Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Something to Know - 31 October

103112-toon-luckovich-ed


1.   Hurricane/Subtropical Storm Sandy has changed the tempo of the presidential campaign.   Obama, since he is the president, went about an aggressive strategy in directing FEMA and worked to eliminate red-tape to get emergency plans, disaster recovery, etc all in good working order.   Meanwhile, Mittless Witless is running around like a LDS food bank, and doing things that the Red Cross really does not want.  As he is avoiding talking about his plans to gut FEMA and privatize its functions to the 50 separate states, he is getting the way and sending the wrong messages.  Even NJ Gov. Christ Christie want Romney to stay away, and even praised President Obama for his help:

2.  Invest about 6-minutes and watch this uncomplicated and simple explanation on how our national debt and deficit work and what it all means to us.  This is a really nice compact way of learning it.  I appreciate Nobel Krugman and Stiglitz, but this C-Student prodigy from some Southern State clears it up to part-way understand it all:

3.  There has been much kerfuffle about a statement that Romney made, in which he asserted that Chrysler was sending its Jeep manufacturing over to China as a result of the Obama policies.   Chrysler immediately set the record straight for Romney and that they were actually adding more US jobs.  Romney does not care - he kept up spreading his lies.   You know the character trait that Romney is showing is disgusting and is totally malignant in one who is running for president:

4.  As President Obama is doing an effective job of applying FEMA's response to the disaster created by Sandy, MittBot tries to ignore the reporter's questions about him wanting to shut down FEMA  and perhaps privatize the job)....and gathers cans of beans and soup and loads them on a truck.   He refused to answer questions pertaining to FEMA:

5.  For those who are very nervous on the news from the polling services, here is the Nate Silver NY TImes 538Blog, which should steady things.   I think that in the days after the election, much attention will be paid to the polling, and things that were missed.   One factor that has been mentioned is that the polling seems to bypass, for the most part, cell phones.  How many people these days are purely on cell phones, and no land lines? ----a bunch, a whole bunch, and they are usually all the younger trend setters who have a tendency to vote progressive and liberal:
http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/author/nate-silver/

--
Juan

"We are here on earth to do good for others. What the others are here for, I don't know." 
       -- W.H. Auden
"Indecision may or may not be my problem." 
       -- Jimmy Buffett
"Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river." 
       -- Nikita Khrushchev
"Hello seeker! Now don't feel alone here in the New Age, because there's a seeker born every minute." 
       -- Firesign Theatre
"I'm just a person trapped inside a woman's body." 
       -- Elayne Boosler


Something to Know

October 30, 2012

ROMNEY SAYS HE FAVORS ABORTION IN CASES WHERE IT MAKES PEOPLE VOTE FOR HIM

romney-rally-465.jpg

KETTERING, Ohio (The Borowitz Report)—Hitting the campaign trail one day after the arrival of Superstorm Sandy, Republican nominee Mitt Romney tweaked his position on abortion today, saying he now supports it in cases where it makes people vote for him.

"I would make an exception for abortion in cases where the life of my campaign is at stake," he told a crowd in Kettering, Ohio.

Sandy, which slammed into the East Coast last night, was such a powerful weather system that it prevented Mr. Romney from changing his position on abortion for twenty-four hours.

"It was important for Mitt to come up with a new position on abortion today," said his campaign manager, Matt Rhoades. "It sends a message to the American people that in the aftermath of Sandy, things are getting back to normal."

Mr. Romney made no reference to his comments about eliminating FEMA, which have been declared a disaster area.





--
Juan

"Whenever I dwell for any length of time on my own shortcomings, they gradually begin to seem mild, harmless, rather engaging little things, not at all like the staring defects in other people's characters." 
       -- Margaret Halsey
"I shall never be ashamed of citing a bad author if the line is good." 
       -- Seneca
"The nice thing about egotists is that they don't talk about other people." 
       -- Lucille S. Harper
"Classical music is the kind we keep thinking will turn into a tune." 
       -- Kin Hubbard


Monday, October 29, 2012

Something to Know - 30 October

   Ben Sargent
1.  Security Alert!    No, it is not about who to vote for, but about those pieces of plastic in your purse or wallets.   You have all heard about the marvels of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), but there are some downsides to this, and you really need to see this short video.   Advice - insulate the cards with heavy duty aluminum foil:

2.  The endorsement for Zomney is is precious:

3.  Paul Krugman brings up something that RomRyan don't talk about much, and that is their plan to really screw up Medicaid.   Once again, those who do not have a political voice get screwed:

4.  This op-ed is just another case to point out that the influx of money, as a result of Citizen United, subverts the guidance and just does what it wants to do, without regard to the rules.   A malignancy that needs to be excised.  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/29/opinion/dark-money-in-montana.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20121029&pagewanted=print&_r=0

5.  The FEMA action as it relates to the anticipated and now apparent disaster planning and recovery highlights that difference between the two philosophies of the candidates.  Obama and the Federal Government budgets, supports, and directs all necessary resources to assist in handling all aspects as they pertain to natural disasters.   RomRyan does not figure that the Feds should be involved in this, and that if anything is to be done, it should be dealt with be the states.  Now, that is just absolutely ridiculous.  No state commands the resources necessary to handle this.   Can you imagine each state  - that is to say 50 separate bureaucracies just to run an operation like this?   No one state can do it alone. Romney prefers to "privatize" the whole thing.  Can you imagine Halliburton or KBR doing FEMA's job - they did a wonderful job in Iraq and now in Afghanistan - I'm sure.  Here are some articles that support a sane position:

6.  Adding political spin to the three links above, Eugene Robinson makes it very clear what Romney is up to.   His solution is to shrink the federal budget by having states assume the responsibility to taking care of any type of disaster recovery.  Let's face it.  States do not have the Corp of Engineers, and the military to back up real emergencies.  Some states can't even poke themselves out of a wet paper bag if their lives depended on it.  Privatization is not the answer - it compounds the problem.  RomRyan is absolutely wrong, and this needs to be pointed out now in BOLD alarms at this relevant time:



Juan

"Be here. Be present. Wherever you are, be there." 
       -- Willie Nelson
"Free advice is worth the price." 
       -- Robert Half
"The opposite of talking isn't listening. The opposite of talking is waiting." 
       -- Fran Lebowitz
"The mind of a bigot is like the pupil of the eye. The more light you shine on it, the more it will contract." 
       -- Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
"I was going to buy a copy of The Power of Positive Thinking, and then I thought: What the hell good would that do?" 
       -- Ronnie Shakes


Sunday, October 28, 2012

Andy Borowitz Report

The Borowitz Report

OCTOBER 28, 2012

WEATHER FORCES ROMNEY TO SHIFT LYING TO OTHER STATES

sandy-sky-465.jpg

CINCINNATI (The Borowitz Report)—The threat of Hurricane Sandy has forced Republican nominee Mitt Romney's campaign to move its lying efforts from states in the path of the storm to others beyond the hurricane's reach.

Starting yesterday, the Romney campaign began reallocating lies originally intended for Virginia to other swing states such as Ohio and Wisconsin, the campaign confirmed today.

"An emergency situation like this really tests how good your ground game is," said campaign manager Matt Rhoades. "Fortunately, we have liars in all fifty states."

But even as the Romney campaign expressed outward confidence about its ability to maintain an uninterrupted flow of whoppers, some Republicans privately feared that a major power outage could disrupt its ability to lie, distort, and exaggerate in the crucial days ahead.

"If Fox News gets knocked off the air in some of these states, we're certainly going to be down a quart in terms of falsehoods," one insider said.

But according to Vice-Presidential nominee Paul Ryan, who has been central to the campaign's lying efforts, the severe weather is a challenge that "separates the men from the boys."

"They're expecting winds of up to seventy miles per hour," he told reporters. "Fortunately, I can run eighty miles per hour."

In Indiana, Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock weighed in on the approaching storm: "It says a lot about God that while he's so busy impregnating women he still somehow finds the time to make a hurricane."

Get the Borowitz Report delivered to your inbox.



Read more 


--
Juan

"Whenever I dwell for any length of time on my own shortcomings, they gradually begin to seem mild, harmless, rather engaging little things, not at all like the staring defects in other people's characters." 
       -- Margaret Halsey
"I shall never be ashamed of citing a bad author if the line is good." 
       -- Seneca
"The nice thing about egotists is that they don't talk about other people." 
       -- Lucille S. Harper
"Classical music is the kind we keep thinking will turn into a tune." 
       -- Kin Hubbard


Saturday, October 27, 2012

Something to Know - 28 October

      
<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/topoftheticket/la-na-tt-mourdocks-rape-comment-20121025,0,1696827.story"><span style="color:#2262CC">See full story&raquo;</span style></a>

Mitt Romney chokes on Richard Mourdock's rape comment


1.  The confrontation that Iran has with the rest of the world today is reminiscent of the events back in the early 60's when the tiny nation of Cuba got in the middle of Russia and the USA and provoked a standoff between Khrushchev and JFK.   Let's see how this By times article recalls history as it compares to Iran today:

2.  Nobel Economist Joseph Stiglitz takes apart the RomRyan plan and excoriates them for the sham they are trying to pull.   What they are now saying is nothing like that which is embedded in the Ryan budget plan and the tax agenda that Mittley has espoused.  In a nutshell, this is not good for America:

3.  Amidst all of the rhetorical deception strewn about by the RomRyan Duo, there is a subliminal, and on occasion, overt reference to Barack Obama's skin color.  Personally, I find it very offensive and destructive, and it has no place in the campaign.  However, using all available nefarious angles, the Republicans shameful plan goes on without any compunction.  Character and integrity has become the overriding issue between the two candidates:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/27/opinion/charles-blow-the-company-romney-keeps.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20121027&_r=0&pagewanted=print

4.  The LDS Church has formally filed a copyright infringement against Wikileaks for inclusion of the LDS handbook.  The handbook deals with the administrative details on how the Mormons handle their operation, and not their theological beliefs:

5.  The NY Times endorses Obama in this editorial.   Making its case, it takes the key issues and presents the pros and cons of each candidate:

6.   Maureen Dowd talks about her sister and her funny take on things on why she is mad for Mad Man Romney:

7.  Frank Bruni takes a close look at Obama and wonders why he is not farther ahead at this time than he should be.  Much of it seems to be because of the clumsy campaigning, and missed opportunities.   These are things that he can address in his second term:


--
Juan

"Whenever I dwell for any length of time on my own shortcomings, they gradually begin to seem mild, harmless, rather engaging little things, not at all like the staring defects in other people's characters." 
       -- Margaret Halsey
"I shall never be ashamed of citing a bad author if the line is good." 
       -- Seneca
"The nice thing about egotists is that they don't talk about other people." 
       -- Lucille S. Harper
"Classical music is the kind we keep thinking will turn into a tune." 
       -- Kin Hubbard


Thursday, October 25, 2012

Something to Know - 26 October

102612-toon-luckovich-ed


1.  EJ Dionne pays attention to the evangelical change by the Super Chameleon.   Mittley has obviously caused many Tea Baggers and like-minded extremists to pause and take notice.   I am wondering if there will be any public outcry from them before election day.  Romney's latest etch-a-sketch tango has given the message that the Tea Party really is of no consequence, and thank you very much for buying the previous Romney story, but you are not needed any more.   And this is the example of a leader?.....really?:

2.  Staying true to his lack of integrity and core principles, Romney has this video where he brags that he got $410 million from the Federal Government to help him float the SLC Winter Olympics.  If you recall, he more recently said that he just got a few buck in just a normal manner for transportation and security.   Romnesia is a disgusting ailment:

3.  You may recall, a few days back we were looking at California's Proposition 37 (GMO) and how BigChem (Monsanto, Dow, DuPont, etc.) were getting big bucks thrown in to defeat it.   Now, here is an LA Times story about the appearance of $11 million from an unidentified source in Arizona that is hell-bent on defeating Proposition 30, which addresses the need for Governor Jerry Brown's initiative to rebuild the state's education system.  What skin does Arizona have in this game, and who is it that is doing it?:

4.  I came across this little piece, which I am sure we have all seen, or at least are aware of in concept.   Whenever I hear cries and wailing about "too much regulation", "nanny state", and "unleash the free market", I think a quick re-visit to a message like this is needed.   Government regulation is necessary and needed, not because government can do it, but because if left to its own devices, industry is not capable of acting in the best interests of the consumer at all times.   This video concerns the tobacco industry, but similar scenarios, as they apply, are out there for Chemical, Oil, Banking, Agriculture and Food, etc. etc.:

5.  News reports about polling figures from the various services are enough to make an Obama fan worry.   However, as you well know that there are varied reports on who is on top, and who is going to win.   The RomRyans act as thought they've got it in the bag, but on what evidence?   The most respected polling is done by NY Times Guru Nate Silver has this one named the 538Blog, which is generally accepted as the go-to barometer.   Hang in there guys.  It can be done:

6.  In reading the commentaries on the op-ed page of the Washington Post, it is very difficult to figure out where they come down.   However, along with Colin Powell's remarks, these two endorsements for Obama show that beyond the deceptive campaign statements and positions, there is still enough clarity to perceive what is right for this nation:

7.  Paul Krugman looks at the Economic Plans proposed by Obama and Willardmittney.   One is a sensible, unspectacular, but doable booklet.  The other is a collection of phrases with no connection to any public policy of substance.   The all important hubris of personal character of Mitt comes through in his plan.  Just like his outerwear, his plan is an empty suit built on Hallmark Card get well cards:

8.  Because of all the attention that the "liberal mainstream media" gave to the issue of Republicans attempting to win the election by making it difficult and impossible for probable voting for Democratic Party candidates, justice has intervened and helped to thwart the GOP's shameful game.   Can there be anything lower than undemocratic than to overtly try and prevent voting?.   The Political Party of Shame is not a helpful branding, but they have earned it.:

9.  If you missed the Daily Show's Jon Stewart's calling out of the elected Republicans who blocked the bill that would have provided  support for returning veterans seeking support in integrating back to the domestic work force as part of their military benefits, here it is again.   The GeeOpee guys said it was too expensive, and difficult to justify.  Well, where were these sentiments when an unlimited pile of money went to start two wars?   And as far as "hard to justify paying for it", did not our armed forces personnel put their lives on the line and pay for it it in loss of life, PTSD, and receive debilitating injury and loss of limb?   We should know that going to war is not only economically gauged by the cost of the armaments and hardware alone.  It includes all the necessary costs to make our personnel able to be healthy and adjust back to the lives that we all take for granted.   We put them there, and we need to make them whole when they return - nothing more, and nothing less:

--
Juan

"Ability will never catch up with the demand for it." 
       -- Malcolm Forbes
"Look for the ridiculous in everything and you will find it." 
       -- Jules Renard
"The love of truth lies at the root of much humor." 
       -- Robertson Davies
"When I was born I was so surprised I didn't talk for a year and a half." 
       -- Gracie Allen


Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Something to Know - 24 October


   
<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/topoftheticket/la-na-tt-romney-says-me-too-20121022,0,3853891.story"><span style="color:#2262CC">See full story&raquo;</span style></a>

Presidential debate: Romney says 'me too' to Obama policies

( David Horsey / Los Angeles Times )
1.  I know that you probably have seen some of the many pictures and video of the Shuttle Endeavor and its trip from LAX to its final resting place.  However, there is this neat video of the NASA 747/Shuttle Combo flying into the Los Angeles basin and making several flybys that show landmarks and cities in a different perspective than what you see when you just make one pass to land at LAX:

2.  Here's an effective video message that appeals to women, and is entertaining while at the same time urging a vote against those who are waging a "war on women":

3.  George Will, on occasion, reach back an come up with something sober and profound.  It is this column of his which takes us back to the person of George McGovern, who was monumental, even in his loss, in steering the national conscience to "Come Home, America":

4.  The subject of military superiority, defense spending, and the size of our Navy was a major issue in the last debate.   There are two links here (1) graphically dramatizes the heft and size of our air craft carrier fleet and compares it to other nations. and (2) an article about John Lehman, who is an adviser to Romney, and who has a vested interest in seeing that tax payer money is spent to build more boats (no surprise, but tacky in the usual GOP way):

5.  Maureen Dowd starts off her column here by presenting us with the mother of all deadlocked situations - both candidates come up tied in the Electoral College.  This would send the election to the House of Representatives, where an apparent GOP majority would declare Romney the winner, and the selection of the VP would go to the Senate, where they would confirm Biden.   How does that grab you?   The rest of her work today looks at the empty and vapid substance of romney's character - and that aspect of Mittley is where I think this contest will be determined:

6.  Here, in the state of California, we have a proposition on the ballot (37), which deals with Genetically Modified Organisms in our food (GMO).   What the proposition is asking is for foods that contain GMOs be labeled as such.  Just like labeling calorie content, and percentages of other elements, that we already have on processed foods.   HOWEVER, Dow and Monsanto (Big Chem), do not want us to know that.  Big Chem is spending a million bucks a day just to fill the airwaves against Prop. 37, and the money that is thrown around is working, in a very deceitful way.   All I am asking is that GMO infested food products be indicated on the labeling.   Is that too much to ask?  Why does BigChem not want us to know?    The proposition does not ban GMO processed food.  The proposition gives the consumer the option through truthful labeling to make their own decision on buying it or not:

--
Juan

""Stuffed deer heads on walls are bad enough, but it's worse when they are wearing dark glasses and have streamers in their antlers because then you know they were enjoying themselves at a party when they were shot." 
       -- Ellen DeGeneres
"You are not superior just because you see the world in an odious light." 
       -- Vicomte de Chateaubriand
"Humor can be dissected as a frog can, but the thing dies in the process and the innards are discouraging to any but the pure scientific mind." 
       -- E. B. White
"There is no doubt that the first requirement for a composer is to be dead." 
       -- Arthur Honegger

Monday, October 22, 2012

Something to Know - 23 October

  

Mitt Washington © Bill Schorr,Cagle Cartoons,romney,george washington,cherry tree,chop,truth,lies

1.  I have just finished watching the "debate".   Several things were evident: (1) Romney knew he was in over his head (2)  His advisers told him to just agree with Obama and hope for the best (3)  Romney did his best on-line real time etch-a-sketch dance and reversed himself on every issue he ever muttered in his run up to the campaign so far.   His statement that "Syria is Iran's route to the sea" is something he learned from the Sarah Palin School of Geography.  It is woefully apparent that Romney is totally devoid of any strength of character, and that is a sad attribute for anyone running for president.  He is an empty suit, with no consistency of principle, and has pandered all along the way.  The pundits, critics, and the voters are all now rehashing the performance, and I will find a few choice ones to include before I send this out for Tuesday morning.  Here is one recap from the Washington Post:

2.  Never have I seen any election so consumed with polling - the amount of polls, the differences in polling results, and the discussion about the polling.   Consensus is that this will be a very tight election.   In my opinion it will all come down to CHARACTER - where Obama has much to admire and Romney who has none.  In the background lurks the ugly fact of racism, and nobody want to talk about it, but it is there.   As a result of Romney's debate #3 dance, it will be interesting to see if the discipline in the ranks of the right wing Tea Baggers demonstrate some irritation that Romney backed off on all of those issue statements that got him the nomination.  Here is the NY Times editorial on the concluded debate:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/23/opinion/the-final-presidential-debate.html?hpw&_r=0&pagewanted=print

3.  Continuing on with the "character" issue, we have this piece on Bain's work in getting Big Tobacco (Phillip Morris) on track to getting a hunk of the Russian market.  Bain was struggling financially at the time, but Mitt saw no problem or conflict with his Mormonism in promoting cigarettes.   It is interesting that this article refers to Romney as "an empty suit".  I find it interesting that normally Mormons are noted for their special underwear, but in Mitt's case, more attention is given to his outerwear and its lack of internal substance:

4.  We'll end up with Thom Hartmann for some other news that you may find of interest:
--
Juan

"The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised. " 
       -- George F. Will
"Before I got married I had six theories about bringing up children; now I have six children and no theories." 
       -- John Wilmot
"A person is always startled when he hears himself seriously called an old man for the first time." 
       -- Oliver Wendell Holmes
"Barometer, n.: An ingenious instrument which indicates what kind of weather we are having." 
       -- Ambrose Bierce