Comments for Current Invective http://www.currentinvective.com/wp Gadfly Bites Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:28:49 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.2 Comment on Butt-ugly Collective by Ed Turbert http://www.currentinvective.com/wp/?p=125#comment-1020 Ed Turbert Thu, 19 Aug 2010 18:31:31 +0000 http://www.currentinvective.com/wp/?p=125#comment-1020 Mr. Gadfly, I remember being in this building on Main Street a few times. The last time there, I was on unemployment compensation in 1982 or so. We would be obligated to appear in person maybe once a month to warrant remaining on the weekly check system. I would enter on the left rear part of the building and wind about till coming upon a large space whose walls and floors bore similar faded yellow paint and traffic worn tan linoleum flooring. It was a production exercise for the state workers and the jobless the atmosphere oppressive. I recall meeting the mother of a high school friend who worked there and her humanizing the event and her encouragement. Earlier by about twelve years, the building contained a jeweller and pawn shop fun by a pair of brothers named Gillespie. My father went there for a ring to give at Christmas to his wife, my mother, of thirty years or so. They married when he was drafted for WWII and speeded the process out of state without recourse to social pages, photography or engagement ring. His description of the old slow elevator to an upper floor and suggestion that the elderly brothers had access to or were part of the New York jewelry business made us all believe the ring's stone was of fine quality and value. It added to the celebratory feeling of the gift for all of us shared in the family. I found the same jeweller located at Pratt Street when time came for me to shop for a ring. My first two wheel bicicle was a JC Higgins, the Sears brand of the time. I must have been 7 or eight years old that Christams. But before the holiday I accompanied my father to a store called Marholins located in the Main Street building. The elevator even then clanked and heaved and sighed as it brought us upward to a display room at one of the topmost floors. When the accordian gate and doorway opened, I stepped out into a space that appeared to be an acre of bicicles. So many brands, so many sizes, so many colors, some with mirrors or bells or plastic streamers. I paused last year at the stoplight at Main and Trumbull and saw the bills for Gospel, Reggae and Hip Hop artists who would be performing in Hartford soon. The layers of color looked Like a bit of NYC here in our provincial city. So the building stands alone now. It looks diminished, reduced in beauty, usefullness and value when alone and without neighbors. Like me if I was alone in a nursing home, or a queue for food stamps or at a bus stop without a shelter. So as I age memories attach to places that will have no existence when torn down. Mr. Gadfly,
I remember being in this building on Main Street a few times.
The last time there, I was on unemployment compensation in 1982 or so. We would be obligated to appear in person maybe once a month to warrant remaining on the weekly check system. I would enter on the left rear part of the building and wind about till coming upon a large space whose walls and floors bore similar faded yellow paint and traffic worn tan linoleum flooring. It was a production exercise for the state workers and the jobless the atmosphere oppressive. I recall meeting the mother of a high school friend who worked there and her humanizing the event and her encouragement.
Earlier by about twelve years, the building contained a jeweller and pawn shop fun by a pair of brothers named Gillespie. My father went there for a ring to give at Christmas to his wife, my mother, of thirty years or so. They married when he was drafted for WWII and speeded the process out of state without recourse to social pages, photography or engagement ring.
His description of the old slow elevator to an upper floor and suggestion that the elderly brothers had access to or were part of the New York jewelry business made us all believe the ring’s stone was of fine quality and value. It added to the celebratory feeling of the gift for all of us shared in the family. I found the same jeweller located at Pratt Street when time came for me to shop for a ring.
My first two wheel bicicle was a JC Higgins, the Sears brand of the time. I must have been 7 or eight years old that Christams. But before the holiday I accompanied my father to a store called Marholins located in the Main Street building. The elevator even then clanked and heaved and sighed as it brought us upward to a display room at one of the topmost floors. When the accordian gate and doorway opened, I stepped out into a space that appeared to be an acre of bicicles. So many brands, so many sizes, so many colors, some with mirrors or bells or plastic streamers.
I paused last year at the stoplight at Main and Trumbull and saw the bills for Gospel, Reggae and Hip Hop artists who would be performing in Hartford soon. The layers of color looked Like a bit of NYC here in our provincial city.
So the building stands alone now. It looks diminished, reduced in beauty, usefullness and value when alone and without neighbors. Like me if I was alone in a nursing home, or a queue for food stamps or at a bus stop without a shelter.
So as I age memories attach to places that will have no existence when torn down.

]]> Comment on Thugocracy by admin http://www.currentinvective.com/wp/?p=130#comment-1007 admin Sat, 29 May 2010 12:59:39 +0000 http://www.currentinvective.com/wp/?p=130#comment-1007 "Now he's going to taint Obama . . . " Like onion taints garlic. “Now he’s going to taint Obama . . . ” Like onion taints garlic.

]]> Comment on Thugocracy by Geoffrey Natewa http://www.currentinvective.com/wp/?p=130#comment-1006 Geoffrey Natewa Sat, 29 May 2010 08:05:07 +0000 http://www.currentinvective.com/wp/?p=130#comment-1006 Wow yet another mess. Certainly this has the hallmarks of one large cover up. Sestak should have just taken the Secretary of the Navy job and shut up. Now he is going to taint Obama, Rahm, and Bill Clinton. Doesn't Bill Clinton have better things to do that get involved in this Nixonian type of mess? What would Blago do? Wow yet another mess. Certainly this has the hallmarks of one large cover up. Sestak should have just taken the Secretary of the Navy job and shut up. Now he is going to taint Obama, Rahm, and Bill Clinton. Doesn’t Bill Clinton have better things to do that get involved in this Nixonian type of mess? What would Blago do?

]]> Comment on Go Short on BP by Rich from Vegas http://www.currentinvective.com/wp/?p=127#comment-1003 Rich from Vegas Thu, 06 May 2010 14:31:57 +0000 http://www.currentinvective.com/wp/?p=127#comment-1003 There are two sidelights to this story that have received microscopic attention by the mainstream media, but are as eye-opening as [and if] they are true. First, the oil being removed from the US coast is sold on the international market. Consequently, the oil removed by BP isn’t a resource destined to shore up the American oil supply, but an incremental addition to the global fossil fuel market. Demand for oil is also increasing, and the addition of a few hundred thousand barrels a day would have an insignificant effect on the price of gas at the pump. The selling point for oil exploration in protected wildlife habitat was to reduce American dependence on foreign oil. If oil is no more than a commodity sold on an international market, all of it could be considered “foreign”, and the reason to put fragile ecosystems at risk becomes less persuasive. Second, Exxon increased prices after its catastrophic spill in Alaska and other oil companies followed suit. The oil industry thrived, and Exxon profited from its own negligence. My recollection is that in markets dominated by oligarchic sellers, price cuts are rarely followed and price increases are nearly always followed. Gas prices in Las Vegas are 10 cents higher than they were yesterday. Should this city's experience augur a nationwide price increase, whether by coincidence, connivance or conspiracy, the oil industry will be having a very good year. There are two sidelights to this story that have received microscopic attention by the mainstream media, but are as eye-opening as [and if] they are true. First, the oil being removed from the US coast is sold on the international market. Consequently, the oil removed by BP isn’t a resource destined to shore up the American oil supply, but an incremental addition to the global fossil fuel market. Demand for oil is also increasing, and the addition of a few hundred thousand barrels a day would have an insignificant effect on the price of gas at the pump. The selling point for oil exploration in protected wildlife habitat was to reduce American dependence on foreign oil. If oil is no more than a commodity sold on an international market, all of it could be considered “foreign”, and the reason to put fragile ecosystems at risk becomes less persuasive.

Second, Exxon increased prices after its catastrophic spill in Alaska and other oil companies followed suit. The oil industry thrived, and Exxon profited from its own negligence. My recollection is that in markets dominated by oligarchic sellers, price cuts are rarely followed and price increases are nearly always followed. Gas prices in Las Vegas are 10 cents higher than they were yesterday. Should this city’s experience augur a nationwide price increase, whether by coincidence, connivance or conspiracy, the oil industry will be having a very good year.

]]> Comment on Chilled to the Bone by John Mertens http://www.currentinvective.com/wp/?p=126#comment-997 John Mertens Mon, 29 Mar 2010 23:10:13 +0000 http://www.currentinvective.com/wp/?p=126#comment-997 Steve, I sympathize, but I want to say that my interactions with you have made a difference in my life. I consider you a role model, and an educator. If you had not been out there, I would not have met you, and I would not have learned from you. You've certainly earned the right to rest, but I hope this is au revoir, and not good bye. And, perhaps, you would reconsider doing your radio show....? All my best, John Steve, I sympathize, but I want to say that my interactions with you have made a difference in my life. I consider you a role model, and an educator. If you had not been out there, I would not have met you, and I would not have learned from you. You’ve certainly earned the right to rest, but I hope this is au revoir, and not good bye. And, perhaps, you would reconsider doing your radio show….?

All my best,
John

]]> Comment on Who’s the Enemy? by admin http://www.currentinvective.com/wp/?p=119#comment-985 admin Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:46:19 +0000 http://www.currentinvective.com/wp/?p=119#comment-985 I don't see a trace of squeamishness about killing innocents. Most Americans seem to be enthusiastic about it. It's a lawless, conscienceless people that we've become, and we seem determined to prove that we deserved everything that happened on 9/11. Mission accomplished. I don’t see a trace of squeamishness about killing innocents. Most Americans seem to be enthusiastic about it. It’s a lawless, conscienceless people that we’ve become, and we seem determined to prove that we deserved everything that happened on 9/11. Mission accomplished.

]]> Comment on Who’s the Enemy? by Donna http://www.currentinvective.com/wp/?p=119#comment-984 Donna Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:03:32 +0000 http://www.currentinvective.com/wp/?p=119#comment-984 I appreciate the sensitivity displayed in the two posts. However, it is pointless to talk about superiority of weaponry and soldiers shooting only at soldiers when 17 men can board four airplanes and kill thousands of - yes, innocent - civilians deliberately. That last word is the difference between what terrorists and US military efforts. Unfortunately, knowing our squeamishness about killing the innocent, terrorists imbed themselves among civilians, using them as human shields, and decrying our brutality when some get killed. These same people who are so enraged when US and NATO forces accidentally kill some civilians have no problems placing car bombs in crowded markets, hotels, restaurants, and even schools. Basically, because we do hold human life as worthy of protection, we fight these terrorist fanatics with one hand tied behind our backs. If it were otherwise, we'd have used that superiority of force by now and Afghanistan wouldn't be so mountainous. I remember when I was a kid I stuck a stick in a yellow jacket nest to see what happened. I learned a painful lesson. Likewise when you destroy major landmarks in a powerful country along with thousands of its citizens to prove some unclear point, you should expect a few "stings." Unlike these people, though, I didn't hide behind a few innocent children and let them take the brunt of the violence I so much deserved. I appreciate the sensitivity displayed in the two posts. However, it is pointless to talk about superiority of weaponry and soldiers shooting only at soldiers when 17 men can board four airplanes and kill thousands of - yes, innocent - civilians deliberately. That last word is the difference between what terrorists and US military efforts. Unfortunately, knowing our squeamishness about killing the innocent, terrorists imbed themselves among civilians, using them as human shields, and decrying our brutality when some get killed. These same people who are so enraged when US and NATO forces accidentally kill some civilians have no problems placing car bombs in crowded markets, hotels, restaurants, and even schools.

Basically, because we do hold human life as worthy of protection, we fight these terrorist fanatics with one hand tied behind our backs. If it were otherwise, we’d have used that superiority of force by now and Afghanistan wouldn’t be so mountainous.

I remember when I was a kid I stuck a stick in a yellow jacket nest to see what happened. I learned a painful lesson. Likewise when you destroy major landmarks in a powerful country along with thousands of its citizens to prove some unclear point, you should expect a few “stings.” Unlike these people, though, I didn’t hide behind a few innocent children and let them take the brunt of the violence I so much deserved.

]]> Comment on Hysteria Attends Election Law Decision by Donna http://www.currentinvective.com/wp/?p=121#comment-982 Donna Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:14:49 +0000 http://www.currentinvective.com/wp/?p=121#comment-982 Glad you read the opinion. I'd only heard the general gist of Kennedy's moment of senility. Where in our Constitution do the forefathers say that corporations have the same rights as citizens? Corporations are made up of people who already have their freedom of speech protected; now they collectively and individually have freedom of speech, which effectively increases their power exponentially. To call a corporation which often has many foreign investors, which may even be dominated by non-American members is clearly a violation of laws against accepting contributions from foreign entities, something which not too many years ago sent the GOP into a tizzy when they thought a Democratic candidate MAY have accepted money from a foreign source. Funny how quickly their values shift. Glad you read the opinion. I’d only heard the general gist of Kennedy’s moment of senility. Where in our Constitution do the forefathers say that corporations have the same rights as citizens? Corporations are made up of people who already have their freedom of speech protected; now they collectively and individually have freedom of speech, which effectively increases their power exponentially. To call a corporation which often has many foreign investors, which may even be dominated by non-American members is clearly a violation of laws against accepting contributions from foreign entities, something which not too many years ago sent the GOP into a tizzy when they thought a Democratic candidate MAY have accepted money from a foreign source. Funny how quickly their values shift.

]]> Comment on Hysteria Attends Election Law Decision by admin http://www.currentinvective.com/wp/?p=121#comment-980 admin Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:22:06 +0000 http://www.currentinvective.com/wp/?p=121#comment-980 Not a teabagger. Just somebody who read the opinion. Ask any Democrat or Republican whether he supports a constitutional amendment to curtail the rights of corporations. Obama doesn't. Not a teabagger. Just somebody who read the opinion. Ask any Democrat or Republican whether he supports a constitutional amendment to curtail the rights of corporations. Obama doesn’t.

]]> Comment on Hysteria Attends Election Law Decision by Donna http://www.currentinvective.com/wp/?p=121#comment-979 Donna Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:14:27 +0000 http://www.currentinvective.com/wp/?p=121#comment-979 This is crap. It's statistically demonstrable that Republicans have benefited much more by corporate donations than have Democrats which have been fighting for a year to get legislation to release the strangle-hold of insurance companies on public health. But you lay blame on Democrats - for protesting this travesty of our Constitution?! You tell us to ignore the man who won the presidency despite rejecting corporate donations and has publicly and strongly decried this decision? You must be a Tea Partier because you're logic is totally convoluted. This is crap. It’s statistically demonstrable that Republicans have benefited much more by corporate donations than have Democrats which have been fighting for a year to get legislation to release the strangle-hold of insurance companies on public health. But you lay blame on Democrats - for protesting this travesty of our Constitution?! You tell us to ignore the man who won the presidency despite rejecting corporate donations and has publicly and strongly decried this decision? You must be a Tea Partier because you’re logic is totally convoluted.

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