Good or Bad for the Jews

"Good or Bad for the Jews"

Many years ago, and for many years, I would travel to Morocco to visit uncles, cousins, and my paternal grandmother. Some lived in Tangiers;...

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

The First Debate

Background and disclaimers:

1)  I am a Trump supporter and will vote for him in November;
2) I am writing this without listening to any of the pundits, so I might miss some stuff they get;
3) I am home alone with my two dogs as the Diplowife, who always has lots of views, is in Spain with two of our kids to attend a wedding;
4) I have been texting her for the past 90 minutes giving her a running account of the debate as she sits on an overnight bus from Donosti (San Sebastian) to Madrid;
5) I have not requested the views of my dogs.

General impression: no KO punches by either Trump or Clinton; both will have survived the night relatively unscathed, and both camps will claim victory. I, however, think that the pundits will score it as a win for Hillary. I, myself, score it as a narrow win on points for her when scoring purely as a debate performance. That doesn't mean, as I note below, that Trump lost in the real world.

She came prepared, spoke well, did not get flustered, went on the offense on several occasions, and managed to get Trump off message and look defensive. Clinton spewed lies and a lot of Democrat/progressive nonsense but did it well, without too much effective challenge from Trump. Clinton also got an assist from the moderator, Lester Holt, who let her go on and on, while he repeatedly interrupted Trump to remind him of time limits; he also engaged Trump in debate re his "birther" stance, on the history of his opposition to the war in Iraq, and on "stop and frisk." In addition, Trump stumbled on the whole issue of "no fly" and "terror watch" lists, lamely agreeing with Clinton that an unconstitutional denial of second amendment rights could and should result from  these extrajudicial lists (see what I wrote about this here.) Trump let her slide on cyber security, not hammering Clinton on her private server and "reckless" disregard for national security information, only mentioning in passing her 33,000 deleted emails; he, furthermore, never brought up the Clinton Foundation, "pay for play," Benghazi, and her own great wealth stealthily acquired over the past several years. He was too defensive on his tax returns, on the birther issue, and his bankruptcies. He did not hit her on the immigration and refugee vetting issue. Trump never mentioned the words "deplorable" or "irredeemable." He let Clinton off the hook--too much a gentleman?--on "bimbo eruptions," while she did not hesitate to blast him about a Latina beauty contestant who has some beef against Trump.

Trump did get off a few good shots about Clinton's disastrous political record, nil accomplishments as SecState, support for bad trade deals, and lack of realism in her tax-and-spend proposals. I thought Trump did very well on "law and order," and in demonstrating empathy for people stuck in the inner cities and suffering under Democrat rule for the last 60 to 100 years. He might have picked up some African-American votes without losing white ones. Hillary, on the other hand, was atrocious on the race issue and, I think, that will cost her some white votes. She basically said all of us are racially biased. She appeared to trash all the cops; Trump successfully contrasted that with the widespread support he has from police organizations.

In sum, Trump missed an opportunity to put the election away. I have no idea how this will play in the polls outside of the beltway, in the real America, over the next few days, but can't imagine they will move much either way. Trump, however, might pick up some support from those who like his "blue collar" manner of speaking. I don't know.

There are two more debates. My two-cents of advice for Trump? Go after her on the topics mentioned above. He also, frankly, needs to look better prepared. He can't just recycle campaign speeches. Hillary Clinton is a clever, tough old reptile who desperately wants power. She will say and do anything to achieve it. Do not underestimate her.

OK, off to listen to the great and wise ones.

45 comments:

  1. But again and again he did bring up: "You've been at this business for 30 years, what did you do with all of these ideas you're claiming?"

    He definitely let her off on the InfoSec stuff, and the moderator was pretty atrocious in arguing with Trump but not Clinton. I think the moderator intended to come across as "media fair" as in: "I checked all my news anchor cohorts and they all thought I was being fair in regards to what they think."

    Here's my question. When did the AUMF-Iraq stop being the only thing that matters to a President in regards to US troops in Iraq? I felt that her claim that Bush tied Obama's hands is ridiculous. Perhaps he didn't try to form a new SOFA, but even if he couldn't, afaik, he has unilateral authority over our troops, particularly with the AUMF-Iraq to back him. He could declare Iraq to be a threat (which it STILL IS!!) and start giving regular 60-day reports to congress, regardless of what Maliki or any successor thought.

    Maybe I'm missing something:
    AUMF-Iraq https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-107publ243/html/PLAW-107publ243.htm

    And I don't see anything sunsetting declarations of war, even in the suspect war powers act.

    - reader #1482

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  2. I assume by "great and wise ones" you mean the dogs. I'll bet cash money they have a clearer view of the world than any amount of the sock puppets on TV.

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  3. If Trump had been focused and delivered the impression that he had a moderate command of details, he might have put it away tonight. But he didn't. A few examples:

    ...Corporate taxation. Why is lowering the tax rate to 15 percent a good idea? Because corporations don't pay taxes. They're passed along to customers who pay them through higher prices and workers who receive lower wages, or don't get hired.

    ...The Iraq status of forces agreement. Bush may have set the date, but Obama had the clout, which he deliberately chose not to exercise, to force the Iraqi government to accept U.S. terms, which then would have impeded the formation of ISIS or strangled it at birth.

    ...Hillary's emails. Come on, Donald -- such a soft target! 33,000 emails about wedding plans and yoga routines? Really? How much government time were you spending on inconsequential stuff, Secretary Clinton? And what about the new evidence that Obama knew about the server from the start?

    ...The Clinton Foundation. Nada.

    ...Hillary's wanting to be at the head of Obama's third term. "I have to ask everyone: Do you really want more of THIS?"

    The fact that Trump didn't take advantage of any of these openings -- things that would have come to the mind of me, a mere prole -- tells me that maybe he doesn't have what it takes to defeat a manifestly lying, self-entitled criminal.

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    Replies
    1. afaik, Obama had the legal authority and requirement from the AUMF-Iraq to ensure Iraq wasn't a threat to the US. He chose to instead call them 'the JV team'.

      - reader #1482

      Delete
    2. definitely, definitely, definitely, HarryBro. I think Trump's lack of government experience or lack of need to face hostile questioners showed. Then again, Shrillary Shrooooo had the moderator on her side, and continues to have the whole MSM in her pocket.

      Delete
  4. Hmmm. No foul no harm I think.

    Her voters are likely to still be, hers. His, his and maybe some leaners from areas who have heard it all before. Going on some 30 odd years or so.

    ***

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  5. Looked about the same from here. HRC on points. I was certainly hoping he could hit her for a six and declare and go for tea. He has got another 2 innings, so lets hope he puts in some practice in the nets.

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  6. i think it important for Trump to show the fence sitters that he isnt the crazy person hillary and the media make him out to be. second debate is when you wound her. third is when you kill her. you want the voters to bring the bad feelings into the voting booth. sharpest knife comes out just before the election.

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    1. "i think it important for Trump to show the fence sitters that he isnt the crazy person hillary and the media make him out to be."

      That was his task last night and he did it. All those issues are secondary and can be raised in another debate. Hillary has nothing more to say.

      That's why the polls are showing a plus for him.

      Delete
    2. Assuming Scott Adams is right, Trump did well.
      http://blog.dilbert.com/post/151007796236/i-score-the-first-debate

      Delete
  7. The stage business at the end of the debate was intended to make Trump look isolated and friendless. While Hillary, Bill, et al, shook hands with the people in the first two or three rows, none of Trump's well-wishers were able to access them physically. So the Trump family stood by awkwardly for a few moments, watching the kabuki theatre aftermath and then filed out. The women looked scared; I don't blame them.

    Too bad Ms.Flowers wasn't there after all.

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    1. The thing is that it just reinforced that they stacked the deck for Clinton. And she was starting to get scary eyes towards the end, when she was shaking hands.

      Pat Caddell said that Trump scored higher in "cares about people like me". Repubs don't normally do that. And he picked up a few Independents. The debate was about what I expected. Honestly, if you get past this nonsense and get elected, you won't ever be debating anyone anyway. "Mr. Putin, I challenge you to a debate!"

      Delete
  8. Another good analysis. I was disappointed in Trump's lack of focus and impressed with Hillary's energy. Those are some goooood drugs her doctors are pumping into her!

    But as I've already noted elsewhere, my take is that Trump had to convince women he was not a knuckle dragger and I don't think he moved the needle much on that score. Hillary had to convince men she was an acceptable candidate, and her smug countenance and harsh tone probably reminded most men of their first wife, so I think she failed.

    Neither one added many voters to their side last night. My hope is that Trump can keep the momentum up sufficiently to at least prevent Hillary from getting 270 electoral votes. That is looking more possible every week.

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    1. Good point... I was looking for the right words. I could tell Hillary was practiced for 'composure', but it's very easy to betray the smugness behind that mask. I caught it very clearly. It was very clear that she was "going for the Presidential composure", but the question is whether anybody bought it.

      To his credit, Trump was Trump through and through. Does America just want a veneer?

      - reader #1482

      Delete
    2. Methinks DARPA (for whatever reasons .. blackmail?) made a second set of those Energizer battery-packs that Dick Cheney's been running on, available to the She-Devil.

      Or, it could be Saudi Arabia has taken an interest in alternative energy sources ... Going Green as Prince Bandar might put it.

      ***

      Delete
  9. When his "friendship" with Putin is brought up I really wish he would say "If Putin and I were that close, I would have his copies of all your emails"

    BC

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  10. "OK, off to listen to the great and wise ones." - Master

    Yeah I heard them howling in the background!
    And, may I send,
    Best wishes for the safe passage and return of your dear Senora~~~

    On the debate, we are in full agreement! Did notice that Trump scored well on most Polls even a 60-40 split on the Time Online site claiming 600,000 voters when I signed off. He of course nailed it on Drudge 80-20.

    Most commenters on the blogs I viewed, tended to agree that Trump had the kid gloves on, but recognized the "I'm not Hitler" strategy, he of necessity employed this go'round!

    I knew he was 'marking-time' when he didn't capitalize on Clinton's 'sour grapes employee' accusations that Donald was, "Sticking it to them"! I was hoping Trump would rebut: And you Hellery were sticking it to Bill's female victims, after he got finished "Sticking" it to them! That would have brought the house down! Oh well 'we can't always get what we want'.

    The feeling I got reminded me of an NFL team guarding a small lead in the 4th quarter--most of us know where that ends, if they fail to get back into the rhythm of the 1st Half gameplan...

    On a more positive note, Trump's got plenty of ammo left to expend on Clinton in Las Vegas, or or wherever the next lefty hellhole Rince Priebus selected is! Hopefully, next time out, Donald won't have to bodycheck a Marxist tool blocking his shots, whilst role-playing as an unbiased moderator in blackface!

    On Watch~~~
    "Let's Roll"

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    Replies
    1. I agree Trump left a lot of unused ammo on the ground. This was his first debate with an actual enemy operative- two if Lester Holt is counted. Next time he can use lessons learned and use the heavy stuff against her and her moderator/enabler. The public will love it. Go on offence.

      Delete
  11. I also agree that Trump could have done a lot better, and decisively put this "debate" behind him, if he had only used some of the many, many points that he keeps hammering in his public appearances, that (for some reason) he didn't use here.

    Still, he did OK against a stacked deck; both the "moderator" and Clinton were reading from the same, rehearsed script. Look at that first question to Hillary, and watch her performance delivering her lines! Holt never interrupted Hillary, or argued with her; but he constantly interrupted Trump. The questions Holt asked were straight out of the Hillary camp's talking points.

    Disappointing in that so many opportunities to put Clinton away for good were not taken, but in the end- Clinton has now shot her wad, she's got nothing left. Trump has ammo galore, and his most devastating arguments weren't touched on. The next two debates should be lots of fun for me, and all Trump supporters!

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    1. Did you also notice the guy collecting her notes after the debate ?

      Delete
    2. NO I didn't MK, was too busy watching the dynamics between Hill's n' Holt! And DT's delayed handshake... have read about it since though!

      Usually the candidate picks-up his own notes and puts them in his breast pocket. It could also simply be evidence that her Alzheimer's is progressing apace! Except for her obviously pre-prepared and practiced Answers to Holt's Questions!

      Of course, the handler 'clean-up' could be more evidence of the Network-Clinton conspiracy to stack the deck. If only we had the paperwork!

      Then, for what its worth, there's this: A Fox reporter's claim to have seen an NBC employee costumed as FedEx driver handoff a document to Clintons campaign manager!? OW~~~

      https://www.hotgas.net/2016/09/breaking-hillary-get-debate-questions-week-ago/

      Delete
  12. Trump was playing singles tennis. Hellary and Lesser Holt were playing doubles ... Hard to win under such circumstances.

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  13. I waited all day for the debate. At 8:45 I actually cooked popcorn. Alas I had two glasses of wine and became very sleepy (having eaten all my popcorn).
    I turned the thing off and went to bed at 9:30.

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  14. All Trump had to do was not implode or flame out to keep himself alive in this race and he did that. In typical Trump fashion, all of his points were based upon a kernel of truth, but he fluffs and "believe me's" them and they lose their veracity/impact. He definitely did not take advantage of all the openings Clinton gave him to attack her. I wonder if he had gotten the advice: "don't be mean in this debate, be polite and show people you aren't a bully." And now that he's done that, he's free to go after those weak points (imho) with risking the charge that he's a bully.

    Clinton was full of platitudes. Idk why the media go on and on about how good she is with specifics because I don't hear them from her. I hear her say liberal POVs and so they all nod and discount the lack of detail. That smirk! Ugh. I don't mind Clinton's ability to work DC, there is some value there and you have to respect her for it. But Clinton is paranoid like Nixon was, hence all the horrific decisions that account for most of the charges that she's dishonest and an enabler of her husband's disgusting behavior. If she's president, one of those paranoid decisions risk hurting the office of the presidency like her husband did.

    All in all, the debate was a wash with the exception that Trump did not do what liberals wanted: crash and burn. I'll take that outcome.

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    1. I agree and he fulfilled the expectations of the realist.

      Delete
  15. Here are my constructive criticisms of Trump I sent to his campaign on last night’s debate.

    1) The birth place of President Obama: Mr. Obama was the original birther and that was what may have been said based on this:

    Breitbart News obtained a promotional booklet produced in 1991 by Barack Obama’s then-literary agency, Acton & Dystel, which touts Obama as “born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii.” This was not changed for 16 years.

    The booklet, which was distributed to “business colleagues” in the publishing industry, includes a brief biography of Obama among the biographies of eighty-nine other authors represented by Acton & Dystel

    2) The cause of the great recession, which was the worse since 1949 not as Hillary said, the great depression was not caused by lower taxes or anything else related directly to the economy. It was due to a lack of confidence in the mortgage industry and the actual mortgages. This could have been the basis for the reply to her:

    In 1977, to prevent redlining and make home loans available, President Carter signed the Community Reinvestment Act. This began the lowering of the requirements for purchasing a home. The Clinton Administration pushed for 30% of the loans to be so called sub prime loans with no down and reduced credit requirements. These loans and those properly vetted/backed were bundled into derivatives and sold similar to bonds to financial institutions. There were attempts to modify the program in Congress during Bush's Administration but the attempts failed due to Democratic Party objections; who wanted to take a "right" of housing from those who could ill afford it. Someone/someplace must have asked what was in the derivatives and when it was known that they contained limited backed sub prime mortgages, the confidence in the derivatives collapsed, as did the financial institutions that were heavily invested in them. Politically connected Goldman Sach was bailed out but Lehman Brothers, not so connected, was not. My retirement was heavily into Lehman Brothers bonds which became worthless when they went bankrupt. One half of my life savings/retirement was lost in this downturn. So this crisis is very personal to me and seems to be taking root again. At 71 I am again working to slow the use of my life savings. Unlike the old USSR constitution, housing is not a right in ours.

    3) I was disappointed that Mr. Trump agreed with Mrs. Clinton about having the people on the no fly list (and maybe the other terrorist watch lists) having their 2nd Amendment rights denied. This is my belief:

    The no fly list is a secret list compiled by unknown people following secret rules with no known procedure for being removed from it. Mr Trump indicated he would help people unjustly placed on the list, but being added to such a list IS unconstitutional in violation of the 5th Amendment’s due process requirement. So Mrs Clinton and Mr. Trump believe that citizens should lose their 5th Amendment rights because they are placed on a secret list which then removes from them their 2nd Amendment rights. This is un-American and against the NRAs position. I am a lifetime member and know that historically the taking of the right to own firearms is a major step towards authoritarian rule.

    4) When jobs were the issue discussed, Mr. Trump did not mention the 200,000 jobs Mrs. Clinton promised for upstate NY when she ran for Senator. That never happened.

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    Replies
    1. BRAVO!
      Nice Reminder for the Trump camp!
      amrSeptember 27, 2016 at 8:19 PM
      AND
      amrSeptember 27, 2016 at 8:22 PM

      On Watch

      Delete
  16. Here are my constructive criticisms of Trump I sent to his campaign on last night’s debate.

    1) The birth place of President Obama: Mr. Obama was the original birther and that was what may have been said based on this:

    Breitbart News obtained a promotional booklet produced in 1991 by Barack Obama’s then-literary agency, Acton & Dystel, which touts Obama as “born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii.” This was not changed for 16 years.

    The booklet, which was distributed to “business colleagues” in the publishing industry, includes a brief biography of Obama among the biographies of eighty-nine other authors represented by Acton & Dystel

    2) The cause of the great recession, which was the worse since 1949 not as Hillary said, the great depression was not caused by lower taxes or anything else related directly to the economy. It was due to a lack of confidence in the mortgage industry and the actual mortgages. This could have been the basis for the reply to her:

    In 1977, to prevent redlining and make home loans available, President Carter signed the Community Reinvestment Act. This began the lowering of the requirements for purchasing a home. The Clinton Administration pushed for 30% of the loans to be so called sub prime loans with no down and reduced credit requirements. These loans and those properly vetted/backed were bundled into derivatives and sold similar to bonds to financial institutions. There were attempts to modify the program in Congress during Bush's Administration but the attempts failed due to Democratic Party objections; who wanted to take a "right" of housing from those who could ill afford it. Someone/someplace must have asked what was in the derivatives and when it was known that they contained limited backed sub prime mortgages, the confidence in the derivatives collapsed, as did the financial institutions that were heavily invested in them. Politically connected Goldman Sach was bailed out but Lehman Brothers, not so connected, was not. My retirement was heavily into Lehman Brothers bonds which became worthless when they went bankrupt. One half of my life savings/retirement was lost in this downturn. So this crisis is very personal to me and seems to be taking root again. At 71 I am again working to slow the use of my life savings. Unlike the old USSR constitution, housing is not a right in ours.

    3) I was disappointed that Mr. Trump agreed with Mrs. Clinton about having the people on the no fly list (and maybe the other terrorist watch lists) having their 2nd Amendment rights denied. This is my belief:

    The no fly list is a secret list compiled by unknown people following secret rules with no known procedure for being removed from it. Mr Trump indicated he would help people unjustly placed on the list, but being added to such a list IS unconstitutional in violation of the 5th Amendment’s due process requirement. So Mrs Clinton and Mr. Trump believe that citizens should lose their 5th Amendment rights because they are placed on a secret list which then removes from them their 2nd Amendment rights. This is un-American and against the NRAs position. I am a lifetime member and know that historically the taking of the right to own firearms is a major step towards authoritarian rule.

    4) When jobs were the issue discussed, Mr. Trump did not mention the 200,000 jobs Mrs. Clinton promised for upstate NY when she ran for Senator. That never happened.

    ReplyDelete
  17. As Hillary was bleating on about talking to "the people that you [Trump] stiffed..." I was so hoping DJT would reply: "I'd like to speak to the people you stiffed, Madame Secretary, but I can't. They're dead. They were at Benghazi." Her silence would have been deafening.

    ReplyDelete
  18. @anonymous and DiploMad 2:49 PM: Or, Trump should've said, "Were Putin and I such good friends, I'd be reading aloud his copies of your e-mails right now, were it not for the fact that I have too high a regard for national security."

    ReplyDelete
  19. A further point on Donnie and Volodya:

    Trump should say something like this: Mme. Secretary, if you are really so concerned about defeating ISIS, why did the administration you serve arm known allies of the movement? While I agree that the Assad regime is no model of democracy and fair play, why should we risk war with Russia over Syria via our support of supposed "moderates" who, no less that ISIS, are engaged in the religious cleansing of Christians and Yazidids, among others. You say you are for women's rights globally, yet you and the administration you served support, in Syria, the highly misogynistic faux-moderate rebels.

    And what, Mme. Secretary, was the actual mission of the four Americans you got killed in Benghazi. Why did you and Pres. Obama insist on sending them there when our embassy in Tripoli had warned us repeatedly of the dangers in going to Benghazi, and that it had been reported in media that you respect that the area was a hotbed of Qaida sympathy?

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    Replies
    1. Great stuff Kepha!
      Although I'd expect DON, to put it in his own words, and punctuation. Or he might loose some of his most vocal supporters? Of course he might pick-up some Indies and Intellects too!

      OW~~~

      Delete
  20. Let us have a little "look in the rear view" courtesy of Diplomad's sidebar ... and David Duff!

    http://duffandnonsense.typepad.com/duff_nonsense/2016/06/i-think-we-will-probably-lose.html

    ***

    ReplyDelete
  21. "My two-cents of advice for Trump?"

    As you know, Mr. Diplomad, I think a great deal of your advice. But why do you give advice to Mr. Trump, even two cents worth? Has he ever taken your advice? Taking advice, even from his intimates, is not something for which he is renowned.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Well,"6",
    Please remember that we don't always know when our advice is received, nor should we, unless of course, we're seeking something beyond offering 'good advice', perhaps a favor in return from the POTUS?

    I knew a NYPD cop who drew a DT protection detail on the pier where Trump's yacht was docked. As of last year, the Sarge still hates Donald because he didn't ask him to come aboard, and provide him with refreshments! Makes one wonder what other Cop Sgt. bennies he expects on the side?!

    Personally I'm delighted when posters here offer good advice to the GOP candidate, and I pass it along, maybe that's why the Donald calls me by my first name ;)

    Anyhoot, that's my 2 inflated dollars worth, even though I know you didn't place an order for it.

    OW~~~

    ReplyDelete
  23. This, I admit, is OT. However, after hearing UN experts, including one Mireille Fanon Mendes-France, the daughter of an incredibly toxic father, calling on the US to consider reparations for slavery, I've decided to post something at

    unclecephas.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kepha, read your post over at Uncle's'. . . I note that the UN's rotten apple didn't fall far from the rotten Marxist family tree! Suspect that Ms. Fanon-Franz is anticipating the arrival of the new Secretary-General, BHO, complete with smoke N' mirrors, Greek columns, along with his full blown anti-Americanism, to rubber stamp her asinine assertions!

      If you will, please indulge me, as I can hardly wait, for my resident scholar's current Humanities: course assignment in the Colonial Era. I'll be sure to share your insightful historic commentary as an initiating activity, and perhaps the last word too?! On Watch~~~

      "Let's Roll"

      Delete
    2. P.S.
      I'd also like to use 'leaperman's' riposte as a supplemental resource to flesh-out the affects of chronic Marxist Grievance and Victimization section...
      OW~~~

      Delete
  24. Now for something entirely different, what happened to the Blog Roll? One of the reasons I come here regularly is because you had so many links to other bloggers that I like to read. It made it convenient to come here and use you as a jumping off point.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good question. It suddenly disappeared. I have written Google, but nothing.

      Delete
  25. Now for something entirely different, what happened to the Blog Roll? One of the reasons I come here regularly is because you had so many links to other bloggers that I like to read. It made it convenient to come here and use you as a jumping off point.

    ReplyDelete