Month: April 2011

A Reaction To Hate

Hopefully by now most everyone knows the hateful Westbrook Baptists Church of the spiteful Phelps family, that gang of hateful Christians that show up at the funerals of fallen soldiers to protest…….they have been covered by every news organization and Phelps and his ilk have been interviewed by numerous channels….and they always spew such hate and contempt that it is sickening…..personally, I think that they need to be silenced when around a funeral…there is NOTHING so dire that it should be permissible to stomp on a family’s time burying a child or father or mother or……These protests often include signs such as “God hates fags,” and “Thank God for dead soldiers,” as well as flag desecration.

By now most everyone knows that I live in the state of Mississippi and that I do not think much of our politicians and sometimes I am not too thrilled with the ideals of the majority….but that is a political thing…….but when I was surfing I found a story by Ryan Ebersole on a happening in a small town of Brandon, Mississippi…..

When they showed up, a few days before the funeral, they encountered a man who apparently was not too receptive to their message and he assaulted one of the members. When the police arrived, the beaten man was unable to give a thorough description of his assailant, and when the police interviewed the large crowd that had gathered, it appeared that no one remembered any significant detail of the incident.

The morning of the funeral, the Phelps clan discovered that several pickup trucks had parked behind their vehicles, blocking most of them in. When they searched for the drivers to ask them to move their trucks, it appeared that they were nowhere to be found. Naturally, they called the police and demanded that the trucks be towed. However, the police informed them that their wrecker was running behind, and that it would be several hours before the trucks could be towed. A few did make it to the funeral, however the police escorted them away – so that they could be investigated for a crime that they could have possibly been involved in. After a few hours of questioning (and the conclusion of the soldier’s funeral) the police concluded that they were not involved in the said crime. Thankfully for the Rogers family, Staff Sgt. Rogers was buried in peace.

Amazing!  This sort of thing usually happens then it is some liberal or, God forbid….some socialist, tries to protest or organize in these small tightly woven towns……but to have Baptists attack Baptists is just outstanding……even though most Mississippians would agree with demonizing of gays, they adore their service people and hold them in high regard and will not allow anyone to crap on their memories….even a fellow Baptist!

I know I have not been kind to Mississippi or its voters….but I can say now that I am proud of their reaction to this hateful church and family……

Strike That From The Record!

Think about this…if you made a statement in a legal situation can you go back and tell them to strike it from the record, as so you do not look like a lying moron?  It seems you can if you are in the US Congress….

Sen. Kyl had his lie expunged from the Congressional record…the one where he said that Planned Parenthood’s business is 90% abortion….once it was shown that it was a LIE…he and hius staff had it stricken from the official record…..

And now another congressperson is having something he said taken out of the record…….

Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks told The Birmingham News. “People could quite clearly infer that socialism is what the other guys are promoting,” he said, referring to Democrats.Speaking against a budget proposal from Democrats on Friday, Brooks charged that the United States is at “risk of insolvency and bankruptcy because the socialist members of this body choose to spend money that we do not have.”

This is not the first time a House member from Alabama has suggested that his colleagues on the other side of the aisle are socialists. In 2009, Rep. Spencer Bachus said he had identified 17 House Democrats who were socialists.

Brooks didn’t say who — or how many members — in the House would fall under the socialist label.

Later Friday, Brooks made another floor speech in which he took aim at socialism. “Let’s talk about socialism for a moment. It’s greater and greater government micromanaging of our lives. It’s higher taxes to pay for it,” he said, sharing his view of where Democrats stand on federal spending.

What is this pre-occupation with socialism?….apparently if you say a thing enough eventually that blue hair old lady in Possum Creek, Alabama will believe it as fact …..and then Brooks mocked Dems as having thin skin….would that be the same thin skin that the Repubs had when some called Bush 2 a fascist?
Sorry, but I think that if one says a thing knowing that it is a slander then it should remain in the record for all to see and read….now they can say anything they want and when it is singled out they can go back and have it altered in the record…..that sucks!
One saving grace…there is always Twitter, youtube and facebook…..they can hide but they cannot escape their outright fabrications, which could be called….LIES!

Truth In Journalism

Easter is over……the weekend is over…..back to the mundane stuff that just pisses everybody off…….

For years I have been bitching about the media and how they seldom give the whole story and sometimes even make crap up to drive the news for the next week or so…..I have also bitched about how they allow politicians to give all their talking points and seldom make them answer any true questions on real issues….All cable news seems to be “manufactured news” put out to drive the weekly news cycle……something should be done!

But what could we possibly do to correct this situation?

First of all there is a problem…….The First Amendment does not permit government interference with “the freedom of the press.” What that freedom is, is among the great undefined terms in American jurisprudence. But its enduring strength is that few are willing to take the first step down the slippery slope of determining who is a journalist and who is not, and what constitutes good journalism and what does not. It’s all protected, for good or ill.

And there is the rub…….lying in journalism is kinda protected under the auspices of the Constitution….cool huh?

Beyond the Constitution thing……There is no licensing authority for journalists as there is for lawyers or doctors, but the Society of Professional Journalists puts forth a set of ethical standards, though it has no means to enforce them. First among them is: “Deliberate distortion is never permissible.” It should go without saying, but there it is.

The rest of the standards touch on basic tenets of honesty (don’t fabricate, mislead, deceive, silence opposing views), humanity (show compassion, respect and sensitivity to subjects who have undergone trying or traumatic events), and integrity (avoid conflicts of interest and disclose those that cannot be avoided).

But with the advent of the cable 24 hour news cycle….the professionalism has been lost and replaced with CRAP!  With conspiracies…..with innuendo…..and finally with out right lies……

It isn’t always that politicians deliver a pack of lies when they appear in public, though they may. And it isn’t that there is a lack of information available. Rather we are fed a starvation diet of news that is easily digested but not very nourishing.

What seems to attract the media and delight legions of supporters is a series of flimsy headline articles that play to the sympathies but not the intellects of voters. When it is said that the country should be run more like a business or, in some cases, like what families decide about fiscal matters sitting around the kitchen table we are required to make false choices. Neither the typical business nor the family home are examples that translate readily to national policy, but in the realm of instantaneous news delivery these images are often used to suggest it is possible to return to simpler times and simpler solutions in a world that grows ever more complex.  (from an article written by Ann Davidow for BuzzFlash)

Somewhere, someplace….we can only hope that someday journalist will return to giving the people the facts and nothing but the facts (thanx Joe Friday…good quote) and leave the unfounded editorializing for the editors….one day we will have truth in journalism!

Want Bigger “Wedding Tackle”?

It is Easter and I thought I would post something memorable……Enjoy your time with family and friends……..

My last day of Zen before I return to the mundane world of politics and economics….and as usual I try to find something that will either educate or amaze my readers and this week I have a really great article….one for all those that worry that they may not “measure” up…..a good chuckle will free the soul……

This from an article in the Global Post……

Some non-surgical methods for increasing the length of the male penis do in fact work, a review of medical literature has shown.

The study, published this week in the Journal of the British Association of Urological Surgeons, involving a comparison of literature on both surgical and non-surgical methods for so called “male enhancement,” The Daily Mail reports.A penis — measured on the dorsal, or upper, side — can be considered normal if it measures at least 1.6 inches when limp, and three inches when rigid, noted several of the studies evaluated. Allowances must be made for a man’s height and his body-mass index.

Regarding “male enhancement,” Orderda and Gonterofound that “penile extenders” that stretch a phallus with traction appeared to be the most effective.One study of the “traction method” reported an average increase of 1.8cm while in a flaccid state. Another reported that the penis measured an extra 2.3cm on average when flaccid and 1.7cm when erect.

The method involved up to six hours of traction a day for up to six months.

Other methods the scientists investigated included a “penis pump,” which vacuum-stretches the organ. Ordera and Gontero found that the use of the pump was found to be effective if used for a six month period.

“Peno-sctroal” rings, which fit around the organ, may help to augment size and maintain erections, the researchers found.

The pair said that any increase in length did not increase the thickness of the organ, but also did not cause any shrinkage, the Daily Mail reported.

Sorry guys…but I read this and just had to share with my readers…..so run out and buy yourself a “Swedish Penis Pump”…Just FYI…if you somehow feel “inadequate” then do NOT opt for surgical solutions…there are other less invasive ways of making yourself happy….(wink….wink)……

NO…I am not selling anything….just FYI…….

You Eat What I Tell You!

And it begins….my two days of ZEN… a break from the crap that politicians and the media comes up with to keep us off balanced…..I will once again return to the world of crappy one liners and lame little slogans of politicians and their handlers….but first…there is other stuff happening that we seldom hear about and it is my job to find some of the stuff and pass it on to you……

We all know that we may not eat the healthiest foods….or that we may be a bit overweight…..and we know that some of our politicians are all about smaller government (that is the biggest lie of this century, so far)….do you believe any of the crap the politicians and the journalist are selling?

The school lunch — the bane of many parents’ and school administrators’ existence — has been in the news in a big way this year. And now, a recent report that a West Side Chicago school has banned homemade lunches has brought even more fuel to the fire.

The school, Little Village Academy — which doesn’t allow lunches brought from home and requires students to eat their cafeteria’s lunch offering instead — claims the new lunch policy will result in better nutrition for their overall student body. But is it cool to ban brown bags from school? Many parents are up in arms over this school’s lunchroom law.

If your child goes to this school….you have NO say on what the child has to eat for lunch…….now I ask , who gives these a/holes the right to dictate what a child has for lunch?  Apparently it is the local government or the school board or…….apparently anyone but the parent……

I realize that parents seem to be giving up many of their rights as parents to others on numerous issues….but do you want them dictating diet to your child?  I thought that we wanted out of the nanny state, at least that is what I am told by the right wing, and what part of this is NOT part of the nanny state?

The Truth Will Piss You Off!

From the VOMITORIUM

BTW….every one have a Good Friday and a pleasant Easter…..

We hear everyday about the debt and the deficit and the plans…cut taxes….raise taxes…..kill Social Security…..Kill Medicare…..but the biggest lie of all is the no taxes on the rich because they will create jobs if they pay less taxes….to me that is a lie…..why?……..they have been paying less taxes for years and how many jobs are they creating….especially NOW?

But put all that aside for now…..put your conserv ideas and your lib inclinations and try to wrap your head around these figures……

The US Commerce Department released a report today throwing into sharp relief just how drastically US multinational corporations are shifting jobs overseas. During the 2000s, US companies cut 2.9 million jobs in the US, while hiring 2.4 million abroad—including an increasing number of highly-skilled workers, the Wall Street Journal reports. That’s a big reversal from the 1990s, when they hired 4.4 million at home and 2.7 million abroad. These big companies employ roughly a fifth of all US workers. “It’s definitely something to worry about,” says one former George W. Bush adviser. Companies generally defend the trend by saying that productivity has increased in their US factories, and that they are chasing sales abroad. “We’ve globalized around markets, not cheap labor,” says GE CEO Jeff Immelt. “Today we go to Brazil, we go to China, we go to India, because that’s where the customers are.”

Does that piss you off just a bit?  Corporations that have taken billions in taxpayer money and they repay our generosity like that…..it s a bitch, huh?

Now people….what are you willing to do to change all this misuse of your trust?

Taxes Not Collected

Daily Agitator

I know we all have had a WTF moment and find ourselves scratching our heads…..one of mine came this morning watching a talk show……there is a conversation between a couple of people and one of them was obviously pro-business…..Gov. Rendell brought that Exxon paid NO taxes in the US in 2010….but paid $56 billion (I believe) in taxes to other countries…..there was my WTF!

You are telling me that a company that is protected by the US does not have to pay its way in the country?  And then this pro-corporate dude said that they keep taxes low in this country so that business will create jobs and that would mean more people would be paying taxes and the nation’s income will go up…..WAIT!  Another WTF moment!

You are telling me that that is the plan?  Hire more people and get massive taxes breaks and the revenue will go up?  In other words it is still on the backs of working stiffs to keep the country going. right?  So it is all about the working class, middle class, whatever you would like to call it to pay all the bills?  And business gets the usual free ride?

Let’s keep with that line of thinking……corporations have just gotten a massive tax break thanx to Obama and the Repubs….we all know this…..then where has the rush to create jobs been?  It is NOT the tax code that is preventing the creation of jobs……it is greed!

People keep trying the old tired and lame theory of trickle down economics….they only re-package it every decade or so to fool the voter with unbelievable promises of prosperity…..and they BUY IT!

You guys really want an idea?….here is one……everybody, personal and corporations,  pays 10%…no breaks, cuts or deductions….working stiffs will have more on their checks…corporations will be paying the lowest corporate tax rate…and the country will once again have a revenue…..ya like it?!

Oh yeah…..and stop making plans that will go economic NOWHERE!  The truth is the best this country can ever do is a 2 year plan that coincides with elections….that is REALITY!

Will They Take The Hint?

Whataya think?  Will the GOP take the hint from numerous polls?  The people keep dropping subtle hints, especially to the pollsters…..

The people want government to cut spending…..but not with Social Security or Medicare or Medicaid a recent poll showed…I believe it was a WSJ poll…..Defense seems to be the target for most people…end wars and adventurism around the world…..more closely control government contracts…..etc……and of course, the middle class is asking why the rich cannot pay more in taxes…..

Rep. Paul Ryan has given the country his ideas on the budget (actually they are just rehashes of the thinking of the Heritage Foundation) and there has been a lot of back and forth…….not among the people but rather from the self-serving little pills in Congress……he has been called bold and courageous and visionary…….but what do the people, I am talking about real people….average people….think of “his” Path To Prosperity?

It seems that at a recent townhall in his home state of Wisconsin….Ryan was met with an unexpected response to his saying that the wealthy need to pay less in taxes…….

Watch it http://t.co/0EkokIb

Of course this was a townhall meeting in Wisconsin and it may be a reaction to the policies of their new Repub governor….it may not be Ryan’s fault at all…..no one believes that so why would I say it?  Dunno….I guess I was just trying to be “fair and balanced”……

The GOP might want to watch this closely….it could be a harbinger of things to come…..as the people become more knowledgeable on his proposals to basically eliminate SS, Medicare and Medicaid the people will NOT allow this to continue and there is an election coming up…..let us see how many start running away from these proposals……

Will they (GOP) take the hint?

He Makes It All So Easy

He cannot help himself…he will say or do whatever it takes to stay in the limelight……

We on the so-called Left have been all over Trump for his mis-speaks…his birther crap….his stealing of Iraqi oil…..his…well pick a subject…….I think that the rest of the GOP non-field field is waiting patiently for him to announce and to get him in a wrestling match of speeches…..there is a wealth of stuff that will crap all over his candidacy……but my fav is when he attacks what most on the Right call “Obamacare”……I would bet that he is squirming in his shorts thinking about facing some Repubs in debates, especially when the subject comes around to health care and he gets on his high horse in opposition to Obamacare….

“We must have universal healthcare. I’m a conservative on most issues but a liberal on this one. We should not hear so many stories of families ruined by healthcare expenses.”

Trump added that the goal of health care reform should be a system that looks a lot like Canada. “Doctors might be paid less than they are now, as is the case in Canada, but they would be able to treat more patients because of the reduction in their paperwork.”

So, we have another…..”I was for it before I was against it” Republican….we can say a lot about the Donald….but he is never boring……a bit of an egocentric prick….but never boring…..the scary part is that he leads in a lot of the straw polls taken around the country (only God knows why this Barnum-esque showman is so popular)…..the American voter cannot be that stupid…..can they?

May16th will tell us if he is a serious candidate or just a con man…….

What Is Needed Is A Plan!

Meanwhile ….back at the debt…….

You are damn right!  We need a deficit plan…..a energy plan….an environment plan….and sorry a week of 30 second ads and 3 minute stories is NOT the way to formulate a plan…..and a 2 year cycle of elections is NOT the way to come up with a viable plan……WE NEED A PLAN!

It is that simple!  Instead of all the wrangling back and forth between the two cowardly parties, that have nothing to offer but their personal agendas……the whole time the US is sucking tit when it comes to the economy and most notably our industrial base (actually there is not much left of a once dominate sector)….all we have now are a couple of people that spend all their time sniping at the other side or throwing slogans around like confetti or worse yet, arguing about the fate of NPR….NONE of this will return the US to prominence on the world economic stage…….blame China or India or anywhere else all you want….but the truth is that our politicians have pull the trigger on the execution of the American industrial sector…..blame NO one but politicians….both Dems and Repubs…they are ALL to blame and no amount of finger pointing will stop the demise……

The Washington Times, which you would expect a slashing editorial against the prez, has said the following:

President Obama’s “policies have secured America’s status as part of the declining world.” The Times further wrote: “[T]he president’s answer to economic crisis is to heap on more debt. It’s this crippling tax-and-spend Obama creed that’s bringing America to the brink of Third World inferiority.”

To be honest…there has been a plan for the last couple of decades….the conservs are just as guilty as the dems for the downward spiral of the US……and that plan entailed……

fiscal discipline…..control public expenditures…..tax reform……liberalize the financial sector…..liberalize the trade sector…….promote foreign investment……privatization o0f state enterprises…..Deregulate the economy……there you have it…the plans down over the last couple of decades……and finally, how has that worked out for you?

Yes, Irene….WE NEED A PLAN!  Not some half ass reform that last two years at best….we need to develop a short term, mid term and long term plan and make it law so that it cannot be f*cked with by some elected official to win an election…..we need politicians that are serious about making this country strong again…not one sector over another…..WE NEED A PLAN!