tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21307924.post6818988898759846741..comments2024-01-03T02:37:17.197-06:00Comments on Conservative Commentary: Thankful For FreedomRoberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17457956739752722879noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21307924.post-61566423571848631142008-02-27T08:18:00.000-06:002008-02-27T08:18:00.000-06:00ECO, I still owe you. T-P, I presume you mean that...ECO, I still owe you. <BR/><BR/>T-P, I presume you mean that you have added Helena to your list? You should really consider it. This place is truly Mayberry-like. You know the police officers by name. When we moved here five years ago I went to the City hall building to get my water turned on, and the mayor walked out to meet me when he heard that I was a new resident. We chatted, he took me to his office, and when he found out I was prior law enforcement and worked for DHS, he called the police chief in to meet me. We know the names of all the neighbors within 2 blocks. Four of our nearest neighbors brought us food the day we moved in. We help each other with yard work and repairs and raising children. It is not uncommon for a parent to buy ice cream from the truck for 10kids who are outside playing together.<BR/><BR/>Incredible. This place is incredible. I will do a post in a little while with some pics and links. <BR/><BR/>AI, when you want to come to the states, let me know and I will put you up for your stay and you can sight-see around here!Roberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17457956739752722879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21307924.post-20579445001569606562008-02-27T04:58:00.000-06:002008-02-27T04:58:00.000-06:00Sounds like you reside in a terrific part of the w...Sounds like you reside in a terrific part of the world. The qaulity of life is in the detail, the many individuals whose contributions make the whole. Now I'll check the link...Ottavio (Otto) Marasco https://www.blogger.com/profile/07813984603766878752noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21307924.post-11315246242852904352008-02-26T22:59:00.000-06:002008-02-26T22:59:00.000-06:00Robert, Its funny that at times we latch on to som...Robert, <BR/>Its funny that at times we latch on to something anciliary to the theme of the post. I've been "visiting" your little town via a few links on the internet and I must say, it is a beautiful place, it really is. <BR/>Its right there with 2 other places I've "earmarked" for my retirement years :)<BR/>Thanks for the heads-up (LOL!)Dardin Sotohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06860312622246919118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21307924.post-22872685865171103802008-02-23T19:09:00.000-06:002008-02-23T19:09:00.000-06:00Hewy, please feel free to visit and become a chart...Hewy, please feel free to visit and become a charter member of the Buck Creek Civitan Club. As a neighbor in Helena, you know how great this city is! If you can't join, now, drop in anyway and you will know enough to tell your friends. At worst, you get some free appetizers and spend an hour of your day meeting some neighbors.<BR/><BR/>Tuesdays at 6:oo pm for social<BR/>630-730 for the meeting.<BR/><BR/>We are in the private meeting room at Incahoots there by Buck Creek bu the railroad tracks. <BR/><BR/>Obob, I have not had time to volunteer for much the last six years. After 9/11, I worked for DHS and put in 60-90 hours per week. The last year, my teaching has taken up my spare time. I still am busy as we all are, but I have to take this opportunity to be a charter members fornot only my community, but for the good works. I blame no one for their circumstances if they don;t allow for civic duty. After all, the greatest responsibility we have is to our families. <BR/><BR/>ECO - I only have a minute, but I will engage you in that conversation tomorrow. I haven't even clicked the link, but I already have two isues with the part you posted. So for now, just an IOU.Roberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17457956739752722879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21307924.post-57865354223934262542008-02-23T09:16:00.000-06:002008-02-23T09:16:00.000-06:00I think the Civitan Club in Helena is a great idea...I think the Civitan Club in Helena is a great idea!Hewy Nosleephttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04380331775824263680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21307924.post-38042123531803891622008-02-23T08:08:00.000-06:002008-02-23T08:08:00.000-06:00Robert: This sounds terribly apathetic, but I am ...Robert: This sounds terribly apathetic, but I am a year or so from getting back involoved in teh community. No excuses to say, just not there yet. The better part of my life has ben spent volunteering or helping in one manner or another, but you had a great point. <BR/>"but by building to a hundred members that will be hundreds of hours "<BR/>those are the boots on the ground we need here in the States.<BR/>eco - I know I have to work harder and I expect nothing from the government.Obobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06261733108326045809noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21307924.post-56162931997253864772008-02-23T01:17:00.000-06:002008-02-23T01:17:00.000-06:00An article that caught my attention:The American m...An article that caught my attention:<BR/><BR/><I>The American middle class was built on New Deal investments in education, housing, infrastructure, and health care, which produced a very "prolonged period of objective economic and social development." People were optimistic; generations of growing prosperity raised their expectations that their children would do even better. That era instilled in Americans exactly the kind of hopeful belief in their own agency that primes them to become likely revolutionaries in an era of decline.<BR/><BR/>And now, thanks to 28 years of conservative misrule, we are now at the point where "manifest reality breaks away from anticipated reality;" and the breach is creating political turbulence. The average American has seen his or her standard of living contract by fits and starts since about 1972. This fall-off that was relieved somewhat by the transition to two-earner households and the economic sunshine of the Clinton years -- but then accelerated with the dot-com crash, followed by seven years of Bush's overt hostility toward the lower 98 percent of Americans who aren't part of his base. Working-class America is reeling from the mass exodus of manufacturing jobs and the scourge of predatory lending; middle-class America is being hollowed out by health-care bankruptcies, higher college costs, and a tax load far heavier than that of the richest 2 percent. These people expected to do better than their parents. Now, they're screwed every direction they turn.<BR/><BR/>In the face of this reversal, Davies tells us, it's not at all surprising that the national mood is turning ominous, from one end of the political spectrum to the other. However, he warns us: this may not be just a passing political storm. In other times and places, this kind of quick decline in a prosperous nation has been a reliable sign of a full-on revolution brewing just ahead.</I><BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.alternet.org/democracy/77498/" REL="nofollow">Here is the link</A><BR/><BR/>Anyone care to discuss?Swampcrackerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05022608059441904192noreply@blogger.com