Juliajms

Ted Cruz wins with his Duck Dynasty lead in calling gay marriage evil. I guess we just have to believe this doesn't matter. I just hope to god the democrat wins the general election. Also I keep forgetting that Rubio and Cruz are Latinos. It's really a strange phenomenon. I unconsciously process them as white. I wonder if I'm the only one.

I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone in a burka before and I've lived in some big cities. I know almost nothing about Muslims, so I have no idea if most of them are pro burka. The more I see of Ted Cruz the more I dislike him. He's so arrogant, my god. He rubs me the wrong way more than anyone else in this race. Marco Rubio is much more likable to me (Sorry Carl). It clear this isn't his time though. People keep saying Ted Cruz is the smartest guy in the room. I guess he and Ben Carson must be pretty smart to be where they are in life, but some of the things that come out of their mouths make me wonder how that's possible. HRC, Chelsea and Charlotte were in Council Bluffs today, which is really close to where I live. My husband tells the story of how Bill Clinton won over a very hostile Omaha crowd when he was campaigning. HRC just doesn't seem to have the same touch. I'm not sure that matters though. It's a different time and the lines between Democrats and Republicans are pretty hard and bitter these days.

Not only are Trump's immigration policies disgusting, but he wants to kill the families of terrorists. Are we really going to be the country that executes children for their parents crimes? That's insanity. Here is an interesting poll on the percent of people who won't vote for certain demographics. Third paragraph from the bottom. I was pretty surprised that 40% simply won't vote for Muslim or that over 25% wouldn't vote for a gay person. http://www.timesofisrael.com/poll-10-in-us-less-likely-to-vote-for-a-jew-for-president/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

I could see how someone could like both. I actually know a gun toting arch-republican who loves Bernie and can't stop posting on facebook about both. His message is always pick Trump or pick Bernie, but pick someone not in the system. Their economic speeches do occasionally overlap. This is actually Doug Davidson's (Paul, Y&R's) position too. He thinks they are the only honest ones. It's mind blowing to me, but to each their own.

Yes. I try not to compare anyone to Hitler, but the way he had that Muslim lady thrown out of his rally was sick. Then the time a Hispanic man has beaten up by his followers and he said maybe the guy deserved it. If you're on the watch for scapegoating you can see that Trump is definitely using that tactic. Here's an interesting article on why people are still failing to go after Trump. I think it's pretty much spot on. http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/01/why-does-everyone-still-treat-donald-trump-kid-gloves

I've changed my mind and I'm going to vote for Bernie, even though I live in Nebraska so voting is basically pointless for me. I don't think Bernie is weak. He's just an idealist. I don't see him beating Hillary in the primary. Still, he's the one candidate that doesn't seem to completely revile the poor among us. I'll give him my protest vote. People (particularly some Republicans) seem to be in deep denial about Trump even as the polls seem to show him winning. He's even doing fairly well in national polls when they show how various Republicans would do against HRC. I'm really concerned that some terrible perfect storm is going to occur and Trump or Cruz is going to take this thing. I'm not sure who scares me more. Trump is the better politician and a lot of people just don't seem to care that he's playing to the worst of people's fears. He's the exact opposite of what any leader should be, right or left aside.

I like Tom Payne. He was in the ill fated HBO show "Luck" playing a jockey. It's hard to imagine him as a bad ass.

A link that won't try to kill your computer. Last sentence. http://www.ew.com/article/2016/01/07/hbo-deadwood-movie-happening

I just saw an article on Deadline saying that HBO is in talks for seasons 7 and 8, which is interesting since I thought the show runners were firm about stopping at 7 seasons. I would post the link, but my computer is acting funny since I visited that site.

I can't believe this show has been on 13 season. So weird to think I was in my 20s when it started. Generally, I can't watch procedures. Still, I've found this show comforting over the years. I used to marathon it when I was feeling depressed just to have familiar voices in the background.

I think the pace has slowed because the more he writes the more there is to keep track of. He's built a complex world and he has the type of fans who will spot even the smallest inconsistencies. Every sentence he writes needs to be checked against thousands of other pages of material. Plus he's old and plus writing books isn't like producing widgets. It's really odd to me to see people turn on this guy the way they have. I'm not talking about TPOS so much as the sheer number of "fans" out there spewing pure hate at the very person who created this series they claim to love so much. As far as spoiler go, I'm not worried. I have a pretty good idea of how things are going to end. Beyond that, it'll probably be 10 years before the last book comes out, if it ever does. I doubt it's going to be that much like the show. GRRM is notorious for changing things. Hell, the show will be a faded memory to me by then anyway.

He was taking a long time writing books long before HBO ever came along. I feel sorry for the guy. He's under a lot of pressure. That blog post was pretty sad. It's not like these books are easy to write. There are so many details, it must take ages to make sure that he's keeping things consistent, even with assistants to help keep things straight. I'm sure the HBO deal didn't help, but it took forever for A Feast for Crows to come out and that was pre HBO. In a perfect world, the series would just be starting now, but it's just not that serious in the end.

I won't disagree. Anyone who thinks a little girl who is raped shouldn't be allowed an abortion is a pso, imo. I'd still pick Rubio over Trump though. Is Trump a legitimate contender? I don't know how anyone can say he isn't, although some of the Republicans in my life are still trying to deny it. He's as much of a contender as Jeb or Rubio, that much is certain. I agree he probably can't win the general election, but again, that really depends on what happens in the country. People are drawn to authoritarian types during times of trouble. Right now, the media is still building Trump up with any luck they'll soon start knocking him down. What really shocks me is the awe in the voice of certain CNN anchors when they talk about him (I'm looking at you Wolf Blitzer). Maybe it's the rating they're in awe of. IDK, but I find it disturbing.

Well, to be honest, I sort of wish people would take an interest in Rubio. I find some of his policies appalling, but compared to Trump, I'll take it. People keep telling us Trump can't win, but if he gets that nomination, I'm not so sure. A scandal here, a bombing there and we could be the laughing stock of the world even more than we are right now.

Looks interesting.

I'm guessing that the last scene of the season will show him in the hands of the Wolves. They are obviously milking this for all it's worth. I guess that's their job, but it's past annoying to me, especially when the last couple of episodes feel like filler.

I keep away from the comics and all spoilers, so I don't know anything about Negan. I like that actor though. As for tonight's episode, I almost felt like they are purposely trying to punk us. I actually like Daryl and I still thought that was a waste of time. Also, I'm thinking of referring to him as dirty Daryl from now on. They need to let that man wash his damn hair.

I don't have a problem with Jessica and Rick. I agree with those who feel too much romance would ruin this show, but it would be realistic if more of these people were hooking up. I believe she will die soon and Carol will take on her son. I may be totally off base, but I think there is a reason they show Carol being cold to that boy still. She's protecting herself from caring for him because children die in this world.

Carl really makes the timeline of this show seem wonkey. It's only been about two years, maybe less, since these people met up. Carl's aging makes it seem like at least 6. He was so small in the first season. I can't believe Maggie is pregnant. She and Glen are idiots for letting that happen. Part of me feels like she deserves whatever pain this brings her for the way she shamed Laurie for considering taking the day after pills (or whatever she was thinking of taking at the farm).

Well, the placement of this episode was obvious manipulation. They are making us wait to see Glen's fate and the potential fallout. Sure, that's a little annoying, I won't deny it. I'm also biased by my love of Lennie James. I'm not sure anything particularly interesting happened in this episode in terms of plot, but the acting by both men was wonderful. I've seen JCL play a very convincing bad man in Carnival, so it was interesting to see him play a convincing good man. Sure, he did something horrific, but I've always been a sucker for redemption stories.

People mentioned the call back to Glen calling Rick a dumbass, as proof that Glen really did die. Maybe I just want to believe, but I have to wonder if it was meant to be a reminder of Rick's own unbelievable escape in the face of a huge herd. Anyway, I'm looking forward to tonight. I'm figuring we won't see much of the main cast this episode, but I'm up for some back story.

My whole issue with free tuition for all is that children are often put on a track very early in their academic careers in that type of system. Think about how big the academic community is in the United States. It's a system with a ton of middling and even poor students going on to college. We could not pay for that , imo. My point is that I do think those people who did not excel early on deserve a chance to go on. Perhaps a change in maturity and circumstance will give them a better chance to succeed. Why would we want tax payers to subsides the educations of the upper middle class and wealthy? At the same time the system we have that pushes some poorer children into debt that they will never be able to pay back without a clear career track. It's not working. That doesn't mean they have to go to vocational training by any means, but does putting someone in heavy debt for a degree in philosophy make sense? In the end, I think that has to stay the individuals choice, but we need to educate people better on what the kind of debt they are taking on can do to their life choices down the road. People who are naturally good students with great grades are really not the issue. There are always scholarships and grants for those types. I would know, since I didn't grow up in a working class family. I grew up in abject poverty.

If I were a minority, poor or lower middle class I would vote for Bernie. He'd try to do more for people in that position than Hillary ever will. Bill Clinton's welfare reform certainly did the poor no favors. However, I'm not in that position, so I"ll vote for Hillary. Also, I'm not in favor of a free college education for everyone. I think that has negative unintended consequences that I wouldn't want to see come about in the US. Although, now that people are being overwhelmed with college debt, maybe it would be better if only really good students get to go to college. I don't know, but I don't love the idea.

I watched The Talking Dead for the first time and Damon Lindelof (Lost) said something like "I hope they're not pulling shenanigans here. It would be like those old cliff hangers where you see the guy going off a cliff, but in the next episode they change it and he survives." I can't disagree with that. If he's dead, I feel like they would just say it, instead of all this hedging. I totally believe they kept the actor who plays Glen off The Talking Dead so he didn't have to lie. Then this statement from the EP.

We didn't see his insides being pulled outside. We saw Nicholas' insides being pulled outside on top of Glen. I pretty much agree word for word with this article I'm about to post. If Glen is alive, I don't think it's quite as much of a cheat as this person does though. There's a reason so many people are questioning what we saw and that's because the seeds were planted in the first place. http://news.yahoo.com/walking-dead-did-happen-didnt-201000493.html;_ylt=AwrTcczTui5Wf.QAOJUnnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTEzM2VzbjBiBGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMyBHZ0aWQDRkZSQTEwXzEEc2VjA3Nj