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Total Members Voted: 11

Voting closed: February 15, 2022, 10:51:36 AM

[bankshot1]

Josh

My "day and half" comment was re the recent drama. And this week-end squabble with Larry aside, I've cut way back on my posting in this forum. Speaking as a life-long liberal Dem, I found the pc-ness of the Elba's woke crowd laughable, and I mocked it, but at its core is intolerance and fear of not being woke enough.   

But I'll play by any rules imposed, PG, R or X, I prefer R, just as long as balls and strikes are called fairly. 

[FlyingVProd]

I wish all of you the best this Memorial Day as we remember all of the people who died for our nation, and as we remember the price of freedom.

And there is no doubt that you guys love the USA, even Bambu loves the USA and he lives in Australia. 

I feel like we try to make a difference, because we care. I feel like sharing information on the world wide web can make the world a better place. It is about more than entertainment.

And I feel like we keep each other up to date on the issues, and we discuss the issues from many angles.

May God bless the USA, as we remember those who gave their lives for our nation.

Salute,

Tony V. 

[bodiddley]

Also be sure to remember all the people across the globe that the US killed and maimed and displaced in its endless series of wars.

Tony, I thought you might appreciate this article about public fruit and especially loquats in and around Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Is Covered in Delicious Fruit and No One Is Eating It

I have a few loquat trees in my garden, and eat some of the fruit.  Tart and tasty.
The seeds grow easily and quickly turn into significant trees.  The leaves are large and pleasingly tropical in appearance.  A nice tree that produces a good deal of fruit with minimal to no maintenance/requirements.  A good deal of loquat trees throughout Shanghai, where the local variety fruits 2 or 3 times a year.

Hard to believe that loquats can't be collected and sold as fruit.  And/or made into jam, or wine and such.  I'd be interested in trying loquat jam.  Maybe pay homeless people to collect the fruit, etc.

[FlyingVProd]

I hate war. I think all sane people hate war, and that is why we have the CIA so we can catch problems early, and we can go in and surgically remove problems early before it turns into wars.

We also have the United Nations, and the Permanent 5 Members of the United Nations Security Council; The USA, France, the UK, China, and Russia. If we can work together we can prevent wars.

Also people who have food are more peaceful. A great way to make friends and promote peace is to feed people.

And the Loquats sound great. I will have to try the Loquats.

In my neighborhood we have Lemon trees, and I squeeze the fresh Lemon juice into my tacos and burritos, and onto my fish, etc.

It Italy they make a fortune from Lemons and Limoncello. And I was thinking that Margaritas made with Limoncello would be great. I have made Margaritas with Midori, and I bet Margaritas made with Limoncello would be great too.

And in Italy they pay the immigrants to plant Lemon trees, and to pick the Lemons, etc. Just like in California with the Oranges and Grapes, etc.

Of course Italy makes wonderful Wine too. I may go into the Wine business in Italy if I become successful. Here is a vineyard and winery for sale in Tuscany, making Chianti wine, with the option of buying more land to make more wine. I want to own a vineyard and winery in Tuscany, and this is the type of thing I would be interested in doing.

https://youtu.be/rFrfAV_F2es

It would take a lot of workers to run and maintain such a venture, but I can get workers from the Philippines. The Filipinos love Italy. I could hire Filipinos to help me.

Loquat Wine is an interesting idea. I am open to trying it.

In Oregon they have Blackberries and Blackberry Pie, and Blackberry Wine. Blackberries grow wild all over Oregon. My Grandmother used to send me her homemade Blackberry Wine and she would send smoked fish and homemade zucchini bread and Oregon cheese, she sent me great packages.

So far as paying the immigrants in Southern California to plant fruit trees, Sunkist is a great model. And it is a Co-Op, so the wealth is spread out. A lot of people benefit from Sunkist.

Of note, the founders of Anaheim were a bunch of immigrants who got together and they were going to plant Grapes and make Wine, and they were going to have a Utopia, but a root disease killed the Grapes and so they had to grow Orange trees and Strawberries. Eventually they started sending trains full of Oranges East to the rest of the USA and that was when Orange County really got wealthy. And of course Strawberry jelly, etc. And the Boysenberry was invented in Orange County.

Salute,

Tony V.

[facilitatorn]

I’m going to look into loquats. I’ve got limons, guava, goji, peppers, garlic, onions, aloe, and herbs as the non-ornamental plants growing in my garden. My friends are trying to offload their banana trees to me as well.

Have a good Memorial Day, all.

The important war the USA is currently embroiled in is the one against the republican party.

Fortunately the fascist bastards of the GOP have way more blanks than live rounds to fire these days and also fortunately, their dick pills don’t address that issue at all.

http://m.dailykos.com/stories/2021/5/31/2032010/-Republicans-have-absolutely-no-idea-what-their-supposed-base-supposedly-wants-heading-into-2022

Dismantle, dismember, and degrade the rancid rabid right wing to save the republic.

[FlyingVProd]

As far as a good California casual wine, I recommend Almaden, Cabernet Sauvignon. It is cheap, but it has a good flavor like the more expensive wines.

In California we buy it by the box. When you go to see movies on the beach at night and stuff you will see people with boxes of Almaden. People bring boxes of wine to events, etc. 

That would be a good television commercial to show to the people of China to sell them California wine, you could show a movie party in California on the beach at night and everyone is drinking from a box of Almaden wine. And there can be commercials with people partying and dancing on the beach in California like an Annette Funicello movie, while they all drink from a box of Almaden wine. We can get the Chinese to associate California wine with good times and with fun and with parties, etc.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almaden_Vineyards

And you can mix California Sparkling Wine with Sunkist Orange Juice to make Mimosas. Those would be easy to market to the Chinese.

And we can get the Chinese to associate California with being a fun place with good wine and lots of parties.

Salute,

Tony V.

[kidcarter8]

Also be sure to remember all the people across the globe that the US killed and maimed and displaced in its endless series of wars.

Indeed.

Imagine where we would be had we entered no wars....

[josh]

https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/31/politics/michael-flynn-qanon/index.html

Michael Flynn should be court martialed.

[bankshot1]

Also be sure to remember all the people across the globe that the US killed and maimed and displaced in its endless series of wars.

Indeed.

Imagine where we would be had we entered no wars....

The collaborators would probably be fine.

But the unlucky ones would probably be in concentration-work camps in US and Europe and Asia working as slave labor for the former axis powers.

the really unlucky ones, depending on your view of luck, would have been massacred.

[josh]

[bodiddley]

Imagine where we would be had we entered no wars....

For the last 75 years, since WWII, every US war has been pointless and/or disastrous.
While CIA activities such as the coup in Iran against the democratically elected leader and the CIA operations in Afghanistan vs. the Soviet Union had serious blowback that caused extensive harm to the US.

Banana trees are great and a lot tougher than you'd expect.  Since they grow form underground rhizomes, they bounce back after being cut down entirely and after fairly cold winters.  When I was young we had a neighbor who grew banana trees in central Jersey which seemed unlikely to me at the time.  But having planted two banana tress 15 years ago and watched them spread and become over a dozen, I've been a big fan.

My other garden favorites:
- hydrangeas (snowball plants) which grow like mad outdoors, and droop to tell you when they need water.
- bamboo, which is persistent and spreads nicely, and you can even eat the shoots in Spring.  Purple bamboo looks nice.
- basil, which is an annual, but you can gather the seeds and plant them around March.  Fresh basil is really nice to cook with.

[josh]

Not sure Korea was pointless or disastrous.

Not claiming it wasn't, but that it has not seemed to me to be.

[FlyingVProd]

It says "In God We Trust" on our money, and here is what the Bible says...

Psalm 82:3-4 New International Version (NIV)

3 Defend the weak and the fatherless;
    uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
4 Rescue the weak and the needy;
    deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

-----

Some stuff was stupid, like supporting both sides in Nicaragua, Carter supported the Sandinistas, while Reagan supported the Contras, I have friends from Nicaragua who were very upset about that, we supported both sides in Nicaragua while they killed each other and destroyed their country.

The Bible also says "Blessed are the Peacemakers."

We have had a lot of success by trying to be peacemakers and giving business loans to poor people so that they can become farmers, etc, and by funding schools for the children, etc. Colombia is one place where we have had success. And the current President of Colombia attended Harvard, he is great, though he has had some problems lately. I wish the best for Colombia.

Also, we need to support the people of Poland, etc. We need to support freedom and democracy around the world.

We need to stand up for what we believe in, but we need to be peacemakers, and we cannot support both sides in wars where they are killing each other like we did in Nicaragua. That was stupid.

Salute,

Tony V.

[josh]

https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/31/us/illinois-bill-ban-police-deception-minors-trnd/index.html

An important bill. It should be law everywhere.

[bankshot1]

Not sure Korea was pointless or disastrous.

Not claiming it wasn't, but that it has not seemed to me to be.

"Police Action"

Its an interesting question whether the Cold War, the one fought from from 1945-1991, between the US and its Western European allies against the Soviet Union and China and their respective allies was a war worth fighting. I would say it was, for various reasons, but the benefits may have been negated by the US involvement in hot wars in retaliation to 9/11. In any case it may take another century to see how it plays out. Particularly how Chinese power develops on a global basis.