Month: November 2012

Reflection On The Election

I always thought I had the heart of a poet….but that is another tale.

I wish to offer my reflections on the election of 2012……back in ’08 I was writing about all sorts of doings in the campaigns and such….in June of that year I had my best day for hits, 744 and there was lots of excitement from both sides on the coming battle of the parties….it never was a war of ideas……just one party seeking superiority over the other……it was a good time to be a blogger….lots of exchanges of views and of course the deluge of insults from the right and even a few from the left.  But this election is just plain pathetic!  There is NO campaigning on the future….both sides only speak of the past and everything else is boiled down to the lowest denominator….and that makes it PATHETIC!

One was from the Daily Kos group when I was posting on other parties and other candidates and I was basically told that I needed to go away because it was a support Obama site…….and now that same group is being critical of the president that they helped elect….and even though everything I told them about the change that would not come…..they continued to beat the Obama bush (no pun intended)……….

Now I move on to the quickly approaching election of 2012……it is difficult to get anyone to visit much less comment on anything written and that leads me to believe that the election is NOT that important for many people….there seems to be a lack of enthusiasm, both right and left……..I am talking about regular people not the pundits and their organizations….we can always have these bit players throwing out their innuendos, their lies, the misinformation, the total lack of facts in anything they say or do……it is like the majority does not give a shit one way or the other….and that indifference will effect voter turnout…….we are in for a sad, sad election.

I feel that the massive amounts of money spent by the campaigns and their covert operatives will make little difference……the people that will vote have made up their minds already….and the rest will stay home because they feel that nothing they do will change the culture of corruption and the bought and rigged election process.

As I remind my readers (constantly), I have been watching and writing about our political process for decades……I thought I had seen it all…I was mistaken.  Today the worse enemy that our country has is……our politicians!  This country is at a stand still….we can blame however you personally dislike….but the truth is…..the elected cowards are the real problem.  And I see NO relief for the citizens in the near future.  Why?  Easy peasy…..we are LAZY!

The American people are fed up and have realized that their vote is nothing, no matter how much they try to make it so, it will not happen….the system is rigged and those rigging it are in all three branches….that Wall Street is more important than Main Street and that NO amount of their votes will ever change that culture.

Only thing this election will produce is a rebirth of a culture of protest and rebellion……something that my old radical bones have yearned for for years……for the only way for us to truly achieve change is by a true change….and you may read that anyway you choose.

2012 Election Issues #7–Global Warming

It is Sunday and I was gonna post something besides politics but Sandy, that weird storm that hit the Northeast, has because of all the damage , reawakened the dialogs on global warming….and since neither candidate seem to have much to say on the subject, I thought I would help the voter out in a small way…..

In 2009, President Barack Obama proposed a bill that would have capped power plant carbon dioxide emissions and allowed trading of credits for the right to emit greenhouse gases, but the measure died in Congress. An international treaty effort failed. Obama since has taken a different approach, treating carbon dioxide as a pollutant under the law. He doubled auto fuel economy standards, which will increase the cost of cars but save drivers money at the pump. He’s put billions of stimulus dollars into cleaner energy.

Mitt Romney’s view of climate change has varied. In his book “No Apology,” he wrote, “I believe that climate change is occurring” and “human activity is a contributing factor.” But on the campaign trail last year he said, “We don’t know what’s causing climate change on this planet.” He has criticized Obama’s treatment of coal power plants and opposes treating carbon dioxide as a pollutant and the capping of carbon dioxide emissions, but favors spending money on clean technology. Romney says some actions to curb emissions could hurt an already struggling economy.

I realize that this was a very simplistic look at the candidates and thanx to the AP for their breakdowns……..I suggest that the voter do a little research if the idea of global warming is on their minds……..remember no matter the issue it is a great day when ALL Americans can go to the polls and vote for their chosen candidate..3 days and counting……some will be happy and others will just have to get over it and move on to finding real answers to the problems this country has…..

2012 Election Issue #6–Income Inequality

I know it is the weekend and I usually take a break from politics to post on other happenings in the real world….but this election is nearing its end and there are a few things that I feel need to be discussed before the fatal day of voting…….

The income gap between the rich and everyone else is large and getting larger, while middle-class incomes stagnate. That’s raised concerns that the nation’s middle class isn’t sharing in economic growth as it has in the past. And it sparked the Wall Street protests that spread to other cities in the country.

President Barack Obama would raise taxes on households earning more than $250,000 a year, plus set a minimum tax rate of 30 percent for those who earn $1 million or more. He also wants to spend more on education, “a gateway to the middle class.”

Republican Mitt Romney blames Obama’s economic policies for failing to create enough jobs so that middle- and lower-income Americans can earn more. He wants to cut taxes more broadly and says that will generate enough growth to raise incomes for all Americans.

Why it matters:

Income inequality has risen for three decades and worsened since the recession ended. A report in mid-September from the Census Bureau found that the highest-earning 20 percent of households earned 51.1 percent of all income last year. That was the biggest share on records dating to 1967. The share earned by households in the middle 20 percent fell to 14.3 percent, a record low.

Poverty has deepened. Fifteen percent of Americans were below the poverty line in 2011, the Census Bureau says, slightly lower than the 15.1 percent in 2010. That was the first drop after four straight years of increases.

But the recession has pushed up the poverty rate sharply since it stood at 11.3 percent in 2000. About 46.2 million people were poor last year, 46 percent more than in 2000.

Some economists argue that income inequality contributed to the financial crisis. As middle-class incomes stagnated in the 2000s, Americans borrowed to fuel more consumption and buy larger homes. That caused an explosion in household debt that couldn’t be sustained when the housing bubble burst.

At stake, says Obama, is “the basic bargain at the heart of America’s story, the promise that hard work will pay off.” Romney says Obama’s policies have made the middle class poorer. He says he will remove barriers to opportunity, such as excessive regulation of small business, so that more Americans can succeed. “We’re not the party of the rich,” he said. “We’re the party of the people who want to get rich.”

This is a subject was seldom talked about on the campaign trail……it is something that needed more attention, in my opinion.

This is my last attempt to inform the voter in this election…….remember go vote on Tuesday!

Thoughts?

Star Wars Nerds Unite

There are just somethings that come out in the news that are just too good to pass up….and this be one of them……

The Walt Disney Company announced Tuesday that it planned to release a seventh Star Wars film.

Disney has acquired Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion. The film studio was previously owned entirely by George Lucas, the creator of the iconic Star Wars and Indiana Jones series. Lucas will continue to work at Lucasfilm, serving as creative consultant.

Star Wars: Episode 7 is planned for release in 2015, followed by Episodes 8 and 9. Disney hopes to continue releasing new Star Wars feature films every two to three years.

“For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next,” Lucas said in a statement. “It’s now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I’ve always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime.”

Lucas said he was confident that Kathleen Kennedy, the current co-chairman of Lucasfilm, will continue to successfully expand the franchise after becoming the new president of the film studio. Kennedy will report to Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn.

“Disney’s reach and experience give Lucasfilm the opportunity to blaze new trails in film, television, interactive media, theme parks, live entertainment, and consumer products,” Lucas added.

This could be good….I mean Chapters 1-3 were anything but exciting.  Disney’s has got the cash and hopefully could find better writers than the previous ones……

I am just glad the saga continues…….thoughts?

2012 Election #5–Immigration

Lots of lip service here……..but during the debates not so much……and yet the campaigns are pulling out all stops to try and win the immigrant vote…..but why would they care about that since neither candidate has a comprehensive stand on immigration…..they have lots of spin and slogans……but fall short on solutions….

What do the candidates really think about immigration?

President Barack Obama has pushed for the DREAM Act, a path to citizenship for many young illegal immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children. Efforts to pass the bill have repeatedly failed, most notably in 2010 when it stalled in a Democratic-led Senate after failing to win the 60 votes it needed to proceed to a full vote. Five Democrats voted against the measure. In June, Obama announced a plan to delay deportations for many illegal immigrants who would have benefited from the DREAM Act for up to two years and let them get work permits.

Mitt Romney has said that as president he would veto the DREAM Act should it ever cross his desk. He told The Denver Post that he would honor work permits for those immigrants who benefit from Obama’s new policy and promised to put a comprehensive immigration plan into place before those permits expire. He favors completing a towering steel fence along the Mexican border, in addition to the 650 miles already constructed, and opposes letting illegal immigrant students pay in-state tuition at state universities.

Still the stands are nothing but vague spin to win a vote or two here or there…….and yet these candidates want us, the vote, to just trust them to do something positive after the election…….if you fall for that approach then you deserve whatever f*cking they have in store for you……