JUST WHOM DO THEY POLL?

Taking polls in America is close to a couple of centuries old. The ones that prove right are the ones remembered.  But what happens when they are wrong.  Our world is populated with a majority that are followers.  It would be an interesting bit of research to find how many people are influenced by poll numbers.  To our human sheep, the polls are like shepherds..

For anyone who would like to learn more about how they are taken and what kinds there are, click here.

If the polls were to be taken seriously, someone would do more figuring out about why they change daily. and why they don't all come out the same.  The only ones who seem to understand them and find them useful are the ones who use them to manipulate and the media.  When nothing else is newsworthy, the media can opine using the poll numbers.  Now, with video technology, they make wonderful, colorful graphs and charts, as well.

Polls will never substitute for making a voting choice.  You must do your own homework and figure out who will do the best by this country.  If that isn't visible to you, our country will continue its downward swing and we will all slide down with it.  Without the middle and lower class, even the rich will cease to exist eventually.  Elizabeth Warren is right on with that.

COMPUTER ADDICTION

For years now, I have heard psychologists talk about treating computer addiction. (Computer addiction is a loosely used term for the excessive use of computers to the extent that it interferes with daily life...wikipedia).   The number of hours spent on the computer, just as the number of drinks it takes to be considered an alcoholic was mentioned by some.  Like much research, the number of variables is so great about how people use computers and the reasons for doing so.  A real question is how does one define interfering with daily life.

Having given a great deal of thought to this subject, I have decided while, indeed, there may be some who might be called addicted because they choose to use a computer rather than doing things directly or physically because the computer can satisfy many needs.  An analogy I reached was that I am as addicted to my computers as I was to my mother as a child., though I have never heard a child's dependence on its mother as addiction.

There is a great dependence on my computer on my part. It is not addiction but addition. It has replaced so many steps, much time spent, and a great deal of  frustration.  My computer saves me time looking things up in dictionaries, making phone calls to get information, pay bills, shop, find resources, and replaces encyclopedias and reference books which are too quickly out of date in today's fast moving society.  I use it to better understand prescriptions, their purpose, and all sorts of things to maintain my general health.  The list of ways my life is made simpler seems to grow exponentially.

When people say to me, "I don't want to get a computer because I will get addicted to it."  ( Yes, Virginia, just as there is Christmas, there are still ignorant people who wish to remain uniformed.

THE PEOPLE ARE RISING EVERYWHERE

In Mexico, anonymous hackers are rising despite the real danger to themselves.  A Geek  was taken by the Cartel so the rest have threatened to publicly expose everyone who has collaborated withe the Cartel.  In a frightening standoff, it will only end with more violence but someone has to take them on insofar as the law is unable to do it. Read more here.

A video appears on this site.  Click here  You need to scroll down to see the video. The main group being gone after are the Zeta group and cartel. (AP) 
VERACRUZ, Mexico - An Internet video is threatening Mexico's Zetas drug cartel with exposure of its allies in the local police and news media this week unless the gang frees a kidnapped member of the international hacker movement known as "Anonymous."
The YouTube message, which claims to be from Anonymous "Veracruz, Mexico and the world," says it is "tired of the criminal group the Zetas, which is dedicated to kidnapping, stealing and extortion," and threatens to fight back with information instead of weapons.
It said it knows of police officers, journalists, taxi drivers and others working with the Zetas.

There is no stronger argument than this scenario top legalize marijuana but those who vote on bills do not seem to case about human life or misery.  Perhaps voters will smarten up and vote the do-nothing legislators out of office as soon as possible.
 

THIS IS NOT SOMETHING I SAW OR HEARD FROM AMERICAN MEDIA

According to Al Jazeera:  "About 28,500 US troops are stationed in South Korea, and crimes involving them have caused anti-American sentiments among many South Koreans.

In 2002, the acquittals of two American soldiers whose armoured vehicle ran over and killed two South Korean schoolgirls during training prompted massive nationwide protests against the US military presence in the country.

Tuesday's sentencing is the longest prison term for an American soldier stationed in South Korea since 1993, when a US soldier was sentenced to life in prison for murdering a South Korean bar employee, according to the foreign ministry. His life sentence was later reduced to 15 years, and the soldier was eventually released in 2006."  I t said further:  "The 21-year-old soldier entered a low-budget dorm-style room early on September 24 and sexually assaulted and tormented the victim, threatening her with a pair of scissors. He then robbed her of 5,000 won ($4.50) before running away, said the court in the city of Uijeongbu, north of Seoul"

While it can be understood that young, healthy men may long for sex, it is not acceptable to treat a country as though we are barbarian occupiers. This behavior rarely makes it to the general public in the US who would like to have us all think that ALL our fighting men are well-behaved, until another country begins to tell the world as it has about Afghanistan and Iraq, how some behave to what should be the shame of the rest of us as Americans.

Respect for all citizens hosting our troops should be taught and regulated with a very heavy hand.

DOES ANY CURRENT REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT HAVE A CHANCE?

In all my decades of voting for Presidents, I have never seen such an incompetent slate of people.  Not one of them exhibits the insight, creativity, loyalty, dedication to serve their constituents, knowledge as to what is expected in the job, and I could go on and on with their deficiencies.

I do not say this from a partisan bias.  I am truly an Independent voter.I voted for Romney for MA governor, not because I thought he would be a great governor (which I was convinced he would not be) but because a corrupt group of Democrats had too strong a hold in the Capitol.  Romney was able to unseat the Speaker of the State Senate who subsequently faced a judge, as he well deserved.  He went along with an MIT proposal for Health Care and, hopefully, there is some easing to the taxpayers left to pay for all those without insurance who used to show up in emergency rooms.  However, having done that one key job for which others may not value him, I find nothing to recommend the man as a potential President of the United States.

Sadly, I feel that this blog is truly preaching to the choir about so many issues.  Maybe if I leave politics for a few days and concentrate on the myriad of other issues of interest in our lives today it will allow me to see the world as a better place and being alive in it as a good thing again.

This can happen when trees weaken and get too tall to be supported by the ground they're on.  When conditions are as they were on 10/29/11 in New England, with wet snow on top of leaves, something is apt to  give.  If the tree doesn't land on a car, it may hit a power line, block a street, or drop on (and through) a roof on a house.  During this storm, one man was killed when he walked into a live power line that had been snapped.

Fortunately, my side of the street only had to endure a loss of power for a little more than two hours.  The worst that can complain about is that the furnace was off long enough to get chilly.  I have candles which are contained so that if they burn down, the house doesn't go with the candle.  I read by a flashlight with a long fluorescent bulb which shines very brightly. I easily read until the power came back on.  For those of us who always need to find something to complain about, the worst for me was having to reset all the electric clocks.  There are clocks in appliances and in pieces of technology.  Alarm clocks are not best to be electric when one depends on them.

There is now a talking clock near my bedside. I no longer have to struggle to see the clock face or digital readout when I've been sleeping and my eyes have not yet adjusted to light.  I just tap the clock and it speaks the time.  So you see, friends, some technology is good some of the time but most don't run when the power is off..  

There used to be a generator here that ran on either natural gas or gasoline but it went to generator Heaven when my husband died.  He was the only one who knew how to manage it and every technician who came to the house thereafter took more of it apart because they said it wasn't safe to run, not hooked up properly, and all sorts of other reasons which my husband would have ignored but I can ill afford to do.

In the morning I looked out at the snow on my car, the slight, soggy berm the plows had built up, and waited for Mother Nature to take away what she left the night before.  It did enough without my having to shovel a thing.  Ah, but another storm is coming and so is winter so I will check to make sure I have shovels and snow melt though I hear it was sold out before this storm.  Be Prepared, That's the Boy Scouts Marching Song  (Tom Lehrer's good advice)

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PRO-CON; WIN-LOSE; RIGHT-WRONG; DECIDED-UNDECIDED: MOST ARE CONFUSED

I've decided more people tend to see things at each of the polar extremes than in the middle.  Too many look for the person who is at 'fault' as though it is a solution.  As Bush used to say, being one who could not see shades of gray, "You're either with me or against me.'

Even analogies used don't make sense if you think about them..  On the Bill Maher Show (10/28/11) his guest was Grover Norquist.who gave a super simplistic explanation comparing spending government money to taking a pail of water out of a lake, using it, then pouring it back into the lake. Nothing is changed. The water in the lake remains the same. Of course, with money which  gets used to create jobs, save lives, repair infrastructure, more is gained than amount used.  Norquist either thinks everyone is stupid or has convinced people (at least those he has signed to his pledge).he is the one who best knows economics in the country..

If you are not convinced just how easy it is to lie and hook people no matter what lies are spread, you simply need to watch the statistics and poll numbers waltzing around after the debates and candidates speeches with all the blatant lies that are told. Candidates who cannot even be consistent about their goals, who change them constantly depending on the audience response.  You can follow Rush Limbaugh and check his facts, or, for that matter, check facts from Fox News to see how quickly people believe lies.

It amazes me that our next President, the leader of our country, might be someone totally unqualified because the masses like him cooking hamburgers in the back yard and drinking beer, or because he seems to be the best choice of the litter.  That Rick Perry has asked to see Barack Obama's grades is shocking.  He clearly does not understand the Harvard Law School expectations of the person to head the Law Review. Wikipedia writes that he graduated 'magna cum laude', meaning with great honors.  That a candidate running against a sitting president has so littler of substance to say that he asks for grades of the sitting president that were obtained many years ago and can easily be found online, is beyond ludicrous to me.

Is it any wonder that the middle class is revolting...peacefully now, but will they remain peaceful in face of police brutality and infiltrators causing the public to believe they are a legitimate part of the movement an protest when they are not.  Whom can you trust when you no longer believe there is a God taking care of us?