Will The Real Mitt Please Stand Up
Posted: 31 May 2012 Filed under: Elections, Observations, Politics | Tags: 2012 Elections, GOP, Mitt Romney, Postaday 2012 8 Comments »Before I begin my post there is a bit of bitching that I need to get off my chest……I watched the recent Halperin interview with Mitt Romney….made me want to puke! There was nothing substantive about the interview….it was loaded with softball questions and Mitt was NEVER pressed to clarify a position or statement….this was typical of most MSM interview of ALL candidates…they are so afraid that they will piss the person off and that they will never get another chance so they just throw out lousy, uninformative questions……the pundits within the MSM detest bloggers….and with good reason….we can ask the important questions and then let fly with an opinion that is not shaded by fear……I read a lot of blogs and have found that these people are far more probing and informative than any on the MSM side of the equation……..
Now with that said I will move on to my subject….one Mitt Romney…..the presumptive nominee of the GOP to meet Pres. Obama in the Fall.
My personal opinion is that Mitt is an empty suit that will say whatever he has to for a momentary boost……we all know of his lies….(MSM calls it flip-flopping)…..he changes positions depending on when and who he is talking to…..he said let Detroit go bankrupt and then it was his idea that saved it…..his most infamous one……when he speaks he looks disingenuous and stiff………he never talks about being a governor but yet everyone wants to call him gov….why? He hates Obamacare but it was his basic idea….along with the GOP in the 90′s……..
What could make a candidate to say such things and then pass them off as empathy for the mere morals he is speaking to at any given event? His new educational policies are those of Bush and Obama….yet he spouts them as if they are something new….a political epiphany, if you will………what could possible explain what Mitt is doing?
My friends at Nomadic Politics have the answer…….
While pathological lying is not formally considered a mental illness by psychologists, it is considered a symptom of other disorders. The Mayo Clinic categorizes pathological lying as belonging to the spectrum of behaviors known as Antisocial Personality Disorder. Here’s a description, brought to you by the helpful people at the American Psychiatric Association.Individuals with Antisocial Personality Disorder frequently lack empathy and tend to be callous, cynical, and contemptuous of the feelings, rights, and sufferings of others. They may have an inflated and arrogant self-appraisal (e.g., feel that ordinary work is beneath them or lack a realistic concern about their current problems or their future) and may be excessively opinionated, self-assured, or cocky. They may display a glib, superficial charm and can be quite voluble and verbally facile (e.g., using technical terms or jargon that might impress someone who is unfamiliar with the topic).
Mitt oh Mitt……..please stop it! Most of us see it as a pathetic attempt to be everything to everybody…..and you cannot achieve that….no matter how you try….it is all a campaign based on lies….granted nothing new there…..but the depth of the lies does make it somewhat unique……
What To Do About Syria?
Posted: 30 May 2012 Filed under: Foreign policy, International Situations, News, Observations, Professor's Classroom | Tags: Armed Conflict, Middle East, Postaday 2012, Syria 2 Comments »Watching the tube about the doings in Syria over the weekend….the shelling and the killing of children and women is just atrocious….there is NO accuse for this type of terror against a civilians population….ANY civilian population…..
Anyway watching the media pundits rattle on and on about the incidents and then some political types and their surrogates that have to weigh into the fray….got me to thinking……I heard on MSNBC morning celeb say that it was horrible (and it is) and that it was not a game to be played….that the Pres needs to act and act now…….
I hate to inform all these well meaning people but it is a GAME….it is cleverly named…..the Game Theory…….this theory simply put is…..Game Theory is a way of looking at human interaction that sees it as a series of strategically motivated decisions. These are described as different ‘games’, or imaginary situations which echo the strategic options involved in political decision making. Analysts of International Relations have made particular use of these models.
I hate to break it to Washington and the do nothings that control it….but the Middle East is a game of Risk…….only it is played with human lives.
The problem is that the Syrian opposition has stated that they DO NOT want US or Western intervention other than humanitarian aid and weapons….they do NOT want our military intervention! But now we have surrogates and such deciding what the opposition in Syrian wants and they want to give it to them (in more ways than one)……
These people are using the deaths of innocent civilians as a pretense for action…..but what of Israel and its killing of civilians? Where is the difference? Other than money given to surrogates for their support. Chest thumping like some sex crazed gorilla will not solve the problems the area is facing……maybe all pundits should just shut up and let this situation be handled without uninformed interference. Just a thought!
Remember The Re-Education Camps?
Posted: 29 May 2012 Filed under: Civil Rights, News, Observations, Professor's Classroom, Society | Tags: Individual Rights, Postaday 2012, Prisons Leave a comment »A while back we had a couple of conservs accuse the prez of trying to put into effect some camps that would re-educate people into the world of liberal thinking….I could name names but for the sake of argument I shall leave them out of this conversation……I personally think that they are not important to American democracy…….
In my radical days I accused the educational system of being such a camp….that we are taught a very limited view of what it was to be a citizen….the rights and the policies that we should aspire to if we were a good American….I still hold some of those views to a point (still a bit of long hair hippie radical in me)……..
But after all that I found something that would lead me to reassess my stand……
Found this on prisonplanet.com……..
A shocking U.S. Army manual that describes how political activists in prison camps will be indoctrinated by specially assigned psychological operations officers contains numerous clear references to the fact that the policies do apply domestically to U.S. citizens.
Despite the fact that the manual is well over 300 pages long and would take hours to read properly, within minutes of posting our story yesterday a minority of commenters were claiming that the policies outlined in the document only pertained to foreign combat operations and did not apply domestically to U.S. citizens.
This is similar to the denial witnessed prior to the passage of the NDAA when some argued that the indefinite detention provisions did not apply to American citizens despite numerous legal analysts asserting they did and President Barack Obama himself acknowledging they did when he signed the bill.
Click here to read the full document entitled FM 3-39.40 Internment and Resettlement Operations.
The most alarming portion of the document appears on page 56 and makes it clear that detention camps will have PSYOP teams whose responsibility will be to use “indoctrination programs to reduce or remove antagonistic attitudes,” as well as targeting “political activists” with such indoctrination programs to provide “understanding and appreciation of U.S. policies and actions.”
Let’s make one thing clear – the manual primarily deals with enemy combatants captured and detained in foreign prison camps run by the U.S. Military. However, another thing that is just as clear from reading the manual in full is the fact that it also applies to citizens detained within the United States, whether they be DCs (displaced citizens) or “civilian internees,” in other words citizens who are detained for, “security reasons, for protection, or because he or she committed an offense against the detaining power.”
Please take some time and read the link….I think that you will be surprised…..whether conserv or lib……makes NO difference…….it is a scary scenario!
On Memorial Day
Posted: 28 May 2012 Filed under: Military, Observations, Society | Tags: Postaday 2012, US Troops, Veterans 4 Comments »Today we celebrate our armed forces and the veterans that have participated in the safety of this country……bless you!
I am writing this basically for all those who have not served………many of your American brethren have gone to war….for a wealth of reasons….but NO American soldier deserves to be ignored when they return to their homeland……sure we say thank you and commend their service but how many of us actually care what happens to them when they are home and out of sight?
Look at the facts and the stats about what these men and women are staring at……..suicides are rising at a rapid rate….homelessness is also on the upswing….unemployment is rampant…….they must endure humiliating conditions trying to get the government to do the right by them…..is all that the thanx they deserve?
Buy all the magnets you want….fly flags……tie those yellow ribbons…..do all the things that Sunshine Patriots do to make their conscience sleep at night….but NONE of that is support! The reps silence speaks volumes…they trot out the vets and their problems as campaign props……and as quickly as they trot them out they forget them……..
As a Vietnam vet I can tell you how disgusting all this faux patriotism is…..do not let our brave soldiers go the way of so many from my war……Get REAL about Veterans issues and problems…..it is not a Right thing or a Left thing….it is the honorable thing to do……..we owe them far more than we could ever repay….but at least we should try and do the right thing by them.
Always remember the sacrifices that veterans and their families have made so that you did not……….
What’s New With The Sciencey Guys?
Posted: 27 May 2012 Filed under: News, Society | Tags: Postaday 2012, Science, Scientific Research 2 Comments »The weekend….the renewal of the mental processes……and time to just goof off!
Science is always surprising me…..since I am not a huge wealth of science knowledge that is not as much a big deal as I make it out to sound…..
So what is new with the sciencey guys?
Researchers from Stanford University and the U.S. Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have created the first-ever system of “designer electrons” – exotic variants of ordinary electrons with tunable properties that may ultimately lead to new types of materials and devices.
“The behavior of electrons in materials is at the heart of essentially all of today’s technologies,” said Hari Manoharan, associate professor of physics at Stanford and a member of SLAC’s Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Science, who led the research. “We’re now able to tune the fundamental properties of electrons so they behave in ways rarely seen in ordinary materials.”
Their first examples, reported Wednesday in Nature, were handcrafted, honeycomb-shaped structures inspired by graphene, a pure form of carbon that has been widely heralded for its potential in future electronics.
The manipulation of sub-atomic particles….mono poles and string theory….The Big Bang Theory…..and three other physics theories……
I am aghast! Thoughts?
What’s For Dinner, Dear?
Posted: 26 May 2012 Filed under: News, Observations, Society | Tags: Food, Postaday 2012 4 Comments »I am a bit of a foodie…..I enjoy a good well prepared meal……I like going out to eat but I refuse to visit establishments that build towers of food or that try and blend different cultures into a meal…..in other words I like classic food…..French, Mexican, Thai….so on……I live on the Gulf Coast and do not eat seafood which is an unpardonable sin down here….I also am not a big fan of BBQ….grilling yes….BBQ no! Why? Even the worst cook alive can make bad cooking skills acceptable with enough BBQ sauce…….
We get the picture……I enjoy a good meal…..and then I hear about some strange people that have to push the envelope……….and all I can do is shake my head…….
Mao Sugiyama, sparked a firestorm of interest on April 8 with one tweet:
“[Please retweet] I am offering my male genitals (full penis, testes, scrotum) as a meal for 100,000 yen …Will prepare and cook as the buyer requests, at his chosen location.”
Just days after Sugiyama’s 22nd birthday, the artist underwent elective genital-removal surgery, divvied up the severed penis shaft, testicles, and scrotal skin between five people, and garnished it with button mushrooms and Italian parsley.
On April 13, five of six diners who signed up for the $250-a-plate feast, sat down to dinner. The sixth person was a no-show.
I thought about it and the only thing that I could think of as a closing was……EEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWW!
Is Full Employment The Goal?
Posted: 25 May 2012 Filed under: Economics, Fiscal Policy, Government, Observations, Politics, Society | Tags: Economic Solutions, Jobs, Postaday 2012, Unemployment 2 Comments »We hear all the political rhetoric about jobs….jobs….jobs…..we listen to the prez tell us he wants to put Americans back to work……we hear the GOP tell us all about the evils of the Dems approach and that they will put all Americans to work if we just trust them with our vote…..everyone has heard it and has made their own decisions on who will put us mere mortals back to work….
Recently Mitt Romney after hearing the jobs report said that he was disappointed in the report and in particular the unemployment rate of 8.1% which he said that anything above 4% was unacceptable…….pause here for thought……..maybe Mr. Romney needs to take a refresher course in economics……for the US to have full employment it will need 5% unemployment…..I will say that I like his statement but an unemployment rate of 4% is just not gonna happen…..no matter how many promises he makes…….it just not gonna happen. (Mitt has updated his prediction to 6% by the end of his first term)……..CBO has already stated that the rate should be 5.0% by 2016……
Apparently, both parties are trying to reach that magic idyllic number of full employment. But what does that really mean? Does it mean that every man and woman of employable age will have a job? Only if you are not living in this world. Full employment does not mean an employment level of 100%. In fact, it is estimated to be around 5% – the idea being that there is always a level of unemployment due to the existence of people who are between jobs or work seasonally.
If full employment, as defined in economics, is an unemployment rate of 5% or lower…..that means that in today’s world we are at about 8%…..that is only 3 percentage points away from the official definition of “full employment”.
Basically, full employment means that the conditions in which all people who are looking for jobs can find one…..not that everyone has a job……
(In case you missed it…the redundancy was intentional…..just saying)
The Inconvenience Of Democracy
Posted: 24 May 2012 Filed under: Government, Observations, Politics, Professor's Classroom, Society | Tags: Democracy, Postaday 2012, State Politics 4 Comments »It is election time and we will hear all about democracy….about the will of the people……about the people have spoken…….but is all that and more true? Or is it just electioneering?
I want to post about the state of Michigan……let me interject that I am not by any stretch of the imagination an expert on the state…..I am writing about a situation occurring within the state and my opinion comes from researching the situation and not from actually living within the borders of Michigan…..I also want to point out that this by no means is anything but a critique of the concept of democracy…..
First of all, a simple definition of democracy………
Majority rule.
Democratic theory begins with the justification of government by the people, usually in terms either of the rights of individual citizens, or the need to protect their interests effectively.
It then proceeds to the two questions of what government by the people means, and how, if at all, it can be implemented.
Now I want to write about the Michigan “Emergency Manager Law”…….
These were the things that the ‘manager’ can do once put into place….(according to Michigan Radio website)…..
An emergency manager can:
- Hire/fire local government employees
- Renegotiate, terminate, modify labor contracts with state treasury approval
- Sell, lease, or privatize local assets with state treasury approval
- Revise contract obligations
- Change local budgets without local legislative approval
- Initiate municipal bankruptcy proceedings
- Hire support staff
An emergency manager cannot raise taxes.
Under Public Act 4, past emergency managers have removed the legislative powers of elected officials, suspended their pay, fired city officials, and imposed pay cuts that violate union contracts.
Public Act 4 overrides Public Acts 101 and 72, which are no longer in effect.
Emergency manager decisions are approved by the State Treasurer—the same office that appoints EMs.
None of the duties sounds very democratic to me…..or am I missing something?
I know my friends on the Right will hate this but……Emma Goldman once said “if voting changed anything they would make it illegal”……..sounds like somebody has taken her words to heart.
Let me preface my opinion….I am NOT a citizen of Michigan and do not claim to be an expert in their politics….I am making my observation from a political philosophical perspective…there may well be more to this story than meets the media’s eye but working on what I found in my research I am writing about democracy……
The people elected their officials as a participant in the right of voting and to have those elected officials side lined without the approval of the people that voted for them is just scary……this is saying that the local residents do not have the right to pick their officials or that the ones that were elected do not measure up to some sort of state measure……
Basically, the state government is saying that the local voters do not know what they are doing by elected people that are not approved of by the state. Would all this be acceptable if the federal government did this to state officials? How can you justify the lose of voting rights….this is starting to look more authoritarian than democratic. I do not care if you are on the Right or the Left…….this is NOT the way the Founders intend for the government to work! And it is definitely not how democracy works!
Again, I am writing about the concept of democracy, in this case representative democracy.
Dumbing Down Washington
Posted: 23 May 2012 Filed under: Government, News, Observations, Politics | Tags: Political Circus, Political Rhetoric, Postaday 2012, US Congress 6 Comments »It is no secret that I think very little of our elected officials and that is ALL of them…..they are as worthless as tits on a boar…..I have seldom heard more moronic diatribes from so-called professionals than those coming out of our capital of Washington……
And then I saw this report from the Sunlight Foundation…….
If you’ve ever felt stupider after watching Congress bicker about some issue for a couple of hours, you’re not wrong. The nation’s lawmakers are, in fact, dumbing themselves down, according to a new report by the Sunlight Foundation.
An analysis weighing congressional speeches against the Flesch-Kincaid scale—best known as that numerical score that tells you how smart you are when you run the word count diagnostic in your word processing software—reveals that legislators speak at a 10.6 grade level.
That’s down from 11.5 just seven years ago. In the span of less than a decade, Congress’ rhetorical skills have receded nearly a full grade, the Sunlight Foundation discovered. The report readily admits the unreliability of the Flesch-Kincaid test, which grades language on complexity, not clarity. But it is still a decent metric for judging the quality of one’s words.
That quality is declining on Capitol Hill, and it’s a bipartisan effort. Democrats in the 112th Congress speak at a 10.8 grade level, with Republicans declaiming at a 10.5 mark. But the GOP could take some solace in the knowledge that a reading of Democratic scores showed that the further left a member of Congress is ideologically, the more his or her grade tends to decline.
Still, it’s not entirely a measurement of innate dumbness. Maybe, the Sunlight report argues, the drop in Congressional perspicacity could be attributed to more floor speeches being delivered in campaign-speak and Internet-friendly sound bites:
I wish I could say that there is light at the end of this tunnel….but alas…….that bulb burnt out years ago….
Were The Founders Truly That Christian!?!
Posted: 22 May 2012 Filed under: Observations, Professor's Classroom, Religion, Society | Tags: Christians, Founding Fathers, Historical Events, Postaday 2012, Religious Beliefs 5 Comments »What prompted me to write this post was a recent story I saw on FOX News (I believe) about the Alabama judge with the 10 Commandments in the courthouse and that he was running for a judgeship again…..and of course all those who keep harping on religion during the election….and some fundamentalist that had to have a say on Mormonism……..
Also the Speaker of the House gave permission for a bunch of religious types to use the Hall at the Capital for a meeting and of course there was the usual suspects mouthing the usual insults and condemnations….but one Rev. got my attention when he said “separation of church and state is communist” (I am paraphrasing)……by using his logic Jefferson, who was a huge proponent of that separation, was a communist.
We hear all the clap trap from the religious right that has me a bit confused….all the candidates that want you to believe that our Founders wanted this country to be a Christian nation….ONLY!
I think they all believed in God but that was where the religious inferences stopped….contrary to popular belief…..one can believe in God without being a Christian…..keep in mind that……..check your copy of the Declaration of independence and the US Constitution…….(pause here for reflection)……The word Christ is not mentioned once…..
Thomas Jefferson spent considerable time investigating the Bible and the life of Jesus. He subsequently wrote, The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, detailing his findings — findings that differ in major ways with typical Christian beliefs.
I found a couple of quotes from our Founders that would have one believe that it might not be too true…..the site is cybercollege.com……..
Want to hear what these people really said?
George Washington – “The father of our country”
The United States is in no sense founded upon the Christian doctrine.
I do not find in orthodox Christianity
one redeeming feature. The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as his Father, in the womb of a virgin will be classified with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter.
The Bible is not my book, and Christianity is not my religion. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma.
The divinity of Jesus is made a convenient cover for absurdity. Nowhere in the Gospels do we find a precept for Creeds, Confessions, Oaths, Doctrines, and… foolish trumpery that we find in Christianity.
During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What has been its fruits? More or less, in all places, pride and indolence in the Clergy, ignorance and severity in the laity; in both superstition, bigotry, and persecution.
Belief in God does not necessarily make one a Christian!
Please…I am NOT saying that these men were not religious….only that they all seem to hold the same belief….and that belief was the separation between church and state.
Let me reiterate something……..Fundamentalists are not friends of democracy. And that includes our fundamentalists in the United States.
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