PEOPLE CONTROL

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I'm also very aware that PBS, at least "PBS World News Hour' seems to always have an agenda. As stated above, it's fun to watch Judy's agenda derail when some guest speakers just won't play ball.

You may be missing the real point there - they may have an agenda or not, but they do get the possibly opposing person(s) on the air; they are not one sided like many others that only pander to their chose audience with an agenda and fold in guest that simply nods in agreement. They actually want the present an argument since that's more interesting and entertaining.

[rogruth]

Several comments.
I am not opposed but there seems to be more talk about things other than trains on MTJ. I am learning a lot.

Why do we in the U.S. have so much more reliance on what someone with a foreign accent has than an "American"?
For many years the respected classical music people in this country were, usually, European. Supposedly we didn't have
the knowledge that others had but that has changed. We still get hucksters on TV with a British accent that sell the
same stuff but we are supposed to believe them more for some reason.
Maybe if we had some Europeans, no, "experts" from anywhere but the U.S. tell us how to handle all these problems?

I am as concerned as anyone on this forum about the future of the U.S. but I don't think that we forum members can
have much influence. Most of us are old guys that not even TV caters to except for some medical stuff and insurance.
The politicians seem to spend a lot of time worrying about the younger generations than older ones.
I have voted in every election since I was old enough (21) in 1955. I am almost ready to stop voting in elections.

As usual I wandered around.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

I'm not of the opinion that when we talk about matters other than toy trains here on MTJ that we think we can affect situations in the world, or even just in the USA. My impression has been that we enjoy hearing what other folks have experienced and have to say about this-n-that, to hear opinions that may be challenging or interestingly different from our own. At least, that has been my approach - to enjoy hearing from voices I likely will never meet in-person and likely have very little personal history in common. It's enjoyable to be with folks who may be quite different from ourselves, in my opinion, Roger, though I have found there is a limit to what is enjoyable, at rare times.
Murph

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I'm not of the opinion that when we talk about matters other than toy trains here on MTJ that we think we can affect situations in the world, or even just in the USA. My impression has been that we enjoy hearing what other folks have experienced and have to say about this-n-that, to hear opinions that may be challenging or interestingly different for our own. At least, that has been my approach - to enjoy hearing from voices I likely will never meet in-person and likely have very little personal history in common. It's enjoyable to be with folks who may be quite different from ourselves, in my opinion, Roger.
Murph

Would be be writing of......................the inclusion of diversity?

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Yes, diversity can be refreshing. Often. Obeisant clones do not interest me, especially if they agree with me. I like experiencing new approaches to life and stuff. However, I do feel there is a definite place for polite behavior. Burned-out former "flower-children" need to recognize they just can't throw their hands up in the air, dance around, metaphorically and literally, and shout whatever they want, letting it all hang-out in other people's faces. One would trust most of us have learned some self-control thru the decades.

[rogruth]

Remember that I have no problem with what we talk about on MTJ.
My problem is that there is so little, if anything, we can do about any of it.
Just watch and hope that others may have a better chance to fix things than we.

[chuck]

My problem is that there is so little, if anything, we can do about any of it.
Just watch and hope that others may have a better chance to fix things than we.

It is maddening but I'm not ready to throw in the towel. The real roots of the problems are laziness and ignorance. Fight those at every chance and things will turn.

There is a quote attributed to Lincoln but never verified (and the best part is if he didn't say it no one knows who did):

You can fool all of the people some of the time and you can fool of some people all of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time.


Eventually the facts catch up with them and the purveyors of BS get tripped up.

We live in an extremely complicated world and the solutions to those complex problems are not "simple" other than you need to have ALL of the information (not just the parts you like) and be willing to make tough decisions and stick with them.

[robert.]

Chuck, that quote was spoken before legalizing marijuana.

[healey36]

My problem is that there is so little, if anything, we can do about any of it.
Just watch and hope that others may have a better chance to fix things than we.

Actually we have the ultimate tool to fix a lot of this - the ballot box. Unfortunately only about thirty percent of eligible folks choose to participate.

[chuck]

Unfortunately only about thirty percent of eligible folks choose to participate.

Yep, laziness. In most of the other countries where you can vote, 80% turn out is low. Here is we break 55% it's considered high. Our school/library/local elections are more like 10% with the vote split almost evenly between the two most diametrically opposed groups. An election where there are a potential 80,000 voters is being deiced by less than 8,000 total votes. I love when whomever wins claims a "mandate" on less than 5% of the actual eligible voters.

[HONDO74]

I love when whomever wins claims a "mandate" on less than 5% of the actual eligible voters.

It is a mandate from those who cared enough to vote. For those that didn't vote, they don't care.

[Roy]

I love when whomever wins claims a "mandate" on less than 5% of the actual eligible voters.

It is a mandate from those who cared enough to vote. For those that didn't vote, they don't care.

Not true. Some folks, like blacks, are always in the minority. We whites built this winner-takes-all system to keep them permanently disenfranchised. We should care more about the concerns of minorities.

[HONDO74]

Not true. Some folks, like blacks, are always in the minority. We whites built this winner-takes-all system to keep them permanently disenfranchised. We should care more about the concerns of minorities.

It's official: Latinos now outnumber whites in California
http://www.latimes.com/local/california ... story.html

Roy, you live in California. How come you didn't know that whites are now a minority in California.

[Tom Dempsey]

Roy, you live in California. How come you didn't know that whites are now a minority in California.

He know it if he lived in Washington, Idaho, or Montana. Seems like every damn one of them moved here!

[Roy]

It's official: Latinos now outnumber whites in California
http://www.latimes.com/local/california ... story.html

Roy, you live in California. How come you didn't know that whites are now a minority in California.

I thought I read, some years ago, that latinos were the majority in the country as a whole. It wouldn't surprise me about California. We have a lot of everyone, in California.