Open Thread Monday 06-15-15


Good Morning Good People

A little pick-me-up music to join the coffee.

Monday morning humor taken from High Rise, a musical, circa 1975, London.
Setting the scene, a pastor switches to a commercial from his TV show and sings:

Good morning you dogs all across the nation
We've got a dish that's a real sensation
Down to breakfast and the morning mail
A glass of milk and a wag of you tail
Get your teeth around some real good chow
You know it has to be a bowl of Bow Wow
Bow Wow
The really good dog food for dogs
Devised by dogs for dogs
Full of vitamins, proteins and iron compounds
The really delicious dog food for dogs
Bow Wow
So good in fact
We've even heard of humans trying it.

Of course, we still think Garrison Keiller stole our idea, haha.

Now on to action for today, read the TPP and use the number listed to call congresscritters, especially Nancy Pelosi.
Tell Nancy that we don’t want a deal which trades our constitution for fascism, at any price, period. https://www.readthetpp.com/

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Democrats would be more likely to support a controversial trade package that was defeated on Friday if Republicans would support a long-term transportation funding package.

Pelosi, who helped sink President Obama's trade package in a Friday vote by announcing her opposition in a dramatic floor speech, signaled she wants Republicans to consider a deal involving highway funding in a letter to her conference. http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/244860-pelosi-highway-bill-woul...

Hillary speaks at last signifying nothing...

"In my time, eight years in the Senate, I voted for some trade agreements and I voted against others. I think I have a pretty good idea of what we can do to meet the tests that I believe any trade agreement, especially TPP must meet. It needs to, number one, protect American workers, number two, it needs to raise wages and create good jobs at home, number three, it needs to be in our national security interests. I’ve been saying that for months. Now, here’s what I think should happen now. In order to get a deal that meets these high standards, the president should listen to, and work with, his allies in Congress, who have expressed their concerns about the impact that a weak agreement would have on our workers, to make sure we get the best, strongest deal possible and, if we don’t get it, there should be no deal," said Clinton.

Clinton, who has been criticized for not speaking out earlier on TPP, has not explicitly endorsed it, preferring to wait until negotiations among its 12 Pacific Rim partners are complete.

http://www.voanews.com/content/hillary-clinton-speaks-out-on-asia-free-t...

I enjoy Tim Robbins:

The sun is low in the sky when Tim Robbins strides into view in the grounds of the amphitheatre in Lyon. He is 56, tall (6ft 4½ inches “with a temper” as he once put it) and his white shirt is unbuttoned. He stoops to greet me beneath a cluster of cherry trees in the sloping gardens and I notice he has the combination of stature and softness that suggests a kindly fairytale character — a Silver Giant, rather than a Selfish one. His hair, a mishmash of grubby grey and bright white, is swept back in a mane that nearly reaches his collar.

http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/jun/14/tim-robbins-interview-repub...
Learn more about Robbins and The Actor's Gang here: http://www.theactorsgang.com/history

Monday's poem:

Lovers

lay your hand on top of mime,
for a while

feel

come what may and May does spring

easing winter’s dull

unless you go downhill

lay your hand on mine ….

Time does very well.

Have a great day!

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Welcome to Monday mornings Smiley. Looking forward to your OTs. Really want to thank you and JtC for giving me the summer off.

First Hillary on TPP. I posted a series of articles trailing her positions on TPP in a diary at GOS. Way too many and much to duplicate here, so here is the link to the thread. To no one's surprise, she was for it before she was agin it.

Next up - I owe this to Bernie Sanders to make up for the jaded review I gave his appearance on Face the Nation.

Bad ass Bernie takes on Hillary and the media: "Do I look like Hillary Clinton?"

"It's not quite clear to me what Secretary Clinton is suggesting," Sanders (I-Vt.) told reporters here. "I am doing everything that I can to defeat fast track. . . . I am not clear, nor do I believe the American people are clear, as to what Secretary Clinton's position is. Is she for it or is she against it? Those are your two options. The president is for it. Most Democrats in the Congress are against it."

Sanders said Clinton's indecisiveness on fast-track legislation "is not leadership." Asked by a reporter what Clinton is trying to do politically with her statements, Sanders replied, "Do I look like Hillary Clinton?"

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

smiley7's picture

Happy to assist for a few weeks and hope my content is okay. That's a good thread of yours over on the orange satin. My concern is that Pelosi may be playing a shell game for political cover..we will see.
I'm a Sander's volunteer and am so enjoying his pointed take downs of so called journalists as in "That's the wrong question," and "Who cares, eight people?"

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I can't remember ever seeing her do anything sincere.

Your OT is great. Thannks. (damn n - either wo't work or works too much)

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

smiley7's picture

I fully expect an attempt "to turn lemons into lemonade,' from Pelosi. The TAA is stupid on its face by acknowledging what history has proved, America loses jobs in these trade deals.

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shaharazade's picture

get the riff raff off my Pacific Heights lawn and it's off the table are what you can expect from Pelosi.

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Shahryar's picture

I'm foggy on the details. It was something like the Dems traded the Repubs permanent tax relief for a limited run of unemployment benefits, guilt tripping anyone opposed by asking "are you against people out of work?"

I can see this happening here too.

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smiley7's picture

not letting the Bush tax cuts sundown. Thanks for the reminder. We had the repugs over the barrell, traded away for as you say, a little 'face saving."

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great OT, smiley and thanks a ton for filling in for a while, got to run off to work right now on this damp and raining day, I'll try to pop in periodically. Thanks again, my friend.

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smiley7's picture

I feel fortunate to share in this good company of folks you have attracted to c99.

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mimi's picture

nice OT and soothing music.

You know whom/what Bernie Sander saying "Do I look like Hillary Clinton?" reminds me off? Doc Martin. He can have the same "charme"... Smile

I hope Bernie Sanders keeps playing hard ball with the press. They deserve it.

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smiley7's picture

Sad to say, I missed the Doc Martin series. I'll have to find a few episodes. I do stream movies when I've the time. Mostly, I depend on folks on social media to suggest something and then go view it on the web. Thanks for the suggestion and yes to Bernie's continued success.

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mimi's picture

it's that kind of distracting entertainment, which is cute, but only to make you forget for a couple of minutes all the other stuff that's going on in your mind. I have rarely the nerves to watch it. Don't search it, if you never stumbled over it.

I like your avatar image, btw.

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smiley7's picture

British Comedy and will share a short story. On my first visit to Stratford-upon-Avon to see The Royal Shakespeare Company, my flatmate, who was Scottish, and me decided to take in a special fund-raising matinee staged by British comedians. The house was packed and the two hours of rancorous laughter put us in good cheer; although as a green-behind-the-ears American, I missed most of the punch lines. Twas an experience to remember. Over time, I learned that in British culture sending someone up is a sign of respect.
Oh and that first real English breakfast at the B&B, simply scrumptious as was the late evening pints with the cast and crew at the Dirty Duck.

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plays have you seen there, smiley?

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smiley7's picture

Macbeth comes to mind starring Ian McKellen and Judi Dench and Terry Hand's Henry V. You ask of my most thrilling time. I spent two years in British Drama school, my grad years in London (we often got free tickets to the West End as well). Most of our instructors were RSC members like Dench and John Broome, choreographer of the Peter Brooks, famous Midsummer Night's Dream. I was a fortunate farm boy. My favorite Shakespeare production of all was actually in Central Park, Raul Julia's Othello. When he screamed Desdemona, you could hear a pin drop. Maybe I'm a little biased as he and I were drinking buddies meeting almost very night at Backstage when he was playing Dracula on 42th Street and I was playing Andre de Chagny In Phantom at Provincetown Playhouse in the Village and we had mutual friends. Oops, don't get me started, I've tales to tell that would mostly only entertain me; although my big ego needs stroking from time to time. Thanks for letting me share the memories.

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mimi's picture

he is funny though.

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is hilarious in the dry English comedy way.

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smiley7's picture

The story is long, but to shorten it, I grew so tired of having to raise money around the clock to keep artistic ventures going that I burned out after about 30 years. Now I have memories.

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mimi's picture

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very impressive smiley, I'd love to hear more of your tales, although I'm more of an opera fan I do love Shakespeare too, especially the Henriad (I would have loved to have seen Henry V that you reference). I have a digital copy of Macbeth starring Ian McKellen, great stuff. I think your experiences would make a great essay or Open Thread, please, tell us some more. [stands at computer monitor clapping for an encore]

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mimi's picture

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that's me. Der Ring des Nibelungen is my favorite of favorites.

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mimi's picture

Not on PBS or so, I mean a real life performance.

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I haven't seen a live performance, the Ring Cycle is 4 separate operas, about 15 hours long altogether and is is stretched out over 4 days (hint: it's expensive). It is on my bucket list though. The many DVD performances that are available are some of the best live productions, it's the next best thing if you can't afford a live show, but still not like being there, some day.

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mimi's picture

schedule your trip around performances. I looked around online and there are lots of places you might like to see, which offer the whole shebang, like in Budapest, Leipzig, Minden, Bayreuth etc.

I know, I couldn't afford it either, but ... miracles happen. Smile

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winning the lottery is my retirement plan. Bayreuth is the big one, I'd love to visit there.

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lotlizard's picture

It's kind of the Broadway musical comedy among Wagner's works.

Apropos musicals, the success of Andrew Lloyd Webber has always mystified me. How does he manage to come up with these melodies that to me already sound like hackneyed clichés on very first hearing?

After "Hair," I gave up on Broadway decades ago. Only recently rediscovering it thanks to a few nuggets like "Avenue Q."

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hecate's picture

can't make this stuff up: Bush III, who will today become the 5678th nematode to declare for the 2016 presidency, says "his father, the first President George Bush, is the 'greatest man alive' and the mere thought of him might make him cry."

This is The Greatest Man Alive who famously said, after a US Navy warship blew an Iranian civilian airliner out of the sky, "I'll never apologize for the United States of America—ever—I don't care what the facts are."

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10qatUWwIeg]

In that clip he speaks of "keeping our eyes wide open," which recalls the time The Greatest Man Alive borrowed some crack from his son, Bush II, took it into the Oval Office, and went on TV with it (sound doesn't begin until 0:24):

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkyBfJfcIoM]

When Bush III is elected, he will have his brother, Bush II, with no apologies, and eyes wide open, paint his official White House portrait.

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of Dorian Gray Bush...

When Bush III is elected, he will have his brother, Bush II, with no apologies, and eyes wide open, paint his official White House portrait.

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hecate's picture

Bush II can paint Bush III with big doleful eyes, like in the Keane paintings. Or portray him soaking in the bathtub, as in Bush II's own self-portrait. Or try a two-fer, with a painting of Bush III and Vladimir Putin riding horses, shirtless, across the plain. Include in the latter work a shirtless Xi and a shirtless Netanyahu, and you'd have a sort of Four Horsemen effect.

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smiley7's picture

I'll donate the paint, good one.

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hecate's picture

of them should have an eye-patch. Putin—I think he'd consider it raffish, a Moshe Dayan-style eye-patch.

For some reason, generals, politicians, and related nutbars don't go in much for eye-patches these days. Why is that?

Clinton II, she would look good with two eye-patches.

Then there's Mullah Omar. When he got wounded in the eye, he just ripped the eye out. He scoffed at any eye-patch; just wanders around with the hole. Dude's hardcore.

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lotlizard's picture

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on a wall at the ICC in The Hague.

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hecate's picture

they have a rogue's gallery there? That's an interesting thought. Perfect place for Bush II to be the court painter. He could start by rendering himself. : /

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daddy Bush makes me want to cry too. Absolutely not for the same reason.

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

lotlizard's picture

Having the U.S. join the international treaty condemning torture was of the few genuine positive achievements of Ronald Reagan's administration.

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triv33's picture

Got a chance to stop by and what do I see? It's like you knew I was coming smiley, Cat in the morning~

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I shave my legs with Occam's Razor~

smiley7's picture

thanks for stopping in, big smile here.

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shaharazade's picture

good to read you here. Hope you come back it's a semi-sane community here. Thought of you when Cat Steven was the song this morning.

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mimi's picture

... how many dailykos diaries will be written about HRC and Bernie Sanders?

Let's make a bet and the one who comes closest to the real number ... is going a freedom cake fedexed by yours truly on the day after.

Sigh, it shows I am nervous and bored. Sorry.

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Big Al's picture

I'm in for 5 bucks.

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mimi's picture

I am in for 2400 diaries.

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Big Al's picture

I'm a retired federal govt employee, previously held a secret clearance. Interesting message from OPM.

"I am writing to inform you (China) that the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) recently became aware of a cybersecurity incident (China) affecting its systems and data that may have exposed (China) your personal information.

Since the incident was identified (China), OPM has partnered with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) to determine (China) the impact to Federal personnel. OPM immediately implemented additional security measures (China) and will continue to improve the security (China) of the sensitive information we manage.

You are receiving this notification because (China) we have determined that the data compromised (China) in this incident may have included your personal information, such as your name, Social Security number (China), date and place of birth, and current or former address. To help ensure your (China) privacy, upon your next login to OPM systems, you may be required to (China) change your password."

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smiley7's picture

Don't know how to advise except to watch banking and CC transactions. This Big brother stuff may be our downfall. Thanks for sharing that Big Al, it's unnerving to say the least.

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Big Al's picture

"credit monitoring service and identity theft insurance through CSID, a company that specializes in identity theft protection and fraud resolution. All potentially affected individuals will receive a complimentary subscription to CSID Protector Plus for 18 months. Every affected individual, regardless of whether or not they explicitly take action to enroll, will have $1 million of identity theft insurance and access to full-service identity restoration provided by CSID until 12/7/16."

If I was an identify theft protection company, I think I'd hire some hackers. No, not really because I wouldn't do that, but qui bono? I wonder who has stock in CSID?

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smiley7's picture

a contractor in waiting?

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Unabashed Liberal's picture

personnel files were hacked almost a decade ago.

I must say, it's not much, but I wouldn't turn it down. Of course, the Government didn't cover me--it goes by Social Security numbers--so I had to purchase my own credit monitoring service. After all, one without the other, was pretty much useless since our credit ratings/reports are so intertwined for decades.

Please keep us posted if you learn more about the breach.

Nothing adverse (that we know of) came out of the breach of Mr M's records. I hope that you'll be as fortunate.

If they get my records, then we're batting 2-0.

Wink

Mollie


"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."--Helen Keller
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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

Unabashed Liberal's picture

Mollie

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."--Helen Keller

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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

lotlizard's picture

Is "I've seen the China" the new "I've seen the fnords" ??

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Unabashed Liberal's picture

and I hope to post a video that we both enjoyed at EB on Joe's birthday--Torna A Surriento, on one of your future threads. I recall very much enjoying videos that you posted that evening, as well.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Believe me, I've in favor of infrastructure spending, but I can't support another hit against Medicare (piecemeal Grand Bargain) to accomplish it.

I'm almost stunned that Democrats are treating our seniors' social insurance programs as a 'cash cow' for their discretionary spending. The only reason that my Family hasn't called Pelosi's office about this, is that we always get a recording.

Hopefully, the final legislation will spell out exactly what the trade-off was for the Medicare cuts. Sometimes, the language can be very ambiguous. I don't know enough about the TAA to know if it was a completely useless bill. But I do know that some of the dislocated worker bills in the past were--but that was mostly because Congress refused to fund them, not inherent in the substance of the bill. Why Democrats don't push to "trade" war spending for discretionary spending, beats me.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

BTW, I'll hope to add a bit about FSC's New Hampshire townhall that I just heard live (on XM Radio). She sounded a bit like Stephen Moore from the 'Club For Growth.' Now, she was in New Hampshire, but if this is any indication of "how" she plans to carry out her so-called liberal agenda, there may be a revolt, yet.

I must admit, the more that FSC says, the more that I'm beginning to believe that Senator Sanders might could win the Dem nomination. However, I do believe that much of this depends upon the "facts and details of her agenda" becoming well known in the Dem Party Base community.

And I hope to do my part in achieving that. I shudder to think that there could possibly be a third term of WJC's toxic austerity regime, especially since much of today's inequality is due to his Administration's privatization schemes, deregulation, and the weakening, and in some cases, the destruction of vital New Deal programs.

I didn't realize until a couple of years ago, but it was in one of WJC's Ombudsmen Bills that MERP (Medicaid Estate Recovery Program) was greatly expanded to recoup medical costs--beyond skilled nursing facilities--from the elderly poor and disabled.

In one instance, the Bush Administration actually overturned one of the more unreasonable measures that instituted 'recovery' against the estates of the elderly poor for the measly amount of monthly assistance that they received to pay for their Medicare premiums. BTW, this is a fairly small group of low income seniors--just above the FPL (Federal Poverty Level) who don't qualify for Medicaid coverage. Unconscionable!

And, many addicts were completely cut off from the ability to draw SSDI--topics that I will expand upon much closer to the election.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Anyhoo, welcome as a 'sub' for DT for the summer.

This is a perfect thread to share a video of a 6-year-old's absolutely adorable and fantastic performance in her dance recital, which I'll do in a separate comment.

Mollie


"Every time I lose a dog, he takes a piece of my heart. Every new dog gifts me with a piece of his. Someday, my heart will be total dog, and maybe then I will be just as generous, loving, and forgiving."--Author Unknown


Visit Us At Caucus99Percent.Com

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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

smiley7's picture

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"Just Elect Bernie!" appears underneath it.

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Unabashed Liberal's picture

[Johanna Channeling Aretha Franklin!, Elissa Colón, YouTube]

Reposted From "Latin Times Pulse."

Six-year-old Johanna Colón not only owned the stage during her recital, but also is now owning everyone’s heart with her performance of Aretha Franklin’s “Respect.” On Sunday, proud momma Elissa Colón posted a video of her little girl’s ballet recital on her Facebook account, and in just two days, Johanna has become an Internet personality. With over half a million shares, Elissa is trying to encourage people to keep sharing her daughter’s video in order to make it on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” Other talk shows and networks have been approaching the Colón family, and would love to have them on their shows. Watch this little girl living and giving on stage! RESPECT!

Clapping

Mollie


"Every time I lose a dog, he takes a piece of my heart. Every new dog gifts me with a piece of his. Someday, my heart will be total dog, and maybe then I will be just as generous, loving, and forgiving."--Author Unknown
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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

smiley7's picture

Loved the shout outs of "that's my girl." You've made my day posting this. TKU

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Unabashed Liberal's picture

/Their performance brought a huge grin to my face.

Heck, I've watched this video several times since I ran across it. It provides quite a pleasant pick-me-up and/or relief from political blogging.

Also, got a kick out of Dad's 'cheers'--understandable that he was happy with her performance, and very proud.

Wink

Mollie


"Every time I lose a dog, he takes a piece of my heart. Every new dog gifts me with a piece of his. Someday, my heart will be total dog, and maybe then I will be just as generous, loving, and forgiving."--Author Unknown
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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

smiley7's picture

Oh well, more to learn about formatting. Thanks again for being here and posting the vid of the day. Darling, she is! Gives us hope.

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to get the poster to display you'll either need to upload it to a image hosting site and link to it from there or upload it to our site with our image uploader and link to it from here. Make sure the image isn't copyrighted, we had a request to remove a copyrighted image last week. Need any further help, let me know.

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smiley7's picture

I tried to upload from my computer, file failed. Then I tried to link to dropbox, no luck??

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to the poster again and let me try.

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smiley7's picture

It's Martini or Pabst time, I'll work on it this week and email you; enjoy the Blues and evening.

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have a great evening and enjoy that PBR, "The Beer that made Milwaukee Famous"!

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