They should be shitting bricks

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 23, 2021:

I hope so, but I doubt that anyone will be held accountable up the food chain from the actual rioters who broke in, not the pols who incited them or the law enforcement people who colluded to let it happen.

No longer looking for a love interest.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 22, 2021:

Sorry you feel so discouraged. I have just had quite a positive turn in my dating fortunes, after a long dry spell and so much discouragement. This current streak may well suddenly end in a matter of days, but it at least teaches me to never give up for good. Its message to me is that you never know what may happen eventually if you just keep showing up and trying. So much of the dating game is pure numbers and luck, no matter how good or bad our efforts are.

Those days were better

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 22, 2021:

No shit. Everybody benefited, but then the rich got really organized and worked to separate their fates and fortunes from the rest of us and cared only about getting all they could for themselves and let the rest of the country rot, die and suffer with as little contribution as possible from them. Because they had already engineered things to no longer need most of us or any of our infrastructure, including our health care system, transportation, or public education system, be it K-12 or college.

Joe Biden trips three times while boarding Air Force One - YouTube

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 21, 2021:

I still think he has dementia, but his doctors must be giving him some great drugs to help him function. We'll see if he stays in office for more than another year or two before handing off to Harris. My basis for the dementia claim is that he still won't do a live press conference and take ?s from reporters.

I experienced proof of prayer today.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 20, 2021:

I still go with Jim Morrison, "You cannot petition the Lord, with prayer!!".

Happy Vernal Equinox!

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 20, 2021:

And the cats rejoice by going outside to explore.

These Marginal Mennonites are pretty interesting.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 19, 2021:

I I knew a guy from the local Unitarian church that grew up Mennonite. He was pretty cool.

Not kidding

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 19, 2021:

As long as there are plenty of other people eagerly willing to breed so the species continues, fine with me. Content to contribute to the society in other ways.

Got my first Moderna vaccination today, so I’m taking it easy.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 18, 2021:

I got it too today, just by luck. I happened to be home when the pharmacy called because I was on the appt. waiting list and they had some extra shots for people who could get out there in two hours or less. I had just had lunch, but I am drinking the water now because I just exercised. Hopefully we'll both be fully protected in about two months or less.

No kidding figured that myself

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 18, 2021:

Quite true. Colored folks tend to be summarily executed by the cops.

Massage Parlor shooter was all about guns and God [news.yahoo.com]

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 17, 2021:

I can tell just from his Duck Dynasty beard that he is a dipshit. I know that I shouldn't judge someone just from their appearance, so I usually don't, but sometimes the look does tell you everything and I have yet to be wrong about someone with that kind of look.

And now we are 4... Adopted Alistair yesterday in Savannah. He is amazing!

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 17, 2021:

He looks very smart and proud. Says, "Don't even think of having me wear a mask, you strange hooman!".

There Were No Calls for Censorship Against Democrats for Their False Claims About the 2016 Election

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 17, 2021:

That is a good point. I always thought the whole Russiagate thing with the Dems was a bullshit distraction and excuse to get people to overlook how bad a candidate Killary was and how Bernie would have won over Trump in 2016.

Baby Blues

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 16, 2021:

One of the two reasons I decided as a young man to never have kids was my concern that I would likely never earn enough money most of the time necessary to allow me to afford kids, even with my partner working too, and still have a decent standard of living. The other reason was my concern that the parenting of my own parents would result in me being the same kind of father my dad was if I had kids, and I wanted to stop the cycle of dysfunction rather than risk continuing. Between the two reasons, it turned out I was more than right to have made that decision. The money issue played out exactly as I predicted, and tho I was an improvement on my father as a partner, I still do not have the kind of patience and ability to tolerate stress that I would have needed to parent well. Handling an adult relationship with a partner is my level of competence and I will stick to that.

Linking Evangelical Subculture and Phallically Insecure Masculinity Using Google Searches for Male ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 16, 2021:

Doesn't surprise me either.

For anti-maskers only.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 16, 2021:

Well said, damn right. They care only about themselves and public shaming is sometimes a good, effective, and justified tool.

Who would think that if you degrade over 50 % of the population and dis the military and deny the ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 16, 2021:

I have always fantasized about getting the chance to land some verbal licks on asshole Repubs in public, but upon sober reflection, I realize how limited the actual situations might be even if I encountered them at a restaurant. First off, I would undoubtedly get thrown out, permanently banned from the place and the rest of any chain it might be part of, and the pol would undoubtedly press charges against me for whatever they could think of, esp. if I approached them physically at all, probably charge me with stalking. My hero here in Iowa is a guy that managed to corner US Senator Chuck Grassley at a restaurant and throw a glass of water on him. He was charged with misdemeanor assault for that, but in my mind, it might be worth the fine just for the satisfaction of the moment, the pleasant memory, and the great story to tell like-minded friends.

Food for thought about bigots

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 16, 2021:

Too funny..

Biden looks at hiking taxes on rich

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 16, 2021:

I wish he really meant it, but I really doubt he does. Remember he's the guy that told his fat cat donors in private at the beginning of the primary campaign that "Nothing would fundamentally change". When someone says that in private, I tend to believe them more on that than anything they say publicly to voters.

The Point of the Vote Had a political conversation with a friend of mine and he made the comment ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 16, 2021:

To me, that is the true definition of patriotism, to put the general welfare of the country ahead of your own personal ambition or comfort. That does not include blind loyalty to the government, blind support for all wars, the troops, and the MIC, and it esp. does not include the rah rah nationalism and support of American exceptionalism. Those people are not patriots, they are merely selfish, ignorant nationalists who care only about their own tribe withing American society.

The Transgender Threat to Women's Sports | Opinion

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 15, 2021:

I'd have to say I agree with the logic of the article. I do think that male born athletes should only compete against other males and/or other trans women. I do not want to see cigender women pushed out of their current places in sports, both as leaders in excellence, athletic scholarships, and opportunities to compete fairly against other cigender women and girls.

Follow the money

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 14, 2021:

Pretty well that's it. It's not about providing real education for the children of the peasant classes, just a place to warehouse the kids, indoctrinate them about how to be obedient sheeple who pay their taxes, support the war machine, and never ? the capitalist system, while meanwhile both parents are forced to work in order to support a whole family. All about keeping the serfs in their place earning just enough to survive and spend enough to keep the corporate profits coming in. Only the upper classes are allowed to send their kids to college and get any real education, but that's just fine and safe to the capitalist class as those college grads are either too burdened with debt and survival to revolt or else are able to take their places in the upper middle class or higher, where they will be loyal supporters of the status quo. As long as there are no viable third parties to turn to and the corporate media limits exposure to only the duopoly, the whole thing runs like a well-oiled machine.

Some un-fond memories of the previous president, soon to be incarcerated.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 14, 2021:

My predication is that even if he ever gets prison time it will be in a club fed type minimum security place, so he will never get what he really deserves. He would flee the country if he ever felt he was in danger of time in a real prison.

Whats Time [youtu.be] [youtu.be] [youtu.be] [youtu.be]

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 14, 2021:

Time is both an objective reality, measured by the movement of the sun and the moon, and also a subjective experience. They differ widely.

I'm feeling more & more like a cat since I've retired...

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 14, 2021:

Life is good when all you need to do is sleep and look cute..

How would it affect voting if, for example, people who voted Republican didn’t get stimulus ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 14, 2021:

If they were principled enough, which they aren't, they could just return the checks to the feds. These same people oppose SS, but they still gladly collect it, same as Medicare. Such hypocrites. I used to be a school bus driver and some, not many, of my fellow drivers were hardcore right wingers who would refuse to apply for unemployment benefits each summer when they were laid off as drivers and were eligible to receive UE benefits. I disagreed with their politics, but I respected that they at least lived up to their principles and I told them so. Because of that, some of them even respected my socialism.

Sunday morning cuteness...Ready to play in the snow!!!!

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 14, 2021:

Looks like a snow cat. Is that a Maine Coon?

I like this sign

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 14, 2021:

Wish I saw this more often at businesses around here, but nobody wants to stand up to the Trumpers and lose any customers. And trust me, the majority of people in my town are solid Trumpers.

Republican Senator Says States Should Reject Biden's Stimulus Money - YouTube

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 13, 2021:

There should be a political price for Repub pols that support the refusal, but there probably isn't. Their whole success is based on people voting against their own economic interests, so you can't fix stupid or gullible..

Will social pressure and perks work to get folks vaccinated?

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 13, 2021:

My guess is that those incentives will work with everyone but the hardcore Trumpers. Once I get vaxxed, I really won't care much if they do or don't get the shots. At least I won't need to worry anymore about getting seriously ill from it. All my friends are up for getting vaxxed ASAP, so there's no conflict for me.

This is bad for everyone. Even the wealthy are losing out. [youtu.be]

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 13, 2021:

Bellowing about rah rah patriotism may make you feel good, but you can't eat it, pay your bills with it, or get healthcare with it. But don't worry, most Americans are foolish enough to settle for just thinking the and their country are the greatest on earth. Nothing will change until a majority of eligible voters dump the two major parties and start voting for democratic socialism from a third part. The rest is just theater.

Well none of the ladies on this site who I've messaged have replied back.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 12, 2021:

Join the freakin' club, bro. I struck out with all the few women that were still on this site from my local area soon after I joined three years ago. A couple of them traded messages with me, but I never met any of them in person. Since then, no new women ever joined from my area. I may get bashed as racist for pointing this out, but I wonder if part of the reason you struck out is that it appears almost all of the female members from your area are white, based on their main pics. Personally, I must admit that even tho I think I'm not that prejudiced compared to most white folks, I am not really that open to dating a black woman, mainly because it's enough of a challenge to find compatibility, in my experience, even when you are the same race to start with. Call me whatever insult or label you like, but I am not up for adding that kind of challenge to the whole experience of getting along with a woman for the long haul. And that's without even considering all the flack we would get from other people in my area for being interracial. Some people don't care or are up to the challenge and some aren't. But we all have a right to our choices of who we love and prefer.

An opinion piece on the US aid package addressing America's woes. [scheerpost.com]

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 12, 2021:

I read this earlier and have nothing to add, it's just the bitter truth, which will never be shared in the corporate-owned media.

So, that was fun.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 12, 2021:

Fear is a strong motivator, so this scam probably works once in a while in getting someone to reveal personal info so they can get scammed.

Anybody else from here live in the Midwest, like me?

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 11, 2021:

Anytime I bring up an issue in these forums, I am always interested in hearing the thoughts of women on these issues, if for no other reason than that online dating is mostly a silent tunnel that you send your messages out into, get a response rate of 5-10%, and then even then, most of the women end up rejecting you later without giving you any overt or honest feedback on why they reject you. And so if often feels like a game played while blindfolded or deaf. That is why I listen to what the women here have to say, in order to maybe learn something that the women I reach out to and interact with from dating sites refuse to tell me, either because they are too typically Midwest polite like most Iowans are, unlike me, or because they are too selfish to be interested in being helpful to a stranger and fellow online dating participant that they have already rejected, and, therefore, not longer care about how they treat him or what he thinks of them.

Bam! A little wait (50 minutes), a little prick, another little wait ( minutes) and shot 1 is in the...

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 11, 2021:

Probably be another month or two for me to wait. I qualify for the next group in line, but my county has a vaccine shortage right now and they haven't even finished the group that is ahead of me.

Hi All, Is anyone else being badgered a potential scammer here (I think), who is claiming to be ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 11, 2021:

Nothing I've seen.

Good News: You lose 1.49 oz for every hour of sleep!

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 11, 2021:

Are you saying that sleep shrinks your brain?

I'll let this stand on it's own for this group.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 10, 2021:

My condo apt. community pretty much requires people to be 55 or older and they cannot have any young kids living with them, so things are pretty quiet here. I used to live in a college town with my late wife in a neighborhood that had some student apartments down the block and across the street. And so, after that experience, when it came time for me to find a place to live on my own in the town where my job was, it was a pretty easy choice to live around my parent's age group rather than around people young enough to be my kids, had I ever chosen to have any.

First one down and second scheduled

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 10, 2021:

You're younger than me, Marcie, how'd you swing that? Must be because you live in a blue state while I live in red Iowa. In my county, they are still not ready yet to allow vaccine for people under 65 like me that have underlying high risk conditions. I qualify for that next group because I have cardiomyopathy. My turn probably won't come until May, at least.

Today I have an appointment to have my hair cut at a new salon.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 10, 2021:

I go to a one-man barbershop every month or two and get a head shave. I feel perfectly safe visiting there as we both wear masks and are the only two people there.

Marriage in Europe

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 10, 2021:

I'd like to meet an attractive atheist woman my age from Canada so I could marry her and escape this shithole of a country, but I'm not holding my breath or making any effort to seek it. Rotsa ruck...

I just got married! My wife has a business in which she is known for her name as much as her ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 10, 2021:

Sounds good and quite fair, as well as liberated, to me. I support other non-conformists. I had my gay best friend serve as my best man at my wedding. Needless to say, my conservative, Catholic homophobic father did not approve..

It's a decision whether you do or don't...

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 10, 2021:

Never got one, but it's now a moot point as all the women I am willing to date have already had menopause.

Wow ! He literally died to own the libs.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 10, 2021:

Darwin award winner. As far as I'm concerned, the world is better off with one less Trumptard. I wonder which redneck state this happened in.

Good Afternoon Everyone! Happy Tuesday.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 9, 2021:

I'm going to pay up and renew with Match as soon as I schedule my first Covid shot, hopefully later this month.

I don’t think of myself as a prude and I can swear like a sailor if circumstances bring it out of ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 9, 2021:

You have a right to choose your own comfort level, whatever it may be.. I do think swearing on the first date shows some questionable judgement, but if I were you, I would not be put off by the men if they were otherwise nice guys, of which I am one and I cuss occasionally after I have gotten to know someone. I would say what matters more, if frequent swearing bothers you, then tell them about your discomfort and then see if they care enough to adjust their language for you. If they are willing and able to do so, then you have found a keeper. My late wife asked me to stop drinking after we had dated several months, which I did for her, not because I had a drinking problem, but because she had previously been married to an addict and alcoholic. She asked me to do so in order for her to feel comfortable about me with her baggage over the previous guy. I stopped without hesitation-and still don't drink-because I cared enough to help her be comfortable with me and did not see it as a unreasonable request for who she was and what she had been thru. Best decision I ever made. Wish more women out there in the dating game would recognize that quality about me and give me some credit for it, but they never will until they get to know me enough to find out how supportive I can be to a partner. And between my looks and my non-mainstream traits on music, culture, and lifestyle for the dating pool I live in, I seldom get that far.

US, Allies Drop 46 Bombs Per Day for 20 Years, New CODEPINK Research Reveals The United States ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 8, 2021:

It's the cost of expanding and maintaining an empire. You would think they would have learned something from the British that they threw out of here that empires are eventually not worth the trouble.

I sorely miss George, he was so smart and so insightful about the world. [youtube.com]

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 8, 2021:

What I liked about Carlin was that he would openly show his anger, not care who he offended, and showed no fear or deference to rich conservative fucks like the guy on his panel here. He never let them act like they were better than him. Instead he showed his contempt openly for them and didn't try to act diplomatic like other celebs do.

Been off for a bit, password issues.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 8, 2021:

Actually, that line about most people at least disliking if not hating their jobs is in a movie I saw, can't remember which one tho. Wait, I remember, it's in Office Space, my favorite comedy. I'm very lucky and grateful that I was able to retire at age 60 with inheritance money, some retirement funds, and SS Survivor's benefits. I was tired of working and having to put up with shit from co-workers, bosses, and those I served. I think most of us feel like you by age 60, if not sooner, but are stuck having to work at least several more years anyway.

Been off for a bit, password issues.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 8, 2021:

We have a lot of the same mindset about the dating game. Can't promise we'd be a match, but if I lived near you, I'd definitely want to meet you, for whatever encouragement that's worth. I hear you on bad manners and behavior with people on first meetings. I posted here recently about a woman who began a first and only video chat with me by treating it like a job interview and asking me what kind of work I did before I retired, since it wasn't in my profile. She then followed that up with another ? about what my college degrees were in, since they weren't related to my jobs before retirement. As a friend of mine said later about her, she was looking for a pedigreed dog with papers, not a mutt. So I obviously wasn't good enough for her social status-wise. I agree, most people don't like their jobs and really don't want to talk about them at a first meeting, so I don't ask them. I ask them what really excites you and makes you look forward to the future or living the next day. Fairly philosophical, but hey, if they aren't fairly intellectual and introspective, I don't want them anyway. You dodged a bullet with this guy for sure if he still feels for his ex. I think most people expect ?s about their work on a first meeting, so they just lie or perhaps already have gotten used to convincing themselves they like their work so they can fit in and be accepted by the dating prospects. People that seem to be lying or self deluded are a red flag to me, so I don't follow up with them. Let's face it, most people are sheeple that never examine anything in life, esp. themselves, so that is why they act boorishly to others in the dating game. They don't realize what they are doing and they also don't care that they are clueless about everything.

Republicans vs. Democrats

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 8, 2021:

Quite true. Both parties support the MIC, endless wars, Wall Street, the rich, corporations, etc. The only differences are over identity politics and culture war stuff that the Dems push to make them seem more humane and caring than the Repubs. I will say that the Dems have provided better leadership on Covid than the Repubs, but that only allows more people to live rather than die. Otherwise, they don't really care how poor or deprived capitalism makes you suffer with living.

Lucky is not fat. She is fluffy.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 7, 2021:

Even fluffy cats are cute as hell....If only that were as true for people... Lucky wants a tummy rub, or is it a trap?

I have to say that this common sense approach from a Florida Redneck makes a lot of sense.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 7, 2021:

Very tedious. Just another woman being a boring tease.

This makes so much more sense than having the flag and god in the pledge. [facebook.com]

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 7, 2021:

Link is to an unrelated article or video.

How to be happy spending money.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 7, 2021:

In the last few years, I have inherited enough money, along with now getting SS Survivor's Benefits, that I am financially comfortable for the first time in my adult life. And unless I have a stroke or some serious illness that drains all my money, I am fairly set for life. But it's come at the cost of losing my wife and both of my parents. I still have friends, but my life is a lot emptier in some ways by not really having any family left. I wasn't happy after my late wife got dementia in 2011. I was happy before that with her in my life. My unhappiness now is mostly rooted in the fear and resignation that I will probably be alone, as far as without a partner or close family, for the rest of my life. I had hoped that I would eventually inherit this money from my parents while my wife was still with me and healthy. If that had happened, I would be very happy at this time, but life plays mean tricks on you sometimes. I think most of us want our lives to have at least a good quality of life as far as adequate connections and relationships, regardless of our financial condition. And if we don't have that level of quality in our social and relationship condition, we need to at least have some hope that things will improve for us later in that area. Same thing with financial condition. Without hope, having serious deficits in our financial or relationship conditions makes life very hard. Three years of no real lasting success in the dating game has really damaged my level of hope in that area. Last night I was at a karaoke show for the first time since Covid, because I just was feeling stir crazy with the social isolation and missing the chance to sing. While I was there, I struck up a short conversation with a younger woman who was with her man and I mentioned my dating struggles. She then layed on me the usual cliche that " You always find someone when you aren't looking, etc." I thanked her for the encouragement, but I had to tell her, and did, that I felt her advice was a cliche that is not based in reality, even if it seemed true for her experience in meeting her man. She also gave me the vague advice that I "needed to expand my range of how far away I would travel to date someone". I told her I already was willing to drive an hour away one way to date someone, but that's the limit. She seemed to be saying that whatever limit I was using was too narrow. How the hell would she know? And note, that I never asked her for advice, she just offered it unsolicited. People should be more aware of when they are being asked and when they aren't. I grow tired of ignorant, but well-meaning people. They want to seem helpful, but they really don't know what they are talking about, esp. with strangers they know little about.

Yeah good Texas republican

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 7, 2021:

He's just doing what all conservative Repubs do, taking stuff away from vulnerable Americans for their own good and to improve their moral character, because if they would only start living right and pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps, they wouldn't need any gubmit help. Of course, when a rich person commits a wrong, they don't deserve punishment, esp. prison, because they are just suffering a temporary lapse in their morality and will be fine with some prayer and reflection on their wrongdoing, and besides, God will forgive them. This whole conservative attitude of depriving the poor and vulnerable " for their own good", always reminds me of the scene in Cool Hand Luke where Luke asks the warden to "quit being so good" to him.....

Where's my Chewy order???

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 7, 2021:

Kitty is a good tree climber.

This "christian" woman tried to hire someone to kill her mother-in-law, saying that she could always...

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 7, 2021:

Another POS Christian hypocrite. I'm surprised her status and political connections didn't allow her to get away with it.

Conspiracist: I Pretend to Be a Nurse, Then Make People Argue With Me Over Masks | Beth Stoneburner...

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 6, 2021:

If anyone deserves to get Covid, it's her.

Could someone please update me? What happened to Cutiebeauty and Ms. Kathleen?

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 6, 2021:

I had them both blocked, so I didn't notice and I don't care.

Are you paying your Fair Share of Taxes [youtube.com]

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 5, 2021:

Payroll and sales taxes are very regressive. The payroll tax gap is justified by the rich and their allies because the rich don't need Medicare or SS, and they also don't feel any obligation to support programs they don't need just to help their workers who create their wealth or pick their cotton, so to speak. They have disengaged themselves from the working class and they can get away with it because they own the government and they no longer need most of us, as workers or even as consumers of their products and services.

I cannot wait to move out of this rental house.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 5, 2021:

If hell existed, there should be a special place in it for slumlords. They are as low as Trump.

Leading cause of death in the world 😱 Simply 1.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 4, 2021:

It's always comforting to run across someone more paranoid than me, lol...

Will the tradition-loving Joe Biden let the Senate keep the filibuster?

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 4, 2021:

The answers are yes and no, in that order.

Good Advice

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 3, 2021:

I agree with that reasoning, but, human nature being what it is, most people who did the wrong thing during Covid will simply lie and give the PC response so they can avoid being rejected by people who did do the right thing during Covid. It's like asking someone from a dating site if they voted for Trump. If the person asking is attractive looking enough and the person being asked is interested in meeting that person, they will lie instead of being truthful. I always tell the truth and let the chips fall, but I'm not naive enough to believe that most people have the same integrity as me. Experience has proven otherwise for me.

Governors of Texas and Georgia lift masks mandates

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 2, 2021:

Guess they want to see the numbers spike during the home stretch before most people are eligible for vaccination.

So simple you would think

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 2, 2021:

That's because religion and conservatism appeal to the same people, most of which want to live selfishly, with privilege and power over others, including the power to discriminate against others.

Happy birthday, Lou Reed.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 2, 2021:

Actually Lou disdained the whole hippie scene, as well as the fashion and the ethos, so it's ironic you posted this here. I think he identified more with the beatnik scene, esp. the Beat poets.

Opinion | The Republican Party is making Jim Crow segregationists proud - The Washington Post

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 2, 2021:

Why shouldn't they? Trump made it acceptable and fashionable again to be openly racist and bigoted.

Happy birthday, Lou Reed.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 2, 2021:

The words to that song may seem outdated, but I still think many of his songs are timeless, esp. some of the Velvet Underground's songs. I actually had two of his songs played at my wedding back in 1999. Lou Reed and David Bowie created alternative music, never would have happened without them.

THE ENTIRE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION IN ONE BLOG POST? Link: [united-cats.com]

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 1, 2021:

You have my condolences as well. My own father died the summer before last. I agree that we are screwed the way it looks right now and I don't think that will change. I take some grim comfort that I will likely die before it all falls apart, but I could be wrong about that, as it may only take another decade or so and I may live another 25 years.

"A lifetime of happiness! No man alive could bear it.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 1, 2021:

I'm not sure I agree with that. I could handle a lifetime of happiness as long as there was still some surprises included as well as some occasional change happening here and there.

So over the last couple of months I've been making a foray into the online dating scene.

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 28, 2021:

No doubt about it, online dating is a cesspool. But the sad truth is that after age 50, when you're no longer in any kind of school and all your longtime friends are smugly married and not able to fix you up with anyone because they only know other married people, online dating really is your only option to be able to meet most of the available singles out there in that age bracket. Deal with it or lump it, those are the choices. It's not like the 1970s, when you could just go to a singles bar and most of the single people in your area would be there regularly to meet.

Biden drops minimum wage hike from COVID-19 relief bill Seizing on an advisory ruling Thursday by...

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 28, 2021:

Biden was never really interested in a $15 minimum wage, he was just lying to win the election. Why should anybody be surprised when a declared neoliberal does this? The fact that Bernie and AOC fall in line about this shows what frauds they are as well.

Cashing in on racialist politics: Black Lives Matter foundation raised $90 million in 2020 The ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 28, 2021:

Identity politics at its most profitable.

Most people are bad at arguing. These 2 techniques will make you better.

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 28, 2021:

You aren't the only one, I'm sure. But you also aren't like me. I have no interest in getting those people back into my life. I don't miss them and am better off without them.

John Fetterman annouced he is running for Senate seat in Pennsylvania. in 2022 [youtu.be]

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 27, 2021:

I've seen this guy speak several times on TV and he makes way too much sense, besides being intelligent and very honest for a pol. He needs to stay away from small aircraft...

The People Haven’t Risen Up For The Same Reason Abuse Victims Don’t Leave Their Abusers ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 27, 2021:

The Dem Party is an abusive partner. I recommend sane people on the left leave it as soon as possible.

Bill Maher does great job of standing up for single and childless people at the end of this video.

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 27, 2021:

Him and Chris Hedges are the only two people I can always count on to tell the real, depressing truth about things, like the gig economy and worship of family in America, both of which are based on myths.

Who is really behind this off-the-wall conspiracy cult?

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 27, 2021:

All three.

im worried they will win

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 27, 2021:

Love the statement about the billionaire's kids having a work requirement, since we all know how important it is for people who get help from the govt., whether an inheritance tax cut or a child tax credit, to have the proper Calvinistic character. I mean, anything else would be hypocrisy or discrimination, right? As for DeJoy, I am now convinced that destroying the postal service and giving its business, at least the profitable parts, to its competitors, is a bipartisan goal, so I am not hopeful that Biden will do the right thing, can DeJoy, and replace him with someone who is good for the postal service. And anyway, the postal service is not a big priority for him right now even if he was interested in doing the right thing. I expect we will get some happy talk about it and no real positive action.

CPAC Will Literally Feature A Golden Statue Of Donald Trump - YouTube

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 27, 2021:

If this isn't idolatry, I don't know what is.

I have lived in Portland five years!, not a single day of those years have I truly experienced ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 26, 2021:

I have no idea what it must feel like being black on a site made up almost completely of white non-believers. But I do feel your pain and understand, as do some other male members, what it's like to be part of another group of middle-aged and older men that it seems most women do not want to date, namely bald men. And, like the women that don't want to date black men, there appears to be a lot of self-serving denial about it by many women who won't date bald men, but don't want to look shallow or narrow-minded, so they claim that they and most women do not have this bias. So I can relate to that and it is frustrating to know you have no chance with a certain % of women, but you have no way of knowing who is and isn't part of each group because it's a sensitive subject that most people don't want to honestly speak about with candor.

Maskless MAGA Marauders

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 26, 2021:

It would be interesting to know that, as well as how many cops working that day at the capital have gotten Covid. We'll probably never know.

Why So Many Veterans Find the Path to Extremism | Military.com

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 26, 2021:

It makes perfect sense to me and explains why we need to be afraid of how many right wing white supremacists are in the current ranks of the military and law enforcement.

No touch, will bite.

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 25, 2021:

The infamous tummy trap...

Is This any Way To run a Railroad? [propublica.org]

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 25, 2021:

Inside job, just like 9-11. They had the intel and knew it was coming. Could have stopped it, didn't want to. Same old shit, different people in command.

Women Who Cook While Menstruating Will Be Reborn As Dogs, Hindu Leader Says | David Gee | Friendly ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 25, 2021:

That doesn't seem fair. Personally, I'd prefer to be reborn as a spoiled house cat.

I rarely visit the site anymore, so in effort to make good use of this brief visit and the aim of ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 25, 2021:

Looks like you have only one female member of your age group that lives in your local area, and she's a beauty queen besides that, which, in my experience, means she probably thinks she's too good to date someone like you or me. That's what happened with a woman like that which I messaged soon after I joined here. Rotsa ruck with your situation.

Well, I haven't been on Agnostics in a good while.

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 25, 2021:

Sounds like a real prize- NOT. I ran into one of those just last week on Batch. Next...Glad you figured him out quick and didn't waste much time on him.

I watched some of the testimony by former Capitol Police Chief Steve Sund.

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 24, 2021:

It was an inside job. The rioters had help from some officers at the line level and, more importantly, help at the command level. Glad that the head of the Capital Police was canned and also the Sergant At Arms from both branches of congress also had to go.

On being secretive - no photos.

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 23, 2021:

I have run across several women on Batch that will not post photos of themselves on the site because they fear harassment and ridicule from their students, even when the women teach at the college level. They are also afraid of their faculty peers seeing that they are on a dating site. Not having photos on the profile is a severe handicap in getting anyone to respond to the profile, and I won't message someone with no photos, no matter what body type they say they are. We all want to see proof of someone's looks, at least everybody I've talked to. The old joke is that the only photo anyone wants to see in a profile, particularly a man, is a nude photo on a scale holding a financial statement.

It will soon be March and the emergency $2,000 survival checks that Biden and the dems promised ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 23, 2021:

I'll take out of touch AND just don't care for $500, Alex....

The USA does not have a monopoly on raving idiots.

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 23, 2021:

I already have blocks for those two assholes...

Mass Shooting at Louisiana Gun Shop Leaves Three Dead and Two Wounded Three people were killed ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 22, 2021:

Redneck right wingers with guns, what could possibly go wrong?

Anti-Trumpers are done with the GOP. Where do they go now? - POLITICO

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 22, 2021:

They really do have nowhere to go, which is why I think most of them will crawl back to the Repubs, who know they will... What they really need is a new third party that is openly fascist, that's where they belong. We'll probably see something like that at least attempted, with a name like Patriot Party or something like that. They remind me of the ruling party in the Purge series of movies, The New Founding Fathers Of America Party.

Im not high when i post this marriage?

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 22, 2021:

I think that the main reason marriages started declining then and continue to decline is mainly economic. 1973 was the year that real wages for Americans began to decline permanently. I think declining wages discourage marriage because people realize they can no longer be able to support themselves, a partner, and children on the income that most Americans get. Simply too poor to get married, start families, and be able to support them. One reason I chose to never have kids or marry someone with kids, is that I knew I would likely be too poor to afford that situation and did not want to live in poverty the rest of my like.

Monday morning cuteness

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 22, 2021:

Kitty's head is bundled up for the Minnesota winter.

Among my Christian friends here in the Deep South USA I find there is a high correlation between ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 21, 2021:

I pity you for living in Alabama.