Pete Seeger, RIP...

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I don't think he was against working for a living; he was against 
being worked to death.

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Can't stand not muckraking and being out of the limelight, huh? 

Here's why: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissistic_personality_disorder

No. An idealist. The first and last Democrat I voted for was JFK. ...Jim Thompson

-- | James E.Thompson | mens | | Analog Innovations | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | San Tan Valley, AZ 85142 Skype: Contacts Only | | | Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat | | E-mail Icon at

| 1962 | I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

You know, most people make a note so that they don't forget something important.

You on the other hand make notes so you won't forget when you were wrong last. I don't see why you need a reminder for that? really!

Your brilliant arrogance is the blind spot of this group.

How quaint.

Jamie

That wasn't any kind of note. I searched on "Oops" to make sure that it still worked, and that was what came up. Google have fiddled with the groups search mechanism recently so I wasn't entirely confident that it still behaved the way it used to.

You are too dim to appreciate what the word "search" means around here.

While we've got you and krw, we've got rather more obvious blind spots to worry about.

Jamie being as dim as ever. I suppose that's quaint.

--
Bill Sloman, Sydney

Let me first preface with, "I was ALWAYS a Republican, who from time to time voted for PEOPLE, instead of party."

Interesting family, the Kennedy's. I met Ted Kennedy years ago in San Jose, was not impressed enough to pull my votes. We used to see many members of the Kennedy family at least once a year in Saratoga at parties hosted by mideastern doctor. [the house was empty and only used for giving parties] John used to fly in and land on the cul de sac with a helicopter. I have NO idea how they got permission to land there, but they did. Every year we used to be invited to John's birthday party on Martha's Vineyard, but circumstances and timing always prevented us from going. I always made a mental note that we'd regret some day not going, and sure enough the minute he announced his candidacy for the same seat as Hillary, he died in plane crash on way to island. Should have gone at least once.

I have no idea why but if you meet them, you'll almost always vote for them. One 16 year old member of the family had so much character that if he ran for president, I would have voted for him. An absolutely strange phenomenon to meet someone with whom you have NOT discussed ideas, attitudes, or politics; but would vote for at the drop of a hat. Somehow, they just instilled confidence that they could fix a lot and not break too much.

Charisma. It fools you into thinking they are competant. They usually aren't.

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John Larkin                  Highland Technology Inc 
www.highlandtechnology.com   jlarkin at highlandtechnology dot com    

Precision electronic instrumentation

Competent? Competent at what? In Politics what exactly *is* competence? If you can get 'competent' people [the people who are delegated to perform all the actions] to all get together and come up with viable solutions, are you yourself competent? Maybe not so much competent, as just being a catalyst.

From extensive management training, I learned that people are NEVER fooled by another person. People, no matter what skill level, KNOW. THAT is an amazing fact of humanity. It's what makes actors so vulnerable on a stage, everybody watching them instantly knows them all the way through. It takes a lot of courage to stand up and take that kind of judgment. I can't do it. I'd rather hide in anonymity of technology, where 'rules' prevail and 'laws of nature' prevail. Where the more 'objective' you are, the better you can accomplish and have your efforts accepted.

Back to fooling people, I'm a firm believer in that people are never fooled by the person presenting himself as much as fooled by what's inside themselves. As in, not listening and WANTing to believe, rather than really paying attention to what is before them. As in being fooled by con artists, card sharks, etc. Simply the person wants to believe.

So, I don't think 'charisma' equates to incompetency, or even 'shysterism', rather is a good trait, if you're a politician.

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"Competent"

Mechanically, it's the ability to manage your organization (like the Executive branch) and to effectively negotiate with others (like Congress). I won't name any names.

Technically, it's an understanding of economics and social dynamics, and having some feel for history and the possibilities of the future. The vision thing.

And a really good golf game.

If

Nobody managing a big organization can do everything. So what matters is setting the goals and picking good subordinates to carry things out. And firing the ones who can't. Well, you have to actually meet with them once in a while.

So, who elected Obama?

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John Larkin                  Highland Technology Inc 
www.highlandtechnology.com   jlarkin at highlandtechnology dot com    

Precision electronic instrumentation

Don't ever selectively snip my postings again to remove the point I made. You removed the whole reason a person who has the innate ability to size up another, can then be 'fooled' and choose to ignore that summation.

Which answered your question.

And the consequences?

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John Larkin                  Highland Technology Inc 
www.highlandtechnology.com   jlarkin at highlandtechnology dot com    

Precision electronic instrumentation

Good swimmers, though.

They tend to be artsy, emotional-types, flighty, and insecure.

They know there's infinite competition just as good, and all they are and have could be gone in a nanosecond.

Plus they've got this feeling they're living a fraud--no different than anyone else, no better--and fear being found out.

I'm cool with unions--people should be able to associate as they wish.

Government/public workers are a different matter--they've got a vested interest in (and unfair access for) increasing the gov't, raising taxes, to increase their ranks (against the public interest), spending more, and little interest in fixing things.

IOW, they have an *actual* conflict of interest with the people they're supposed to be working for, and it ought not be permitted.

Cheers, James Arthur

And informs their politics. Imagine the appeal for insecure, spinning out-of-control clingy needy types, of being able to make other people back them up. (Because you didn't build that anyhow, and whatever I did wasn't my fault.) Barack-types.

"So that explains it: Liberals and socialists drink significantly more booze"

New academic research correlating a link between unhealthy behaviors and political ideology does not bode well for liberals. [...]

"Our findings are relatively consistent with the recent sociological studies showing that people with more socialist views tend to engage in more unhealthy behaviors such as excessive drinking," the two note.

"This sociological argument is similar to the theory of moral hazard in economics, which postulates that people may behave irresponsibly when they do not fully bear the cost of their behavior," they add.

Cheers, James

Put down your coffee...

Cheers, James

sound an awful lot like humans in general

27 club, just to name a few I remember:

Brian Jones,Jimi Hendrix,Janis Joplin,Jim Morrison,Kurt Cobain,Amy Winehouse

I would imagine you have a heard of a few of them

again sound an awful lot like humans in general

-Lasse

Dang, I can be emotional and insecure, at times. (I sometimes have these moments when I think, I'll never do anything again. I've been just copying other people for years, and you can only do that for so long.) 'course I get over it and sketch out a new widget. I'm also easily addicted. Giving up beer or sex is a non-starter, or coffee, well and then grease... (butter, bacon fat, olive oil..) Cigarettes I gave up years ago. (TP*) weed.. (mixes very nicely with sex every once in a while.) .. and fishing with the boys. Heroin and opiates, I figure I should just never try 'em...

George H. (*TP = Thank Patricia, (my wife) before our first date she told me she'd go out with me, but couldn't take me seriously if I smoked. And that was the end of it.)

Oh boy! Sure, some of my favorite people are teachers. I cannot understand a teachers union. (Educating the kids is the 1st priority.)

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Ya never know, John...