Thursday, February 28, 2019
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The fact that these kits [vampire protection] were generally
useless didn’t bother me nearly as much as the idea of holy water being
sold at Wal-Mart.”
WALMART: THE EMBARRASSMENT OF ARKANSAS
IN ANOTHER OF ITS PROFIT MAKING MOVES, WALMART IS SHUTTING DOWN ITS GREETERS PROGRAM, WHICH GIVES JOBS TO THE DISABLED. THE GREETERS WERE THE ONLY GOOD THING LEFT ABOUT WALMART. EVERYTHING THEY DO HURTS PEOPLE. THEY SHUT DOWN MA AND PA BUSINESSES. MAKE COMMUNITIES EXPEND AWAY FROM THE TOWN CENTER. BUY CLOTHES FROM SWEATSHOPS OVERSEAS AND IN THE STATES. PAY MANY OF THEIR EMPLOYEES PATHETICALLY SMALL SALARIES. AND BYE-AND-LARGE REPRESENT EVERYTHING THAT IS WRONG WITH CAPITALISM. I WOULD ONLY WISH THE WORST FOR THEM.
Thursday, February 21, 2019
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Monday, February 18, 2019
HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE
HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE
THE GOOD. THE BAD. THE UGLY.
THE GOOD: Hot Springs Village is a beautiful place. Scenic,
mountains, lakes, golf courses, and trees. Lots of trees.
We
have a lot of activities going on, allowing one to be as active as you please.
The cost of living is low. Real estate taxes are really low. Our assessment fee
is reasonable. And the price for goods and services are usually fair. This is a
place you can stretch your retirement dollars to the max.
The Village is a short drive to Hot
Springs, which is a serious plus. Hot Springs is on the rise. This is a huge
plus that many people in the Village don’t take advantage of. If you are
missing out on Hot Springs, you are missing out on one of the biggest reasons
to move to Hot Springs Village. This should be heavily marketed by our PR
people. It is easily one of the top three reasons to live in the Village.
We have a low crime rate. This may or may
not be due to the gates. The gates do make getting into the Village on the sly
problematic, but certainly not impossible. None-the-less, we are a relatively
safe community. Little Rock, Chicago,
LA, eat your heart out.
THE BAD: We are a community with higher than average
educational achievement and career accomplishment. This is both good and bad.
Good from the vantage point that we can seek information to solve many of our
problems from our own residents, if we so chose. Bad from the point of view
that it is difficult to achieve a consensus among so many critical thinkers who
believe they have the only viable answer(s) to whatever issue is confronting
us. Egocentric leadership demands that we follow behind perceived superior
leadership. In this Village, that will not work.
Our extensive road system and the need to
drive everywhere make for an undeniable dangerous situation. Unlike many
retirement communities, which are designed to use golf carts to get almost
anywhere you need, Hot Springs Village is spread over a vast acreage. This was
due to a design plan maximizing profit from homes built on golf courses and
lakes. With a median age of 65, poor eyesight,
slower reflexes, physical limitations, and darkness, all lead to a high
accident rate. When you add to this alcohol and prescription pain killers, we
end up with a serious problem. We are reluctant to make anyone feel bad about
their alcohol and/or drug use, but feeling bad is not near as bad as feeling
dead. That’s bad.
THE
UGLY: In the 14 years we have owned
property in the Village, the most troubling concern I have seen is our
directors and management. Our current CEO was for the most part appointed by
the last manager. The directors nodded their heads in agreement. Over the past
years, we have been lead down the corporate governance path rather than community-municipal
path. This has led to the crisis we face today. We expect transparency, but we
get secrets. We have 8 reasons to go into executive session. The state of
Arkansas has 3. We expect to know how much money is being spent for what, but
often we are not told. We have no idea what we are paying the CEO and other
members of her staff. This, in spite of the fact that we are paying their
salaries. How much is being spent by the POA to beat back our objections to the
directors and CEO leading us down the corporate path? Hundreds of thousands of
dollars are being spent by us (poa) against us (residents). This is a lose-lose
situation, which in life you never want to find yourself in.
The last vote was an undeniable rejection
of the directors and CEO. We are unhappy with the direction of the Village and
need to right the ship. The next election will hopefully be a big step forward
in doing that. We need a board that is in charge; transparent, inclusive, better at listening, and
giving us plainspokenness, not the razzle-dazzle of uncontrolled egos, making
our governance much more difficult than it need be.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“What a lousy earth! He wondered how many people were destitute that same night even in his own prosperous country, how many
homes
were shanties, how many husbands were drunk and wives socked, and how
many children were bullied, abused, or abandoned. How many families
hungered for food they could not afford to buy? How many hearts were
broken? How many suicides would take place that same night, how many
people would go insane? How many cockroaches and landlords would
triumph? How many winners were losers, successes failures, and rich men
poor men? How many wise guys were stupid? How many happy endings were
unhappy endings? How many honest men were liars, brave men cowards,
loyal men traitors, how many sainted men were corrupt, how many people
in positions of trust had sold their souls to bodyguards, how many had
never had souls? How many straight-and-narrow paths were crooked paths?
How many best families were worst families and how many good people were
bad people? When you added them all up and then subtracted, you might
be left with only the children, and perhaps with Albert Einstein and an
old violinist or sculptor somewhere.”
Friday, February 15, 2019
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
Sunday, February 10, 2019
SUNDAY MORNING THOUGHT
“The money
powers prey upon the nation in times of peace and conspire against it
in times of adversity. It is more despotic than a monarchy, more
insolent than autocracy, and more selfish than bureaucracy. It denounces
as public enemies, all who question its methods or throw light upon its
crimes.”
SUNDAY MORNING SERMON
General Francisco Franco, brutal leader of Spain from 1939-75, advocated nationalism (Trump), authoritarianism (Trump), militarism (Trump), antiliberalism (Trump), and a National religion (Trump). Welcome to the rise of Trumpism.
Friday, February 8, 2019
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"THAT COMMON GOOD, AS I HAVE EMPHASIZED, IS A SET OF SHARED COMMITMENTS---TO THE RULE OF LAW, AND TO THE SPIRIT AS WELL AS THE LETTER OF THE LAW; TO OUR DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS OF GOVERNMENT; TO TRUTH; TO TOLERANCE OF OUR DIFFERENCES; TO EQUAL POLITICAL RIGHTS AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY; TO PARTICIPATING IN OUR CIVIC LIFE, AND MAKING NECESSARY SACRIFICES FOR THE IDEALS WE HOLD IN COMMON. WE MUST SHARE THESE COMMITMENTS IF WE ARE TO HAVE A FUNCTIONING SOCIETY. THEY INFORM OUR JUDGMENTS ABOUT RIGHT AND WRONG BECAUSE THEY CONSTITUTE OUR COMMON GOOD. WITHOUT THEM, THERE IS NO "WE."
Robert Reich
Robert Reich
Ocasio-Cortez Not Phased by Can 'Democratic Socialism' and 'Capitalism' Coexist Question
Ocasio-Cortez Not Phased by Can 'Democratic Socialism' and 'Capitalism' Coexist Question
A BREATH OF FRESH AIR. EVERYTHING PELOCI ISN'T.
A BREATH OF FRESH AIR. EVERYTHING PELOCI ISN'T.
Tuesday, February 5, 2019
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"The people power on this issue continues to intensify as Americans feel
the pain of a healthcare system that is focused more on profit than it
is on providing healthcare."
Debunking Industry Lies, Analysis Shows Medicare for All Would Cut Costs, Boost Efficiency, and Save Lives
Debunking Industry Lies, Analysis Shows Medicare for All Would Cut Costs, Boost Efficiency, and Save Lives
CAPITALISM AT ITS VERY WORST-TRADING LIVES FOR DOLLARS
CAPITALISM AT ITS VERY WORST-TRADING LIVES FOR DOLLARS
Monday, February 4, 2019
TRUMPONIAN METHODOLOGY
"IF THOSE WHO FEEL LEFT BEHIND VIEW THE SYSTEM AS RIGGED AGAINST THEM, THEY CAN PUSH OPEN SOCIETIES INTO BECOMING CLOSED AND AUTOCRATIC. WHERE A SENSE OF COMMON GOOD IS LACKING, DEMAGOGUES CAN USE THE ANGER AND FEAR ACCOMPANYING DISRUPTIVE CHANGE TO TURN PEOPLE AGAINST ONE ANOTHER RATHER THAN ADDRESS THE TRAUMAS THAT MADE THEM ANGRY IN THE FIRST PLACE. SOCIETIES EXPERIENCING ECONOMIC STRESSES AND WIDENING INEQUALITIES ARE PARTICULARLY VULNERABLE TO TYRANTS INTENT ON UNDERMINING DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS BY LYING REPEATEDLY, ACCUSING CRITICS OF CONSPIRING AGAINST "THE PEOPLE," FUELING RACIAL AND ETHNIC DIVISIONS, AND INCITING RABID NATIONALISM."
Robert Reich
Robert Reich
Sunday, February 3, 2019
SUNDAY MORNING SCRIPTURE
“There are growing domestic social and economic problems, in fact,
maybe catastrophes. Nobody in power has any intention of doing anything
about them. If you look at the domestic programs of the administrations
of the past ten years-I include here the Democratic opposition-there's
really no serious proposal about what to do about the severe problems of
health, education, homelessness, joblessness, crime, soaring criminal
populations, jails, deterioration in the inner cities - the whole raft
of problems... In such circumstances you've got to divert the bewildered
herd, because if they start noticing this they may not like it, since
they're the ones suffering from it. Just having them watch the Superbowl
and the sitcoms may not be enough. You have to whip them up into fear
of enemies. In the 1930s Hitler whipped them into fear of the Jews and
gypsies. You had to crush them to defend yourselves. We have our ways,
too. Over the last ten years, every year ot two, some major monster is
constructed that we have to defend ourselves against.”
SUNDAY MORNING SERMON: 'Socialism Surging in Iowa' Giving Cold Feet to Centrist Democrats Contemplating 2020 Run: Report
'Socialism Surging in Iowa' Giving Cold Feet to Centrist Democrats Contemplating 2020 Run: Report
SUNDAY MORNING SERMON. DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM-THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE
SUNDAY MORNING SERMON. DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM-THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE
Friday, February 1, 2019
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“OUR SPECIES has always been itching for a fight. Some say we started
strangling each other with our fish fins as soon as we crawled out of
the primordial ooze.”
A History of Weapons: Crossbows and Lots of Other Things that Can Seriously Mess You Up
A History of Weapons: Crossbows and Lots of Other Things that Can Seriously Mess You Up
WARNING TO PELOCI
THE DEMOCRATS HAD BETTER HURRY TO GET RID OF TRUMP. ALTHOUGH ADMITTEDLY, PENCE WILL BE NO BETTER. TRUMP HAS SET THE COUNTRY BACK 100 YEARS. IF WE GIVE HIM ANY MORE TIME, WE ARE SCREWED. WE WILL ONCE AGAIN BE MIRED IN THE PRIMORDIAL OOZE.
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