What it means to be an American
 

:coffee: + :donut: = :chill:


Video games become the substitute for playing outside.

TV becomes the the nanny.


Single parent households comprise fifty percent of modern families.

Where the hell is daddy.

Absent daddy = subsidized by welfare check.
( oh wait that was Clinton) Now they just starve.

We smile on photos. Our grandparents did not. Are we happier or do we just have better teeth?

When Grandma & Grandpa stood for a photograph they were warned to hold perfectly still....photo's were slow. A smile held for 30 seconds or more looks phony and forced....undignified.

I refuse to be a slave of those Coffee Barons. I'd rather get my caffeine the natural way...Diet Pepsi. :angel:

Maybe...maybe not. I'd miss coffee, but there is a plethora of alternative fuels.
Hypercaffinated cocoa would be a real win.

Dear MaggieL:

Are you a Firefox user?

Yes. But I keep a lot of such things in my Cookie Jar Page.

You could almost say the same thing about cars.

I thought of "Dune" too, but it was more along the lines of "The coffee beans must flow!"

Your eyes don't go blue... just all twitchy and fast.

To be a true American you must have (a) pet(s) you treat like kids, spend way to much on, and bore people with their antics. ;)


Oh,....... and not eat them.

But Petrie is the only one who really understands me!! He deserves the cockatiel mansion and the bird masseuse.

It that what you told your wife you spent the money on? :eek:

= we drink vast quantities of Coors Light while watching NASCAR.
= we drink vast quantities of Pepsi while working.
= we drink vast quantities of water in bottles watching our kids play organized sports.
= we seem to have a lot of empty containers /metaphor

We work too much.

We sleep too little.

Double household incomes are the only way to get vacations.

I have abandoned the daily cups of coffee (thus making my sobriquet on another forum obsolete) and when I absolutely need a caffeine hit, I drink a Red Bull, SoBe No Fear, Full Throttle or something similar.

I'm one of those people who is uncomfortable depending on any one thing to get by on a daily basis, so from a mental standpoint I'm a bit more comfortable in my own skin, so to speak.

Fixed that.

We don't talk about how much we make, but we judge people by what they own and are able to buy.

We concern ourselves with the materials, not what people do with them. It is not where the person goes, but the car, not the music, but the pricey instrument, not the writing/images/code, but the computer hardware and how fast it is.

We strive to isolate people behind bars, both criminals (in jail) and ourselves (in gated, secure communities).

We set aside one day a year to remember those that fought for our freedoms. The rest of the year, we fight to give up those freedoms because we feel threatened.

Brilliant! :thumb: Not to sound snarky, but is that your quote? It's the most succint commentary on the current situation that I can find.

Yeah, although similar commentary probably exists elsewhere. I cannot be the only person that finds the irony of thanking the soldiers for dying our freedoms while so many shout "we're at war, we have to make sacrifices".

Sounds cookie worthy to me. :thumb2:

Cookies and milk is a great American past time.

Seems to me that most of the "surrendered freedoms" I hear people Cassandra-ing about of late are "freedoms" that people never actually had but have suddenly found sorely lacking, now that there's somebody they want to blame it on.

Personally, I feel just about as free as I did before 9/11 and PATRIOT. Maybe I'm just not yearning for the right kind of freedoms to generate the "police state" paranoia that's so fashionable these days.

What worries me are the people who want to disarm me in the hopes that if they do fewer outlaw kids will shoot each other (and anybody else standing nearby) over drugs, money and women.

It's cheaper than putting them in prison the first time they commit a crime. And after all, society is to blame.

We outsource our jobs.

We don't see 'Made In America' labels anymore.

We try to balance political correctness by telling ourselves we are not afraid of the turbaned man or the long gowned middle eastener who walks through our grocery store.


( ps that said, I've known alot of people from India who are so cool) :)

ooh! Very good! You get an A!*






*and the sexual dalliance of your choice. No animals.

I sure as hell don't, when the government can illegally listen to my phone calls and illegally read my emails, then pass any illegally gleaned information to another law enforcement agency who can LEGALLY use that illegally obtained information to prosecute me.

Now obviously amateur radio stations can be used to pass sensitive information to terrorists and should be confiscated. That's not much of a stretch. Wouldn't affect me in the least but I think you'd change your tune, damn quick.:eyebrow:

See, that's what I mean.

Which of your phone calls are likely illegally listened to? Do you regularly receive calls from suspected overseas terrorists? Domestic calls are not "listened to".

I remeber when I read that when monitoring an international call made by a non-US national being surveillied that NSA had to immediately cease if they figured out the other party was a US national. Seemed kinda extreme. These days, with how difficult it is to identify who the called party is, it's even more so.

And you do remeber the Clipper Chip, right? :-)
I hate to break it to you, but plaintext email has never been anything close to secure.

If that worries you, you should encrypt it.; many people do.
Which is exactly why radio amateurs radio operators have *always* been forbidden encrypt any of their messages...this is not new. They are also subject to stringent controls as to which country's nationals can pass messages though amateur radio.

FCC doesn't have to seize my radios to shut me down, all they need to do is lift my licence.

Really? I do.
http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/di...3282060530.gif

Some people just love and trust big government implicitly, which is something I'll never understand given the track record of the three letter agencies and politicians that will be dealing with the information. They subscribe to the logic of "If you've done nothing wrong..." because they feel it could not possibly affect their lives. So, if it it isn't affecting them, it can't possibly affect anyone else as innocent and as shining of a citizen. So, what's the big deal? It isn't as if the government would ever use these powers for nefarious activities. Nooo, they would never do that. Because, of course, we are at war* and we have to feel comfortable with these measures until it ends**. So please, don't think of phone record collecting or warrantless wiretaps as "spying on citizens", think of it as an ever-vigilant, protective family member always at your side. An "older brother", if you will.

There really are times when I hope these people that have given into the irrational fear get the government they desire.


* - not really. Should Congress ever actually declare it, we'd have to cough up the cash to give full benefits to soldiers and, of all things, follow certain rules of engagement.

** - the "war on terrorism" will last as long as terrorism does. You figure it out.

You do? Like what? Remingtons? :p


Great cartoon too btw. It's not their fault US CEOs ask them to work for much more than they would normally get there. We need to hold our politicians accountable. That said, I do wish sometimes I was talking to a person whose first language is english. I don't know why I just feel strange talking to someone in another country about my account.

How is "likely" relevant?

If they can illegally do as they please so can I... they guy who comes for me dies, I feel bad for his family, but not bad enough, he and the government chooses it. It is very simple. I am a patriot.

Because he's not going to know if one is *actually* listened to. Unless he gets busted because of something he says, of course.

Well, my Kel-Tec, anyway.

But I was thinking of clothing labels.

Bullshit
BullshitNo
That only keeps the general public at bay and attracts the government decoders.
There are many ways to hide messages in plain text or language. Yeah sure, and if they lift my carry permit I can't take a gun to somebodies house and shoot them. C'mon, get real here.:rolleyes:

Bad Boy, Bad Boy, whatcha gonna do?
Whatcha gonna do when they send an Apache Longbow or an A-10 Warthog, or a Stryker for you? :eyebrow:

Well, look it up. Under "Clinton administration", if that helps.
Which is why good old Phil Zimmerman advocated everybody doing it all the time.

And even more in digital data. HF radio used to have significance in international intelligence; it doesn't anymore. For one thing, it requires somebody who knows what they're doing on both ends to use it.

Get real indeed. Do you advocate gun confiscation too?

I'm more worried about liberals trying to take stuff away from me ("..as representatives of The Common Good", as Hilary said); they spend all their time talking about it. Take a look at that Google sketch-up thread...the very first words out of tw's mouth when he found out I was a ham was about whether my neighbors would prevent me from erecting antennas.

Collectivists...*sigh*

I don't think Bush wants my radios. He seems to understand they're more valuable to him (and everybody else) in my hands.

Uh...wha? You need to tune around above/below 12 and 30 meters sometime! 17 836 20 191 65...

73s.

Yes, there still are numbers stations. Giant Talk is still in operation too.
But it's not anywhere near the big deal it used to be; internet steganography rules...and any dimwit with a laptop can do it.

The theory that numbers stations are mostly drug runners now seems plausible to me...and confiscating legally owned HF rigs won't affect that any more than confiscating legally owned weapons will stop gangbangers.

Uh, okay. I just mentioned numbers stations because I find them interesting. I'm not suggesting we take your rig away. Shee.

( getting back on topic )

Large soft serve icecream cones.


New vehichle tires and if you are really special some cool hub caps.

Didn't say you did. Bruce did; that was the original context. Or rather he was FUDding that Bush would...

Numbers stations are interesting to the extent that they still exist and you have to wonder why. You also have to wonder if they are actually carrying any traffic, or if they're just in operation to foil traffic analysis in case they're needed someday. .

Yeah...the last remaining founder of Mr. Softee died over the weekend.

We take our children on a relaxing vacations that have schedules of what to do, when to do it, and everyone better stick to the timeline or we're not going to make it to our dinner reservation hurryup hurryup go go go!.

:eek: no way!

ok , I didn't find mr softee but I did find a strange recipie.
SOFT ICE CREAM 1/2 gal. chocolate milk
1 can Eagle Brand milk
1 lg. carton Cool Whip
Mix Eagle Brand milk and Cool Whip, stirring gently. Slowly stir in chocolate milk. Pour in gallon freezer and freeze in normal way. Makes 1 gallon.

First of all it uses cool whip, then second it says to freeze 'in normal way'. What's the abnormal way?



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To be an american means being hairless for the most part. Buying high priced razors.

To be an american it means the word orgainic is 'new' and 'trendy' when in actuality it just means 'old fashioned' .

To be an american you must own a television with over 100 channels and leave it running and don't watch it because there is nothing on.

"What it means to be an American" ...you have to be really, really fat?

I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. It really means that you believe the Earth was created 5,000 years ago. Also, you have to hate the right people. That's probably the most important, the hating.

To be an american it means you could be anyone from any subculture.

Some americans are bitter and negative about their country and people in general.

To be an american you might own a membership at a gym. Whether fat or thin being health conscience seems to be an american fad right now.

To be an american means you have an unsquishable hope that goes beyond politics and rhetoric.

...and no sense of humor. that's the other thing. the hate and the no humor.

"Funny" is a movable feast. Many asshats like to blame the poor reception their asshatery gets on a lack of sense of humor, when in fact it's simply as result of having some taste. Finding Adam Sandler or Carrottop to be dreary and dimwitted does not prove someone doesn't have a sense of humor, for example.

Way. Oh...the link on that page to the sheet music is broken. This is the location they're trying to link to.
Probably any way that allows large ice crystals to form. The normal way prevents that.

That's a good point, Maggie - in that one specific instance where the "asshattor" places direct blame upon the "asshatee" . . . However, consider the other side of the coin: the inability to recognize humorous intentions, IE responding out of left field with a stern reply to a light-hearted post. In other words, an "apples" reply to an "oranges" post.

Cool hub caps is an oxymoron.

You're an oxymoron!

(See? That was a joke. Whether it was funny or not is irrelevant to whether it was posted with serious intentions. The inability to recognize a joke as a joke doesn't simply equate to whether you thought it was funny or not.)

Did somebody say numbers stations? Bonus link.

So's your mother.

I used to fall asleep in front of an old Hallicrafters HF rig, tuned to some distant voice spewing seemingly random numbers. I was intrigued by them, listening for any hint as to what they might be or what purpose they served. I still hear them, today, and they haven't lost any of their mystique.

Note: falling asleep to numbers stations gives you very strange dreams.

wrt monitoring emails, calls, internet searches, etc ad nauseam:
the sh*t just never stops. Why not just have regular mandatory public mass strip searches, maybe at checkpoints?! You just never know what might turn up. :smack: *This* is your best shot at catching perverts with a taste for child pornography? Bonus question: Who here thinks this will be restricted to the effort to catch the above mentioned perverts? Hmm? Anyone, anyone? Now who thinks this will be ABUSED to troll for whatever looks...interesting. Like, oh, I don't know... searches for information contrary to the administration's One True Way (tm)?

Special shout out to AG Gonsalez: Go away. When I need a cop, I'll call one.

And in aticipation of the terror-addled knee-jerk reaction "It's in the interest of national security!! If you don't have anything to hide, there's no reason to be opposed to such a plan." To the utterer or thinker (and I use that term very very loosely here), I say bull shit. Privacy, liberty and security are not quantities in some zero sum game. They are not mutually exclusive. I urge you to read the excellent short essay, The Eternal Value of Privacy by Bruce Schneier.

I moved your comment here, because I think it is a really important note and I don't want to clutter up this BBQs/SUV/apple pie thread with anymore ranting about Big Brother.

...is not identical with recognizing humor.

If you haven't manged to be funny, don't expect to be treated as a humorist. Credit is not given for "trying".
Or being trying.

@Maggie: I'm not defining a "joke" by whether people thought it was funny or not. I'm saying there are posts intended to be taken seriously and those that aren't. The inability to distinguish between these two categories can subjectively be considered either the fault of the author for inadequately expressing him or herself, of the fault of the reader for failing to comprehend the meaning intended by the author.

Nowhere, in no way shape or form, does the variable perception of whether the "joke" was "funny" or not have anything to do with anything I've posted here.

The "inablity to recognize humorous intentions" is "not identical with recognizing humor." Right, that's what I've been saying all along. "The inability to recognize a joke as a joke doesn't simply equate to whether you thought it was funny or not."

See, now that's funny.

yeah, I kinda said it with tounge in cheek.




To be american means using oxymorons. Or being one sometimes. :) Like the Hell's Angles.






Usuing personal characteristics like Hate and Humor are common to all peoples and isn't really an 'american' thing.



oh,,, and I do laugh when people are actually funny when they are Not stupid funny, or warped funny. I think witty is funny. I don't think it's funny how the internet filters most of a persons personality. I don't think it's funny how somepeople want to paint ugly little pictures of someone else.

Hating the 'right' people is a just a warped . There is no RIGHT. Hate just IS sometimes. Very unfortunate but everyone does it at times. I don't think that subject matter was given to be funny.






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