Tuesday, June 17, 2014

A Mitt Romney Redue? What is this…Groundhog Day?

romney-I-stand-by-what-I-said-whatever-it-was-via-Think-progress

Good Day World!

Can you hear the distant rumble of elephants jockeying for the presidency?

Oh say, can you see Mitt Romney?

The GOP champion in the last losing effort at gaining the presidency?

He’s back!!!

No kidding.

His “Muttness” was spotted recently at a luxury mountain resort giving a speech for donors and supporters. Who knew he still had any?

Like a vulture, Mitt is circling around the Republican Party's presidential banner again hoping to get another stab at it. And what better way than to entertain his fellow 1%ers than to gather at the ritzy Deer Valley resort high in the Utah mountains?

Mitt-Romney-funny-pictures-dumpaday-7

It must have been an inspiration from Joseph Smith (hallowed be his name), because I don’t know anyone who thinks that loser is going to do any better the second time around.

"It's the failing of the White House leadership that concerns me, and that's got to change. I lost the election, we lost an election, but I and we will continue to fight," Romney declared to his wealthy audience.

He dutifully attacked 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton over the “reset” policy with Russia. He called her “clueless” and said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that her tenure as Secretary of State was "a monumental bust."

He eloquently spoke smack about Obama, kicking off a weekend of events for about 300 top donors, supporters and former campaign aides. In other words, it was a Conservative Circus and Mitt was the ringmaster.

That group included a number of other potential 2016 presidential hopefuls, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Rep. Paul Ryan, and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. They all shared their wet dreams about what they’d do if elected president.

However, the weekend also included more casual events like going on a hike with Romney last Saturday.

USA TODAY - BREAKING NEWS: 

Mitt Romney and a ragged group of wealthy supporters were rescued today after going on a hike in the Utah mountains days ago….

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Monday, June 16, 2014

A comparison between the caste system in America and India

Good Day World!

Let’s talk about social stratification today.

Specifically, I’m going to contrast modern India’s caste system with America’s current caste system.

Yes, a caste system has emerged in the United States. In the broad view you have the 1%ers versus the rest of the country. It’s a bit more complicated than that however.

A LOOK AT WHERE THE CASTE SYSTEM EMERGED

INDIA -According to Wikipedia, Brahminical texts are divided into four categories or varnas: Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. Certain groups, now known as "Dalits", were excluded from the varna system altogether, ostracized by all other castes and treated as untouchables. Strongly identified with Hinduism, the caste system has been carried over to other religions on the Indian subcontinent, including Buddhism,Christianity, Islam, and Sikhism.

A LOOK TODAY

In 21st century America the differences between the Super Wealthy, the Politicians, the Corporate heads, and the Struggling Middle Class compare to India’s social system.

You start off with India’s Brahmins, then Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and finally the Shudras.

Our “untouchabables” wander the streets (just like in India), homeless, hopeless, mentally challenged, and often physically disabled. The unwashed millions neither country cares about. We call ourselves a democracy, yet we have our version of royalty.

Our kings/presidents often come from the same dynastic families; the Kennedy’s, the Bushes, and the Clintons. Our future seems ordained before we vote in 2016 for a new president. Two of the royal families have possible candidates – Hillary Clinton, and Jeb Bush.

Ironically, India got rid of the last of their monarchs 100 years ago. Their caste system however, is still hobbling along.

Social stratification is here to stay in both countries. I thought you might be interested in knowing this.

Time for me to walk on down the road… 

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Remember to honor/humor Dad today just because

Good Day World!

Excuse me for not getting up to greet you, but I’m being indulgent and lazy today.

You know why? No, it’s not National Slob Day (if there is such a holiday sign me up!).

Today is Father's Day. We’re honoring our fathers and celebrating fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society.

We do this in several ways. The first and foremost way is the special National Father Day sales at stores. Grateful children and wives can show their love by purchasing things Dad may never use (like gold pen sets or cuff links). Smart Dads fawn over these presents with flowery speeches of gratitude and then quietly tuck them into their sock drawers when no one is looking.

The second way we make this day special for Dads is to humor him. With wives, this means saying Dad’s right regardless of the subject. I can tell you one day of being right really makes up for the rest of the year!

Children under 12 have it pretty easy on Father’s Day. All they have to do is say endearing things like, “I love you Daddy.” They can go out of their innocent little ways to make Dad happy. This could mean fighting in another room, out of Dad’s earshot.

Teenagers are another thing. They’ll acknowledge there is such a day in their own unique way by not asking for money. As a father of three sons, I always appreciated this consideration.

Finally, we honor Father’s Day by letting Dad do whatever he wants all day. Within limits of course.

I speak for millions of Dads everywhere when I say this is the time to pull out our old t-shirts full of holes and memories, and wear them without fear of our sanity being questioned.

This freedom extends to mastery of the TV. In a time-honored family tradition in the Stancliff household, my wife hands me the remote control with my first cup of coffee on Father’s Day morning. It’s really quite sweet.

One of the many benefits of being a Dad is watching your children grow up and have children of their own. You get payback for all those years of busting your chops when they were growing up! I have to admit I get a guilty pleasure from watching my grandchildren test my son’s limits.

Charles Wadsworth once said, “By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong.”

Being a Dad is the most important thing I’ve done in my life.

Sometimes it’s a thankless task, but most of the time it’s what grounds me. For good or bad, I’m a Dad and proud of it. I’m also humble enough to realize that this honored title has to be earned by being there for my family.

I’m glad I’ll never stop being a Dad. It gives my life meaning. I think about my Dad,  86-years old and still going strong. He’s suffered the loss of his wife (my mother) and two of his children. He just has me and my sister now. You have to be strong in heart to be a good father, and mine is the best.

I started this column off with humor and have taken it into a sad aside. That’s okay I guess, because I can’t do any wrong today. Remember?

If you don’t live with your dear old Dad please take a moment and call him, email him, text him, post a message on a blimp, go live on a local radio station, or just stop by today?

There’s one thing about us Dads; we love to hear from our children. Heck, we’re suckers when it comes to our kids. So humor us and you‘ll honor us.

Did you know the first Father's Day celebration was in Spokane, Wa. on May 18, 1910?

One famous father, Bill Cosby said, “If the new American father feels bewildered and even defeated, let him take comfort from the fact that whatever he does in any fathering situation has a fifty percent chance of being right.”

Those odds are good enough for me. Please don’t be upset if I don’t get up and open the door for you when you leave!

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Lesson not learned: US can’t solve the sectarian civil war in Iraq

Good Day World!

You can’t ignore history and expect a society to advance unless past mistakes are acknowledged and addressed.

A government can’t practice collective amnesia and hope for positive changes. It doesn’t work that way. Yet our government constantly turns a blind eye away from hard-learned lessons.

President Obama and Congress are currently displaying advanced Alzheimer's when it comes to the current Iraq sectarian civil war.

That’s what it is folks, no matter what our government calls it. The “terrorists” members of Congress are galvanizing against are one of the two major denominations of Islam – Sunni. The Shiite denomination is currently in power.

The developments in Iraq have prompted leading Republicans to call for action. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., voiced security concerns, urged U.S. involvement. "I have never been more worried about another 9/11 than I am right now," Graham said.

President Obama stated that the US will not send troops back to Iraq, but cryptically noted that America will "do our part" to help the troubled nation. I’m still not clear on what that would involve.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who has never seen a war he doesn’t like, called Iraq’s current crisis "the gravest threat to our national security since the end of the Cold War."

This whole dog and pony show involves political posturing and then some sort of commitment on America’s part to intervene in history.

We spent 25 billion on training an Iraqi Army and now they’re getting their asses kicked.

Meanwhile, the historic background of the Sunni–Shiite split is once again ignored.

In the year 632, a schism occurred when the Islamic prophet Muhammad died. That’s right. This fight has been going on for centuries! In typical imperialistic fashion, America took sides with the Shiites (a minority in Iraq) and tried to alter history by propping up a puppet government.

When we finally pulled out of Iraq our arrogance was on full display for the world to see. President Obama and Congress patted themselves on the backs and declared Democracy ruled where ancient rivalries once split the country.

Guess again.

Congress and Obama never won that war. It was fought for all the wrong reasons and we practically drained all of our resources feeding the war machine. The economy is just starting to recover. We’re pulling out of Afghanistan.

The last thing we need is to further bleed America’s resources by pursuing a political agenda that was wrong.

It’s still wrong. No one appointed the US the world’s judge to “save” Iraq from itself. Even a collective bad memory can’t change that.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Friday, June 13, 2014

Onionhead Belief System, Stoner Shoots Moon & Mayoral Dog Crap Caper

Good Day World!

Beware of the Onionheads!

And the Great Onion stepped out of the Garden of Eden and said…”

“A federal agency sued a New York customer service provider on Wednesday after allegations the company forced employees to pray, thank God for their jobs and say "I love you" to managers and colleagues at work, and fired those who protested.

The Long Island-based United Health Programs of America and its parent company, Cost Containment Group, required workers to practice a spiritual belief system called Onionhead while on the job, in violation of their civil and religious rights, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in the complaint.” (Story)

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Pot Smoker Shoots at Moon, Arrested for Assault?

Shooting for the Moon takes on new meaning when a stoned dude tries to pick off the man in the Moon in a moment of lunar madness:

“A marijuana smoker was arrested in Arizona after shooting at the moon with a handgun and wrestling with officers who were called by his girlfriend to subdue him, authorities said on Wednesday.

Police went to a home in Prescott Valley, about 85 miles north of Phoenix, late last Friday where the woman told them her partner had fired several shots into the air after telling her and her teenage son he had seen Halley's Comet.

Prescott Valley police spokesman Sergeant Brandon Bonney said Cameron Read, 39, was arrested after a struggle and admitted firing multiple times and "trying to shoot the moon.” (Story)

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Hello Neighbor! Here’s a Bag of Crap for You!

You’ve probably heard of politicians who throw shit about their opponents on the wall to see if it’ll stick. Here’s a new twist for you:

“The mayor of the wealthy Southern California city of San Marino was under fire recently after police said he was caught on camera apparently leaving a bag of dog feces in his neighbor’s walkway.

Surveillance tape monitoring the exterior of the residence captured Mayor Dennis Kneier leaving what was said to be a bag of dog feces on a private walkway leading to his neighbor’s home on Saturday evening, San Marino Police said in a statement.

The owner of the home, who claimed to identify Kneier and his wife in the footage, called the police but does not intend to press any littering charges, police said. The department is still considering the incident open for investigation.” (Story)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Why there’s been no action to restrict guns despite weekly school shootings

Good Day World!

Another school shooting.

This time in Oregon.

It’s becoming so commonplace people are shell-shocked. No other civilized nation on the earth has more school shootings than America. It’s our shame.  

Meanwhile, all across America, the nation's gun lobbyists, their politicians and all those huddled around the national altar of the firearm vow that they will not allow any of America's meddling children to distract them from what is truly important.

You know what that is don’t you? Making sure there’s no way to restrict the use of firearms. Semi-automatic rifles and guns for all. Children be damned.

A year and a half ago, 20 elementary school children and six adults were executed by a gunman in in their Newtown, Connecticut, classrooms. In that 18-month span, there has been roughly one shooting in an American school every school week.

In the wake of the Sandy Hook murders, more gun laws have been loosened than have been tightened. This is almost entirely due to the notion that possible public "overreach" in protecting our schools from weekly shooters will infringe upon what a certain collection of people call "gun rights," meaning the rights held by guns and their chosen owners.

If you follow the news closely you’ve heard many politicians assert that one school shooting per week of school is a considerably better outcome than taking any action to prevent those shootings. No really. That’s what some nuts believe.

Here’s the thing, social-science researchers have developed a clear sense of how school-shooting plots develop, and how they can be disrupted. The wild card is how easily a teenage shooter obtains a gun.

Katherine Newman, co-author of Rampage: The Social Roots of School Shootings and the James B. Knapp dean of the Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins, said it’s important to understand that different types of shootings follow different types of patterns.

School shooters as troubled lone wolves is a misconception according to Newman.

“Their daily experience is not one of being alone, but of being enmeshed in social friction,” Newman said. “They experience rejection all the time, but that doesn’t stop them from trying to join groups. They just fail, all the time."

The fact that shooters tend to talk about their plans provides an important opportunity to disrupt plots before they are carried out.

Beyond the question of who commits school shootings and why, Newman and her team also developed a profile of where these school shootings are most likely to take place:

“Rampage-shootings happen in two kinds of places: a small town in the middle of nowhere, or an exurb,” she said. “But not in big cities.” That’s because “sadly, school is not much of a stage in urban America.”

I would like to add that these school shooters generally have mental problems, but not all of them. The Santa Barbara college shooter was enraged that girls didn’t like him. He had no trouble buying three pistols prior to the shooting. Easy access. Too easy.

If we’re going to look at the full picture regarding school shootings then the subject of guns has to be addressed.

The firearm and munitions industries don’t want their sales to slow down. That’s why their hired gun – the NRA – has so much clout and is able to bully cowardly senators in Congress.

Until that changes expect more of the same. Schools will be under assault regularly. Parents will mourn their children who went to school and never came home.

And the NRA will continue to protect the gun cult in America.

Time for me to walk on down the road… 

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Why organized religion is losing it’s allure in America

Robert Carlson Good Day World!

 I overheard a conversation the other day between two men who were talking about the Catholic church.

One was telling the other that he would never consider joining the Catholic church because it’s full of liars and pedophiles.

(Photo: Archbishop Robert Carlson)

The other responded by saying he’d never join any organized religion because they all have agendas he doesn’t agree with.

Organized religion in America is on the decline. The Church—any church, all churches, the omniscient "Church" representing all organized religious institutions—holds less allure for a new generation of American adults.

This is a fact, not a supposition.

A report from the Pew Research Center makes clear two things:

1) America is still an overwhelmingly religious country, and 2) America is becoming a less religious country. Key findings:

  • "One-fifth of the U.S. public – and a third of adults under 30 – are religiously unaffiliated today, the highest percentages ever in Pew Research Center polling."
  • Atheists and agnostics make up almost 6% of Americans. Another 14% claim no specific religious affiliation.
  • The percentage of unaffiliated Americans has grown by almost a third in the past five years.
  • Two thirds of unaffiliated Americans say they believe in god. But when asked, "Are you looking for a religion that's right for you?" 88% of them say "no."

Priests – for the first time in history - are being held accountable for their illegal actions these days. To illustrate my point here’s a recent story: 

The St. Louis Archbishop embroiled in a sexual abuse scandal testified last month that he didn’t know in the 1980s whether it was illegal for priests to have sex with children, according to a court deposition released Monday.

Archbishop Robert Carlson, who was chancellor of the Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul at the time, was deposed as part of a lawsuit against the Twin Cities archdiocese and the Diocese of Winona, Minnesota.

In a video released by the St. Paul law firm Jeff Anderson & Associates, the Catholic archbishop is asked whether he had known it was a crime for an adult to engage in sex with a child.

“I’m not sure whether I knew it was a crime or not,” Carlson responded. “I understand today it’s a crime.” (Story)

The take away from this article: if priests weren’t aware that molesting children was wrong until the 21st Century – then the church has a longer history of pedophiles than anyone ever dared guess.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Judges Are Convinced Computer Program is Human

Image: Alan Touring

  Good Day World!

The following story is about a British mathematician, Alan Turing, who helped win WW II, but wasn’t recognized for his genius because he was a homosexual.

This story is also about the “Turing Test” and how someone finally passed it.

Here’s what happened:

Judges in England were fooled into thinking the computer program they were conversing with was a human — making it the first to pass the 65-year-old Turing Test.

"Eugene Goostman" is not a 13-year-old boy, but 33 percent of the people who partook in five minute keyboard conversations with the computer program at the Royal Society in London thought it was, according to The University of Reading, which organized the test.

The Turing Test is based on “the father of modern computer science” Alan Turing’s question, “Can Machines Think?”

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British mathematician Alan Turing designed an electromechanical device known as the "bombe,” which allowed a team code-named “Ultra” to decode intercepted German messages. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill credited "Ultra" with winning the war.

Turing wasn’t lauded though. Instead, he was barred from working with the British government and charged as a criminal with “gross indecency” because he was gay.

The trailblazer killed himself with a poisoned apple at 41-years-old, tormented by the law and impossibility of exoneration.

Queen Elizabeth II granted amercy pardon to Turing in 2013, but he never lived to see anything close to the seemingly-unrealistic machine he had dreamed up decades before its creation.

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If a computer is mistaken for a human by more than 30 percent of judges, it passes the test, but no computer has accomplished the feat — until now.

“The event is particularly poignant as it took place on the 60th anniversary of Turing's death, nearly six months after he was given a posthumous royal pardon,” the university’s statement said.

Turing was instrumental in cracking Germany's Enigma code during World War II and came up with the concept of a “universal machine” that could act and think like a human. (Full Story)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

Monday, June 9, 2014

7-Year old boy kicked out of school for doing the right thing

Darin Simak (WTAE)Good Day World!

 The following story is a classic case of someone doing the right thing – in this case a 7-year-old – and still getting into trouble.

There’s no doubt that schools in this day and age are edgy about anything that may result in a threat to the student body.

But where do you draw the line? What happened to common sense?

I understand that even a toy gun can be disruptive. However, the child in this case didn’t even know he had a toy gun in his backpack. When he discovered it he immediately turned it in to a teacher. His honesty got him kicked out of school.

Here’s the story:

New Kensington first grader Darin Simak realized on Wednesday that he had something in his backpack that was not allowed at Martin Elementary School.

It was a toy gun that was in the outside pocket of the bag. Darin was unaware of the toy because, as his mom, Jennifer Mathabel, told WTAE Action News 4, she packed her son’s bag which was a backup because he left his normal school bag in a friend’s car the night before, and she missed the toy gun. (Story)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Pot for Pets: Veterinarians Launch Hemp-Based Medicine for Animals

Good Day World!

More Americans than ever before are okay with the idea that marijuana does have medical applications for humans.

So, I guess we shouldn’t be too surprised that pot works for pets too.  

Two companies in the Seattle area, Canna-Pet and Canna Companion, are leading the charge into a new and uncharted field of hemp-based veterinary medicine.

Dr. Sarah Brandon and Dr. Greg Copas, husband and wife veterinarians, launched Canna Companion in March. They've been exploring medical cannabis for about eight years now.

They started with their pets and then those of family and friends, to find the right dosage.

Canna-Pet has only been selling to the public for about eight months and it's already shipping its products throughout the U.S. and 23 foreign countries.

Dan Goldfarb, president of Canna-Pet, calls it "an exploding market" that will grow exponentially in the years ahead.

The pet supplement industry is largely unregulated.

To further complicate matters, the Drug Enforcement Agency still considers industrial hemp a controlled substance even though it is not psychoactive.

But times are changing.

On Thursday, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted 22-8 on a plan that would block the DEA — or any federal agency — from spending funds to enforce anti-hemp laws in any state that has received permission to grow it.

The full House OK'd the measure the previous week. As a final footnote to this story – it’s the first time a pro-pot law has popped up in Congress, and to have it pass so easily speaks volumes.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

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...