Month: October 2009

Eat Well…Stay Fit….Die Anyway

First it was Ewell Gibbons, the health food advocate, did some ads for Raisin Bran or something back in the 70’s or 80’s…..that is the eat well part….he died from a bleeding ulcer.

Second was Jim Fixx, the running guru, the man who single handed (almost) made jogging a way of life in this country…..I Believe that was in the 80’s also….that is the stay fit part……he died while jogging.

Now in Detroit….another dig at the stay fit part….as reported in the Free Press:

In the span of just 16 minutes, three men collapsed and died while running the 32nd Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Marathon.

The first to collapse was Daniel Langdon, 36, of Laingsburg, at 9:02 a.m., said Rich Harshbarger, vice president of consumer marketing for the Detroit Media Partnership, which handles business operations for the Free Press and Detroit News. Langdon was on Michigan Avenue between the 11- and 12-mile markers.

Rick Brown, 65, of Marietta, Ohio, collapsed at 9:17 a.m. near where Langdon went down, Harshbarger said. And Jon Fenlon, 26, of Waterford collapsed at about 9:18 a.m., just after finishing the half-marathon in 1:53:37.

And now that brings us to the part of the “die anyway”…..no matter how good you are at eating properly or staying fit….you will DIE!  No one gets out of this life alive…sorry dudes….

“Commercial Elite” Will Seize Control

Professor’s Classroom

Subject:  American History

Recently there has been a wealth of bitching about the control that Wall Street has over the politics in this country…everyone sees them as the enemy, but no one ever warned us of the extent that this would have to the country……well that is not completely accurate.

From the very beginning of this great nation, some people saw what was coming and what it would do……

[I] shall rest satisfied with observing that our European manners which, probably, are, at this period, too common in America, will enable money (or, in other words, the rich) to usurp and to maintain an absolute dominion throughout the several states. To prevent it from striking root, some weak and feeble efforts will arise; and, perhaps, it may not prove impossible, by a multitude of precautions, to prevent this empire from becoming actually tyrannical. If feeble laws have not the power to hinder the commercial bodies from seizing upon all authority; if the public morals present no succors to the people; but, strive, in vain, to set some limits to the rage of avarice, I must tremble at the prospect of the final rupture of all the bonds of your confederation.

Who was that masked man on such foresight?

Those words were written to John Adams by Frenchman Abbe de Mably in 1785.  Some saw into the future and if you look at it he was CORRECT in his prediction….Wall Street, i.e. the wealthy, run this country as it always has from the very beginning.  And how good was this guy…he also predicted that the government would do little to stop the seizing of power by the “elites”….all the efforts would be anemic and the wealthy would always control the government.

Oh you think I am mistaken?  Then look at the “Founding Fathers”…….name one that was not wealthy….okay Sam Adams was in debt to his ears….but he is seldom mentioned in most history books…even though he was a pivotal character in the movement for independence.  They, the “patriots”, were trying to break the bonds of mercantilism…… and they did……I will repeat that…..it was more about breaking the bonds of mercantilism…..not necessarily freedom…..that took the pen of an idealist.

Keep in mind that….it was seldom about what was best for the people….but rather what the founders thought was best for them and their commercial endeavors….and that has seldom changed through the decades and centuries of the American experience.

Why Do Democrats Crap On Each Other?

Damnedest thing you have ever seen….a majority and still cannot get anything done….where do we find these people?

We have all heard the clap trap coming from the Right when health reform is mentioned…they are fighting Obama and the boyz with all they got….grant that ain’t got much….but they still try and try…all the misinformation…the lobbyists…..the media….few on the Right are for a substantial reform…the problem is that is not exactly what the figures show the American people want…..but when has government ever been about what the people want?

All that is not the problem….Nope, not the problem at all…..the Dems are negotiating with themselves….they long realized that nothing was ever going to come out of trying to negotiate with the Repubs so they set about crapping on each other…..they have a majority in two houses and yet they cannot come together for something that is much needed…health care.  That leads one to question just how successful they will be with any other type of legislation?

You wonder just what I mean by all this….thinkprogress.com has a perfect illustration:

The Hill is reporting that Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR) — who led a group of seven centrist Blue Dogs who objected to a public option that reimbursed providers based on Medicare rates — is floating a proposal to open-up Medicare to Americans under 65, “but at a reimbursement rate much greater than current Medicare rates“:

I — speaking only on behalf of myself — suggested one possible idea could be that instead of creating an entirely new government bureaucracy to administer a public option, Medicare could be offered as a choice to compete alongside private insurers for those Americans eligible to enter the national health insurance exchange, but at a reimbursement rate much greater than current Medicare rates.

The last sentence is key: reimbursing providers who treat the new enrollees at market rates satisfies the provider community and conservative politicians from rural states who argue that their hospitals would close if they were reimbursed at Medicare rates. This scheme preserves the integrity of a single national program and takes advantage of Medicare’s administrative efficiencies to lower costs and spearhead delivery reforms. Still, Ross’ solution will likely save less money than a robust public option that uses Medicare-like rates and leverage.

What to do?  How about one simple thing….open Medicare up to every one…now was it that hard to come up with a plan?  Rep. Ross statement is nothing more than his pay back to the industry that bought him as a person.

The Dems will negotiate with themselves until there is nothing left of value or substance to any health reform bill sent to Obama for his signature.  Once again, I ask, are you happy with the choice you made last election?

Whose Idea Was It?

For over a week now there has been a war of words between FOX News and the White House…..which moron thought this would be a good idea?

Of all the issues that need addressing by the White House….they spend their time swatting at a fly, in this case it is FOX News.  The AP has touched on this situation:

White House unhappiness had been building. The president himself said there is “one television station that is entirely devoted to attacking my administration.” Fox’s coverage of health care demonstrations over the summer, former administration official Van Jones and the community activists ACORN clearly knocked the administration off stride.

The White House blog attacked Fox commentator Glenn Beck for “lies.”

Several critics have questioned the wisdom of Obama’s approach.

“Whether or not you like Fox News, all of us in the press need to be concerned about the administration of President Barack Obama trying to `punish’ the cable news channel for its point of view,” wrote television critic David Zurawik in the Baltimore Sun.

The people voted for a man of vision and wisdom….but the kids play that they are doing now….shows neither wisdom nor vision……people voted for change, but somehow this is not what they thought change would look like.

I realize politicians think their sh!t does not stink, but petty name calling and childish little games is not what they should be involved in at this time or for that matter any time.  But come on dudes…you are giving their accusations and lies credence when you attack them outright…..do to FOX what you guys do to the people and their wants..IGNORE THEM!

All IN Or All Out!

Daily Agitator

Or as I like to call it…the Federal Agitator……

I have heard all the slang….corporate welfare….vampire capitalism….generational theft……you have heard them all also….maybe my memory is a little longer than yours….but it has all been out there for months or longer.  But what are they talking about?  These are all so cute little slogans that mean nothing.  Instead of trying to explain stuff to the public, politicians, economists and others resort to lame labels to daze and confuse….so far they have been very successful.

Let us take it from the top……corporate welfare…..thanx to wiki for the definition:

a pejorative term describing a government’s bestowal of money grants, tax breaks, or other special favorable treatment on corporations or selected corporations. The term compares corporate subsidies and welfare payments to the poor, and implies that corporations are much less needy of such treatment than the poor.

Then there is the term “vampire capitalism”….originally it was a Marxists term for the way they saw capitalism working…draining the life blood out of the worker and the economy.  It has been resurrected recently as a defining term for the TARP and TALF.

Then we come to the phrase “generational theft”….one that the conservatives love when attacking Obama and his policies…..The Republican response to President Obama’s stimulus package and budget proposals have been nothing but predictable. They warn us that we are about to “saddle our children and grandchildren with debt,” debt so profound that it amounts to “generational theft.”

But in this case it can be used to describe the money that the government has thrown at the banks….somewhere the grand total will be about $23+ trillion and that would be a huge chunk of generational theft…it stole savings…it stole retirement…it stole school accounts…it lessened the amount of money that family’s have on hand for those important issues…

All this claptrap is leading up to my point…..we should decide onced and for all….when it comes to the economy….we need to be ALL IN or ALL OUT…this teetering between a little here,  a lot there……there is a time, but beyond that we need to be clear on this situation.  Alan Fein writing in the Huffington Post back in March:

First, right now, debt is required. There seems to be a breathtaking consensus among economists that government debt is necessary now, because only government can create the kind of demand that will open the spigots clogged with cash hoarded by nervous banks and investors. A bank is afraid to make a loan to a steel company that would like to modernize and fire up a steel mill, if there are no orders for steel. If the steel company comes to the bank with a government contract for girders for overpasses on the interstate, the bank will loan the money, the mill will light up, workers will get paychecks, and they will spend at the local stores and groceries. Those stores and groceries will hire workers, buy goods from suppliers, who in turn will hire workers and buy goods. All this will flow from building things we actually need.

This economy and society needs for the government to be ALL IN…we either make the necessary adjustment in the economy or we do nothing and let the disastrous decisions of the companies that cause the downturn,  work their magic….

As far as generational theft goes…it is a piece of crap to even hint at such a thing….Fein made a good point:

But there is another reason that this kind of debt is not “generational theft”: Unlike the run-up of government debt over the last eight years, the Obama plan is to spend money on things that will actually benefit the next generation. If we borrow money like the Bush Administration did, and in the end you have nothing to pass on to the next generation except for new bridges and schools in Baghdad badly built by a Halliburton subsidiary, that’s generational theft. If, on the other hand, we build schools, bridges, power grids and infrastructure here in the United States, we are creating wealth and the means of more production that our children and grandchildren will actually use. If we borrow money to repair parts of the federal interstate system so that bridges don’t fall down when our children and grandchildren drive over them, that’s not generational theft. If we borrow money to shore up the levees and wetlands that would protect the next generations of New Orleans-ers, that’s not generational theft.

If the government cannot go ALL IN then their best action would be ALL OUT and we can sit back and watch the recession become a depression and the US become not much more than a 3rd world nation…with all the trappings of the 3rd world….low education, bad health, hunger, no industrial output, etc…..

Is It A Tax Increase?

Taxes…Taxes….Who gets the taxes?

Congress has been all a twitter (pun intended) about the tax increases proposed by the Obama admin and then the admin shakes its head and promises NO new taxes….the question is….is there tax increases or not?

If it is a government program, whether Dem or Repub, it will contain tax increases…but sometimes they are hidden by flowery language….but a tax increase by any other name is still just that…a TAX INCREASE.

And the Baucus bill that was voted on does just that…though it is not a final draft, it will help word the final bill.

Page 29, sentence one of the bill introduced by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont) says: “The consequence for not maintaining insurance would be an excise tax.”

And the rest of the bill is clear that the Finance Committee does, in fact, consider it a tax: “The excise tax would be assessed through the tax code and applied as an additional amount of Federal tax owed.”

The bill requires every American, with few exceptions, to carry health insurance. To enforce this individual mandate, the Senate Finance Committee created the excise tax as a penalty for people who don’t have insurance – and it can run as much as $3,800 a year per family.

Even the House draft has wording that is a tax, it is just that plain and that simple:

The House bill also refers to the penalties for not carrying insurance as a tax. It calls for a “tax on individuals without acceptable health care coverage” and amends the tax code to implement it.

Conservatives Dems wanted it, the bill, to be deficit neutral and about the best way to do that is to raise taxes…in some fashion or another.
I want the politicians to STOP playing these damn silly games…..ALL programs, whether from Conservs or liberals, have to be funded….and who do you think is the funding mechanism?  (I will give pause for thought).
My point is that no matter which of the power elites are in power….taxes are the revenue needed to fund the government…..taxes will go up and those in the power offices will deny that it is taxes…..no matter what you call it people….you will pay and pay and…….it is not a Repub thing or a Dem thing…it is just simply….REALITY.

It’s Not Hate! Just Opposition!

If you believe this crock of crap coming from right talkers…then I suggest if your IQ ever makes it to 100….SELL!

Remember this past summer when the teabaggers were all a twitter (that is a pun) about the health crae plan…you know the cretins with guns, the Obama clown posters, the word socialism,  the swastikas, the death panels and on and on….and remember all those who said it was not hate but just good old American opposition…no one would admit that they hate the president for whatever reason they want to lie about….he is black…he is a liberal…he is a Muslim…..he is not a citizen…you DO remember this summer, right?

It is not about Hate….then explain just what this stuff signifies.

From Raw Story:

A Florida Republican candidate for Congress became the target of outrage Friday after it was revealed that at a local shooting range he opened fire on a target bearing the initials of his Democratic opponent, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.During a recent Broward County GOP meeting, Robert Lowry, a real estate CEO who is running against Wasserman Schultz, joined in the armed festivities. Though he initially said firing slugs at a silhouette with “DWS” inscribed to the side of its head was merely a “joke,” Lowry “minutes later called it a mistake,” noted CBS4 in Hallandale Beach, Florida.

Another target at the shooting range was a stereotypical depiction of a Muslim male as an RPG-wielding terrorist.

That was tried to be explained away….but the fact is it is hate for a liberal….or a Democrat….or a woman…or…..

Oh there is always more:

Reported on Boston Herald website:

The Secret Service has been called in to investigate a swastika found carved into the grounds at the Lakeville Country Club next to the name of President Obama

Country club grounds keepers found the letter “I,” a swastika and the name “Obama” dug into the green at the 18th hole early yesterday morning, said golf course owner Gary Mosca.

The vandals either used their heels or a board to carve the message, which is about 20 by 30 feet, Mosca said. He said the vandals did not dig in deep enough to damage the root system and he plans to turn the swastika into a box.

This is hate…plain and simple….and it is on the rise….

Even the GOP is goping on record as opposing hate crimes legislation…….as reported by CBS News:

House Republican Leader John Boehner objected to House passage of a bill that would expand hate crime laws and make it a federal crime to assault people on the basis of their sexual orientation.

“All violent crimes should be prosecuted vigorously, no matter what the circumstance,” he said. “The Democrats’ ‘thought crimes’ legislation, however, places a higher value on some lives than others. Republicans believe that all lives are created equal, and should be defended with equal vigilance.”

Based on that statement, CBSNews.com contacted Boehner’s office to find out if the minority leader opposes all hate crimes legislation. The law as it now stands offers protections based on race, color, religion and national origin.

It should be noted that the current law does not include gender, though the expanded legislation would cover gender as well as sexual orientation, gender identity and disability.

Rep. Tom Price, who heads the GOP conservative caucus, also complained last week that the expansion of hate crimes legislation amounted to “thought crimes,” and he labeled the bill’s passage – tied to a defense bill – an “absolute disgrace.”

But contacted about his position on hate crimes legislation overall, Price took a different position than Boehner. According to Price communications director Brendan Buck, the congressman opposes all hate crimes protections, including existing ones.

Once again hate crimes are lessened by law makers…what are they afraid of….I am sure somewhere some conserv talk dude will link any talk about hate crimes as some how destroying the institution of marriage or some other social contract.

How About An Industrial Policy?

The US has a policy for everything, drugs, terror, on and on, but we seem to have missed the boat on a substantial industrial policy.

Let usa look at some of the things happening in our country today according to Harry Tarq in “Dairy Of A Heartland Radical”:

-For most workers, including the college educated, real wages today are lower than they were in the 1970s.

-Rates of unemployment have grown over the years, doubling between 1999 and 2009. Unemployment rates are a third higher for African Americans and Latinos.

-There has been a sea change in employment as manufacturing labor has dipped below 15 percent of the work force. The sectors with most employment growth include health care, fast food, hotel work, and transportation. Generally higher paying manufacturing work is being replaced by low wage service labor.

-During the last forty years most manufacturing jobs have been transferred to other countries where wages are low, the right to form unions is limited, and costs for health and retirement benefits are minimum.

-There has been a qualitative shift in investment to financial speculation and away from manufacturing.

-Meanwhile, worker productivity in the United States has increased.

One kind of industrial policy that would be appropriate for the twenty-first century is the green jobs agenda. This approach would combine our massive environmental and job needs. To use an historical analogy, to save the lives of millions of Americans, a New Deal green jobs agenda must become part of our future.

Our industrial base is shrinking daily…..and we do not seem to have a grasp on how to get it up and running again.  Our manufacturing has taken a backseat to financial poker game and we, the people, are losing everything because the economic theives are “all in”  with our future.

Many analyst say the the use of “green technology” is the way of the future and that if handled properly could re-invent our industrial base.

Green jobs could be a saving grace, but I am not too optimistic on that for the future…..why?……right now they are en vogue, but will that continue when a new admin takes the reins in Washington?  Many good programs have died at the hands of well intended administrations, i.e.  energy policies of Carter….if they had been followed it is possible that we would not be addressing some of the global warming issues we face today….

Do You Break Out After Sex?

The Prez is talking…..the troops are shooting…..Congress is doing nothing….Teabaggers are ……well you know?  So, I will attempt to lighten up the mood, at least for a day….it is Sexy Sunday!

Okay Ladies pay attention………

The exerpts are from an article written by Philippe Djegal:

Sex is known to relieve stress, lower blood pressure, and even lead to weight loss, but doctors say that, for some women, sexual intercourse can be harmful and sometimes deadly.”Hopefully, it’s caught early enough that it’s not fatal, but certainly as you go along in the natural history of this disease with continued exposure, symptoms usually come on faster and are more severe,” said Dr. Jonathan Buttram, a certified allergist and immunologist.

Itching, hives, difficulty breathing, vomiting, diarrhea, horrible uterine cramping and an inflammation of the lining of the rectum are all possible symptoms of seminal plasma hypersensitivity.

Doctors say the typical patient is a woman having intercourse for the first time. But, there have been cases where women who have been having sex with the same partner for years have developed this allergic reaction.

The best way to avoid this condition, health officials say, is to not have sex, which for some could be quite a stretch, or you could always fall back on old reliable.  (That would be to take things in your own hands)

It’s an extremely rare, but painful truth for some women. Doctors say if you are allergic to seminal fluid.

See guys your wedding tackle could be a lethal weapon………does that mean that a tattoo should be on the twig and berries that says “use of this item could be hazardous to your health”?

Weed Puts Limber In Your Joint!

This one is for all those stoners from high school…you know those guys that hit the pipe and would sit in the corner contemplating the meaning of string….

Yes, there has been yet another study on sex and weed:

Men who smoked pot daily were found to be four times more likely to have trouble reaching orgasm than men who did not inhale, according to the La Trobe University study.

Other daily male cannabis smokers experienced premature ejaculation at nearly three times the rate of non-smokers.

Professor Anthony Smith says while the habit often had a significant impact on a man’s sex life, the effects were not always something the smokers would consider a “sexual health problem”.

“The findings suggest that men are self-medicating with cannabis to delay orgasm,” said Prof Smith from the Melbourne-based university’s Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society.

“While many male smokers experienced sexual problems, they also reported more partners than non-smokers.

The study took in more than 8600 people, aged 16 to 64, who were surveyed by telephone as part of the Australian Longitudinal Study of Health and Relationships.

Participants were asked whether they had used cannabis in the previous year and, if yes, their frequency.

Overall, 8.7 per cent said they had used cannabis in the last year, with twice as many men (11.2 per cent) in the positive compared to women (6.1 per cent).

People under 36 were more likely to smoke marijuana than older participants.

The research also found women who smoked cannabis daily were more likely to have had two or more sexual partners in the previous year.

They were also seven times more likely to have been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection in the last year than non-smokers.

Now if that does not put the limber in your joint (pun intended), then nothing will….