MOURNING LOSSES

As I mourn the possible loss of our country as we have known it and been proud of it, I also mourn the death of a close friend who died last night.  My friend just faded gradually and seemed to have died of no more than old age.  His blood pressure was impossible to control and his kidneys shut down.

For those of you who do not see the analogy between the two, let me explain what I see.  My friends kidneys shut down.  Dialysis is available for some people but not an option here for social, financial and so many other parameters that do not help in this description.

A week or more ago when I last talked to my friend, I sensed that he was in the process of dying; his body was clearly shutting down, his energy gone, his interest in life gone so much that he didn't even want to see a doctor.  Our country is dying.  The difference is that, unlike my friend who was a human in a single body, our country is made up of many humans in varying stages of their life and vibrancy.  Whereas my friend was beyond what science could help, I find it difficult to believe that our country is beyond saving from the clutches of those who are bound to make it their cash cow at the expense of the 99% of the rest of the country., .Their greed shows no response to the suffering of so many in that 99%.  There are veterans who have given parts of their bodies and pieces of their brains for this country who can't get help.  It is forbidden to choose to not have a child in an unwanted pregnancy but it is allowed to watch that child die of malnutrition or lack of medical care.  The single minded greed cares not that they are killing their source of revenue.  They cannot turn this entire country into their cash cow and personal playground.

Just as the living must go on after the loss of loved ones because they couldn't save them, we must all go on to make sure that this country survives...because we can..

THE MEDIA PERSISTS IS FAIR CAMPAIGN TO ALL WITHOUT CONCERN OVER THER PROVEN LIES

One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferior

 Plato

The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. 

  John Kenneth Galbraith 

BBC writes that Romney aims to end the tax rate issue.  Why does Romney think that people will settle for his asking for faith as though he were a God.  He has lied so often there is no way that a majority of rational people can trust him to tell truths.  He warns that everyone should stop playing negative ads while he continues to spew hatred and agitates for divisiveness.

Romney's hubris is astonishing, even to this callous voter.  Does he really think he can insult the public by telling them only small minds would be interested in his tax returns?

GRAMMAR

Do  you remember the saying:  'First in; last out." when referring to memory?  Apparently I remember all the grammar rules I learned (or had drummed into me om grade school)).  Today I heard an ad for plaque removal on teeth where someone said 'less germs'  and my ears curled.  Shouldn't it have been 'fewer germs'?  I turned to the Internet which offered up a ready answer: 

"Less and fewer are easy to mix up. They mean the same thing—the opposite of more—but you use them in different circumstances (1). The basic rule is that you use less with mass nouns and fewer with count nouns"  Yeah, my ear worked properly for me though I had forgotten the rule."

"Grammar girl goes on to define mass and count:  "A count noun is just something you can count. I'm looking at my desk and I see books, pens, and M&M's. I can count all those things, so they are count nouns and the right word to use is fewer. I should eat fewer M&M's. Mass nouns are just things that you can't count individually. Again, on my desk I see tape and clutter. These things can't be counted individually, so the right word to use is less. If I had less clutter, my desk would be cleaner." 

Whether an ad tonight was done by the same people or it is just coincidence, there was a car commercial on.  Among other objects mentioned, the person describing the car went on about..."and less doors."  Has the beginning of a new acceptable misuse of the English language finally been admitted to the dictionary?  After all,  when people kept saying, "I'm nauseous"' when they meant nauseated. Nauseous is now accepted as meaning  one feels like barfing  instead of one who causes to feel like barfing.  Atta way to go!  When someone says who is this, I may start saying "it's me" instead of the proper, "it's I' because people look at me with a funny expression when I speak correctly.

IF RONMNAY WINS THE ELECTION WE WILL KNOW THEY HAVE CHEATED WITH THE VOTING MACHINES

So far, Romney and Ryan have frightened the seniors that Medicare will be privatized and, even if they are safe, their grandchildren will be stuck with an impossible bill.  They have totally tuned off Catholics (there are now Nuns on buses  campaigning against them for their vies about the poor). they have turned off women for their views on anti contraceptives, abortion even to save the mother's life, or when raped or pregnant through incest, invitro fertilization, medical services for women by abolishing Planned Parenthood' they are anti-LGMT,(Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transvestite) another large voting block.

In Congress, Ryan has not voted on a jobs bill and has voted in lock step with the obstructionists.  I have difficulty seeing how they can con as many people to fund raisers and campaign events.  I would feel as thought I was looking at animals in a zoo if I had to attend.  It is so difficult for me to believe that people are so uninformed that they can vote against their own interests.  At the Iowa State Fair he did not think it was relevant to discuss the farm bill.  How dense is that to the farmers who are losing their entire crops this year?-

So far, I have not heard a positive position from either Romney or Ryan for anyone but the wealthy, a group to which I am an outsider.  It is not good to feel an outsider in the land of one's birth when you have always been patriotic.  It makes me realize that my country is being hijacked.... 

PAULl RYAN SEEMS LIKE A LIT HAND GRENADE TOSSED INTO THE UPHELD ARMS OF THEREPUBLICAN PARTY

Each strongly held belief by Ryan seems to cause great losses is a voting block.  He has a bill trying to declare a fertilized egg (as in invitro fertilization) which would no longer be possible for human reproduction no longer as a  hope for those unable to conceive by the ordinary tools Nature has given a couple.  Nature allows science to enhance it it many ways but Ryan and others against progress would stop it all.

Mitt Romney says he has a budget plan of his own and that means he doesn't plan to enact a Ryan budget plan.  I can't imagine them as a pair working together, if he rejects Ryan's signature political accomplishment, the Ryan budget..

Romney, like Ryan, is against abortion but Ryan takes it even further.  He refuses abortion even if it threatens the mother's life, or if it is the result of rape or incest.  Many are questioning just why Romney would have chosen Ryan.  Even if they don't agree on all things, they are wed together in the campaign and voters will not distinguish them as being different in their values.

Ryan, that poor boy who lost his father at age 16  inherited millions of family money which he continues to receive. He is another who does not surprise the rest of us. He does not understand the middle class.  He had always stood on the outside and could only look in at them because his wealth kept him separate.

Even Republicans are speaking less than enthusiastically about Romney's choice.  It is almost as though Romney knew he was losing and chose someone liked less than he do he will have someone to blame if and when he loses the bid to be president.

PAUL RYAN: CONSUMMATE SNAKE OIL SALESAMAN

Ryan states that government does not decide rights for its citizens, Nature and God do.  For those of us who do not believe in his God, who decides for us.  In the many decades I have lived, if Ryan's God is omniscient he knows I don't believe him him.  If he is omnipotent he might have punished me as the church predicts.  None of that has happened.  The law of averages seems to trump God in those areas.

Ryan further declares that Romney should be the next president for his moral compass and his ability to provide leadership.. Does this mean that Ryan lacks these as well?   Keep in mind, the vice President should be ready to become President in an instant if necessary.  Is this man ready to do that or does he need to live a bit more in the real world?  

Someone on TV commented on Romney's 'duck, bob and lack of leadership on issues'.  He has yet to offer any tangible proof of his potential to be our leader since he really has not been judged with winning marks on the few things he has 'led' so far. Ryan is the same age as Romney's oldest son.Ryan's father died when Ryan was sixteen.  The relationship between the two seems an uneven one but only time will tell.

A CNN commentator said Ryan has had more years in the House than Obama has had in the Senate and President, thus Ryan is better prepared in foreign policy.  If time there is the only criteria that would really be tragic.  Is there no comparison to the innate ability fostered by problem solving in either?

Tonight when Ryan spoke, my flesh crawled when he introduced  Scott Walker as his 'good friend'.  Does Ryan believe that Scott Walker has good fiscal management ability?  Alas, saying nothing as Romney is doing is working for him as a marketing strategy.  Now, with Ryan on the ticket, Romney has two people telling him how great he is, Ryan and Romney's mirror.. 

SHOULD TAXPAYERS CARRY THE COST OF PENSION FOR THOSE WHO ARE FIRED?

In Sweden some headlines read: Politicians seek to close 'elephant graveyard'.  It raises a question that, to the best of my knowledge, has not been entirely brought to a satisfactory and consistent decision in handling similar cases in the USA.  Even children quickly learn that if they disobey their parents they are quite likely to lose a privilege.  So it should be with politicians and government workers (probably others as well).

The article reads:  "

After the severely criticized head of the Agency for Economic and Regional Growth was forced to leave her post, politicians are calling for an end to the system in which sacked heads of government agencies are kept on with full pay in alleged "non-jobs", in what is becoming known as the “elephant graveyard”.

Without question it is a drain on money that must be made up by taxpayers, many of who have no pension even if they worked honestly, diligently, and consistently for many years.

To read the whole article in English, click here.  The article is titled "Don't Tread On Me."