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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 11, 2021 18:24:55 GMT
I learned that yesterday was the five year anniversary of David Bowie's death. At the point of a gun I would have sworn that happened last year!
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Post by Kimby on Jan 12, 2021 3:36:34 GMT
I learned that impeachment in the house only needs 51 % of the votes, but the Senate vote to convict, which is always stated as 2/3 of the 100 senators, is ACTUALLY 2/3 OF THOSE PRESENT.
As long as there’s a quorum (51 senators), the vote to convict might not require many - if any - Republican votes!
If 74 senators attend the vote, all 50 dems could vote to convict and all 24 Republicans could vote not to, and Trump would still be convicted.
The R’s can strategize which of their members would be better served by attending and voting no, and which could safely boycott the proceedings.
I suspect that many Republicans would like to see Trump safely removed from running for future public office because of their own political aspirations.
Win, win, win. Well except for the Orange Clown.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 12, 2021 4:06:15 GMT
Oh, Kimby ~ you learned the best stuff today! I have been sort of assuming that Dump could not be convicted because the Republicans would prevent it. Your information says that it could in fact play out completely differently. Where do I go to get the source of that info, please?
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Post by whatagain on Jan 12, 2021 9:12:03 GMT
I learned that yesterday was the five year anniversary of David Bowie's death. At the point of a gun I would have sworn that happened last year! I would have said 10 years at least... Strange.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 12, 2021 12:56:01 GMT
I believe 2020 has messed up our sense of time.
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Post by Kimby on Jan 17, 2021 21:24:14 GMT
I learned Hermit Crabs - my avatar! - do a sort of musical chairs when an empty shell is found. If it’s too big for the first crab to stumble on it, he waits for another bigger crab to come along.
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Post by Kimby on Jan 17, 2021 21:26:25 GMT
Oh, Kimby ~ you learned the best stuff today! I have been sort of assuming that Dump could not be convicted because the Republicans would prevent it. Your information says that it could in fact play out completely differently. Where do I go to get the source of that info, please? From the senate.gov website www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Senate_Impeachment_Role.htmIt drives me NUTS that the media without exception are saying that 67 votes are required. This would be game-changing if it was more widely known.
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Post by htmb on Jan 17, 2021 21:36:49 GMT
That is fascinating! It’s amazing what animals will do. Thanks for posting the video, Kimby.
I once had a young student bring his hermit crab to stay I’m my classroom for a few days. I happened to go into the room on a weekend and the poor thing was covered in sugar ants. I carefully rinsed the ants off with water and did my best to make sure the terrarium was cleaned out. Somehow the crab survived.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 17, 2021 22:43:49 GMT
It drives me NUTS that the media without exception are saying that 67 votes are required. This would be game-changing if it was more widely known. After reading your post days ago, I am finally seeing allusions to the true rules of the vote just in the last couple of days. We can truly say, "You saw it here first!" The hermit crab video ~ who knew?! It had everything -- great camera angles, personalities, tension, drama, and resolution. Also, it kinds of puts us humans in our place about thinking ourselves so civilized.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 19, 2021 12:32:26 GMT
French children receive a smaller allowance that most of the children in Western Europe.
Italians receive an average of 58 euros a month. The British receive an average of 48 euros. The Spanish receive an average of 44 euros. The French receive an average of 30 euros. (28 for girls and 32 for boys -- but that's a different scandal!)
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 19, 2021 16:56:26 GMT
I don't think I ever got an allowance. If we wanted money, we'd ask our parents -- usually our dad. He would always ask what I wanted it for & I'd generally say I wanted a dollar to buy a 45 (record, not gun). He'd always give it to me. This was very occasional -- not on a regular basis. We had the stray five dollars we'd get from grandparents, so there was always something to buy comic books or candy. Well, I always did since from childhood I was better at hoarding money than my brother was.
From the vantage point of having been a child in the early to mid-sixties, the European kid allowances seem like fortunes to me.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 19, 2021 17:42:32 GMT
When I think of how long ago I was a child, I think the fact that I got $5 a week was extremely generous. I think my brother got $10 which infuriated me. He was 3 years old but certainly not wiser. We also got money for good grades in school -- $1 for every "A." I think there were 6 subjects that were graded. Report cards were every 6 weeks. And there was payment for mowing the lawn. We had a really huge yard with a lot of obstacles. I seem to recall that the reward was $5, but I could be mistaken. When we got a riding mower, it was fun rather than work. We probably should have paid to be allowed to mow the lawn then.
The real test is what Bixa mentioned -- asking for money for special reasons. I know that my parents paid for movies and bowling. I can't think of any other reasons for extra money, but there must have been some. Food, board and clothing were included in the deal. Back in those days, there were no "must have" clothing items or shoes for which to beg. Possibly it was a little different for girls, who were more fashion conscious.
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Post by mickthecactus on Jan 19, 2021 19:12:35 GMT
I don't recall an allowance but I know my father paid for all my sporting requirements.
When I was 13 I became a paper boy and had to be at the shop at 5.45 every morning to mark up my papers. 6.30 on Sundays.that was my income for years.
I'm still an early morning person.
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Post by onlyMark on Jan 19, 2021 19:31:34 GMT
I think I got sometimes pocket money as a kid but all I can say is that it couldn't have been regular otherwise I would remember it. My parents paid for clothing etc but is wasn't the fashionable stuff and I never needed anything special for sport etc. I did get dinner money but would save as much of it as I could and didn't spend it on school dinners but would buy one roll and a bit of cheese the shop keeper would cut off for me and others who did the same thing. I did do a paper round as Mick did and the highlight of my week was coming back from the youth club on a Wednesday and buying fish and chips on the way home. My mother always had a few rounds of toast ready for me when I got back from delivering the papers and before I went to school.
As soon as I could I got a Saturday job which I felt made me rich in comparison to what I had before. My parents did pay for me to go on 'School Camp' to the Lake District every year for a week and later on, for two. Summer holidays were spent working for the Council, usually in a large public park here I did some basic gardening upkeep. I only paid 'room and board' when I did the summer job or later when I began to work full time. 'Tater picking' in the October holiday was another source of part time cash.
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Post by mich64 on Jan 20, 2021 4:43:22 GMT
We never received an allowance either. We all had daily/weekly chores depending on our age. My dad always found quarters for us to go to the Friday night teen dance or a movie or to buy penny candy if we were sent to the store for milk, bread or cigarettes. My parents paid for my coaches and gymnastic club fees without hesitation as I used to drive my mother crazy using the couch as a springboard (remembers those coils in the cushions?). I remember my parents not often saying no even though living expenses with 5 kids most likely took most of their paycheques.
I began babysitting at 13 and my first job was at the corner store then a t-shirt transfer shop at the mall kept me with spending money for my teenage and college years.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 20, 2021 7:13:54 GMT
I'm pretty sure that the number of children in each family had a significant influence on whether or not allowances were institutionalised.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 23, 2021 17:40:20 GMT
There has been a glut of commercials recently for the wonders of cat litter. Absorbant, fresh, delightful. The final scene always shows the delicious looking ball being delicately raked out of the litter box. Now I know how muesli is made.
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Post by mickthecactus on Jan 23, 2021 17:42:59 GMT
I use certain cat litter as part of my cactus compost.
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Post by Kimby on Jan 23, 2021 17:49:04 GMT
And we use cat litter for traction under tires of a car stuck in snow.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 23, 2021 17:50:39 GMT
Try using muesli!
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Post by Kimby on Jan 23, 2021 17:58:14 GMT
We DID get an allowance that was already half spent when it was handed to us. We had to pay for our school cafeteria lunch tickets out of it and half of the total had to go into our savings accounts, which had been started for us shortly after birth and into which went birthday checks and other financial windfalls. When we were old enough to run the lawnmower, we got paid for that, but again, half went right into savings.
Huckle, my first job outside the home was de-tassling corn. I bet most people don’t know what that is.
And good grades were also expected of is, never rewarded with cash.
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Post by Kimby on Jan 23, 2021 17:59:15 GMT
Grape Nuts would work particularly well for that.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jan 23, 2021 18:09:51 GMT
I got a Saturday Sixpence from the age of 5 or 6....went up to a shilling when I was 7 (when my baby sister was born). When I got to 13 I started earning my own money babysitting once or twice every week. I always had chores at home, from about 12 I did the family ironing (not my brother's...he did his own), looked after my baby sister A LOT, and did little jobs about the house, went to the corner shop etc...nothing arduous.
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Post by mickthecactus on Jan 23, 2021 18:19:51 GMT
What are grape nuts?
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 23, 2021 18:26:57 GMT
It's a kind of American granola.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jan 23, 2021 18:30:47 GMT
Just found out that Larry King has died. Not everybody's cup of tea but I remember watching his late night shows occasionally in the 80s and 90s.
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Post by Kimby on Jan 23, 2021 18:32:20 GMT
It's a kind of American granola. Not exactly, K2. They are sharp-edged granules of rock-hard bran, I believe. Slightly more flavorful than cardboard, and somewhat satisfying to chew, once they soaked up some milk.
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Post by Kimby on Jan 23, 2021 18:37:27 GMT
Excellent source of fiber, indeed!
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Post by Kimby on Jan 23, 2021 18:39:59 GMT
PS no grapes in it. Or nuts. Not sure how they got name.
About once a decade I get a hankering for grape nuts, but am quickly reminded why I don’t buy them more often!
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Post by mickthecactus on Jan 23, 2021 18:44:09 GMT
I think I’ll pass.
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