GOP Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, the Republican chair of the House Armed Services Committee, says he’s satisfied with how the US military and the Obama administration responded to the deadly attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya that killed four Americans, including the US ambassador to Libya.The news also exonerates expected Democratic presidential nominee, and then-Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.
“I think I’ve pretty well been satisfied that given where the troops were, how quickly the thing all happened and how quickly it dissipated, we probably couldn’t have done more than we did,” McKeon said to reporters today, as quoted by AP.
Will they finally leave it alone? Personally, I hope they keep talking about it for the next two years through both election cycles. Between their obsession with the ACA and the IRS, they are like this...
Saturday, April 12, 2014
The Only Health Care Nightmare? Pure Spite
Paul Krugman's recent piece on the Affordable Care Act pretty much sums everything up to current status. Some choice cuts...
But wait: What about all the people who lost their policies thanks to Obamacare? The answer is that this looks more than ever like a relatively small issue hyped by right-wing propaganda. RAND finds that fewer than a million people who previously had individual insurance became uninsured — and many of those transitions, one guesses, had nothing to do with Obamacare. It’s worth noting that, so far, not one of the supposed horror stories touted in Koch-backed anti-reform advertisements has stood up to scrutiny, suggesting that real horror stories are rare.
Rare indeed. So much so that you really don't here about them much except for in the right wing blogsphere with the sole intention of increasing mouth foam.
Republicans clearly have no idea how to respond to these developments. They can’t offer any real alternative to Obamacare, because you can’t achieve the good stuff in the Affordable Care Act, like coverage for people with pre-existing medical conditions, without also including the stuff they hate, the requirement that everyone buy insurance and the subsidies that make that requirement possible. Their political strategy has been to talk vaguely about replacing reform while waiting for its inevitable collapse. And what if reform doesn’t collapse? They have no idea what to do.
This is especially true since it was their idea to begin with!
What’s amazing about this wave of rejection is that it appears to be motivated by pure spite. The federal government is prepared to pay for Medicaid expansion, so it would cost the states nothing, and would, in fact, provide an inflow of dollars. The health economist Jonathan Gruber, one of the principal architects of health reform — and normally a very mild-mannered guy — recently summed it up: The Medicaid-rejection states “are willing to sacrifice billions of dollars of injections into their economy in order to punish poor people. It really is just almost awesome in its evilness.” Indeed.
Motivated by pure spite...one could extend that to pretty much every issue the Right whines about. They really don't have any there there...
Gruber's point really drives home how this issue ties into all the other ones that will part of this year's election. Last Wednesday, in a single committee meeting, Republicans voted against the Minimum Wage, Equal Pay, LGBT Rights, and Mine Safety. Add in a decided lack of movement on the immigration issue and the Republican party is pretty much the same one that ran behind Mitt Romney in 2012. Have they learned anything?
More importantly, do they honestly think voters aren't paying attention to this?
But wait: What about all the people who lost their policies thanks to Obamacare? The answer is that this looks more than ever like a relatively small issue hyped by right-wing propaganda. RAND finds that fewer than a million people who previously had individual insurance became uninsured — and many of those transitions, one guesses, had nothing to do with Obamacare. It’s worth noting that, so far, not one of the supposed horror stories touted in Koch-backed anti-reform advertisements has stood up to scrutiny, suggesting that real horror stories are rare.
Rare indeed. So much so that you really don't here about them much except for in the right wing blogsphere with the sole intention of increasing mouth foam.
Republicans clearly have no idea how to respond to these developments. They can’t offer any real alternative to Obamacare, because you can’t achieve the good stuff in the Affordable Care Act, like coverage for people with pre-existing medical conditions, without also including the stuff they hate, the requirement that everyone buy insurance and the subsidies that make that requirement possible. Their political strategy has been to talk vaguely about replacing reform while waiting for its inevitable collapse. And what if reform doesn’t collapse? They have no idea what to do.
This is especially true since it was their idea to begin with!
What’s amazing about this wave of rejection is that it appears to be motivated by pure spite. The federal government is prepared to pay for Medicaid expansion, so it would cost the states nothing, and would, in fact, provide an inflow of dollars. The health economist Jonathan Gruber, one of the principal architects of health reform — and normally a very mild-mannered guy — recently summed it up: The Medicaid-rejection states “are willing to sacrifice billions of dollars of injections into their economy in order to punish poor people. It really is just almost awesome in its evilness.” Indeed.
Motivated by pure spite...one could extend that to pretty much every issue the Right whines about. They really don't have any there there...
Gruber's point really drives home how this issue ties into all the other ones that will part of this year's election. Last Wednesday, in a single committee meeting, Republicans voted against the Minimum Wage, Equal Pay, LGBT Rights, and Mine Safety. Add in a decided lack of movement on the immigration issue and the Republican party is pretty much the same one that ran behind Mitt Romney in 2012. Have they learned anything?
More importantly, do they honestly think voters aren't paying attention to this?
Friday, April 11, 2014
Gun Shows Are Gun Free Zones?
From Ohio Gun, Knife, and Military Shows...
LOADED FIREARMS ARE NOT PERMITTED ON THE GUN SHOW PREMISES. EXHIBITORS AND PATRONS ARE REQUIRED TO EXAMINE EACH FIREARM, REMOVE CLIPS AND BE POSITIVE THAT THE FIREARM IS NOT LOADED BEFORE ENTERING THE GUN SHOW PREMISES.
From Gunshow.net
Because attendees will be handling their weapons inside the show, we ask that for your safety, please ensure all clips and weapons are empty before entering the show. Double check inside the chamber of all weapons! Patrons who bring loaded clips or weapons into the show may be refused entry. Purchase your ticket, get your hand stamped, and then proceed to the Gun Check table. Always point your weapon in a safe direction (up or down) and never put your finger on the trigger. Remove all clips first and show the attendant that they are empty. Open the chamber on your weapons so the attendant can verify that the chambers are clear. If you do not know how to open your weapon please inform the attendant and they will assist you. Never try to operate a weapon you are not familiar with. Never try to reload your weapon while inside the show. You must be 18 or over to enter or be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. You must be 21 or older to purchase, sell or handle a handgun and 18 or older to purchase, sell or handle a rifle or shotgun inside the show. No exceptions. Class 3 weapons must be accompanied with the proper documentation.
So, gun shows are actually gun free zones? Seems to me like my prediction about someone losing it at a gun show is even more possible than I thought with all these defenseless people. I do love the part about possibly not knowing how to open your weapon, though:)
LOADED FIREARMS ARE NOT PERMITTED ON THE GUN SHOW PREMISES. EXHIBITORS AND PATRONS ARE REQUIRED TO EXAMINE EACH FIREARM, REMOVE CLIPS AND BE POSITIVE THAT THE FIREARM IS NOT LOADED BEFORE ENTERING THE GUN SHOW PREMISES.
From Gunshow.net
Because attendees will be handling their weapons inside the show, we ask that for your safety, please ensure all clips and weapons are empty before entering the show. Double check inside the chamber of all weapons! Patrons who bring loaded clips or weapons into the show may be refused entry. Purchase your ticket, get your hand stamped, and then proceed to the Gun Check table. Always point your weapon in a safe direction (up or down) and never put your finger on the trigger. Remove all clips first and show the attendant that they are empty. Open the chamber on your weapons so the attendant can verify that the chambers are clear. If you do not know how to open your weapon please inform the attendant and they will assist you. Never try to operate a weapon you are not familiar with. Never try to reload your weapon while inside the show. You must be 18 or over to enter or be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. You must be 21 or older to purchase, sell or handle a handgun and 18 or older to purchase, sell or handle a rifle or shotgun inside the show. No exceptions. Class 3 weapons must be accompanied with the proper documentation.
So, gun shows are actually gun free zones? Seems to me like my prediction about someone losing it at a gun show is even more possible than I thought with all these defenseless people. I do love the part about possibly not knowing how to open your weapon, though:)
Thursday, April 10, 2014
#CancelColbert Succeeds!
A few weeks ago one of the web guys for The Colbert Report posted a dumb Asian joke that flopped. That raised calls for the cancellation of The Colbert Report.
Well, now they will get their wish. The Colbert Report will be canceled because Steven Colbert will succeed David Letterman on the Late Show.
I've never been a big fan of the Colbert persona. Sure, he does some funny bits. But I'm so tired of bloviating right-wing egocentric nitwits like Bill O'Reilly, that even watching parodies of bloviating right-wing egocentric nitwits like Bill O'Reilly is tedious.
Some people are already mourning the end of Colbert's alter ego, but I for one will be glad to see him go. The Colbert character is a dead-on imitation of everything that is wrong with the likes of O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and, yes, Bill Maher.
O'Reilly and Fox News have had a long-standing feud with with Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert. Whenever the comedians make fun of them Fox News hosts like O'Reilly feel the need to respond to Steven Colbert and Jon Stewart.
Which means that Fox News' real competition isn't MSNBC or CNN. It's Comedy Central.
Well, now they will get their wish. The Colbert Report will be canceled because Steven Colbert will succeed David Letterman on the Late Show.
I've never been a big fan of the Colbert persona. Sure, he does some funny bits. But I'm so tired of bloviating right-wing egocentric nitwits like Bill O'Reilly, that even watching parodies of bloviating right-wing egocentric nitwits like Bill O'Reilly is tedious.
Some people are already mourning the end of Colbert's alter ego, but I for one will be glad to see him go. The Colbert character is a dead-on imitation of everything that is wrong with the likes of O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and, yes, Bill Maher.
O'Reilly and Fox News have had a long-standing feud with with Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert. Whenever the comedians make fun of them Fox News hosts like O'Reilly feel the need to respond to Steven Colbert and Jon Stewart.
Which means that Fox News' real competition isn't MSNBC or CNN. It's Comedy Central.
Yet Another Troubled Young Man
Alex Hribal went on a stabbing rampage yesterday at his high school in Murrsyville, Pennsylvania and sadly illustrated, once again, that we are failing the mental health of our nation's young men once again. I'm fairly certain that was more information comes to light we will discover that he had mental and emotional disabilities, was taking an SSRI, had divorced parents or a troubled home life, played violent video games, and had access to weapons.
Speaking of which, does anyone know if this school had a zero tolerance policy or not? I thought knives were just fine to carry around school, according to the Gun Cult. Well, at least this incident finally torpedoes the "good guy with a gun" lie as well as the "gun free zone" lie.
Assistant Principal Sam King finally tackled the boy and disarmed him, and a Murrysville police officer who is regularly assigned to the school handcuffed him, police said. In addition to the 22 stabbed or slashed, two people suffered other injuries, authorities said. The security guard, who was wounded after intervening early in the melee, was not seriously hurt.
So, there was a good guy with a gun, it was not a gun free zone, and someone with a "lesser" weapon did all that damage. Perhaps this problem of school violence is a lot more complicated than an 8 year old boy solution...
Speaking of which, does anyone know if this school had a zero tolerance policy or not? I thought knives were just fine to carry around school, according to the Gun Cult. Well, at least this incident finally torpedoes the "good guy with a gun" lie as well as the "gun free zone" lie.
Assistant Principal Sam King finally tackled the boy and disarmed him, and a Murrysville police officer who is regularly assigned to the school handcuffed him, police said. In addition to the 22 stabbed or slashed, two people suffered other injuries, authorities said. The security guard, who was wounded after intervening early in the melee, was not seriously hurt.
So, there was a good guy with a gun, it was not a gun free zone, and someone with a "lesser" weapon did all that damage. Perhaps this problem of school violence is a lot more complicated than an 8 year old boy solution...
An Act Of Love
Here is a longer version of the Jeb Bush comments on immigration which I think is more insightful.
Interesting to note that 40 percent of illegal immigrants are simply staying past their work visas. That makes the "secure the border" mouth foamers really seem like idiots. Wait, they are idiots...what am I saying? Take a look at the description below the video (appeal to fear) and some of the comments below this video on YouTube. Voices in my head indeed...
Interesting to note that 40 percent of illegal immigrants are simply staying past their work visas. That makes the "secure the border" mouth foamers really seem like idiots. Wait, they are idiots...what am I saying? Take a look at the description below the video (appeal to fear) and some of the comments below this video on YouTube. Voices in my head indeed...
Not Racist?
Wednesday, April 09, 2014
Our Version of Sharia Law=Good
Mississippi Approves Religious Freedom Bill, Governor Signs It Into Law
Hmm...let's see...their Sharia Law=BAD but our Sharia Law=GOOD. Got it!
Hmm...let's see...their Sharia Law=BAD but our Sharia Law=GOOD. Got it!
Tuesday, April 08, 2014
Rule of Law Matters?
Senator Ted Cruz, Republican from Texas, speaking on Jeb Bush's recent remarks on immigration, said the following.
We’re a nation of immigrants, we need to celebrate that, but at the same time, rule of law matters.
Oh, really? Does that include the 16th amendment to the Constitution? Or are we going to stomp our feet and complain like a grump eight year old about force and fruits of labor?
Perhaps they should ignore reality (something they do so well) keep pretending that President Obama won't enforce immigration laws in a thinly veiled attempt to mask their own prejudice.
We’re a nation of immigrants, we need to celebrate that, but at the same time, rule of law matters.
Oh, really? Does that include the 16th amendment to the Constitution? Or are we going to stomp our feet and complain like a grump eight year old about force and fruits of labor?
Perhaps they should ignore reality (something they do so well) keep pretending that President Obama won't enforce immigration laws in a thinly veiled attempt to mask their own prejudice.
Kentucky Cuts Uninsured By 40%
The Affordable Care Act has cut Kentucky's uninsured population by more than 40 percent, signing up roughly 360,000 residents since enrollment opened up on Oct. 1. Some 75 percent of them -- 270,000 -- were previously uninsured. That means Kentucky's uninsured population of 640,000 has come down by 42 percent.
And the Democrats want to run away from this? I think we are going to see a whole lot of about faces over the next few months when candidates realize just how many voters are better off as a result of the ACA.
And the Democrats want to run away from this? I think we are going to see a whole lot of about faces over the next few months when candidates realize just how many voters are better off as a result of the ACA.
Monday, April 07, 2014
The Fort Hood Shooter Was Just Another Gun-Toting Hothead
Investigators now believe that the most recent shooting at Fort Hood was not due to mental illness, but rather an argument over the denial of leave requested by the shooter, Ivan Lopez.
That makes this shooting no different than the run-of-the-mill gun violence on the streets and in our homes. One person feels aggrieved and seeks to even the score with a gun. Some will still argue that PTSD or mental illness had a role, but since such shootings are so common among people who have no record of either condition, no such case can be made.
The real problem is that people like Lopez believe that violence is their first recourse whenever they feel angry or threatened. In other words, this guy was just a hothead with easy access to guns.
The NRA will probably try to spin Lopez as a man who was pushed to the brink by an unreasonable military bureaucracy that wouldn't give him enough time to attend to his mother's death. But it is the attitude that shooting people is a perfectly reasonable thing to do that's the cause of these deaths. The attitude espoused by the NRA.
In other words, Lopez was simply cut from the cloth as George Zimmerman and Michael Dunn.
That makes this shooting no different than the run-of-the-mill gun violence on the streets and in our homes. One person feels aggrieved and seeks to even the score with a gun. Some will still argue that PTSD or mental illness had a role, but since such shootings are so common among people who have no record of either condition, no such case can be made.
The real problem is that people like Lopez believe that violence is their first recourse whenever they feel angry or threatened. In other words, this guy was just a hothead with easy access to guns.
The NRA will probably try to spin Lopez as a man who was pushed to the brink by an unreasonable military bureaucracy that wouldn't give him enough time to attend to his mother's death. But it is the attitude that shooting people is a perfectly reasonable thing to do that's the cause of these deaths. The attitude espoused by the NRA.
In other words, Lopez was simply cut from the cloth as George Zimmerman and Michael Dunn.
Stupid People Want to Start a War with Russia
I'm always rather cynical about poll results, but this one was pretty funny: the less people know about where Ukraine is, the more they want to start a war with Russia.
On March 28-31, 2014, we asked a national sample of 2,066 Americans (fielded via Survey Sampling International Inc. (SSI), what action they wanted the U.S. to take in Ukraine, but with a twist: In addition to measuring standard demographic characteristics and general foreign policy attitudes, we also asked our survey respondents to locate Ukraine on a map as part of a larger, ongoing project to study foreign policy knowledge. We wanted to see where Americans think Ukraine is and to learn if this knowledge (or lack thereof) is related to their foreign policy views. We found that only one out of six Americans can find Ukraine on a map, and that this lack of knowledge is related to preferences: The farther their guesses were from Ukraine’s actual location, the more they wanted the U.S. to intervene with military force.I wonder how it correlates with how much Fox News they watch?
Jeb Bush Pwns Anti-Immigration Mouth Foamers
Well, there went every anti immigration reform argument down in flames. Very impressive, Mr. Bush...four words I thought I would never say. This will be a real test to see how the Republican base responds which is exactly why he did it:)
Welfare King and Queen Update
Colin and Andrea Chisholm, the welfare king and queen, were arrested in Florida after they were deported from the Bahamas.
They received hundreds of thousands of dollars in food stamps and welfare benefits in Florida and Minnesota, while living in an expensive lakefront home in Minnesota. They had $3 million in the bank and an 83-foot yacht.
Colin Chisholm is still listed as CEO and founder of TCN Networks. It's not clear what the company does, but the website is only half done. The "Social Responsibility" bullet point on the Philosophy page is rather ironic.
Justice may be served after all.
They received hundreds of thousands of dollars in food stamps and welfare benefits in Florida and Minnesota, while living in an expensive lakefront home in Minnesota. They had $3 million in the bank and an 83-foot yacht.
Colin Chisholm is still listed as CEO and founder of TCN Networks. It's not clear what the company does, but the website is only half done. The "Social Responsibility" bullet point on the Philosophy page is rather ironic.
Justice may be served after all.
Sunday, April 06, 2014
A Question For Reflection
As is usually the case on Sunday, I'm feeling reflective and have a question for my readers. Consider for a moment that you are president of the United States. Would you implement a policy that would likely solve a problem in our country if it was something you didn't like and, more importantly, was in conflict with your ideology?
My answer is yes. Being the president means you have to choose between something that is bad, awful and horrible. There are no good choices and I still contend that one cannot truly be a "good" president. You are either average, bad, or awful and that's entirely due to the broken down nature of reality. Our country is generally a mess and, in the final analysis, it's merely about damage control.
I realize this sounds pessimistic but I prefer to look at it as more realistic. I still maintain optimism through whatever comes our way because the other key element of our country is the devotion to Lockian principles of inherent liberty and freedom. From this springs innovation and prosperity. Despite our darker days and persistent problems, we somehow manage to rise to challenges and overcome them.
So, would you do what it took to overcome those challenges?
My answer is yes. Being the president means you have to choose between something that is bad, awful and horrible. There are no good choices and I still contend that one cannot truly be a "good" president. You are either average, bad, or awful and that's entirely due to the broken down nature of reality. Our country is generally a mess and, in the final analysis, it's merely about damage control.
I realize this sounds pessimistic but I prefer to look at it as more realistic. I still maintain optimism through whatever comes our way because the other key element of our country is the devotion to Lockian principles of inherent liberty and freedom. From this springs innovation and prosperity. Despite our darker days and persistent problems, we somehow manage to rise to challenges and overcome them.
So, would you do what it took to overcome those challenges?
Saturday, April 05, 2014
Leadership On Gun Safety
Gander Mountain is a great example of the kind of leadership we need on gun safety from the private sector of our country. Given how many deaths occur reach year due to irresponsible adults, the idea of a gun lock giveaway is a welcome solution.
“When you start reading about them and you see that so many of them involve someone just leaving the firearm out and the wrong person gets it in their hand and it usually involves a child,” he said. “And if it was just either locked up in a safe or it was in a biometric safe in the case of a handgun or a trigger lock these accidents are all preventable,” said Steve Uline, Gander Mountain’s vice president for marketing.
This year they are adding hardware to the cause. Gander Mountain, which has 133 locations in 25 states, is giving away 50,000 gun locks until Sunday, April 6. The gun locks the company is giving away bar access to the gun’s trigger. Uline said the cost of gun locks, which start at $10, isn’t prohibitive considering most gun owners spend thousands on their guns. But gun owners fall into the mentality that accidents or tragedies won’t happen to them. “We felt that we were in a position to raise awareness to cut down on these accidents,” Uline said.
Way to go, Gander Mountain!
That's not all they are doing. They have also done admirable work raising firearm security awareness over the past year through social media and advertising; its leadership’s willingness to engage in a touchy debate is commendable. The retailer’s position — with rights come responsibilities — is something everyone should be able to agree on and, more important, act on.
“When you start reading about them and you see that so many of them involve someone just leaving the firearm out and the wrong person gets it in their hand and it usually involves a child,” he said. “And if it was just either locked up in a safe or it was in a biometric safe in the case of a handgun or a trigger lock these accidents are all preventable,” said Steve Uline, Gander Mountain’s vice president for marketing.
This year they are adding hardware to the cause. Gander Mountain, which has 133 locations in 25 states, is giving away 50,000 gun locks until Sunday, April 6. The gun locks the company is giving away bar access to the gun’s trigger. Uline said the cost of gun locks, which start at $10, isn’t prohibitive considering most gun owners spend thousands on their guns. But gun owners fall into the mentality that accidents or tragedies won’t happen to them. “We felt that we were in a position to raise awareness to cut down on these accidents,” Uline said.
Way to go, Gander Mountain!
That's not all they are doing. They have also done admirable work raising firearm security awareness over the past year through social media and advertising; its leadership’s willingness to engage in a touchy debate is commendable. The retailer’s position — with rights come responsibilities — is something everyone should be able to agree on and, more important, act on.
Friday, April 04, 2014
The American Bro
This piece by John Saward is simply a masterpiece. His details of the modern American male are dead on right. Example...
Being flagrantly offensive, irritating people, making noise, commanding an audience—this is what fuels him; this is his required voltage. He is on the phone with someone named Ryan or Tyler or Kyle; he is saying “cunt” or “nigger” or “slut” out loud, then half-apologizing to no one in particular. "I GOT NO FILTER, BRO." He tilts his head and neck back, cackling at the ceiling, electrified by the degree to which he does not give a fuck, by this ability to appall other people, to make your mouth hang wide open like you were witnessing a wildfire.
He is not saying words now but just grunting and ejecting "YOOOO" and "DUDE" in varying cadences, asking Ryan or Tyler or Kyle when they are getting there, what they brought, if they are pumped. He is pushing it to the limit, going hard, pouring Jäger into a plastic cup, making the conductor wait. All he can hear is his brain-engine humming, the bolts coming loose, people chanting his name. He is a renegade, he is looking women in the eyes for a period of time that blew past bold and is bordering on restraining order, but maybe this turns her on, he thinks; maybe he is dangerous, maybe he is going to walk over to her right now. He is alive to a degree that you will never be capable of, and he is scaring all the inhabitants of the universe back into their homes.
Far too many young men like this out there...
Being flagrantly offensive, irritating people, making noise, commanding an audience—this is what fuels him; this is his required voltage. He is on the phone with someone named Ryan or Tyler or Kyle; he is saying “cunt” or “nigger” or “slut” out loud, then half-apologizing to no one in particular. "I GOT NO FILTER, BRO." He tilts his head and neck back, cackling at the ceiling, electrified by the degree to which he does not give a fuck, by this ability to appall other people, to make your mouth hang wide open like you were witnessing a wildfire.
He is not saying words now but just grunting and ejecting "YOOOO" and "DUDE" in varying cadences, asking Ryan or Tyler or Kyle when they are getting there, what they brought, if they are pumped. He is pushing it to the limit, going hard, pouring Jäger into a plastic cup, making the conductor wait. All he can hear is his brain-engine humming, the bolts coming loose, people chanting his name. He is a renegade, he is looking women in the eyes for a period of time that blew past bold and is bordering on restraining order, but maybe this turns her on, he thinks; maybe he is dangerous, maybe he is going to walk over to her right now. He is alive to a degree that you will never be capable of, and he is scaring all the inhabitants of the universe back into their homes.
Far too many young men like this out there...
The Second Fort Hood Shooting
The silence from the Gun Cult after the SECOND Fort Hood shooting has been deafening and it's now clear why.
Military personnel who are not police officers are not allowed to carry privately owned weapons on Army bases. Soldiers on post must register their firearms, which Army officials said Specialist Lopez failed to do with the handgun he used in the attack. Fort Hood’s rules rely in large part on the honor system, and require all personnel bringing a privately owned firearm onto the base in a vehicle to declare that they are doing so and state why.
So, the idea of less regulation doesn't seem to be working well at all. In addition, this is yet another example of how the gun free zone lie is completely FUBAR. Obviously, there are plenty of guns on the base and no one is really checking for weapons. It is Texas, after all, so one would think this would deter psychos, right?
But it didn't and Specialist Ivan Antonio Lopez, 34, killed three people and wounded 16 others at Fort Hood before taking his own life on Wednesday. Lopez was being treated for mental health issues and was on SSRI medications. Ironically, he bought the gun that he used at the same gun store where Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan bought his weapon. He passed the background check just fine.
Once again, we are left with a clear illustration of how just how poorly our nation is dealing with the issue of mental health. Politico has an interesting piece about how the conversation about these incidents should shift from gun control to threat detection. I completely agree. If someone voluntarily submits themselves for psychiatric treatment, especially if they are suffering from PTSD and in the military, they should lose their ability to obtain a firearm.
Consider this horrible statistic: 22 veterans kill themselves every day. That's right around one death an hour. Clearly, we are not doing enough to help the mental health of our veterans. This is indeed a difficult task considering we have been at war for the last 13 years.
Mental health in our nation as a whole needs to be vastly improved. We have to begin by removing the stigma associated with it and encourage everyone to see a therapist on a regular basis. I have no doubt that if gains were made in this area, we would see less gun violence, especially in the arena of spree shootings.
Military personnel who are not police officers are not allowed to carry privately owned weapons on Army bases. Soldiers on post must register their firearms, which Army officials said Specialist Lopez failed to do with the handgun he used in the attack. Fort Hood’s rules rely in large part on the honor system, and require all personnel bringing a privately owned firearm onto the base in a vehicle to declare that they are doing so and state why.
So, the idea of less regulation doesn't seem to be working well at all. In addition, this is yet another example of how the gun free zone lie is completely FUBAR. Obviously, there are plenty of guns on the base and no one is really checking for weapons. It is Texas, after all, so one would think this would deter psychos, right?
But it didn't and Specialist Ivan Antonio Lopez, 34, killed three people and wounded 16 others at Fort Hood before taking his own life on Wednesday. Lopez was being treated for mental health issues and was on SSRI medications. Ironically, he bought the gun that he used at the same gun store where Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan bought his weapon. He passed the background check just fine.
Once again, we are left with a clear illustration of how just how poorly our nation is dealing with the issue of mental health. Politico has an interesting piece about how the conversation about these incidents should shift from gun control to threat detection. I completely agree. If someone voluntarily submits themselves for psychiatric treatment, especially if they are suffering from PTSD and in the military, they should lose their ability to obtain a firearm.
Consider this horrible statistic: 22 veterans kill themselves every day. That's right around one death an hour. Clearly, we are not doing enough to help the mental health of our veterans. This is indeed a difficult task considering we have been at war for the last 13 years.
Mental health in our nation as a whole needs to be vastly improved. We have to begin by removing the stigma associated with it and encourage everyone to see a therapist on a regular basis. I have no doubt that if gains were made in this area, we would see less gun violence, especially in the arena of spree shootings.
The CIA Program That Started with a Dead Ox
This is also how colonies of bees and ants appear to do quite intelligent things even though each individual insect is totally oblivious.
A few years ago the CIA started a program to use Galton's finding. "The Company" is infamous for weird and sinister programs. For example, MK Ultra, where they tried to use drugs like LSD to produce "Manchurian Candidates." Or Remote Viewing, where they had psychics using ESP and clairvoyance to spy on the Russians. Or waterboarding, where they tortured prisoners with simulated drowning, a tactic used by the Spanish and Flemish Inquisitions, the Gestapo and WWII Japanese war criminals, who were hanged for torturing Americans.
The program that came from the dead ox is not so sinister. Called the Good Judgment Project, it attempts to use the wisdom of the crowd to forecast world events. It's been running for three years now.
It consists of 3,000 ordinary people who answer questions on a website to estimate probabilities of future events. The astonishing thing is, this program is better at making forecasts than the professional CIA analysts who have access to classified documents.
Even more amazing, some of the individual participants are 30% better than the CIA at doing the CIA's job. How do they do it? Elaine Rich, a sixty-something pharmacist, says, "Usually I just do a Google search."
Even though that may sound impressive, it really isn't. The CIA -- and organizations in general -- are notorious for groupthink. They know what answers their bosses want to hear, because their bosses have already decided what they want to do, and they just want ammunition to back up the decision they've already made. This was especially true of the Bush administration in the run-up to the Iraq war.
But there are less sinister reasons why a group of 3,000 folks from across the country might be better at doing this than the CIA.
First, they have no skin in the game, while the CIA is responsible for the safety of the American people. If a CIA analyst misses something a lot of people may die. Analysts feel that pressure, and will tend to perceive potential threats to be greater than they actually are. Also, the number of analysts devoted to each area at CIA is fairly small, and they all talk to and influence each other. It's only natural that they would drift toward a consensus, and all too often consensus is driven not by mutual agreement but by whoever shouts the loudest.
Sometimes there is just too much detail. With all those classified documents, analysts can get bogged down in minutiae that are much less important than they might seem. They can't see the forest for the trees.
Finally, no one cares if a CIA section predicts 10 doomsdays an hour and none of them ever happens, but everyone will be all over them if four guys die in an embassy attack that they failed to predict.
By the way, if you're interested the Good Judgment Project is accepting applications!
Thursday, April 03, 2014
The Most Boring Spectator Sport. Ever.
There was once a wildly popular professional sport that is even more boring than football and NASCAR: pedestrianism. In the 1870s and 1880s huge crowds gathered to watch men walk around in circles 24 hours a day:
[For] six-day walking matches, the rules were pretty simple. They would just map out a dirt track on the floor of an arena — many of the matches took place at the first Madison Square Garden in New York — and the lap was about 1/7th or 1/8th of a mile. And you could only walk six days because public amusements were prohibited on Sundays. So beginning right after midnight on Sunday night/Monday morning, the walkers would set off and they would just keep walking until right up until midnight the following Saturday.In an interview on NPR author Matthew Algeo talks about his book, Pedestrianism: When Watching People Walk Was America's Favorite Spectator Sport. Some highlights: it started when Edward Payson Weston lost a bet on the 1860 presidential election and had to walk from Boston to Washington for the inauguration; African-Americans were able to compete; trainers (incredibly, they had them) recommended their pedestrians drink champagne, because it was thought to be a stimulant. There were also gambling and drug scandals.
With the invention of the safety bicycle pedestrianism died out; bicycle races were much more interesting because — you guessed it — the crashes were much more spectacular, especially after six days of sleepless pedaling.
My Hair Is Not On Fire
Liberals are running around today with their hair on fire after yesterday's SCOTUS ruling on campaign contributions. The "end is nigh" because there is (gasp!) money in politics. I'm shocked, I tell you, shocked to find out the gambling is going on in this establishment!! Well, I have a few words for my friends on the left who think life, as we know it, is over.
Pay attention to the nuance of this case. If you read the SCOTUS blog link, you can see that there is more transparency now. There is also a larger playing field for individuals, not just mega donors, to get in the game. If liberals really want to have an effect on this issue, they need to push for transparency. Anyone who donates in whatever amount has to be disclosed in the most transparent way.
Consider as well how much money was spent to defeat the president and how it all amounted to zilch. Money isn't as much of a factor as you think given other influences in politics today. Look at the example of social media. Facebook and Twitter are free, right? Anyone can post a video on YouTube. This is what people look at these days and they are more of an influence on votes than millions of dollars of donations. Honestly, the mouth foamers about this law don't understand the digital generation.
This ruling also puts more power back in the hands of the parties and out of the hands of the mega donors. I predict we will see the decline of the Super Pac as a result of this decision.
So, liberals, chill the fuck out! Money has always been in politics and it always will. If you try to ban it, somehow it will find a way to spread around. Keep it out in the open and remove all limits and watch how its effect diminishes.
Pay attention to the nuance of this case. If you read the SCOTUS blog link, you can see that there is more transparency now. There is also a larger playing field for individuals, not just mega donors, to get in the game. If liberals really want to have an effect on this issue, they need to push for transparency. Anyone who donates in whatever amount has to be disclosed in the most transparent way.
Consider as well how much money was spent to defeat the president and how it all amounted to zilch. Money isn't as much of a factor as you think given other influences in politics today. Look at the example of social media. Facebook and Twitter are free, right? Anyone can post a video on YouTube. This is what people look at these days and they are more of an influence on votes than millions of dollars of donations. Honestly, the mouth foamers about this law don't understand the digital generation.
This ruling also puts more power back in the hands of the parties and out of the hands of the mega donors. I predict we will see the decline of the Super Pac as a result of this decision.
So, liberals, chill the fuck out! Money has always been in politics and it always will. If you try to ban it, somehow it will find a way to spread around. Keep it out in the open and remove all limits and watch how its effect diminishes.
Wednesday, April 02, 2014
Foreign Princes Buying American Elections
The intent of the Founding Fathers in writing the Constitution is always heavily debated when cases go before the Supreme Court. The Court's decision today to allow wealthy individuals to spend infinite amounts of money to buy elections across the country is no different.
One of the reasons the Founding Fathers broke from Europe was the arrogance and corruption inherent in the hereditary ruling class of kings and noblemen. The wealth and influence of men like the Koch brothers -- hereditary oil barons -- and casino mogul Sheldon Adelson makes them the nobility of today.
These people expect everyone to treat them like royalty, pay them fealty and kiss their feet. Just last week Chris Christie and other Republican presidential hopefuls paid obeisance to Sheldon Adelson. During his paean to a foreign country in Las Vegas Christie made a catastrophic blunder by calling the Palestinian terroritories that Israel seized from Syria, Egypt and Jordan in 1967 and is still occupying "the Occupied Territories." When Christie was told of Adelson's displeasure he apologized instantly.
Adelson's casinos are involved with bribery and money laundering. He makes billions in Macau off Chinese gamblers. In the last election cycle Adelson spent more than a hundred million dollars to elect a Republican president. Adelson is currently on a crusade to keep online gambling illegal, suckering many Republicans and Christians to do his bidding. Millions of Americans are addicted to casino gambling, costing the US economy $50 billion annually. Stories about accountants and bookkeepers embezzling money from their companies and churches to feed their gambling habit are endless. Adelson profits from this addiction and misery; gambling and corruption are inextricably linked.
Adelson is essentially an agent of the Israeli government, spending his billions to get the United States to kowtow to Israeli politicians, regardless of what the best interests of the American people might be.
Did the Founding Fathers really write a Constitution that equates foreign princes like Sheldon Adelson using their wealth to buy elections across the United States to free speech?
One of the reasons the Founding Fathers broke from Europe was the arrogance and corruption inherent in the hereditary ruling class of kings and noblemen. The wealth and influence of men like the Koch brothers -- hereditary oil barons -- and casino mogul Sheldon Adelson makes them the nobility of today.
These people expect everyone to treat them like royalty, pay them fealty and kiss their feet. Just last week Chris Christie and other Republican presidential hopefuls paid obeisance to Sheldon Adelson. During his paean to a foreign country in Las Vegas Christie made a catastrophic blunder by calling the Palestinian terroritories that Israel seized from Syria, Egypt and Jordan in 1967 and is still occupying "the Occupied Territories." When Christie was told of Adelson's displeasure he apologized instantly.
Adelson's casinos are involved with bribery and money laundering. He makes billions in Macau off Chinese gamblers. In the last election cycle Adelson spent more than a hundred million dollars to elect a Republican president. Adelson is currently on a crusade to keep online gambling illegal, suckering many Republicans and Christians to do his bidding. Millions of Americans are addicted to casino gambling, costing the US economy $50 billion annually. Stories about accountants and bookkeepers embezzling money from their companies and churches to feed their gambling habit are endless. Adelson profits from this addiction and misery; gambling and corruption are inextricably linked.
Adelson is essentially an agent of the Israeli government, spending his billions to get the United States to kowtow to Israeli politicians, regardless of what the best interests of the American people might be.
Did the Founding Fathers really write a Constitution that equates foreign princes like Sheldon Adelson using their wealth to buy elections across the United States to free speech?
What Is Your Alternative, Ms. Palin?
Sarah Palin recently called Paul Ryan's latest budget "a joke" saying "it is STILL not seeing the problem; it STILL is not proposing reining in wasteful government overspending TODAY, instead of speculating years out that some future Congress and White House may possibly, hopefully, eh-who-knows, take responsibility for today’s budgetary selfishness and shortsightedness to do so."
“THIS is the definition of insanity,” she continued.
Fine. Where do you propose cuts?
“You’d think one who is representing the mighty Badgers, who made it to the Final Four based on sacrificial work ethic and discipline that obviously pays off in the end, … would understand that future success depends on hard work and sacrifices,” Palin said.
Again, where exactly do you propose cuts?
There is plenty to cut, Palin argued, as “every omnibus bill is loaded with pork and kickbacks.”
Be specific. How much? What would happen as a result of the cuts?
“As my Dad would say after these April Fool’s announcements, ‘This would kill a lesser man.’ This out-of-control debt is killing our economic future,” Palin wrote.
How exactly?
Sarah Palin is a great example of how all conservatives have these days is criticism...even of their own party! They don't offer anything but strident language and hollow (and really, really played) talking points that appeal to fear. Considering our massive wealth and assets, the debt is a phantom menace and she is simply lying about our economic future.
Of course, she (and any other conservatives) are welcome to prove me wrong with substantive plans of their own:)
“THIS is the definition of insanity,” she continued.
Fine. Where do you propose cuts?
“You’d think one who is representing the mighty Badgers, who made it to the Final Four based on sacrificial work ethic and discipline that obviously pays off in the end, … would understand that future success depends on hard work and sacrifices,” Palin said.
Again, where exactly do you propose cuts?
There is plenty to cut, Palin argued, as “every omnibus bill is loaded with pork and kickbacks.”
Be specific. How much? What would happen as a result of the cuts?
“As my Dad would say after these April Fool’s announcements, ‘This would kill a lesser man.’ This out-of-control debt is killing our economic future,” Palin wrote.
How exactly?
Sarah Palin is a great example of how all conservatives have these days is criticism...even of their own party! They don't offer anything but strident language and hollow (and really, really played) talking points that appeal to fear. Considering our massive wealth and assets, the debt is a phantom menace and she is simply lying about our economic future.
Of course, she (and any other conservatives) are welcome to prove me wrong with substantive plans of their own:)
A Selfie With The President
The president has a good couple of days and the photo above shows that there is a spring in his step (even if he is a White Sox fan). Big Papi and 44...nice!
Tuesday, April 01, 2014
Rand Paul (Again) On Immigration
Rand Paul, on deportation.
The bottom line is, the Hispanic community, the Latino community is not going to hear us until we get beyond that issue. They’re not going to care whether we go to the same church, or have the same values, or believe in the same kind of future of our country until we get beyond that. Showing up helps, but you got to show up and you got to say something, and it has to be different from what we’ve been saying.
Yes. Yes, it does. Time to change.
The bottom line is, the Hispanic community, the Latino community is not going to hear us until we get beyond that issue. They’re not going to care whether we go to the same church, or have the same values, or believe in the same kind of future of our country until we get beyond that. Showing up helps, but you got to show up and you got to say something, and it has to be different from what we’ve been saying.
Yes. Yes, it does. Time to change.
Seven Million
It looks like the Affordable Care Act has surpassed its revised goal and now has hit its original goal of seven million enrollees. The GOP has quickly shifted its talking points to issues of non payment and the coming economic apocalypse which will result from the ACA. We also have this poll from ABC and the Washington Post.
49-48, in favor. Wow.
As I have been saying these last few weeks, Democrats need to run proudly on the ACA and note that it's part of an overall plan to bolster the middle class (of which a minimum wage hike is a strong part). They do this and they hold the Senate in the fall and possibly narrow the gap in the House.
49-48, in favor. Wow.
As I have been saying these last few weeks, Democrats need to run proudly on the ACA and note that it's part of an overall plan to bolster the middle class (of which a minimum wage hike is a strong part). They do this and they hold the Senate in the fall and possibly narrow the gap in the House.
The Real Takers
These classes were kind of annoying because of the inevitable interruptions from equipment glitches, but also because the remote students were just not with it. They were older, slower, and asked a lot of seemingly dumb questions. Fortunately, the cameras were pointed at the professor and didn't capture our eye-rolling.
Incredibly, not only did these companies pay to put these fancy electronic classrooms in their buildings, with the attendant costs for installing the microwave antennas and two-way communications, the salary of the camera operator, but they paid the employees' tuition.
That was then. This is now (from Paul Krugman at The New York Times):
A few months ago, Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, and Marlene Seltzer, the chief executive of Jobs for the Future, published an article in Politico titled “Closing the Skills Gap.” They began portentously: “Today, nearly 11 million Americans are unemployed. Yet, at the same time, 4 million jobs sit unfilled” — supposedly demonstrating “the gulf between the skills job seekers currently have and the skills employers need.”Back then if a company needed someone to do a new job, they often took an experienced, dedicated, hard-working and loyal employee and gave them the training to do it. These days too many companies fire those same experienced — and higher-paid — employees and hire someone cheap.
The U of M's UNITE system still exists, after more than 40 years. They use streaming video and podcasts instead, but they still pitch UNITE to companies who need technical people.
However, few companies these days invest in people. They demand prospective employees to invest tens of thousands of dollars of their own money, often accruing debt exceeding $100K, in education and training programs that companies need today, with no guarantee that the company will have any use for them in five or 10 years. Companies expect government to create secondary and vocational school programs to train employees for them in the specialty areas they need. At the same time they demand lower and lower taxes, while sending their profits to offshore tax havens.
And these same companies constantly demand that the government raise the H1B visa quotas. This program allows companies to hire "high-skilled" tech workers from countries like China and India. The reason "high-skilled" is in quotes is that what they're really after is "low-paid."
This is why the wage gap is getting so wide and so many middle-income Americans are failing. Companies are firing people in their forties and fifties who have spouses and mortgages and children with college tuition bills, and replacing them with American kids up to their eyeballs in college loans — often because their parents lost their jobs — or kids from India and China whose education was paid for by a foreign government.
The execs at these companies are selling America and Americans out, while jacking up their own salaries and reducing their corporate tax liabilities to less than nothing. Companies like Apple are giving federal and state governments no resources to run the schools the companies insist are needed produce useful workers for them.
Now. Who are the real takers?
Series Finale: How I Met Your Mother (Spoiler Warning)
The show tells the story of Ted Moseby (Josh Radnor) as he recounts to his children (left) in the year 2030 how he met their mom in 2013 after 8 years of twists and turns. It was a very funny show that captured the essence of relationships, friendships, and cocktail culture set against the backdrop of New York City. Ted's friends were Marshall Ericksen (Jason Segel), his wife Lily (Alyson Hannigan), Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris), and Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders). From the very first episode it was clear that Ted loved Robin but as the story unfolded we realized that she was not the mom. The character of the mother became almost mythical. Who is she? What actress will play her? When will she finally appear?
Both of these rumors were confirmed last night in the finale. The mother (named Tracy McConnell) gets sick at some point in the year 2024 and dies. At the very end of the show, Ted's kids tell him it's been six years and he should go find Aunt Robin and be happy again. This ending has sent shockwaves all over the internet as a maudlin, terribly downbeat ending to a show that has been in their hearts for nearly a decade. My wife was very pissed off last night, yelling at the TV and putting her thumb way down. I realize it's just a show and these people are characters in a fictional world but it did have quite an impact on our house and with my friends.
Yet life is messy and people die. Marshall's dad died a few years ago. The show wouldn't be as beloved if it wasn't so realistic. It makes the character of Tracy and her love with Ted all the more tragic and, honestly, perfect. Add in that her character lost the love of her life to a tragic accident and it makes her death truly devastating...a somewhat dark life indeed with Ted and her children being bright rays of light. This sharp dose of reality made me appreciate the ending more than my family and friends. Sure, Robin and Ted weren't perfect and were often irritating but that's what most couples are like.
There is no such thing as a Hollywood ending in life, although some have argued that Ted ending up with Robin is the Hollywood ending and that might be the case. With How I Met Your Mother, the story was never really about Ted and Tracy. The title may say otherwise but it really was a love story about Ted and Robin and how they ended up together. Watch the very first episode and the very last one and that's exactly what you see. Everything in between was the messy shit that happens in life...the highs and the lows...the laughter and the tears...and how a close group of friends can be family.
Monday, March 31, 2014
No Such Thing As Obamacare
There is no such thing as ObamaCare. You can't sign up for ObamaCare. You're signing up for an Anthem (ph) policy or an Aetna policy, or a WellPoint policy. It is private insurance. And private insurance companies have been doing closed networks for years.
Senator Angus King, I-Maine, on the lying about the Affordable Care Act.
Senator Angus King, I-Maine, on the lying about the Affordable Care Act.
Latest Climate Chane Report From IPCC
The IPCC has just published its latest report on climate change. It details the impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability associated with climate change. An example of this would be the risk associated with food insecurity due to more intense droughts, floods, and heat waves in a warmer world, especially for poorer countries.
What strikes me as ironic about the food shortage issue is this is the exact same outcome seen by conservatives as a result of our federal government's mishandling of our economy. I got to hear about it all weekend at a recent family gathering from my brother in law who is basically inconsolable. "Our children's futures are being mortgaged away" he cried many times yet the very real danger presented by climate change bounced off the bubble. "Liberal propaganda...liberal plot to control us..." were words I heard any time the subject came up.
It's not just climate change, though. They have no concern whatsoever about the abuse of power of corporations, our dilapidated infrastructure, the inability of parents to think globally in terms of our education system or our health care system...you know, the ACTUAL problems we have as opposed to the phantom menaces they make up (actually it's only one menace...the federal government).
So, why do conservatives worry about things that aren't likely to happen and go completely limp when it comes to things that likely will happen?
What strikes me as ironic about the food shortage issue is this is the exact same outcome seen by conservatives as a result of our federal government's mishandling of our economy. I got to hear about it all weekend at a recent family gathering from my brother in law who is basically inconsolable. "Our children's futures are being mortgaged away" he cried many times yet the very real danger presented by climate change bounced off the bubble. "Liberal propaganda...liberal plot to control us..." were words I heard any time the subject came up.
It's not just climate change, though. They have no concern whatsoever about the abuse of power of corporations, our dilapidated infrastructure, the inability of parents to think globally in terms of our education system or our health care system...you know, the ACTUAL problems we have as opposed to the phantom menaces they make up (actually it's only one menace...the federal government).
So, why do conservatives worry about things that aren't likely to happen and go completely limp when it comes to things that likely will happen?
So Much For The Obamacare Horror Stories
Koch Group Abandons Obamacare 'Horror' Stories After Fact-Check Backlash.
Perhaps they have finally learned their lesson:)
Perhaps they have finally learned their lesson:)
Food Stamp Myths
There are a lot of myths about food stamps and this site is an excellent source for correcting the misinformation. Here are a few basic facts.
76% of SNAP households included a child, an elderly person, or a disabled person. These vulnerable households receive 83% of all SNAP benefits.
These are real people, folks, with real problems. Lumping them all into one category as lazy, good for nothings is ridiculous.
Two-thirds of all SNAP payment errors are a result of caseworker error. Nearly one-fifth are underpayments, which occur when eligible participants receive less in benefits than they are eligible to receive.
The idea that there is something special about the "fraud" that goes on with SNAP is completely ridiculous. The errors aren't overpayments but underpayments.
Here is one of my favorite myths followed by reality.
Work Requirements
Myth: SNAP doesn’t do enough to encourage participants to get a job, and the program needs stronger work requirements.
Reality: SNAP already has strict time-limits for unemployed workers. Able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) may only receive 3 months of SNAP benefits during any 3 year period, unless they are working in a qualifying job training program. The SNAP benefit formula is structured to provide a strong work incentive – for every additional dollar a SNAP participant earns, their benefits decline by about 24 to 36 cents, not a full dollar, so participants have a strong incentive to find work, work longer hours, or seek better-paying employment.
We have enough problems with helping out those in need. Adding fake problems makes it worse. The next time you here some mouth foaming about food stamps, check out this site for reality.
76% of SNAP households included a child, an elderly person, or a disabled person. These vulnerable households receive 83% of all SNAP benefits.
These are real people, folks, with real problems. Lumping them all into one category as lazy, good for nothings is ridiculous.
Two-thirds of all SNAP payment errors are a result of caseworker error. Nearly one-fifth are underpayments, which occur when eligible participants receive less in benefits than they are eligible to receive.
The idea that there is something special about the "fraud" that goes on with SNAP is completely ridiculous. The errors aren't overpayments but underpayments.
Here is one of my favorite myths followed by reality.
Work Requirements
Myth: SNAP doesn’t do enough to encourage participants to get a job, and the program needs stronger work requirements.
Reality: SNAP already has strict time-limits for unemployed workers. Able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) may only receive 3 months of SNAP benefits during any 3 year period, unless they are working in a qualifying job training program. The SNAP benefit formula is structured to provide a strong work incentive – for every additional dollar a SNAP participant earns, their benefits decline by about 24 to 36 cents, not a full dollar, so participants have a strong incentive to find work, work longer hours, or seek better-paying employment.
We have enough problems with helping out those in need. Adding fake problems makes it worse. The next time you here some mouth foaming about food stamps, check out this site for reality.
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Putin Calls Obama
Vladamir Putin called the president on Friday to discuss diplomatic solutions to the situation in Ukraine. He also has stated that Russian troops would not move into eastern Ukraine. Neither one of these occurrences should be viewed as the end of the crisis but they do represent a shift away from warmer temperatures.
It's interesting to note that phone calls about diplomacy and assurances over troop movements are being made after the "ineffective" sanctions are now in place. Does this also mean that Putin has lost his macho luster with the GOP? After all, what kind of a leader tells another country that they won't be invading? A wimpy pussy, right?
It's interesting to note that phone calls about diplomacy and assurances over troop movements are being made after the "ineffective" sanctions are now in place. Does this also mean that Putin has lost his macho luster with the GOP? After all, what kind of a leader tells another country that they won't be invading? A wimpy pussy, right?
Obama's Catholic Roots
There are still around 17 percent of American voters who think that Barack Obama is a Muslim. The fact is, though, that his roots are very deeply Christian.
By the time of that session in the spring of 1987, Mr. Obama — himself not Catholic — was already well known in Chicago’s black Catholic circles. He had arrived two years earlier to fill an organizing position paid for by a church grant, and had spent his first months here surrounded by Catholic pastors and congregations. In this often overlooked period of the president’s life, he had a desk in a South Side parish and became steeped in the social justice wing of the church, which played a powerful role in his political formation.
The concept of social justice comes directly from the teachings of Jesus Christ and has been carried forward with a great deal of success by the Catholic Church. This is what drove the president to community service and his actions illustrate this quite clearly. His recent meeting with the Pope was a meeting of like minded individuals who understand that service to the poor is service to Jesus Christ. As the article notes, they are kindred spirits who strongly believe in social justice and inclusion.
There isn't any mystery to the president's agenda. He wants to help people out who are less fortunate. It's just that simple.
By the time of that session in the spring of 1987, Mr. Obama — himself not Catholic — was already well known in Chicago’s black Catholic circles. He had arrived two years earlier to fill an organizing position paid for by a church grant, and had spent his first months here surrounded by Catholic pastors and congregations. In this often overlooked period of the president’s life, he had a desk in a South Side parish and became steeped in the social justice wing of the church, which played a powerful role in his political formation.
The concept of social justice comes directly from the teachings of Jesus Christ and has been carried forward with a great deal of success by the Catholic Church. This is what drove the president to community service and his actions illustrate this quite clearly. His recent meeting with the Pope was a meeting of like minded individuals who understand that service to the poor is service to Jesus Christ. As the article notes, they are kindred spirits who strongly believe in social justice and inclusion.
There isn't any mystery to the president's agenda. He wants to help people out who are less fortunate. It's just that simple.
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Friday, March 28, 2014
A Nation of Takers
Nicholas Kristof is completely accurate in identifying the group of people who continually spoon off of the government. They are:
1. People who get subsidies for their private planes
2. People who get subsidies for their yachts
3. People who run hedge funds and and private equity groups
4. Banks
5. American Corporations.
Combined, these folks account for around $200 billion dollars a year of taxpayer money. And it's OK to cut SNAP money by $8 billion dollars? Really?
I hear quite a bit of mouth foaming over food stamps and nothing but crickets when it comes to the above list of welfare queens.
1. People who get subsidies for their private planes
2. People who get subsidies for their yachts
3. People who run hedge funds and and private equity groups
4. Banks
5. American Corporations.
Combined, these folks account for around $200 billion dollars a year of taxpayer money. And it's OK to cut SNAP money by $8 billion dollars? Really?
I hear quite a bit of mouth foaming over food stamps and nothing but crickets when it comes to the above list of welfare queens.
Stamp the ACA Right On Your Forehead
If Democrats want to retain control of the Senate this year, they need to stand proudly behind the Affordable Care Act. They can cite all of the people that are now covered that weren't covered before. They can hold up the basic fact that if you have a pre-existing condition you can't be dropped by your insurance company. They can illustrate how you won't go bankrupt if you have an illness. They can discuss how children and young adults up to age 26 are covered under the parents policies.
And they can reveal that the Republicans have nothing but spite, anger and fear to offer instead of the ACA.
Take the example of Mark Udall who is running for re-election in Colorado.
He'd vote for it again. Damn right!
And they can reveal that the Republicans have nothing but spite, anger and fear to offer instead of the ACA.
Take the example of Mark Udall who is running for re-election in Colorado.
He'd vote for it again. Damn right!
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Good Words
With respect to Mr. Romney’s assertion that Russia’s our No. 1 geopolitical foe, the truth of the matter is that, you know, America’s got a whole lot of challenges. Russia is a regional power that is threatening some of its immediate neighbors—not out of strength but out of weakness.
---President Barack Obama, March 25, 2014
Indeed. And say buh-bye to the G-8 (now G-7)
---President Barack Obama, March 25, 2014
Indeed. And say buh-bye to the G-8 (now G-7)
Conversion of A Clinton Hater
David Brock used to be a mouthfoamer but now he has seen the error of his ways.
On Tuesday, he was the featured speaker at the Clinton School of Public Service at the University of Arkansas, where he delivered a speech about his political conversion and his efforts to “blow the whistle” on what he sees as the right-wing’s “obsession” with the Clintons. “At its root, I realized, Clinton-hating had nothing to do with what the Clintons did and did not do,” Brock said. “It had everything to do with fear of the kind of change they represented on one hand — and on the other, a newly brutal form of partisan politics.”
Sound familiar?
I wonder if years from now we will have converts from the folks who currently have Obama Mental Meltdown Syndrome. I hope so and I'm glad to see that there are people like Brock who are going to get out in front of the Hillary mouthfoam that's going to boil to full froth if she decides to run.
On Tuesday, he was the featured speaker at the Clinton School of Public Service at the University of Arkansas, where he delivered a speech about his political conversion and his efforts to “blow the whistle” on what he sees as the right-wing’s “obsession” with the Clintons. “At its root, I realized, Clinton-hating had nothing to do with what the Clintons did and did not do,” Brock said. “It had everything to do with fear of the kind of change they represented on one hand — and on the other, a newly brutal form of partisan politics.”
Sound familiar?
I wonder if years from now we will have converts from the folks who currently have Obama Mental Meltdown Syndrome. I hope so and I'm glad to see that there are people like Brock who are going to get out in front of the Hillary mouthfoam that's going to boil to full froth if she decides to run.
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Generation Wars
Atlantic's The Wire has the definitive guide to the generations. Well, as definitive as you can get.
Because, honestly, all this stuff about generations is nonsense. Take, for example, the Greatest Generation. Ostensibly these are the people who suffered through the Depression, fought WWII and saved the world for democracy. But that generation is defined as ending in 1946. 1946! How could someone born after WWII ended have done spit to save to the world for democracy?
For that matter, how could anyone born after 1928 contributed in any material way to our victory over the Axis? My dad, born in 1933, was 12 when the war ended. He joined the army in the early 1950s but spent the Korean War in Germany. This Washington Post story does a better job of splitting up the generations, calling my father's cohort the Silent Generation.
It's the same with the Baby Boom: it's really at least two different cultural cohorts. Supposedly, it's characterized by the anti-war, free-love, acid-dropping turn-on-tune-in-drop-out, women's lib and civil rights movements of the 1960s. I was born in 1957, smack in the middle of the demographic bubble. But I was 12 when the 1960s ended. All that counter-culture stuff was completely alien to me.
The idea that the tens of millions of people born during the same 20-year period all have some kind of personality traits in common is even sillier than the idea that everyone born in the same month shares the same horoscope. George W. Bush and Bill Clinton were both born in 1946, but that's about all they have in common.
What's salient about generations is not what year you're born, but what cultural events affected you when you were impressionable. But it's more complicated than that, because kids of different ages are impressed by different things.
Kids 5-12 will be influenced by things such as video games, the space program, cuddly animals, dinosaurs, fire trucks, and so on. Wars in far-off lands, sex, booze and drugs will never enter their minds -- if their parents are doing their jobs right. Kids 13-17 will be affected by the opposite sex, booze and drugs because those things concern them directly. Eighteen- to 25-year-olds are leaving home and entering the wider world, but are still quite impressionable, and are now being influenced by greater concerns like fighting in wars, earning a living, taxes, raising children of their own, politics and so on.
Your parents also affect your development: two children born in 1957, one to a 45-year-old WWII vet and the other to a 17-year-old single mother, are going to have completely different influences.
Even where you live can make a big difference: social trends starting in California or New York may take 10 or 15 years to reach Memphis or Topeka.
In my case the sexual revolution and drug culture of the 1960s completely passed me by, but the space program and moon landing on the 1960s captured the interest of a 5- to 12-year-old. My politically formative years were the 1970s and early 80s, the tail end of the Vietnam War, Watergate, the Oil Crisis, the Iranian hostage crisis, and Iran-Contra. According to this website, that puts me squarely in Generation X. I was born at the height of the Baby Boom, but culturally I'm a Gen-Xer.
The problem is is trying to define generations as lasting 20 years, apparently conforming to the active reproductive years of the human female. But people don't fall into neat little 20-year boxes. They're being born constantly.
If we're going to talk meaningfully about generations, we have to give up the idea of all parents belonging to one generation and the kids belonging to the next. Instead we have to talk about smaller cultural cohorts that may not be the same length. Thus, the turmoil of the 60s lasted about 10 or 12 years, but the relative stasis of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s endured for almost 30 years.
I would divvy up the cultural cohorts this way:
The Greatest Generation was between 1910 and 1928. They came of age during the Depression and fought in WWII. These folks are mostly gone now.
My father's generation lived through the Depression as children; they knew deprivation, but not the desperation that comes with being unable to provide for your children. They came of age during the post-War years, the Korean War, and the height of the Cold War, when in the 40's and 1950s Russia and the United States tested nuclear weapons every other week and people were building bomb shelters in their back yards.
The cultural cohort that corresponds to what we call the Baby Boom were children in the 1950s and teenagers in the 1960s, born from, say, 1942 to 1955. They were affected by the Vietnam war and the sexual revolution and all the other perils of that turbulent time.
My cultural cohort was born between 1952 and 1970, people who came of age in the relatively calm times of 70s and 80s. I'd call it the Computer Cohort. This includes Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, the people who created the personal computer and made computers an integral part of everyday life during the 1980s. This generation were the shock troops in the fiscalization of our economy, where making money became more important than making things.
The next cohort came of age in the boom years of the late 80's and 1990s, when communism fell, America was unquestionably the king of the world, we could snap our fingers and the world would help us take down a dictator like Saddam Hussein and the Internet became widely accessible.
The next cohort comes of age in the 2000s and 2010s, their nights haunted by dreams of 9/11 and their days dogged by endless war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Internet becomes omnipresent and almost omniscient; this generation is the first to be electronically tethered to their peers all their lives.
We blame the children of each generation for their peculiar characteristics, but their parents and grandparents created the world that shaped them.
Baby Boomers are criticized for all getting old at the same time, putting a drain on the Social Security system and forcing their children and grandchildren to pay for their retirements. But they didn't ask to be born, and they had nothing to do with increases in Social Security payments, which are tied to inflation through automatic cost of living adjustments put in place by legislation Congress passed in the 1970s, when most Baby Boomers weren't old enough to be elected to Congress and many weren't even old enough to vote.
Generation X is criticized for living with their parents, but their elders tanked the economy, forcing them into that ignominy. And their parents let them stay in their basements. Millennials are castigated for constantly texting and playing video games, or their parents coming to to job interviews with them. But it's their parents and grandparents who built the Internet, created microelectronics, cellphones and wi-fi, and go to the job interviews with their kids.
In so many ways, it's the parents who are responsible for the way their kids turn out. Yet we always blame the kids for our mistakes.
If you look closely at the criticisms leveled at every generation, they're always the same: those people are selfish, self-involved jerks who don't give a rip about my problems. All of this boils down to the same old-man rant: kids these days just ain't got no respect.
And get off my lawn!
Find The Gun Cult A Fainting Couch!
Springfield, Illinois is now GROUND ZERO for the battle over gun rights after this absolute abomination was used in a classroom setting.
Oh no!! Someone fetch the smelling salts!!
Oh no!! Someone fetch the smelling salts!!
GOP 2016 Presidential Nominee: Vladimir Putin
A colleague of mine in the social studies department finally decided he had had enough. He had to let loose his opinion on the situation in the Ukraine at a recent staff meeting. He's also the chairman of the department so we all sort of had to listen. He spoke of Obama's weakness and how since there was a Democrat in the White House, Putin was emboldened to do whatever he wanted. He posited that we should move NATO troops into Ukraine and send part of our navy to the Black Sea. It was a classic neocon screed that in many ways made me wax nostalgic for those good ol' days of Cheney and Rumsfeld.
More importantly, it made me realize that the perfect candidate for the GOP in 2016 is none other than Vladimir Putin himself. Think about it for a minute. He's strong, doesn't take any shit from anyone, and thinks with his guts! He has all the aristocratic airs that conservatives pretend they don't really like. He doesn't do all the pussy talking and diplomacy crap or rely on mealymouthed sanctions. He ACTS! Add in what President George W. Bush said about him...
He's not well informed. It's like arguing with an eighth grader with his facts wrong.
and he is so unbelievably perfect as the GOP presidential nom that I can already feel that tingle up my leg!
More importantly, it made me realize that the perfect candidate for the GOP in 2016 is none other than Vladimir Putin himself. Think about it for a minute. He's strong, doesn't take any shit from anyone, and thinks with his guts! He has all the aristocratic airs that conservatives pretend they don't really like. He doesn't do all the pussy talking and diplomacy crap or rely on mealymouthed sanctions. He ACTS! Add in what President George W. Bush said about him...
He's not well informed. It's like arguing with an eighth grader with his facts wrong.
and he is so unbelievably perfect as the GOP presidential nom that I can already feel that tingle up my leg!
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
World Meteorological Organization: Extreme Weather Due To Climate Change
A recent search for the annual report from the World Meteorological Organization brought me to Fox News of all places.
A rise in sea levels is leading to increasing damage from storm surges and coastal flooding, as demonstrated by Typhoon Haiyan, the agency's Secretary-General Michel Jarraud said. The typhoon in November killed at least 6,100 people and caused $13 billion in damage to the Philippines and Vietnam. Australia, meanwhile, had its hottest year on record.
"Many of the extreme events of 2013 were consistent with what we would expect as a result of human-induced climate change," Jarraud said. He also cited other costly weather disasters such as $22 billion damage from central European flooding in June, $10 billion in damage from Typhoon Fitow in China and Japan, and a $10 billion drought in much of China.
Perhaps the fact that Fox allowed this on their site is a sign of a shift in ideology. It actually makes sense when you think about it given that Fox is a huge supporter of the corporate world and firms are starting to lose money as a result of climate change.
A rise in sea levels is leading to increasing damage from storm surges and coastal flooding, as demonstrated by Typhoon Haiyan, the agency's Secretary-General Michel Jarraud said. The typhoon in November killed at least 6,100 people and caused $13 billion in damage to the Philippines and Vietnam. Australia, meanwhile, had its hottest year on record.
"Many of the extreme events of 2013 were consistent with what we would expect as a result of human-induced climate change," Jarraud said. He also cited other costly weather disasters such as $22 billion damage from central European flooding in June, $10 billion in damage from Typhoon Fitow in China and Japan, and a $10 billion drought in much of China.
Perhaps the fact that Fox allowed this on their site is a sign of a shift in ideology. It actually makes sense when you think about it given that Fox is a huge supporter of the corporate world and firms are starting to lose money as a result of climate change.
How Free Markets And Government Spending Can Stabilize A Country
When someone mentions Rwanda, the first words that come to mind are violence and instability, not free markets and prosperity. This recent article in the Times shows just how far Rwanda has come and you can thank the power of capitalism for their recent success. One of my add-ons to the "teach a man to fish" saying is "teach a village to fish and they create a free market economy" and that is clearly what has happened in Rwanda.
Rwanda offers an alternative model, analysts say, a country where the economy has grown an average of nearly 8 percent over the last four years because of increased agricultural productivity, tourism and government spending on infrastructure and housing. Despite having a population of just around 12 million, the consulting firm A.T. Kearney last week named Rwanda the most attractive African market for retailers in its first ever African Retail Development Index.
As the article notes, there are still challenges ahead for Rwanda but the simple fact that it has made it to this point illustrates that with the right balance of free market principles and government involvement stability can be achieved anywhere.
Rwanda offers an alternative model, analysts say, a country where the economy has grown an average of nearly 8 percent over the last four years because of increased agricultural productivity, tourism and government spending on infrastructure and housing. Despite having a population of just around 12 million, the consulting firm A.T. Kearney last week named Rwanda the most attractive African market for retailers in its first ever African Retail Development Index.
As the article notes, there are still challenges ahead for Rwanda but the simple fact that it has made it to this point illustrates that with the right balance of free market principles and government involvement stability can be achieved anywhere.
Monday, March 24, 2014
Are The Republicans Celebrating Too Soon?
If you pay attention to politics, the 2014 elections (over seven months away and without nominees in many contests) has already been won by the Republicans. They've gained more seats in the House and taken back the Senate. Even statistical guru Nate Silver is on their side this time (his new site is pretty boss, btw).
But Tim Alberta says, "Whoa, there, son" and posits that the GOP is celebrating too soon. In looking at his main points, I don't see much progress. In short, he's right. And so is Doug Sosnik. The Republicans are channeling Groucho Marx.
At the national level, Republicans continue to be viewed as the congressional opposition party whose intransigence led to the government shutdown last October. These same interests actively worked to scuttle immigration reform this year. In this environment, it’s the likes of Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and California Rep. Darrell Issa who define the Republican brand. The struggle for the party’s future is playing out in real time as we approach the crucial period leading up to the 2016 elections. Ironically, Republicans’ short-term tactics to pick up additional seats in the 2014 midterms—as well as the rightward pressures of the presidential primary process—will only reinforce the public’s perception of the Republican Party as unwelcoming and out of step with the majority of Americans.
Right. They only think in terms of short term gains and never long term victories. 2016 could be an absolute disaster for Republicans if they don't moderate now. They'll have 24 seats up in the Senate and it's a presidential year which means higher voter turnout on the Democratic side. If Hillary runs, she will likely win and possibly have both Houses back.
It will be interesting to see who they put up for candidates against the vulnerable Democrats. If they go moderate, it's a sign that they are thinking ahead to 2016. If not, they won't take back the Senate and will totally fuck themselves in two years.
But Tim Alberta says, "Whoa, there, son" and posits that the GOP is celebrating too soon. In looking at his main points, I don't see much progress. In short, he's right. And so is Doug Sosnik. The Republicans are channeling Groucho Marx.
At the national level, Republicans continue to be viewed as the congressional opposition party whose intransigence led to the government shutdown last October. These same interests actively worked to scuttle immigration reform this year. In this environment, it’s the likes of Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and California Rep. Darrell Issa who define the Republican brand. The struggle for the party’s future is playing out in real time as we approach the crucial period leading up to the 2016 elections. Ironically, Republicans’ short-term tactics to pick up additional seats in the 2014 midterms—as well as the rightward pressures of the presidential primary process—will only reinforce the public’s perception of the Republican Party as unwelcoming and out of step with the majority of Americans.
Right. They only think in terms of short term gains and never long term victories. 2016 could be an absolute disaster for Republicans if they don't moderate now. They'll have 24 seats up in the Senate and it's a presidential year which means higher voter turnout on the Democratic side. If Hillary runs, she will likely win and possibly have both Houses back.
It will be interesting to see who they put up for candidates against the vulnerable Democrats. If they go moderate, it's a sign that they are thinking ahead to 2016. If not, they won't take back the Senate and will totally fuck themselves in two years.
The Syrian Nightmare
A recent article in the Times shows just how bad the situation is in Syria.
The government bombards neighborhoods with explosive barrels, missiles, heavy artillery and, the United States says, chemical weapons, then it sends in its allies in Hezbollah and other militias to wage street warfare. It jails and tortures peaceful activists, and uses starvation as a weapon, blockading opposition areas where trapped children shrivel and die.
The opposition is now functionally dominated by foreign-led jihadists who commit their own abuses in the name of their extremist ideology, just last week shooting a 7-year-old boy for what they claimed was apostasy. And some of those fighters, too, have targeted civilians and used siege tactics.
I can barely imagine how awful the situation is there for any average citizen that stayed behind. We were very smart not to get involved and I suppose it's just going to continue until so many people are dead that there isn't any country left.
This terrible thought led me to wonder what kind of a country will be left for Assad or someone else to govern. Who would want to rule such a place?
The government bombards neighborhoods with explosive barrels, missiles, heavy artillery and, the United States says, chemical weapons, then it sends in its allies in Hezbollah and other militias to wage street warfare. It jails and tortures peaceful activists, and uses starvation as a weapon, blockading opposition areas where trapped children shrivel and die.
The opposition is now functionally dominated by foreign-led jihadists who commit their own abuses in the name of their extremist ideology, just last week shooting a 7-year-old boy for what they claimed was apostasy. And some of those fighters, too, have targeted civilians and used siege tactics.
I can barely imagine how awful the situation is there for any average citizen that stayed behind. We were very smart not to get involved and I suppose it's just going to continue until so many people are dead that there isn't any country left.
This terrible thought led me to wonder what kind of a country will be left for Assad or someone else to govern. Who would want to rule such a place?
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Heaven For The Gun Cult
I believe I have found the perfect place for the Gun Cult: Libya.
Libya, where hundreds of militias hold sway and the central government is virtually powerless, is awash in millions of weapons with no control over their trafficking.
A central government that is powerless? Holy shit! Someone find me some Kleenex in which I can shoot my load!!! I'm sure now that the country is not a gun free zone violence will drop to nearly zero. Hey, maybe we can finally find out what happened at Benghazi!!
Libya, where hundreds of militias hold sway and the central government is virtually powerless, is awash in millions of weapons with no control over their trafficking.
A central government that is powerless? Holy shit! Someone find me some Kleenex in which I can shoot my load!!! I'm sure now that the country is not a gun free zone violence will drop to nearly zero. Hey, maybe we can finally find out what happened at Benghazi!!
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Ukraine Inks Deal With EU
The EU and the Ukraine signed an association agreement yesterday but it got little notice in the press. Odd, considering that this was the spark that lit the flame which started all the instability in the region. Perhaps the "liberal" media has become too obsessed with either the "Obama is weak" meme or wringing their hands over the "fact" that "Obama is weak"
Regardless, the focus should be on this agreement because it's exactly why Vladimir Putin has already lost. It is the first step of trade and economic integration with Europe that won't stop with Ukraine.
The EU also announced it will speed up similar association deals with Georgia and Moldova, it said in its statement: The European Union reconfirms its objective to further strengthen the political association and economic integration with Georgia and the Republic of Moldova. We confirm our aim to sign the Association Agreements, including the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas, which we initiated in Vilnius last November, no later than June 2014.
As I have said many times in the past, the West's soft, economic power always wins in the long run. Sooner or later, Putin will have no choice but to fall in line like everyone else.
Regardless, the focus should be on this agreement because it's exactly why Vladimir Putin has already lost. It is the first step of trade and economic integration with Europe that won't stop with Ukraine.
The EU also announced it will speed up similar association deals with Georgia and Moldova, it said in its statement: The European Union reconfirms its objective to further strengthen the political association and economic integration with Georgia and the Republic of Moldova. We confirm our aim to sign the Association Agreements, including the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas, which we initiated in Vilnius last November, no later than June 2014.
As I have said many times in the past, the West's soft, economic power always wins in the long run. Sooner or later, Putin will have no choice but to fall in line like everyone else.
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