I'm having too much fun to stop now, so...
monday quote: I intend to live forever. So far, so good. (Steven Wright, Comedian, 1955- )
Monday, December 31, 2012
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Quick Fact - Maine is Broke, Governor's Solution is to Keep the People Stupid
During his run for governor in Maine, Republican Paul LePage called for lowering taxes on businesses saying that he was sure it would help Maine "to compete worldwide". He was quoted as saying that he would prefer that Maine would “have no corporate tax at all”. Once he gained the governorship, he didn’t go quite that far, but last year he did sign into law that state’s largest tax cuts ever.
Today Maine is facing a loss of $400M in revenue over the next two years. All the losses can be traced to the tax cuts that Gov. LePage signed in 2011.
So rather than rethink his obvious disastrous tax reduction stance, he has ordered immediate spending cuts totaing $35.5M, with nearly $12M of that coming from funding for education.
That’s great thinking, Gov. LePage. Keep the corporations happy so they’ll fund your next campaign and keep the population stupid so they won’t notice they’re getting fleeced.
Today Maine is facing a loss of $400M in revenue over the next two years. All the losses can be traced to the tax cuts that Gov. LePage signed in 2011.
So rather than rethink his obvious disastrous tax reduction stance, he has ordered immediate spending cuts totaing $35.5M, with nearly $12M of that coming from funding for education.
That’s great thinking, Gov. LePage. Keep the corporations happy so they’ll fund your next campaign and keep the population stupid so they won’t notice they’re getting fleeced.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Eye Recommend --- All I Want for Christmas is a New G.O.P.
ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS A NEW G.O.P., by Mark McKinnon -- http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/12/24/all-i-want-for-christmas-is-a-new-gop.html
On December 24, Mark McKinnon, former Bush aide, published his scathing review of the G.O.P. He specifically attacks Republican intransigence on taxes and the fiscal cliff:
“And so voters look at the ‘negotiations’ and see on one side the president—the guy who just won the election by a substantial margin—willing to compromise by lowering his revenue target from $1.6 trillion to $1.2 trillion and moving the goalpost for tax-rate increases from $250,000 a year to $400,000 a year. And on the other side, they see Republicans…responding with a one-finger salute to everything.”
He goes on to pretty much sum up the current mind-set of the Republican party, (the underlines are mine):
“Increasingly, it is becoming clear that the party is against everything and for nothing.
Nothing on taxes. Nothing on gun control. Nothing on climate change. Nothing on gay marriage. Nothing on immigration reform (or an incremental, piece-by-piece approach, which will result in nothing). It's a very odd situation when the losing party is the party refusing to negotiate. It may be how you disrupt, but it is not how you govern, or how you ever hope to regain a majority.
And so, we have a Republican Party today willing to eliminate any prospect for a decent future for anyone, including itself, if it cannot be a future that is 100 percent in accordance with its core beliefs and principles. That's not governing. That's just lobbing hand grenades. If you're only standing on principle to appear taller, then you appear smaller. And the GOP is shrinking daily before our eyes."
On December 24, Mark McKinnon, former Bush aide, published his scathing review of the G.O.P. He specifically attacks Republican intransigence on taxes and the fiscal cliff:
“And so voters look at the ‘negotiations’ and see on one side the president—the guy who just won the election by a substantial margin—willing to compromise by lowering his revenue target from $1.6 trillion to $1.2 trillion and moving the goalpost for tax-rate increases from $250,000 a year to $400,000 a year. And on the other side, they see Republicans…responding with a one-finger salute to everything.”
He goes on to pretty much sum up the current mind-set of the Republican party, (the underlines are mine):
“Increasingly, it is becoming clear that the party is against everything and for nothing.
Nothing on taxes. Nothing on gun control. Nothing on climate change. Nothing on gay marriage. Nothing on immigration reform (or an incremental, piece-by-piece approach, which will result in nothing). It's a very odd situation when the losing party is the party refusing to negotiate. It may be how you disrupt, but it is not how you govern, or how you ever hope to regain a majority.
And so, we have a Republican Party today willing to eliminate any prospect for a decent future for anyone, including itself, if it cannot be a future that is 100 percent in accordance with its core beliefs and principles. That's not governing. That's just lobbing hand grenades. If you're only standing on principle to appear taller, then you appear smaller. And the GOP is shrinking daily before our eyes."
Friday, December 28, 2012
The Second Amendment -- Time for a Rewrite
what eye thynk: The Second Amendment was written to protect American lives from foreign enemies. Instead, it has become a corporate sponsored vehicle for us to destroy ourselves from within.
- Where are the leaders honest enough to admit we must change?
- Where are the leaders fearless enough to stand up and tell the NRA "Enough!"?
- Where are the leaders strong enough to say American lives are worth more than the money you pour into our campaign coffers?
- Where are our leaders?
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Eye Recommend --- Legal Curbs Said to Hamper A.T.F. in Gun Inquiries
LEGAL CURBS SAID TO HAMPER A.T.F. IN GUN INQUIRIES, by Erica Goode and Sheryl Gay Stolberg -- http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/26/us/legislative-handcuffs-limit-atfs-ability-to-fight-gun-crime.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
I was aware that the A.T.F. has been without a permanent director for the past six years, ever since the NRA goaded Congress into deciding that the position required Senate confirmation; but I did not know how antiquated the A.T.F. methods are or how restricted they are in helping to prohibit gun violence thanks to NRA backed laws passed by a Congress afraid to say "no".
"For example, under current laws the bureau is prohibited from creating a federal registry of gun transactions...
...When law enforcement officers recover a gun and serial number, workers at the bureau’s National Tracing Center here...begin making their way through a series of phone calls, asking first the manufacturer, then the wholesaler and finally the dealer to search their files to identify the buyer of the firearm. About a third of the time, the process involves digging through records sent in by companies that have closed, in many cases searching by hand through cardboard boxes filled with computer printouts, hand-scrawled index cards or even water-stained sheets of paper...
...(The Firearm Owners Protection Act) reduced the falsification of records by dealers to a misdemeanor and put in place vague language defining what it meant to 'engage in business' without a dealer’s license...(The Tiarht amendments) limit the A.T.F.’s ability to share tracing information on firearms linked to crimes with local and state law enforcement agencies and with the public."
I was aware that the A.T.F. has been without a permanent director for the past six years, ever since the NRA goaded Congress into deciding that the position required Senate confirmation; but I did not know how antiquated the A.T.F. methods are or how restricted they are in helping to prohibit gun violence thanks to NRA backed laws passed by a Congress afraid to say "no".
"For example, under current laws the bureau is prohibited from creating a federal registry of gun transactions...
...When law enforcement officers recover a gun and serial number, workers at the bureau’s National Tracing Center here...begin making their way through a series of phone calls, asking first the manufacturer, then the wholesaler and finally the dealer to search their files to identify the buyer of the firearm. About a third of the time, the process involves digging through records sent in by companies that have closed, in many cases searching by hand through cardboard boxes filled with computer printouts, hand-scrawled index cards or even water-stained sheets of paper...
...In an age when data is often available with a few keystrokes, the A.T.F. is forced to follow this manual routine because the idea of establishing a central database of gun transactions has been rejected by lawmakers in Congress, who have sided with the National Rifle Association, which argues that such a database poses a threat to the Second Amendment...
...(The Firearm Owners Protection Act) reduced the falsification of records by dealers to a misdemeanor and put in place vague language defining what it meant to 'engage in business' without a dealer’s license...(The Tiarht amendments) limit the A.T.F.’s ability to share tracing information on firearms linked to crimes with local and state law enforcement agencies and with the public."
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Monday, December 24, 2012
Quick Fact - Colorado Oil and Gas Suing Denver Over Fracking Vote
Here we go again! (See my post of December 19 re: Michigan Legislature Ready to Replace Law Struck Down by Voters in November.)
In November, Denver voters passed a law that prohibits fracking within city limits. The Colorado Oil and Gas Association has filed a lawsuit to overturn the vote. They are saying that voters had no right to ban the drilling practice.
So elections only count if you agree with the results? Next thing you know, Mitt will be showing up in Washington in January ready to take the oath of office.
In November, Denver voters passed a law that prohibits fracking within city limits. The Colorado Oil and Gas Association has filed a lawsuit to overturn the vote. They are saying that voters had no right to ban the drilling practice.
So elections only count if you agree with the results? Next thing you know, Mitt will be showing up in Washington in January ready to take the oath of office.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Saturday, December 22, 2012
NRA "Meaningful" Response Is Meaningless
In response to the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, the NRA promised "meaningful contributions" to prevent more gun violence. After several days of silence, the NRA finally spoke on Friday. Represented by NRA Vice President Wayne LaPierre, the NRA advocated that Congress should "appropriate whatever is necessary" in order to place armed police offices in every school in the United States.
what eye thynk: This is their idea of “meaningful contributions”?!
The Second Amendment was added to our Constitution to compensate for our lack of a standing army. It had nothing to do with gun ownership “rights”--it was simply an expedient way for our nascent nation to defend itself.
In the era of muzzle loading long guns, our forefathers could not have envisioned the damage that a rabid, corporate funded NRA would inflict on this country with their inability to exercise any restraint or common sense on the issue of gun ownership. When a young man tried to blow up an airplane by putting explosives in his shoes, we all started going through airport security in our socks. Another young man murders 20 babies with an assault rifle and the NRA’s answer is more guns. Where is the logic in this? The NRA, and their gun manufacturing corporate sponsors, continue to push the envelope--hidden carry permits, open carry permits, guns on campus, guns in churches, guns in bars, guns in parks, bigger guns with larger magazines… All, of course, under the guise of self-protection and/or sport.
Really, if you’re protecting yourself, do you need an assault rifle? It is not a machine designed for protection, nor--as the NRA and assault rifle owners would have us believe--is it a machine designed for hunting. The name says it all--ASSAULT rifle, designed for military use as an ASSAULT weapon…period.
As for the growing vogue of larger magazines, if you’re a hunter and you need a 100 shot magazine to bag a deer, maybe you should look for a sport more suited to your abilities because you obviously are no marksman.
And now, the NRA’s answer to the proliferation of gun related violence, is not to step back and re-evaluate our society’s love affair with guns and their role in it; but, instead to turn every school into an armed fortress with armed guards and gun-toting principals and teachers. Do we really want our children to be greeted each school day by a flak-jacketed guard toting a Bushmaster .223 assault rifle? Because surely a police issue 15 shot semi-automatic pistol is not going to be defense enough against an assailant armed with the latest in NRA backed military style firepower. Do we really want a visit to the principal’s office to include a view of a rifle rack? Or how about that shoulder holster peeking out from the teacher’s jacket? What kind of message does this give to our children?
Despite what the NRA would have us believe, the answer is not more guns, but fewer. The answer is not looser gun laws, but more gun control. There are too many guns in this country for us to ever become completely gun free, but common sense should dictate that the type of guns that can legally be owned by any private citizen must be tightly regulated. Military type assault weapons or large magazines are not “rights” that are covered by our Second Amendment.
We don't need more gun owners but better vetted gun owners. We should start by closing the gaping loophole in our background check law. It makes no sense that a person who wants to purchase a small caliber hand gun for target shooting must wait three days for a background check at a gun shop, while a person bent on mass destruction can drop into a gun show, hand over the purchase price of an AK47 and walk out with his weapon of choice minutes later.
In the end, gun regulations and closer gun buyer screenings, while providing an excellent place to start, are not the whole answer. As I mentioned in a post earlier this week, until December 14, Adam Lanza was a law abiding citizen, legally able to purchase any gun on the market.
Until we face the fact that the Second Amendment has been turned into nothing more than a legal vehicle for gun manufacturers to make a profit, any "answer" is meaningless. It’s time to put our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness before the right of someone--or some corporation--bent on destroying all three.
Eye also recommend: THE NRA CRAWLS FROM ITS HIDEY HOLE, New York Times editorial --
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/22/opinion/the-nra-crawls-from-its-hidey-hole.html?_r=0
"No one seriously believed the N.R.A. when it said it would contribute something “meaningful” to the discussion about gun violence. The organization’s very existence is predicated on the nation being torn in half over guns. Still, we were stunned by Mr. LaPierre’s mendacious, delusional, almost deranged rant. "
what eye thynk: This is their idea of “meaningful contributions”?!
The Second Amendment was added to our Constitution to compensate for our lack of a standing army. It had nothing to do with gun ownership “rights”--it was simply an expedient way for our nascent nation to defend itself.
In the era of muzzle loading long guns, our forefathers could not have envisioned the damage that a rabid, corporate funded NRA would inflict on this country with their inability to exercise any restraint or common sense on the issue of gun ownership. When a young man tried to blow up an airplane by putting explosives in his shoes, we all started going through airport security in our socks. Another young man murders 20 babies with an assault rifle and the NRA’s answer is more guns. Where is the logic in this? The NRA, and their gun manufacturing corporate sponsors, continue to push the envelope--hidden carry permits, open carry permits, guns on campus, guns in churches, guns in bars, guns in parks, bigger guns with larger magazines… All, of course, under the guise of self-protection and/or sport.
Really, if you’re protecting yourself, do you need an assault rifle? It is not a machine designed for protection, nor--as the NRA and assault rifle owners would have us believe--is it a machine designed for hunting. The name says it all--ASSAULT rifle, designed for military use as an ASSAULT weapon…period.
As for the growing vogue of larger magazines, if you’re a hunter and you need a 100 shot magazine to bag a deer, maybe you should look for a sport more suited to your abilities because you obviously are no marksman.
And now, the NRA’s answer to the proliferation of gun related violence, is not to step back and re-evaluate our society’s love affair with guns and their role in it; but, instead to turn every school into an armed fortress with armed guards and gun-toting principals and teachers. Do we really want our children to be greeted each school day by a flak-jacketed guard toting a Bushmaster .223 assault rifle? Because surely a police issue 15 shot semi-automatic pistol is not going to be defense enough against an assailant armed with the latest in NRA backed military style firepower. Do we really want a visit to the principal’s office to include a view of a rifle rack? Or how about that shoulder holster peeking out from the teacher’s jacket? What kind of message does this give to our children?
Despite what the NRA would have us believe, the answer is not more guns, but fewer. The answer is not looser gun laws, but more gun control. There are too many guns in this country for us to ever become completely gun free, but common sense should dictate that the type of guns that can legally be owned by any private citizen must be tightly regulated. Military type assault weapons or large magazines are not “rights” that are covered by our Second Amendment.
We don't need more gun owners but better vetted gun owners. We should start by closing the gaping loophole in our background check law. It makes no sense that a person who wants to purchase a small caliber hand gun for target shooting must wait three days for a background check at a gun shop, while a person bent on mass destruction can drop into a gun show, hand over the purchase price of an AK47 and walk out with his weapon of choice minutes later.
In the end, gun regulations and closer gun buyer screenings, while providing an excellent place to start, are not the whole answer. As I mentioned in a post earlier this week, until December 14, Adam Lanza was a law abiding citizen, legally able to purchase any gun on the market.
Until we face the fact that the Second Amendment has been turned into nothing more than a legal vehicle for gun manufacturers to make a profit, any "answer" is meaningless. It’s time to put our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness before the right of someone--or some corporation--bent on destroying all three.
Eye also recommend: THE NRA CRAWLS FROM ITS HIDEY HOLE, New York Times editorial --
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/22/opinion/the-nra-crawls-from-its-hidey-hole.html?_r=0
"No one seriously believed the N.R.A. when it said it would contribute something “meaningful” to the discussion about gun violence. The organization’s very existence is predicated on the nation being torn in half over guns. Still, we were stunned by Mr. LaPierre’s mendacious, delusional, almost deranged rant. "
Friday, December 21, 2012
Eye Recommend --- Boehner Cancels Tax Vote in Face of G.O.P Revolt --- (Or as I like to call it: Mr. Boehner Suffers Another Embarrassing Takedown)
BOEHNER CANCELS TAX VOTE IN FACE OF G.O.P. REVOLT, by Jonathan Weisman -- http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/21/us/politics/house-moves-toward-vote-on-boehners-backup-plan.html?_r=0
"What he could not do was blame Democrats for failing to take up legislation he could not even get through his own membership in the House...
I find it hard to believe that John Boehner thought this obvious piece of political gamemanship would work. But what really amazes me is that the Tea Party Repubicans' reason for refusing to support Mr. Boehner's Plan B appears to be the simple fact that it raised taxes on those making over $1M. Really? These uber-conservative Republicans will do anything to avoid standing up to Grover Norquist. How gutless and how sad.
"What he could not do was blame Democrats for failing to take up legislation he could not even get through his own membership in the House...
...The point of the Boehner effort was to secure passage of a Republican plan, then demand that the president and the Senate to take up that measure and pass it, putting off the major fights until early next year when Republicans would conceivably have more leverage because of the need to increase the federal debt limit. It would also allow Republicans to claim it was Democrats who had caused taxes to rise after the first of the year had no agreement been reached.
That strategy lay in tatters after the Republican implosion.
Opponents said they were not about to bend their uncompromising principles on taxes just because Mr. Boehner asked...
...'It has been deeply troubling that Speaker Boehner has spent day after day on the road to nowhere; making it clear Republicans are having trouble governing and only putting us closer to the fiscal cliff,' said Representative Sander M. Levin of Michigan, the senior Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee."
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Quick Fact - Michigan Legislature Ready to Replace Law Struck Down by Voters in November
In November, Michigan voters struck down their state's emergency manager law.
Last Thursday, Michigan's Republican led legislature cleared the way for Governor Rick Snyder to sign a law that will replace the same law the people voted against just a few weeks ago.
Why even bother to have an election?
Last Thursday, Michigan's Republican led legislature cleared the way for Governor Rick Snyder to sign a law that will replace the same law the people voted against just a few weeks ago.
Why even bother to have an election?
Quick Fact - Ohio's Governor Ready to Make Carrying a Gun Easier
On Tuesday--and despite the Sandy Hook tragedy--Ohio Governor John Kasich said that he is ready to sign legislation that would make it legal to keep a loaded gun in your car at the Statehouse garage and would also make it easier to renew a gun license and to carry a concealed weapon. He explained his decision this way: "I think, as we move forward, whatever we do, we don't want to erode the second ammendment rights of law-abiding citizens."
Mr. Kasich, up until last Friday, Adam Lanza was a law-abiding citizen.
Mr. Kasich, up until last Friday, Adam Lanza was a law-abiding citizen.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
God Hates No One
This photo was taken in Topeka, Kansas on May 16, 2012 as Westboro Baptist Church members demonstrated during Washburn University's commencement weekend. The nine year old boy was walking with his mother, when he staged his own counter-demonstration. His small, penciled sign reads "God Hates No One".
what eye thynk: It is telling that the Westboro Baptist demonstrator has turned his back to the camera to hide his face, while the young boy holding his small sign looks directly into the lens. His spontaneous reaction and homemade sign are so much more powerful than the factory designed hate wielded by the members of Westboro Baptist Church.
Westboro Baptist leadership had threatened to bring a similar demonstration to Newtown to "(sing) praise to God for the glory of his work in executing his judgment". Angel Action, a volunteer group that dresses in ten foot wings and stands between Westboro demonstrators and grieving families at military funerals said they were ready to come to Newtown if Westboro went through with their threat.
Westboro Baptist leadership had threatened to bring a similar demonstration to Newtown to "(sing) praise to God for the glory of his work in executing his judgment". Angel Action, a volunteer group that dresses in ten foot wings and stands between Westboro demonstrators and grieving families at military funerals said they were ready to come to Newtown if Westboro went through with their threat.
Apparently the Westboro hate-mongers have backed off from their plans and the 26 funerals will be allowed to go on in peace.
Amen.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Christian Right - Where is the Love?
Spokespersons for the conservative Christian right responding to the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut on Friday…
The American Family Association's Bryan Fischer: “God could have protected the gunman's victims”, but chose not to because "God is not going to go where he is not wanted."
Mike Huckabee: “Well, you know, it's an interesting thing. We ask why there is violence in our schools but we have systematically removed God from our schools. Should we be so surprised that schools would become a place of carnage?”
Mike Huckabee, when asked by Fox News to expand on his earlier statement: “Christian-owned businesses are told to surrender their values under the edict of government orders to provide tax-funded abortion pills. We carefully and intentionally stop saying things are sinful and we call them disorders. Sometimes, we even say they’re normal. And to get to where we have to abandon bed rock moral truths, then we ask ‘well, where was God?’ And I respond that, as I see it, we’ve escorted him out of our culture and marched him off the public square and then we express our surprise that a culture without him reflects what it’s become.”
Shirley Phelps-Roper, member of the Westboro Baptist Church on Twitter: “Westboro will picket Sandy Hook Elementary School to sing praise to God for the glory of his work in executing his judgement”.
Margie Phelps-Roper, member of the same church, blamed the mass shooting on “fag marriage”. In response to President Obama’s call for meaningful action, she tweeted “Yes. Stop marrying fags & mourn for your sins”.
Other WBC members tweeted using hash tags like #FagMarriageDoomsCT, #GodSentThe Shooter and #TeachYourChildrenToFear God.
what eye thynk: John 4:8 - Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Without love, where is Christ in these Christians? They are so busy promoting their own warped values that ordinary human compassion has become a concept beyond their ken. Christ without compassion is simply un-Christian.
To borrow a phrase from my husband, “These people are taking the Lord’s name in vain”.
Mike Huckabee: “Well, you know, it's an interesting thing. We ask why there is violence in our schools but we have systematically removed God from our schools. Should we be so surprised that schools would become a place of carnage?”
Mike Huckabee, when asked by Fox News to expand on his earlier statement: “Christian-owned businesses are told to surrender their values under the edict of government orders to provide tax-funded abortion pills. We carefully and intentionally stop saying things are sinful and we call them disorders. Sometimes, we even say they’re normal. And to get to where we have to abandon bed rock moral truths, then we ask ‘well, where was God?’ And I respond that, as I see it, we’ve escorted him out of our culture and marched him off the public square and then we express our surprise that a culture without him reflects what it’s become.”
Shirley Phelps-Roper, member of the Westboro Baptist Church on Twitter: “Westboro will picket Sandy Hook Elementary School to sing praise to God for the glory of his work in executing his judgement”.
Margie Phelps-Roper, member of the same church, blamed the mass shooting on “fag marriage”. In response to President Obama’s call for meaningful action, she tweeted “Yes. Stop marrying fags & mourn for your sins”.
Other WBC members tweeted using hash tags like #FagMarriageDoomsCT, #GodSentThe Shooter and #TeachYourChildrenToFear God.
what eye thynk: John 4:8 - Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Without love, where is Christ in these Christians? They are so busy promoting their own warped values that ordinary human compassion has become a concept beyond their ken. Christ without compassion is simply un-Christian.
To borrow a phrase from my husband, “These people are taking the Lord’s name in vain”.
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, Connecticut
Yesterday, in a small town in Connecticut, a young man killed 28 people, including his mother and himself; 20 of those killed were children.
what eye thynk: I have looked at jihadists in the Middle East and thought: what is wrong with these people? What makes them go out and kill total strangers in the name of God? I wondered about a culture where killing people you've never met, people who may be just like you or as different as the desert and the ocean, people who become victims only because they needed to buy flour on the day you decided to blow up the town market. And I felt superior.
Today, I look at our latest shooting tragedy and I realize, we are not better, we are not even close enough to look up and see the soles of their shoes. Jihadists have a purpose--albeit unfathomable to anyone born in our culture--they kill in the name of their faith. And those they kill are faceless strangers.
But yesterday, before turning the gun on himself, a young man murdered 27 people, one at a time, face to face, some of whom he knew personally, 20 of them blameless children. There was no call to martyrdom from his local pastor. There was no revenge being taken for a personal affront. There was only the mindless, senseless taking of life.
I cannot imagine what brings a human being to kill another; but whose sin is worse--the one who kills indiscriminately in blind allegiance to his spiritual leader or one who looks into the eyes of each victim he targets with no promise of paradise to dazzle his vision as he pulls the trigger?
I look at jihadists in the Middle East and I still do not understand. But I no longer feel superior.
what eye thynk: I have looked at jihadists in the Middle East and thought: what is wrong with these people? What makes them go out and kill total strangers in the name of God? I wondered about a culture where killing people you've never met, people who may be just like you or as different as the desert and the ocean, people who become victims only because they needed to buy flour on the day you decided to blow up the town market. And I felt superior.
Today, I look at our latest shooting tragedy and I realize, we are not better, we are not even close enough to look up and see the soles of their shoes. Jihadists have a purpose--albeit unfathomable to anyone born in our culture--they kill in the name of their faith. And those they kill are faceless strangers.
But yesterday, before turning the gun on himself, a young man murdered 27 people, one at a time, face to face, some of whom he knew personally, 20 of them blameless children. There was no call to martyrdom from his local pastor. There was no revenge being taken for a personal affront. There was only the mindless, senseless taking of life.
I cannot imagine what brings a human being to kill another; but whose sin is worse--the one who kills indiscriminately in blind allegiance to his spiritual leader or one who looks into the eyes of each victim he targets with no promise of paradise to dazzle his vision as he pulls the trigger?
I look at jihadists in the Middle East and I still do not understand. But I no longer feel superior.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Eye Recommend --- Dinosaurs and Denial
DINOSAURS AND DENIAL, by Charles M. Blow --- http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/08/opinion/blow-dinosaurs-and-denial.html?_r=0
A look at conservative anti-science educational bias:
"This anti-intellectualism is antediluvian. No wonder a 2009 Pew Research Center report found that only 6 percent of scientists identified as Republican and 9 percent identified as conservative...
The Scotsman of Edinburgh reported in June, 'Pupils attending privately run Christian schools in the southern state of Louisiana will learn from textbooks next year, which claim Scotland’s most famous mythological beast is a living creature.' That mythological beast would be the Loch Ness monster.
A look at conservative anti-science educational bias:
"This anti-intellectualism is antediluvian. No wonder a 2009 Pew Research Center report found that only 6 percent of scientists identified as Republican and 9 percent identified as conservative...
The Scotsman of Edinburgh reported in June, 'Pupils attending privately run Christian schools in the southern state of Louisiana will learn from textbooks next year, which claim Scotland’s most famous mythological beast is a living creature.' That mythological beast would be the Loch Ness monster.
The Scotsman continued: 'Thousands of children are to receive publicly funded vouchers enabling them to attend the schools — which follow a strict fundamentalist curriculum. The Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) programme teaches controversial religious beliefs, aimed at disproving evolution and proving creationism.'"
From where will our next generation of scientists come? If this type of education is any indication, surely not from our conservative Southern states. In twenty years, these same conservatives will be trying to figure out how China has passed us by in scientific and technological advancements.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Quick Fact - Rep. Lankford Doesn't Want Democrats to "get what they want".
While discussing extending middle class lower tax rates while allowing low taxes for the highest incomes to expire in January as opposed to allowing all taxes to go up and huge, mandated spending cuts to take place, Representative James Lankford (R-Oklahoma) had this to say: "It is a terrible position because, by default, Democrats get what they want".
No, Mr. Lankford, the PEOPLE get what they want. It is what President Obama ran on and what Mitt Romney ran against. (In case you're still confused--President Obama won.)
No, Mr. Lankford, the PEOPLE get what they want. It is what President Obama ran on and what Mitt Romney ran against. (In case you're still confused--President Obama won.)
Republicans Think We're Stupid. It's Time the American Worker Gave Them an Education.
Thanks to a Republican led legislature and a Republican governor, Michigan is now a right to work state.
An interesting fact that seemed to get lost in all the hoopla, is that prior to this new legislation being passed, Michigan's constitution already granted workers the right to refuse to join a union as a condition for employment. If a worker was willing to accept lower wages and fewer benefits than his union co-worker, he could not be denied a job based on his union status. At the same time, a worker could not benefit from the rights granted through a union contract without contributing to the union in the form of dues.
what eye thynk: That seemed fair to me. If you don't want to pay for the fight, then you shouldn't gain from the victory. But "fair" is not a word with which the Republican party has any meaningful relationship.
Right to work laws are, plain and simple, union busting tactics designed to increase corporate profits at the cost of the average American worker. And increased corporate profits mean more money in Republican re-election coffers.
American workers in the next job generation are looking at downward mobility for the first time since World War II, while corporate profits and executive salaries and bonuses are higher than ever before.
The Republican party apparently thinks we are stupid--too dim-witted to notice the growing disparity, too pin-headed to realize we are financing it, too weak-minded to ever resent our reduced status.
They seem to believe that there will be no worker backlash in the 2014 election. Now THAT'S stupid.
An interesting fact that seemed to get lost in all the hoopla, is that prior to this new legislation being passed, Michigan's constitution already granted workers the right to refuse to join a union as a condition for employment. If a worker was willing to accept lower wages and fewer benefits than his union co-worker, he could not be denied a job based on his union status. At the same time, a worker could not benefit from the rights granted through a union contract without contributing to the union in the form of dues.
what eye thynk: That seemed fair to me. If you don't want to pay for the fight, then you shouldn't gain from the victory. But "fair" is not a word with which the Republican party has any meaningful relationship.
Right to work laws are, plain and simple, union busting tactics designed to increase corporate profits at the cost of the average American worker. And increased corporate profits mean more money in Republican re-election coffers.
American workers in the next job generation are looking at downward mobility for the first time since World War II, while corporate profits and executive salaries and bonuses are higher than ever before.
The Republican party apparently thinks we are stupid--too dim-witted to notice the growing disparity, too pin-headed to realize we are financing it, too weak-minded to ever resent our reduced status.
They seem to believe that there will be no worker backlash in the 2014 election. Now THAT'S stupid.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Quick Fact - Michigan Poised to Join Right to Work States
President Obama summed up Michigan's decision to join the right-to-work movement this way: "You know, these so called right to work laws, they don't have to do with economics. They have everything to do with politics. What they're really talking about is giving you the right to work for less money."
I am amazed that Michigan, a state with an economy that is built on the pro-union auto industry, would even consider this! This seems to me to be a perfect example of politics divesting itself of all common sense. What am I missing?
Monday, December 10, 2012
December 10 - Monday Quote
Think about it...
monday quote: Archbishop - A Christian ecclesiastic of a rank superior to that attained by Christ. (H.L. Mencken, writer, 1880-1956)
monday quote: Archbishop - A Christian ecclesiastic of a rank superior to that attained by Christ. (H.L. Mencken, writer, 1880-1956)
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Quick Question(s) - Texas Defunding Backfires and Planned Parenthood Needs a Re-write
1. In 2011, Texas passed a two year budget that effectively cut all funding for Planned Parenthood over abortion issues, despite the fact that no Planned Parenthood clinic ever used state money to pay for abortions. (They did perform abortions, but that service was funded by private donations.) The Texas budget defunded any clinic that was "affiliated" with abortion providers, thus denying Planned Parenthood any state funding...even for legally available contraception.
With poor women denied access to free contraception, Texas is now facing a Medicaid shortfall as poor women are having babies at a rate higher than expected. It is estimated that the state Medicaid costs for these unplanned babies could go up by $273M in 2014. The Texas legislature is now saying that they may have gone too far in lumping contraception with the abortion issue and perhaps they should re-instate funding for birth control.
??? They deny free birth control, the birth rate sky rockets and they're surprised? What did they think was going to happen?
With poor women denied access to free contraception, Texas is now facing a Medicaid shortfall as poor women are having babies at a rate higher than expected. It is estimated that the state Medicaid costs for these unplanned babies could go up by $273M in 2014. The Texas legislature is now saying that they may have gone too far in lumping contraception with the abortion issue and perhaps they should re-instate funding for birth control.
??? They deny free birth control, the birth rate sky rockets and they're surprised? What did they think was going to happen?
2. One Texas primary care physician was quoted as saying: “I’ve debated this in Republican clubs with people--people who say it’s not the government’s role to provide family planning. Ultimately, they’re right. But you have to look at what happens if we don’t.”
??? Planned Parenthood provides so much more than "family planning". When are they going to get smart and change their name to something less volatile, like maybe Universal Women's Healthcare? Why continue to emphasize the reproductive part of their practice when it makes them such an easy target?
Friday, December 7, 2012
Eye Recommend --- Santorum Strikes Again
SANTORUM STRIKES AGAIN, by Gail Collins --
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/opinion/collins-santorum-strikes-again.html
Ms. Collins' analysis of the failed vote on the U.N. Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities Treaty points out Rick Santorum's small mindedness and Republican Senatorial mindlessness.
"'We did it,' Santorum tweeted in triumph.
...Santorum was upset about a section on children with disabilities that said: 'The best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.'
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/opinion/collins-santorum-strikes-again.html
Ms. Collins' analysis of the failed vote on the U.N. Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities Treaty points out Rick Santorum's small mindedness and Republican Senatorial mindlessness.
"'We did it,' Santorum tweeted in triumph.
...Santorum was upset about a section on children with disabilities that said: 'The best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.'
'This is a direct assault on us and our family!' he said at a press conference in Washington...
There would almost certainly have been plenty of votes to approve the treaty if the Republicans had felt free to think for themselves. The 'no' votes included a senator who had voted for the treaty in committee, a senator who had sent out a press release supporting the treaty and a senator who actually voted 'aye' and then switched when it was clear the treaty was going down anyway...
The big worry was, of course, offending the Tea Party. The same Tea Party that pounded Mitt Romney into the presidential candidate we came to know and reject over the past election season. The same Tea Party that keeps threatening to wage primaries against incumbents who don’t do what they’re told. The Tea Party who made those threats work so well in the last election that Indiana now has a totally unforeseen Democratic senator."
Eye Recommend --- The Next Debt Limit Debacle
THE NEXT DEBT-LIMIT DEBACLE, New York Times editorial -- http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/opinion/the-next-debt-limit-debacle.html?_r=0
"(Republican) party officials say that if they do not reach an acceptable deal with the White House this month, they will wait until the country reaches the debt ceiling early next year, then refuse to lift it until they get their way on cuts to spending and taxes...
Apparently, they learned nothing from the debacle of 2011, when they first tried this extortionate tactic. The nation lost its AAA credit rating, stock values plunged, and the approval rating of Congress sank to historically low levels. Republicans portray themselves as spending hawks, but that episode cost the Treasury $1.3 billion in higher borrowing costs in 2011, according to the Government Accountability Office. Last week, the Bipartisan Policy Center estimated that the 10-year cost of higher interest rates was $18.9 billion.
Republicans savor that potential catastrophe...Now they want to do it again, and this time they want something the last agreement missed: big cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other programs that primarily benefit middle- and low-income people. Grover Norquist, who leads the party’s anti-tax cult, even suggested that the debt limit be raised only enough to get through a month at a time, so that Republicans can maximize their blackmail power."
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Eye Recommend --- Rove, Morris Find Themselves on Fox's Bench
ROVE, MORRIS FIND THEMSELVES ON FOX'S BENCH, by Steve Benen --
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/12/05/15697443-rove-morris-find-themselves-on-foxs-bench?lite
"According to multiple Fox sources...Fox News programming chief Bill Shine, has sent out orders mandating that producers must get permission before booking Rove or Morris."
Considering the egos possessed by these two, having to turn in their First-class Fox Conservative Commentator cards and accept don't-call-us-we'll-call-you status must sting.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/12/05/15697443-rove-morris-find-themselves-on-foxs-bench?lite
"According to multiple Fox sources...Fox News programming chief Bill Shine, has sent out orders mandating that producers must get permission before booking Rove or Morris."
Considering the egos possessed by these two, having to turn in their First-class Fox Conservative Commentator cards and accept don't-call-us-we'll-call-you status must sting.
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Eye Recommend --- The House Makes an Offer
THE HOUSE MAKES AN OFFER, New York Times editorial -- http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/04/opinion/speaker-john-boehner-makes-an-offer.html
"In a letter signed by Speaker John Boehner and six other House leaders, Republicans didn’t even bother to assemble their own package of spending cuts and revenue increases; they did a simple copy and paste...
"In a letter signed by Speaker John Boehner and six other House leaders, Republicans didn’t even bother to assemble their own package of spending cuts and revenue increases; they did a simple copy and paste...
...The offer was a transparent attempt to appear responsive to Mr. Obama’s detailed proposal from last week, without doing any actual math or hard work...
...The only way to produce the necessary revenue is to combine some limits on deductions with an end to the Bush tax cuts on the rich, and Mr. Obama, fortunately, has been adamant he will not consider any plan that does not do so. The Boehner letter, by contrast, actually advocates lowering rates, suggesting that Republicans are still clinging to the notion, rejected by voters, that was put forward by Mitt Romney."
Santorum is Evil, Senate Republicans are Lemmings, and We are All Victims
The Senate failed to ratify the U.N. Rights of People With Disabilities Treaty. Despite the fact that Bob Dole was brought into the Senate chamber and sat in his wheelchair facing the Senators as they voted, only eight Republicans could be convinced to vote for it, even though it changes absolutely nothing--zero--in the United States.
Read my original post here: http://whateyethynk-politics.blogspot.com/2012/11/santorum-is-back-and-hes-targeting.html
what eye thynk: This can only result in the weakening of our position as a world leader in the defense of human rights; but the Republican Party has chosen instead to rally around a U.N. conspiracy theory created entirely out of conservative manufactured whole cloth. Someday, in the not that distant future, when we wake up to find ourselves sidelined in world event decisions, we can thank these close-minded, small thinking, evil-hearted and self-important fools for our seat on the outside.
Rick Santorum, who is no longer a member of Congress, helped to rally Senate Republicans against this treaty by claiming that “critical health-care decisions for a child with a disability” would be turned over to a “faceless and distant United Nations bureaucrat”. How anyone in their right mind would believe that the U.S. would turn the care of our children over to any outside entity is beyond me; but that is exactly what has happened.
I was reading citizen's comments about the Senate’s stand against the treaty this morning and, while many were as appalled as I am, I was amazed at the number of people who were willingly drinking the Santorum kool-aid on this. One woman wrote that she has a disabled child and her ability to discuss his care with her doctor is what keeps her sane. She thanked Santorum for leading the fight against this new treaty. Another praised the Senate for protecting his rights as a husband to continue to make his own decisions about his disabled wife’s care.
It is frightening to me that so many people are so easily lied to; but it is even more frightening that we elect men and women who are proud to be the ones doing the lying.
Read my original post here: http://whateyethynk-politics.blogspot.com/2012/11/santorum-is-back-and-hes-targeting.html
what eye thynk: This can only result in the weakening of our position as a world leader in the defense of human rights; but the Republican Party has chosen instead to rally around a U.N. conspiracy theory created entirely out of conservative manufactured whole cloth. Someday, in the not that distant future, when we wake up to find ourselves sidelined in world event decisions, we can thank these close-minded, small thinking, evil-hearted and self-important fools for our seat on the outside.
Rick Santorum, who is no longer a member of Congress, helped to rally Senate Republicans against this treaty by claiming that “critical health-care decisions for a child with a disability” would be turned over to a “faceless and distant United Nations bureaucrat”. How anyone in their right mind would believe that the U.S. would turn the care of our children over to any outside entity is beyond me; but that is exactly what has happened.
I was reading citizen's comments about the Senate’s stand against the treaty this morning and, while many were as appalled as I am, I was amazed at the number of people who were willingly drinking the Santorum kool-aid on this. One woman wrote that she has a disabled child and her ability to discuss his care with her doctor is what keeps her sane. She thanked Santorum for leading the fight against this new treaty. Another praised the Senate for protecting his rights as a husband to continue to make his own decisions about his disabled wife’s care.
It is frightening to me that so many people are so easily lied to; but it is even more frightening that we elect men and women who are proud to be the ones doing the lying.
Quick Fact - Elizabeth Warren Gets Her Senate Committee Appointment
Elizabeth Warren has been appointed to the Senate Banking Committee, despite efforts by Wall Street lobbyists.
They stopped her from being appointed to head the Consumer Protection Agency, but...she's b-a-a-a-ack!
They stopped her from being appointed to head the Consumer Protection Agency, but...she's b-a-a-a-ack!
Monday, December 3, 2012
December 3 - Monday Quote
Can't argue with his logic...
monday quote: Everywhere is within walking distance if you have the time. (Steven Wright, Comedian, (1955- )
monday quote: Everywhere is within walking distance if you have the time. (Steven Wright, Comedian, (1955- )
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Iceland! or How to Design a Comeback
what eye thynk: And they did it while protecting all their social programs. Iceland obviously is not cursed with the GOP. Read more:
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Quick Fact(s) - The GOP Appoints Woman to be Head "Mom" and Statistics Don't Lie
1. Prior to this past Friday, the GOP had appointed nineteen of their own to chair committees in the House--all nineteen are white men. After scathing criticism from both Republicans and Democrats, John Boehner has finally appointed a woman. Candace Miller (R-Mich.) will head the House Administration Committee.
This committee oversees the purchase of office supplies, schedules care for the botanical gardens, manages the Library of Congress, oversees the House cafeteria and sees to the disposal of unwanted executive papers. As Al Sharpton pointed out, Mr. Boehner has appointed a woman to serve as office manager, gardener, librarian, lunchroom lady and to make sure the trash is taken out on time.
Earlier this month, John Boehner told his fellow Republicans they needed to find a way to better appeal to women and minorities.
Well, John, may I just say that appointing a woman to serve as head "mommy" is not what I would call a real strong start. Really, this is the best you could do?
2. Statistics don't lie. If we listen only to political pundits, we would assume that the GOP was the party of choice for all affluent U.S. voters while our poor voted for the Democratic candidate. It is not always that simple. On November 6, Asian-Americans, a relatively affluent part of our citizenry, voted for President Obama 3:1. Southern whites who identified themselves as poor to middle-class voted 90% for Mitt Romney.
It may be politically incorrect to say this; but Asian-Americans tend to be better educated than the average American. Feel free to draw your own conclusion here.
This committee oversees the purchase of office supplies, schedules care for the botanical gardens, manages the Library of Congress, oversees the House cafeteria and sees to the disposal of unwanted executive papers. As Al Sharpton pointed out, Mr. Boehner has appointed a woman to serve as office manager, gardener, librarian, lunchroom lady and to make sure the trash is taken out on time.
Earlier this month, John Boehner told his fellow Republicans they needed to find a way to better appeal to women and minorities.
Well, John, may I just say that appointing a woman to serve as head "mommy" is not what I would call a real strong start. Really, this is the best you could do?
2. Statistics don't lie. If we listen only to political pundits, we would assume that the GOP was the party of choice for all affluent U.S. voters while our poor voted for the Democratic candidate. It is not always that simple. On November 6, Asian-Americans, a relatively affluent part of our citizenry, voted for President Obama 3:1. Southern whites who identified themselves as poor to middle-class voted 90% for Mitt Romney.
It may be politically incorrect to say this; but Asian-Americans tend to be better educated than the average American. Feel free to draw your own conclusion here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)