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Ever vacation and rub up against wealthy folks? What’s your experience with that?
I was gone for a one week vacation. We went to Mazatlan. We stayed at a resort which means we stayed in total fantasy land for us. For others it’s actually a way of life. These folks are really rich. Being at a resort is the only time I ever actually rub up against that class of folks, and since it’s the environment it is, folks let their guard down. I’m going to write about some of the things I learned by either listening to folks talking or having conversations with them. Keep in mind the general rule of thumb is the more money folks have the more right wing they as well as insular.
You can fairly easily identify the liberal folks because they are much more open and happy. Really, liberal folks smile a lot and are friendly. Conservatives are far less engaging and clearly feel entitled. Liberal folks tip. Locals don’t tip, but that’s cultural. It’s pretty much true for Europeans as well, but again it’s cultural. We are very liberal tippers so we are very well liked.
1) Had a lengthy talk with a gay couple (women) who had spent their whole careers as prison guards. One had retired two years ago (“B”) while the other retired just six months ago (“J”). I discovered one of them was in high school at the very same high school smileycreek attended. Smileycreek was a couple years ahead of her.
These two where liberal in social values but conservative when it came to law enforcement issues. They weren’t rich, but comfortable. I learned a lot. They told me when it comes to violent crimes women typically get harsher sentences than men. They say the prison system is definitely sexist as it’s controlled from the top by men. A man will get a 15-25 year sentence for murder where a women will get 25 years for the same type of murder. The reasoning is women are supposed to be kinder and more nurturing while men are naturally more violent. J said, “A grandmother who commits murder gets a harsher sentence than a dude would for the same thing.” Humm.
In prison the inmates do all things, whether physical labor, cooking, washing clothes or clerking for the officers. One women’s clerk was Leslie Van Houten who was a prom queen until her life took a drastic turn when she met Charles Manson. She’s been a model prisoner the entire 44 years+ she’s been in prison and is simply a lovely and intelligent women, according to B. Another of Manson’s Family who B worked with was Linda Kasabian, whom is also a model prisoner. According to B and J, these women are being treated completely differently compared to other murderers. If it hadn’t been such a celebrity situation and in the news all the time, these women would have been paroled years ago. But, they’ll likely never get out. I mentioned that Linda Van Houten had just been given parole. Not quite according to J who told me she’d only been just given the “possibility of eventual parole” when she’d always been denied before. I asked what that meant. She told me it meant she’d likely still be in prison for some years to come.
2) I talked for quite a while with a guy from Omaha, Nebraska. He’s a lawyer who’s whole career has been about suing doctors. He told me it’s a slam dunk for him and had made him very, very wealthy. He said, “About 50% of the cases are legit, while 50% are just folks trying to score money.” He also told me he eventually wins practically all of the cases because he causes emotional stress for doctors that their malpractice insurance eventually just pays off. Great!
He asked where I lived. I told him northern California. His response was, “How the hell can you stand living in California? There are some beautiful places there, but it’s full of Mexican and Asians and no one works. Everyone’s on welfare and medicare. The state is run by socialists and the tax rate is high.”
I told him California is about half white about half white and a third Hispanic and Asian about 8% (I was wrong its 11%). I told him we pay about 7% income tax to California. He thought that was an obscene tax rate.
He said, “Yeah, whites are in the minority there. How can you stand it?”
He also asked, “How’s Trump doing there?” I told him it looks like he’ll take California as will Hillary. He said, “Good! We need Trump to be the next president. Look at the last 20 years? (at least he included George W. Bush in that time span). “Trump is just saying exactly what we’ve all been thinking.” (not me)
3) I overheard a women at breakfast talking to the waiter. She told him they (she and her husband) are moving out of America because she’s scared to death Trump will be the nominee which will mean Hillary will win. She can’t abide that. So the next stop is Panama where she said, “The environment is great for rich people and it’s really cheap.” After that she’s going to check out the British Virgin Islands for the same reason. (no loss as far as I’m concerned)
4) I had a number of conversations with our Mexican friends. I can tell you this. They want Hillary. They don’t want Trump. They said that whatever happens in the USA profoundly affects Mexico and believe Trump is really bad . If he wins, it will badly affect Mexico.
As always, this is an open thread
Community Building Updates
LET'S BUILD COMMUNITIES!
Our team is here to provide support and guidance to new and existing volunteer leaders of each regional and state group, helping them with recruiting, organizing and executing social and action events. We invite you to join in this effort to build our community. There are many ways to pitch in. If there isn't a group to join near you, please start one.
State Open Threads
Colorado: Wednesdays, 6:00 PM Mountain
Michigan: Wednesdays, 6:00 PM Eastern
North Carolina: Sundays, 1:00 PM Eastern
Washington: Sundays, 3:30 PM Pacific
Missouri: Wednesday Evenings
Kansas: Monday Evenings
Events Currently Scheduled
SFKossacks welcome peregrine kate to San Francisco!
Sunday, May, 15th at High NOON < NOTE TIME CHANGE!
Battery Wallace picnic area in the Marin Headlands
Potluck and BYOB, sunscreen and lawn chairs, let us know if you need a ride
Please send navajo a kosmail if you’d like to attend.
“High in the hills of the Marin Headlands, well past the throngs of tourists along Conzelman Drive, Battery Wallace picnic area is a crown jewel of the region. Located close to the Point Bonita Lighthouse, the four tables and grills in this wide-open spot overlook the Golden Gate Bridge, with sea-to-sky views of the Pacific, San Francisco in the background, and beach coves sculpting the coastal landscape. Battery Wallace is exposed, so the best time to ‘cue it up is…now! Park your buns here for a few hours or a full day. Ladies and gentlemen, start your briquettes!” ~ from Weekend Sherpa
From Hwy. 101 take Alexander Ave. exit. Turn left on the Marin Headlands Tunnel Route (aka Bunker Rd.). Follow Bunker Rd. nearly to the end; make a left on Field Rd. going up to the Visitor Center. Go past the Nike Site and make your first left. This takes you to one-way Conzelman Rd., where you’ll turn right and reach Battery Wallace. No dogs.
RSVPS:
1. peregrine kate
2. navajo *2 bottles red wine
3. Meteor Blades *2 cans of spam
4. smileycreek
5. paradise50
6. side pocket *strawberries & creme fraiche
7. maggiejean *something salad-like
8. Glen The Plumber
9. remembrance
10. TLO
11. kimoconnor
12. citisven *beet dip, plus baguette
13. ceebee7
14. dsb *chips, salsa & guacamole
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Maybees:
FogCityJohn
FogCityJohn’s SO
shanikka
Susan Grigsby
jakedog42
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Sunday, May 22, 2016: Lunch to welcome asterkitty to Portland!
Meeting place: Siri Thai, 5234 SE POWELL BLVD PORTLAND, OR 97206
Time: 12:30 pm
Activities: Hugs, giving local advice, laughter, and eating large amounts of great food at reasonable prices!
RSVPS:
1. asterkitty
2. Sara R
3. winglion
4.
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Maybees:
llbear
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More information here and kosmail Sara R to RSVP
Daily Kos/Cheers & Jeers Welcoming Dinner
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Time: 5:30 PM
Location: Mango
1001 Washington Ave, One block from Convention Center, 2 minute walk from the Marriott
Join us for a generous buffet of Peruvian appetizers that will be substantial for dinner. Vegetarians will be provided for well.
Peru is home to one of the most exquisite fusion cuisines in the world. Mango Peruvian Cuisine brings the taste of Peru to Saint Louis by combining the diversity of their culture through locally provided food. Mango's beverage menu mirrors the marriage of diversity and locally sourced products.
Roll call for the C&J Dinner in Connect! Unite! Act!
This will be headcount central for the C&J Dinner. Spread the word.
RSVPS:
1. navajo
2. Meteor Blades
3. Bill in Portland Maine
4. Common Sense Mainer
5. jotter
6. aha aha (Mrs. jotter)
7. side pocket
8. Mrs. side pocket
9. paradise50
10. smileycreek
11. Chris Reeves
12. Ramara
13. loggersbrat
14. Justice Putnam
15. theRoaringGirl
16. winkk
17. jakedog42
18. vicki
19. markm667
20. brillig (bday gurl that day!)
21. mik
22. K1
23. K2
24. Eddie in ME
25. moody in savannah
26. lulu
27. texasmom
28. texasdad
29. Ed Tracey
30. Shermanesq
31. Doggie
32. 714day
33. gizmo59
34. gizmo59’s squeeze
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35. belinda ridgewood
36. evcoren
37. bfitzinAR
38. sidnora
39. peregrine kate
40. Spedwybabs
41. Malacandra
42. Will Rockafellow
43. skohayes
44. tealbomb
45. Paul Hogarth
46. Chris Bowers
47. Mara Schecter
48. Faith Gardner
49. Jen Hayden
50. Elizabeth Strong
51. SnoKat
52. SnoKat’s guy
53. Irna Landrum
54. Raines
55. Rachel Colyer
56. Carrisa Miller
57. Mara Schechter
58. Michael Langenmayr
Maybees:
norm winifred3
normAl1792
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There will also be a Daily Kos Caucus session during NN16.
Stay tuned for room location, date and time of our caucus.
Registration and hotels still available
Event Reporting
Silicon Valley Kos had a great event on April 30th. A representative from the Honda campaign attended and Jeevan Zutshi described a side of Mike Honda not well known in that Honda is always eager to help new candidates and encouraging involvement. They also discussed ways they could work as a team to increase SVKos’s impact on local politics. Exactly what all Daily Kos In-Real-Life groups should be doing.
The SFKossacks welcomed RLMiller to San Francisco on April 2nd. Photo diary here. Stay tuned. RLMiller is the President of Climate Hawks Vote Political Action. She is the elected chair of California Democratic Party’s environmental caucus. Our dinner lasted four hours!
The Houston Area Kossacks had a small meetup with lively conversation on Tuesday, March 29, 2016. Many more photos of the crew and ChrisLove’s great food pr0n can be seen here. Kosmail Chrislove if you’d like to join his group.
Northwestern Pennsylvania Kos
Northwestern Pennsylvania had dinner and lively political conversation on the evening of Thursday, March 17 at Latinos Restaurant in Erie, PA, in celebration of a visit from Chrislove who lives in Houston. Gizmo59’s recap can be read in full here, complete with succulent food pr0n.
The SFKossacks welcomed ColoTim on his recent business trip to the Bay Area. We met at the Beach Chalet for a great lunch overlooking the ocean. A zillion more photos here: Connect! Unite! Act! Ferguson, San Francisco & NN16 Event: SFKossacks Welcome ColoTim! Photos!
While we are awaiting the official recap photo diary by JoanBrooker of our New York City meet-up on Sunday, February 28, 2016 with navajo and Denise Oliver-Velez, please enjoy this place-marker group photo. Several attendees were taking photos and we can promise some excellent food pr0n. Stay tuned for Joan’s report. We had a great day that lasted from noon until 8:30 PM! AND HERE IS JOAN’S REPORT: Navajo @ 2/28/16 NYC Meet-up!
navajo maintains the above event list. Kosmail her if you have any diaries about your event or if you have changes or additions.
This is an open thread. Nothing is off topic.