I posted this on Facebook, but since my accounts are probably not linked correctly, (I never said I was smart), I'll post here too. If you somehow already read it, aw shit, read it again. It's 3 minutes out of your day.
I was doing some simple math. And lamenting about the very existence of people who get too much media coverage for dubious purposes. Would that be you, Dick Cheney or John Bolton? ( or fill in the blanks. There are thousands of them). I just need to mention my two sycophant poster children for war, Lindsey Graham and John McCain. There's still plenty more.
9//11/12- Four men were killed in coordinated attacks upon the US consulate in Benghazi. Christopher Stevens, Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods and Glenn Doherty. We mourn their deaths. I have no doubt about their willingness to serve their country and the contributions they made in their lives.
3-19-03 Based upon "incontrovertible" evidence developed by our intelligence community, the United States invaded Iraq and its people. The purpose was to liberate the Iraqi people from their evil dictator, Saddam Hussein and to capture "Weapons of Mass Destruction" that he had purportedly used against his own people and would use in the future to destabilize the region.
Some Math**
Total American Dead from initial invasion: 4489- 3/19/03---Present
TAD since the scintillating "Mission Accomplished" event: 4347
TAD dating from the official American "Handover" to the Iraqi government of Nouri al Maliki: 3627
Total Iraqi casualties (Range of Peer studies): 654,000 to 1.2 million.
4489 + 654,496 minus 4=658,981 to possibly 1,204,485
TAD since the inauguration of POTUS 44, Barack Obama: 256.
So now we are witnessing the ill conceived annexation (that is my word for it, The entire process will take a little time) of Crimea and eventually Ukraine by the Russian Federated Republic. Further, we are hearing of the impotence of the President, the "fecklessness" of his foreign policy, the absence of global respect for the United States and the suggestion that we outfit our soldiers for future battles in "mom jeans".
I don't feel like beating the drums of war today. tomorrow isn't looking good either. 65% of the American public agrees with me.
So, today's humstles are: The Beatles, Bungalow Bill and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's OHIO.
Just so I'm clear, this is what I think and I use the words of Mark Felt, who also went by the name of Deep Throat. "Follow the Money." Russia is using economic blackmail to keep the European Union silent. After all it isn't about evil European dictators or WMD's, just as I suspect Iraq wasn't either. It was about fossil fuel speculation and the profits that could be gained by the manipulation or control of said fuels to cow other nations into silence.
So after a rousing week at CPAC, we continue to rue that reasons we have an epic and unmistakable divide in our country. It's about the money. So, maybe I should add another song to today's humstle mix: Billie Holliday's God Bless The Child. Because there's no "may have" in today's lack of social or economic equality. And those that "may have" are hoping to beat the drum so that the 'may have nots' will continue to go to war to protect what the "may haves", got. And from this perspective, that's where it's at.
All we can do is vote the "may haves" out, so as I said in the FB post, make it your business to level the playing field by finding and helping to register one person to vote in the 2014 elections. then find 2 for 2016. And I'm making no major distinction as to whether the "may haves" are Whig, Republicans, Know Nothings or Democrats. If you study the wealth of your elected officials, you'll be reminded of the evils of Citizens United v Board Of Elections. And as always, I trust YOU. You'll know what to do.
Oh and don't forget what the Koch Brothers make that you don't want to buy.
See you tomorrow.
** Source: Wikipedia and its publishing of numerous Peer Studies.
Showing posts with label john mccain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label john mccain. Show all posts
Monday, March 10, 2014
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Kissing your what?
Picking scores is silly. How can anyone possibly know? I did know there would be a safety yesterday by Indianapolis. I forgot to predict it.
Today's predictions:
Carolina and Denver.
I'm .500%, and finishing 1 -1 is like kissing your sister. As a Bears fan, it's fun to see two Bear alums coaching against each other today. I was always a big Ron Rivera fan. so that's why I'm hoping for Carolina. Let's see what happens.
Did I miss it or did the vote to extend unemployment benefits not happen?
Is Bashir Al Assad the guy in the Carbonite commercial?
Enjoy your Sunday. And hey John McCain--- I'll deal with you later.
Today's predictions:
Carolina and Denver.
I'm .500%, and finishing 1 -1 is like kissing your sister. As a Bears fan, it's fun to see two Bear alums coaching against each other today. I was always a big Ron Rivera fan. so that's why I'm hoping for Carolina. Let's see what happens.
Did I miss it or did the vote to extend unemployment benefits not happen?
Is Bashir Al Assad the guy in the Carbonite commercial?
Enjoy your Sunday. And hey John McCain--- I'll deal with you later.
Monday, January 6, 2014
Brrrrrrrr-
I'm not normally good at describing weather. Growing up, some wise ass once said, "everybody talks about the weather but nobody does a damn thing about it." So today as my life exists in -15 degree weather (-45 wind chills), thoughts naturally go to the debate about a hotter planet. One of my dear friends in particular, does an awful lot of research on the subject--meaning he reads everybody elses research and links it to emails, tweets, FB posts or calls up haranguing about it. As we struggle with this type of day, let's not forget that western Queensland has recorded Fahrenheit reading of 129 degrees since the new year. The Australian P.M., Tony Abbott was elected in September on a popular wave of conservative feelings in the land down under. He will cut government spending, roll back the nation's initiatives to reduce carbon emissions and for a little cherry on top, will build a massive plant in Queensland that utilizes the region's huge coal reserves. So, now we know where Joe Manchin can go and run for office.
"For every reaction, there is an equal and opposite reaction" Thus spake Albert Einstein in his theory of relativity. In honor of this condition, today's humstle comes from one of the greatest bands in the entire history of planet earth, Commander Cody and his lost Planet Airmen, One Man's Meat, Is Another Man's Poison. (Country Casanova- 1973). My humstle for tomorrow will NOT be Paula Abdul's rendition of Opposites Attract.
No matter what we think, somebody else thinks we're full of shit. No matter what somebody else thinks, we think they're full of shit. And the really good news is: I have no solution to that.
The weather today is debilitating. Thinking and focusing on even small tasks is challenging. And while it's the hottest EVER in Queensland, and the Santa Ana winds blow in SoCal, it's pretty cold in Chicago today.
To my east coast friends- as you watch in bemusement, as it rains and the temperatures are in the 50's or even 60's, tomorrow all that wet will freeze and I hope there is minimal disruption to your power lines and therefore your comfort. This sort of sucks.
But not all is despair and gloom. Liz Cheney has decided to exit the Wyoming Senate Race. What? No popular support for your candidacy?A danger of throwing good money after bad? You really didn't have much tangible policy disagreement with Mike Enzi after all? Well, this is news.
Congress is back in session. Fallujah is in the hands of Sunni insurgents and Senators Johndsey McGraham, are back in front of microphones chastising POTUS for quitting on the Iraquis, who have been killing each other for oh, maybe thousands of years?
One man's meat.......
Happy New Year, right?
"For every reaction, there is an equal and opposite reaction" Thus spake Albert Einstein in his theory of relativity. In honor of this condition, today's humstle comes from one of the greatest bands in the entire history of planet earth, Commander Cody and his lost Planet Airmen, One Man's Meat, Is Another Man's Poison. (Country Casanova- 1973). My humstle for tomorrow will NOT be Paula Abdul's rendition of Opposites Attract.
No matter what we think, somebody else thinks we're full of shit. No matter what somebody else thinks, we think they're full of shit. And the really good news is: I have no solution to that.
The weather today is debilitating. Thinking and focusing on even small tasks is challenging. And while it's the hottest EVER in Queensland, and the Santa Ana winds blow in SoCal, it's pretty cold in Chicago today.
To my east coast friends- as you watch in bemusement, as it rains and the temperatures are in the 50's or even 60's, tomorrow all that wet will freeze and I hope there is minimal disruption to your power lines and therefore your comfort. This sort of sucks.
But not all is despair and gloom. Liz Cheney has decided to exit the Wyoming Senate Race. What? No popular support for your candidacy?A danger of throwing good money after bad? You really didn't have much tangible policy disagreement with Mike Enzi after all? Well, this is news.
Congress is back in session. Fallujah is in the hands of Sunni insurgents and Senators Johndsey McGraham, are back in front of microphones chastising POTUS for quitting on the Iraquis, who have been killing each other for oh, maybe thousands of years?
One man's meat.......
Happy New Year, right?
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Hey, We're BUSY
Another day, another Midwestern Governor is in the process of attaining the beltway status of flavor du jour. He took on the unions. He railed against the pensions that he said were endangering the fiscal rectitude of his state. He claims his family was threatened as he stood for what was right. With a little help ( and a lot of money) from his "friends" he survived a recall election. He wrote a book. He will now sell that book on America's choice for fair and balanced news. And now, the fickle finger of fate is whispering in his ear.**
After Watergate, a bipartisan bill was passed to give citizens the option of donating $3.00 to a system that would publicly fund elections. Recently, a bill sponsored by Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma sought to do away with this system because in his words, it was another wasteful unnecessary government expenditure. With 10 Democrats joining the "just say no" gang, the bill was passed to do away with the feature of donating $3.00 and the notion of publicly funded elections probably forever. The vote was 235-190. 10 lawmakers had no opinion or chose to abstain. This bill, as with most other bills passed by this group with a 9% approval rating is "dead on arrival" in the Senate. The "pissing match" between our two parties continues and this is a perfect example of that.
It occurs to me that something is really wrong with the way we elect people-- and that includes the run up as well as the dreary process which yields us peers that earn $174,000.00 per year, will work 226 days this year, will have passed the fewest legislative initiatives in 60 years. And unlike the working stiffs who our aforementioned hero took on because their previously negotiated pensions were deemed a drag on the local economy, our current legislators can participate in two different pension programs by which they are fully vested after 5 year participation. The new war being waged by Governors is to challenge and negate the benefits people were promised. They are now called the 47% or the "takers".
In addition, try this on for size. In 1974, 3% of "near retirement" legislators became lobbyists. Today, that number has swelled to 50% (Senators) and 43% (Congresspeeps). If you don't turn your political cloth inside out to lobby the very group that you once belonged to, you become a member of a "think tank", you write books, you get a job as a "pundit" on either the cable or traditional news networks. This might morph into a "talk radio" show and if you reach the "right" audience (Good one, eh?), you can urge millions of devoted listeners to march to things that outrage you. And you can make a ton of money doing it. And to make that money, a large percentage of what you say to earn (?) may be too fuzzy to be fact checked, or in the opinion of some, it may be a gross prevarication. But even when you're fact checked, you can ignore it because in the politics game, what is the truth anyway? I think somebody wrote a book about the inconvenience of truths and you see what happened to him. Does this sound right to you
The subject line says "hey, we're busy." We're all busy working- those of us who have jobs. We don't have a deal like our Senators so our future income depends on what we do every day to make a living. Most of our kids are grown, but economic conditions and the job market leave many of them in a non viable circumstance and many end up boomeranging back home to us, possibly needing some sort of subsidization. We all try to set aside what we used to call "rainy day funds" so God forbid if something terrible were to happen; job loss, catastrophic illness, we have a safety net.
Learning and staying up to date on politics and policy is boring (because laws are written by lawyers and we like our lawyers as much as we like having our teeth cleaned) {and Congress is heavily made up of lawyers} but we're busy. We're bowling, cooking, watching our sports teams, drinking too much, trying to learn the violin, staying up to date on Dancing with The Stars, sailing, saving money for a rainy day, tweeting (while driving) trying to get laid, coaching soccer, you get what I mean. And while we work, someone is whistling straight to the bank. And even though we're busy, it's partially our fault because our busy lives don't allow us the time to be as informed as we need to be. And we need to be informed. We cannot be low information people and get our truths from Huntley and Brinkley-- because they're dead. POTUS 44 said, "Don't Boo--VOTE!
Whatever your views, you are entitled to them. But we need to wake up and be as informed as time will allow us to be. Don't put your eggs in your elected official's basket. Those eggs don't have a chance of staying unbroken.
Special hums and whistles that segues with today's rant:
"Who'll make the promise that you don't have to keep? Don't look now, It ain't you or me."
"It ain't me, it ain't me. I ain't no Senator's Son."- Creedence Clearwater Revival.
John Fogerty, No one will ever take your table away.
**Scott Walker, you're table ain't ready.
Another saying comes to mind.
"If you do what you always did, you'll get what you always got."
See you tomorrow. Tell somebody you love them.
After Watergate, a bipartisan bill was passed to give citizens the option of donating $3.00 to a system that would publicly fund elections. Recently, a bill sponsored by Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma sought to do away with this system because in his words, it was another wasteful unnecessary government expenditure. With 10 Democrats joining the "just say no" gang, the bill was passed to do away with the feature of donating $3.00 and the notion of publicly funded elections probably forever. The vote was 235-190. 10 lawmakers had no opinion or chose to abstain. This bill, as with most other bills passed by this group with a 9% approval rating is "dead on arrival" in the Senate. The "pissing match" between our two parties continues and this is a perfect example of that.
It occurs to me that something is really wrong with the way we elect people-- and that includes the run up as well as the dreary process which yields us peers that earn $174,000.00 per year, will work 226 days this year, will have passed the fewest legislative initiatives in 60 years. And unlike the working stiffs who our aforementioned hero took on because their previously negotiated pensions were deemed a drag on the local economy, our current legislators can participate in two different pension programs by which they are fully vested after 5 year participation. The new war being waged by Governors is to challenge and negate the benefits people were promised. They are now called the 47% or the "takers".
In addition, try this on for size. In 1974, 3% of "near retirement" legislators became lobbyists. Today, that number has swelled to 50% (Senators) and 43% (Congresspeeps). If you don't turn your political cloth inside out to lobby the very group that you once belonged to, you become a member of a "think tank", you write books, you get a job as a "pundit" on either the cable or traditional news networks. This might morph into a "talk radio" show and if you reach the "right" audience (Good one, eh?), you can urge millions of devoted listeners to march to things that outrage you. And you can make a ton of money doing it. And to make that money, a large percentage of what you say to earn (?) may be too fuzzy to be fact checked, or in the opinion of some, it may be a gross prevarication. But even when you're fact checked, you can ignore it because in the politics game, what is the truth anyway? I think somebody wrote a book about the inconvenience of truths and you see what happened to him. Does this sound right to you
The subject line says "hey, we're busy." We're all busy working- those of us who have jobs. We don't have a deal like our Senators so our future income depends on what we do every day to make a living. Most of our kids are grown, but economic conditions and the job market leave many of them in a non viable circumstance and many end up boomeranging back home to us, possibly needing some sort of subsidization. We all try to set aside what we used to call "rainy day funds" so God forbid if something terrible were to happen; job loss, catastrophic illness, we have a safety net.
Learning and staying up to date on politics and policy is boring (because laws are written by lawyers and we like our lawyers as much as we like having our teeth cleaned) {and Congress is heavily made up of lawyers} but we're busy. We're bowling, cooking, watching our sports teams, drinking too much, trying to learn the violin, staying up to date on Dancing with The Stars, sailing, saving money for a rainy day, tweeting (while driving) trying to get laid, coaching soccer, you get what I mean. And while we work, someone is whistling straight to the bank. And even though we're busy, it's partially our fault because our busy lives don't allow us the time to be as informed as we need to be. And we need to be informed. We cannot be low information people and get our truths from Huntley and Brinkley-- because they're dead. POTUS 44 said, "Don't Boo--VOTE!
Whatever your views, you are entitled to them. But we need to wake up and be as informed as time will allow us to be. Don't put your eggs in your elected official's basket. Those eggs don't have a chance of staying unbroken.
Special hums and whistles that segues with today's rant:
"Who'll make the promise that you don't have to keep? Don't look now, It ain't you or me."
"It ain't me, it ain't me. I ain't no Senator's Son."- Creedence Clearwater Revival.
John Fogerty, No one will ever take your table away.
**Scott Walker, you're table ain't ready.
Another saying comes to mind.
"If you do what you always did, you'll get what you always got."
See you tomorrow. Tell somebody you love them.
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