Day: October 4, 2016

Dinner And A Debate–VP Edition

Tonight is the big night!  YAWN!

The VP candidates will have their one time only debate.  I would hope that this would be an informative session for the voter….but I feel it will be just another entertainment for pundits.

My time for caring has long since pass….this election like so many others has degraded into 5th graders behaving badly…..so nope I will not watch the debate my toenails need trimming.

But if you are a glutton for punishment then I have some views for you…….

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump aren’t just two of the most unpopular presidential candidates in history, they’re two of the oldest, adding extra importance to Tuesday night’s debate between VP candidates Tim Kaine and Mike Pence, which the AP describes as a clash between “two low-key, middle-aged guys.” Analysts say both men will likely focus on their rival’s running mate and the debate probably won’t be packed with surprises—but there could still be some memorable moments. A round-up:

  • Politico‘s list of debate details notes that it is scheduled to start at 9pm EDT at Longwood University in Farmville, Va., and last for 90 minutes. Elaine Quijano of CBS News will be the moderator. To prepare, Pence has been debating Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, while Washington attorney Robert Barnett has been working with Kaine.
  • The two men are so overshadowed by their running mates that this will be “one of the least consequential vice-presidential debates ever staged,” according to the Guardian. With Trump’s recent stumbles, Pence is likely to be under more pressure than Kaine. “If Pence does well, he can stop the bleeding and set up Trump for Sunday night. If Pence is mediocre or is seen to have lost, it will be a long few weeks for Trump,” says Lanhee Chen, a Hoover Institution research fellow who helped Mitt Romney prepare for the 2012 debates.
  • The Hill lists five things to watch for, including efforts by Kaine to defend Clinton’s record and by Pence to shift the conversation away from Trump’s tax returns.
  • Politico reports that Pence blasted Kaine’s record as governor of Virginia during a speech in the state Monday, but signaled that he plans to spend most of his time targeting Clinton. “Clinton’s record on foreign affairs alone could take up the whole 90 minutes,” he said. “And it wouldn’t be a pretty picture.”
  • The Washington Post takes a look at what makes running for vice president such a “terrible job”—and it includes the “nationally televised gaffe obstacle course known as the vice-presidential debate.” Viewers won’t be casting their vote based on the debate, the Post notes, but they’ll be looking out for blunders and for moments like Lloyd Bentsen’s famous “You’re no Jack Kennedy” line to Dan Quayle.
  • Polls show that around a third of Americans either don’t know who the vice presidential candidates are or have no opinion, notes the New York Times, which has devised this quiz to help tell them apart.

Hope this helps….if not then I really do not care……just like about 40% of the population……

Mother Jones seems to think the Veep debate will be something special……

Source: 7 Reasons the Vice Presidential Debate Could Have Big Consequences | Mother Jones

If MoJo’s list is not to your liking then maybe the one by Politico will be helpful……

Source: 5 things to watch in the vice presidential debate – POLITICO

 

Ron Paul suggests support for Jill Stein

I am a supporter of a 3rd Party candidate, Jill Stein of the Green Party.

The Libertarian Party candidate, Gary Johnson is polling better than Stein…if true then the US is more center-Right than the media wants to acknowledge…plus I cannot understand the popularity of this candidate.

The Green Party foreign policy is more in line with my thoughts than the Libertarians even though they are all for non-intervention….Johnson is just a moron on foreign policy……I cannot support him.

Looks like I am not alone.

Even hard-core Libertarian Ron Paul will be supporting Dr. Stein……

“She’s probably the best on foreign policy at the moment,” Paul said of the Green Party nominee on Monday

Former Texas congressman Ron Paul, a longtime hero of the libertarian right, surprised many on Monday when he told MSNBC that he has no plans to back Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson.

Paul, who himself was the Libertarian nominee in 1988 and ran as a Republican primary candidate on several subsequent occasions, said he actually prefers Green Party nominee Jill Stein on important issues like civil liberties and foreign policy.

“She’s probably the best on foreign policy at the moment,” Paul said, stressing that he hasn’t endorsed anyone for president yet.

Source: Ron Paul suggests support for Jill Stein, admits he is “disappointed” by Gary Johnson – Salon.com

Ron Paul may be voting for Dr. Jill Stein…..maybe now you alternate voters will take notice…..the key is Paul’s statement…….“She’s probably the best on foreign policy at the moment,” Paul said……..can you hear me now?

If a Right leaning politician can see that Stein is the better candidate….why can;t you?

THINK GREEN!

Increase The Risk Of PTSD

We have been sending our troops to fight in Afghanistan for 15 years and Iraq for 13 years and in all that tine the one thing that is the most dangerous for them are the IEDs and other assorted explosions.

Once these troops return home they often suffer from PTSD which at times leads to suicide…..mainly because they are not getting the help they need when it is needed.

Then the GOP candidate had this to say about those vets that suffer from PTSD……..

“When you talk about the mental health problems, when people come back from war and combat — and they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over and you’re strong and you can handle it, but a lot of people can’t handle it,” Trump said. “And they see horror stories. They see events that you couldn’t see in a movie. Nobody would believe it.”

I do hope that he did not mean the way his response sounds……
Speaking of PTSD.

A recent study has shown that part of the problem could be concussions from these explosive devices……

Troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are far more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder if they have suffered a concussion. The reason may be a change in the brain’s fear circuits.

There’s growing evidence that a physical injury to the brain can make people susceptible to post-traumatic stress disorder.

Studies of troops who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan have found that service members who have suffered a concussion or mild traumatic brain injury are far more likely to develop PTSD, a condition that can cause flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety for years after a traumatic event.

And research on both people and animals suggests the reason is that a brain injury can disrupt circuits that normally dampen the response to a frightening event. The result is like “driving a car and the brake’s not fully functioning,” says Mingxiong Huang, a biomedical physicist at the University of California, San Diego.

Source: Concussions May Increase The Risk Of PTSD : Shots – Health News : NPR

With some more research it is possible that there could be a breakthrough in treating and analyzing PTSD before the person feels it necessary to end his/her life.

Janis Joplin–R.I.P.–46 Years On

Forty six years ago today a musical icon Janis Joplin died and the world lost a blues genius…..her music touched so many….especially us old farts…..

I read a great piece about Janis and the song “Me and Bobbie McGee”…….

Few artists embodied the 1960s counter-culture as fully or as fatally as Janis Joplin. A self-described Texan “misfit”, she outrageously lived — and died — the rock’n’roll life, blasting the Monterey Pop festival with her volcanic eruption of a blues voice, dressing in tripped-out granny chic and commissioning the cult cartoonist Robert Crumb to create an album sleeve. A heroin overdose killed her in October 1970, but the following January one of her last recorded songs became a US No 1 single. Joplin’s telling of “Me and Bobby McGee” would be her epitaph; its vocal shot through with all her “hurts and confusions” yet also her immense vitality and rowdy romantic vigour.

Joplin’s version might be definitive — it’s easy to imagine her travelling every mile of the lovers’ journey from Kentucky to California — but she didn’t write “Me and Bobby McGee”, nor was hers the earliest cover. Kris Kristofferson, an old flame, was the author, although he didn’t write it for her either, and his song proved an instant country classic. A former army captain and Rhodes Scholar, Kristofferson would become a successful actor and singer, but in the late 1960s he was jobbing as a studio gopher in Nashville as he tried to make it as a songwriter. “Me and Bobby McGee” was his breakthrough, but it wasn’t entirely his idea.

Source: The Life of a Song: ‘Me and Bobby McGee’ – FT.com

For those that have no idea about the song……

Why Conspiracy Theories Flourish?

Have you noticed that since the early 1990’s conspiracy theories are spread around like manure on a garden?

And since the election of Obama then internet went batcrap crazy with this theory and that…..to the point where I prefer to stick to news, whether I like it or not.

I remember back in the day with the fluoride thing and the “grassy Knoll” thingy and the ever popular fake Moon landing……and since those that were to some extent believable we have had a wealth of “out there” conspiracies…..like 9/11, chem trails, etc……

Most of these conspiracies originate on the Right….but that is NOT saying they are the only ones with “out there” conspiracies….just they seem to have one for just about every situation.

The question now is ……how and why can these conspiracy theories flourish?

New research identifies the sorts of people attracted to conspiracies. They sound familiar.

Hillary Clinton recently caught pneumonia, which would be a fairly unremarkable fact if dark tales about her health had not circulated among conservatives for years. Naturally it prompted another round of loopy speculation, highlighting yet again one of the more striking developments in US politics in the Obama era: the increasing prominence of conspiracy theories on the right.

Dark conspiracies have always been a part of politics, of course, on both sides of the aisle (see: 9/11 truthers). But since Obama was elected, conservative media and activists have pushed the right’s conspiracy theories squarely into the mainstream of the party. Obama is a secret Muslim, he’s planning a coup in Jade Helm, he tried to nuke Charleston, SC (seriously) … the list could go on and on. Turn on a conservative talk radio show and there’s probably a new one floating around as we speak.

Source: Why conspiracy theories flourish on the right – Vox

I realize there are some theories that people would like to be true and will defend them relentlessly…..I wish would like to see people research these theories completely…..not just the research that will agree with their premises.

What is that old saying….”People will believe that which is easiest to grasp”…..