TriGirl

Sad news indeed. See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus Shut Up & Jump!

How much does Jared get from the "company owned by" his family? The headline does read (emphasis mine), but it is really easy to skip that plural and interpret it to say Jared Kushner himself is the benefactor of that transaction. Just because he comes from a prominent family does not mean he benefits from the deal. However, the situation should lead to a look at how his role in the administration benefits the company. Like the president saying he will have no discussions with his kids that might impact the Trump corporation, I wonder how much contact he regularly has with the family members who run the company. It does bear looking into. See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus Shut Up & Jump!

Wow, lots of states already in on this one. The last I heard (on the way to work this morning), only Hawaii was seeking an injunction -- and it's not even mention in the article! See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus Shut Up & Jump!

I didn't know about this appointment. I thought he was a very decent candidate when he ran briefly for the party nomination back in 2012. He has served under both Bush's & also Obama. What are your issues with him in this new posting? My interpretation of that comment was because the president previously didn't like him for "giving [everything away] to China," implying he would also give what's left to Russia. See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus Shut Up & Jump!

Can I change my vote? Then again, as the tide rolls, I'd be changing it almost daily. I voted that I thought he would get through this term. The Scandal of the Week trend shows that he's likely to get impeached one day, then by the end of the week it's at least tapped down enough that no one is going to call for his removal (hence the completion of the term). Then he does something reasonable, making this possibility even less likely. But 24-36 hours later, we have a new outrageous act/comment/discovery, and it's back to anticipating grounds for removal. ...not to mention, I seriously wonder about his health. Is he experiencing the early stages of dementia? Are these signs of possible degenerative diseases? It's a concern. See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus Shut Up & Jump!

Let me assure you this is how guys treat 90% of other guys as well (except for the hoping just to sleep with you part). Change jobs as a guy and 90% of the time you're as good as a ghost to them. Generally speaking, if somebody doesn't need to be in touch or can't derive a benefit you'll simply lose contact. It's not a guy/girl thing. It's just the way it is with guys and pretty much everybody. Note the parts I bolded in my original post. The field of my experience is military, so we all move to new jobs rather regularly. In one example, I am still friends with one, who asked me to be part of the sword detail for his wedding. The other guys previously from that group (also invited to perform this task) turned out to still all be friends and in regular contact, though all had moved to different billets as well. See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus Shut Up & Jump!

No, he commented on the thread title. I would say it was more of a thread drift than commenting on the legislation, since the original POST explained that the title was referring to the HC legislation. See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus Shut Up & Jump!

Don't think we had an actual cost, we just handed the guy $20 US and got 4-5 bags full of them, we ate (about 15 of us), filled up and still had some left over. Then again, we did literally just stop the convoy on the side of the road at a shack, hopped out and bought them, so it wasn't really an exact science IIRC, in Bahrain, they were two for 1 BD. SOO good! Then I saw a place when passing through Pensacola that advertised Shawarma. So NOT good! I also learned they are made a little differently in different countries anyway, so not sure whether I'd even like the ones from Kuwait. Bahraini ones were definitely spectacular, and yeah, thanks guys -- now I crave one! See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus Shut Up & Jump!

Fox news is using anonymous sources to vet their expert.....priceless. Because Sweden doesn't have an embassy, or a consulate, anywhere near Washington DC or New York! They couldn't possibly have vetted this guy through the embassy's own press office in time. Oh, wait. Nah, it's just "easier" and "faster" to ask a bunch of their own trusted sources about someone's credentials. See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus Shut Up & Jump!

His announcement with transcript: http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2017/02/21/full-remarks-milo-delivers-speech-press-conference-amid-video-scandal/ Executive summary: "I'm the a victim here." Fixed it to say what I got from his statement. I read the whole thing. He uses his own abuse as an explanation, and a bit of an excuse, but in several places he apologizes for his comments and explains that he listened to them again and realizes how they were taken (and that they were wrong). Sure, he also points fingers at the timing of those videos being highlighted (when they existed for quite some time), and questions the motives of his detractors. It isn't a totally humbled retraction of his actions. But at least he acknowledged that the things he said were wrong and inappropriate, and apologized for harm caused to other victims. Doesn't make me like the guy, but I don't think he's evil incarnate, either. See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus Shut Up & Jump!

What's worse is when you're a woman in a male-dominated career field. You trust that the coworkers you hang out with think of you on the same level as everyone else.... until you all move to different jobs, and they're all still friends/in touch, but no one contacts you anymore. Turns out they just liked having "a girl" around, and didn't even respect you as an equal. Some were even hoping just to sleep with you, not caring at all about you as a person, let alone as a peer. Wankers. ["you" is used in the generic sense here -- not you personally, Nat] See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus Shut Up & Jump!

I heard similar effects that Pres. Clinton had on people in person. People who could never get behind his politics or programs, suddenly were in his camp upon meeting him in person. It seems he has one of those personalities that just wins people over in person, like he just exuded charisma. Too bad this one exudes an air of hatred and exclusion. See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus Shut Up & Jump!

Only if the act was consensual. So, not necessarily. See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus Shut Up & Jump!

The third (and I think the most likely) option was that this was simply a loyalty test by Trump; he has used them before. Flynn knew it was illegal, knew he _might_ get caught - but also knew that he had to pass the test or be fired immediately. So he took a calculated risk. Or it was the other way around -- after being dismissed from DIA, he wanted to show he was still a player. Demonstrating his personal relationship with the Russian Ambassador may have seemed like a good way to show his value to a new administration (especially one so opposed by the previous administration). And sometimes an asshole is just an asshole. Agreed. IMHO, he was just using his assholedness (or as one of my podcasts would call it, "cuntery") to advance his own position in the government. See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus Shut Up & Jump!

Hmmm... I head that the last time they had a quorum for the general membership meeting was a few decades ago. As for the plenary session of the BOD, at least this ONE I attended last weekend, good work was done in the committees, and the plenary was productive because of that. Perhaps if more members attend when they can, we can keep those BOD meetings on the same level, as I would hope a board member would be embarrassed to be caught by a constituent not taking these meetings seriously. (Hopefully, that's why the members you spoke of are no longer board members?) ETA: as we now have three years between elections, I really hope more members will take an opportunity to attend at least one BOD meeting near them, in order to make a more informed decision when voting. Yeah, I know it's a pipe dream, but the more we're involved, the better our representatives can work for us. See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus Shut Up & Jump!

I do agree that there's value added in getting together, and it's a whole lot more appealing to go somewhere. Sitting at home at your computer all day would be quite unapealing. Maybe move to a Winter Meeting virtual and Summer Meeting in person. I would be interested to know what it the bottom line is for one of these meetings, to include pulling staff from VA and their normal daily jobs. The BOD members live all over the country, so moving the meeting means it gets more accessible for everyone at some point. Have you attended one of these meetings? A lot of work and discussion gets done in side meetings of the committees, and during breaks when speaking to others in attendance. More discussions also take place over dinner and breakfast. I was just in Chattanooga for some of the proceeds last weekend. Trust me, these board members aren't out carousing the city. By the end of the day, most just want to eat in the hotel, maybe have a drink there, and get some sleep. At least during the small portion I was able to attend/observe, I can say your member dollars seemed to be spent judiciously on this trip. (as far as pulling staff members from their jobs: the meeting was held over a weekend. Only a couple of workdays were spent away from the office for those who attended, and they were doing a lot of work virtually at the same time) To everyone: I STRONGLY recommend you plan to attend the next BOD meeting closets to you. I think you'll learn a lot!! See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus Shut Up & Jump!

That article could have been written about someone after involvement in a school shooting. See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus Shut Up & Jump!

The third (and I think the most likely) option was that this was simply a loyalty test by Trump; he has used them before. Flynn knew it was illegal, knew he _might_ get caught - but also knew that he had to pass the test or be fired immediately. So he took a calculated risk. Or it was the other way around -- after being dismissed from DIA, he wanted to show he was still a player. Demonstrating his personal relationship with the Russian Ambassador may have seemed like a good way to show his value to a new administration (especially one so opposed by the previous administration). See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus Shut Up & Jump!

Yeah, though that guy was adopted by the Sanduskys, not their flesh and blood. I'm not sure that would have made a difference anyway. According to the Guardian article, they were all adopted. See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus Shut Up & Jump!

Funny thing - the right wing lie machine sites are reporting this vote fraud case as evidence that Trump is correct, without any mention that the perp is a Republican I like how mostly the apologists are citing the dual registrations as "proof," yet failing to point out the examples within the Trump family (and Mr. Trump himself, IIRC). See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus Shut Up & Jump!

But that illustration would imply the "fence" was intended to keep out Canadians! I wonder how it was received at that time. See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus Shut Up & Jump!

Ah, Alpine Valley. Yeah, a glorified bunny hill, marked with black diamonds! See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus Shut Up & Jump!

Add about 1/8 tsp of baking powder in the water. Makes the egg shells slide right off the cooked eggs. See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus Shut Up & Jump!

Oh, holy crap!! If you make it through to the end, those spots are hilarious! See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus Shut Up & Jump!

And how much time did they spend over the last three years working on their edits, or a new plan altogether? Apparently, none. They spent their time only trying to repeal it, instead of identifying issues they could improve in the meantime. So when the current president was so confident it could be repealed on "Day 1," it was because he thought he had the congressional support to do so. Then again, he also said he would replace it with something "terrific," with no indication of what that was. That tells me that assuming my above point is true, then he also had some confidence that they were actually working on a new plan. See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus Shut Up & Jump!