or just cocktails! would have loved to see the reporting on that! ;)

at least that's the reporter's take on it, eh? will we ever know the fact[s] behind the story? who really cares - the entire thread is just so much fun and is so funny! :)

Posh08 toothpicks were not allowed either

DaleMN sorry about the volume but the incident blows my mind What is this country coming to?

PS I emailed my friend from Duluth. He states the floods have done some very serious damage estimated at over $100,000,000. Most people without flood insurance state and federal officials there assessing the situation. My friend had a taste of water in his basement but otherwise is safe.

Oh, is there a story where the Future Farmers of America were asked to "fork over" their forks??

Or is it still only Latinos who are suspect around the President with sharp metal objects?

Glad your friend is safe.

Here is a point, though. Conservative folks want to keep government OUT of their lives. However, let something bad happen like a flood, and those same people are the first ones in line for government assistance. Everyone has the opportunity to buy flood insurance, I believe, but most do not since there has not been a flood in ages. Well, they made their choice and now, should not ask the intrusive government to step in and help them.

Margaritas could have been interesting. :icon_twisted:

???......I think your getting your disasters confused. It was the liberal center of your party that screamed for help and the head of GW Bush on a platter when they were deluged in the heart of Mississippi.

In the heart of the country the people got together and helped themselves instead of waiting for government to take care of them. The very conservative state of Utah are self reliant Americans who've taken care of themselves for generations and haven't been turned into the entitlement class dependents of the government as are/were the people of New Orleans.

This is true of all the heartland states. They took care of themselves and then accepted what help was offered in the rebuilding. They blamed no one.


Iowa flooding vs New Orleans flooding

Duluth is a mess as well as Moose Lake and Carlton. Don't think anyone ever expected their homes to be flooded. On the Minnesota River and the Red River yes....but not in NE MN. The weather has been ruthless in many, many places but I best not mention global warning and you, Bucco & Richie will get your dander up. :laugh:

I don't think you can back this up with examples, can you?

I believe that who ever you back politically does not matter in a disaster.
That is what "we the people" and the money we send to the government is about.
Also I believe that each person should make the choice and live by that decision if something happens and then hope that you live in an area that pulls together. Also if the government has a program to help in a disaster, then great, but it should not be a bailout. It should be food, water, clothes, TEMPORARY housing and that is it. Not replacing everything as if you had insurance. If you can't get insurance, then there is probably a reason for that so DON"T LIVE THERE!
In an area that is not known to flood then everybody should pitch in and help in any way they can and then move on instead of trying to find someone to blame for their plight!

So Fema is a hand out Humm! So what does that make all the other stuff that is given out as a right?
And if you could please back up your assertion that "Conservative folks"
walk around with their hands out, I would be surprised!

Floods are a terrible thing to endure. I would be very hesitant to call anyone who has been in a flood "an entitlement class dependent of the government".

Read the attached link about the floods in Iowa and you will see the frustration and it sounds like some blaming, too.

Anyhow, to Rubicon, I was not getting on your good friend at all. Very glad that he is safe from flooding in Duluth.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/28/us/28cedar.html

DaleMN: I admire your persistence but just because Duluth experienced flooding doesn't mean that the logical deduction is that it is a product global warming. Besides, global warming given the millions and millions of years of the earth's existence may be a natural occuring cycle.

Back to the original theme of this thread. Obama/secret service felt it necessary to pull knives and forks from the tables. I am surprised because any amateur who has watched a crime show has seen that a ball point pen to the neck is a very effective weapon. Did the secret service think about that sceanrio or were they too busy checking out the local talent?

Don't forget that Obama about doubled his secret service staff. What does that tell you. Hmmmmmmm. "Elementary my dear DaleMN" "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable" must be the truth." Sherlock Holmes

First, I did not mean to imply that global warming caused the Duluth flood. I do beleive global warming is real and to ignore it is unwise at best and catastrophic at worst. It seems to me that the right wing, while always talking about 'our kids and grandkids', is really very unconcerned with the future of our planet, people included.
Secondingly, increasing secret service staff, tells me that there is a very racist, very hateful segment of our society that can't stand having an African American as the POTUS. A segment that really is uninformed and largely unintelligent who hangs on the words of Fox news as truth, can't form opinions of their own, even listens to the 'largely innocent' voice of The Villages right wingers. And the NRA doesn't help. Off my soapbox now. :doh:

As far as your "secondingly" statement...I honestly believe that people are really starting to see through and tire of the whole race issue.

Barone: Obama backers use race as alibi for ebbing support | WashingtonExaminer.com

First I really don't get the part where left leaning supporters of Obama feel the need to say that the right is "unintelligent" and "can't form opinions".
What is that? Does it make you feel bigger, better, smarter, what?

Second, don't even think about the POTUS as black, white or anything other than a man UNTIL people like you feel the need to point it out.

Third, Has MSNBC been fully checked out now and reports only the abosolute truth.

Each side has there own news that leans their way, more left than right ones, however that does not make the people watching them "unintelligent".
Hearing how racist I am is getting really old and is proof that reaching across the aisle is not what you are interested in.
I guess I could say then that left wingers who don't want a white POTUS are racist. There is the same amount of truth in that statement as yours.

Wow, Rubicon, you had better watch out with your statements like, "Besides, global warming given the millions and millions of years of the earth's existence may be a natural occuring cycle."

The extreme right (Tea Party) might censure you for acknowledging that the Earth is so old and not the 7 to 10 thousand years old that creationists believe. :22yikes:

Well said...but they just won't get it...:icon_bored:

Get what?....I don't get it?? :doh: