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Reinvention and Other Useless Rhetoric

  • Posted on January 30, 2011 at 2:01 am

I'm sure it is not just the GOP, but this is a good depciton of the money cycle.

I keep hearing a strange word over and over in my head, reinvention.  Frankly, it’s just a word but it seems to be the “buzzword” this year in politics.  Governor Rick Snyder used it in his “State of the State” address and President Obama used it in his State of the Union” address.  It sounded interesting that both politicians have chosen to give such similar speeches when they are supposedly from opposing political parties.  The word reminds me of those “born again virgins”.  It’s almost like an oxymoron to me.  How do you reinvent and invention?  I also find it interesting that when anyone thinks of the word “invention” it usually draws to mind some kind of product.  Since we aren’t exactly making any products, what are we trying to reinvent?

I’m picturing the sleazy ex-husband that is desperately remaking his image for his next conquest.  How did that saying go?  Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.  I think that buzzword, reinvention, is nothing more than corporate speak for “privatizing government”.

We have been told so many times that government doesn’t work and private industry does a better job that many of us actually believe this myth.  I see our country being sold out to private industry more and more.  Here in Michigan we better think hard about that bridge the governor wants to build.  I’m all for the bridge but not if it is put in the hands of some private company that controls what goes in and out of our country.    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704590704576092881920953952.html

The details seem a bit fuzzy to me.  I remember fuzzy math and it usually adds up to a headache for the little guy.

My son complains all the time about how the government of Illinois handles licensing.  It seems that they have very few state offices open.  However, you can purchase your license plates, etc. through private industry, but it will cost you much more.  You are paying for the convenience of not having to travel the distance to find an open state office.

This push for privatization has been going on for some time.  Republicans have been trying to privatize Social Security for years.  The military has been holding hands with private corporations for years.  The one thing that I notice about all of this is the high cost of doing business with these private military corporations.  Our politicians seem ready to feed that dragon for a long time to come without worrying too much about how the money is spent or how much is laid to waste in Iraq and Afghanistan.  They don’t even seem too concerned about the millions and millions of missing dollars that have been reported about.

Now the latest trend is to take public education and sell it out to private corporations that are for profit businesses.  This is being done in a rather sneaky way.  First, the schools have privatized everything from janitorial service and food service to substitute teachers.  Its’ all happening and inch by inch it will happen on an even bigger scale.  The push right now for getting rid of tenure for teachers is all part of this plan as far as I can tell.  The past ten years has been an out right assault on public school teachers and their competence.  What ails education is being blamed on the teachers.  The teachers are the scapegoat but it is really just part of the plan to destroy the teachers’ unions.  Truthfully, there are many factors that have had an influence on education.  The biggest factor in my mind is poverty.  The rise to the top of the chosen few and the loss of the middle class have created a growing lower class of people that have probably lost hope for the future.  Unemployment is staggering and many people are also under employed.  Their main priority right now is simply survival.

With all of this in mind what does the president do?  At the state of the union he called once again for the push for science and math education.  The funny thing about this aspect is something my sister mentioned the other day.  She told me I should do a post on what the senators, representatives and other politician’s children are doing for jobs.  She figures they aren’t working in science and math.  We talked about it.  I know Chelsea Clinton works for a hedge fund.  Most of these politician’s kids are probably going where the money is.  I don’t think the money is in science, math and certainly not in education.  The young people that can manage to find a decent job are working in business.  The other ones are doing service jobs like waiting on tables, working in a retail store or working in senior citizen’s homes.  Our young creative minds are left under utilized in a country that sees more value in private industry than in people!

Early this morning I was watching C-Span.  It was some kind of educational meeting that took place this week.  There was a man from Sweden who was part of a private business that had created schools in Sweden that were for profit businesses.  He was over here because he is starting a school in New York City.  I found this all very interesting.  He said people were unhappy with the school system in Sweden.  This must be a world wide phenomenon.  When he opened his first school he had something like 900 people sign up, even though he had no prior proven success.  He said that just showed how ready for change people were.  He wants to do for America what he did for Sweden.  There was also a young college graduate student from Chile.  Chile also has been starting schools created by businesses.

Watching this today made me really think about what’s going on here in our country with education.  The drumbeat has been going for quite some time that teachers are not qualified, that they are inept.  Much blame has been placed on the poor quality of the teachers.  I’m not going to say all teachers are great because obviously there are imperfect people in every job category.  However, it has been my experience that most of the teachers I know are dedicated individuals that want to do the best job they can for the students.  It’s apparent to me that it’s not so much about the teachers as it is about business controlling every aspect of government.  Business has been able to infiltrate into everything we do.  It really is about the bottom dollar.

The common person only has their vote.  Business has lobbyist that caress the politicians and give them the money they need to keep their seats.  What we end up with are corrupt politicians that sound more like businessmen than like statesmen.  The most recent push for business was the health care bill.  Real people don’t seem to be happy with it.  However, insurance companies will be happy with all the new customers they are going to have after all the penalties kick in.  Business has a special seat in our government.  Don’t let them destroy public education with a for profit business plan where the bottom line is profit, not students.  President Obama using a word like “reinvention” is meant to inspire us with nothing more than business laced useless rhetoric.  Don’t be fooled!

By the way according to Dyson he reinvented the vacuum cleaner!

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Defining Moments

  • Posted on January 14, 2011 at 10:19 pm

That was candidate Obama speaking about defining moments.  That was then and this is now!

Well the 2012 presidential election officially started this past week with the shooting in Arizona.  I listen to Morning Joe in the morning when I’m getting ready for work and a bit of Chris Matthews and Big Eddy on MSNBC in the evening.  I have noticed the continual slow indoctrination of the American people by MSNBC and probably other channels as well.  This last couple of days the words “defining moment for the president” seemed to take precedent over all other talk.  We, the public are being indoctrinated by the press that Obama’s speech at the memorial service in Arizona is his defining moment. Donny Deutsch said something this morning like Obama made us remember why we voted for him.  No, Donnie, the president did no such thing because it wasn’t about the president.   Chris Matthews even said it was an “opportunity” for Obama.

I’m not in President Obama’s head but politicians seem to dirty everything they touch with that old opportunity thing.  Just to clear things up for Chris Matthews and opportunity doesn’t usually come off the deaths and injuries of real people.  If anyone looks at a memorial service as an opportunity, they are nothing more then a leech off society.  As for that “defining moment”, it’s hard to see a connection to the presidential politics of 2012 and what happened in Arizona.

When my mom died that was a defining moment in my life.  I seem to remember things as before and after her death in many ways.  The same goes for my dad and sister.  At my mom’s funeral I read a poem I had written.  The poem and the service itself were not defining moments for me.  The defining moment was when my dad screamed up the stairs for me to come down because mom had died.  I’ll never forget that lonely Thanksgiving morning when I lost my wonderful mom.

We all have moments when our life may be defined in one capacity or another.  The birth of our children or our marriage, are moments that probably are defining for people.  Great events in a person’s life will probably be defining moments.  However, the shooting in Arizona wasn’t about President Obama and it wasn’t about politics really.  It was about an epidemic in our society of violence and probably mental illness.  It just so happens that this time the violence struck a politician.  It was a defining moment for all the people involved in the shooting.  For the rest of us it was a tragedy that we saw unfold slowly and continuously on our TV sets and the Internet.  We heard day after day many pundits talking about who is to blame and so on and so.  We can empathize with all involved and we can pray and hope that the wounded have a quick recovery.  We can share in the loss of life but we cannot really know the suffering of each family that was touched by this madness.

In my mind a defining moment for President Obama was his election.  It was about him and what he had accomplished.  Arizona isn’t about Obama or Sarah Palin or any other politician.  I’m tired of the same old talk from the same old pundits who are once again trying to make us pick a side.  In December they wanted us to like Obama because he did so much and we all got out tax cuts.  I feel the drumbeat from people that are in the pocket of Obama trying to get the rest of us to fall in line and vote for him in 2012.  All I can say is 2012 is a long way off and the economy will probably be the defining moment for the next election, just like it was for the last election!

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Meet John Doe

  • Posted on December 23, 2010 at 11:10 pm

I caught an old movie tonight that is well worth sharing my thoughts on.  The movie is “Meet John Doe” made in 1941 and directed by Frank Capra.  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033891/

This is a classic movie showcasing the talents of Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck.  Barbara plays Ann Mitchell a reporter that just lost her job.  She cooks up a letter to the editor that causes quite a calamity.  She creates a figure called John Doe that is down on his luck, out of work and ready to jump off city hall.  All the politicians are up in arms as they are being bombarded with calls from people worrying about John Doe.  She works a deal with her old boss and he hires her back.  They decide to find some dope to play the part of John Doe so they can milk this story for all it’s worth.

In walks Gary Cooper who is Long John Willoughby a used up pitcher for some ball team.  Ann thinks he’s the perfect man to play John Doe because he has his all American good looks and he’s a ball player to boot!  Ann coaches him and he protests the lack of decency in the way people are treating each other.  As all this goes on the circulation for the newspapers grows and grows.  Ann approaches D.B. Norton, the rich new owner of the paper and an oil tycoon to push this John Doe idea even more and get him on the radio.  D.B. Norton and Ann cook up a plan together.  She wants money and he wants something much bigger which he doesn’t exactly let Ann know about.

On the radio Ann has John say some things laced with hope and based on the advice of her mother, not gloom and doom.  She reaches into the diary of her dead father which is full of wisdom and things her mother says people need to hear today.  This is a quote from the speech, “The character of a country is the sum total of the character of its little punks!”  John asks people to step up and help each other.  He wants them to create a tidal wave of good will.  He tells every John Doe, you know all the little guys, to wake up because they are the hope of the world!

After being on the radio, John is getting a bit antsy and wants to get back to playing ball.  He’s all set to go when a group of people approach him and they tell him how wonderful he is because they have all reached out to their neighbors.  Times are tough and people are out of work but these people have pulled together to help each other and they have formed a club of sorts called the John Doe Club!  John Doe is a man created to give up his life for a principle.  The John Doe Clubs don’t allow politicians to belong to them because as they say “You know how politicians are.”

John Doe turns into a full fledged movement that spans the whole country.  Finally it culminates into a big convention where John is going to give a big speech.  He never reads them ahead of time and he has really come to believe the things he’s been saying.  Just before the convention he discovers the real purpose for all of this.  It was to create a movement such as a third party and use John to nominate D. B. Norton for the presidency of the United States.  I’m not going to tell you quite everything that happens in this story but boy did I love the politics of the people mixed up with the politics of the wealthy.

Throughout this movie you get that feeling that everyone is being used by the wealthy D.B. Norton.  He runs the show and he even runs the police.  He controls the press as well and isn’t it interesting when we have other rich people controlling the press today.  So much of this John Doe movement reminded me of Fox News and the strange connection with the Tea Party movement.  It also reminded me of the John Edwards movement and even Barack Obama’s “change” movement.

When I was part of the John Edwards movement the people that posted online were all about the little people and poverty and doing something constructive to help.  Even after John quit the race a group still stayed formed called the “John Edwards Movement Continues”.  We didn’t want to stop the principles of the movement.  Of course the messenger was flawed and the movement died but there are still people out there that believe in the principles of what Edward’s was saying.  These movements do tend to start with the little guy that is looking for something good to happen in the world.  What I learned is politicians are flawed and little guys do get used.

Right now many are feeling let down by the Obama presidency.  I wrote a post awhile ago called, “Throw Them a Bone Once in Awhile.” In that piece I referred to the “talk” about Hillary trading places with Biden.  To me it is obvious that President Obama has just thrown out that proverbial bone.  With the current legislation we are all supposed to be dancing in the streets.  He gave the wealthy the lion’s share but he threw the rest of us a bone.  That’s supposed to keep us quiet for awhile.  The press is busy telling us how great Obama is right now, working hard to build his numbers.  Chief among them is Chris Matthews who still has some kind of strange fetish for all things Obama!  I’ll hold out on the dancing until after March 4th when we see what they are going to do with the budget.  I think something has to give and since it isn’t going to come from the wealthy, then it’s going to have to come from everyone else, you know the “John Doe” people.  Once again the wealthy control the little guys just like D. B. Norton had his finger in every pie to control John Doe and that movement.

I personally wouldn’t mind if we all started a John Doe movement but of course we’d have to not let any politicians get their hands on the movement.  I see many people would like a third party that could really go somewhere, so we wouldn’t feel like we are throwing a vote away voting for someone other than a Democrat or a Republican.  I’d love to see that happen and I’d love some kind of real movement by the people and I don’t mean the Tea Party crowd that seems to be funded by some rich, conservative benefactors.  If anything real is going to get done in this country, I personally think it has to develop form the people and we cannot put our hopes on any one person because people are flawed.

If you have the time, watch this movie.  I loved it!  You can watch the black and white version here.  I caught a colorized version on TV but watched it again here.

http://www.archive.org/details/meet_john_doe

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ADP Total Pay Card…..Something Important for All of Us to Know

  • Posted on December 18, 2010 at 6:42 pm

This payroll solution may be coming to a business near you some day soon!  The other day my son told me about a friend of his.  She is a few credits shy of her degree.  I guess she’s had trouble getting the foreign language credit completed.  She still has to pay her bills and found a job at Wendy’s near Tinley Park in Illinois.  When she received her first pay check, well it wasn’t a check.  She had to sign a paper in order to be hired that would allow them to pay her with an ADP total pay card.  Now you’re probably wondering what in the hell that could be, as I was.  It’s a credit card.  The company pays her by loading up a credit card.  You know a card that costs money to get cash from.   It goes directly onto a Visa or MasterCard.  Of course this indoctrination video programs people to see the beauty of payroll cards without the pitfalls:

It shows how you can get cash at almost any ATM machine but it fails to tell about the fees involved with such a transaction.  It’s amazing how ignorant they make these people appear.  It also fails to let them know all of the real life rules that come with the card.

http://www.walletpop.com/2010/12/17/the-risks-and-rewards-of-payroll-cards/

Now, after the initial confusion you might be thinking what is wrong with that?  It appears that every time you want cash, it costs money.  Every time you want to check and see how much you have, it costs fifty cents.  The people getting these cards are obviously at the low end of the food chain.  They don’t have a voice.  They are the voiceless, the little guys, that most people don’t give much thought to when they’re being waited on by them.  While Congress is busy protecting the rights of the “super rich” these little guys are out trying to figure out how to get their money.

Josh’s friend can’t get her money that is supposedly loaded on the card.  When she contacts ADP they tell her that her employer hasn’t activated her card yet.  Essentially they haven’t “enrolled” her yet.  If she had been on the card, she would be charged by the minute to talk to them.  Keep in mind that she has been working for them for a few weeks now.  She started on November 14th and hasn’t received any money yet from her employer.  Would any of us want to work for nothing for weeks on end without getting our pay?  Probably not!  Wendy’s corporate says it saves them money.  I suppose it would with no paper trail and no one to come to the rescue of the little guy and make sure these people are paid on time and get what is their just due.  Now you might think, well she signed the paper.  Most of us will sign whatever the employer wants when we are trying to get a job.  That is something I am sure the corporations rely on.  Times are tough for jobs.  If you want to work, just be aware this may be coming to a company where you are looking for a job.

This is from the ADP website:

http://www.adp.com/solutions/employer-services/payroll/large-business/payroll-payment-solutions.aspx#totalpay

ADP TotalPay Card is a convenient paperless payroll solution that allows employees, with a bank account or without, to have their funds electronically loaded onto their own Visa®-branded debit card.

  • Increase security and reduce exposure to check loss and fraud – By eliminating paper checks and the associated distribution process, security risks are significantly reduced and concerns over traditional paper checks, that can be lost, stolen or altered are diminished.
  • Save time and cost, and enjoy more convenience – There is no escheatment required by the employer. As your single-source vendor, ADP acts as a one-stop service for reversals, deletions and returns, eliminating the need for multiple-source coordination and reducing administrative tasks.
  • Increase employee satisfaction and improve productivity – Employees are not required to have a checking account or obtain a credit approval to receive an ADP TotalPay Card. This convenient paperless option gives your employees immediate access to their wages on payday.

Your employees also have the choice of having full or partial pay loaded on their card, offering more choices and flexibility. With ADP TotalPay Card, your employees can shop at retailers worldwide or online anywhere Visa debit is accepted. They also have surcharge-free access to their money at 32,000 AllpointTM ATMs nationwide.

It’s hard to understand how this got started.  On the website there are links showing how the companies can get federal and state tax credits for hiring new employees.  This is some kind of new game that some corporations are playing and it is not leaving the countless number of their employees happy at all.  You will notice it mentions employee satisfaction which is really a myth.  All you have to do is type in “ADP total pay card ripoff” in Google and you will come across pages and pages of unhappy employees.  Something needs to be done to help these people collect their money and not be robbed by the corporations by being nickel and dimed to death with fees for withdrawing their own cash.  Go to this link and just read some of these real life stories from people.

http://www.google.com/search?q=Adp+total+pay+card+ripoff++&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

I downloaded the brochure targeted for businesses from ADP.  I want you to notice one very important detail that the employee might not know.

http://totalpay.adpsolutions.net/docs/TotalPayBrochure.pdf

It appears that the company will receive automatic refunds for “uncashed” items older than 180 days.  That to me is unbelievable.  No wonder these corporations like this method of payment!  The money goes back to the employer?  The employee doesn’t just get a check sent to them in the mail?  Are you kidding me?  So if you lose the card or you die or something happens that you some how forget to get all of your cash out, then the money goes back to your employer.  I’m sure that’s where the people would want their money to go.

I am outraged that something isn’t being done about this.  To me it seems like another way to rip off the little guy.  I’m going to contact my representative and senators.  I called Senator Levin but his box is full.  Since it is so close to the holidays, the politicians are all getting ready to go home, so it may not be useful to contact them until after the holidays.  However, I think all of us should do everything we can to help make this new method of payment more equitable for the employee.  I am putting links here for anyone so inclined to contact their representative or senators.  You may also inquire into your own state legislatures to see if this is happening in your state.  It appears to be global.  In my research I see this has been going on in Europe for quite some time.

You can contact your federal political representatives here to let them know that some people are having trouble accessing their money through this payment method:

http://senate.gov/

http://house.gov/

Happy holidays everyone but don’t forget about the little guys that might be serving you at Wendy’s or Applebee’s or some place else that have no real representation.

ADP is Automatic Data Processing, Inc.  If you watch this video you will think they are the best place to work.

Maybe they are, but what ADP is doing for other corporations though these payroll credit cards troubles me to say the least.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr_WKaUHyZs

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Open Secrets, Money, Politics and Body Scanners, Oh My!

  • Posted on December 5, 2010 at 12:40 am

Don't you wonder what that technician is being exposed to day after day?

Dave Levinthal from Open Secrets was on CSPAN this morning and I must say it was a very interesting show.  If you are not familiar with the Open Secrets blog it shows how much money is in politics.  You can look up your own congress people and see their net worth.  He said that while a little bit less than 1% of the American people are millionaires between 40-50% of congress are millionaires.  We are not being represented by our peers, not by a long shot.  With the money that is being spent on our elections, this trend will probably continue.  Dave Levinthal wants people to simply be informed.  He thinks we should be aware about the money and politics.  On this page you can look up the richest and the poorest members of Congress as well as their average wealth.  http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/overview.php?type=W&year=2009

This website deserves some perusing as it is very interesting.  I’ve been going here for the last couple of years and there is always more to learn.  I highly recommend people to check it out.  These are the main companies that many have invested in.  http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/overview.php?type=P&year=2009

I know some of you may have invested in some of these companies as well.  However, you probably don’t hold a government office that awards contracts and monies to companies.  I think it is no wonder that our government seems more and more corrupt as time goes on and it doesn’t seem to matter which party you are in.

The discussion also centered on the Citizens United vs. the Federal Election Commission case that allowed untold money to be spent by corporations, non-profits and trade unions in our elections.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._Federal_Election_Commission

Much was also discussed about how our congress people got their money and what lobbyists are pushing for and who benefits from that push.  Shouldn’t we all know which special interests and which politicians benefit from the laws that get made and tarp monies that have been paid out to them?

We have to watch our political leaders to see where they are investing their money.  Does it surprise anyone that some politicians have invested in the company that does the body scans at the airport?  Some are small investments while John Kerry’s is quite large.  http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2010/11/several-federal-lawmakers-invested.html

Does anyone really believe a machine that scans the body like this could possibly be safe for long term use?  Technicians and doctors don’t expose their bodies to the many types of imaging equipment utilized in hospitals and dental offices for a reason.  Those foot scanners that people used years ago in the shoe stores were outlawed for a reason.  These machines cannot possibly be safe in the long term.  There will probably be increased cancer cases in the years to come all supposedly to “protect” us.  Isn’t it interesting to see how these types of companies are awarded funds from the government by the very people that are invested in them?

This short post today is just to wake you up from your slumber.  If you haven’t been thinking about the money in politics, you should be.

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The Loss of Innocence

  • Posted on November 29, 2010 at 9:52 pm

An Innocent Kid Named Katie

I have come to realize that growing up in my family I lived a fairly sheltered life.  Even though I grew up with those ten brothers, I really wasn’t exposed to anything too shocking as a young kid.  I grew up protected from most of the foul things that happen in the world.  I didn’t know about perverts back then.  I wouldn’t have even understood the word as a kid.  I had the freedom to ride my bike around town and didn’t have to worry about much of anything except getting my chores done and doing my homework.  I always felt like I really was emotionally immature when I went to college as the lessons I learned during college went far beyond the walls of a classroom.

I went to Michigan State University in the fall of 1973.  Life for me at MSU was idyllic.  When I was a senior I remember thinking that my life at MSU was like living under a glass bubble.  Of course I was oblivious to the serial rapist and killer that were stalking students because MSU didn’t want the bad press.  Regardless of that issue of safety, I always felt like college life was some kind of utopia.

While at MSU, I was introduced to so many different people from all over the world.  I worked at the International Center in the cafeteria, so I really enjoyed all of the different people I met.  In the two towns that I lived when I was in elementary and high school, I never really came in contact with anyone unusual but a few exchange students.  It was rare to come across anyone of color.  We were all white.  I remember when I was in seventh grade a black girl came to our school.  I remember people said she was “Mulato” which was supposed to mean she was of mixed race, black and white.  However, back then no one would have used the term “black”.  In my memory I thought the girl was beautiful as she was so pretty.  I never spoke to her.  I just remember this weird thought about that beautiful girl and find it interesting by the lack of exposure I had as a kid.

In my world I lived in the greatest country in the world because I had been told that ever since I could remember.  We all have been told that for as long as I can remember.  My parents were FDR democrats that loved President Kennedy, the first Catholic president.  We were Catholic, so of course we loved Kennedy!  I briefly remember my world being shattered when Kennedy was assassinated.  I remember sitting in my third grade classroom when I found out the news.  It was traumatic but even then I was still innocent to what I believed in our government.

In high school I really loved politics.  I came from a family that talked about politics a lot!  It was during the Nixon years and all of that corruption was fascinating to me.  You might think I could have lost my innocence then, you know when Nixon really was a “crook” even though he said he wasn’t!  His Vice President had to resign because he was corrupt.  He pled “no contest” with the condition that he resigns from office!  Do you all remember Spiro T. Agnew?  That was a juicy time for politics with everything going on with Watergate and the ending of the Vietnam War.  You would think my innocence would have been lost during that time but it wasn’t.  I always thought we were the best, bravest, smartest country in the world.

Oh, yes, I fell for every propaganda piece I was raised with from the celebration of “Columbus Day” to “Thanksgiving” to periods in our history that are really highly tainted with our land grab from the Indians!  I loved the fact; yes I said, “Fact” that we always were there to “help” other countries, especially those “developing” countries.  You know the ones that have unclaimed minerals we might want some day!  I really thought we were always working for the greater good of the world.  I never thought we might be working for the greater good of corporations.

I lived like this for years in blissful ignorance.  I thought of only the good that we do as a country.  I never thought of it any other way because we are the best.  Our country was always showcased in my mind as the place everyone else wanted to come to and live.  Everyone wanted to come to America because we’re so wonderful.  The “big daddy” type government was fine with me.  In that government the President was like a “daddy” that wanted only the best for HIS children.  (Yes, you could say I’m still angry that we don’t have a woman president and who knows if we will ever get one.)  All of this thinking about the past is just simple, honest reflection about how stupid I was and how stupid most Americans are when it comes to their government.

I think I began to lose my true innocence over the last ten years.  It began with the 2000 election that was ultimately decided by the Supreme Court.  That was just wrong.  The state should have just counted the votes and recounted just like they have done every other race before and after.  I don’t see the Supreme Court running into Alaska to settle the senate race or into Minnesota a few years ago for that senate race.  They should have stayed out and that was the beginning of the loss of my true innocence.  I realized that my vote really didn’t count.  In fact, no votes really mattered because the decision took away everyone’s vote in the country.  Bush had an argument that it would do some kind of irreparable harm to the country.  The harm actually came from the decision the Supreme Court made.  Prior to this I had nothing but respect for the court system, especially the Supreme Court.  I wasn’t happy years before during the Clarence Thomas hearings, but once he was sworn in, it really didn’t matter.  I respected the court.  I didn’t have to like him or his rulings but I could still respect the court.  I have lost that respect because of at least two decisions, if not more.  The Bush vs. Gore decision was the first and the other case was the 5 to 4 vote that gave corporations some kind of “personhood” where they can spend unlimited money for campaigns.  Essentially corporations are more important than people!

After Bush got into office we had September 11th which was another time in our history which comes up with mixed reviews.  Many people wanted to do something for the victims and their families.  I can remember a fund raiser we did at our middle school.  Those fund raisers took place all over the country and even the world.  Everyone wanted to help.  However some of that charity money wasn’t put to good use.  After September 11th President Bush could have done so much for our country.  Instead we were told to go shopping and later we found out that little secret that Bush and Condi Rice had known a terrorist attack was eminent all along and didn’t do a thing about it.  So what does President Bush do after all of this?  He takes us into an illegal war; wire tapping, Guantanamo Bay, torture everything he could think of in the name of “Homeland Security” to keep us safe and terrified.  Oh, and yes, he gave us a tax cut!  I never thought our country would ever do many of the things that I now know we have done.  Innocence is a precious thing.  I don’t know that it was all that terrible that I was so gung ho on our country and that I believed in the good of our country.  I call that innocence because I only saw the good side of who we are as a nation.  Now that my innocence has been shattered, I see many blemishes and warts.  The Prince Charming that I thought our country was is really a toad.

It doesn’t stop here.  I could blame all the badness on those Republicans but it just isn’t so.  On May 31st, 2008 I discovered that my precious Democratic Party could actually steal my primary vote just like the Supreme Court stole all of our votes in 2000.  My innocence was really shattered because now I didn’t even have a party to believe in any more.  Before I always had hoped that the Democrats would save us from all of the crazy things that had been happening over the last decade.  Torture, Guantanamo, illegal searches, wire tapping, it would all be gone!  It turns out, I was wrong.  The Democrats aren’t any different than the Republicans.  The new boss looks just like the old boss!  I thought we had two parties but we really just have one.  The Republican side is the real conservatives and the Democratic side is conservative.  That’s not a real choice for those of us that are more liberal in our thinking.

The loss of my innocence came when I was not a child but a grown woman.  You might think I should have known better but truthfully I really didn’t want to think that our government could be that corrupt.  Now I come to the Wikeleaks and boy is that interesting.  Joe Scarborough wants to send a message and nail Bradley Manning.  He wants to send that kid to prison for 25 years.  I wonder what happened to innocent until proven guilty.  I personally find it hard to believe that some lowly private did this entire computer hacking on his own.  Wikileaks revealed the little toad with all the warts that lives in the body of the prince.  Our country has some scary things going on.  The revelations continue to come out and they don’t make me proud of my country.  They also rip off that mask of innocence that I have been hiding under all of these years.  I am now the supreme skeptic.  I don’t trust much of anything our government does any more.  If it’s good for the corporations, our country will probably fight some war, bomb some country or assassinate some foreign leader.  Nothing surprises me any more.  Innocence may be overrated unless you are some poor kid named Bradley Manning sitting in some jail wondering what’s going to happen to you.  I will survive the loss of my innocence but will my country survive the loss of its innocence?

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Delusional Politics

  • Posted on November 28, 2010 at 1:28 pm

Foxy Loxy, ever the politician!

I’ve been busy working on the two courses I’m taking, so I haven’t been able to spend any time on my blog and whatever is on my mind has had to wait.  However, this morning I caught David Stockman, Reagan’s budget director, on Fareed Zakaria’s GPS show.  I know I’m supposed to be cleaning my house, but I’m not highly motivated to do so.  David made me think about “Chicken Little”.  You know the “sky is falling” Chicken Little.  What’s interesting about David Stockman is the fact that it was his policy choices as Reagan’s budget director that probably helped push us down the road to doom and gloom.

Like a born again Christian David has seen the light.  Now we have to change our ways and repent.  He is frustrated with the Republicans pushing those tax cuts and he seems to be even more frustrated by our current leader, President Obama’s lack of fight on this issue.  He says we can’t wait two more years by kicking this tax cut issue down the road.  We are on the road to “Armageddon” according to David.  He wants those tax cuts for the top 2% to just run out and not be extended.  He also wants budget cuts in defense spending and he mentioned Social Security.  He thinks we need strong leadership at this time and we aren’t getting it.  I’ve heard David many times recently and he is given a lot of “talk” time on this issue.  Here is David in his own words:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkQXWw3jL_w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKkdlnwajf8&feature=related

Since I was thinking about Chicken Little I decided to look up the cartoon on You Tube.  I am so glad I did.  As a kid I don’t remember all of the political under tones of Chicken Little.  If you haven’t watched this cartoon, do so.  It is hilarious because it is very political.

Foxy Loxy is a fox that wants to get into a well protected chicken coop.  He has to find a way in so he can get his dinner.  He decides to consult a psychology book for this endeavor.  Cocky Locky is the head rooster and he is the leader of all these chickens.  He’s well respected and everyone looks up to him.  Chicken Little is a feather brain, playboy.  Hennie Penny is the supreme gossiper.  With all of these characters Foxy Loxy manages to use psychology to trick them.  The funny part is the four things he uses are pretty much like the way political campaigns are run.

Here are the four things Foxy Loxy read that helped him get into the heads of the MASSES!

1)      To Influence the masses, aim first at the least intelligent.  (Oh my head is already spinning considering the last election!)

2)      If you tell them a lie, don’t tell a little one, tell them a big one!  (There are too many to mention here.  What is the truth any more?)

3)      Undermine the faith of the masses in their leader!  (Well, by now we all know that Obama is a SOCIALIST!)

4)      By the use of flattery insignificant people can be made to look upon themselves as born leaders!  (Strangely enough I could put both Obama and Palin in this category.)

Now you have to watch the cartoon but think about politics as you’re watching it!  The video cannot be embedded so you must click on the link to watch it!

Chicken Little

Now that you’ve had a good laugh, we must get serious.  We all know that our country is going to hell in a hand basket.  It’s pretty obvious that we aren’t making much any more.  We buy lots of junk from China and too many people are UNEMPLOYED!  Obviously, those tax cuts didn’t do much good for our economy.  President Bush wanted us to spend money after September 11th.  That’s the way we could be patriotic!  Perhaps we did that but during that time, we didn’t pay for these two wars and now we are having some buyer’s remorse.

Anyone that has had to tighten their financial belt knows that something has to give.  That give should come from the top 2%.  That 98% pays for a lot more than even they realize.  The wealthy get by with small taxes really in proportion to what they make.  In our state governments the 98% are continually paying “fees” that we don’t actually think about as being “taxes”.  We have fees for different licenses that we get from hunting to teaching, to substitute teaching, to automobile, even fishing.  Most of you could probably think of a lot more.  We have to pay fees continually to do just about anything that you can think of from selling our homes to buying our cars.  Those fees are nothing, no big deal, for the wealthy but they can be a hardship for the 98%.  That 98% often times has to even dish out money for special clothes for work like hard boots, and even t-shirts.  None of this is figured in to the cost of their taxes.  Here in Michigan we even have “driver responsibility fees” and those can be devastating for low income drivers.  Those fees aren’t just for drinking and driving either so don’t start thinking they deserve what they get.  Those fees are very high and often times people end up not being able to pay them and pay for their auto insurance.  The point I’m trying to make is don’t feel sorry for the wealthy 2%.  The 98% pay far more than most of them can afford in so many other fees from sales taxes to everything else I have mentioned.

Here's John giving the "thumbs up" and looking so much like Foxy Loxy!

Congress needs to let the tax cuts for the 2% expire for the good of our country.  President Obama needs to lead.  So far in my humble opinion he hasn’t lead anything.  We, as a people, are looking for leadership.  How else can you explain the Tea Party?  We want strong leadership or we will be taken over by the likes of Foxy Loxy, who will tell us some big lie and we will be too stupid to understand the truth!  In the end Chicken Little is too stupid to see the truth and he, being the feather brain that he was, leads the other chickens to their ruin.  We must not fall for the Foxy Loxy types.  Foxy Loxy reminds me of John Boehner.  They both have that same sinister smile and I know John is more interested in his golf game than the 98%.  John wants to sell us all on this tax cut for the 2% but don’t fall for it.  He’s as cunning just like Foxy Loxy and doesn’t deserve loyalty from the 98%.

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Sarah Palin’s Alaska

  • Posted on November 14, 2010 at 11:02 pm

Sarah Palin on TLC's "Sarah Palin's Alaska." (Credit: TLC/Gilles Mingasson)

So I was flipping through the channels last night looking for something to watch.  I watched the last few minutes of the Pistons but Sunday night television isn’t very good in my opinion.  I had already seen the Law and Order on USA and low and behold there was Sarah Palin’s Alaska.  This is the first show.  I decided to check it out, more out of simple curiosity than anything else.

The star of the show is beautiful Alaska.  I have several brothers that live in Alaska.  I’ve been there twice, but I confess I haven’t been there in about twenty five years!  The views are breath taking and the two brown bears fighting were exciting as well.  As far as Sarah goes, the show opens up with her in the kitchen with Piper making cupcakes with a niece.  Piper refers to her mom as “Sarah”.  Sarah explains that Piper does that when she wants attention because there are four people there calling her “mom” and Piper feels ignored.  I came from a family of 14 kids that often were ignored and I can tell you no one would have called my mom “Evelyn” or dad, “Bill”.  I thought it was odd.

Sarah leaves the kitchen to go outside to read by the lake.  She complains about her neighbor watching her as she appears to be “watching” him.  I find that a bit like the pot calling the kettle “black”.  She points out a 14 foot fence that Todd erected to block out the nosy neighbor that is supposedly writing an unflattering book about Sarah.  Later in the show TLC films the man sitting on his balcony again and Sarah makes some remark about him maybe he filming them.  As much as she complains about this man watching her, she is doing her fair share of watching him as well!

Todd, Sarah, Piper and the niece fly off for a salmon fishing excursion.  The most exciting thing that happens there is the up close and personal attention from a family of bears.  This scene is really nice because of the nature.  They leave when a bear seems to scare them off.  Todd caught a fish but it was slim pickings on the fishing.  She makes some crack about a poor day fishing is better than any day working or some such thing.  Sarah talks non stop which is kind of annoying.  It is not natural talk, but talk meant to capture simple politics like the reference to the brown bears as being like grizzly bears and wouldn’t it be nice if people were more like grizzly bears.  I think she meant that in reference to protecting their children.

However, her small child, Trig, was no where to be seen.  In the three days they filmed, she told the girls to wave at him through the window once.  He was with a gray haired lady.  I never saw any interaction with mom.  In fact that was the most striking feature of the show.  Sarah Palin talks family values but her time is spent doing this show, constantly on her Blackberry, working at a computer or doing her Fox show out in her studio.  Her “Fox” spot is filmed from Alaska evidently.  It’s hard for me to understand how a small child doesn’t figure into your so called daily life.  Trig was nothing more than a simple prop that showed up twice.  I know people will say she was protecting him but what I find strange is the time away from him to do all of the filming.  He didn’t go with them at all.  When I was doing my art shows in Oklahoma and Josh was small I took a baby sitter with me so I could still see him.  It seems like someone else is raising Trig and it isn’t Sarah.  Maybe that’s what happens when you get wealth, you turn your parenting over to some paid surrogate!

Some boy was over to see Willow, her teenage daughter.  She told him he had to stay downstairs.  I don’t know if the TLC camera crew told him to go upstairs but of course he did.  She called her daughter on the phone and told her to come down.  This was such fake crap.  Nobody is like that.  It was rude for Willow to leave her friend hanging downstairs in the first place but Sarah, ever busy on her computer, could hardly have an interaction with either of them.  This show is simply not real.  It’s fake but the scenery is beautiful!

Later in the show Sarah and Todd go mountain climbing with a guide.  They land a plane on a glacier and you see views that few ever have the opportunity to see.  That is the saving grace of the show.  This show will probably help Sarah Palin’s popularity because they show her to be a woman that is willing to try anything.  She can mountain climb, fish, hunt, you name it.  If a man can do it, so can Sarah and that includes being president.  If you think Sarah isn’t running for something, think again.  Something is up with this show and it isn’t about Alaska, as beautiful as it is, it’s about keeping Sarah out in the real world where people can see her week after week.  She will let you in to see a fake glimpse of her life.  If you buy what she is selling, she may be the next president.  She calls Todd her “help mate” and she is constantly cheering him on when he catches a fish or scratches his leg.  Okay, I’m being a tad facetious.  I just find the way she speaks in the show so unnatural that I can barely stand it.  However, it is probably no different than any other reality show.  The only difference is this one has the potential to change the political scene!  I don’t know what a Sarah Palin presidency would look like, I just am not so sure that I want to find out!  I used to like some things about this woman, until I read her book and realized that Ronald Reagan is like a saint to her.  That in itself is enough of a turn off for me not to see any real potential in a Palin presidency.  However, there are a lot of people out there that have fond memories of Reagan.  I’ll never figure that one out but that makes it clear to me that just as they loved Ronnie, they could easily love Sarah!  Time will tell but this show is political reality and the reality could be nightmare politics!

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I’m a humanist! What are the Democrats and Republicans? Oh, yeah Corporatist!

  • Posted on November 10, 2010 at 9:26 pm

Most wars look a lot like this to me! If it isn't religion, it's oil or some other mineral.

It’s a week after the midterm elections and after hearing all of the Monday morning quarterbacks tell us play by play how the Democrats got it wrong and some how magically the Republicans got it right, I feel a need to express myself.  I heard for the umpteenth time today Joe Scarborough proclaim on “Morning Joe” that we are a center, right nation and Barack Obama doesn’t understand that.  He went on and on today about how so many Democratic senators have come to him and expressed their displeasure with Barack Obama.  The part that I am frustrated about is that center, right nation proclamation.  I, for one, have never had any real political representation in my entire life.  That’s hard to believe since I am fifty five years old, but it is true!  I have never had the real opportunity to vote in any election other than a primary for the person that I truly think will best represent me, my beliefs and values and, who for that matter, be best for the country.

I think conservatives have been over represented all of my life and in recent years the far right has had the ability to control much that goes on in politics.  I’m tired of the politics of fear and control.  I’m tired of politicians that talk about gays and lesbian as though they are some crazy creature from some netherworld.  I’m tired of politicians that talk religion and spew all kinds of morality issues and then run off to Argentina to have an affair like Governor Mark Sanford.  I’m tired of politicians that claim to follow the constitution but do everything they can to inhibit it by stomping on the rights of others.

I used to say I am a yellow dog Democrat.  I have also said I’m liberal.  However I am liberal only to a point, as I am liberal on issues but personally quite conservative.  These are labels that we assign to ourselves.  I really think I’m what I would refer to as a humanist.  I really believe in an education for everyone that includes free college to all that qualify and want to go.  I believe in the humanities and an approach in life that includes studying the human condition and the arts.  I am a woman and because of it I feel woefully underrepresented in politics.  We, as women, are a bit more than half of the population but we virtually run nothing when it comes to our national politics.  I am religious, but I don’t want religion to be mixed with politics.  I don’t believe in my tax dollars going to “faith” based initiatives.  I don’t believe in my tax dollars going to any form of private education either.  I definitely want less money going to defense and more money going to education.  I believe that in the pursuit of happiness we all should have health care, not health insurance, but health care.  No one should lose their home over an illness.  I believe in the common good of all, not the common good of the corporations or the rich and powerful.  I believe if you are at the top you owe it to your country to put your hand out and lift up those that are at the bottom!

Some may think I am an idealist but I am not.  I am a realist that believes in humans, not things!  I believe in kindness, not hatred.  I believe in the power of love and what it can do to transform people and even a nation.  It seems to me that there isn’t much real love going on in Washington D.C.  The two parties cannot even have a civil discussion unless it’s after hours.  From all appearances they don’t look like they care too much for each other.  However, I think that is a scam played out on the American people, so they don’t have to really get much done.  They can scream and holler and roll their eyes at each other for the cameras and never accomplish much of anything for the people.  It’s exhausting how little for the people, the masses, is really accomplished by either party.

I do understand the frustration people have and the many reasons they don’t vote.  Many don’t feel it really matters.  I’m starting to feel much the same way.  Why does it matter who we vote for when the new stuff smells and looks a lot like the old stuff?

As I said the new boss is much like the old boss.  President Obama decided to pursue much of the same policies of President Bush which is kind of mind boggling.  We are still involved in two wars, one of which was totally a war of choice and there will be no way we will pursue anyone in the past administration for any kind of crime or misconduct.  Oh, no we’re better than that.  Hearing President Bush recently explaining himself has left me breathless.  I feel like Ricky Ricardo when he’d say to Lucy, “Lucy, you got a lot explaining to do!”  President Bush continues to spread his lies about the war and he is treated with such respect about it all that it’s hard to understand where that line is between Democrats and Republicans and truth telling and lies.  The American people are expected to listen to his lies and take them as truth.  This is his truth which is water boarding is okay because some lawyer told him it was okay.  Could this have been his appointed friend, John Ashcroft?

http://news.findlaw.com/wp/docs/torture/jash20102ltr.html

In this letter I find an awful lot of that squirm test.  We will wiggle here and there and frankly do whatever the hell we want to do because we are the United States of America.  We aren’t bound by any Geneva Convention are we?  Aren’t we better than this?  Aren’t we part of the human race?  What about President Obama?  He ignores all of this.  Even though the Republicans will be dragging out a daily hearing on everything from Obama’s birth certificate to Nancy’s plane, rest assured he will do nothing.

However, he has brought out his “Deficit Panel” and surprise, surprise, the cuts are coming and their not for the wealthy!  Could this be the “Death” panel Sarah Palin kept talking about?  Oh, dear me, they will cut social security, Medicare, Pentagon (which has so much waste who cares) and Middle-class tax breaks.  Imagine that!  You know when Obama appointed Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson as co-chairmen on the deficit commission we shouldn’t be surprised.  Here is a direct quote from Simpson, “And yes, I’ve made some plenty smart cracks about people on Social Security who milk it to the last degree. You know ’em too. It’s the same with any system in America. We’ve reached a point now where it’s like a milk cow with 310 million tits! Call when you get honest work!” His response was to a Huffington Post blogger.  This was made this August.  Personally, I don’t think this man should have anything to do with the future of Social Security.  President Obama let him stay on because this is part of the plan.

Remember when Representative Alan Grayson said that Republicans want you to die quickly if you get sick?  That was his response to the health care debate.  It seems like the same thing could be said of social security.  They want you to pay into it all of your life and die before you can use it!  None of this will concern the wealthy.  They don’t even need Social Security.  However, most people in the United States count on their Social Security.  For some people, that is all they have to look forward to with low paying jobs.

I said earlier that I have never truly been represented in my entire life by any politician.  The truth is that none of us have been represented.  Lobbyists and corporations are the only ones that get representation.  Back in the seventies when I was a young woman I really thought we had come a long way, but of course now I know that was all bullshit.  We are like an under developed nation when it comes to women in politics at the national level.  We may have some women governors and their may be state representatives but anyone would be hard pressed to name ten women at the national level in politics.  That is just unbelievable.  We have made a giant leap backwards with politics in its current state.  Women have suffered the most losses but the American people are the real losers.  We have no choice in our politics and we are told constantly what we believe.  However, the media doesn’t know me or you.  They feed us the lines they want us to talk to our friends about.  We are played constantly and most people are too stupid to even feel that voice of propaganda.  Our election system is messed up with these two corrupt parties and it looks like I’ll never get the representation I desire and deserve and you won’t either!

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Restoring Sanity and/or Fear Rally

  • Posted on October 30, 2010 at 6:09 pm

Jon and Stephen

So I checked out the Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s “Restoring Sanity and/or Fear Rally” today.  I have to say it was actually sane.  While obviously making fun of the politics of fear that we are constantly bombarded with by the media, they managed to blast both sides of this problem, right wing and left.  No one was spared as much of the restoring sanity part was about the lack of civil discourse in our politics.  There were many entertaining antics like the giant puppet Stephen had made of himself but there was also a message.  My favorite part was when the Jewish John Stewart brought out the Muslim Yusuf, formerly Cat Stevens, to sing the “Peace Train”.  My only regret is Yusuf should have been allowed to finish the song and sing more.  He was interrupted by Stephen Colbert bringing out Ozzie Osborne to sing “Crazy train.”  I remember a few years ago when Yusuf was banned from coming into the country so it was great to see him be a part of this rally.

Of course Stephen Colbert did everything he could to try and keep fear alive.  He started out bunkered down somewhere under the platform like he was in a cave kind of naked.  He was afraid to come out because he wasn’t sure many people would come to the rally.  The numbers were huge.  There must be many Stewart and Colbert fans as the mall was full and crowded.  Ozzie was interrupted by Jon and Stephen and but in the end they decided on the “Love Train”.  The crowd was to get on the “Love Train”.  Much of the rally was aimed at people being able to have a civil discourse and get along.  The ideas were very simple but it almost felt like the two zaniest characters, Jon and Stephen, are the “sane” people during this political season.

I am so tired of seeing al of the negative political ads.  It was refreshing to see something political that didn’t tell anyone how to vote.  Voting didn’t even come up.  The rally was simply about restoring sanity and I have to say I found it to be both hilarious as they gave awards for both restoring sanity and keeping fear alive or something like that.  Of course the fear award was on a ribbon and showcased a naked guy running with scissors!  Leave it to Colbert to be the most absurd of all!

A surprising part for me was when Kid Rock and Sheryl Crowe got on stage and sang a new song that Kid Rock had just written.  It was unlike anything I’ve heard from him and I really enjoyed it.

I hope more people could have seen the rally and see how silly so much of this back and forth discourse really is.  The two video clips that Stephen showed to try and keep fear alive were so telling.  He had both sides Fox News and MSNBC, and people that consider themselves to be both liberal and right wing conservatives saying things that just keep the negative discourse going.  He also showed how we are constantly bombarded with things to fear.  It’s amazing that most of us actually live a normal life with all of the garbage that is thrown at us from both sides and the mass corporate media.  Most of it is just rhetoric to try and show how evil the other side is but I think it is time to restore sanity.

Most of us get along with our friends and families even if we don’t agree on anything.  Washington D.C. politicians should have gone to the rally or turned it on maybe they would learn something.

In the end Jon gave a speech that sounded very sane and better than most politicians.  I was thinking, “Is John running for something?”  He sounded like a politician without the “hate” speech about the other side.  Whatever he was selling, I’m all for it.  His speech made me realize just why he was voted the most influential man in America by Askmen.com.

Jon for all the silliness is like you or me, a normal guy.  When I think about Christine O’Donnell’s ad where she says, “I’m you!” I think John is really one of us as well, but a “rich, successful” us.  I remember when he was on Crossfire and that show went off the air shortly after.

Jon was fed up back then with the discourse that the media constantly kept going with the right and left constantly fighting and shouting at each other.  He called them out and that seems to be what he was doing today with the “Restoring Sanity Rally”.  Jon and Stephen are both powerful in such a funny way.  Live and let live!  I’m all for it.  Jon showed many people in cars figuring out how to go down to one lane to go through a tunnel and he said we seem to be able to figure this out even if the bumper stickers are the opposite of what we believe in.  The point he was trying to make was that we all figure out how to get along every day.  He said that Washington D.C. could learn something from the American people and I have to agree.  We get things done in our own communities.  We rise to occasions when we need to do something even we don’t feel like it.  We go to work and do our jobs and some days suck.  However, we keep on going and we don’t find a thousand different ways to put each other down and belittle each other about what we believe.

Politicians could learn something from the American people.  We all love our country and we all want to prosper and succeed, so we all need to just get along.  We are greater together than we are apart.  We are stronger when we join together to solve our problems.  Whatever happens on Tuesday, I sure hope the Democrats, Republicans and the few Independents can set about to do the work of the American people without the constant discourse!  Jon and Stephen made it safe to remember to be “SANE” when talking about politics.  I hope the politicians “get it”.

Here is an article on the rally!

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20021281-503544.html

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