Wednesday, October 31, 2012


1938 LEAN FORWARD?


I debated whether or not to address this today.

I thought of maybe just doing a prayer request for all of our friend’s in N.J. - the devastation is beyond what anybody would have thought.

I find it strange that I was just in Jersey- rode the subway for the first time in 25 years- and now I see the tunnels flooded.


As I drove into the state- I passed some of the shore points- and was going to stop and see some of the old spots I loved as a kid.


One of my favorites was Seaside Heights- now the area is devastated.


So- we do need to pray for all of our friends in the region- and help in any way we can.


Now- the tough stuff.


As a news/political watcher- I saw the president do something that was a crass political move.


He did it because he knew that most people would not know he was doing it- during the deaths of people- but he wanted his ‘target’ audience to respond.

What did he do?


In one of the first speeches about the hurricane- he said ‘I am directing all the aid agencies to LEAN FORWARD’.


About 6 months or so this term LEAN FORWARD became the new campaign theme for the Obama team.

Yeah- maybe 5 % of the public know this- but everyone in politics knows it.

Now- at the same time MSNBC took the phrase LEAN FORWARD as their own sort of cheer for the president.

None of this is a secret- it was an open type thing.


Okay- when the president used the term- he knew it would be heard by the Repubs/Romney folk- and he wanted them to tell you what I just did- that he indeed followed the advice of his former White House chief of staff ‘let no disaster go to waste’.

Rahm Emanuel said you should use a disaster- when people die- to your political gain.

So- he dropped this statement in- trying to elicit a response from the opponent- and then MSNBC would jump into lap dog mode and say ‘how dare he accuse the president of politics!!’

Of course they would have to take a break from their present mantra ‘all who don’t like the president are racists’.



I at first did not think Obama would do things like this- I did like the man at the start.

But- I have seen him do this- more than once.


When the Pres gave the order to get Bin laden- no one knew it till after the State of the Union address- it made him look big in the eyes of many- because the scene of the Repubs giving a response to the Pres- while he was ‘getting the bad man’ simply gives political points to the ‘good man’.

Got it?


Now- he did no other action like this- until the next year- during the next state of the union address.

Yeah- he waited a whole year- and in the next state of the union he sent in U.S. troops to go after Joe Kony- a radical leader of a group in Africa.


He gave the order to go- on the same exact night of the state of the union.


The man we went after has been operating for many years- as a matter of fact his influence had waned over the past few years.


But- he was trying to get a response from the opposing side- the Repubs- and they did not take the bait.


Finally- after a week or 2 of no criticism from the right- I heard a liberal reporter slip and say ‘all you bad guys- watch out- the president only comes after you during his state of the union speeches’.

Oops.


Now- like I said at the start- why would he have used this term LEAN FORWARD- knowing for sure that the insiders would know that he was connecting his political goals with the hurricane?

He did it because he knew that if anyone had the ‘audacity’ [of hope?] To tell you what I just did- then they would pounce like there was no tomorrow.


Then why did I just say it?


I said it because what he did was simply wrong- he has a tendency to throw out bait like this- in situations where people are/have died- and he does it for political advantage- that’s why.


And he played the odds- sure- maybe a small percentage of political folk knew that he actually made the phrase LEAN FORWARD- his campaign mantra- but he figures ‘to heck with them’ that is those who know what he did- he’ll just write them off- and throw out the bait because he wants the Romney folk to tell you what I just told you.

Sad.


Sad that any president would do this- while people are dying.


Sad that he was waiting for someone to tell you this- so he and his media advocates could say ‘how dare any one even think this’.

But most of all- it’s sad that this is true- and you can take that to the bank.

Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] - I have posted lots.







Tuesday, October 30, 2012


1937- WAR CRIMES AND OTHER STUFF.

In the aftermath of the Benghazi debacle [the U.S. putting an embassy in the middle of an unsecured area- with known militants roaming the land- and then pulling out their security]. There were voices [including the president] that condemned the killing of the ambassador as acts of terror- or on the same grounds as a war crime.


The president used language like ‘bring them to justice’.

When one nation declares war on another [or in this case- a specific group- Al Qaeda]- then the killing of actual representatives of the other side- when that side is dumb enough to plant them like sitting ducks- is actually considered a legitimate military target [compared to the killing of an ordinary citizen who holds no official capacity].


Now- before I lose my conservative readers- listen clearly.

I of course condemn the killing of ambassador Stevens- and the 3 other Americans.


After watching/reading the stories about this incident over the past couple of weeks- I fault the U.S. administration for failing to properly protect the area.


We now know that that the U.S. watched the attack unfold- over a period of 7-8 hours- and did nothing.


There are conflicting stories- our people on the ground said they requested help- multiple times.

They said that help was denied.


We had a brave young Navy seal who took it upon himself to try and save the ambassador- he was killed in the attempt.

And we had the president say- that as soon as he heard of the attack- he immediately made ‘the call’ to increase security around the world- and start the steps to bring the attackers ‘to justice’.


What our guys needed was ‘real time’ help- we had a drone filming the thing- some possibly armed- and we watched our guys get killed for 7 hours- and did nothing.


Now- this was a debacle in no uncertain terms- and the loss of our guys is tragic.


But- when you declare war- and put an official representative of the opposing side smack dab in the middle of those we declared war on- what the ‘heck’ do we expect?


War crimes.


Right now in the media- this term is often used against those we deem ready for removal.

It makes no difference to us whether the side doing the removal are Al Qaeda- we simply refer to the leaders as having committed ‘war crimes’ or ‘crimes against humanity’.


We did this with Gadhaffi- doing it with Assad [Syria] and will probably keep doing it from now on.


When you see one side as having committed ‘crimes against humanity’ in general- then it justifies the other side- no matter how bad they are.


The whole concept of holding people responsible for war crimes arose after world war 1- yet it wasn’t until WW2 that we really had the concept down.


After the war was over- there were trials held in Germany- the most famous being Nuremburg- and we tried the German military men who committed ‘war crimes’.


Some of the criteria for a war crime simply said ‘if the losing side did it- and the winning side did not- then that’s a war crime’.

Sounds a little like Jeff Foxworthy type stuff.


But this is true- some of the German submarine captains actually used as there defense- that the allies [our side] did the same thing- and that was enough to say ‘okay- not a war crime’.


As you can see- war crimes- or ‘crimes against humanity’ are in the eye of the beholder.


Now- in the entire history of the world- the biggest one [or 2] day killing of civilians- that is a targeting of civilians for a military/political goal- was the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Yes- out of all the nations on the planet- the U.S. killed more civilians- on purpose- in these 2 attacks- then in any other single bombing in history.


We had our reasons for sure- but the immediate deaths were around 200 thousand- not counting the many women and children who died many years later- from the long tortuous process of radiation cancer.

These types of deaths- especially on many of the thousands of young kids who suffered extreme agony- great fear in their deaths- were not considered ‘crimes against humans’.


Yet- the water boarding of a terrorist- an actual enemy who is in our custody- is considered tortuous- and meets the criteria of a war crime.


See how messed up this is?



Now- in the past 2 years the U.S. has worked closely with the state of Israel in monitoring/spying on Iran- to see how far along they are coming with their nuclear program.


We share intelligence- and have even ‘partnered’ with them in some clandestine op’s.


The famous Stuxnet virus- a computer virus that was launched to disable Iran’s nuclear reactors- was a joint program between the U.S. and Israel.


Okay- one of the other secret operations that has been going on is the killing of civilian scientists who are working with Iran’s nuclear program.


These scientists are not military targets- they are civilians- who are deemed ‘worthy’ targets because of their role in the nuclear program.


I have heard no one call these killings ‘crimes against humans’ or ‘war crimes’ even though these scientists are civilians.

No- in the reports about their killings- there is a sense of ‘hooray’.


In the past 3 years there has been a collection of various bomb parts- dropped by the U.S. - in the mountainous region between Afghanistan and Pakistan.


There are legal teams on the ground- representing the families of kids and women who have been killed by our nonstop use of Drones in the area.

We- the U.S.- have a military objective- to root out the Taliban [who were ‘created’ by the U.S. govt. when we aided them against the Russians]. In the process of this rooting out- we have killed- and keep on killing- Muslim women and kids.


Now- do we ‘mean’ to kill them?

Of course not.

But we are making the military/political calculation that so many kids and women will indeed be killed- we know this.


So- we are basically saying ‘look- we really don’t want to kill these kids- but this does happen from time to time’.

Can we help it?

Of course- stop using the ‘darn’ drones- solved.



The whole point I’m making in this post is we- the citizens of the world- are often manipulated by the way a story is told- by the way the media show us stuff.


I know of no U.S. citizen who even thinks twice about calling the killing of the Japanese- and thousands of kids- with radiation poisoning- a very tortuous death-  a war crime.


Yet many see the water boarding of a terrorist as a war crime.

Does this make any sense at all?


All killing- all war- is wrong.


What?

You mean our response to 9-11 is wrong?

I mean that when humans resort to killing other humans- because they see no other way to resolve the problem- then it’s wrong.


I don’t like hearing the words ‘this guy committed a crime against humans’.


When you put a bullet in another human- and kill that person- it is never a just act- not in my book.


Yes- there are people who have committed terrible crimes- and I- like everybody else- also think ‘that so and so needs to die’.


But as a society- we should be able to deal with them [life without ever getting out] without having to kill them.


Over the next few weeks we will see the outcome of what really happened in Libya- but when I hear words like ‘we will bring them to justice’.


I don’t truly get it- if we [the U.S.] declare war on a group- we then need to be more responsible about where we put official rep’s of the U.S.


Our official Rep’s are deemed ‘justified’ targets- they represent the U.S. govt. in an official capacity.


The U.S. needs to respond to attacks on them as an act of war.

I heard Leon Panetta say ‘we couldn’t put our troops at risk in an unknown situation’.

No- you say that if it’s some type of rescue operation of non U.S. citizens- but when it’s an attack by those we have declared war on- and they are attacking our official U.S. rep on the ground- no- we do indeed put our troops at risk to go in and do what needs to be done.

That’s war.

Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] - I have posted lots.







Monday, October 29, 2012


1936 EINSTEIN THE DETERMINIST.

In keeping with the last post [propaganda] I read an interesting AP article on Syria.


As most of you know Syria has been in a civil war for many months- they are the 1st ‘Arab spring’ nation that has not ‘fallen’ to the rebels.


Now- there are lots of political things going on in the region [Russia and China not supporting a Libyan style NATO action] that are sustaining Assad’s regime.

But I found it funny how the western media have chosen to portray the war.

In order for the media to side with those who want to depose Assad- they must ‘side’ with the ‘deposers’.

So- the article spoke about the outside Al Qaeda groups who are coming in to assist the rebels.

It used terms like ‘heroism’ ‘valor’ ‘experienced fighters who know what they are doing’.



These terms were used to describe Al Qaeda fighters- in contrast to Assad- a ‘crimes against humanity’ description.

Wow- I never thought the media would actually try and honor Al Qaeda fighters- in order to accomplish their agenda.

That my friends is the ultimate in propaganda.


Okay- I read some more on Einstein over the weekend- and wanted to cover a few things.

Over the years as you read various sources about famous folk- you need to be aware of the source.

For instance- Christian writers [writing from that perspective] often portray the religious tendencies of a figure in a more favorable light then an atheist writer would.


So you have to be careful that the author is not writing his own story into the person he is covering.



But the biography I’m reading was not written from a religious view.


Yet- the author does share the various positions Einstein has taken about God over the years.


One thing to note is Einstein was a lover of philosophy- he admired men like Hume, Kant and Spinoza.


If you remember- a few years ago I covered the history of philosophy and how much of it dealt with what the causes of things are.

The law of Cause and Effect [also referred to as causality].


As a Physicist- Einstein had a great interest in these subjects.

At the end of the day- Einstein fell into a camp of thinkers called Determinists.

That means he believed that that the universe was ruled by definite principles- even though we did not have the answers to all the puzzles- yet he was convinced that if we searched long enough- we would find order to it.


This belief is in keeping with Theistic thinkers- not with those who ascribe chance and disorder to the creation.


I might have bitten off a little much here- but the point is- at the end of the day Einstein rejected the commonly held belief that there is no real cause to the things we see.

Many thinkers who argue against the existence of God argue form a perspective that chance is behind the ‘perceived’ design we see in nature.


Dawkins [the famous atheist] calls it ‘the appearance of design’.

Einstein did not simply believe in the ‘appearance’ of design- but he believed that the Cosmos was indeed a product of some type of cause that gave it design.


Now- I’m not saying Einstein was a Christian [or observant Jew]- but the point is- in his thinking- he rejects the most commonly held arguments that are made against the Theistic world view [in Cosmology- science] and sides with the Christian thinkers of our day.


Einstein famously said ‘God does not roll dice’ meaning he did not believe in the atheistic argument that things just happen without any cause.

No- Einstein seems to agree with one of his favorite thinkers- Spinoza said ‘All things are determined by the necessity of Divine nature’.



Yes- Einstein was a Determinist in his thinking- he did indeed side with the Theists at the end of the day.

Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] - I have posted lots.







Friday, October 26, 2012


1935 ROMNESIA ANYONE?


Let’s end the week with a little news.

Last night I caught a few ‘fact checking’ reports.

They covered the statement in the debate when Romney used the phrase ‘apology tour’.

Now- over the past year this term has a meaning- sort of like ‘Obama care’.

In the talk show/news circuit it means that the President did indeed do a world tour where he felt like he would try and establish a new relationship with foreign leaders.


Now- some say he was naïve- others think he did well- either way- the term ‘apology tour’ refers to this trip.

In the debate- when Romney used the term- the president responded that Romney is a liar- and that he never ‘apologized’.

Got ya.


Now- Romney never said he apologized- and in response Romney said when he uses the term ‘apology tour’ he is not in any way saying he actually used the words ‘I apologize’.

No- Romney gave an honest/truthful response- he said that during this tour- the president did use words like ‘the U.S. has dictated to you other countries at times- and this will be a new season’.


Romney basically said- yes Mr. president- your right- you never actually apologized- but you represented the U.S. in a way that said we were arrogant in the past- we responded to 9-11 in  a way that was inconsistent with our values [I heard him say this myself- he was referring to the water boarding stuff].

Okay- basically Romney used the term- sort of like Obama uses Romnesia- he is not saying that Romney actually suffers from some strange form of amnesia- no- he is saying that Romney changes his position on stuff.


Okay- now here’s how the media tries to manipulate the public.


The reports I saw yesterday- the so called ‘fact checkers’ they went thru some of the speeches Obama gave during this ‘apology tour’ [they left out the ones where he did use the most apologetic language].

And at the end of their fact checking- they said ‘no- Romney is wrong [liar?] because the president never actually apologized’.

Ah- so the unsuspecting public thinks that Romney actually said the president apologized- and then when you hear these reports- these so called ‘fact checks’ you then think ‘gee- that Romney is a liar’.

Okay- where were the reports that said ‘ no- in fact- Romney does not suffer from Romnesia’?

See?


That’s media manipulation- that’s media bias- the media shapes a story in a way that makes you think the way they want you to think.

The actual fact is- Romney- nor anyone that I ever heard use the term- ever meant that Obama actually said ‘I’m sorry’.

But the fact check made you think that was the accusation.



A few years ago there was a news story about a trip to Afghanistan by some senators.


Later on it was reported that some military leaders might have used a form of propaganda on the senators.


Psychological Op’s.


They supposedly did this in order to influence the senators to take their side in the war- I think it had to do with funding or man power.

After the report surfaced- the senators did of course condemn it- but they also said ‘look- we’re big boys- we can’t be swayed by stuff like that’.


But- when you use propaganda- you use it in a way that when you ‘persuade’ the victim- he does not know it.



For instance- maybe when the senators were there for a week- the military guys spoke in a negative way about a certain group/position.

But they did it in what you thought was normal conversation- maybe after a week- you think your just listening in to regular conversation- but everything you heard was to persuade you.

Then- when you get back home- if a vote comes up on the issue- you have already heard all the pros’ [or con’s] and this would indeed effect you.



That’s manipulation- that’s all the ‘fact checks’ that said ‘no- Obama never apologized- Romney is wrong’.

When you read/hear that- you think Romney accused Obama of apologizing- but he never did- he even went out of his way in the debate to say ‘when I use the term Apology Tour- I do not mean you actual apologized- no- I mean…’

Yet- the media still covered the story the way they wanted you to see it.



Now- is this one little thing such a big deal?

No- not if this were the only time it was done.

But the fact is- the media do this every day.


They focus on a story that they think might hurt someone [like a 40 year old hair cut that Romney gave to some kid- a ‘bullying incident’].

But the murder of 4 Americans in Libya- and the absolute failure on the part of the administration by not protecting our guys- no- on some news shows this gets zero coverage.


That’s manipulation- that’s bias- that’s what you don’t see.

Yes- like the well meaning senators- you might think ‘heck- I’m not that dumb’.

But the media must think we are- because they keep on doing it- day after day.


No wait- maybe they think we suffer from that newly coined disease- what was it again?

Oh yeah- Romnesia- that’s it.

Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] - I have posted lots.







Wednesday, October 24, 2012


1934 MERCY OR JUDGMENT?

Let’s talk a little.

First- I found it interesting that the last few days the stock market took a hit.

In the beginning of the year I thought the Dow should/would be somewhere in the 12,000 range by the end of the year.


I heard some financial guys talk about it maybe going to 17,000- others had lower estimates.

But none had my estimate.


Why did I have a bearish view?

Because all [most] of the data showed that we were in a global slowdown.

The Asian markets/economy was doing worse than expected.


Many were counting on China to pull the rest of the world out- instead the rest of the world [the E.U. crisis- U.S.] pulled them down.

Now- the jobs numbers were not good- and the last few days the data showed this.


This is [should not be] a surprise.

But to many it was.

Why?

Because many financial folk- good people- simply did not want to believe the bad report.


Even though the ‘bad’ report- the stats I just gave- were more than likely going to pull the market down- yet many felt if they just keep talking up the market- things will do better.


Sorry- a positive confession does not work when the stats are bad.


So- as we near the end of the year- it looks like we might make it into the 12,000’s once again.



Okay- I also wanted to mention a few more things about my Jersey trip.

I want to give a prime example of what ‘too much government’ looks like.


Now- I love my old state- the Garden state [you ask- why garden? Because as a kid I remember the paintings of gardens on some old truck road down the block!]

While I was staying at my mom’s house- my mom and sister have multiple health problems- my dear mom is getting up in years- and to be honest- they have a hard time simply dealing with day to day chores.

But- I was shocked at the fact that one of the major chores of their week was having to move their cars- by ‘law’ 2 times a week.

Yes- that Old Street Sweeper just keeps on coming!

 The city [for those who don’t live in N.J.] has a street sweeper that comes by on Mondays and Wednesdays- between 1 and 3 p.m. - and basically pushes the dirt around.

I have lived my entire adult life with no street sweeper- and the streets look the same- the rain does the job for free.


But- in my old town- with all the political connections- you would never be able to get rid of the dept.


So- my mom plans her week around having to move 2 cars [hers and my sisters] 2 times a week.

Problem?

Everybody else is also moving their cars- at the same time- to the opposite side of the street.

So- every so often- my mom drives a couple of blocks to find a spot.

She also has to jump start my sisters car- twice a week- to move it.


Sometimes if you can’t find a spot- you simply drive around from 1-3.

To be honest- this is what you call ‘a police state- or city’.


I told my dear mom- if this were in Texas [or any other Democracy] you would have some guy [gal] run for mayor on a platform of ‘the first thing I will do is abolish the street sweeper- I will then rebate all these fine citizens of this town all the wasted money on the thing’.

And the guy would win.



But- the politicos have connections- the unions support guys who keep them in their jobs- and the fine citizens of North Bergen will continue to move their cars- twice a week- so the guys can keep their 70,000 dollar a year jobs.


One last note from the journey.


On the way back to Texas I listened to news/talk radio.

One of the big stories I caught while driving thru Dallas was the case of a 22 year old single mom who glued her daughter’s hands to the wall.


Yes- a very sad case indeed.


The reason it lit up the talk shows was the night I was driving in- the judge sentenced her to 99 years in prison.


The show I was hearing played the audio in the courtroom- many were in shock.


The talk show guy was siding with the judge- you had various people call in with their opinions.

This sentence was harsher than that given to people who have actually have killed their kids [Deena Shlosser being one].


When you make child abuse- which is a very bad crime- a higher punishment then actually murdering the child- then what do you think the results might be?

Sure- some say ‘well- that way people will know not to do it’.

But you might also have some unstable moms who have already abused their kids- who might now think ‘gee- if they ever tell- I will be punished with a harsher sentence then if I killed them’.

That’s something we don’t want either- see?

I cut out the news article of the girl- Elizabeth- and she will forever be on my prayer wall- with hundreds of other cases that I have collected over the years.


As I heard the sentencing judge- of course he had his reasons- the prosecutor was only asking for 45 years- yet the defendant chose a non jury trial- and in Texas the judges are elected.


Your main election benefit of being ‘tough on crime’.

And that was that.


We had a local judge run over a highway worker a few years ago.

He was a very famous ‘tough on crime’ judge- he and his wife were big Democrats- involved in all the politics of the area- many connections.


When I read the story- the judge was driving 70-75 on a turn that was posted at 20-25 MPH.


I have gone to many car wrecks over the years- as a firefighter- and when we had people doing stuff like this- you got arrested- and had some type of price to pay.


But- as the story went on- the local paper explained that the 20 MPH sign was just a ‘suggested’ speed- that the turn is still part of the highway- so 75 MPH was the actual speed.

Huh?


Also- even though he flipped the guy off the bridge/overpass- and nearly killed him- yet- somehow the judge did no wrong.

When all was said and done- he got the equivalence a parking ticket.

[ I also read an article in the paper about this time- it was a ‘warning’ to drivers- the story interviewed some local officials- and they explained that if your driving 55- in a 55- you could be cited for reckless driving- because if its raining- then the cop makes the call. It went on to say if you slow down to much in the rain- that too is reckless. And- of course- if you’re going to fast- well we can’t have that. So the article stated that if your going under the speed limit- doing the speed limit- or driving over the speed limit- watch out! That’s of course if you’re not connected in some way].


Sad.


I’m sure when the case worked its way thru ‘the system’ that at each turn the people who knew him felt justified ‘after all- this is so and so- he has a family for heaven’s sake!’.

And they empathized with him because they knew him.


Yet- when meeting out judgments on others- they seem to be able to see only justice- without mercy.


I will pray for Elizabeth- to be honest- the rest of my life.


Maybe I will write her as time goes by.


But the bible says ‘mercy rejoices against judgment’ I choose mercy.

Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] - I have posted lots.







Tuesday, October 23, 2012


1933 THE LAST FANDANGO


Got home yesterday afternoon- had a few buddies that were waiting for me at the house.

Yeah- they hunted me down!

Actually I told the guys the other day [homeless bro’s] that we were gonna do another all nighter this week.

I get with them- we hang out for the day- I pick up bbq and we have an all day fellowship- then they crash out on the floor till morning.


So- they ‘picked’ last night! 

No BBQ- but they ate left over home made meatballs [they did come good!] and a plate of Mac’s- I think they liked it better than the BBQ.

Henry’s crashed on the couch- we both watched the debate and fell asleep.


Okay- howd’ it go?

A few points;

I think they both pretty much pleased their base- after the poor showing by the President in the 1st debate- his base wanted him to ‘go after Romney’.

And that’s what he did.

The political team of Obama chose to use the word  ‘you are a lair’ or ‘you are simply not telling the truth’.

This became a mantra for Obama.


After saying it once or twice- I found it tiresome.

The president did in fact say this- when he was the one who was ‘factually wrong’ [sounds better than liar- don’t you think?]

Last night the president accused Romney of not wanting to help the auto companies during the bailout.


At the time Romney wrote an Op-Ed and said he felt the auto companies should go thru bankruptcy- and then the fed govt. could at that point bail them out financially.


Last night Obama said that Romney did not want any fed money to be used.

Romney replied that he was wrong- he did indeed call for fed money- Obama said he was lying.

It took 5 minutes to Google the op-ed- yes- Romney was right- Obama wrong.

The problem?

He was using the accusation ‘liar’ when he himself was doing it.


He must know he is doing it.


Then why do it?


He made the political calculation that this was the best way to raddle your opponent- you lie about him- and call him a liar at the same time.

What about the people who will find out that Obama lied?

That’s part of the calculation- only so many will find out the facts.


I don’t like it when a sitting president does this- most candidates fudge the numbers on stuff- but to actually outright lie in a public forum is rare.


He did this in the last debate as well.


Romney said that oil drilling/permits on public [govt.] lands went down the last 4 years.


Obama said Romney was ‘lying’- huh?

Romney tried to be careful- he said that oil permits/drilling went down on govt. land- but up on private.


Now- as a news guy- I have known this stat for a few years now.


But- Obama repeatedly said Romney was lying- and that drilling/permits went up on govt. Lands in the last 4 years.

Huh?

It took 5 secs to find out that drilling/permits have gone down- 39%- on govt. lands the last 4 years.


Okay- while the pres was being ‘factually wrong’ at the same time- he is saying ‘your lying’.

I just found the whole ‘you’re a lair’ strategy to be condescending- your making the calculation that the other guy will get really mad [wouldn’t you?] Because you are the one actually lying- numerous times- while making the accusation.


Romney never took the bait- many supporters of the president- who only watch MSNBC- will never find out he was indeed wrong- and for the others who did find out he was wrong- he could care less.


So- that’s the big story- Obama never really laid out any plan- anything he would do that would be different than the last 4 years.


The tax plan ‘the rich paying their fair share’ will increase taxes on individuals making more than 200 thousand a year- couples making more than 250.


In many areas of the country- that’s not rich.


So why do it?

If you simply 'tax millionaires’ you won’t make enough revenue.


So- you say ‘tax the rich- they are not paying’ but you mean ‘tax many in the middle class- but don’t say it’.

That’s the only real ‘plan’ the president has- and that’s not really a plan.



When I was in N.J.- I caught some news.

In the beginning of the year we knew that in order for the unemployment number to go down- under 8%- you needed to create at least 300 thousand jobs a month- for a few months in a row.


At one point- it looked like that might have happened- and all the pundits- liberals and conservatives- agreed that the only way unemployment would go under the 8% mark was for this to happen.


But then- not only did the monthly jobs never make the above 300 mark- they did not even keep up with the 150 thousand mark- which meant that the rate would go up- to around 8.5. [you need around 150,000 a month to keep up with population growth- new people entering the workforce for the 1st time].


So- as the year rolled on- what could the media do?


Some said- just watch- they will get the number they need- somehow they will simply say ‘the new unemployment number is now under 8’.

But how?


Last month’s jobs number came out- they were once again below 150,000- and nowhere near 350,000 or higher.

Yet- as the labor dept. put out the new employment numbers for the month- they reported unemployment at 7.8%.

This would mean that the jobs/economy is doing better than it has in many years.


This simply was not true- yet they got the magic number- somehow?


How did they do it?


There is lots of speculation- but there was a little note at the bottom of the report.

When the labor dept. does these numbers- they collect all the data from the sates and average it out.


In the reported states- one state was left out.


Was it a little state- say like Rhode Island?

No- it was California.


The largest state- economy wise- in the country.


They used to be the 8th largest economy in the world- they were just passed by Brazil for that rating.


But- they are also the worst state- economically- then all the others.


If you leave out Cali- then you get the magic 7.8 number.


Sure- they will later revise the number- after the initial effect wears off- but they got what they wanted- that initial effect of ‘unemployment is the lowest it has been in years’ the month before the election.


Even though that stat is unreliable.



So- as we end the debates and head towards the election- one guy kept saying the other guy was lying.


And time after time- in many ways- we were all lied to.


Vote your conscience- look at the facts- don’t let others form your opinion of either man- simply look at the track record for yourself.

O- and may God help us all- we will need it.

Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] - I have posted lots.







Monday, October 22, 2012



1932 CHALLENGING THE SYSTEM  

I have finally started my book on Einstein.

I bought it a few weeks ago- and never had the chance to break it open.

I also am working my way thru the Catechism of the Catholic church- quite a volume indeed.

I watched a couple of documentaries on Netflix over the weekend- Last night I caught a documentary on Hunter Thompson.

He was the character that Johnny Depp played in the movie ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’.


Hunter was a sort of counter culture hero- he wrote for Rolling Stone and had his own unique style of writing.

He called it Gonzo journalism- he said the writer needed to inject himself into the story- and become part of the story.


Sort of like what the reporters did in the Iraq war- we called it ‘Embed’.

He covered the campaign of George McGovern- who sadly passed this week.


George was the quintessential liberal- but a man of conviction- he was a good man.


Hunter made it into the headlines a few years back- he killed himself with one of his favorite things- a gun.


Yeah- Hunter was a gun lover- a liberal- and in some ways a moralist of his time.


Now- with all the doc’s I saw [also finished Greek civilization] and the books I’m reading- it’s hard to pick one subject to cover at a time.


But let me go with Einstein for a few minutes.

In this biography- by Walter Isaacson- he doesn’t go too deeply into the science of Einstein- which would take a whole physics course to understand.

But he does cover some high points.

One of the things that Thompson and Einstein had in common- was their willingness to challenge the system.

They took on the ‘received wisdom’ of the day- and were daring enough to take the ‘path less trod’.


Just one area- Ether.

At the start of the 20th century Ether was an accepted ‘scientific truth’ that most [if not all] scientists accepted.


It would be like Dark Matter today- something that seems to be ‘true’- most of the scientific community speak of it as real- yet- as far as we know- we have never once actually detected it.

So- ether was this theory that said light/energy is a wave [not particles] and therefore for this wave to move thru space- it needs a carrier.

Ether was this so called vapor like substance that allowed Energy/light to travel.


At a young age Einstein accepted this idea- but he was learning at a time when particle physics was just getting off the ground.


Though atoms and molecules [particles] were indeed part of the conversation- yet they were not totally proved yet.

So- part of the great breakthrough of Einstein put to death the idea of Ether- and instead we learned that light is not a wave so to speak- but a sort of particle beam- we did not really need the Ether concept- and to be honest- it never was really there.


This is just one little tid bit from the book that I thought interesting- today you would be considered a fool if you still talked about Ether [in this way].

Yet- at the time of Einstein you were a fool if you did not accept it.



Einstein would later challenge the field that he launched- Theoretical/Quantum physics.


He felt like some of the ideas were not really scientific- too much speculating.


That’s what I see as I watch/read about some of the most popular ideas that seem to make it into the TV specials that cover these subjects.


It’s often the theories/ideas that are ‘way out there’ that are the most interesting- and get the most viewers.

The problem is- many of these ideas are [in my view] modern day Ethers- they are accepted ‘fact’ even though we don’t really know if they exist.


When I see shows on alternate universes- parallel worlds- where we supposedly have duplicate lives and all.

Well- this is not science- this is not even Ether- its fairy tale land.

Yet- these same theorists will mock belief in an omnipotent being- because they want to see the facts.

Sad.

So- over the next few weeks I will try and hit a little more on the books I’m reading- cover some more important news stuff- and try to be as challenging as Hunter.

Sometimes it’s when we go against the status quo- when we are open to see things differently- that’s when we make major breakthroughs in our thinking.

We should not cast off all the stuff that has come to us down thru the ages- but we need to realize that some of the stuff that seems to be accepted fact today- just might be the Ether of yesterday.

Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] - I have posted lots.