Month: September 2010

Why Vote For Her?

From the VOMITORIUM

Let me see if I have this about right?  Some of the candidates on this election (2010) want the government out of our lives altogether….right?  But do they really?

Neweser is reporting:

The Delaware Senate candidate opposed to masturbation who first looked like a joke has become Sarah Palin’s latest fair-haired girl. Palin has officially endorsed Christine O’Donnell in her primary race against long-time GOP congressman Mike Castle, Slate reports. Palin met with O’Donnell last month after critics viciously attacked the candidate on her lack of experience and positions, highlighting her opposition to masturbation because the Bible thumper believes “lusting in your heart” during masturbation is the same as adultery.
Democrats are more than a little gleeful that GOP and right-wing infighting may be splitting the vote on their side of the aisle, giving the Dems a boost in the general election. Castel responded to Palin’s endorsement by emphasizing the primary will be decided by “grassroots Republican voters here in Delaware, not out-of-state interest groups who are working to control the outcome.” The Castle campaign has filed an FEC complaint against O’Donnell, charging an “illegal scheme” to coordinate donations with the Tea Party Express.

I have spent decades trying to understand why people vote as they do……it is disheartening….there is little logic or for that matter rationale in the voting habits of Americans.

The type of person in the story above is one of those people that I find amusing…..they hate government involvement into our lives yet they want to involve government in our personal lives….where is the logic in that?

I stand by my belief that whatever I do to myself and that it does not harm anyone else then it is NONE of anybody’s business…if these types of people want the government out of their lives then I say get them ALL the way out….STOP trying to legislate morality!

The Sanctity Of 9/11

Remember the day the country stood still?

The day some radical zealots flew planes into buildings in the name of God ….the day of infamy, if you will, to quote another person from history…..from that day forward, 9/11,  it has become some sort of sacred event, as it should be….when Americans woke up and realized that nothing is safe in today’s world….

The day when 3000+ died and thousands more were injured in one way or another….we, as Americans have used this day as a day of mourning and remembrance…..we have had proposals to make it a national holiday…..we have said that the ground is sacred and a religious structure should NOT be constructed near-by, as a courtesy to the families of those killed……some have tried to turn this into a sacred event….not my place to judge yes or no……

But as the years go by it becomes more and more out of the minds of Americans…..with the exception of politicians that want to use the event as a fund raiser or a campaign slogan…….we have several politics making political appearances on the day of mourning….not for the mourning but rather for personal gain…

I think that if this is truly a sacred day of mourning, then anyone who uses it for personal gain is an un-American lout and they should be called out on the uncaring manipulation of the day for their own gain….I do not care which one of the lousy parties it is…..this should be a crime!  What message does this send to the people of the country?  Does it mean that the further away from the act the less important it is?

This should be a CRIME!

Can You Say….Xenophobia?

No…it is not a world on Star Trek!  It can best be describes as…..an unreasonable fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange.

I guess I started thinking about this after the Mosque saga and then onto the preacher in Florida and his silly idea of burning the Koran…….(glad to say at the time of this writing the preacher has canceled the burning event).  Do you not love the idea of an organization named “Dove World Outreach”…the dove?  The symbol of peace….used as a tool for hate…gotta love the nuts on these people…..a Christian organization?  Makes me think of something Gandhi once said…”I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

Xenophobia?  Remember the days of yore, the 1920’s and 30’s, in Germany…. a party came to power basically blaming a whole race for the troubles of the country….before we have lots of BS…I am only comparing political atmosphere here)….then there were idiot zealots that flew planes into buildings all in the name of religion…..and then there was a Mosque that was purposed and the crazies started blaming a whole religion for the act of a couple of morons….and now we have had this Christ wannabe threatening to burn the holy book of a religion because it is somehow “evil”….again blaming an entire religion for the acts of a few nut jobs……it was hate in the 1920’s…it is hate today!

This can be said to be one of those “recurrent cycles” that I have been writing about….this type of thinking has occurred and re-occurred many times throughout history….when times are tough…especially economic times…..we tend to try and blame someone for the troubles and that is where the xenophobic attitude prevails…..

“Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear.”……..do you know who said that?……..(pause here for reflection)…….not sure?  It was the hero of the conservatives….Thomas Jefferson……all the whackos quote him liberally with the tree of liberty thing and maybe they should spend a little more time reading about the man……for he saw what hate really was…..HATE!  No matter how hard we try we cannot disguise hate as anything but what it is …..HATE!

A Special Thank You

A personal note to my readers…….

Holy Moly!  We did it!

I am so proud of Info Ink!  Just yesterday my blog got its 5000th comment….I never thought that I would see that on my blog and I owe it all to my regulars…Quin of Quintessential Havoc, who is my most prolific commenter and Terrant of My Corner To Vent, Chris and Clint of Why We Worry, LOUDelf of LOUDelf (blogroll will get you to these great sights listed….visit them and open a dialog) and to my newest regular commenter, Natassia….and of course all my other commenters who visit from time to time….even though we may not agree on everything…it has been a pleasure……to all THANK YOU so much!

I started my blog about four years ago while recovering from a crushed leg caused by Katrina…..it was just a way to cope with my immobility….but as the days rolled on I decided to get back into more and more politic stuff, which I had given up about 15 years before…..I tried then to educate people in the political process and its consequences….and I realized something that my grandfather had told me years before….he said that my efforts were admirable but it was like teaching pigs to sing….you waste your time and you piss off the pig……after that I spent many years trying to ignore the silliness that was occurring in Washington and the world…….Katrina forced me to return to reality and sanity……

The truth is that in a way I was glad that I had been hurt….why?….it made me face the fact that I needed to use my education and political training to help in anyway that I could…..and thus Info Ink was born!

I owe the success, at least I think it is a success, of Info Ink to my readers……THANK YOU so much for a great 4 years and I hope it continues because I enjoy the exchanges we have had in the past…..ONWARD!  If there are any ideas that my readers have and would like to share….. please do so…..

To Tax Cut Or Not To Tax Cut

From the VOMITORIUM

We have all heard that the Bush tax cuts may expire and all will be bad for the economy…..you know if the tax cuts are allowed to expire then it would be in essence a new tax and jobs vreation would be dead…..think about that…..we have the tax cuts in place NOW mand how many jobs have they helped to create so far?

And then you have these 7 figure media personalities that work for this financial network or that saying that if the capital  gains tax goes up then it will effect millions of Americans who own stocks….another piece of falsehood!  Most Americans do own stocks but they are in mutual funds or similar funds and with rfe-investment they pay NO capital gains tax…….

And then there is the one about the elimination of the tax cuts and small business will not invest or hire or expand or.,….the tax cuts are on income and if a small business has not protected the owners income then they are stupid and deserve to fail……this is not in any way a tax on R&D or such actions…those tax cuts will stay and the companies will still NOT hire….

This is all so much crap being fed to the people in the game of politics…..first of all, there would be NO increase in people’s taxes if their incomes are below $250,000, where most Americans are as it is today……and secondly, not too many Americans have jobs and if there is no job there is no tax….so where is the tax increase?

This is a budgetary issue……how does one lessen the deficit by eliminating revenue …..the whole idea that saving the wealthy money will trickle down to the working stiff has been proven to be a failed policy…why continue the charade?

How long will politicians offer up crap instead of solutions for real problems?

Is Yemen Next?

Inkwell Institute

International Studies Group

Middle East Desk

We have all heard the story of the American AQ member in Yemen that is the recruiter for the organization…that he is on some sort of list for neutralizing…..and we have all heard of the training camps in Yemen, the …..well you get the drift here…..

On to my question…..will Yemen become the newest frontline in the war on terror?

With the opening of a new front in Yemen for the CIA’s drone “targeted killing” program, the Obama administration is steadily escalating the role played by both the covert agency and secretive US military Special Operations forces as a global Murder Incorporated.

“The White House, in an effort to turn up the heat against Al Qaida’s branch in Yemen, is considering adding the CIA’s armed Predator drones to the fight,” reported the Associated Press on Thursday, citing senior Washington officials.

“The US military’s Special Operation Forces and the CIA have been positioning surveillance equipment, drones and personnel in Yemen, Djibouti, Kenya and Ethiopia” in preparation for the stepped-up killing spree, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

The Washington Post quoted intelligence officials as saying that the CIA now views Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula as a “more urgent” threat than the Qaeda organization in Pakistan.

If this continues, how long will be be before troops are needed to fight the enemy properly?  Or will it be just the drone strikes to avoid the use of troops?

I feel like Nostradamus…..for I predicted an expanding role of the US in Yemen at the first of the year in my annual predictions…..and NO one needed a decoder ring to figure out what I had said…..

Traditional Values?

College of Political Knowledge

Professor’s Classroom

Subject:  Political Philosophy/Government

Lecture #1

On Mondays I offer up a post on the workings and beliefs found in Political Philosophy, trying to help people get a grip on what the science is all about…..that has been met with mixed success….so I have decided to offer up some of the more well known aspects of political philosophy…the slogans…the obscure ideas…..and the like…..hopefully this will help people grasp the political side of life….time will tell……

Very recently I was watching the tube and this rally going on in Washington…it was billed as a non-political rally but everything about it was political….anyway…..several of the speakers in their diatribes mentioned the country should  return to its traditional values…I got to thinking…just what are those traditional values?

Even more recently I listened to a local Dem. politician running for office and he, in his little speech to those gathered, mentioned a return to traditional values.  And once again I asked myself….what are those traditional values?

A political philosopher has the knowledge, but it is NOT his place to try and convince someone or anyone, only to ask questions to help people to understand that which they think they know.  He/she will NOT tell you what the answer is but rather ask you if you think you know the answer.

So, I ask again….what are these traditional values all speak of in their speeches?

Is it something in the political thinking of the people?  Or is it solely personal opinions on the way of things?  Or possibly, a vague catch phrase used to emotional commit people to something they are holding on to to gain some sort of advantage?

Just what are these “traditional values”?

Are they found in the Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence or the Constitution?  Where can a person go to learn what the values are?  Is it a genetic thing?  Is it a learned thing?  Just where are they?

Should we all have the same traditional values?  Or is it a personal thing to be shared with no one?  Should the country have a shared traditional values?  If that is the case, where would an American find references in the “official founding documents”?

If the values are from a special person, then who would that be?  And why are they the ones that have that special power over everyone else?

What are these “Traditional Values”?  So many questions….so few answers…..

The Theory Of Recurrent Cycles

College of Political Knowledge

Professor’s Classroom

Subject:  Political Theory/Political History

Paper #30

I believe that politics travels in circles…..and so did the Greeks…..wish I could remember which one of the ancient political philosophers came up with the theory….but I do recall he was a Greek dude…..

Okay, the theory of recurrent cycles runs something like this…….the Greeks thought that monarchies degenerated into tyranny, tyranny was overthrown by aristocrats which degenerated into oligarchies that exploited the population, which was overthrown by a democracy, which slid into the instability of mob rule, which brought about a strong individual that set himself up as a monarch…….and the whole process would begin again…

Now in the modern world there could be a few exceptions to this theory…but the main jest of the theory is as true today as it was in 400 BC…….Greeks were pretty damn sharp in their philosophical ramblings……but when they were coming up with this theory, there were about a gazillion city states in the country and each one of them went through a process that got them to the birth of democracy….but it did not always end there……

Look around today, pick a third world country and you can plot this theory without using Google.

A good example will be Pakistan and the political upheaval the floods may have (an upcoming post, I may sure).  The military seems to be doing its  job but the government is a bit slow in response, other than looking for cash….this could be a deadly event for the present government.

It seems that Pakistani militants are trying to take advantage of the situation on the ground……

The worst floods in decades, triggered by unusually heavy monsoon rains more than three weeks ago, have overwhelmed the Pakistani state’s ability to respond.

One major risk is Islamist charities and militants successfully exploiting anger over the government response, even as the United States and international allies rush to deliver additional aid.

The senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said militants were even dispensing money for victims.

“There are certainly clear indications that the insurgents and affiliated groups are trying to use the flood and the relief from the flood to try to gain support for their broader effort of being able to control large parts of Pakistan,” the official said.

Do not look now….but those darn cycles may be in the process again……..

It’s Those Damn Boomers!

Daily Agitator

The US economy is in sad shape (unless you are one of the Wall St. gamblers that is protected by the US government) and the debate on spending and the deficit rages on and on and on…….you and I have heard all the excuses and those to blame…..some I believe, some you do……but there comes a time when the affixing of blame on a part of society is just plain STUPID!

I know…what are you going on about, Professor?  Glad you asked!

In the past my posts on social security has gotten amazing response (wish all my posts were as fortunate) and I am waiting to see if this one generates as much debate and exchange as the others…I look forward to hearing what my readers have to say….so dive in!  (BTW, check it out…the Social Security Fund has a $2.0+ trillion surplus secured by the US government)

I apologize to my conservative readers, I in NO way are one of those hating Lefties, but some of the stances of the GOP has a bit of an elitist air to it……

It appears that us “boomers” (yes, I am an old fart)  are the problem with the ever expanding deficit…..since we are at or approaching retirement…our leisure will drain the SS fund and our Medicare will do the same….but who’s fault is that?

Surely you cannot blame the person that has worked hard their whole life for wanting to enjoy their final years?  So, the best answer is to make these people work longer or die sooner…..why?  Why should these people be made to suffer for something that is NOT their fault or their doing?

Let see….the best answers we have for the lessening of the deficit is make working stiffs work longer and possibly harder and to give tax cuts to the wealthy….is that about it?  That is the best you can do for American working families?  We are in a serious conflict, my friends!

How About A “Green New Deal”?

College of Political Knowledge

From time to time I like to let my readers know what some of the third parties are thinking…..some have great ideas and some not so much……but the more we know about other parties, other than the two major ones, the sooner we could possibly break the stranglehold the two have on our political process……..a dream, I know….but the public is pissed at Washington and if they knew more about the other parties the closer we move to making this a truly open political society…..

This is a proposed “Green New Deal” put forth by several Green Party candidates…..

These are the ten planks of the Green New Deal:

  • Cut military spending at least 70% ) I personally would have NO problem with this proposal)
  • Create millions of green union jobs through massive public investment in renewable energy, mass transit and conservation…(I Do not think the unions jobs would be necessary….but a WPA style program would go a long way at the employment problem)
  • Set ambitious, science-based greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, and enact a revenue-neutral carbon tax to meet them (This will NOT get any consideration…..business will fight this tooth and nail)
  • Establish single-payer “Medicare for all” health care (This is a wish never to be brought about)
  • Provide tuition-free public higher education (Another one that I would have NO problem supporting)
  • Change trade agreements to improve labor, environmental, consumer, health and safety standards ( a good idea but will be NO way possible)
  • End counterproductive prohibition policies and legalize marijuana (Why not legalize ALL drugs…it would be a massive revenue generating program)
  • Enact tough limits on credit interest and lending rates, progressive tax reform and strict financial regulation (already tried and it fell way short of effective)
  • Amend the U.S. Constitution to abolish corporate personhood (will have to…SCOTUS has seen to that)
  • Pass sweeping electoral, campaign finance and anti-corruption reforms.  (If only…this would go a long way at making our elections more in line with the people’s desires and make them more responsive to the people)

While I agree with several of these proposals…..I see where the major parties will oppose many of the planks…