OPINION STATERS, COMMENTATORS, AND MEDIA PUNDITS HAVE A MATH PROBLEM

People seem not to have learned math while in school.  For example, it takes two halves to make a whole.  There are too many people who think President Obama is black.  Actually, he is 1/2 Caucasian and 1.2 1st generation African descent.  The state of Hawaii has shown his official birth certificate where he was born when Hawaii was legally one of the United States.  That means, for those mathematically challenged, he is as much white as not.  Just as one of the Carolinas still flies a Confederate flag, it does not surprise me that they still think the product of rape between the white plantation and slave owner and one of the daughters of slaves that produced a child was a black child.  It would be too much to expect them to accept what rapes were performed by their forebears but, the truth is still the truth and rape is still rape, slaves or not.

Our Southern states during the slave era did not distinguish themselves by the actions of their slave owners or the way men treated other humans (even though our laws indicated that all men (humans) should be considered equal. It took over a hundred years of suffering, brutal beatings and lynchings for our laws to begin to protect the people of color who, by law, were now free and equal.  It has taken over a hundred and fifty years to continue with that struggle and deal with some people who still haven't accepted the equality.

A second example of poor math by the same group is when those same open-mouth-and-not-know-what-they-are-saying people assume, when they talk about the government not being respected, mean it to refer to President Obama.  They think this despite his fairly high approval rates, especially as compared to those of the Congress. Decades ago, when I studied our country's government, there were three (count them-3 ); Administrative, Legislative and Judicial.  

 

Supreme Court

After the Roberts Court decided corporations are people and can cast one collective vote as though it is speech (even though all in the corporation might not make the same vote) through monetary donations which amount to an obscenely large figure. To better understand this, click here

TO REASON METHODICALLY

Here is a word that I had never heard before, yet it covers so much that I have been thinking about many voters who lack the ability. 

ratiocinate

PRONUNCIATION:
(rash-ee-OS-uh-nayt, rat-ee-)

MEANING:
verb intr.: To reason, especially in a methodical manner.

When I hear people criticize Obama and say they will not vote for him, it is apparent they do not clearly see that the alternatives will be so much worse.  If they vote for a Libertarian (or any other choice on the ballot not a major party) they might as well just toss the vote away because there will not be enough votes to elect the candidate.  If they vote for Romney we will be back to Norquist and Wall St. ruining the country further. It appalls me that people do not see beyond their prejudices, conning, lies they have been told, nor do they pay attention to the facts about history, economics, statistics and all the information available to them which contradicts what Romney is being taught to say which has no bearing on a presidency by him.

Candidates will promise the moon, such as Romney's promises, have no hope of being realized.  When the Bishops of the Catholic church back the nuns who are traveling all over the country to denounce Ryan's budget as totally economically destructive to the middle class and outside Catholic teaching, what in the world can they be thinking?  Or are they capable of seeing other than their fears and the bright future being painted by image creators (not job creators).

SURVIVING POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS AS A VOTER

Having survived and voted in political campaigns for many decades and for many candidates, some who have lost and some who have won, is like going through frequent anxiety attacks.  Just when you are shuddering, perspiring as you listen for the results, it seems quite like giving birth with the accompanying labor pains.  The media now has begun to report as though it is a soap opera.  "After this commercial we will tell you who has won."  You swear you will never forget the pain after it is over just as promptly as you forget labor pains when another child is on the way.  Otherwise, women could never repeat childbirth and voters could never vote again.

Fortunately, I don't live in a state trying to cheat and keep me from voting.  We have no hanging chads, no misleading forms, no tricks.  I feel as though I am in a small island of sanity, figuratively speaking,  in this country that has become a country full of foggy insanity.  Too many people can no longer tell the truth from snake oil salesmen who are being coaxed into office to fulfill the design of the 'non-existent' conspiracy to take over the country.  Grover Norquist and Karl Rove could explain that conspiracy far better than I. 

Imagine that we are living in a country where an evil governor can resist obeying the law or the US Attorney General's requests, hopefully soon to become demands.

A NEW AT LEAST TO ME) PHONE SCAM

Apparently there is a phone scam that hasn't come to me directly but a few friends have encountered it.  A younger voice calls and senior and says, "This is your grandson.  I'm in Spain and have had an automobile accident.  My nose is broken.  I need $800."  My thought the voice sounded familiar and said , "Andrew?"  The voice said, "Yes."  My friend, who is sharp, said,"What is your middle name?"  The caller hung up.  One might question about things that only the person would know, like sibling names, or ask misleading questions such as:  "Why didn't you call your trust officer?"  or, "Did you tell your probation officer you had gone to Spain?"

eHow has a good article on how to recognize a scam.  To read it, click here.There are some good suggestions which should help as warnings.  Take a moment and read the article in full.

DO YOU WANT PRIVACY OR A SAFE LIFE?

It always makes me chuckle when (and it is usually old ladies with no idea of the world or the Internet) who think they have privacy.  They do not send email except to people they know and do not buy anything online. They do not understand that there is no such thing as privacy.  It is big business now to store all the information a company (who collects all the data on individuals) stores and sells.

As though the fat cats haven't earned enough on the rest of us poor innocents, David Rosen has written an excellent article to show 6 Government Surveillance Programs Designed to Watch What You Do Online.  He advises: "If you are a user of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Craigslist or another popular site, the U.S. security state is watching you."

If you are interested in this subject, click here for the whole article.  Among those watching are:  1. Justice Department, 2. The IRS, 3. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, 4. The Defense Department, 5. The FBI, 6. Department of Homeland Security   


The software programs used are probably just as bored as people would be if they had to monitor directly. It would be fun to know what words they search for primarily

HYPOCRISY STILL REIGNS IN THE USA

". A 2010 follow-up study, UNICEF "Report Card 9," reported the same bad news: The U.S. ranked 23rd out of 24 nations in the proportion of its children in poverty, beating out Slovakia, which came in last."  Written in an article about how free market is rated in the wealthiest countries, we as a nation show rather poorly.  Yet, no matter how are economists and the current administration try to steer us in a more positive direction to get us back to having a middle class with fewer malnourished children, we are failing because the forces of evil have taken over in a war against our present government.

When McConnell uttered his goal of making President Obama a one-term president, people had no idea he would do it at the expense of the poor, the ill, the malnourished and only at the expense of the middle and lower classes of our nation. What is it that keeps people blinded to the dangers inherent in pushing the poor beyond their ability to tolerate.life.  History has recorded the precedent of violence erupting when people feel totally helpless against the ones who take it all and flaunt it.suggesting that being rich proves their worthiness, that they deserve more than the poor because they are rich.  Revolutions have usually followed.

Arlie Hichschild wrote a very interesting article on: How a Free Market Run Amok Destroys Family Values.The article starts with the statement:  "We need a healthy market. But we also have to understand that some of the policies said to free it can deeply hurt the families free-marketeers claim to value."  To read this article, click here.

GREEN AND PURITY SHOULDN'T HAVE TO COST MORE

For those of us looking to simplify our lives, it is a surprise that it will have to cost more.A couple of years ago, shopping for food in another state, I as pleased to be given a paper bag and commented commented that it was nice not to get a plastic bag.  I was told that store owners were very displeased with the edict that only paper bags would be used for the sake of the Island's environment. The store manager was unhappy about that demand as it costs more to use paper on an Island than plastic, This was an attempt to save animals, fish, and whateve3r else would be effected by this.

Toronto, Seattle, Alberta, are but a few places having banned plastic bags. For the complete article., Cljck here
Apparently most stores would prefer to endanger the environment than have to raise prices.  Many work on a very slim margin of profit and their profit comes from volume, not single sales.

What we, of course, have to realize that people who work for plastic bag companies have to work, too.  With every decision to save one thing, we endanger another. By all means, haven't we learned when we banned cigarettes from public places that no restaurants lost business over it...at least not for long!   If it weren't got Trader Joe's, I wouldn't have a paper bag in which to put my catalog and cardboard recyclables.