When I was a baby, Dutch sailors hid me under the bar when a fight broke out onboard the HNLMS Tromp (F801).

but other than that, not too bad. The most dangerous thing I deal with is Houston traffic.

#283 | Posted by sitzkrieg

Great story. Add more ... :-)

PS - Clive's the guy behind everyone from Whitney Houston to Santana and a wealth of other timeless artists in the list Lamplighter posted in #1.

Last of the great record men. Mo Ostin, Ahmet Ertegun ... and Clive. They loved MUSIC, found unique and creative new artists, and would stick with them until they hit, not drop them after the first album didn't meet expectations.

These were the guys responsible for unique and timeless music from the 60's and 70's, full of unique artists who you recognized when you heard them.

The corporate consolidation of the music industry, and resulting "no hit 1st record, no more record deal" mentality led to A&R execs taking fewer chances, and new artists with one chance to hit rather than nurturing acts guys like Clive and others believed in until they did hit.

#277 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS

Tuition was $600 a quarter ($2400/yr) at the major university I attended (commuted).

It's now over $16,000. In state tuition + room & board for in state is $50,000. No wonder so many graduate with massive amounts of student debt.

Between 3 part time jobs and a $500 per year grant, I had no debt. Didn't eat steak, but rent (shared house), books, food, and gas were doable.

PS - This Trump term most job growth has limited to the health care sector.

Manufacturing employment has risen by 23,000 in 2026, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Gee, that's 460 jobs average per state! Wow!! (/sarcasm)

#252 | Posted by sitzkrieg

Every two years my dad would bite his fingernails to the quick as his company always threatened to move the factory.

Don't forget NAFTA was a Republican idea negotiated under George HW Bush. Republicans love to blame Clinton, but all he did was sign it.

Companies offshored their jobs to save $'s to enrich themselves and shareholders at the expense of Americans.

Now, the wealthy who've benefited from those changes avoid paying taxes by all kids of nefarious means.

Three tax cuts - George W Bush (Dick "Ronald Reagan proved deficits don't matter" Cheney) and Trump's tax cuts have left us now paying $1 TRILLION dollars in annual interest.

When Clinton left office, we had $5.6 Trillion in total debt. AND he left a plan on W's desk to pay it off in a few years. Instead, with unitary control of government, Republicans DOUBLED the budget and more than doubled the national debt, setting us up for systemic deficits as far as the eye can see.

Musk's companies are all priced based on wishy-hopey promises of what's to come, not on any realistic measures.

The UK economy has performed worse than the other 44 western nations since Brexit.

"Conservative" ideas of governance help the 1% and hurt the other 99% every time.

;-(

#212 | Posted by sitzkrieg

When I was growing up in the 60's and 70's my dad worked in a factory and earned enough to support a family of four.

Times have changed. Everything is far more expensive now on an inflation adjusted basis compared, and wages haven't kept up.

And, yes, sometimes they need to be bigger to read the captions

#29 | Posted by LampLighter

I wasn't complaining about the size of your pic :-)

Just thought I'd post some instructions for anyone who didn't already know.

Trump took credit for the roaring economy Obama left him, and had people to put up guardrails to thwart Trump's worse instincts.

This time, he hired nothing but lackeys, took a strong economy Biden left him and wrecked it all by himself.

PS - don't forget the " on both sides of the pixel number when resizing (400 in my example)

Can't type the HTML instruction without parenthesis because it screws up the formatting and won't post properly

#26 | Posted by LampLighter

No complaint at all, but here's a tip if you want to make resize photo:

- Use the usual way you post photos (img src .. )

- Don't put the (>) at the end of the photo HTML yet

- Put a (") at the end of the photo URL:

THEN type: height="(400 is the max I use)" width="(400 if it's square)"> NOTE THE (>) COMES AT THE VERY END AFTER SIZING

Just passing that along because some photos turn out too big just posting the photo URL

Someone upthread said something about a man in the 1950's being able to support a family on one income... Has anyone looked at the size of those houses they lived in?
#96 | Posted by lfthndthrds

HERE'S REALITY:

A head of a household of 4 earning $50k a year ($25/hr, but most jobs that don't require a college degree pay less):

WhiteDevil was rightisright if I recall correctly.

#68 | Posted by LauraMohr

Ya, he was living in China, not Taiwan at the time.. He was a White Devil on both sides of the planet.

It's just pool math.

With Vernon's calculator.

#52 | Posted by ClownShack

What happened to him? He didn't leave during the BOZO-led mass exodus to Discord.

Did he say "F it!" and swim the strait to mainland China?

Philosophy football at its finest! lol

His mind is mush. He posted this, supposedly to one of his daughters, neither of whom are in this pic:

"Blonde ... must be one of my daughters!"

LOL!

Vandals didn't cause this. Trump did by hiring his "pool guy" with a no-bid contract with record profit levels.

And what about the destruction of the East Wing of the White House ... without permission or authorization?!

"The threat to occupy Iran as a whole is a new step for the mentally unfit geriatric president who has been seeking a way out of the war he illegally began on Israel's behalf which has been bankrupting the US economy."

Setting aside the fact Iran is much larger than Iraq with more treacherous topography.

Trump is such a dumba..!!