The other day I created the image seen on the right of these words. “Nattering Nabobs Of Negativity: Know your GOP 2012 Presidential Candidates” which gave nicknames for each of the final four Republican Presidential Candidates of 2012. Then I had an idea of creating a short slide show set to some funky music. Enjoy a unique look at the four men who want to be President of the United States.
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A classic human milestone is one’s first broken heart. It can happen at any age but it does happen to all of us at some point. My first broken heart was during my college years when my first real love didn’t share the same feelings for me that I had for her. I hit a very rough patch that took several months to heal. It also probably cost me two friendships as they got tired of my blubbering depression and needing to talk about the event incessantly. Lucky for me I had the Eurythmics on my record player for much of that tough time and their songs helped mend my broken heart.
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One part of political debate I like is using images to make a point. Whether it is a chart or a quote image, these graphics hold on to the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words. They are also easy to share in social media. However one still needs to be careful one isn’t sharing inaccurate information. Don’t post or share any graphic unless you can confirm the accuracy of the information.
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There are some people who have birthdays at inconvenient times. Some were born on or near Christmas or during some national tragedy like those born on September 11th. There are others who were born on leap day so they can only celebrate the actual day of their birth in years that are evenly divisible by 4. Back when I was in elementary school, my birthday conflicted with Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Why did he have to be born the day after me? Martin Luther King Jr. ruined my childhood.
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Some people think the Occupy movement and the issues brought up by the protests is something new. I know I’ve been talking about corporatism and income inequality for many years. While archiving some past writings, I found an essay I wrote in 2003 which has ideas in it that wouldn’t seem out of place today – unfortunately.
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One of my hobbies is political debate. I would rather debate in person and I often do but I also like using ‘Letters to the Editor’ in local newspapers. Every so often I will read a letter that frankly pisses me off and I have to respond. One such letter in the Findlay Ohio Courier showed some anti-union views are based on misinformation.
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On FOX “news” Sunday, the panel decided that the Occupy movement was un-American and maybe even Marxist but during the Tea Party protests FOX “news” fell over itself to promote them. There is no difference between the Occupy movement and the Tea Party protests – in that they both were an exercise of their right to protest for what they believe in. To say one is “un-American” and the other isn’t betrays FOX’s bias toward the 1%.
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On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 the guns fell silent across the Western Front in Europe. That’s why we mark November 11th as Veteran’s Day to honor not only our war dead (like my father, pictured on the right) but to celebrate the living men and women who put themselves in harms way. Raise a glass to honor and thank them all and hope, one day, no other sons and daughters, moms or dads, or brothers and sisters have to go to war. Here’s a classic poem about war titled “In Flanders Fields”:
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Tuesday is election day. Ohioans will be going to the polls to hopefully overturn Senate Bill 5, the massive over reach by cheap labor conservatives to punch unions and public employees as the GOP tries to further enrich their wealthy check signers. Here are a few last minute notes to support voting NO on Issue 2.
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There has been a lot of anger and complaints about how most of the exotic animals that got loose at a farm outside of Zanesville, Ohio were killed rather than corralled and captured to save them. The facts of the situation led to the rational conclusion that the safety of the community trumped the need to save as many animals as possible.
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Saturday was the big global protest day as part of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement and in Columbus hundreds showed up at the steps of the Ohio State House to join in the event. The top news station in town WBNS 10tv had a surprising objective report allowing for a good bit of face and sign time as well as mentioning the other locations of protest in the almost 4 minute report at the top of the 11 PM newscast.
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Today is the 10th anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on US soil. The World Trade Center in New York was attacked shortly before 9 AM on a bright and sunny Tuesday in 2001. By the end of the awful day both towers were destroyed, the Pentagon had been hit, and people were killed in a fourth plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. Five days later I wrote an essay about the attacks from my secular humanist perspective. I went through it this week and have posted it again – changed little from the day I wrote it.
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During the recent debt ceiling debate the GOP and their right wing propaganda machine harped on the fact that then Senator Obama voted against raising the debt ceiling in 2006. He admitted that his vote was political but wasn’t needed to pass or defeat the raise. I learned today that the Republicans have also had changed views on taxes, favoring corporations, and health care reform.
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This is just in case Dave Barton, Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann and other thick heads need a refresher on American History. I recommend the entire School House Rock series. Those short videos helped me through school at times. Lucky for us these were made before the fans of anti-intellectualism got a chance to rewrite history. Happy 4th of July!
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The good news is that the New York state legislature finally approved a law that will allow same sex marriage. The bad news is that in order for this great thing to happen, changes in the law will allow religious sects AND the non-church businesses they operate to discriminate against gays without any legal repercussions. In the zeal to get these new rights for the LGBT community, did proponents give away the farm?
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