Freedom or Totalitarianism

Freedom or Totalitarianism
Liberty or Death

Wednesday, June 27, 2018

What Show R U Watching: The Facts of Life- Blair Warner Tribute: Perfect Isn't Easy

Source: What Show R U Watching- Blair & Joe, on The Facts of Life-
Source:The New Democrat

Blair Warner ( played by Lisa Whelchel ) on her gorgeous, adorable baby-face, comes off as someone who looks down on people who drive Mercedes instead of Rolls Royces and owns one vacation home, instead of at least two, as people who are poor. As a very snobby, self-centered, narcissistic person, who looks down at middle class and even upper middle class people which is most of the students at the Eastland School where all these girls went. And that for anyone at this school or who comes across there, that it's their honor to just be in her presence. But if you're familiar with the cliches you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, or appearances can be deceiving, you know those cliches could've been written for Blair Warner.

Source: Zeta Boards- Lisa Whelchel, as Blair Warner on The Facts of Life 
All the snobby, selfish, self-centered, narcissistic characteristics about Blair Warner, are true. Except for perhaps the selfish characteristic. If you're familiar with The Facts of Life, you know that Blair is a very caring and feeling person, who would've given her right arm to save Jo Polniaczek ( her arch-rival on the show ) and if you watch these two characters on that show, you might get the slight impression that they hate each other.

Especially Jo ( played by Nancy McKeon ) because Blair represents everything that Jo hates, because Blair wasn't born with a silver spoon, but with a collection of silver spoons for each vacation home that the Warner Family owns. And has been given everything that she's ever wanted materialistically, while Joe comes from a broken home with her father being in prison and her mother working 2-3 jobs just to able to support herself and her daughter.

On the surface, Blair Warner looks like a goddess princess, perhaps the Queen of the Goddesses from Paradise World, who couldn't do anything wrong even if she tried or even wanted to and yet is a very adorable sweetheart who is always interested in what people around her are going through and tries to help others whenever she can and perhaps even especially Joe, even though they seem to hate each other on the show.

And yet Blair goes through the same issues that middle class and even upper middle class teenagers go through. Including self-doubt and knowing if they're good enough. Her parents get divorced on the show and her parents send her to Eastland at least partially to get away from her. Her father rarely if ever visits her on the show. Her mother seems more interested in starting a new life, than visiting her daughter at Eastland. Blair gets caught plagiarizing a poem, things that happen to middle class students and people struggling just to get by in school all the time. Blair seems to be perfect and yet is never able to find that one guy on this show even while they're in and out of college.

Blair goes through experiences that most if not all teenagers perhaps especially girls go through, in their adolescence. Things that happen to middle class kids all the time and yet Blair with her background and ability to get just about anything that she ever wants at any given time, goes through the same struggles and pains that everyone else goes through and is in need of the name support system that we all need. Which are people around us to support us when we're going through the rough waters of life not sure if we're going to make it through or not.

Blair Warner is my favorite character on The Facts of Life, not because she comes from a wealthy family and seems perfect on the outside. Yes, she's this gorgeous, baby-face adorable princess, with the personality and body to match and if anything is overly adorable and comes off as a little girl in many cases and if you look at Lisa Whelchel 30-40 years later today, she doesn't look much if any older. She still has that gorgeous baby-face and can still come off as a big little girl. But what I really love about this character is that she's real and honest. There's a real person and human inside of that goddess appearance that goes through the same struggles that almost every other middle class American goes through, especially when they're growing up.
Source:What Show R U Watching

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Biography Channel: The Facts of Life'

Source:Click Americana- The Facts of Life is Americana.
Source:The New Democrat

"About ‘The Facts of Life’ TV show & stars – plus the theme song & lyrics (1979-1988)" 

From Click Americana

"The Biography Channel Facts Of Life."

Source:Jessie Britany- actress Molly Ringwald was on the 1st season of The Fact of Life.

From Jessie Britany

Looking back at the time I grew up in and the generation I'm a member of, I feel really good about and perhaps even lucky. The 1980s wasn't the perfect decade to grow up in, but that decade doesn't exist, but it was a great decade to grow up. I was only 14 by the time 1989 ended, but I remember the whole decade including Ronald Reagan being elected President in 1980.

And it was a great time for entertainment and television. If you look at the shows from that decade, you had Dallas which came out in 1978, but ran into the early 1990s. The Dukes of Hazzard which came out in 1979 and ran into 1985. Newhart which came out in 1982 and ran into 1990. The Cosby Show, ( named after guess who ) Different Strokes, Family Ties,  Cheers, The Fall Guy with Lee Majors that comes out in 1981, Magnum PI, with Tom Selleck, great decade for prime time soap operas like Dallas, but Dynasty, Falcon Crest, and Knots Landing.

It was a great decade for TV and the 1980s was probably the last decade in America where families actually got together and not just ate dinner together, but watched TV together. Cable TV wasn't a major player yet and the networks which back then was really only CBS, ABC, and NBC, were still dominant when it came to entertainment in America.

But then comes one show that was made for one particular generation about growing up in the 1980s and what that generation went through as kids and young adults. At a time when NBC needed a hit show and was actually in third place out of the three networks. The Facts of Life comes out at a time when NBC needed a hit and when Generation X deserved a show that was about them and what they go through growing up in America as this generation.

The Facts of Life is not the only sitcom about Generation X and for Generation X. Saved by The Bell from the early 1990s and Beverly Hills 90210 for the entire 1990s, Living Single,  and I'm sure other shows that follow were also about Generation X, but Facts of Life was the first show about this generation and also the first hit show about this generation. And it The Facts of Life was exactly as the title of the show suggests which was being about The Facts of Life and what life was like and everyone goes through in life and what life was like growing up during this era and time period.

That life wasn't always great or awful, but it was always real and there were always challenges and struggles that people especially kids and teenagers go through in life. And that life growing up was a learning curve and a time for people to try to learn and figure out what life was like.

That we make good decisions, but we also make a lot of mistakes and with all of those mistakes are opportunities to learn and improve. About each other, but about people around us as well. People that we are close to and have good relationships with, but also about people we don't know as well, or people we know well, but don't like and perhaps even learn about people we don't like and find things in common with those people as well.

What The Facts of Life did through both comedy and drama as well and in some cases dramatic comedy by using humor to address difficult situations and show people what life was like and what it was like growing up as teenagers.

But at the heart of the show it was a sitcom. Great funny writers, with a very funny cast that all had great comedic timing that was on to entertain people by making then laugh and even when they would go through tough situations like dieting, or even suicide, they would do it with humor and always look for the light side of life, because even in our worst situations in life except for perhaps the death of our relatives and friends, there tends to be a point where we can look back at it and laugh about. Which happens when people learning about The Facts of Life ( pun intended ) and what real life was like. 

Saturday, June 16, 2018

Derek Matthews: Derek's Wife- in Tight Jeans & Boots

Source: Derek Matthews- his wife, in jeans in boots.
Source:Real Life Journal  

"Found good chatrooms here Wives Free Awesome wife butt for fans of the wifes butt here.  Love this wife's ass.  If you like a wife in jeans then this wife in tight jeans is just pretty perfect in my opinion." 

From Derek Matthews

Source: Clips 4 Sale- Derek's wife's 
Gotta respect a guy who loves his wife so much and is so proud of her, that he would not just film her in public, but then put that footage out on public especially on a platform like YouTube, where a lot of other people would get to see her. And see how sexy she is and on the move like this. I guess you also have to respect or admire a woman, that has so much faith and trust in her husband, that she would be willing to show off not just for him, but for a lot of other people especially men to see her like this.

If you're familiar with the adult entertainment websites Clips 4 Sale and DevilButts, you know about the female models there who are always wearing the same denim jeans. Always from the same brand that being Lee Jeans. And they're almost always wearing ankle boots with those jeans. And all are very curvy with tight curves wearing short tight tops. They sort of look like country girls with their tight t-shirts or tank top, skin-tight jeans and boots, but these ladies are always wearing ankle boots.

The woman in this video is wearing high boots with her Lee Jeans and a leather jacket, so she looks a little different from those other models.

Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Joseph Sanders: Gloria Loring- 'The Facts of Life: Full Song'

Source:Joseph Sanders- Welcome to The Facts of Life.
Source:The New Democrat

“The Facts of Life. For more songs and song lyrics Check out the Gloria Loring site I created:Gloria Loring

I must apologize to a few, I could have sworn I had gone though the description and corrected my errors about the video, but apparently (another error of mine) I had only posted it in a replied comment.

PLEASE NOTE. THE PHOTO OF MELISSA ETHERIDGE WAS INADVERTENTLY PUT IN WHERE A PHOTO OF LISA WELCHEL WAS SUPPOSE TO HAVE GONE. I DID NOT NOTICE THE ERROR UNTIL IT WAS POINTED OUT TO ME BY A VIEWER, BY THIS TIME THE VIDEO HAD MANY VIEWS AND IT WOULD HAVE BEEN TOO MUCH WORK TO ENTIRELY REMAKE THIS VIDEO BECAUSE OF THE ERROR. I MEANT TO NOTE THAT HERE IN THE DESCRIPTION BUT I MUST HAVE ONLY NOTED IN A COMMENT REPLY. SORRY FOR THE CONFUSION AND MY ERROR.”


I have to start this piece off on a personal note, because without it I'm not writing this today.

About a year ago perhaps a year ago exactly it was in early June last year, I wasn't feeling well one night and I couldn't sleep and decided to just get up at that point until I felt well enough to go to bead. Which I'm sure sounds strange, because why would someone have to feel well enough to go to bed. People generally go to bed because they're sick and aren't well enough to be up and around, but I'm lying in bed and I can't sleep and I feel like I have a bug ( not a bedbug ) and I get up to try to feel better. I'm still in my room and I go to my couch and turn the TV on ( it's a big room ) and find a Facts of Life marathon on and for you Facts of Life junkies it was the series of shows that were in France or took place there.

Source: New York Daily News- The Facts of Life cast 
The Facts of Life in a lot of ways if not most ways is about Generation X. I grew up with The Facts of Life being born in the mid 1970s and this show is about my generation in many ways if not most ways. People going to high school and college in the 1980s The girls on this show are all born in the 1960s, so they're a bit older than me, but same generation and they would be my older sisters or first cousins if we were related, except I would be about a foot taller than all of them, but so what. But I hadn't watched this show even the reruns of it in I don't know 20 years. I caught the theme song on YouTube a couple of years ago but this not a show that I kept up with at all since I've been an adult at least. Seeing this marathon one very late night early morning when I wasn't feeling well brought this show back to me.

Source: Mental Floss- The Facts of Life cast 
Last summer from June perhaps through August and maybe even September, I'm watching Facts of Life reruns everyday and developed a crush on Blair Warner ( played by Lisa Whelchel ) and started searching for information about her and learned that after The Facts of Life she went into a new career and got into writing and wrote a couple of book even, became a professional speaker. She's basically been a part-time actress and I'm guessing by choice since she left The Facts of Life and created a new positive life for herself outside of Hollywood. I saw a couple of her movies which weren't great like a Hallmark movie she did with Kim Fields. ( Who played Tootie on Facts of Life ) I'll have more about Lisa Whelchel and Blair Warner in the next few weeks, but this is supposed to be about The Facts of Life theme song.

Source: Like Totally 80s- The Facts of Life cast
As far as theme songs, is there a better 1980s theme song than The Facts of Life ( by Gloria Loring ) at least a song with lyrics? Growing Pains was great, not sure it's better. Cheers was great, not sure it was better. Different Strokes was great and might be as good or better. The show is not as good but that might up for debate. The Family Ties theme song is a great but not as good. The Unknown Stuntman theme song that was actually delivered by Lee Majors himself, might be better than The Facts of Life. But when your'e talking about lyrics and delivery I think The Facts of Life might be the best sitcom theme song ever.

Source: Genius

"You take the good

You take the bad

You take them both and there you have

The facts of life

The facts of life

When the world never seems

To be living up to your dreams

Then suddenly you're finding out

The facts of life are all about you

When there's someone that you care about

It really isn't fair

They're out to slow you up

When you're growing up

When you let them flirt

And then you hurt

A waiting when your date is late in showing up

Then you're growin' up

When it's more than just the birds and the bees

You need someone telling you please

There's only one conclusion

There will always be confusion over you

It takes a lot to get 'em right

When you're learning the facts of life"

It's not just a beautifully written, commonsensical, well-delivered song, but it's so spot on. That without The Facts of Life, we're really nothing. Forget about freedom and how great that is, because without The Facts of Life, we're just a bunch of idiots going through the motions, because we don't have the information that we need to make the right decisions for ourselves and live a great life. "You take the good, you take the bad, there you and there you have." That life is neither heaven or hell but it's real and that sometimes life will be great and sometimes life can really suck and really test you to see if you're worthy of moving on and strong enough to get through the deep valleys of life and work your way back to the top. That "it takes a lot to get life right when you're learning The Facts of Life."

That is what I get out of this great beautiful theme song and a lot of what this show is about which is teaching these teenage girls in the 1980s about what life was really about. And that the best way you learn is though experience and actually doing things and not just reading about them and hearing what others have to say about it, but physically experiencing those experiences yourself. That if anything you get more out of life from bad experiences, from losses, from mistakes. Because those are tools that people need in order to get better and prevent us from thinking too much of ourselves and that life is just one great stop on top of a hill where we never get knocked down. That is what The Facts of Life represents to me.

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Economic Policy Journal: Veronique De Rugy- 'Stop Calling The GOP The Party of Small Government'

Source:MNSBC- Donald Trump's GOP.
Source:The New Democrat

"There was a time when GOP lawmakers called for the elimination of entire federal agencies. Today, milquetoast promises to pursue smaller government are followed by votes for ever bigger government."

From Economic Policy Journal

Source:Special Reports- Reagan Administration OMB Director David Stockman. 
"David Stockman- Spend, Cut & Borrow: The GOP is Heading to Fiscal Calamity"

Listening to Republicans today talk about the need for limited government and limiting the size as well as growth of government, is like talking and listening to a 400 pound man ( perhaps in New Jersey, to use Donald Trump's reference ) talk about the need for diet and exercise. It's hard to listen to it with a straight face, because they're only speaking from bad experience. Sort of like hearing a parent tell their kids not to do exactly what they did when they were the exact same sage. Like staying out late, eating too much junk food, playing video games, etc.

Source: Democratic Underground- The King of debt Donald Trump
When I want to hear advice, I want to hear advice from someone who knows what they're talking about. I know, that sounds crazy and perhaps next you might say that I would only jump out of an airplane with a parachute or when I'm completely drunk, but I want to hear advice from people who know what they're doing. Who can say, "you should look at doing this, because this is what I did and it worked out very well from me." Instead of someone saying, "don't screw up like me. Trust me, it doesn't work because that's exactly what I did. "

Source: The Nation Magazine- Vice President Mike Pence & the House GOP Leadership- Fiscal responsibility, LOL!
The Republican Party, is no more the party of limited government and fiscal responsibility, as they're the party of individual freedom and federalism. They believe in freedom for the individual, if that person lives like them and shares their same cultural and religious values. They're the party of federalism, if states and localities are doing exactly what they want them to do. This case with Attorney General Jeff Sessions and immigration, with so-called sanctuary cities is a great example of that. Marijuana where the Trump Administration, wants to interfere with state marijuana laws and say that the states can't have their own marijuana laws, is another example of that.

And perhaps more important than anything else because it affects our economy with things like interest rates and banking, the Republican Party is the party of fiscal responsibility, only when Democrats are in power and deficits are high. Once Republicans retake the White House again and have a Republican Congress as well, they act like fiscal responsibility is something they've never heard of. Or deficits and debt are no longer major concerns, because they're back in power and know how to manage those things. Or as Vice President Dick Cheney said back in 2003 on Meet The Press, "deficits don't matter." Or as Donald Trump has said, he's the king of debt and knows how to manage it.

This Republican Congress hasn't done much in how the year in a half that they've been in power. But they did manage to pass three big spending bill with big spending being the two key words. I guess Republican would be another key word as well, but they passed a gigantic federal budget, a gigantic spending bill with both of those bills only making the most obese person in the world happy with how they big and porky they are. With Congressional Republicans and the Trump Administration essentially saying that, "why should we be worried about the national debt and deficit, when we're not going to be the people who have to pay for it?" And of course the so-called tax reform bill, which is another way of saying borrow two-trillion-dollars to pay for tax cuts, so we can tell the Republican voters that we actually did something while we're in power.

Vice President Joe Biden, back in 2010 while he was campaigning for Congressional Democrats on the campaign trail, said in a speech, "that this is not your father's GOP." Meaning this is not the same Republican Party that he worked with in Congress as a Senator for 36 years, or the party he saw while growing up in the 1950s and 1960s. The Republican Party today is not even the Republican Party of 2010, 2011, 2012, that actually believed in fiscal responsibility. They're now the Donald Republican reality TV show party that only seems to be in the business of trying to stay in power. Where the only principal is winning elections and defeating Democrats. And as a result they by themselves are killing fiscal conservatism and fiscal responsibility. Which is a shame, because it means that everyone else gets to pay for borrow and spend big government.