healthy stuff…don’t panic its organic. My across the street neighbors have the ‘junk yard dogs.’ I called animal control on my neighbor when she had the dogs outside without water and shade or housing in 107 degree heat. I was told the dogs could get shade from the rock wall if they move during the day to find the shadow and she did have a sippy cup sized water attachment to the faucet. It has changed in the last years of the 8 years the dogs have lived here. AND we do exchange Christmas gifts and are friendly. The woman had a blind eye to the dogs and needed some waking-up. Every trash day? Hubby takes pupperonis and biscuits to the wild dogs. They live for trash day and singing with sirens and ambulances.
Have a sunny day, mixers. Off to light another candle on the altar — with halloween I have added a couple of jack-o-lanterns to the altar hoping to send the tower trash home, permanently, for Christmas.
Jamie, this one’s for you from tampa trib: It’s time for the Dodgers to be back in the World Series
It’s hard to believe that it’s been 29 years since the Los Angeles Dodgers made the World Series. That’s far too long. I still remember being at Chavez Ravine for the 1988 World Series, watching Kirk Gibson homer into the right field stands to beat the Oakland A’s in Game 1.
Been a long time.
The Dodgers pushed Joe Maddon and his defending world champion Chicago Cubs to the brink Tuesday night, beating them up for 3-0 lead in the NLCS. The Dodgers are a win away from the Series. And the Cubs are a loss way from not having won a world championship since 2016. Imagine that.
[….]
Dodger dogs are overrated. These Dodgers aren’t. They have yet to lose in the postseason. 6-0 I don’t see the Cubs winning four off them. I don’t see the Astros or Yankees winning four off them, either, though the Astros are great fun and likable and, lo and behold, the Baby Bombers are, too.
The last time the Dodgers swept a four-game playoff series was 1963, when Sandy Koufax overpowered the Yankees in the World Series.
Sandy Koufax. Kirk Gibson. It has been a while.
[…continues…]
I am on FB mainly to stay in touch with my sister living in NYC and some relatives in Canada. It’s also nice, like Jack, to stay in touch with some former TMers. I also belong to several closed groups there that are for my craftsmen guild to chat with each other about guild issues and other shows. I spend maybe 10 minutes a day there. I have found that taking occasional self imposed sabbaticals from any online pursuits (including here) on weekends to be refreshing.
I love parsnips… especially combined with carrots, cabbage, potatoes, and meat of choice in a good old fashioned boiled dinner.
ps… our neighbors have been here for a long time. We do know and interact with them. We all know we are here for each other if anyone needs one another.
i like to think we here were social media before it was cool
BW, you’re making me hungry
abc news: The Note: Spotlight turns to Sessions on Russia probe and Trump’s executive privilege
Jeff Sessions is set to be the most interesting man in the Trump cabinet again – and he won’t have to travel far to win that distinction.
The attorney general’s appearance in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee today marks his first public testimony on Capitol Hill since June, when his much-hyped Senate Intelligence Committee day came and went with him ducking questions about his conversations with the president.
The list of questions his former colleagues have for him has grown exponentially since then – starting with the Russia probe and what recusal really means, and whether President Donald Trump plans to exert executive privilege to protect private communications with advisers.
[….continues….]
wonder if franken will ask him if he’s been to any meetings with Russia lately 🙂
patd gets 100 points + a gold ?.
I like rutabagas with freshly ground black pepper. Was scared as a kid though when someone called them mashed swedes.
For the real old timey luddites, it’s sauerkraut time. Bring out the crock & tamper.
business insider via msn: One of Trump’s top judicial nominees got grilled on Capitol Hill over his involvement with Mueller’s Russia probe
[….]
During an exchange with Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the ranking member of the committee, Katsas said he has “given legal advice on a few discrete legal questions arising out of the” Mueller investigation.
“I have no knowledge of any underlying facts regarding Russian interference,” he added.
When pressed by Feinstein to “tell us what those legal questions were,” Katsas said he could not, saying that the topics were both confidential and covered by attorney-client and executive privilege.
“I have not until today been asked to reveal the substance of advice that I may have provided,” he said, adding that going into detail could undermine the Mueller investigation.
“I don’t think I could properly talk about issues that could signal what he is looking at, the scope, the focus, the progress of his investigations,” he said. “And I want I want to be very careful not to say anything that inadvertently undermines his work.”
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse did not think much of that explanation.
“What on Earth could you possibly say there that would undermine the work of the special counsel?” the Rhode Island Democrat asked.
Richard Painter, the top White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, echoed Whitehouse in an interview with Business Insider.
“That’s nonsense,” he said.
Painter said he wrote a letter to Democratic Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, on the concerns that should be addressed with Katsas in the hearing. Painter, a frequent critic of the Trump administration, said Katsas could assert executive privilege and avoid answering some of the questions he was faced with, but the Senate also is not under any obligation to confirm him.
In recent days, Trump has been pointing to the Senate’s slow pace of confirmation for his many judicial nominees, saying it’s “not fair.”
“For the purpose of evaluating his character and fitness, it’s important to know the areas where the White House may very well have acted inappropriately,” he said. “Evaluating his character and fitness — that’s very relevant.”
Katsas, who served as a top official in the Justice Department during Bush’s presidency, received high praise from conservative judicial activists.
[….continues…]
katy tur interview with the guardian on covering “slippery snake” twit
PatD
Yes my Dodgers are giving me hope this year. I remember the Drysdale / Koufax era and the first game Koufax sat out because of Yom Kippur
Sandy Koufax’s Refusal to Pitch Still Resonates
Been online from the beginning, before the public internet. I go places so you do not have to. That includes places you do not even know about.
I like Twitter as a way to keep up with things near real time. Facebook is only to keep in contact with a few friends who are no longer using email.
Trailmix is where I find information and online friends.
the “he said – they said” controversy continues
wapo:
The mother of a soldier killed in an ambush in Africa said Wednesday that President Trump “did disrespect my son” with remarks in a condolence telephone call.
Sgt. La David T. Johnson’s mother, Cowanda Jones-Johnson, told The Washington Post that she was present during the call from the White House on Tuesday to Johnson’s widow, Myeshia Johnson. Johnson’s mother also stood by an account of the call from Rep. Frederica S. Wilson (D-Fla.) that Trump told Johnson’s widow that her husband “must have known what he signed up for.”
“President Trump did disrespect my son and my daughter and also me and my husband,” Jones-Johnson said.
Trump lashed back. He denied Wilson’s account in a Twitter message Wednesday. He said he had “proof” that the exchange did not go as Wilson had described. Trump did not elaborate, but the claim again raised questions about whether the president tapes calls and conversations.
Democrat Congresswoman totally fabricated what I said to the wife of a soldier who died in action (and I have proof). Sad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 18, 2017
Wilson had said that the Johnson family was “astonished” by Trump’s remarks during the phone call, which Wilson said she heard via a speaker phone while riding in a car with the Johnson family.
[….]
Jones-Johnson, speaking to The Post via Facebook Messenger, declined to elaborate.
But asked whether Wilson’s account of the conversation between Trump and the family was accurate, she replied: “Yes.”
Watching Sessions testimony, as Jed Clampett said of Jethro: “If brains was lard, that boy wouldn’t have enough to grease a skillet.”
craig, has franken had his turn at the wheel (weasel would be more accurate a term here) yet?
the weasel wheedles
here’s what Atlanta journal said happened between al and jeff at the hearing:
Democratic Sen. Al Franken is accusing Attorney General Jeff Sessions of “moving the goalposts” in denying his interactions with the Russian ambassador.
In a testy exchange, Franken confronted Sessions about his testimony in January, in which he said he had no communications with Russians. Sessions later had to recuse himself from the Justice Department’s investigation of Trump campaign ties to Russia after it was revealed he had conversations with the ambassador. Franken says his explanations of those interactions continue to change.
But Sessions, visibly frustrated and voice rising, called Franken’s line of questioning unfair. He says he answered the question as a surrogate of the Trump campaign. Sessions says he may have discussed Trump’s campaign positions with the ambassador but insists he did not have a continuing exchange of information with him.
I heard the Franken-Sessions repartee on my way back from a hearing. Although it doesn’t really fit, all I could think of was fricasseed rabbit.
Noregard did better with Franken then when he threatened a fainting spell when questioned by Kamala Harris
I use social media for work Personally, I’m on facebook and I find it is a good way to keep up with my neighbors and what is going on. During the recent fires it was the best source of information
I’ve never gotten into twitter or instagram
KC, very low bar there. 🙂
Pogo,
He’s a sad little man
he’s strom thurmond writ small. very, very small. And like ol’ strom, or anyone that pale, jeffbo must be a vampire.
I haven’t used twitter for years. I get to facebook roughly quarterly. With fb, I mostly share my friends’ bon mots and jokes with my other friends. Among my USA friends, about 5/6 of us are Dems. Maybe 5% greens & 10% rinos. Jehovah’ Witnesses <1%. The rest are prolly Flying Spaghetti Monster Pastafarians. Or Pasta Farina-ians. Or sumpin’.
I have a 69 y.o. pal who calls himself an Independent. He also says he’s never voted for a Dem. He also hates the cheeto duce with a passion. 2018 will be interesting.
goodell says, “anthem policy” not changing. https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/goodell-nfl-not-changing-its-national-anthem-policy/ar-AAtH36K?ocid=spartanntp
KC, Franken laid out his morphing response case methodically then asked how he could reconcile his shifts. Kamela peppered him with questions. Both are common questionning techniques in my line of work. The first usually evokes a “Suh, ah don’t agree with yo’ characterization of mah remarks.” Then a bullshit attempt to explain how white to black through gray is all white. The second technique usually evokes flustered and incoherent answers that fail to actually answer the questions posed. Kinda like what we saw from Sessions With his righteous indignation to Franken’s questions and his sudden case of the vapors under Harris’.
Pogo, otherwise known as the Foghorn Leghorn defense. “That’s a joke, I say that’s a joke son”
xr, some newsy said that prior to 1990 the teams stayed outta sight until the anthem was sung. don’t remember ever playing it before games when I was in high school band back in the dinosaur era…. if anything other than school song and fight song, we played “America the beautiful” which was a heckava lot easier to play and sing.
BTW…. sj… the title to your post is truly funny.
I’ve been asked by several former TMers to get on Twitter…. nope… not interested.
Thanks to those of you who watched Elmer Fudd give his testimony and reported on it here. Made me feel glad I didn’t bother to turn my tv on.
Poobah, I loves me my Foghorn Leghorn. I made LP watch a couple of cartoons with Foghorn and even he thought they were hilarious.
Brian: No, no. Please please please listen. I’ve got one or two things to say.
Crowd: Tell us! Tell us both of them!
Brian: Look, you’ve got it all wrong. You don’t need to follow me. You don’t need to follow anybody. You’ve got to think for yourselves! You’re all individuals!
Crowd: Yes! We’re all individuals!
Brian: You’re all different!
Crowd: Yes! We’re all different!
– From Monty Python’s Life of Brian
Thought about this as I wrote the Post yesterday. Social Media has a vested interest in identifying & profiling who you are then lumping you in a nice bundle for advertising $. Not criticizing; business is business but a few tweets can haunt you with the gods who be confining you to a right or left path, ending up in an echo chamber thought prison. We know what the Russians did. Who next will reap the fertile grounds of one track minds? Hashtag democracy, trending daily.
“Shall we throw him to the ground?”
“Yes….Thwow him to the gwound!”
Wewease Wodewick!
Yeah……what have the Romans ever done for US?
what has the Federal Government ever done for us?
aside from sanitation, food decency, the military, state parks, disaster relief, cheese, voting rights, medical care for old people, food for poor people,
You know…..promote the general welfare and whatnot.
Dorothy Sessions sounded a bit defensive when Sen. Franken asked her simple questions. Dorothy is out of her league in front of real intelligent people. In fact I think Miss Dorothy Sessions is going to follow SFB, Pence, Rep. Dana Tyrone Rohrabacher, Flynn, and a dozen others in a frog march to prison.
Build the Blue Ridge Parkway
Sessions? Alabama red-dirt pissant.
That’s jeff……if there’s a Missus, she’s Mrs Pissant.
Pat,
1 Players and fans in pro football all stood for the Star Spangled Banner as far back as I can remember. The Vikings were the first I ever saw, so that would have been 1961. I don’t remember a flag or anthem ritual in HS or University games back then. At Minnesota, we half-heartedly sang (those few of us who knew the words) the maudlin & wimpy school song. The Minnesota Rouser followed that with over-the-top gusto :
Minnesota, hats off to thee !
To our college true we will ever be,
bla bla bla, united are we.
RAH, RAH, RAH, for Ski*-U-Mah !
RAH! RAH! RAH! RAH!
RAH for the U of M !
MINNESOTA ! MINNESOTA !
YYYAAAaaaaAAAYYY, GOPPPPHHHHERS ! ! !
*Ski is pronounced like sky. And, don’t ask, cuz I don’t know.
The backlash against Viet Nam War opponents may have changed everything. By 1970 everything from tennis shoes to cops’ shoulders, to hot dog wrappers and grocery bags, to baby strollers and used car lots were emblazoned with the patriotic device. Our flag had been drafted into the army of merchandisers. I griped about all that until the courts recently ruled that commercial use of the flag violates the stupid Flag Etiquette Law.
Ouch ! What an insult to pissants of all ages and skitters of life, everywhere.
Sturgeone,
😉
Sir, it’s a joke name, kind of like, you know, Biggis Dickus……
Biggus Dickus??
twitter slow to respond to ruskie troll farm used by trump campaign, ruskies loaded fake news and junior, flynn, conway and parscale fired.
The Medieval Test for Diabetes is the Origin of the Word Pissant
The Test
1. pee on the ground making a puddle near an anthill,
2. observe the ants.
If the ants congregate at the puddle (pissants) you are diabetic and haven’t long to live. If they don’t, you could live long enough to get scurvy or plague.
Pissants have gotten drunk by my puddle. Perhaps trump is postponing the russian sanctions because of the wee-wee leaks tape held by putie. How long can he hold it??
Discount mike!…pence lowers price.
Biggis Dickus might be Lithuanian. Biggus Dickus sounds extremely Latin.
Blessed are the cheesemakers.
The tv news dorks finally seem to have discovered that the deadbeat has feet on the ground in an unconstitutional secret war in Niger. Finally.
I wonder if our soldiers actually sign on to fight in trump’s 3 unconstitutional secret wars. Did Sgt Johnson have any idea where he was, or that he was fighting for the Niger flag rather than our own ?
When did pence learn of this war and when did he learn it ? We might be able to write a bill of impeachment and pry him out of office first.