Month: November 2010

Why Afghanistan?

Do I like being redundant?  Nope….and eventually someone somewhere will have an answer…….after 10 years you would think that someone would have an answer…….

I have asked this question over and over….and so far there is NO good answer.  There is plenty of spin from both parties and their lap dogs…but not one good answer…..funny how they try to sell the public on whatever plan they come up with…..first it was out in 2011….now it is out in 2014…..what will it be 2 years from now?

I was listening to an interview with Holbrook on MSNBC on the situation in Afghanistan and he said that any negative reports coming from the AfPak area is just counter-productive…why?  Because the Afghans are very pleased with the fact that the US and NATO are present in their country…. interesting…..most unbiased reports, which Mr. Holbrook is not, say something a bit different…..

Raw Story has an interesting report……

A report (PDF) from the International Council on Security and Development (ICOS) shows that 92 percent of those surveyed had never heard of the coordinated multiple attacks on US soil on September 11, 2001. It also shows that four in 10 Afghans believe the US is on their soil in order to “destroy Islam or occupy Afghanistan.”The survey also suggests that Afghans are skeptical of their own government’s ability to protect them, and have little regard for the fledgling democratic institutions the country is building. Fully 43 percent could not name one positive aspect of democracy, and nearly two-thirds — 61 percent — said they didn’t think Afghan forces would be able to keep up the fight against the Taliban if and when Western forces withdrew.

If one does not like the poll and think it is inaccurate, then find me another poll with different results and then we will talk….

I have been asking my question for several years…..why Afghanistan?  In the beginning it was to get AQ…they be gotten…..what is the mission now?  There are a lot of words out there about the conflict, but very few make any sense…..so once again ….since, obviously the Afghan people have NO idea why we are in their country or most likely do not want us there any longer…….WHY AFGHANISTAN?  NO one has an answer!

The Peninsula Gets A Lot Hotter

Breaking News………….

About 60 years ago the world came together and fought side by side against a Communist invasion of South Korea by the bad guys to the North….lots of fight, blood and death….but eventually calmer heads did prevail and a truce was signed and all went back to being normal on the peninsula….whatever normal is for that area…..

Recently North Korea has started up a nuke program and even detonated a small device….the world is not happy….they move this way and that trying to find a solution for the NK problem……just when things were going badly…NK has been accused of sinking a SK ship off the Coast and in SK waters…..and the world was not happy…again……

And now they, the rest of the world, truly have something to be anger about…….from the Newser website…..

South Korea has returned fire after North Korea blasted scores of artillery rounds at a South Korean island, setting houses on fire and forcing evacuations, according to South Korean officials. Some 70 houses were ablaze on the island of Yeonpyeong, close to the two nations’ disputed maritime border, witnesses told a local TV station, the Wall Street Journal reports. One marine was killed and 3 have been seriously wounded, reports Reuters. It was the biggest outbreak of violence in several years. South Korean officials are holding emergency talks in an underground bunker. “Houses and mountains are on fire and people are evacuating.

The US war hawks ought to be jerking off in the corner…after all the lip service that has been given to the conflict on the Peninsula…..we can now eye another war to fund…..happy now?

Come On And Touch Me…Babe

From the VOMITORIUM

Can’t you just here the Doors singing in the background?

The newest pile of horse manure in the media is the whole TSA body scan and pat downs…..every station ….every network is going on and on about these pat downs for people who do not want the body scans….both Left leaning and Right leaning are all a twitter (not the website) about this invasion of people’s person….to me it is just amusing…..why…you would like to know?  About 2% of the people that fly actually get the pat down….while I agree that it would be a bit uncomfortable……most of the time they do have a choice…….

First, let us say if these are discontinued and then there is a breach of security……whose fault will it be?  Obama naturally….because he is a secret Muslim or he does not love the country or he is just naive…it is just laughable at all the hoopla over this…especially from the whackos on the Right….you could bet your ass they would be all over Obama if something went wrong….but now they are all over Obama because he is allowing DHS to do this outrageous tactic to the American people….here is a news fklash for you….THEY DO NOT CARE…it is all about the politics of the issue….the conservs who like the Patriot Act which is more evasive, are on track to try and privatize the TSA…..

Second, I have seen several Israeli officials on the tube telling about how they handle this sort of thing….and without being personally evasion to people….they use a combination or roadblocks and questions….not that the questions are telling but rather the person demeanor when answering….I have a slight problem with this also…..what you ask?  on any given day across the US there are more people flying than there are people in the entire country of Israel…these dipsticks are comparing apples to oranges….

As with any issue…there is a wealth of people pointing out the problem and damn few offering answers….that, IMO, makes this whole issue somewhat laughable…..

To Vote Or Not To Vote

College of Political Knowledge

Subject:  Government/Elections/

Lecture #14

Recently I did a post, well several on the necessity of voting or not….some of the titles were Political Obligation, Voter beware, to mention only a few….these seem to get the most play from my readers most of it was unflattering, to say the least…..it has been that way since I started pointing out the inconsistencies in the American voting process…..

I posted my article on Political Obligation on a political discussion forum, I had stayed away from them for several years because few have people that want to have a discussion….it was all about bashing on party or the other…….and after I posted the usual occurrence happened….someone took my words personally….they immediately went on the attack…..another reason that I quit trying to have a substantive conversation on a concept….few people cannot move past their personal filter and look at the concept in broader terms….anyway my exchange got me to thinking more about the institution we call…..voting……..

What has anyone’s voting done to solve the problems with the country and its economy?

A great question when the general election of 2012  is quickly approaching and we will picking our next president, either a new one or a continuation of the one we have now….what to do?

If I take the pragmatic approach, I will look and find something in one of the two American major parties that I can vote for….but then I become a single issue voter…and that does little to help the country….if I stand by my principles then I have NO one to vote for, most of the time, because neither party is serious about fixing the problems in this country, IMO….or I can just stay home and bitch……

As the voting is today in American…it is only a reinforcement of the status quo…..either I vote for someone I do not like or I do not vote….in essence I would have to vote for the lesser of two idiots…..that is NOT what voting should be about…..

For one, I dislike the idea that only 2 parties are capable of representing the population and when you have that mindset then we are to the point of tweedle dee or tweedle-dum…..

But there is an answer, at least in my opinion……and it is called IRV (instant run-off voting)!  As defined by fairvote.org…..

IRV allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference (i.e. first, second, third, fourth and so on). Voters have the option to rank as many or as few candidates as they wish, but can vote without fear that ranking less favored candidates will harm the chances of their most preferred candidates. First choices are then tabulated, and if a candidate receives a majority of first choices, he or she is elected. If nobody has a clear majority of votes on the first count, a series of runoffs are simulated, using each voter’s preferences indicated on the ballot. The candidate who received the fewest first place choices is eliminated. All ballots are then retabulated, with each ballot counting as one vote for each voter’s highest ranked candidate who has not been eliminated. Specifically, voters who chose the now-eliminated candidate will now have their ballots counted for their second ranked candidate — just as if they were voting in a traditional two-round runoff election — but all other voters get to continue supporting their top candidate. The weakest candidates are successively eliminated and their voters’ ballots are redistributed to next choices until a candidate earns a majority of votes.Instant runoff voting allows for better voter choice and wider voter participation by accommodating multiple candidates in single seat races and alleviating the “spoiler effect,” which can result in undemocratic outcomes. IRV allows all voters to vote for their favorite candidate, while avoiding the fear of helping elect their least favorite candidate. It ensures that the winner enjoys support from a majority, using the same basic logic as traditional runoff elections. Plurality voting, as used in most American elections, does not meet these basic requirements for a fair election system that promotes cost-saving elections with wider participation.

IMO, it is the two party voting process that has turn any election into a beauty contest and not a contest for proper governance…..we need election reform NOW…and IRV could be a brilliant start…

Are You Smarter Than The Average Politician?

For months on months we have been bombarded with the realization that the Federal deficit is getting out of control….we are told that we need to kill health care or the at we need to tax more or that we need the Tea Party or the Dems or even the GOP to fix these problems….we have been told all the problems, some imaginary some not so, but the point is that we have been told all about the problems……cool huh?  But have you heard one of these people tell you how they would repair our spending spree?

I do not mind the spotlighting of the problems, as some see them, but I do dislike the fact that NONE have an idea….they must check with their party apparatus to decide what they would do….NONE have an original idea….

I would like to thank our friends over at “Why We Worry” (go to blogroll and visit a very good sight) for turning us onto this……

The NY Times has an article about how YOU can fix the deficit…..take your ideas and plug them into the questionnaire and see if you have what it takes to fix the deficit and make America strong again…..it will take about 10 minutes, if you do not read without moving your lips, maybe a little longer…..but see if you are as smart as a politician….

– NYTimes.com nytimes.com/2010/11/21/wee…

Below is my solutions……and I did pretty well at lowering the deficit…..

nytimes.com/interactive/20…

The problem is that I made choices that will benefit the country not my re-election campaign……

So what were your choices and why?

What Is In A Constitution?

College of Political Knowledge

Subject:  Government/Political Theory

Paper #39

My friend Quin,  over at Quintessential Havoc (go to blogroll and visit a thoughtful blog),  has been taunting (joking) me for sometime to define just what a Constitution is or what it really does for a given people.  It is not a really easy question to tackle and I shall give it my best effort……

First of all,  is a constitution a social contract or a political contract?

But first before we answer that question we need to look at what makes up a constitution…..

1–defines a way of life….values, principles, and definition of justice

2–defines the people…(this is open to interruptation)

3–defines the political institutions

4–establishes the basis of authority

5–distribution of political power

6–limits of government

There may be others that someone would add…but for the case of this post…these are the ones that I feel would make up a constitution….now we come to the question is it a social or a political contract?

Social contract……the simplest definition is…..the people give up sovereignty to a government or other authority in order to receive or maintain social order through the rule of law.  It can also be thought of as an agreement by the governed on a set of rules by which they are governed.

Of course we could delve into the definition a bit more but I feel that this pretty much sums up that the constitution…as defined…is a social contract as well as a political contract….

The forming of a constitution does not imply that the society is free and equitable….I mean Hobbes thought that an authoritarian monarchy was the way to go and Rousseau was all for a liberal republicanism…..even the now defunct USSR had a constitution……some have been more effective than others…..but no one constitution is for everyone…..but as much as some refuse to see that man is a herd animal and must give up some rights to be guaranteed others….and a constitution will define the limits of that contract with the population.

When considering a constitution as a political document it must be viewed in its entirety, not to pick and choose those parts that are most appealing…..for most constitutions are NOT an organic document, meaning that it is ever changing…it is the limits of the government and the people…….

Did I miss anything?

A Sucker Born Every Minute

As my regular readers will know…I try to take a break from politics and such on Sundays and find something happening in society or culture that just begs to be commented on….and I found a good one!

Or whatever the quote is……it applies in these reports….This truly is a case of more money than brains….

Jon Jacobs has just sold a virtual asteroid for a very real $635,000. Jacobs bought the asteroid near Planet Calypso in the online world Entropia Universe back in 2005 for an unheard of $100,000. Turns out it was a good investment, because Jacobs just made more than a half-million dollars in the sale.

Okay, this dude made some cash off the sell….but who buys something that has absolutely no foot in reality?  As I read this, I thought this guy was a bit loonie tunes….but as I looked at the phenom I found more……

But he is NOT alone…this from USA Today…..

Rising interest rates have yet to cool white-hot real estate prices. Perhaps that’s why the concept of virtual home ownership has captured the imagination of a growing number of online gamers, who are plunking down real cash for their own slice of the digital frontier.Large swathes of undeveloped online property, some bearing an uncanny resemblance to a palm-studded West Coast beachfront idyll, are selling for up to $550 an acre.

That amount is but a song compared with real world real estate, but these are computerized representations of property — pretty pictures, if you will — in an online graphic role-playing game known as Second Life.

Is it just me or do these people way too much time sitting with a controller in their hand?  JUst where is the logic here?  I realize I am an old fart and may not get it…..but to piss away money on something so intangible as virtual real estate sounds just a bit silly…..but then I am no techno geek…..so what do I know?

“I Could Beat Obama”!

There are times when I run across a statement by someone that just begs to be in my Anal-Ocity section for anal statements…..and this one is by Sarah Palin, bless her heart…..but after some thought….I have come to the inclusion that it may not be so anal after all……but first, the rest of the story…..

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said she believes she could beat President Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election and is considering whether to run.

Palin said in an ABC News interview that she’s “looking at the lay of the land” for a possible presidential bid and “trying to figure that out, if it’s a good thing for the country, for the discourse, for my family.” When asked whether she could beat Obama, Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, replied, “I believe so.” ABC released excerpts from the interview scheduled to be broadcast Dec. 9.

Okay, dream on!  She is NOT running…she is a master at appearing as something she is NOT…and she is NOT presidential material…….enough said?  I will give her her props….her reality gig is steeped in political overtones….scenes of mama grizzlies protecting her young….her comment on the accusation of her being a quitter as she claims a rock face saying she must do it for no one will help her….do-dah…..do-dah….all to subliminally reinforce her political stands…..
I will also give her an “atta girl”…….for her constant playing the media to keep her name and face in the news….it is almost masterful…..it sells a lot of books and gets her a lot of speaking engagements for which she gets tons of cash for saying NOTHING….not bad for a failed governor and VP candidate…..you betcha!

Kids Say The Darnedest Things

No….not the Art Linkletter show from days gone by…in case you are old enough to remember Art and his TV show……this case I am talking about the Palin kids, Bristol and Willow…….

Bristol Palin posted a brief apology on Facebook late Tuesday after 16-year-old sis Willow used anti-gay slurs (captured in screen shots by TMZ) to attack a classmate who criticized the family’s TLC reality show. “Haha your [sic] so gay,” wrote Willow. “Sorry that you guys are all jealous of my families [sic] success and you guys aren’t goin to go anywhere with your lives.” Bristol also weighed into the debate, but later had a change of heart: “Willow and I shouldn’t have reacted to negative comments about our family. We apologize.

“Haha your so gay. I have no idea who you are, But what I’ve seen pictures of, your disgusting … My sister has a kid and is still hot.” She followed that up with another comment that read, “Tre stfu. Your such a f—–.”

First, with all the news about kids being bullied and committing suicide you would think that Mommy would have had a talk with the children that she uses as campaign props….maybe not…..second, do they each spelling and proper usage of the English language in Alaska….maybe Willow is home schooled so she does not have to mingle with her inferiors…..

Do Americans Really Want A Divided Government?

The cycle always returns…..when one party has all the power, it seems that the voter will vote one out so that there is a divide in the branches of government…but is this a good idea?

Political Wire tries to explain the thinking…..

“If Republicans take back control of the House and maybe even the Senate, it will return American politics to its standard state: divided government. In the 21 Congresses after LBJ’s presidency, one party has held full control of the House, Senate, and White House just six times. Also since LBJ, the longest one party has controlled those three bodies is just for four years (1977-1981 and 2003-2007). And get this: Every time a party has had control of the three bodies, it ended in a wave election for the other side (1980, 1994, and 2006). So is what we’re witnessing just American politics returning to its natural state? Indeed, our NBC/WSJ poll in late August found that 62% of respondents said it was better if different parties control the White House and Congress, while only 29% preferred one party in command of both.”

Now that is a helluva question……and the more you look at history of the political process….it does seem that Americans want a divided government….it think it comes back to the old “checks and balances” thing…..but a better question is it a conscious desire or is it something else?

I guess it is an unconscious thing……..

Pew Research: “While 75% identify the Republicans as the party regarded as doing best in the midterms, fewer than half (46%) know that Republicans will have a majority only in the House when the new Congress convenes in January. About one-in-seven (14%) say the GOP won both the House and Senate; 8% say they won just the Senate; 5% do not think they will have a majority in either chamber; and 27% do not know.”

That shows just how important the mid-terms were….after all the hoopla on the Right of how the American people have spoken……but they are not sure of what they actually said……situation normal…..