Wednesday, October 31, 2012

President Obama Flew Over My House Today

My community was hit hard by Sandy. The devastation is hard to describe . . President Obama flew over my house today. That's how bad it is. I was evacuated Monday night. What I have been hearing all day long are the sirens, not for the living, but for the people who decided to stay. That are being "recovered". They decided to "ride it out".
Not only that, but the people who were evacuated and decided to get out, there is looting going on. So we have a curfew now.
Here's the weird trick or treat,
Obama Tours Storm-Ravaged New Jersey With Gov. Chris Christie - NYTimes.com
I have tried to post today numerous times, I hope this one will take. Prayers appreciated.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Thanks Sandy!

Had to work today. So I didn't get to blog. I am right in the path of the hurricane. If everything is ok I will post tomorrow. I have to haul a lot of stuff, just in case shit goes down. Everyone in the east, be safe!

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Mitt Romney Style



                                      
Thanks Collegehumor, for this fun. Go ahead and try not to laugh at the scene with the butler in the bathroom. Have Fun!

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Big Bird, Binders, Bayonets And Horses.

I couldn't watch the debates, I work late on Monday nights. However, on my way home I turned on the radio and caught something about Robme talking about how "our Navy has less ships now than in 1916." At that point I hadn't heard the Presidents comeback. So I got home and jumped on my laptop, sure enough, it's another meme.
I wonder how Romney's going to keep that deficit down by building up an already bloated military industrial complex? 1916 Really?  Here's another one:
"Gov. Romney, I'm glad you recognize al-Qaeda is a threat, because a few months ago when you were asked what is the biggest geopolitical group facing America, you said Russia — not al-Qaeda. And the 1980's are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back — because the Cold War has been over for 20 years. But Governor, when it comes to our foreign policy, you seem to want to import the foreign policies of the 1980's, just like the social policy of the 1950's, and the economic policies of the 1920's."
 Not much mention of drones or Afghanistan. Looked like a bunch of theater. President Obama kicked ass, and Romney looked like one, or not, depending on which way you lean. But hey, there's some awesome meme's to distract us from any sort of substance other than we need more ships for our Navy.


I thought the New Yorker's endorsement of Obama was worth reading. http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2012/10/29/121029taco_talk_editors

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Tagg! You're it!

Maybe I'll Steal The Election To Do It Too!
Just in case you think your vote counts, you might want to read this. Republicans taking issue with voter ID laws, alleging voter fraud, have no problem with Mitt Romney's family (mainly his son Tagg) investing in voting machines. This company, a subsidiary of Solamere, called Hart Intercivic, provides the voting machines used in swing states, Colorado and Ohio. So, it's okay for a presidential candidate to own the voting machines AND for his party to make it harder for people to vote.
8 civil rights groups in the supposed "Land Of The Free" have  asked the Organisation of Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), to observe our elections. They are not expected to participate in observing our democratic process. It's good to know they have so much confidence in our democratic system, because we all know that an election could never be stolen by the brother of a presidential candidate. Right?
Is it possible that a son of a presidential candidate could steal an election for his father?
Also, Tagg Romney is being sued as part of the $8 billion Stanford Financial Group Ponzi scheme. He started Solamere, after his old boss at Stanford  was caught by law enforcement, Tagg and his former boss are named in a lawsuit for selling CD's as part of an $8 billion Ponzi scheme. Anyway, it's only money, and the Romney's have plenty, so it's not like Tagg will go to jail or anything.

There's already been a scandal around whether or not votes are being manipulated.
(See  "Hacking Democracy" )
It's no wonder so many people decide not to participate. I wonder how many people in Ohio and Colorado know who owns their voting machines? This election is so close, I am afraid it is going to turn out like the Gore-Bush debacle of 2000. We all know how the Supreme Court voted on that one, thanks to Jeb Bush's "hanging chads."
It's going to be even more interesting now to see who is going to win Colorado and Ohio. Thank goodness our elections are free of corruption and we don't need anyone to observe our democratic process, since we are above all that.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Messy Magic Underwear

"I went to a number of women's groups and said: "Can you help us find folks,"and they brought us whole binders full of women." First of all, when some politician starts talking about "folks" I get suspicious. 
I've actually had men call me "You womenfolk"
Why didn't he just say "some of my best friends are women"?
Check out Tumblr
This is not a slip of the tongue. You have to wonder what kind of rarefied world Willard lives in when you give a command like "Can you help us find folks." Meaning, women. Because for Mitt Robme, women are an afterthought.
Anxiety for job creators, is going to be a factor for hiring women. "We're going to have to have employers in the new economy, in the economy I'm going to bring to play, that are going to be so anxious to get good workers they're going to be anxious to hire women." Uh, ok. I guess I better get my binder together.
"I mentioned 3.5 million women, more now in poverty than four years ago." I wonder if Willard (yeah that's his real name) realizes that family planning keeps women out of poverty. There is a disconnect there. Especially since Robme's position on contraception has been has been to allow employers insurance companies to deny coverage on religious or moral grounds.
It's very telling, when you don't know any professional women and folks have to bring you binders full of 'em.
Remember, this guy doesn't even care about his own dog.

Check out this  Super pack
I wonder if Queen Ann had to check Robme's magic underwear after last night's debate, Look's like he's in quite a bind.


Sunday, October 14, 2012

Poll Dancing

Hope this thing isn't a Diebold, or does it even matter?
If the polls can be believed, Romney is leading Obama, 49% to 47%
according to Gallup.  What will really decide this election are  one of  two factors. It will either be the candidate who wins the most electoral votes (I'm not going to get into  how obsolete and archaic this system is.) or it will be the Supreme Court, like the Bush-Gore coup of 2000.
Any way you look at it, money is in charge, and we are electing and sustaining a system that is unsustainable. Romney is just Bush in magic underwear. He loves government welfare as long as it's for corporations or millionaires. (earned income credit, energy subsidies, resource leases with prices that have stayed the same since the 70's) no subsidies for lazy 47% moochers who won't take responsibility for their own lives.
The only thing that can be said for the President is that it will be a kinder, gentler, status quo for the system and the average American with, maybe some shreds of the social safety net, (created during the last Great Depression) left in place. I think it's very interesting how deeply divided this country is. Socialism is now the dirty word to use against President Obama, instead of communism.
Socialism is an economic system characterised by social ownership of the means of production and co-operative management of the economy, and a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to cooperative enterprises, common ownership, direct public ownership or autonomous state enterprises. It's all there in Wikipedia. If Obama is a socialist, then I'll wear magic underwear. Maybe then I'll be able to see it. If the President is a socialist for giving people food stamps, then Romney's family fortune was built on the socialist welfare they took to come back to America after getting run out of this country, for being Morman polygamists. Elect Romney and elect another American dynasty to power like Bush.
 According to this poll 90 million people won't vote. Some people are too busy, I don't blame them for that. Our voting system is archaic, and thanks to the Diebold scandal the possibility that the machines are rigged is certainly there. Then there are the people who don't like either candidate. Most of them are no better off than they were 4 years ago, but Wall Street certainly is. There is a lack of trust for our political system. So they choose not to participate.
The perception is that megacorporations run this country and the President is just a front man. How else do you explain President Obama's turnaround from hope and change, to nope and give Republicans their "Grand Bargain" that he was NOT elected to give. People ARE disappointed in the President, they are entitled to be. Not because they didn't get the pony they wanted for Christmas, but because the President didn't deliver. There is the possibility that like FDR, President Obama needs more than one term to dig us out of this mess and he'll have more "flexibility". So I guess some of us are still hoping, while a lot of people have given up hope.







Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Unholy Alliance

I Hope This Nice Couple Has Health Insurance.
Will it be sickness or health? Richer or poorer? Who will be addressing these inequalities, I wonder? Supposedly we are either one party or another, when we are really either the 99% or the 1%.
Where exactly is the left and where does it belong when the Republican party is the far right and the Democratic party is center right?
Joe Biden heads the Middle Class Task Force. Haven't seen much action on it, so I am not sure if the task is over, since the middle class has been wiped out and will he mention that?

Paul Ryan wants to voucherize Medicare, Republicans want to end the social safety net we have had in place since the last great economic disaster. There was a reason for that. Reason, seems lost on Paul Ryan. Atlas just shrugged and walked away, because he's got a bad back and he knows Ryan's voucher plan, would allow insurance companies to take the healthiest people's vouchers while the other not so healthy, are on their own to choose between food and healthcare.
Can you say Death Panel? From Forbes "the Ryan plan simply gives responsibility to bureaucrats inside the insurance industry, assuming they know better. Yikes!" Pretty Spooky.
While Fox New's brand of American Fascism, continues to court the Confederate States of America, which is what the Republican Party has become. Their leader exported American business to China and sheltered his money in Switzerland and the Cayman Islands. This is the  best The Republicans could do, Mitt for Brains, and his side kick, Eddie Munster.


Sunday, October 7, 2012

Indignant, Indignados


While we all are debating the debate here, this is what is happening in Spain. Protesters tried to occupy the Congress. They call themselves "Indignados" or Indignant's. They are protesting against the austerity cuts that are happening in Spain. The budget has been slashed for education, health care and subsidies that employ thousands of workers. Spain has received over 100 billion euros as a bailout to prop up the banking system. They are tired of the two party system that no longer represents them. In anticipation of receiving more funds, Spain created austerity measures.
Notice the people are suffering, not the banks that created this mess.
I have watched this video many times, and there are quite a few things that got my attention. First is the militarized police, the way they beat their fellow citizens with those batons and it looks as if there is no rhyme or reason for who they drag off. Most of them are trying to run away and not attack the police. Check out 1:14 where a street fightin' man kicks a cops ass. My favorite part.
Now, what can politicians in America learn?
When you force the people you serve to suffer cruel budget cuts and threaten to fire Big Bird, people get pissed. People are already angry. I have every expectation that shit will go down, mob style, if Americans get fed up enough. So go ahead and vote for Rmoney, and watch the fireworks, Guy Fawkes style.
 

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Winning!!

I didn't watch much of the debates last night. Had to go to bed early, because of my job. I got a look at the opening arguments. I did notice Romney came out on the offensive, while the President looked kind of irritated. From what I have read and seen in the aftermath, I'm glad I didn't waste my time. First I want to talk about Jim Lehrer.
In my last post, I noted that with the exception of Candy Crowley, it's old white guys moderating. I wasn't surprised when I read this. Apparently, he couldn't control the discussions on Medicare, health reform and Dodd-Frank. Granted, with all the waffling around and brazen back-tracking of Romney's, it's hard to stay on track. Considering, when asked outright about his voucher system, Romney just answered "there will be no change for current retirees".
The consensus is that Romney did well, Obama did not.
It just kind of reminds me of Charlie Sheen and "winning!" There's nothing of real substance going on, except for a lot of double talk.
Why was there no mention of Romney's 47% percent remark?
Why not at least ask why he only gave 2 years of tax returns?
What I thought was the most amazing was Romney's comment about Obama "providing  more trickle down economics." That takes balls, coming from a Republican. Especially after his apology to Lehrer about cutting off funding for PBS, which would basically do nothing, for the deficit.
There was no mention of poverty, no mention of the fact that someone working a minimum wage job has no way to afford healthcare. That is completely ignored.
The perception is that Romney went from a moderate Republican to a hardcore Conservative to a moderate Republican again. So, if you can win a debate looking like a better liar, well, "winning!"
Romney said that Obama doubled the deficit, this is not true, but he won't be called on it. Obama lost the debate by not challenging Romney more, He acted like people already knew about all Romney's lies and didn't bring it up and he should have.
Romney's going to close loopholes and deductions for his tax plan, but he doesn't say which ones or how. He says he will replace Dodd-Frank, but doesn't say with what. He say's he's going to replace Obamacare and leave all the good things that are in there, so don't worry.
The New York Times states "the accuracy of campaign statements has emerged as a campaign issue." Really? How?
The moderators can't control the conversation during the debates, Romney lies and says what he wants. President Obama allowed Rmoney to trickle down all over him. 

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Zingers, A Metaphor For Romney

I wonder how many of these Christie can eat?
Ok, this is really funny. Chris Christie thinks Romney is going to do "extraordinarily well" in the debates. I was working and listening to the radio on my iPod, and laughing at the hilarity of what Christie was saying. Romney has managed to screw up, whether on TV or off.
So, even though it's been a "tough few weeks for Romney" get this, "here's the great news for Republicans, he's going to do extraordinarily well." Christie spouts. The really funny part is that he points out how well Romney did when challenged by Gingrich and Perry. Which makes me wonder how low can you go?  Perry could not name three agencies of the government. Oops! Gingrich is just plain batshit crazy. So how is Romney going to be able to debate a very gifted speaker like President Obama?  Here's how, with a secret weapon known as the "zinger"
"Mr. Romney’s team has concluded that debates are about creating moments and has equipped him with a series of zingers that he has memorized and has been practicing on aides since August. His strategy includes luring the president into appearing smug or evasive about his responsibility for the economy."
That's the strategy. Since Romney has no real platform other than  pleasing the extreme right. He's going to drop his "zingers"  like a "Hail Mary" football play, and come out victorious. As long as he can "create a moment" all will be well. With the amount of moments and zingers he's created during his campaign, he'd do better just to avoid opening his mouth at all.
Jim Lehrer, from PBS is going to moderate, tomorrow night. Great, another boring old white guy. He does great work on PBS, but I would like to see some younger people get a chance, maybe all the disenfranchised younger voters would get more interested. Candy Crowley (the token woman) will also moderate another of the debates, and Bob Schieffer, of Face The Nation, another show that's been on too long with boring old white guys. I am going to try and watch on Wednesday, but to tell the truth, I can't stand watching Romney, although there might be a chance he'll do something freaky like have a tantrum. I kind of doubt it, but he seems to have a low frustration level.
The thing about Zingers is that they are a sugary snack, devoid of any nutrition. Sounds like a perfect metaphor for Romney's lack of substance. Or else it's a reference to Marie Antoinette, "Let them eat cake."