Wednesday, February 20, 2013

New Blog Series: ‘Why Politicians Are So Damn Funny!’

Head’s up readers!

As It Stands – this Blog – is proud to premier a new series called: “Why Politicians Are So Damn Funny!” today…

This series is exclusive to this blog and won’t be found anywhere else – unless other blogs, etc. pick it up and re-publish it, which is okay.

To jump-start the series I’m introducing Newt Gingrich’s latest lunacy where he clashed with Neocon Karl Rove (aka Darth Vader) over billionaires selecting Republican candidates. This is rich (pun intended):

We’re talking about the same Newt Gingrich, who failed at his attempt to become our next president - and who was bankrolled by Sheldon Adelson, the Vegas-based casino magnate, and his wife, Miriam, who donated a total of $20 million to the pro-Newt super PAC Winning Our Future last year. In a classic case of flip-flopping (Mitt Romney was probably proud of him) Newt revealed his latest tactic – don’t let rich guys buy nominations unless they’re the RIGHT rich guys of course.

Gingrich recently wrote this in the conservative publication Human Events:

I am unalterably opposed to a bunch of billionaires financing a boss to pick candidates in 50 states. This is the opposite of the Republican tradition of freedom and grassroots small town conservatism.

No one person is smart enough nor do they have the moral right to buy nominations across the country.

That is the system of Tammany Hall and the Chicago machine. It should be repugnant to every conservative and every Republican.

How can anyone take Newt seriously? Apparently a group of other maverick conservatives have joined up with him to attack Darth Rove’s Conservative Victory Project, a new initiative associated with the super PAC American Crossroads to ensure more electable congressional candidates.

In other words, Rove and other members of the Evil Empire are trying to clean up the current list of conservative Republican candidates who don’t drink the same Kool Aid as them. Extremists replacing extremists. Even worse than the blind leading the blind.

The laugher here is that neither side of this conservative schism is in touch with voter reality. No matter who they come up with, the candidate isn’t going to get enough angry white men votes to get into office. But what the heck? They do provide a few good laughs as they fumble around the political landscape and pollute it with their twisted dreams.

As It Stands, all of these ideological idiots have lots of money and time to imagine a world were no one challenges their wealth or political aspirations. 

Good Question: What are the police doing on my Facebook page?

Good Day World!

The Topic today is spies on Facebook.

Law enforcement authorities spying on activists' Facebook pages is a disturbing sign which evinces an urgent need for legislation drawing clearer lines around what is and what isn't acceptable.

The social justice protest of summer 2011 was a seminal event in Israeli history. What started with a small group of people pitching tents on Rothschild Boulevard and reached a peak with half a million people out in the streets had an indisputable effect on public discourse here. The evidence of that is the major role that social and economic issues played in the recent election campaign. But even as that change took place, another, less talked-about one happened as well: The leaders of the protest were marked by the Israel Police, which put their Facebook pages under surveillance and submitted them as evidence to the court (Haaretz, February 10, 2013).

The Israel Police is not alone in these actions. In December 2012, The New York Times reported that according to FBI documents, FBI agents had been watching the members of the Occupy Wall Street movement since September 2011, exchanging information with employers, universities and police officials. The FBI regarded spying on the activists as part of the war on terror.

A report released by Gartner Research predicts that by 2015, 60 percent of organizations will have formal programs to snoop on social-networking sites to keep information secure and prevent electronic break-ins. Today, less than 10 percent of companies keep track of their employees’ social-networking profiles. In March of last year, Facebook announced that it was considering taking employers who had asked for the names and passwords of job candidates to court. (Read the whole article here)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Consumers held hostage at the pumps again! Prices are skyrocketing!

              Good Day World!

The topic for today is gas prices and how – as usual – we the consumers are being legally raped by the oil corporations and speculators. It hurts. It’s wrong. But it continues to happen and we can’t seem to to a damn thing about it!

It’s that time of year again, when for no real good reasons we get held up at the pumps by the criminals who control transportation costs in this country. It’s like a pre-spring screwing which sets us up for a summer of climbing gas prices.

U.S. gas prices have hit a four-month high with 32 straight days of increases at the pump bringing misery to spring breakers and job hunters.The Automobile Association of America said Monday that the national average for a gallon of regular is $3.73 -- 43 cents more than a month ago -- with prices topping $4 in California and Hawaii.

And if you live in Humboldt County like I do – it’s $4.27 a gallon! As usual we lead the nation…and that goes for Hawaii, but it’s like we’re in some Bermuda Triangle and no one can ever explain why we pay more than anyone else most of the time.

I’ve yet to see the mainstream national press examine this little oddity we live with up here. We may be behind the proverbial “Redwood Curtain,” but there’s a lot more inaccessible places in America to deliver gas to. So why are we putting up with it? Locals suspect a lot of things but no investigative reporter has ever tried to get to the bottom of this hard fact.

There’s been some fluff prices done about our high gas prices over the years by various local media outlets, but NO ONE has ever come up with a complete explanation. There’s something rotten all right…and it’s not in Denmark!

Meanwhile the national media experts blamed a series of the usual bullshit factors for the increase that started in mid-January: (Nod if any of this sounds familiar)

- Some refineries are switching over from winter to summer fuel, which is more expensive to produce.

- A Hess refinery in New Jersey that supplies 7.5 percent of the Northeast's gas is closing.

- Midwinter maintenance has led some refineries to go offline temporarily.

- Demand for gas is up, fueled in part by the return of more people to working.

The price hikes come at a bad time, however, for Americans who are still out of work or facing smaller paychecks because of higher payroll taxes.

The bad news: according to the AAA prices will likely continue to rise into the warmer months and driving season, but not at the same pace they did in 2011 and 2012. Talk about a Catch 22 – those Americans that have found jobs are paying the price at the pump – and those without are taking a hit they can ill afford.

The sooner we get away from fossil fuels, the better for the average consumer!

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

Monday, February 18, 2013

AS IT STANDS: Lack of respect for one another equals fear and violence

By Dave Stancliff/for the Times- Standard 

 First Posted:   02/17/2013 02:34:42 AM PST

 Updated: 02/18/2013 02:34:42 AM PST

At the risk of sounding like an old curmudgeon I have to say I don't care much for this new century. The hasn't turned out at all like I imagined back when I was a kid in the 20th Century.

My utopian forecast wasn't even close. Everyone doesn't have a flying car, although I heard some guy has invented one and intends to start production next year. People aren't all wearing space suits like in the popular “Jetsons” cartoons.

We're more apt to see baggy pants exposing underwear on young men, and young women wearing lingerie tops like blouses during the day than space suits. I like that there's no dress code, but have to admit some people look spacey with multi-colored mohawks and rings protruding from noses like metal boogers.

It really makes me sad to see our schools forced to take actions to prevent lunatics from murdering our students. Such a thing was unthinkable back in the 1950s and '60s when I was a child. None of us had to fear someone would walk into our school and shoot us indiscriminately.

Students may have gotten mad at teachers and peers, but they never returned to school with weapons, bent on bloody revenge. That kind of stuff didn't even happen in the movies.

I'm not sure why. People had guns back then. Plenty of them. I often wonder if people had more respect for weapons then, and also had certain values that no longer exist today. Like respect for authority.

The whole situation about guarding schools continues to get weirder all the time. The most recent surreal news involves Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the self-proclaimed “America's Toughest Sheriff.” He's putting Arizona on the map again by joining forces with movie stars to train armed posse members to patrol schools. Kids will get to see action star Steven Seagal when he trains the posse. No, really.

Arpaio has gathered more than 3,000 volunteers for his armed posse. You'll never guess what other action stars will tromp around these schools in an effort to keep the bad guys out.

The Incredible Hulk” star Lou Ferrigno and actor Peter Lupus of TV's “Mission: Impossible,” will be on hand to inspire and sign autographs. Sound surreal enough for you? I can tell you we never came close to this kind of madness back in my day.

I know we have a more violent society now. I suppose you can blame that on numerous factors, but I see the main reason as the breakdown of respect for one another. Instead of becoming more tolerant and evolving into a more peaceful nation, we have become a country of targets for mass murderers and disgruntled students who know no boundaries.

That's because there are no boundaries nowadays. No respect for teachers, professors, judges, police, or anyone in authority. Here's just one recent example:

An 18-year old girl in Miami, Florida flipped a circuit court judge the “bird” on her way out of court and used an obscenity when commenting on his decision. The judge called her back into the court and gave her a 30-day jail sentence for contempt.

However, the next day, after a plea from her , the judge suspended the sentence and sent her on her way free as a bird. What do you think that young lady learned from the experience?

An older person commenting on the next generation's lack of merits is nothing new. Aristotle bitterly complained about the youth of his day being disrespectful, lazy, and without morals or values.

Of course he didn't have to worry about assault rifles slaughtering students in schools. He may have lived in a violent age, but it didn't hold a candle to the 21st Century!

Advanced technologies have not brought us peace. Instead we are turning on ourselves with weapons of mass destruction. For every positive step we've made in medicine we've taken a negative one with increased violence in the workplace and the world around us.

We are regressing as a society, instead of progressing. The result is we're now fighting a holding action against the inevitable collapse of this country from within. Can we turn things around?

As It Stands, perhaps there's hope, but when I see schools patrolled by citizen posses led by aging action movie stars, I have to wonder.

Friday, February 15, 2013

Weekend Blog Break , Retinal implants & the 7 Most Bizarre Objects to Ever Fall from the Sky

Good Day World!

You've probably heard the urban legend about the time it rained frogs somewhere, or seen news stories about a meteorite that crashed through a roof and landed feet away from somebody's recliner. But in the annals of baffling objects that have come raining down from the heavens, here’s some weirder examples ...

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I’m taking a blog break this weekend – Feb. 16th – 17th – and will return on Monday, Feb. 18th

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Here’s some good news that I want to share with you:

FDA approves first retinal implant for rare eye disease

Don’t hesitate to check out the links on the right side of the page. Check out my most recent “As It Stands” columns at the Times-Standard. Take a look at the Learnist links for comprehensive coverage on subjects from politics to society.

Leave comments on past posts that date back till July 2008 when this blog broke into cyberspace for the first time. See ya on Monday.

Time for me to walk on down the road…


Thursday, February 14, 2013

Drone Wars abroad and how they’re coming home to stalk us

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Drones are increasingly on the front lines of combat.

Good Day World!

The 21st Century is producing technological changes so rapidly they’re hard to keep up with.

For years we’ve been hearing about drones. Most Americans think of them as pilotless planes that bomb or spy on an enemy. As it turns out domestic use of drones is increasing.

  The fact is we’ve been using them to spy on activities from vehicle speeders to suspected bad guys in their homes and wherever they go. Drones are controversial for a lot of reasons. I can’t help feeling queasy about their use in the USA. There’s something about the Big Brother aspect in the sky that doesn’t make me feel warm and cozy.

I’ve gathered some current news about drones that you may find interesting:

Holder Spells Out Why Drones Target U.S. Citizens

American drone deaths highlight controversy

Drone Wars: Rand Paul vs. John Brennan

Panetta announces medal for drone pilots

Military weighs cutbacks, shifts in drone programs

Domestic Drones

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Mardi Gras 2013 is over…but what a party it was!

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Wouldn’t you like to be hanging out with Elvis Presley?

Good Day World!

I’ve never been to Mardi Gras. There I said it. I almost feel guilty. Talk about the ultimate party…

Have you ever gone? Share your story here under comments.

I’ve seen movies about this annual festive event and have read about it’s history. Nothing like first-hand experience through. I put together a few links for you if you’d like to know more about what happened during this year’s Mardi Gras. Enjoy: 

GO HERE FOR A SLIDESHOW OF MARDI GRAS

NICE COVERAGE OF FAT TUESDAY BY LA TIMES

MARDI GRAS 2013

CARNIVAL ROYALTY ANNOUNCED

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Armed bad guys on the run in several states…seems too common these days

UPDATE – Cop Killer cornered….story here LIVE FEED

Good Day World! Hardly a day goes by without dangerous people running from authorities and posing a threat to the general public. That is the state of America today. There’s no ignoring it; we are engulfed with violence. Awash in a sea of guns and crazy individuals bent on violent vendettas. Here are some examples for today:

 

Three dead in Utah home shooting; police hunt for 'person of interest'

Three people are dead near Salt Lake City after a shooting on Tuesday morning, police told local NBC affiliate KSL. A fourth individual was taken to the hospital and considered to be in critical condition after the shooting. Police hunted for David Fresques, 25, after the shooting at a home in the city of Midvale. The shootings were reported at 8:06 a.m., according to Salt Lake City's Deseret News.

Police are looking for Alberto Morales, 42.

 

Prisoner on the run after stabbing Florida officer outside Walmart

Authorities are searching for an escaped prisoner who stabbed a Miami-Dade officer outside a Texas Walmart as the suspect was being transported to Miami from Nevada.

Alberto Morales, 42, was being transported by two officers from Las Vegas for a court appearance when they stopped at the store in Grapevine, just outside of Dallas, around 11 p.m.

Ex-LAPD officer accused of killings thought to have fled to Mexico
Cop killer eludes authorities who think he went south of the border.

Former Los Angeles Police Department officer Christopher Dorner -- the suspect in three killings that have targeted law enforcement and the subject of a continuing manhunt -- was suspected last week of fleeing to Mexico, according to a federal court document.

The criminal complaint filed in federal court on Feb. 7 charges Dorner with fleeing to avoid prosecution. It states that there was reason to believe he had crossed the border into Mexico. An affidavit included in the complaint (pdf) was written by U.S. Marshals Service Inspector Craig McClusky the same day that the search for Dorner led to his burned out truck in the mountain resort of Big Bear.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Monday, February 11, 2013

Let’s talk about Bias in the Media Today at #Learntalk !

        Good Day World!

 The topic of interest today is about Bias in the Media. We all suspect a certain amount is going on. Many Americans are just not sure where facts and bias leave off after being bombarded by countless mainstream media outlets.

 At 5:00 p.m. PST, (8:00 p.m. Eastern) I’m going to be moderating a Live Online discussion about Bias in the Media at #Learntalk Join me…If you’ve got some thoughts about what the American public is watching on TV and listening to on the radio. Do you think social media like Facebook and Twitter are giving the mainstream media a run for their money? What are your thoughts on the subject?

I’ve put together a comprehensive 3-part series on Bias in the Media at Learnist that you can refer to before the chat:

Part I: History of Information & media http://learni.st/users/dave.stancliff.9/boards/9522-bias-in-the-media-part-one-history

Part II: America’s Media Monopoly http://learni.st/users/dave.stancliff.9/boards/10826-bias-in-the-media-part-ii-america-s-media-monopoly


Part III: Demagogues

 http://learni.st/users/dave.stancliff.9/boards/13022-bias-in-the-media-part-iii-demagogues

If you’ve never gone to a Live Chat online before maybe now is the time to check it out. I’ve never done it before and tonight will be my baptism under fire! If for no other reason than to see how the chat goes…stop by and say hi!

Time for me to walk on down the road… 

 

Sunday, February 10, 2013

As It Stands - Note to GOP: Changing the Rules isn’t Going to Help

          
 By Dave Stancliff/For The Times-Standard

 The majority of Republicans today recognize they have to change the party’s brand if they want to get back into the White House.
  Many are still stunned that their candidate was so decisively beaten in all the demographics that mattered. There are however, a minority of Republicans who would rather change election rules than admit their message didn’t resonate with the majority of Americans. 
The 150 members of the Republican National Committee met on Jan. 23, and re-elected Reince Priebus as their National Chairman. They discussed the best ways for the party to go forward. Priebus appeared to give the okay to some proposed changes to the Electoral College system when the subject came up:
“I think it’s something that a lot of states that have been consistently blue and are fully controlled red ought to be looking at,” he was quoted as saying in the Washington Post.

 The members looking to change the system were from the battleground states the Democrats won in the last two presidential elections. According to the Washington Post, Republicans in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia proposed awarding their Electoral College votes by congressional district instead of the winner-take-all approach used by every state except for two - Maine and Nebraska.

 The reason was blatantly apparent; the proposed changes would have given them a victory against President Obama in the last election, and would be a real advantage for the next GOP presidential candidate.
The Republican Party currently has the battleground states firmly in control at the state level. The cover story for voters is a song-and-dance about smaller communities getting more of a voice in those states.
Since the RNC meeting however, Virginia decided not to join the other states when Republican Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell opposed the idea. Joining him in opposition was Republican Sen. Ralph Smith, Bedford County, and Subcommittee chairwoman Jill Vogel.

 I applaud Virginia for not going along with this naked attempt to change the rules. It goes to show there are Republicans who recognize things need to change, but not by changing the rules.
Everyone within the Republican Party agrees change is in order if they want a future as a viable party. The problem is the leaders are at odds over too many issues.
  In a recent AP interview, Michael Hudome, a national GOP media strategist said, “We don’t look organized, we look chaotic, we look like wussies, like we’re caving in to the President. We’re not fighting properly. The Republican caucus appears fractured.”
  When you look at Priebus’s response to changing the game in those battleground states, you can see even he was torn after initially giving it a nod. He turned around and also said “…those proposed changes are short-sighted for two reasons. One, the Republicans pushing for them are all but acknowledging their party problems heading into 2016 are so significant that they have to change the rules to win. In other words, they are throwing in the towel and trying to rig the system.
“Two, the proposed changes would only speed up efforts to have a popular vote - and not an Electoral College - decide presidential contests, because many would see that as a fair system.”

  The last thing the GOP Party wants is a Presidential election by popular vote. One of the many challenges facing the Republican Party’s re-branding is reaching out to minorities. Even the most stubborn conservative pundits have come to that conclusion. But how to reach out to a majority they hardly know and understand? They can’t afford to rely on angry white men to win in 2016.
 One of the most obvious ways for Republicans to gain people’s confidence would be to quit trying to cheat their way into power. Blatantly changing the rules doesn’t make the GOP look like the people’s party. It’s just another example of why the brand has faded into a group of quarreling ideologues who are more obstructionists than nation builders.
  Hudome’s hope for the GOP’s credibility lies with Congress hanging together in coming negotiations with President Obama and getting “…some serious spending cuts,” in places sacred to the party. He feels that will go a long way in restoring the brand. Maybe so. But I think the brand will need a lot more than that to change most people’s perception. It’s time GOP party members roll up their sleeves and hit the streets if they hope to get the middle class and minorities to vote for them.
As It Stands, I know one thing for sure, if the GOP offers up another slate of reactionaries like this last time they can kiss all their efforts goodbye!

Trump's Lowest Grift Ever Saved for Holy Week

This is a story about how the devil's puppet, aka Donald Trump, mocked Christianity by selling a book combining the Bible, the Constitu...