WHAT CRITERIA DO YOU CHOOSE TO EVALUATE TRUTH IN TV, NEWS, AND OTHER MEDIA?

Trying to figure out what to believe is difficult these days.  The man or woman staring at you from the TV screen is speaking. Is he telling truth?  Who can tell?  He is reading from a prompter.

Do we believe because more sources think the same way that the fewer sources on the opposite side of this 'fact'.  If numbers alone decided what is right, we would fall for all the fads, con men, politicians, and religious zealots who talk directly to God. Being asked to put our faith and trust in God has a random chance of working out. Since no one talks to us and God chooses not to show a form, a voice, a being of some sort, it makes God difficult to trust since we have no evidence God has agreed to anything for which people pray.

Obama made some promises during his presidential campaign for his 2008 election.  He was honest that his promises would be attempted but h did not count on a Legislature whose stated only mission was to see him a a one-term president and shot down everything he proposed.  I( particularly like the sign to the right of this at all,

Whom are we to not stop believing?  The answer is, of course, "Trust only that which lies beneath your fingers within your own control,"   Even that trust doesn't mean you can't err in judgement, make mistakes, or be wrong.  Even our own senses of touch, smell, sight, hearing, and taste can be mistaken.  It should prove beyond a doubt that, if we cannot trust our own senses and judgment,

Needless, we have to hone our sleuthing skills, behave as though we are constantly paranoid, and follow the maxim:  "If it is too good to be true, it is."  Remember, promises don't always come true, no matter how well intended.

UNITEDHEALTHCARE AD

It may be that I am confused, but the current ad on TV by UnitedHealthCare does not seem possible.  The content is that a man (I think he is riding a motorcycle) states he was given two different prescriptions by two different doctors, but thanks to UnitedHealthCare he was told not to take them both as it would hurt him.

Usually, it is an office worker at a for profit medical plan that would see prescriptions after they have been filled and billed for reimbursement.  It is the pharmacist, assuming that the patient goes to one pharmacy (or at least lets the pharmacist knows all meds he is taking) who has references that let him know combinations which fight one another. Contact with hospitals in my work in the last few years has taught me that, logically, it would be the pharmacist, not the physician who would note the interaction

Since I do not know all the facts of how UnitedHealthCare works, the message should not have been to urge people to buy health insurance but to properly use the resources of their pharmacy.  It seems that many ad people are getting as sloppy about facts as many reporters or media people are these days.  How sad for the rest of us.  Small wonder that my mute button is getting overworked these days.

WASHINGTON, THE MODERN BABYLON

Washington DC can now be known as the Babylon of the USA 

Babylon noun: A place of great luxury and extravagance, usually accompanied with vice and corruption. 

ETYMOLOGY: After Babylon, an ancient city of southwestern Asia, on the Euphrates River, now the site of Al Hillah city. It was the capital of Babylonia and known for its opulence and culture. It was the site of the Hanging Gardens, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Earliest documented use: around 1225.


Democratic Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo reached a deal in Albany with top legislators to raise taxes on the most wealthy and lower them for many of the millions of middle class.  At last, someone who dares do the right thing rather than pay homage to Grover Norquist
or believe the need to serve those who put them in office, regardless of the cost to American citizens.  Read more here.

DESPERATION IS RAMPING UP

The 99% are getting more desperate.  A woman from Ohio and moved to CA with her two children, 10 and 12, shot herself and the two children in the office where she was denied food stamps. To see the Reuters article by Jim Forsyth, click here.

For an interesting discussion on the Occupy movement, listen to Ex Post Facto Episode 2.  






Along with Occupy Wall St...an article about people occupying their homes.  Americans stood up and said, "We have a right to shelter. No one can take that right from us." Today we re-occupied our homes.

In East New York, Brooklyn - a foreclosed home is being reclaimed today by a local homeless family. #OWS, along with local neighbors and community groups, has pledged to stay with the family and defend them from eviction. Kendall Jacklman from Picture The Homeless spoke to the housing crisis ongoing in New York City, saying, "There is enough housing in this city to shut down the Department of Homeless Services and offer everyone decent, affordable housing based on our real wages."  Read more,

REPUBLICANS TRUMPED AGAIN

While Karl Rove has never been an idol of mine, it is odd to see Donald Trump trying to replace him and seemingly succeeding as manipulating the elections..  Today's Republican race betrays the flimsiness of criteria the majority of voters use to select their candidates.  The election process is currently being compared to a circus, not unjustly.  Nevertheless there is no denial that Rove has been evilly successful in running politics for too many years.

Now it seems that Donald Trump is trying to take over.  Trump and he plan to go to an inner city school and take 10 kids as 'apprenti'....is the new Republican jobs program. This is not to suggest that any of his actions of staying front and center in public view  is for personal gain or to promote his show or book.

I have decided that (in my own simplistic way) there is little choice to be made in 2012.  Question #1 to be asked is:  Would McCain have made a better President than Obama?.  The answer is unquestionably a resounding NO.  McCain has been a tired old man who seems dissatisfied with even his own party.  Question #2 is:  Would any of the current candidates be better equipped to be President than Obama?  Once again, whether you think Obama has done a good job or not, he is brighter, better trained and fulfills more requirements for handling the country (especially after four years of on-the-job-training) than any of the current Republican candidates. 

INSTEAD OF PROMISES, WHY DON'T POLITICIANS JUST STATE THEIR PROPOSALS AND SOLUTIONS

The childish Republicans are citing the promises that Obama made during his campaign.  They forget to mention that they also are voting 'no' to anything he proposes as they make clear they want him to be a one-term president rather than try to make the unemployed, disabled, foreclosed on, hungry and broke people live more improved existences.

Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, speaks Republicanese, little truth, all problems started when Obama was elected, and we must all vote for a Republican to take the government back.The man was safe from me as long as hje was on TV and I cannot give the evil eye as my European ancestors believed they could.  He called Obama 'the Great Divider'!  So much for any pretense of bipartisanship.  The man was also living proof that you can make the statistics mean whatever you wish them to mean.

You can hear him as he gave the same talk to CBS News.  The man sounds like he truly believes (at least he can say it with a straight face) that the Republican candidates are strong choices!  He believe Obama would have been fired if he was in a corporation.  If he were evaluated for truth Reince should probably be fired, but he won't.  He wants someone real and authentic back in the White House.  I wonder which one of that bunch of current Republican candidates he thinks would qualify for that label.  Now I can see why so much money gets lost in gambling.  He is certainly backing the wrong stable.

THE ECONOMIC FUTURE OF THE US

Like something which has shattered on the floor containing glass shards, toxic substances, too many pieces of gold to be thrown out  (as well as fecal matter and garbage), our economic system has to be carefully sorted to see what can be saved , carefully washed, or thrown out..  It amazes me that so many people are disappointed in Obama because he promised change yet has been beating his head against the Republican wall to make that happen.  How can they not be aware of his successes and mighty attempts to right the wrongs they fail to see are against them..

It doesn't matter to the Republicans that the unemployment rate dropped a significant amount.   They believe people are stupid enough to believe,whatever is at fault with the world  is not Bush's fault but Obama's.  Or, at least, their denial allows them to.try to convince us all of that truth.  Children will suffer malnutrition and many people will suicide in frustration of their life circumstances.  Returning servicemen must ask the question, "For what did we suffer.these debilitating and disabling injuries?"  As long as banks continue without regulation, they will continue the atrocities of foreclosures on returning (and still fighting) servicemen and their dependents

What is it that allows the right wing hypocrisy to continue to claim that the unemployed just need to go out and get jobs (when there are not enough to go around), get rid of child labor laws (put there to protect children from being abused and not having enough opportunity for proper child development), and stop asking the government for help.  This position from people who are legislators who can vote themselves raises with no performance evaluation, get the best medical insurance available, and even are exempt from insider training rules, and are getting a disproportionate amount of help from the government.  The Occupy Movement  representing the 99% are out their asking to be heard as to the unfairness in our current society.

Money alone will not solve these problems. We need some additional positive role models mentioned by the media rather than just the violence, thefts, accidents and murders.  Obama is correct in saying that we need better education for our children. Education, coping and employment skills, a view of the future that allows them to see hope that they might be able to see their American Dream possible, Right now, those who could well use education are being pushed out of it by the big banks who have taken over control of colleges and pushed tuition up and out of the reach of average people.

When will people stop listening to the snake oil salesmen and see reality, not on TV reality , highly produced shows, but around them in their own real lives?  We need to start teaching everyone the importance of their one vote now so they can be prepared to cast their vote with real knowledge of the capabilities of their candidate.