I believe that the post below may be the source of the phrase

"and he had boxes in his garage!", as a phrase with which DUers who believe that NSA spying is detrimental to democracy often use as a cliche, to mock the various silly, ludicrous arguments used by supporters of the MIC, who were/are angry at Snowden for revealing that the corrupt NSA was/is conducting illegal blanket spying activities.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022983957

The phrase is a nuanced implication widely understood to have the meaning described above, and so, has become a cliche that represents the juvenile arguments of those whose unwavering loyalty to the status quo compels them to blindly defend the MIC from any and all criticism and attack. Their general MO is to lash out at anyone (particularly whistleblowers) who would question or expose the actions of our oligarchical rulers, and their hired official representatives.

The Third Way is the only one true path to enlightenment and bliss.

"To hide from truth is to know truth. This is the First Precept of the Third Way™." ~ Bodhisattva Goldstein

When politics determines which science is valid, then "Houston...we have a problem".

I firmly believe in the pure scientific method. But when the fruits of science are marketed by profit seeking entities protected by a corporate state, the results of scientific study are often deliberately contaminated by misinformation.

Also, in the academic, scientific community, egotistical individuals are often more driven by gaining fame and recognition among their peers than they are with the accuracy of their work.

I trust science in its pure form, but don't trust it when (purported) scientifically produced information can be deliberately skewed for profit.

I've been using herbs for healing for four decades; I know that certain herbs are effective in treating specific, properly diagnosed conditions.

I used cannabis alone or in combination with other herbs to effectively successfully treat certain conditions beginning more than 30 yrs ago. I experimented with growing cannabis plants to see if I could produce hybrid plants that produced inherent varieties of cannabinoids and/or other elements that could be tested through repeated proven effectiveness in controlled trials to the greatest extent to which I was capable.

I believe that I had developed a hybrid strain (which I discovered to be effective through "luck&quot that had remarkable healing, results when used in conjunction with other herbs already indicated for specific conditions, and this herbal preparation was possibly even a compound that had strong symptom relief, anti-bacterial, and even anti-viral, properties, as indicated through several trials. As far as I could tell, this healing property was produced only in the cannabinoid structure and/or other elements or combined elements in the flowers of only one plant, which was a highly hybridized cross of cannabis indica, cannabis sativa, and cannabis ruderalis. I practiced controlled pollination of all my females, so I had far more than enough viable seeds from this specific plant to possibly continue this strain with apparent superior medicinal properties.

However, at that time Reagan was in the WH, an aggressive drug war was in progress, and any suspected healing properties of cannabis were determined to be woo by order of the PTB. I could not very well go to "experts" as some wild eyed dark skinned hippie lesbian freak and say "Yo! Dudes! Check it out, man, pot can cure the common cold!" Think of all the negative ramifications for me of doing something like that personally. Like jail, derision, and possible assassination by pharmaceutical companies or other corporations involved in the health care industry (after they got my product, seeds, and extremely detailed notes, of course).

I was pretty excited, ya know? And although I had not conducted nearly enough study of this compound to prove anything, the results had been 100% positive, remarkably so, at this point. It's difficult to assemble an infected group of subjects to test herbal compounds that contain illegal psychoactive substances. However, I did manage to find enough subjects in my family, and among friends in our "alternative" community, who were willing to try this organic herbal medicine to lead me to believe that positive results were strongly indicated through trial. But very rapid and highly positive results in only eight respective cases of infection, with no placebo subjects, is encouraging, but nowhere near enough to make any claim of consistent efficacy.

And then, the helicopters flew over while I was not at home, and the cops confiscated all of my plants, seeds, and notes.

Never, ever, put all your seeds in one basket.

I got off without conviction, because, apparently, the evidence somehow disappeared. I suspect that either there was no valid warrant, and/or that the evidence went up in smoke...some of it very, very, slowly, a little bit at a time.

And I have been too afraid of prison to ever consider growing cannabis again since then.

A long, bizarre story, I know; but the point is, politically controlled science for profit all too often makes false, and/or destructive, claims for profit, to the detriment of humankind and our mother earth.

Cattle should not be allowed on any federal land, ever, for any reason.

They are a destructive nuisance and everything about them is bad for our environment. I've lived in the west all my life and have seen firsthand how cattle pick the ground clean of vegetation and tear up the topsoil while they're at it, turning BLM land into a wasteland. After the cattle are done ruining the land and move on, nasty, useless invasive species which are almost impossible to control and eradicate, such as knapweed and Canada Thistle, take the land over and turn it into habitat that has very little value for sustaining indigenous wildlife.

I would love it if this incident in Nevada ends federal land welfare for cattle ranchers forever. One of the main reasons I am a vegetarian is repeatedly witnessing of the mass destruction of beautiful wild lands in the west from over grazing.

Just FYI: Transgendered is an inappropriate word. The proper word is Transgender.

Examples:

Correct: He is straight.

Incorrect: He is a straighted.

Correct: She is lesbian.

Incorrect: She is lesbianed.

Correct: He is gay.

Incorrect: He is gayed.

Correct: She is transgender.

Incorrect: She is transgendered.

See how that works?

I've used specific medicinal herbs, including cannabis, for treating some conditions

all my life, and have found them to be effective in most cases when a diagnosis is accurate and the prescribed herb is effective in treating the diagnosed condition.

Scientific Validation of Herbal Medicine

But I've always considered homeopathy to be quack doo-doo and snake oil; most of the serious proponents of homeopathy I've met were either trying to make money from it, and/or were general serious believers in flat earther type deep woo.

For instance, one of my neighbors swears by homeopathy, and puts suspensions and dilutions of silver and other metals into his body on a daily basis. He is chronically unhealthy, his color his pale gray, his hair is greasy and unhealthy looking, and he seems to have serious cognition deficits. This man believes that the Anunnakis (he calls them Ananukis) from deep space have been controlling the world since time immemorial. He told me that he got this information from the History Channel. He seems to believe that everything he sees on TV is true.

However, based on my experience, it appears to me that positive belief in the efficacy of a treatment, even a (benign) placebo, in conjunction with a strong desire to heal, can promote healing, and I firmly believe that a holistic approach to healing is the most effective in all cases.

It's very possible that the truth is that her resignation is primarily the product

the problems with the site.

I have pretty good insurance now, relatively speaking, because within the framework of the corrupt and deceitful practices of the private health insurance industry, getting claims accepted easily, or even getting to speak with a company representative on the phone without being put on hold for an hour, is often a crapshoot.

However, because of my unprecedented 63 day struggle through the idiotic and uncoordinated bureaucratic and technical disaster that Healthcare.gov opened as, I believe that it is a good idea that Secretary Sebelius resign; I wish her well.

Here are my thoughts from Oct 13, 2013:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023823162

Yeh, I'm pleased that so many signed up, and am fervently hoping that the Democratic party plays this into a House majority in November. But this does not excuse the extremely poor choices of systems for identification verification, ie, choosing a private RW corporation to check our identities, WTF? and the hiring of other inefficient and/or corrupt hired private contractors involved in the process, indicates that there was either cronyism or an extreme naivete that led to the inadequate planning and strict government oversight of all aspects of Healthcare.gov.

I'm still somewhat bitter over the frustrating struggle I had trying to get insurance, and if I had the foresight to record and put on video the complete debacle, I probably could have won an Academy Award for Best Comic Documentary, if there is such a thing.

The "New Team" had an awfully weak lineup ~ mediocre pitching, light hitters, and far too many

errors in the field. We could definitely have used a more consistent closer.

And the Bench was particularly unproductive; they lost some important games for us.

Scouting report:

We have a lot of hot draft prospects and free agents becoming available in 2016 if we're willing to make a full on effort to sign them. Warren has had some great seasons on the hill in her rookie seasons these past few years, and should be in her prime by 2017.

We hope to make Warren our franchise player, and if there is promise that we can surround her with some serious hitters, like Sanders and Grayson, better fielders who will commit far fewer errors, sign a Sandman like closer, and pick up one or two more solid players on the Bench, we could have a record fan turnout on opening day, and a championship season that could be the beginning of a dynasty.

The key to once again becoming World Champs is signing the right players in 2016.

I would have taken a minute to try discover why the boy was crying immediately.

(I would never deliberately ignore my child for more than a minute when s/he was trying to communicate something to me).

Then, if I felt that I had discerned the actual reason why the boy was crying, I would take whatever positive and constructive steps necessary to comfort the child. If I felt that the situation could not quickly and easily be remedied inside the store, I would abandon the cart and then leave the store in consideration of the other customers, and bring the boy to a quieter place with as few external distractions as possible.

I would then try to remedy the situation with some positive action based on the cause of boy's distress. (I can't say what those actions would entail unless I had a good feel for the situation and the cause of the boy's distress).

If the problem then resolved fairly quickly and constructively, and I felt that the boy could return to the store without further distress, and I had the time, I would return to the store. If I felt that a return to the store would trigger more distress, I would take the boy somewhere else, and hope that the car ride would "make everything right with the world again" for the boy.

There's no parenting manual with specific directions on how to be an effective parent. Every child is different and needs to be approached as the individual they are. There are some basic effective parenting tenets I learned, such as do everything out of love and kindness, keep calm and carry on, and do no harm, to the greatest extent of which you are capable. There's always a balance that's dependent on the individual child, your emotional state, and the needs of the situation. Knowing/feeling what the exact right thing to do in every situation is impossible.

Sincerely always wanting to do, and trying to do, the best thing for a child's development in every situation is a cornerstone effective parenting, in my experience.

Just my 2 cents worth, the only thing I know about parenting is that, no matter how much I studied so called "effective parenting techniques" *snort*, I still had to wing it a lot of the time, and any success I had in parenting was probably due to blind luck more than anything else.

Being an effective grandparent, OTOH, is a piece of cake, and there are easily understood, specific directions for being a grandparent. You simply spoil your grandchildren rotten when you are with them, and then leave until your next opportunity to spoil them comes around.

I feel that we need to get out the Dem vote in huge numbers, and watch every race closely to

make sure as few elections are stolen as possible.

We don't have a Presidential election or a highly visible progressive protest movement like Occupy to get young people, progressive independents, and low info Dem leaning voters excited about voting this year like we did in 2012, where we picked up a few seats in the House and Senate, so we'll have to pull out all the stops to make sure we don't have a total redo of 2010.

With PTB favorable "New Rules" in the electoral process being made up by SCOTUS on a regular basis, rampant republican gerrymandering, and an MSM that is totally owned by the 1%, it will be a difficult, uphill battle for us.

It will be interesting to see if the DNC puts forth any kind of effective "battle plan" for us, a kind of "how to use the ACA as a means to convince voters to vote Democratic" plan, or simply nods and winks with that slimy Third Way smile as they escort republicans through the door of the Capitol, in service of the 1%.