WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CANDIDATES OF THE PAST WHO USUALLY LOOKED PRESIDENTIAL AND SMART?

If candidates were as bad in the past as these Republican candidates are today, they must have had better handlers because not until Palin were we subjected to such a joke as a candidate.  It seems that Romney cannot stop making stupid reminders that he does not know the common man.  Bush the first had never been in a grocery store.but we didn't learn about it until he had been in office for quite a while.

Most candidates can stay on the issues or, at least,  pretend they are with the people.  Santorum can't even do that.  He is too invested in his idea of the sanctity of life, more for the unborn than born.  Occasionally he notices that the economy is bad but his ideas as to what to do about it are incredibly naive or insufficient..

The Republican party cannot come together.  The base has no control over these ridiculous candidates.  They have been divisive for so long and have been fueling their party members through fear and fraud.  What appalls me is, in each election, people vote for a smooth line which leads them down the thorn-sided primrose path.   They seem to be unaware of the dangers of their course.

Listening to the Republicans complaining that the Medical Insurance Plan (passed by the government under Obama's administration_ is illegal because people are having to pay whether they want it or not does little to explain how so many states can pass a bill that requires women to undergo unnecessary ultrasounds, against their will, against medical advice, be forced to watch them and be forced to pay out of pocket for them.  The hypocrisy is unfathomable.


The anxiety raised, since we are at the whim of people who have no idea where they are taking us, is overwhelming.  Where is the ACLU when we need them?  Our constitution is being violated daily, with the public unable to see or hear anything being done about it.


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WE ARE ON THE CUSP OF SPRING IN NEW ENGLAND

Here in the Boston Area, we have enjoyed a marvelous winter.  We had very little snow, none of it heavy to shovel.  The sun was strong, snow didn't last long.  The Holly bushes are just now beginning to lose their winter, red berries.  Some people have crocuses in blossom. Indoor tulips are glorious and soon tulips will blossom out of doors, as well.

I quake at the thought that, while everything is budding up for a beautiful spring, some sneaky God will slip us a curve and gift us with some late season ice and storm,

However, I have treated myself with some indoor color again this winter.  I love my violets (which might force me to move to find space to live in as they have gradually taken up the space that used to be mine.) I will leave you, good reader, to visualize that there are six more window sills devoted to African violets.
Other sills have wintered colorful geraniums which have bloomed indoors all winter.year after year and in the yard summers.

No house should be without a left-over Poinsettia that will gradually lose its redness and get spindly, at which point one will be forced to memorialize it and wait until next December to replace it with a live one.

 My plants do not scratch at the door to be walked.  They do not wake me up, bark, or fill the house with shedding hair.  If they are incontinent from my over watering of them, (Bounty lives up to the 'quick picker upper title).  If leaves or blossoms dry up and drop, they are easily swept or vacuumed up.  When major disasters like knocked over pots occur, fresh dirt easily replaces that which was lost.  No bad odors at any time.  The worst disaster I ever had to live through was when a chipmunk decided (since I was only feeding it Decon, thinking it was a different type of rodent) my studio was a great place to live in because there were forty feet of window sills with plants on them.  (Chipmunks eat roots and in order to reach them, they dig out the messy dirt that covers the roots.)  At least I didn't have to take the plants to the Vet.  I just had to repot and sweep up quarts of potting soil.

Be of good cheer; spring is almost here!

ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITTANICA MOVES INTO THE 21st CENTURY

At last, Encyclopedia Britannica will save  forests.  The company has finally figured out that people who want fast answers aren't going to look in a book when Google and other search engines can give them with a couple of keystrokes.  The World Book has made a part switch and much is available online but there is still a print version. nAs a person who for years bought every reference book that was published, it has been at least 15 years that i stopped buying them..

Businesses require CEOs who can move with the times.  Unfortunately too many whine about their profits dropping through no fault of their own.  Not so true when you look at all the hints that have been dropping over the past few years.  Cookbooks, if one asks most good cooks of today, aren't really needed because if you want a recipe to fit the ingredients you have on hand, you will find enough recipes with slight variety to convince you to forget it to just scramble a couple of eggs.  Actually, a site on the Internet claims that cookbook sales are flourishing.  Indeed, it is still a money maker of clubs, women's groups, churches, or anyone who can go around and get women to write out their favorite recipes (sales helped if the best cook in town can lend her name and recipe to the book). More instructions than you could ever want to know on any subject is available on YouTube.. Click here for an example.

Some things become obsolete because of newer, faster, more serviceable tools or methods to get to the same goal.  Some, like software, cameras, computers, recorders, TVs and all things electronically technological are built with planned or predictable obsolescence, since  newer and improved models are always in the pipeline.

It was shocking to learn that the state considers a lifetime guarantee to be only ten years.  At that rate, I should have a sticker that says:  "best used by 1990"


 

BREAKING UP RIOTS

An article on BBC news from the UK suggests that the Metropolitan Police are considering using CS gas to stop rioters.  It is one of the more 'assertive' ways, they think, to deal with the problem.

Since CS gas was not something with which I was familiar, I used Google.  To see what the military troops were put through testing it, please click here

There are many tools for breaking up riots.  The first step is to determine whether a protest in non-violent among unarmed marchers to make a statement.  It seems that it is not always clear to those who either do not believe in the right to free speech in a non-violent protest march (see this in Russia 3/1/2012) 

As in Tiananmen Square in 1989, massacre is another choice though a democracy would not consider it the best choice.. We have seen pepper spray, rubber bullets, tear gas, brutality, and so many more attempts to control crowds.  It will always be a question whether there is, indeed, a riot or whether it is 'preventive' action so that there won't be one.  Whichever it is, it is a term which should be analyzed carefully when it is used.

THE USA CANNOT SAVE THE WORLD SINGLE-HANDEDLY

It is late, I am tired, and the outside world is to be avoided.  A 38 year old man goes berserk in Afghan and the Afghanis forget that even Americans can breakdown from too much stress.  Sometimes parents have to let their offspring go on their own even when they think they are not ready.  It seems we will never live long enough to consider the Afghanis as being able to take care of themselves.  And, perhaps the people who fear this may be correct.  But sometimes one has to stop and order priorities.  While it is kind to give to neighbors we perceive in need, help people in distress, we must not think we are the only teat with milk in it for the entire world.

Our own people are in need.  Our school children need better care to grow up to get jobs, raise families, and make proper decisions for themselves and to become functioning citizens as adults.  Watching Chris Hansen on the hundredth repeat of his catching sexual predators show sees a parade of the most pathetic creatures.  Some of them looked like their IQ equaled the number of digits on their bodies.  Admittedly, they are predators but society has abandoned these men for many years before they were old enough to practice being predators.  It is not a surprise they look for underage victims.  They are probably the only gullible people who can use the computer as an adult would be less probable to fall for their line.  Those who are wise enough would need a much smoother line and the pedophile label can not be attached. to those who look for adult prey.   An adult victim comes in all sizes, shapes and colors.  The seducer simply needs to find someone wanting love, to feel cherished and wanted, and so eager for this that few questions get asked the4 victims and are easily tempted to give of themselves and their money.  As long as there are humans, there will be victims.  They may be victims of physical abuse, theft, emotional abuse, or any number of other categories for misery.  Some of it is legal and some not.  It depends on who is defining the behaviors. 

As long as we persist, as a society, to force unwanted children into a world that abandons them at birth to focus on bringing more unwanted pregnancies to birth, we will continue to have more social problems, an uneducated large percentage of our people, and the need for more governmental intervention in loco parentis.

DO NOT VOTE FOR SOMEONE WHO WILL NOT RESPECT OUR CONSTITUTION.

Pope Benedict is warning against gay marriages.  :The Pope warned of "powerful political and cultural currents seeking to alter the legal definition of marriage.". Further in the article on BBC News, was written:  "Timothy Dolan, the New York archbishop who was recently made a cardinal by the Pope, was prominent in that campaign and spoke out during 2011 against the spread of same-sex marriage laws. In September 2011, shortly after New York passed legislation, he wrote to President Obama criticising a decision not to support a federal ban on same-sex marriage. In the letter, the then-Archbishop Dolan said the White House's policy could "precipitate a national conflict between Church and state of enormous proportions"."

I find the Catholic church's attempt to change the understanding of our United States Constitution particularly offensive.  The church may speak to its followers but it may not, a s a tax-free, religious organization, interfere with the running of our country and our laws.  I resent the lack of respect to those of us who are not of Catholic faith and the lack of respect to our President for allowing new laws for the majority of voters who have asked for and supported the changes. Years ago, we had a Catholic priest, Father Drinan. as a Senator.  Wikipedia writes on Father Drinan: "Throughout Drinan's political career, his consistent support of abortion rights drew significant opposition from Church leaders, who had also repeatedly requested that he not hold political office in the first place.^[2][4] Drinan attempted to reconcile his position with official Church doctrine by stating that while he was personally opposed to abortion, considering it "virtual infanticide,"^[5] its legality was a separate issue from its morality. This argument failed to satisfy his critics. According to the Wall Street Journal, Drinan played a key role in the pro-choice platform becoming a common stance with politicians in the Kennedy family.^[6]  In 1980, Pope John Paul II unequivocally demanded that all priests withdraw from electoral politics. Drinan complied and did not seek reelection.^[2] "'It is just unthinkable,' he said of the idea of renouncing the priesthood to stay in office. 'I am proud and honored to be a priest and a Jesuit. As a person of faith I must believe that there is work for me to do which somehow will be more important than the work I am required to leave.'"^[7]"

^{That Drinan was pulled out of the Senate while  Drinan was faithfully following the Constitution, made clear his church did not want him to do follow the oath of office he had taken.  We have a man running for president of the US, former Senator Santorum, who publicly states that he does not believe in separation of church and state,   It puzzles me whether this means that everyone who is voting for him agrees in violating the constitution (though they claim to be wanting stricter adherence to it and want government intruding less in our personal lives though some vote for intruding into women's wombs against medical necessity and without women's permission.)  Beware.  Whom you vote for may make your life a lot worse than you can imagine.}

HBO DOCUMENTARY: GAME CHANGE

Not really being a movie fan nor a regular viewing of such shows as actors playing the part of real people, I decided to watch Game Change, having lived through it all four years ago.  It was amazing what a wonderful job the writer, production people, and actors did with this subject.  The live news films of the time coupled with the actors was remarkable.  Without doubt, there is an enormous amount of archival film to work from but the techniques used made it real and brought back McCain's run and Sarah Palin's gradual metamorphosis from the naive governor who didn't know anything about running a country, the Constitution, foreign policy, or history to a polished snake oil saleswoman.

"Officials of the ReelzChannel television network say they scheduled a pro-Sarah Palin documentary on the same weekend as HBO's "Game Change" debut strictly for business considerations, not political ones.

"The Undefeated," a Palin documentary by conservative filmmaker Stephen K. Bannon, will have its television premiere on Sunday. It will come 23 hours after HBO opens "Game Change," based on the 2008 campaign book by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, and starring Julianne Moore as Palin."  For the complete article, click here

While the documentary is fascinating, it is frightening to realize how campaigns are run and how taken in so many people are with lies.  What people forget is that campaigns are run by people who are marketing experts.  It is a job, just as any other, with their object to win....regardless of how they may feel about the candidate.  As with many advertisers, truth is not the relevant issue, convincing the public to buy their product is.  I don't mind advertisers talking about their product which I may choose to buy or not.  I may even regret having bought a product but do not have to live with it for four years and It will hardly make a significant impact in my life if I dislike it and never buy it again.  However, a President is certainly not in the group for me.


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