Day: March 28, 2016

America–Pushing And Shoving

My last post of the day is about something that I have been writing about for months now.  This situation is very indicative of our society and the direction it is traveling….

I have had conversations on here and around my part of the country and I have said that America has lost all sense of community and nation……I feel that Americans now would step over a neighbor if it somehow benefited them….of course most responses have something to do with perceived attacks….like the bad guys are hiding in the sewers just waiting to march down Main Street….

Last weekend was Easter and I found a report that sort of illustrates what I feel America has come to…….

This is why we can’t have nice Easter egg hunts, kids: Your pushy parents. An Easter egg hunt organizer said the alleged adults in the crowd acted “kind of like locusts” and turned the hunt into a shoving match at the Pez candy company. Saturday’s event in Orange, Conn., drew hundreds of people, some of whom couldn’t quite abide by the rules or the starting time, reports the AP. Pez General Manager Shawn Peterson told WFSB-TV that people “rushed the field and took everything.” Event organizers placed more than 9,000 eggs on three fields with the intention of having staggered start times for each age group. But Pez officials say parents didn’t wait. No injuries were reported.

Pez released this statement: “We made efforts to get everyone something before they left and passed out tons of candy and coupons and the front entry and tried to make the best of an unfortunate situation. Due to the actions of a few, the good intent quickly turned into a mess. I would like to sincerely apologize to each of our guests, this was not something created to frustrate or make people angry. We only wanted to do good for the local community,”

An Easter egg hunt is for children…….if adults are willing to stampede over children to gain a few colored eggs what would they be willing to do in an emergency?

Very telling on where this society is going.  This is pathetic!

Here’s An Idea Whose Time Has Come

I do hope that everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend……time for me to go back to work……I am glad to see some familiar faces today…..

The title is me being sarcastic…..but it does give me mixed emotions.

We hear a lot about guns these days….the fight over rights, the deaths, the violence and of course the inevitable lip service from pandering politicians…..we have had arguments about the “fear of harm” defense, I believe it is called “Stand your ground”……and lots on the different conceal and carry laws….and that is where I begin this post…..

Soon the GOP convention will kick off in Cleveland and by now you have heard all the BS about the writing of rules and all the high drama on who will or will not get the nomination…..but there is one situation that little has been said……

What could make what already promises to be a crazy Republican National Convention even crazier? Filling Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena with firearms. That’s the goal of a Change.org petition created this week that already boasts more than 15,000 signatures. The petition worries that without guns convention-goers will be “utterly helpless against evil-doers, criminals, or others who wish to threaten the American way of life.” For example, they would be “sitting ducks” in an ISIS terrorist attack on the arena. Unfortunately, the Q—despite being located in an open-carry state—has a no-weapons policy, Fox 8 reports. “This is a direct affront to the Second Amendment,” the petition claims.

The petition has a number of demands, including the Q suspending its no-weapons policy for the convention, the party finding an alternate venue incase the Q won’t allow weapons inside, and the candidates—all three of whom have spoken out against gun-free zones—demanding guns be allowed inside the convention. Probably unnecessarily, GQ points out this whole thing is likely a prank. “This is proooooobably someone trolling the NRA and Reince Preibus, but there’s also maybe a 12% chance it’s true,” the magazine states. “Either way, it’s unlikely to happen.” The Republican National Convention starts July 18.

Really?  I have mixed emotions about this situation….on the one hand it could make for some great arguments, I mean since violence seem to be okay with the GOP this could lead to some really award winning photos…..on the other hand….it thin out the pool of morons and force the country to have a real conversation on gun violence.

Let’s not forget…these are the very same people that think guns in schools is a good idea……

This has the chance of becoming the most famous GOP convention in history.  And the media is waiting on the edge of their office chairs for the word.

Iraq: The Return

In 2003 the US made a grievous mistake……it invaded then occupied Iraq….but Obama had to pull troops out because a “status of forces” would not be allowed by the Iraqi government…..but we cannot return to a place that we never left.  Kinda like claiming to discover a place where people already live.

The war on ISIS is going well, according to the Pentagon,  ISIS is on the run….that is good news….but if true why would the US need to redeploy more troops to Iraq?

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joe Dunford told reporters today that the US will be sending a significant number of new combat troops to Iraq in the weeks to come, saying a series of recommendations have been drawn up, and it’s just a question of exactly which is approved.

This will mark the latest in a series of US escalations in Iraq, which have put the US far above the 3,870 soldier limit they negotiated with Iraq. Pentagon officials concede the number of troops in Iraq is closer to 5,000 now, though the exact figure is not being disclosed.

Pentagon officials insist that they don’t count “temporary troops” in their official numbers, which often means the figures they report publicly are underreported by as many as 1,000 troops at any given time. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi has been under growing pressure from important Shi’ite figures to keep the US role limited.

Special ops troops were temporary assignments……I am sorry but that is pure manure!  Seriously?  If you are being shot at what you call your deployment matters not.

The Pentagon seems to be in a never-ending scramble to add more troops, sometimes only a few dozen at a time, sometimes a few hundred. Sending relatively small numbers each time has kept the individual deployments sparsely covered in the US press, and this avoids significant debate over the transition from a “no boots on the ground” (Dammit1  Stop! using this term the troops are humans and do not demean them or de-humanize them) war toward one in which thousands of US troops are at or near the front lines.

I Love The “Deep Thinkers” On The Right

Unfortunately these days one can make up a conspiracy about anything and it will fly, at least on some blogs…..but this election has even normally rational people thinking the most outlandish situations……I mean really?  Indoctrination camps?  Or maybe those secret terrorists hiding in political rallies?  And the pathetic lists go on and on and on and……….

I found a few of the week’s most idiotic babbling by those insects on the Right…..list compiled by Right wing Watch……

While callstoleaveAmerica in response to the Supreme Court’s gay marriage decision were not very successful, at least one former Republican congressman now thinks it may be time to flee the country if Clinton is elected president.

Steve Stockman, a Texas Republican who served two nonconsecutive terms in the House before losing a primary challenge to Sen. John Cornyn, told “Trunews” host Rick Wiles and gun activist Larry Pratt this week that he may move to Panama, fearing that a Clinton presidency would open the U.S. up to deadly attacks.

Really I will chip in for the ticket if it will mean losing one more Tea Party mental “giant”……

Glenn Beck has told his viewers for years that a massive economic collapse is imminent and that they should buy gold and silver, preferably from the shady businesses advertising on his show, to prepare for the economic breakdown.

The right-wing pundit once again predicted an economic unraveling this week, saying that “an economic collapse of biblical proportions is coming to the West.” Beck, like any good doomsday prophet, neglected to say how or when such a collapse would occur. But if and when it does take place, Beck will say he was right all along.

There is a reliable source…..I believe he predicts this type a thing every week……well he will be right ….eventually….then God help us.

Sen. Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign tapped anti-Muslim conspiracy theorists Frank Gaffney and Clare Lopez, both with the Center for Security Policy, to advise the Texas Republican on national security issues.

Perhaps now Cruz will address what Gaffney and Lopez believe is the very real prospect of a violent insurrection led by activists with Black Lives Matter, Occupy Wall Street and the Muslim Brotherhood.

I am sure that there is someone reading this screamin’….YES!  YES!  YES!  But sports fans…it is pure4 bullsh*t!

As usual there will be one, possibly more, religious types that are predicting doom and gloom about prayer…..

Televangelist Jim Bakker is very upset about the War on Christmas and the supposed persecution of Christians in America.

Indeed, not only did Bakker this week equate alleged anti-Christian sentiment in the U.S. to the violent oppression of Christians in parts of the Mideast, but he also predicted that the U.S. government will “mow down” Christians who dare to pray at graduation ceremonies.

Seriously?  Is there any sane religious types left?  Or are we left with the babbling buffoons of Babylon?

Stick around….I am positive that these are not the last we will hear from these mental midgets……

The Discomfort of Thoughtful Politics

I remember the days of JFK….I was too young to vote but I listened to his words they made my think about a better future….they were inspirational.  I was too young to vote but my interests in politics was starting to lead me to my later station in life.

Too many people these days refuse to have a conversation….they have formulated a scenario in their minds and they will not look to see if they are accurate or not…..as long as it confirms their beliefs and prejudices then it MUST be true.

I read an article that covers the subject of political thought…..a pretty good piece of writing…..

Quote of the Week:  Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought. -John F. Kennedy

The next time you hear an opponent – even one with the obvious logical and factual flaws of Trump – argue their side, check your own motivations to dismiss them, and your own factual basis.  And the next time you hear someone on your side present their stump speech, check your motivations to agree, and the factual basis of your own argument.  Then re-check them.  Then do it again.  Think about why your politics are “better” than those of someone else; and think about why your opponents may also have a legitimate viewpoint worthy of consideration.

Source: The Discomfort of Thoughtful Politics – Spark!

I miss the days when we could have a conversation on different subjects…..today it is just regurgitation of what we want the world to be…..where everyone is wrong (insults included) if they do not agree…..

That is sad and a bit pathetic.