25 Republican Governors (and a couple of Ds) and the remaining 8 to 10 GOP presidential candidates collectively receive the "Twit of the Day" recognition. These men and women are using the lives of tens of thousands of people who are fleeing the ravages of the war that was instigated by the Republican mentality that permeates America.
They are telling Americans that these refugees are dangerous, or better yet "might be dangerous" and must be kept out of their states in order to protect us from the extremism which is alleged to be in each and every one of them. The extremists are really the GOP governors and the candidates who want to force refugees to be wear tags that label them, refuse them food, medical care and shelter in the GOP led states.
It is the Federal government who will decide which refugees and how many will be resettled here in the States. While there may be a couple of extremist refugees in among the huddled masses yearning to breathe free, we already have hundreds of thousands of extremist terrorizing people already here in the US and nobody seems concerned about them. They are Americans, born here of American parents and grandparents. They are unprincipled and undocumented gun owners, who take the lives of over 30,000 people every years in the US. Where is the GOP Governor or GOP Presidential candidate who want to beat the war drum about them?
All the rhetoric and vitriol spewed by these "good conservative" possibly Christian politicians is focused on pleasing their respective electorates for election and re-election. The claims of threats and danger from refugees is a Red Herring to divert our attention from the real purpose, elected office. It is fear mongering, pure and simple.
Once a refugee has walked a thousand miles to interim safety and passes the 18 to 24 month investigative vetting process of the US Government, he, she and their families are allowed to arrive in the USA. From that point they can travel to any state that choose, if they have the funds to do so. Therefore, Governor Abbott's (R-TX) can say and do anything he wants to to make life difficult for people seeking safety and a stable future, but they will come anyway.
The refusees [sic] of the GOP are human beings no different than the rest of us. And while there is a "bad apple" in most every barrel, the numbers are minuscule compared to the vast majority of earnest people.
For all their ignorance and hype, the entire GOP presidential cadre and all but one GOP Governor get the Twit of the Day award.
TweetTweet This Post
Monday, November 23, 2015
Friday, November 6, 2015
Voted Off The Island
As
the wide field of Republican Presidential candidates continues to be Yooge in
the patois' of The Donald, it is shrinking. While the more vocal of the club
are out and about moaning and groaning about how CNBC treated them in the third
debate, at least the moderators and network executives did not exclude any of
the contenders.
The
initial cadre of candidates exceeded 16 where upon the debate schedulers
decided that the four at the bottom of the list would stand at the children's podiums
in a separate and far less equal event. Those men did not like it but it was
that of nothing.
For
the 4th event, two of the survivors have been voted off the island. Gov. Chris
Christie and Former Gov. Mike Huckabee got the ax in that vote. Two others previously
voted themselves out of the running. Rick Perry and Scott Walker bowed out with
a modicum of self-respect.
So
it is better to step aside or be pushed? Christie and Huckabee cannot survive
being marginalized in the debates even though the poll respondents have already
done that to them. My recommended debate approach has not been adopted by any
TV network yet. www.bit.ly/GongGOP
outline the perfect format for the GOP debate.
Once
the primary voting really begins, there will be a swift sword wielded to slay
the vastly unworthy pretender to the throne. Quite quickly the field will be
pared down to just The Two. Who they will be exactly is yet to be seen. None of
the remaining candidates have shown any qualifications for the office.
The
three primary job duties of the President are: Commander in Chief of the Armed
Services, Economist, and Ambassador to the world. The GOP field all say some
variation of "I'll use military might on Day One to settle …"
"I'll repeal that legislation on Day One…" And by their personalities,
they are all laughing stocks in the eyes of the world with their silly talk and
biblical justifications for everything they are paid to support. They all say
they love and support the Constitution but then go on to assert that they will
take actions that clearly show that they know precious little about that
document or how to uphold it.
TweetTweet This Post
Monday, October 12, 2015
Columbus Day Revisited
TweetTweet This Post
When two people start out at opposite ends of the forest and traipse around until the come face-to-face, it is only a matter of perspective as for who discovered whom. Even as Christopher Columbus sailed home to Europe to proclaim his discovery of the New World to Queen Isabella of Spain, the indigenous people whom he met spread the work of their discovery of some really weird people who talked gibberish and wore metal and leather clothes. The chroniclers of the times were far more prolific in the written languages of Europe than were the indigenous peoples who resided on the lands that were summarily claimed by European Crowns.
When two people start out at opposite ends of the forest and traipse around until the come face-to-face, it is only a matter of perspective as for who discovered whom. Even as Christopher Columbus sailed home to Europe to proclaim his discovery of the New World to Queen Isabella of Spain, the indigenous people whom he met spread the work of their discovery of some really weird people who talked gibberish and wore metal and leather clothes. The chroniclers of the times were far more prolific in the written languages of Europe than were the indigenous peoples who resided on the lands that were summarily claimed by European Crowns.
This is not
a treatise on the voyages of sailing men nor of the facts of exactly where they
landed, but is one of how one group of men treated others groups of men to
reach the conditions of today. One must keep in mind that the Columbus
explorations were entirely economic and he expected to have high position
bestowed on him and be paid profits and royalties for his efforts. Everything
else paled in comparison.
Columbus and
all his successors viewed the resources of this new continent as belonging to
them and their benefactors. Even the people were considered as property of the
Crown to be bought and sold for their ability to provide labor.
The very
idea that Columbus discovered ANYTHING is negated by the fact that he was met
by people who had lived there for hundreds if not thousands of years. Columbus
merely tripped over an island on his way elsewhere. His voyages were Johnny-come-lately
events at best. The ancestors of the indigenous either sailed across the
Atlantic from most likely Africa; or sailed across the Pacific from Asia or any
of the rim regions; or walked up the eastern Asian coast into (now) Russia and
across the Bering Straits, across Alaska and Canada to the American Northwest,
all the way across the continent and then across the Gulf of Mexico, et al, to
(now) Cuba, The Bahamas and Santo Domingo, et al. Whichever route(s) they took,
they did it long before Columbus or his parents and grandparents were born. His
glory is unwarranted and a total historical fabrication from the first American
History textbook published here to honor that man.
His holiday
is a travesty to all the millions of people who were subjugated, tortured,
enslaved and killed by these explorers and their followers. In these recent
days of heightened social awareness we have reconsidered the esteemed
recognition of Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis and the Confederate Battle Flag
and their place in contemporary public display. The Columbus Day holiday needs
to be deprecated and replaced with something more universal for this nation of
America. Suggestions welcome.
There will be stubbornly defensive support for keeping the holiday just as it is. But there are any number of historical figures who would not be welcome as a hero of the American people. We don't glorify them either.
There will be stubbornly defensive support for keeping the holiday just as it is. But there are any number of historical figures who would not be welcome as a hero of the American people. We don't glorify them either.
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Just Check-off Your Preference
Just this week "Queen For a Day", Kim Davis, has shown the American people that political preferences are merely a check box on a bureaucratic form. The once-Republican, then Democrat, now Republican has moved between the extremes of ideology with the ease of declaration.
It used to be that a person held a series of ideals and voted for candidate who held similar ideals. When that candidate was a Republican, the voter also self-identified as a Republican. The same applied to Democratic candidates and voters. Then something happened.
That which happened was a switch to a strategic to idea that candidates must run against the proper opponent. There is no purpose in running as a Republican in a 90% or greater Democratic district. One may contend for the office as a second or third same party candidate by checking the party box on the candidate registration form. Hence forward the candidate is what he checked.
When the Republican Presidential candidates came out in support of County clerk Kim Davis, it was just expected that she was a Republican too. But surprise, surprise she was a registered Democrat. The RWNJ reveled in their glee that everyone believed her to be an R. It WAS only natural to believe so. Similarly, it is also natural to understand her switching party at this opportune moment.
Remember now, all one has to do is say the words: I'm a Republican. Then you get a document that has you party affiliation on it for when you go to vote or register as a candidate for a job that is filled by election. It works the same way for being a Christian.
Now there are Republicans and there are republicans. Most of them are true to their dogmas and there is no mistaking their position in that their affiliation is backed up by their words and deeds. It works the same way for BEING a Christian.
American politics and religion has zero provisions for banishing a person from the flock. You are who you say you are and it is up to the journalists, bloggers and media to argue about your true colors.
Never before in American Mass Media has a person been heaped upon with praise and accolades for switching political parties. Ms. Davis is the Poster Clerk in a battle of wits for which she is unarmed. The Far-right Christian Conservatives are holding up her arms in a gesture of victory to the unauthorized tune of "Eye of the Tiger" to add gravitas to their anti-civil rights attitudes that would deny two adults the permission to be married in a secular fashion, in one podunk county of Kentucky.
Now is the time of catharses, the venting of pent up hostilities. Now is the time for little people (and I don't mean people of short stature) to get their 2¢ in to the national dialog. The other person who is getting Americans to vent their spleens is Donald Trump. He may be a DINO too, but who really knows at this date. What matters is only the persons' staying power. Kim Davis is likely to do a second stint in Federal custody for serial acts of contempt of court. Donald must be able to hold on to his angry bigoted persona and Republicans must be willing to continue to listen to him and vent their anger. But when it comes time to cast votes, Americans' true colors will be on display.
TweetTweet This Post
It used to be that a person held a series of ideals and voted for candidate who held similar ideals. When that candidate was a Republican, the voter also self-identified as a Republican. The same applied to Democratic candidates and voters. Then something happened.
That which happened was a switch to a strategic to idea that candidates must run against the proper opponent. There is no purpose in running as a Republican in a 90% or greater Democratic district. One may contend for the office as a second or third same party candidate by checking the party box on the candidate registration form. Hence forward the candidate is what he checked.
When the Republican Presidential candidates came out in support of County clerk Kim Davis, it was just expected that she was a Republican too. But surprise, surprise she was a registered Democrat. The RWNJ reveled in their glee that everyone believed her to be an R. It WAS only natural to believe so. Similarly, it is also natural to understand her switching party at this opportune moment.
Remember now, all one has to do is say the words: I'm a Republican. Then you get a document that has you party affiliation on it for when you go to vote or register as a candidate for a job that is filled by election. It works the same way for being a Christian.
Now there are Republicans and there are republicans. Most of them are true to their dogmas and there is no mistaking their position in that their affiliation is backed up by their words and deeds. It works the same way for BEING a Christian.
American politics and religion has zero provisions for banishing a person from the flock. You are who you say you are and it is up to the journalists, bloggers and media to argue about your true colors.
Never before in American Mass Media has a person been heaped upon with praise and accolades for switching political parties. Ms. Davis is the Poster Clerk in a battle of wits for which she is unarmed. The Far-right Christian Conservatives are holding up her arms in a gesture of victory to the unauthorized tune of "Eye of the Tiger" to add gravitas to their anti-civil rights attitudes that would deny two adults the permission to be married in a secular fashion, in one podunk county of Kentucky.
Now is the time of catharses, the venting of pent up hostilities. Now is the time for little people (and I don't mean people of short stature) to get their 2¢ in to the national dialog. The other person who is getting Americans to vent their spleens is Donald Trump. He may be a DINO too, but who really knows at this date. What matters is only the persons' staying power. Kim Davis is likely to do a second stint in Federal custody for serial acts of contempt of court. Donald must be able to hold on to his angry bigoted persona and Republicans must be willing to continue to listen to him and vent their anger. But when it comes time to cast votes, Americans' true colors will be on display.
TweetTweet This Post
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Passive Aggressive Bureaucrats
Some people get a thrill out of being passive aggressive in their own little world. Today it is county clerk Kim Davis who is standing in the way of people getting married in Rowan County, Kentucky. Her little corner of the world has had the magnifying glass of media coverage far and away more than it ever deserved.
Ms. Davis' futile efforts have reached all the way to the US Supreme Court in her efforts to continue to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples in violation of both Federal Law and Federal court rulings. On September 3, she must report to the Federal court to answer for why she should not be held in contempt of the court. Her spurious claims are a "matter of deep Christian faith." Her interpretation of Biblical writings is that she would be complicit in a mortal sin if she signs the documents facilitating a same-sex union between two adults.
What the judge on Thursday ought to say is this: "Ms. Davis are you going to comply with the orders of this court?"
"No, your Honor."
"Ms. Davis, I hold you in contempt of this court and remand you to jail until you choose to comply or are able to meet this further condition. Ms. Davis, take this Bible and these sticky notes and mark all of the passages that make reference to marriage, and marriage. Once you have completed that task contact the jailer and he will contact me. When you have identified a passage, any passage that states that an officiant of a marriage of any Biblical type or any person who provides written documentation has committed a sin of any magnitude, you may return to this court to present your findings. Until then the Bailiff shall escort you to your cell."
"But, your Honor, God told me it was a mortal in and I would go to Hell if I sign the papers."
"Show me the Biblical source of your contentions and I will listen. Ms. Davis, what you say that God talked to you about is hearsay and is inadmissible in this court. Bailiff."
Meanwhile, Kim Davis continues to stand behind her alleged faith and the counter in her public office and refuse to recognize the rights of the men and women who come to that office for a routine piece of paper with an official signature.
Another woman many years ago was a passive aggressive bureaucrat in the character of Nurse Ratched who was portrayed to chilling perfection by Louise Fletcher in "One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest." She made up her rules and forced everyone to comply. Resistance was futile and most of the patients in the ward just complied rather than try to make a stand. Murphy tried and he paid the price. The difference is that in the hospital ward there was no media, no Federal judges, no public outcry against Nurse Ratched. Kim Davis will have to contend with that trinity.
Irony Update:
The Guardian reports on September 2, that:
Judicial Update Sept 3:
U.S. District Judge David Bunning jailed Kim Davis for contempt for her continued refusal to comply with the Supreme Court ruling. At this point it is not relevant what the issue is, she has made it a matter of the court's authority versus her personal opinion. As a peripheral issue her staff claimed they would be willing to issue marriage licenses to everyone who applies except that they worked in fear of Ms. Davis' authority. I suppose we will now see how compliant her staff is in this matter.
TweetTweet This Post
Ms. Davis' futile efforts have reached all the way to the US Supreme Court in her efforts to continue to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples in violation of both Federal Law and Federal court rulings. On September 3, she must report to the Federal court to answer for why she should not be held in contempt of the court. Her spurious claims are a "matter of deep Christian faith." Her interpretation of Biblical writings is that she would be complicit in a mortal sin if she signs the documents facilitating a same-sex union between two adults.
What the judge on Thursday ought to say is this: "Ms. Davis are you going to comply with the orders of this court?"
"No, your Honor."
"Ms. Davis, I hold you in contempt of this court and remand you to jail until you choose to comply or are able to meet this further condition. Ms. Davis, take this Bible and these sticky notes and mark all of the passages that make reference to marriage, and marriage. Once you have completed that task contact the jailer and he will contact me. When you have identified a passage, any passage that states that an officiant of a marriage of any Biblical type or any person who provides written documentation has committed a sin of any magnitude, you may return to this court to present your findings. Until then the Bailiff shall escort you to your cell."
"But, your Honor, God told me it was a mortal in and I would go to Hell if I sign the papers."
"Show me the Biblical source of your contentions and I will listen. Ms. Davis, what you say that God talked to you about is hearsay and is inadmissible in this court. Bailiff."
Meanwhile, Kim Davis continues to stand behind her alleged faith and the counter in her public office and refuse to recognize the rights of the men and women who come to that office for a routine piece of paper with an official signature.
Another woman many years ago was a passive aggressive bureaucrat in the character of Nurse Ratched who was portrayed to chilling perfection by Louise Fletcher in "One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest." She made up her rules and forced everyone to comply. Resistance was futile and most of the patients in the ward just complied rather than try to make a stand. Murphy tried and he paid the price. The difference is that in the hospital ward there was no media, no Federal judges, no public outcry against Nurse Ratched. Kim Davis will have to contend with that trinity.
Irony Update:
The Guardian reports on September 2, that:
"A transgender man and his wife were issued a marriage license in February by the Kentucky county clerk who, in defiance of a US supreme court order, cited “God’s authority” this week as reason to deny paperwork to same-sex couples."It appears that Kim Davis is going to Hell after all. Either her god neglected to inform her of this sin or she willfully neglected to abide by her own espoused faith. She might as well call it quits and get it over with.
Judicial Update Sept 3:
U.S. District Judge David Bunning jailed Kim Davis for contempt for her continued refusal to comply with the Supreme Court ruling. At this point it is not relevant what the issue is, she has made it a matter of the court's authority versus her personal opinion. As a peripheral issue her staff claimed they would be willing to issue marriage licenses to everyone who applies except that they worked in fear of Ms. Davis' authority. I suppose we will now see how compliant her staff is in this matter.
TweetTweet This Post
Sunday, August 30, 2015
American Conservatism is Passive Aggressive
American conservatism is largely passive aggressive. The approach goes something like this: You are oppressing me when trying to force me to honor your civil rights. I have faith-based freedoms that YOU are denying because of your presence in MY world. Or I have a right to say what I want to about you because I have Constitutional Rights that says I do.
The entire conflict arises when a person or group of people decide that they can ignore the laws and statutes of America, the States and local jurisdictions. They decide to exercise that freedom, right or alleged right in an in-your-face fashion. Such is the strategy of the Open-carry Movement.
The men and a few women dress up in their Saturday best outfits and don the fashion accessories that are capable of killing many people in a matter of seconds. They sling their AK-47s and AR-15s over their backs and strap on a 9mm handgun just for good balance. Why? Because they can.
There has never in the USA been a situation where a highly armed individual saved his own life or others with such weaponry as the ready. On the other hand, there have been numerous incidents where such people are the perpetrators of such carnage. The are passive aggressively rubbing everyone's noses in their "2nd Amendment Right" to bear arms. They stand in checking lines at the big-box stores, Krogers, Eat'n'Park using their body language to silently shout, 'Here I am exercising MY rights while NOT threatening you in any way." This behavior is very similar to a child pointing his finger in his younger sibling's face and saying, "Here is me NOT touching you," after mother says, "stop touching your brother." Passive aggressiveness to the MAX.
In Kentucky, elected County Clerk, Kim Davis, has decided that she can refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples who walk up to HER counter and expect to be served like any other couple seeking to be married. She has taken it upon herself to maintain that refusal even in light of a Federal Judge's order.
"Rowan County Chief Clerk Kim Davis' lawyers filed an emergency appeal late Friday asking the Court to grant "asylum for her conscience" and allow her to continue to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples," according to The Associated Press.
Kim continues to claim a superior position to the applicants who seek to use their tax-paid services that Rowan County provides. Kim is in the power position to unilaterally deny the licenses because she is the only person in that county that can sign the license. And she knows it.
In defense of her alleged rights, "Davis has suggested that same-sex couples can either go to a neighboring county or seek the signature of a different Rowan County official. She has also suggested that the state could change the law about marriage license signatures, removing the requirement that she sign her name to couples she finds sinful. The lower-court judge has rejected all three arguments."
In particular alleged Christian Conservatives have employed the passive aggressive approach in many instances. Christian prayer in public schools has been litigated over and over while the proponents say that their children are being denied their religious freedom to pray publicly in the schools. they imply that their god treats everyone poorly because of his exclusion. This is textbook example of the way religions prey. Be good or else the supreme being will punish you. Not me or my brethren.
While the religious leaders employ the passive approach, it is their followers who take action and commit violence. The preacher says, abortion is murder and is an abomination and his god will punish America and somebody should do something about it before was all are punished. "Somebody" will commit violence as an active aggression as a response to that call. Can I get a witness?
Passive aggression in the media comes with a Question Mark? Gay Marriage Causes Floods? It looks like a statement of fact but is just a motivator for the reader to get riles up and fearful. It is a question that will ultimately be answered with NO or WHO KNOWS. Lesbians Cause California Drought?
America has become a nation of Passive Aggression in more respects than is easily identified. We're putting GMOs on the shelves and refusing to label them FOR YOUR OWN GOOD. Food shoppers might make the mistake of choosing to not buy the produce when it is really okay to eat. You really need that Natural Gas to heat your home even though your drinking water becomes contaminated by fracking for it. And never mind those earthquakes, they don't mean a thing.
In order to sidestep her refusal to issue same-sex marriage licenses, Kim Davis decided to suspend ALL marriage license processing at her office.
TweetTweet This Post
The entire conflict arises when a person or group of people decide that they can ignore the laws and statutes of America, the States and local jurisdictions. They decide to exercise that freedom, right or alleged right in an in-your-face fashion. Such is the strategy of the Open-carry Movement.
The men and a few women dress up in their Saturday best outfits and don the fashion accessories that are capable of killing many people in a matter of seconds. They sling their AK-47s and AR-15s over their backs and strap on a 9mm handgun just for good balance. Why? Because they can.
There has never in the USA been a situation where a highly armed individual saved his own life or others with such weaponry as the ready. On the other hand, there have been numerous incidents where such people are the perpetrators of such carnage. The are passive aggressively rubbing everyone's noses in their "2nd Amendment Right" to bear arms. They stand in checking lines at the big-box stores, Krogers, Eat'n'Park using their body language to silently shout, 'Here I am exercising MY rights while NOT threatening you in any way." This behavior is very similar to a child pointing his finger in his younger sibling's face and saying, "Here is me NOT touching you," after mother says, "stop touching your brother." Passive aggressiveness to the MAX.
In Kentucky, elected County Clerk, Kim Davis, has decided that she can refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples who walk up to HER counter and expect to be served like any other couple seeking to be married. She has taken it upon herself to maintain that refusal even in light of a Federal Judge's order.
"Rowan County Chief Clerk Kim Davis' lawyers filed an emergency appeal late Friday asking the Court to grant "asylum for her conscience" and allow her to continue to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples," according to The Associated Press.
Kim continues to claim a superior position to the applicants who seek to use their tax-paid services that Rowan County provides. Kim is in the power position to unilaterally deny the licenses because she is the only person in that county that can sign the license. And she knows it.
In defense of her alleged rights, "Davis has suggested that same-sex couples can either go to a neighboring county or seek the signature of a different Rowan County official. She has also suggested that the state could change the law about marriage license signatures, removing the requirement that she sign her name to couples she finds sinful. The lower-court judge has rejected all three arguments."
In particular alleged Christian Conservatives have employed the passive aggressive approach in many instances. Christian prayer in public schools has been litigated over and over while the proponents say that their children are being denied their religious freedom to pray publicly in the schools. they imply that their god treats everyone poorly because of his exclusion. This is textbook example of the way religions prey. Be good or else the supreme being will punish you. Not me or my brethren.
While the religious leaders employ the passive approach, it is their followers who take action and commit violence. The preacher says, abortion is murder and is an abomination and his god will punish America and somebody should do something about it before was all are punished. "Somebody" will commit violence as an active aggression as a response to that call. Can I get a witness?
America has become a nation of Passive Aggression in more respects than is easily identified. We're putting GMOs on the shelves and refusing to label them FOR YOUR OWN GOOD. Food shoppers might make the mistake of choosing to not buy the produce when it is really okay to eat. You really need that Natural Gas to heat your home even though your drinking water becomes contaminated by fracking for it. And never mind those earthquakes, they don't mean a thing.
In order to sidestep her refusal to issue same-sex marriage licenses, Kim Davis decided to suspend ALL marriage license processing at her office.
TweetTweet This Post
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
50 Twits and Counting
The US Senate in 50-49 vote says that climate change is not caused by humans. Go figure. Whew! What a relief that Global Climate Change is not my fault. I will sleep easier tonight.
Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) leads the way with just one more silly bugger vote of the Republican controlled Senate. And he is the chairman of the committee on the environment. He should know better. Well he does probably know better but he is paid to vote in favor of dangerous enterprises such as the Keystone XL Pipeline.
Now that the highly indoctrinated Senate has laid down the law that humans are not the cause of Global Climate Change, they can move on to voting on what does. Some would say that it is caused by marriage equality legislation, or women's reproductive rights supporters such as Rick Santorum and Pat Robertson. Others would like to have a vote on whether women wearing skinny jeans and yoga pants in public is the true cause like the bozo in Idaho. Personally, I have thought that it was caused by Bankers constantly rubbing their palms together saying ,"Nyna ahh aah" in Snidely Whiplash fashion whilst twisting their mustaches into a curl on the ends. Yes, Bankers actually do have three hands. One for giving you a loan, one for taking your payments and the other for stroking their pens.
With this consensus-driven fact development firmly established, the Senate is ready to rule on whether the moon emits its own light, if the Earth is hollow, whether SNAFU is an acronym for "Situation Normal All Fouled Up" or "Senate Nimnodes Are Freakin' Useless."
Taking time out from doing essentially nothing constructive for the American people is a specialty of the Senate in recent sessions. They can vote on such things as: if there are three frogs sitting on a log and one decides to jump off, how many frogs are left? Or they can debate how many thumbs a man has if you call the index finger a thumb?
Since Man has thusly been absolved of causing climate change, sea level rise, the melting of glaciers, there is room to work on what to do about the impending environment change that we all can see. The chimneys are a smoking gun for where the CO2 originates. The Methane cloud hanging over the Southwestern states betrays the mining and drilling interests. The 250 million plus automobiles in the US all dumping massive amounts of petroleum fuel residue into the air adds to the mix.
While individual humans each contribute an incremental amount of CO2 and other pollutants into the environment, it is the fossil fuel industry that stands against developing and implementing better energy sources. Now that they have given humans absolution for the sins of damaging the health and safety of their brothers and sisters, the Senate needs to vote on whether corporations are causing all the trouble.
TweetTweet This Post
Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) leads the way with just one more silly bugger vote of the Republican controlled Senate. And he is the chairman of the committee on the environment. He should know better. Well he does probably know better but he is paid to vote in favor of dangerous enterprises such as the Keystone XL Pipeline.
Now that the highly indoctrinated Senate has laid down the law that humans are not the cause of Global Climate Change, they can move on to voting on what does. Some would say that it is caused by marriage equality legislation, or women's reproductive rights supporters such as Rick Santorum and Pat Robertson. Others would like to have a vote on whether women wearing skinny jeans and yoga pants in public is the true cause like the bozo in Idaho. Personally, I have thought that it was caused by Bankers constantly rubbing their palms together saying ,"Nyna ahh aah" in Snidely Whiplash fashion whilst twisting their mustaches into a curl on the ends. Yes, Bankers actually do have three hands. One for giving you a loan, one for taking your payments and the other for stroking their pens.
With this consensus-driven fact development firmly established, the Senate is ready to rule on whether the moon emits its own light, if the Earth is hollow, whether SNAFU is an acronym for "Situation Normal All Fouled Up" or "Senate Nimnodes Are Freakin' Useless."
Taking time out from doing essentially nothing constructive for the American people is a specialty of the Senate in recent sessions. They can vote on such things as: if there are three frogs sitting on a log and one decides to jump off, how many frogs are left? Or they can debate how many thumbs a man has if you call the index finger a thumb?
Since Man has thusly been absolved of causing climate change, sea level rise, the melting of glaciers, there is room to work on what to do about the impending environment change that we all can see. The chimneys are a smoking gun for where the CO2 originates. The Methane cloud hanging over the Southwestern states betrays the mining and drilling interests. The 250 million plus automobiles in the US all dumping massive amounts of petroleum fuel residue into the air adds to the mix.
While individual humans each contribute an incremental amount of CO2 and other pollutants into the environment, it is the fossil fuel industry that stands against developing and implementing better energy sources. Now that they have given humans absolution for the sins of damaging the health and safety of their brothers and sisters, the Senate needs to vote on whether corporations are causing all the trouble.
TweetTweet This Post
Friday, August 21, 2015
Twit of the Week, Ben Carson
This week,
the Twit of the Week Award goes to Ben Carson. The TOW Award comes with a
30-day supply of mouthwash to get the residue of those insipidly stupid remarks
out of his head. Ben doesn't get this distinction for the usual ignorant
ranting about women's health issues unless we include women's rights to an
environment what won't kill them or deform their babies. Nor is he deserving of
this Award for his take on Marriage Equality because people who need clean
water can be married or single, it just doesn't matter. Also he doesn't get
this Award for his desire to nuke Iran for their alleged enmity against
America.
What Ben
gets the Award for is his completely detached from reality position he has
taken on the EPA and how it operates. What we need to establish is that IF
businesses were responsible citizens of the Earth they would not engage in
activities that will severely injure and kill living people and we would not
need the EPA in the first place. Businesses failing to act responsibly makes
that need imperative.
Now if there
were not such an outcry by businesses that the EPA was being a bully and trying
to make them spend shareholder value on making sure their operations are safe
and that they ultimately clean up after themselves, the EPA would not have to
go out on-site and clean up for them. Mothers routinely wipe up the spilt milk of
their toddlers because the toddlers are not capable of doing it themselves.
However when the child is older he needs to clean up after himself. He also has
to be more careful of what he does in the first place.
The Animas River
suffered a massive contamination event from a decades old brew of acid mine
drainage that did not drain by the gallon.
This water backed up in the Gold King Mine in Colorado only to be let
loose be an EPA contractor while they were trying to clean up the site for the
defunct mining corporation. In short, the EPA is responsible for a 3 million
gallon surge of orange slush into the Animas River.
Now here is
where Ben Carson earns his title of TOW for the third week of August 2015.
“One
wonders, if this accident had occurred at the hands of a private business, or
even an individual property owner, would the EPA be as forgiving as they have
been of themselves? I think not,” Carson said, as reported by John Frank of the
Denver Post. Mr. Carson, let's just say the EPA was as hard on themselves as
they would be on a private contractor. They would issue a paltry fine and move
on to the next client. Then Congress would have to put the fine amount in the
next EPA budget.
Again from
the Post article, the candidate called on the EPA to perform a transparent
investigation of the spill and provide “full compensation and reparations” to
those affected. The response from the EPA should be "yeah, we caused the
damage and will pay $650 million dollars for reparations, just as soon as
Congress approves it.
Ben went on
to assert that the reparations should be paid out of the fines that private
companies incur for their violations and not use tax dollars. {takes a deep
breath}
The focus is part of his (Ben's) effort to overhaul the EPA, for which he plans a new mission statement that downplays fines and penalties, allows for laws that protect business from “unnecessary liability” and incorporates a cost-benefit analysis in its regulatory decisions. (Emphasis added.)
So now Ben
wants to protect violating corporations from unnecessary liability that would
pay to clean up their disasters. Furthermore, he wants a cost-benefits analysis
for EPA regulatory decisions. How about a Cost-Liability Analysis for any debacle
that the company ultimately will create.
“We all want
a better environment,” he said in the statement. “We all want to protect the
environment for generations to come. We all want more common sense in the
administration of our environmental laws and policies.” But we don't want to
pay for them or reduce shareholder value. What we see is a process of
privatizing profits and socializing losses, like we always have, but codified
into law so the next Administration can't go changing it willy-nilly. What you must understand is the GOP-Equal-Sign has nothing to its right side. [something = nada]
"Commonsense
regulations" is dog-whistle for lax regulations and non-existent
oversight. They want a better environment without a cost. You know, like the
one God will give to us after this one is trashed.
So Dr.
Carson, you get the TOW Award this week for trying to assert that TINSTAAFL is
a hoax and even if it is not free, it is free to the businesses who destroy the
only planet we have.
TweetTweet This Post
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Cognitive Dissonance for Twits
Two year old Caroline Sparks in southern Kentucky was killed by her 5 year old brother when he got his hands on the Cricket .22 caliber rifle he had gotten from his parents for his birthday. Just like his parents, he undoubted thought that he knew what he was doing. August just won't be the same at the Sparks house after 2015.
It is sad how people blame God for their shortcomings when they cannot face the realities of what they do. They hand a toddler a lethal weapon then are surprised when that child kills someone with it. After the reality sets in, they have to say that someone else was at fault. God is a common victim in this blame-game because he cannot defend himself. A man rapes a 10-year old girl, pregnancy results and "it's a Gift From God." she can't abort that fetus and the news cycle makes a hullabaloo about the abortion while never mentioning the crime that was perpetrated against the child.
"It was God's will. It was her time to go, I guess," grandmother Linda Riddle told WLEX. "I just know she's in heaven right now and I know she's in good hands with the Lord." Little Caroline would have been in a better place before she died if the parents did not subscribe to the gun-culture they apparently did. She would not have needed the Lord's hands if there was no gun in the house.
Well now it will be God's Will that the parents suffer recrimination for the rest of their lives unless they adequately deploy Cognitive Dissonance and decide that their daughter is better off dead. This maneuver is appallingly simple. Blame God and you are all set. That allows you to keep up appearances, but there will be spousal fights, depressions and a high probability of divorce with their 5-year old going to live with Grandma. Once you decide that children being killed in this manner is okay and alright with God, you can absolve yourself of any further concern. I name all parents who give firearms to their children "Twit Of The Day."
TweetTweet This Post
It is sad how people blame God for their shortcomings when they cannot face the realities of what they do. They hand a toddler a lethal weapon then are surprised when that child kills someone with it. After the reality sets in, they have to say that someone else was at fault. God is a common victim in this blame-game because he cannot defend himself. A man rapes a 10-year old girl, pregnancy results and "it's a Gift From God." she can't abort that fetus and the news cycle makes a hullabaloo about the abortion while never mentioning the crime that was perpetrated against the child.
"It was God's will. It was her time to go, I guess," grandmother Linda Riddle told WLEX. "I just know she's in heaven right now and I know she's in good hands with the Lord." Little Caroline would have been in a better place before she died if the parents did not subscribe to the gun-culture they apparently did. She would not have needed the Lord's hands if there was no gun in the house.
Well now it will be God's Will that the parents suffer recrimination for the rest of their lives unless they adequately deploy Cognitive Dissonance and decide that their daughter is better off dead. This maneuver is appallingly simple. Blame God and you are all set. That allows you to keep up appearances, but there will be spousal fights, depressions and a high probability of divorce with their 5-year old going to live with Grandma. Once you decide that children being killed in this manner is okay and alright with God, you can absolve yourself of any further concern. I name all parents who give firearms to their children "Twit Of The Day."
TweetTweet This Post
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
16 Warm Wet Noses and a Horse That Sweats
With all due regards to Jim Stafford for writing the song of that title...
There
conservatively are between 16 and 24 Republican Presidential candidates who
will be vying for the GOP nomination next spring. Each of them will be trying
to "out conservative" the others for the support of the
Fox-manufactured electorate. That electorate will be demanding that their pet
candidate be as far to the right as they themselves are, but no further.
The candidates
are so numerous that the "debate" sponsor, Fox News Network, had to
split the population into two portions. There will be the Big-10 who will
bracket Donald Trump on the main stage while the remainder will be afforded the
consolation stage and a TV slot ahead of Prime Time hours.
Irrespective
of which stage a candidate is on the opportunity to engage in meaningful
"debate" will be next to non-existent. These 2 dozen individuals will
have just about enough time to utter 2 or 3 half statements that shows the
one-half of the electorate of "likely voters" just how conservative he
or she is.
The half statement
will consist of the part they want to the viewing public to hear while the
other unspoken half is the truth about what they really support.
Here is a
list of the possible statements with the (…) to indicate the dividing line in
the whole statement.
I am
anti-abortion and will stop them entirely by defunding any organization that provides
abortions… regardless of all the other provided
health services that benefit Americans.
I am
Pro-life and will stop the murder of unborn babies… but once they are breathing
air, they are on their own. My responsibility stops there.
I will stop
illegal immigration and send all the illegal ones back to Mexico… without
regard to the fact that many of them are Honduran, Guatemalan, Nicaragua,
Columbian, El Salvadoran, Ecuadoran.
I will
deport the 11 million illegal immigrants… even though many of them have
children who are Americans and it would take 272,727 motor coach loads to move
them to the US border.
I am against
taxes… even though taxation built this nation and the national infrastructure
is crumbling.
I am for
individual freedoms and religious liberty… unless you are black, gay, unmarried
woman, poor, old, sick or disabled.
I am for repealing
Social Security and Medicare… because Wall Street doesn't have a big enough
hand in managing the funds and taking profits.
I am
pro-Israel and support continued funding… so that they may continue their genocide
of Palestinians and take the land for radical Jewish settlers.
I am for a
strong US Military at home and around the world… even though its line item is
the largest portion of the Federal budget.
I am for
attacking Iran for their desires to build an atomic bomb… even though the new
proposed treaty will curtail those ambitions.
I support
fossil fuel mining and drilling because America needs energy… regardless of the
environmental degradation they cause, the fact that alternative sources are
fast overtaking coal, gas and oil everywhere else in the world.
I support
banning GMO product labeling because it is unnecessary… due to the fact that people
may not want to eat such foods.
I believe
that climate change is a hoax… even though we are seeing significant changes
already and it is inconvenient to the fossil fuels corporate profits.
I am against
same-sex marriage because I believe it is a sin … and I find it icky even
though there is no biblical prohibitions and the Constitution claims that all
people will be treated equally.
I support
"right to work" laws… even though that is fascist code for the
ability of employers to pay less in wages and benefits.
I am against
raising the Minimum Wage because it is anti-business and a job-killer… even
though taxpayers subsidize all employers who pay below the poverty line to
their workers. (Subsidizing businesses is okay, subsidizing people is not.)
I support
the rights of everyone to possess a gun for self and family protection… even
though most gun deaths are committed on one's self, a friend or family member,
spouse or significant other. The fact is gun manufacturers need more sales and
more customers.
... and Just Added:
I am for drug testing of Food Stamp recipients to not give taxpayer money to drug users... so that we can punish the children of low-income workers and reward the drug testing companies who need our support.
This list
could go on and on but like the debate time slot, space is limited. There will
be no GOP candidate that deviates from the core in such a manner that he or she
stands out from the rest. Nobody will have the chutzpah to venture outside the
confines of the right-wing. Well maybe except for The Donald. He will say
anything he wants to say because he is in the race for the race not for the finish
or the ribbon. He will be the only highlight to the evening.
TweetTweet This Post
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Jumping The Shark: Donald's Next Show
While Democrats hold their sides laughing, Republicans are sweating bullets over the monster that they created from various parts of other conservatives, republicans and teaparty fanatics. He is like Chang McTang McQuarter Cat but nowhere as cute or interesting. He is an amalgamation of all the silly bugger shit that has spewed from the mouths of the 2 dozen other presidential candidates of his party. You guessed it the mystery man is none other than The Donald.
He has been a great listener, a listener to all the rhetoric that his competitors have already spoken. Without a platform of his own, he has been able to cobble together the "one part this" and "two parts that" to woo successively more single issue voter constituencies. While the likes of Rick Santorum says "gays are sinners", Mr. Trump yells it from his pulpit and associated them with Mexicans who have come to america to vote against Republicans and get all the good jobs, welfare and rape everyone.
He has tapped into the angers, fears and bigotry of dozens of small groups of voters who of course poll in favor of the man who will not be either a status quo Republican or Democrat. Even his threat to run as an Independent has garnered yet another following. This is the man who is a threat to every other GOP candidate because to the electorate he sounds like their second choice man yet far noisier and profane. The louder her speaks and the more profane he becomes, the better they like him.
The stable of Republican horses is screwed either way. If he gets the GOP nomination (which I seriously believe they will deny to him) or he actually does run Independent, they will have to contend with his power to split the votes. His favor is only in the eyes of "likely Republican voters" not in the eyes of Democrats. There may be a few Democrats in the poll numbers, but they are not significant.
His staying power is all that is in question. When will he jump the shark overstepping some unseen line or reaching around and grabbing the wrong issue? Today he is yet another reality TV show pandering to the least educated population of Americans like did Duck Dynasty, Honey Boo Boo, and the Duggar Clan. Back in the 1960s the Smothers Brothers though wildly popular have the distinction of having been cancelled from all three big networks of the time.
Donald jumped in early to capitalize on the front side of the rising tide of notoriety. But sometimes that early entry just means an early exit too. He has to maintain his signature level of crazy for about 9 months to see if he will be nominated. Then he has a total of 16 months to keep it up until November of 2016. That will be a formidable task regardless of campaign and personal money to spend.
with his less than stellar attention span, I doubt that he will remain a front runner although he will do a lot of damage by his mere presence. He is showing Americans and the world who we are and who our Republican legislators are and what they stand for. That is not a pretty picture.
TweetTweet This Post
He has been a great listener, a listener to all the rhetoric that his competitors have already spoken. Without a platform of his own, he has been able to cobble together the "one part this" and "two parts that" to woo successively more single issue voter constituencies. While the likes of Rick Santorum says "gays are sinners", Mr. Trump yells it from his pulpit and associated them with Mexicans who have come to america to vote against Republicans and get all the good jobs, welfare and rape everyone.
He has tapped into the angers, fears and bigotry of dozens of small groups of voters who of course poll in favor of the man who will not be either a status quo Republican or Democrat. Even his threat to run as an Independent has garnered yet another following. This is the man who is a threat to every other GOP candidate because to the electorate he sounds like their second choice man yet far noisier and profane. The louder her speaks and the more profane he becomes, the better they like him.
The stable of Republican horses is screwed either way. If he gets the GOP nomination (which I seriously believe they will deny to him) or he actually does run Independent, they will have to contend with his power to split the votes. His favor is only in the eyes of "likely Republican voters" not in the eyes of Democrats. There may be a few Democrats in the poll numbers, but they are not significant.
His staying power is all that is in question. When will he jump the shark overstepping some unseen line or reaching around and grabbing the wrong issue? Today he is yet another reality TV show pandering to the least educated population of Americans like did Duck Dynasty, Honey Boo Boo, and the Duggar Clan. Back in the 1960s the Smothers Brothers though wildly popular have the distinction of having been cancelled from all three big networks of the time.
Donald jumped in early to capitalize on the front side of the rising tide of notoriety. But sometimes that early entry just means an early exit too. He has to maintain his signature level of crazy for about 9 months to see if he will be nominated. Then he has a total of 16 months to keep it up until November of 2016. That will be a formidable task regardless of campaign and personal money to spend.
with his less than stellar attention span, I doubt that he will remain a front runner although he will do a lot of damage by his mere presence. He is showing Americans and the world who we are and who our Republican legislators are and what they stand for. That is not a pretty picture.
TweetTweet This Post
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Twit of the Day: Jindal & Perry
Gov. Bobby Jindal says, "Now is not the appropriate time to discuss gun control." this came in the wake of the Lafayette, LA theater shooting that left two patrons dead and 7 more seriously wounded. Says he, this is a mental health issue. His actions deny mental health services to thousands of Louisiana residents, but to the twit there is no connection.
He claims that gun control proponents are using this tragedy for political purposes while we ought to be praying for the families of the dead and injured. IRONY ALERT: By Jindal saying this at this inopportune time, HE is using this tragedy for political purposes.
I can't argue with you, Gov., and you know why. I can however point out that will never be an "appropriate time" to discuss gun control (or people control as it rightly should be labeled) if we agree to not discuss the issue anytime within 2 days of a major shooting in this country. I can see the Congressional debate going like this.
Then of course there is former Texas Gov. Rick Perry who lusts after more bloodshed in theaters, schools, bars, strip malls, and churches. Arm the citizens and let them take care of the "bad guys with the guns."
The Gov. said, "I believe that, with all my heart, that if you have the citizens who are well trained, and particularly in these places that are considered to be gun-free zones, that we can stop that type of activity, or stop it before there's as many people that are impacted as what we saw in Lafayette," [emphasis added]
Perry believes that existing gun laws are sufficient to handle the problem, if they were properly enforced. he told CNN talking person. He also lowered his voice a decibel or two when he stipulated "well trained and background checked." So he does admit that to make a difference we need more laws such as "backgound checks" mandatory training and proficiency because there is no states consensus on these issues, especially in Texas.
Trained carriers who have been vetted should have the freedom to carry guns, Perry added, making it clear that laws are needed to "vett" prospective gun carriers. He like so many other gun violence apologists believe in the 2nd amendment as a right for everyone, but will not take action to stop the people who should not have one. He supports a vetting process but will not support a law to make one. For that he rises to the status of a Twit of the Day along with brother-governor Jindal. Two men sharing one brain.
TweetTweet This Post
He claims that gun control proponents are using this tragedy for political purposes while we ought to be praying for the families of the dead and injured. IRONY ALERT: By Jindal saying this at this inopportune time, HE is using this tragedy for political purposes.
I can't argue with you, Gov., and you know why. I can however point out that will never be an "appropriate time" to discuss gun control (or people control as it rightly should be labeled) if we agree to not discuss the issue anytime within 2 days of a major shooting in this country. I can see the Congressional debate going like this.
Congressperson: "Mr. Speaker I'd like to bring up the matter of guns in the hands of mentally unstable people."
Speaker: "The Honorable Congressperson has the floor..."
Congressperson: "This matter is of utmost urgency and while it has been 49 hours since the last mass shooting in this country, I believe you would agree that the moratorium on debating this matter has expired. This matter has been put off too long, and we have kicked that can down the road many miles and..."
Speaker: "Excuse me, Congressperson, I must interrupt you at this time and ask that you reserve your remaining comments until Monday. There is a report of a shooting at the Water Park in Katchizcatcan. We must turn to prayer for the 3 adults and 5 children who have had their day spoiled by a Lone Wolf White Man with with a Glock."
Congressperson: "But... but... this debate is very important."
Speaker: "You, Sir, are out of order. It is inappropriate to speak of these thing at a time like this."
Congressperson: "If not now, when? "End of Story. That story. The next chapter will be written tomorrow.
Then of course there is former Texas Gov. Rick Perry who lusts after more bloodshed in theaters, schools, bars, strip malls, and churches. Arm the citizens and let them take care of the "bad guys with the guns."
The Gov. said, "I believe that, with all my heart, that if you have the citizens who are well trained, and particularly in these places that are considered to be gun-free zones, that we can stop that type of activity, or stop it before there's as many people that are impacted as what we saw in Lafayette," [emphasis added]
Perry believes that existing gun laws are sufficient to handle the problem, if they were properly enforced. he told CNN talking person. He also lowered his voice a decibel or two when he stipulated "well trained and background checked." So he does admit that to make a difference we need more laws such as "backgound checks" mandatory training and proficiency because there is no states consensus on these issues, especially in Texas.
Trained carriers who have been vetted should have the freedom to carry guns, Perry added, making it clear that laws are needed to "vett" prospective gun carriers. He like so many other gun violence apologists believe in the 2nd amendment as a right for everyone, but will not take action to stop the people who should not have one. He supports a vetting process but will not support a law to make one. For that he rises to the status of a Twit of the Day along with brother-governor Jindal. Two men sharing one brain.
TweetTweet This Post
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Republican Legislators are Out and About Shaming Low-income Americans For a Business Motive
While Republican Legislators are out and about shaming low-income
Americans for their low incomes we must look at the magnitude and nature of the
issue of the need for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program payments in the
first place. First a bit of history.
SNAP aka Food Stamps as the original program was titled was a
farm subsidy program that gave money directly to low-income people who could
not afford the prices that farmers needed to be paid in order to grow and
deliver food to the customers. The government wanted to limit farm prices and
farmers could not live with that. Therefore, instead of curtailing all farm
prices that would keep food prices down for everyone, they made the Food Stamp
program to support the people who were the least able to pay the higher prices.
After farming morphed into "agri-business" and factory farming, the
business owners wanted the money paid to them directly. Republican legislators
being the business-friendly people they are, made it so. Food Stamps which were
a performance measured system that assured people could afford to eat was turned
into a subsidy for business owners that has zero accountability or requirement
that anyone actually eats.
Something else happened along the way. Businesses learned that
by chipping a potato they could turn an 84ȼ potato
into a $4 bag of chips. Of course the humble potato is only an example of the
processing of produce into ready-to-eat food-like merchandise. Retail stores
also found it useful to sell heated meals, e.g. hotdogs, burritos, pizzas, etc.
The lines blurred between farm produced groceries and "convenience
foods" that were popular but less nutritious. Sodas instead of milk,
fat-free milk instead of whole pasteurized milk.
I was in line at the supermarket when the cashier told the woman in line ahead of me that she could not buy the fat-free milk because it was not for her children as required. The clerk was only following what the cash register was reporting about the purchase rules. The price was the same. I gave her my gallon and took hers saying, "meet me outside."
There is a reason that there is a
SNAP program. In 2014 there were 22,699,000 households consisting of 46,535,o00
human beings whose access to income was so low that they needed my (and your)
help to buy enough food. Most households that receive SNAP funds have at least
one wage earner in it. This means that there are 22.7 million EMPLOYEES who are
paid too little to be able to buy food along with all the other necessary things
like rent, heat, medicine, telephone service, transportation, child day care
and clothes.
If everyone who receives SNAP
funds could get by with a second job in the household, the economy would need
an additional 22.7 million additional jobs just for them. Then the household
would need a whole another job to pay for the child daycare so that mon could
work another 40 hours per week. Maybe we
need to define marriage as being among three adults (or four) to be able to
live by work alone. Work that is as defined by the business owners who think
they know the value of labor as did Henry ford in his day.
The average monthly household
SNAP payment equates to $1.46 per hour based on a 40-hour work week. Let's just
agree that nobody is getting rich on SNAP money.
So why is it that conservative
politicians and legislators are shaming SNAP recipients for their need for
subsidy when the businesses just want the money directly? Well there is your
answer. The businesses want the money directly not through a process where they
must perform to get it. Farm subsidies are like insurance. They get the money
when the crop yield fails. They get the money when the government thinks that
farmers are planting too much of something and they pay out to not plant. They
get paid when there are too many chickens or too few.
The economy paid out $70 Billion
in 2014 for SNAP payments. This means that a lot of families and children were
able to eat as well as than if their employers actually paid a living wage.
We taxpayers pay one way or the
other. We pay so people can eat or we pay so that businesses can be profitable.
The act of shaming the person who must use the money to feed their family is unconscionable.
After all the economy really doesn't care on what the SNAP funds are spent as
long as the industry gets 100% of the money (less of course the bank's
transaction fees.) It appears to be a struggle between the various "food"
producers to get a larger share of the pie and the consumer is the scapegoat.
Prohibitions imposed by state
legislatures include, shellfish, soda, condiments, meat, prepared hot meals,
food at casinos or on cruise ships, etc. It is just like the Blue Laws ofyesteryear where a store owner wanted to be closed on Sundays and wanted to be
assured that his infidel competition was not going to be selling similar
products on Sunday.
With such laws stores variously
could not sell spray paint or paint brushes but could sell paint in cans.
Alcohol is still regularly not sold on Sundays. One could sell cigarettes but
not sell matches. So stores began giving away the matches. The entire system
was designed to limit the competition and assure a higher sales quota for those
with the influence. It is the same way with SNAP purchase restrictions except
that the buyer is disparaged as part of the plan.
Limiting SNAP total funding is a
matter of Legislative debate and action. Limiting what can be purchased is a
"gimme" to the lobby of the influential retail markets couched in the
wrapper of being concerned about propriety of fund use and good eating habits
of low-income people. Come on, when did a Republican legislature ever be
concerned about the health and safety of any human population? Everything they do is economically driven for one business or another.
TweetTweet This Post
Non-sequitur ALERT!
See more at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/mat-staver-kindergartners-will-be-forced-same-sex-relationships-following-supreme-court-marr#sthash.1pNgrJ7I.dpuf
Mat Staver urged conservative Christians to engage in "peaceful resistance” to the Supreme Court’s ruling. Likening the fight against marriage equality to the fight for racial equality, Staver said, “This is the Rosa Parks on the bus. If they tell you to go to the back of the bus because your skin color doesn’t match what they want, don’t go to the back of the bus. This is the time for peaceful resistance, and this is the time to stand with people who are engaged in peaceful resistance.”- See more at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/mat-staver-kindergartners-will-be-forced-same-sex-relationships-following-supreme-court-marr#sthash.AGZsS1RJ.dpuf
The big difference is that Rosa Parks stood AGAINST discrimination whereas Mat Staver and all Christian Conservatives who would listen to him and act in accordance are promoting and supporting discrimination. Are they really that ignorant? "If you are gay, get thee to the back of the bus."
TweetTweet This Post
Twits Will Say Anything For Money or Attention
Twits will
say anything for money or attention. Sometimes it is both. Other times they say
their silly things because they actually believe what they say and THAT itself
makes them a Twit.
A case in
point:
"Carbon dioxide,
Mister Speaker, is a natural byproduct of nature. Carbon dioxide is natural. It
occurs in Earth. It is a part of the regular lifecycle of Earth. In fact, life
on planet Earth can’t even exist without carbon dioxide. So necessary is it to human
life, to animal life, to plant life, to the oceans, to the vegetation that’s on
the Earth, to the, to the fowl that — that flies in the air, we need to have
carbon dioxide as part of the fundamental lifecycle of Earth." ~Michelle
Bachmann
She might
have heard Mike
Adams try to make his point that CO2 in important in the production of
plane material, some of which we eat, some of which we wear, and some of which
we use to build houses. While Mike's ascertains are technically accurate, he
doesn't discuss the negative impacts of excessive CO2 in the atmosphere such as
acidification of the oceans, heat retention in the atmosphere or how
accelerated plant growth might be diminishing the quality of the plant
products. While bigger more colorful pansies and petunias may be valuable, the
food value of corn and wheat may not experience the same benefits.
Most
physical systems respond in a Bell Curve fashion. Too much or too little of
something is detrimental while the middle ground levels are the better numbers.
We can use
the wind as another example. Wind is natural. It is a good and necessary force
of Nature. We need it to feel comfortable on a Summer day. We need it to blow
the air pollution elsewhere. Too much of it is a wrecking crew, tornado and
musser of new hair dos. Too little of it and we get stagnation and pollutant buildups.
Rain is the
same way. Too much and we get a flood and too little and we get a drought. Just
right and the crops grow and can be harvested. Only a Twit would suggest that
more rain is a good thing when the ground is already saturated or inundated
from previous rainfall. The problem is
we have people who seek money and attention trying to tell the tale of a
Corporate agenda that wants to push the conditions represented by the Bell
Curve further off the center because that is where the profits are.
Days that
are too hot or too cold sells natural gas and electricity. If we were all
living in that center range of the Bell, energy consumption would be lower.
Other
Twit-ness for Sale and Display
When it is
open season on hiring Twits just about every topic will be addressed at one
time or another. During this period of time in the run-up to the 2016
Presidential election, we are getting all the Twit out before the camera and
the publics' eyes. While 25 out of 26 Republican candidates will fail to get
the nomination of the GOP, they still carry the messages that their sponsors
hand them along with the PAC check.
Too many
live births leads to a growing population. Too few live births leads to a collapse of the population. On the average the
birth rate in the world seems to be just right. It is only when one looks at a
specific sub-population that worrisome trends arise that makes political
sponsors fret and sweat. Too many
Hispanic babies in the USA makes whites nervous. But too few white babies also
leads to the changing ratio of whose population is bigger and more influential.
Consumer goods and services providers really only care about the total
population which translates into gross sales. They hire politicians and
pseudo-celebrity faces to tout their positions.
Gay
marriages are less likely to produce numerous new consumer-babies. Many new
couples have waited decades to marry and Now are not going to produce new
children. Even the "child bearing/producing" aged couples are more likely
to adopt an existing child rather than make a new one. This doesn't sit well
with the supplier of monetized services and the plethora of consumer goods that
earn revenues for the businesses.
Therefore it
is no wonder that Republicans are more pro-quantity-of-life while
Democrats are more pro-quality-of-life".
Donald Trump
is paid to say bad things about immigrants and he gets major attention when he
does. Who does he think populates the housekeeping staff at his any every other
hotel in the States? I suppose that he thinks that only undocumented immigrants
crossing the Mexico border bring drugs, disease and rapists to America. He uses
the Twit Portion of his brain to say such ignorant things and get a spattering
of applause from other Twits who like what he says.
The examples
of Twits saying Twit things way too numerous to keep going here.
TweetTweet This Post
Saturday, June 27, 2015
For Sunday, June 28, 2015 the TOD is (drum roll) Jim Inhofe!
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), a leading Senate conservative, today made the following statement about the Supreme Court’s decision on same-sex marriage.
“I am disappointed by today’s Supreme Court decision. My position on this issue is clear and has not changed. It is unfortunate that the Court took it upon itself to decide for the people what was being appropriately debated and decided in the states through the democratic process.” Imhofe website.
For Sunday, June 28, 2015 the TOD is (drum roll) Jim Inhofe!
His comment that marriage rights are "appropriately debated and decided in the states through the democratic process" is a statement that only a Twit can understand. This is equivalent to a state legislature voting to decide that people of a national heritage, genetic background, or religious persuasion are property and can be bought, sold, and worked to death. It is the same as those representative bodies debating and voting to incarcerate a person for not swearing allegiance to the flag or for not believing in a god.
His belief that it is appropriate to allow common rights to people on one side of a street to be granted that is denied on the other side. Yes, there are places where streets form state boundaries. There are just some aspects of human existence that no matter how long the right has not been recognized or has been actively denied, it is inappropriate to continue even for a day to fail to recognize the right.
Let's look at a Constitution right that the Supreme Court ruled on that flies in the face of EVERY human being. Corporations are people in the sense that they have rights to free speech and religious faith that can inform who they do business with and what benefits they provide to their employees. I personally think this is a travesty of Justices but for now it is the law of the land. Supreme Court Justices are not immune from Twit-like decisions. One can only hope that a future Congress will act to undo that damage as well as other corporation-friendly rulings that injure humans.
You know, there are just some aspects of human society that can't be legislated at a geographical level. Unfortunately, the United Stated, no matter how much it wishes it to be true, cannot legislate beyond its own borders. However, within them they can be consistent.
Feeble Symbolic Resistance
There are forces of social change that bring great good and those that bring great evils. There are those forces that depending on who you are and what you believe are either good or evil in your own mind. The relative good or evil of some forces of change can be debated ad naseum without there being a satisfactory solution or reconciliation of the positional camps.
In the days of the American Revolution and separation from England, there were those people who felt that such an undertaking was a terribly bad thing to do. There were loyalist to the Crown who at the outset might have been heroes, but were hanged for their actions and positions.
Patrick Henry is variously credited with saying some version of "give me liberty or give me death" to motivate Virginia to commit troops in the Revolutionary War. While the stature of these men has grown over the centuries, they were but ordinary men in their time.
Today we must endure the rhetoric of men who would like to be great leaders except that they are on the wrong side of what will become history in short order.
There is a tidal surge of support for the social changes that are manifest in our time. The upheld Affordable Care Act and the marriage equality rulings of the Supreme Court are but two such components of the wave that is sweeping over America. Anyone one who tries to stand that tide will be washed away by it and relegated to posterity as a fool who thought he was wise.
A generation ago Governor George Wallace defied the Civil Rights Act and desegregation of his state and in a largely symbolic stance, stood in the doorway at the University of Alabama in 1963 to keep it segregated. Later in his life he renounced his racial segregation position even though he was on the wrong side of change in 1963.
In our time a dozen or so republican candidate hopefuls each make their feeble stand against the overwhelming tide to assert their beliefs for inequality much like Governor Wallace did 52 years ago. However on the stage today there is no symbolic university doorway in which to make the stand. Back then National Guard troops could escort black students into newly desegregated schools and arrest any man or woman who stood in the way.
Health care signups are more virtual and can be accomplished anywhere there is Internet access and a computer. Every county has an office where a marriage license may be obtained, so no governor is capable of performing a Wallace-esque stand your ground act. All further disputes about access to health care sign up or marriage license issuance will be handled in the courts with no armed military necessary. The collective Twit universe will ultimately fail to stop what has begun.
The dispute over marriage equality is not yet over, and will drag on probably for decades. To many people the American Civil War is still not over until the South rises again. The disagreement concerning Civil Rights, disability rights, desegregation, and the integration of school is still being waged these 52 years later.
As long as there are politicians and pseudo-celebrity personalities stoking the fires there will be twit-followers who talk up the rhetoric and carry it forward in relay-race fashion for yet another generation.
Actually all this resistance to the Affordable Care Act (aka ObamaCare) will serve to be the leading force of change that will eventually become a Single-payer Health Care system rather than the medical insurance industry it has become.
Friday, June 26, 2015
Extra Edition - Twit of the Day
Texas Gov. Abbott has no idea what "religious liberty" is. Religious liberty is not being tied to a stake and being burned because your dogma differs from the man with the torch. Religious liberty is being able to choose which god you think will destroy the world if you allow other people to choose their own mores, customs and rituals. Religious liberty is NOT persecuting those others due to your own fears. Religious liberties are NOT something you practice yourself but deny to others. Religious liberties are not trumped by civil rights that are granted by the Constitution of the United States and are duly interpreted by (presently) nine appointed Justices that are confirmed by the elected Congress of the United States.
Gov. Greg Abbott is a Twit among other more legalese defined criminal types, for example Sedition-ist. He has come out openly to say that he will order other Americans to defy the Federal government and the Constitution.
The echo machine is already trying to besmirch the Supreme Court by labeling them "Imperialist".
Right-wing Conservatives liken their distaste for same-sex marriage to such things as the Holocaust, the reign of Joseph Stalin, and Hitler. They love playing the victim. They think that if they are flailing someone with a stick and that person strikes back it is an attack of their faith. For the government to tall them that beating people with stick is not allowed, THAT is an attack on their religious liberties since they have been beating people with sticks for centuries.
Now today when the Supreme Court says that no state in the Union may abridge the rights of any two adults to be married and benefit from all the rights and responsibilities that any two other adults may
enjoy, THAT is an attack on their traditional hatreds of people who don't believe as they do. Marriage has always been a duality in Western civilization. There is a religious and spiritual facet and there is a legal facet.
The legal facets of marriage confer rights of inheritance, parental rights, property rights, surviving spouse Social Security rights, pension rights, and health insurance and life insurance beneficiary rights. These are all the rights that Gov. Abbott would deny to the at least one-half of every same-sex marriage couple. Now THAT would be denying equal protection under the law.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)