Open Thread - 1/5/24 - TGIF Odds and Ends
The holidays came to an abrupt end this week. The baby lawyer came to town to see if he could put the oldster lawyer, that would be me, into a stupor, by dragging out a 90 minute hearing to a 4 hour trial, dazzling the court with cool spiral notebooks, fully indexed, containing exhibits that were useless.
This oldster stayed awake because it was great fun to lodge 100 objections. (One did not get sustained, but I am okay with a good/not perfect record) If I hadn't shut him down, the trial would had taken a week.
I have better things to do with my time.
So, after the shock of intense work after such a lazy holiday, I am glad to share what went on at my home that Dear One captured for my viewing pleasure after work. We just do not have a whole lot of Ruby-crowned Kinglets around here. But today, one (a male) banged against the very same window the Northern Parula has banged on for 3 years.
Now, about the Thursday night leftover chili con carne: It was even better than the fresh-from-the-stove meal on Wednesday night, but only because I am not a Mexican who lives in Mexico. You see, true traditional chili is chili meat with spices. They will accept chili con carne as traditional, too. But, Americans always think they have these better ideas. They add onions. Mexicans might accept that, not necessarily. But tomato sauce, or in our case, fire roasted diced tomatoes? The chili with red hot peppers folks would run through the night screaming. Seems we had a green bell pepper in the fridge for whatever reason, so Dear One added it. Now, the chili with red hot pepper folks would not only run and scream through the night, they just might have to stop frequently to throw up. Well, it was delicious, to us. Because of the demographics in Texas, we have a variety of chili packaged seasonings and do not have to start from scratch grinding of red hot chili peppers.
Oh, that reminds me...
This is the year I learned of dom/sub master/slave contracts. Check it out on Google. People sign those things, then come to attorney when they wind up in a hospital or jail. Have your fun, but do not expect any attorney or any judge to be sympathetic. Do your kinky stuff by handshake agreement, otherwise you might be called Mr./Mrs. Slave.
We could go on and on about crooked politicians making Big Bucks in the stock market, or the looming ME war, or the real change we can bring about by this election (I kid), or come up with a simple plan for subtle resistance.
That's my plan, and I am sticking to it!
This is an open thread, so let 'er rip, people!
Comments
Good morning, good people!
I can't wait to read stupid shit propaganda from MSM! I am beginning to find it humorous in style, if not content.
What is going on in your neck of the woods?
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
MSM propaganda is a guessing game
You can see Alex Christoforou playing it in his videos. "What is this story really about?" It's not what it says it is; we know that already.
"the Democratic Party is not 'left'." -- Sabrina Salvati
We know it, and
Alex knows it, but the vast majority of people, from all walks of life, all income and education levels, do not.
It amazes me that some of my most sophisticated, cultured, friends from all professions, have NO damn clue. Whatever they read in the holy NYT is true!
Have a wonderful weekend, cass!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Hey good morning
Glad you wore down the upstart with objections. Experience pays.
When our feeders run low, the birdies will latch onto the screens and
peer in the windows at us. Like yo, do your damn job humans!
Speaking of aging-out .. found this today:
The $10 your grandmother stuck in your birthday card that was lost in the commotion of your birthday party in 1971 would, if found today, be worth $1.20.
The buck sure ain't what it used to be. Crazy.
Thanks for the TGIF OT!
The devaluation of the dollar
based upon that simple story makes it so clear, anyone who has no education in economics can understand we are well and truly f'cked.
Bitching birds! We were drawing one or two birds a day, so put the feeder away. But for the past couple of days, they are making a come back, and doing their bitching about our human failures.
Well, it was fun for me to smack down the hipster from the Big City who, like always, mistake country lawyers for country bumpkins. At their peril.
Don't know about you, but I have absolutely no plans for the weekend, but that can change very quickly if Dear One puts his mind to it.
Take care, friend!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
The sole mechanism of devaluation is interest.
Charging interest on loans or paying interest on savings was once believed to be the work of the devil. Recall Jesus and the money changers. When interest is allowed, it naturally expands the money supply and devalues the currency.
There are quite a few stable and healthy economies and currencies around the world that do not allow interest to be charged or earned. Especially across the Middle East. If the world economy ever collapsed, it will be because of huge balloons of unpaid interest. Interest was invented to enrich money handlers. There are better kinds of profit sharing that does not expand and inflate the money supply.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
so if the fed stops paying interest on the debt
that would "save" a trillion a year?
In a few years, we might get down to the principal.
Foreign nations that buy Treasuries
often do so for reasons other than collecting interest. The US Treasury has contracts for those who want to hold their money in Treasuries but do not wish to collect interest.
Most treasuries are sold to Americans, and they hold these bonds to balance their investment portfolios. They are definitely in it for the interest. Instead of paying interest, owning them could offer other incentives that do not expand the money supply, which is a benefit that rewards the banking industry primarily.
This is the incentive for policies promoting population growth and the constant increase in the GDP. The rat race.
This would be an impossible transition for Western-style capitalism, which is largely predatory. Capitalism, however, works just fine without interest. The same financial services continue to exist using other forms of profit sharing.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
I thank you for further clarity
and recently read that one of those Roman senators, perhaps Brutus, charged 40% interest on loans, and that failure to repay resulted in the debtor's death, that of his entire family, and the confiscation of the property. Aren't we pretty close to that today? Just sayin'...
Now, in the 60s, my late husband went to Mexico on a commercial truck run by his brother in law. He was pretty much a kid, a pre-teen, going along for the ride.
The truck ran up to this happening where an old man was having his feet stuck into a big pot of boiling water because he hadn't paid his debt. I can't really disclose details, but let's just say the debt collector was shot, the old man saved, and the truck drove away to much applause and protection.
Shit happens in Mexico, as it did in Merry Olde England back in the day...
What a world PR?
I love your comments, appreciate your knowledge and insight so much and I am so likely to be speaking for the whole c99 membership when I say that.
Have the best weekend evah!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Oh thanks.
I think I talk too much. However, I find your comments so interesting. And you are a talented storyteller, as well.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
I think you don't talk enough!
.
something about what I do is to condense. I always have 100 facts, but have to condense them to the 5 or 6 that matter, that overcome the 3 or 4 opposing side has that matter. Juries and judges want to cut to the chase.
I have a better way with words and stories when put on the spot, in front of the crowd, so to speak.
Oh, under pressure...a song!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
It is raining today.
Maybe a storm this afternoon. Good thing I have no outdoor activities planned.
The hipster lawyer, in his European styled suit and shoes, with a paralegal handing him all his pleadings and exhibits, even his pen, put on a witness to bash my client's babysitter as a Delta 8 head. I cross examined him about that year he took his family, which included the babysitter, to work on a pot farm. He denied it.
Well, last night, my client sent me a picture of the witness displaying his pot plants proudly, a picture taken in Colorado.
I think I will have my client file perjury charges on that witness, which will teach hipster to screen his witnesses better, perhaps school them on how to testify without committing a felony.
Fun f'king times!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hi all, Hi OtC,
and any other 'tC's' out there.
I would describe the Ruby-crowned Kinglet as about 4" and a quarter ounce of pure energy. They seem so jacked up at all times. Perhaps it is the constant wing-flicking. Interestingly Golden-crowned Kinglet is not a wing-flicker, and they stay high up so much harder to see, especially the beautiful crown. Which like Rubies crown, can be hidden, or exposed at will.
We have had only one Ruby around our place in Nov.-Dec., but which, seems to have moved on. The local park woods should have some, there are none. Here they are tied to the river in winter. The winter hatching mayfly we have is the primary food of all insectivores here in the hills in winter. The fast "chid-it" is the call of the Ruby. Their song is a beautiful explosive bubbly affair, incredible for coming from such a small bird, and sounding like a complicated discussion.
Usually the ruby crown is not visible. Raised when excited, especially when two males disagreeing.
Here is a Golden-crowned kinglet. Partial to conifers, call is a very very high thin 'see-see-see'.
Snippet of Ruby-crowned song: https://xeno-canto.org/735554
Don't ya just love those youngins trying to prove how brilliant they are?
They are in everything!
Have a great day all.... I gotta fly!
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
Well, maybe we have had more of these excitable boys
hanging around than we knew, given they can reveal their heads when they want to show off!
I see the wave of young lawyers depending on AI to guide them towards the facts most likely to persuade. Thing is, there is a GIGO issue. Nobody in the young crowd can think outside the box. They also do not question box contents.
oh...a song...
Have a wonderful and calming weekend, dysto!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Sounds like an interesting case...
Hope you take the other atty down a notch or two.
Your current rain arrives here tonight. Our two great nephews arrive this afternoon and are staying the night with us.
We, too, had a ruby crowned kinglet in our window a week or two ago. My photo was fuzzy but we had good viewing for a couple of days.
A chilly morning in the 30s, so indoor chores this AM. When it warms up this afternoon we're taking the row covers off the beds and let the young plants get some direct rain.
Have a great weekend everyone. Thanks for the OT otc!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
With gardens,
it is always something!
It is not as cold here, but it is cold enough for me!
How old are the relatives? Will they enjoy the woods and mountains, or will they expect video games? Lol! I hope you all enjoy it, keep the family ties nice and tight.
After dysto schooled me on the bird's ability to hide their crowns, I may have been looking at more of them than I realized. I do not recognize very many bird songs or chirpy bird calls!
I am glad I will be retiring in a few years. I do not like the direction the young hipsters are taking the practice of law.
Have a wonderful weekend with the garden, the great nephews, and all the wonders of your homestead!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
One of the rewards of retirement
-
having time to listen to the birds
Ah, retirement...
Sounds great, what with birds and all, but what if...do I really want to stop it all, or do I want to keep doing things like wills, deeds, documents for pro se divorce litigants, etc...which keep me out of the court house, off the court dockets, but keep an income stream for funsies, like travel, concerts, a goofy shopping trip for yet more western boots for us that we do not need? Lol!
The scarier thing I have seen is the old lawyers finally retire, and have dementia or some such, then die a couple of years later. It is like a use it or lose it theory of brain function. I can't count how many wonderful and venerable elderly lawyers I have known personally that thought they would finally be free of the shackles, then lost cognizance so fast, they never experienced the birds singing. Why rush into that? Where is the joy? Wouldn't I be better off getting to my feet, "Judge, I strenuously object to the argumentative nature of opposing counsel's questioning, ask that you admonish him!"...and then just drop dead? Lol! Hope I stay alive long enough to hear the magic word "sustained".
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Good morning otc. Sorry your holiday was so abruptly
and obnoxiously ended but glad you were able to have some fun in the process. It is perhaps good that one objection was not sustained because that will hopefully preclude the youngster from telling themselves and their client that the judge was simply rubber stamping all of your objections for some "reasons".
Heh, interesting that there are written contracts for such things; one wonders if they are for "goods", a chose in action, or "services" and the nature of any consideration deemed to have been given.
Great kinglet video. Having a kinglet about is both fun and cool, having multiples is even better, and, of course, a Parula is awesome.
Chili, I suspect, is in the eye of the beholder, somewhat like goulash or stew. A bunch of edibles in a pot with flavorings; to avoid all nomenclatural disputations, I will often call my more inspired and/or experimental/one-off creations of that ilk "mess" which can be either a name or quantifier.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Can't remember ever having made a chili
-
the same way twice. But always make a mess of the kitchen in the process.
Sometimes red beans, sometimes pinto, black or white. Beef, pork or chicken
are usually the proteins (unless of the meatless variety). Usually some frozen
tomatoes and bell peppers from the garden. Normally pretty mild, as our spice
tolerances are disparate. Hot sauce and salt on the table. Chicken or beef
stock depending, or just water works. A can of V8 if we have it.
Make enough for a few days, freeze the rest. Cook biscuits, tortillas or bread
to soak-up the sauce. Wife likes shredded cheese on hers, me not so much.
A good, hearty cold weather stew!
cheers
Make chili any way you want
and enjoy the hell out of it. Chili as a stew is wide open to culinary interpretation.
Of course, the chili I have know is Texas, New Mexico, and that is that for ideas and from inception.
A song inspiring Dear One for dinner tonight:
(performed at Gruene Hall, the place I gifted tickets to my secretary to see the Mavericks for New Year's Eve)
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
The long hearing was expected,
but I had a feeling it would be packed with nonsense for me to shut down with objections..
My client swung by the office on the way to court. He told me he was so stressed, he was to the point of throwing up. He asked me, "should I be?" I said nope, I got this.
The term we give to insider treatment at the expense of a non-local attorney is being "brother in lawed". There are 2 counties near me that I used to practice in that got so blatantly brother in law toward me, I said fuck it, fuck you, judges. As long as judges are elected, that is just the reality.
As it happens, my presiding judge and I go way back to when he was fresh out of law school, and I hooked him up with 3 retired judges to be on standby for help before he was even sworn in. He took, or takes, their advice, and is extremely fair. He is a wonderful man, very down to earth, so willing to learn.
"Mess" is apt, friend. Tradition be damned, innovate and create! We should all choose between respect for cultural tradition or flying to new turf. I am so damn traditional, I do the chili thing as a cold weather meal, or a meal to hydrate. I do not drink much water, rely on soups, stews, etc...to add water to my "person". I think beer adds more water for hydration than its' dehydration effects, but I could be wrong.
Those contracts include shit like cutting, bathroom denial, and even beastiality, and people sign them anyway! What consideration (benefit) is the slave contracting for, anyhoo?
Now, Dear One have discussed one, got into an argument over who would be the Master, and who would buy the pig, manage the pig pen, decided we would just forget it. Lol!
Yeah, Dear One was glad to get the kinglet video. I am so glad he got it so I didn't miss out on it. Very cool, ain't it?
Have a great weekend, my dear friend!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
I love courtroom dramas like yours.
I couldn't get enough of "My Cousin Vinnie." The theme of the city lawyer who goes to court in the country is an entire film genre. One of my favorites.
I lived in a small town in the Bay Area for awhile, which is an obsessively foodie place to begin with. When they decided to have an annual chili cookoff, I thought that was a great leveler, one that could pull the foodies off their thrones, for a change. I attended them all, and became fascinated with the entire outdoor affair. Some of the recipes were unusually creative with a range of unexpected ingredients. It can take a long time to produce a chili, starting with died beans, so there was lots of chili recipe talk. The finished chilis, with or without beans, were judged at 4 PM, ready or not. Vusitors could buy a string of tickets that were good for a sample from any of the booths. There were authentic Mexican Chili stews and a wide array of creative variations. Vegetarian chilies had their own category. I don't recall the cookout winners, but I was fascinated by the contestant's "secret" ingredients. I ultimately incorporated several of them in my own extemporaneous chili. I rarely make a so-called chili without a couple of shots of espresso and a dash of cinnamon or a pinch of ground cloves. Or a bottle of dark beer.
[edit = typo]
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
The big chili cookoff
in these parts is during the annual Houston Fair and Rodeo. It is YUGE! The only time a friend and I tried to go to one, the traffic was so stalled, I remember having to pee in a bottle while she drove! She bitched at me risking us getting arrested, but I made a quick (really quick) plan to cover myself with a shirt, and I had an empty Coke bottle, thank goodness! Front seat pee gal, am I! We were so frustrated, we got off an at exit, left without doing the tasting thing.
Every chef seems to have their own secret ingredient, be it coffee, a dash of cocoa, and on and on.
I have not tried it with any meat other than ground beef, much prefer "chili" ground beef. I know darn well I won't be able to coordinate cayenne, ground/dried chili pepper, and masa a whit better than the packages in the boxes on the shelf at the local grocery store. The only cool thing I have tweaked is diced tomatoes, rather than sauce, HUGE improvement, and one step further, make it fire roasted diced tomatoes. Hunt's brand. The difference is night and day. I didn't want to dice up the bell pepper, as that veggie can overwhelm the whole damn thing, but it just added some crunchy texture, fully absorbed the spices. I defer to Dear One's chef genius.
One day, I will try chili with some diced roast beef, just to experiment.
Isn't it nice to look back on such interesting times? So happy you shared this with us!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
One Friday, I might just talk about
the Walmart Meat Grinder case, the dead bob cat case, the broken pelvis case, and the Christmas Tree decorations case, and the guy's woman' undies and shoes case.
You have no idea what goes on when Big Time Lawyers get their job and culture shock.
I loved that movie, btw. Just great stuff!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Don't have a pension? Try moving to Ukraine.
https://original.antiwar.com/marc-d-joffe/2024/01/04/should-us-taxpayers...
Pensions in the US
died when St. Ronnie said we could control our fate with 401ks, and people believed it. We have been starving retirees ever since.
I get so angry about what the Ds can do for the Ukies that they are too busy, not to mention totally unmotivated or incentivized by their donors, I want to ex-pat to Ukraine before they get obliterated by Russia!
Have a great weekend, Gj!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Had an interesting encounter
With a Chinese-American optometrist today. Fortunately, after a fairly extensive work up he told me with an uncommonly thorough explanation that my eyes were in good shape.
I told him while Ms. So had been away in South Korea, I developed some new minor symptoms probably unrelated to my eyes. He said he had just come back from an extended vacation in the far east, China, Japan, and South Korea with wife, who speaks Chinese fluently. He said he couldn't speak Chinese at all really except for some curtesy phrases and couldn't read it at all. He could speak a little bit of Japanese but said that didn't help with his learning Chinese. Some linguists say it does help. Everyone has a different learning curve. I told him how I was roadblocked on Korean for quite some time until I retired and now was very interested in learning to read Mandarin as a beginner.
I was his last appointment, so he said he extra time to exhange experiences. He told me a couple of amusing stories. They visited his wife's mother and her sister I believe in one of the large cities. They told him they could understand Korean and demonstrated their ability. He was astounded. "I had no idea; How?" "Oh, we've been watching Kdramas for years."
At another point he got into a taxi in Beijing and the driver started speaking in Chinese and he couldn't understood a word, and tried to explain in English. The driver took him for Japanese and ordered him out of the cab over his protests. He realized he wouldn't be able to find his way anywhere without his wife under the circumstances.
I mentioned I liked Tang Dynasty poetry and talked about how it was different from HSK Chinese. Of course it has to be translated for me. He said his wife was a big fan. We talked about the difficulty level of the language barriers and how that affected relations between and among the US, China, the Koreas and Japan. Neither of us, we agreed, can stomach the US news media.
It's so wonderful to make a connection like that. I hope I see him again on my next visit. When I get sick of the news I like to get some cultural relief, music, drama, history, poetry, etc.
I really like that song you selected OTC, Only Time...
This is a Li Bao, the poet, mini bio in English with samples of his poetry and why it is popular after more than a thousand years. Narrated in English-
(typo edit)
Thanks for the OT On the Cusp. Whew, legal experiences... Admire your effort and dedication.
語必忠信 行必正直
Damn!
What a poet!
I think we need to remember every minute we are alive, no matter what hell, tragedy, or struggle we are experiencing, there is a smile to be derived from a fleeting moment. The break, the chance to understand we have the gift of life, if nothing else.
I took a trip on a riverboat down the Yangtze when I took a tour of China. I saw things I will never forget. Everything from naked cliff dwellers calling out to each other in the evenings with something akin to yodeling, to meeting locals I will always love and respect. Their language is so difficult, I am torn between preserving their history and culture, and being able to communicate all the subtleties required of this world. Korean the same, and even Russian. I know they can't (and shouldn't) ditch it, but reality suggests we all have to communicate with coherence.
Oh.. a song...
My local dr. is Vietnamese. He and I talk politics and when I am that last patient of the day, we have an absolute blast! Time is not of the essence! His wife also loves to see me walk in the office, which is rare, and she is awesome.
Glad you got the good eye diagnosis.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
You are so lucky OTC
...to have made that Yangtze trip! I'm thinking the scenery is spectacular. My wife and I watch a lot of China travelogues on South Korean broadcasts. We watched over two hours of Xinjiang video a couple of days ago. Saw plenty of Uyghurs going on about their daily business there.
語必忠信 行必正直
Katherine Olson’s advice re Mandarin — skip learning to write
the characters, at least when starting out. First work on becoming fluent in speaking and, above all, listening.
Nowadays, provided you know the pronunciation, you can look up written characters when needed using your tablet, laptop, or smartphone.
She has a whole YouTube channel featuring her travels around rural China. Also one video in which she visits her aunt in rural Vermont, which she partly narrates in Mandarin.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=katherine+journey+east+youtube&iax=videos&ia=v...
Listening,
enjoying, and communicating is of great value in learning a language.
My personal experience was unfortunately deficient. I listened and understood quite a bit of the German language I heard daily, but because I felt inhibited and reticent to communicate in the language I didn't quite get to the enjoyment part, which ultimately is quite a critical part of learning a new language.
Thank you for the video, it was enlightening to me.
“But it’s a very annoying show, because they constantly oink”
(Peppa Pig)
soryang,
it was like nothing I have ever seen anywhere, and never will. Everything from people living in primitive lifestyle like we read about in history books of our Native Americans, or Incans, etc...to the most modern canals and dams on earth.
People were washing clothes on the banks of the very brown and nasty river, people in villages had folks in middle age who had their feet and legs skin sliced from heel to crotch as new infants, and their legs grew together. They slid around on something like a straw hat. They were beggars, and the children's families did that to bet on those baby beggars to bring them in enough money for food to eat. Our tour guide said to not fall for the scam. (I tossed the guy that made eye contact with me some money. Not his fault his parents were cruel.)
What was so conspicuous was that there were no water fowl anywhere.
I think my travel companion summed it up beautifully. She said, "I love China, but am not in love with China."
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Wow, that is like the local bigwig whose gang blinds children
in the movie Slumdog Millionaire, in order to use them later as beggars.
I have not seen the Slumdog Millionaire movie.
I don't want to watch it after you drop that little pearl.
Well, seems families had very little opportunity to earn money, so a baby was intentionally deformed to beg, keep the family in enough money for food. No millionaires came from the surgeries.
I think that practice has been made illegal, and the one guy I saw was likely in his 40s, maybe 50s.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981