Category: Politics

What has happened to this country…

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Support America — Boycott Koch Brothers Products

The Koch brothers are the billionaire financiers of the Tea Party and other extreme Right political interest groups. They have one interest that is summed up as greed. Apparently they are not rich enough, and want more of the one pie we all share.

Here is an excellent article detailing the practices of the these two that hurt all Americans who are not  Kochs.  I am thnking that is a pretty big group. How Koch Industries Makes Billions Corrupting Government

If you prefer your information in a more audio-visual format scroll to the bottom of this Rachel Maddow article. You can watch a segment of her show that was about the Koch brothers. — Rachel Maddow: Koch Brothers ‘Pop Up In Every Scummy Political Scandal’

One small thing we can all do is boycott products produced by companies owned by these greedy bastards. If you think it does not matter remember that in our society dollars are votes. The Koch brothers just have a ton of votes. Here is a partial list from AlterNet.org article, How You Can Boycott the Kochs

It includes such things as: 

  • Angel Soft toilet paper
  • Brawny paper towels
  • Dixie plates, bowls, napkins and cups
  • Mardi Gras napkins and towels
  • Quilted Northern toilet paper
  • Soft ‘n Gentle toilet paper
  • Sparkle napkins
  • Vanity fair napkins
  • Zee napkins
  • The article goes on to detail building products we are not likely to encounter in our everyday shopping, but if you know a liberal contractor…

We have to start fighting back in every small way we can.  It seems to me the greedy and crazies have gotten hold of our government and economic systems. 

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Would you buy a vehicle made in China?

A few months ago I bought a new truck, a Toyota Tacoma.   I wanted to buy American, but I did not want the gas mileage of another full size vehicle.  I loved my F-150, but a sipper of gas they are not.  In smaller trucks, the Tacoma seemed like a no brainer compared to the rest of the field.  There a few things I am not totally happy with, but on the whole it seems to be a very good vehicle.  I am happy with it.

I recently received a survey from a firm that I am sure is contracted to Toyota-USA to do these sort of surveys.  It was one of these surveys that sucked you in by appealing to your altruistic side.  Fill out this survey and help us make better vehicles.  It also appealed to your greedy side by promising to enter you into a drawing for a year of free oral sex.  The thought of all those blow jobs was more than I could stand.  I started filling out the survey with all due haste.

Well to make a long story short, it was a long not short survey.   I was ready to just quit about half way through their questionnaire, but dreams of unending fellatio kept me going.

What did stop me in my tracks was this question.  Would you buy a car made in China, yes or no?  And if you answered no, like I did, a text box appeared asking you to explain why.  I answered diplomatically, and said that I did not need another piece of junk from China, and went on to say, “there was not fucking way I would ever buy a vehicle made in China.”

I truck further through the survey quite satisfied with my China answer when I encounter, “Would you ever buy a vehicle made in India, yes or no?”  Again if you answer no, a text box appeared asking for why. This one was easy, “See China.”

I am all for other countries raising themselves up, but do we have to throw the baby out with the bath water for them to do it?

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Made in America: small businesses buck the offshoring trend

Link to an article about small companies that have decided that off-shoring manufacturing is not that good a deal. Labor may be cheap, but the quality and deadlines are not there.

Made in America: small businesses buck the offshoring trend

All I can say is hip hip hooray…maybe some more American companies will see the light.   I detailed in another article my trials and tribulations trying to find a pair of work gloves NOT made in China.  I did finally find a pair made in Pakistan. That is not the USA,  but I would rather it be Pakistan than China.

I am still waiting for someone to explain to me why they are selling frozen vegetables from China. I’ve gotten where I check the “where from” on the package and if it is not USA or at least this hemisphere I put it back in the freezer.

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One Pie, 9 Pieces to the Rich, 1 Piece for the Rest of Us

And this folks is why I am so disillusioned and angry at the Right and our buffoons in Congress…

This chart is all over the Internet.  To me numbers seem to ring true, but I really do not know.  Best I could find out this is the original article from whence this chart came.  Note: Original article is no longer available.

Right now, I am buying the figures.

   Programs at risk vs Tax breaks for the wealthy

Click on image to get a more readable size

Random thought…I used to have to go to the downtown area of any major city to see crazy, psychotic people wondering around. Now days all I have to do is turn on CSPAN.

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Have You Hugged A Teacher Lately?

For a nation concerned with being competitive with the rest of the world we are doing all we can do to gut that competitiveness by gutting education. We refuse to tax those who could afford it, instead we want to gut, gut, and gut a little more in all pursuit of of some idealogical fantansy.

Having dated a school teacher for the last 3 years, I am not sure why anyone stays in the professional. I understand the burn out rate early in the career is high. I’m sure folks get into teaching for many reasons, and I know for many that reason is a need for a socially significant profession. We should reward folks for these occupation.

From what I hear teaching has turned into a bureaucratic nightmare. Plus teaching has become an exercise in teaching to standardized tests.

Below is a link to an excellent article and retro video about this issue.

Have You Hugged A Teacher Lately?

If you do a Google search on Teacher Burnout, I came up with close to 200,000 hits.

A couple of interesting quotes from the article:

“Nearly half of all teachers quit during their first five years, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, but the numbers alone don’t convey the full severity of the problem.”

“It is often the best qualified teachers who leave first because they have the easiest time finding employment in other fields.”

Yet there is a group of politicians (and citizens) trying to make them the scapegoat for our financial problems.  Shame on them.

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NRA – Arms Manufacturer Lobbying Arm

I looked and looked online trying to find the funding sources for the National Rifle Association (NRA).  I did not have a lot of luck.

Here is an article from Mother Jones that sheds some light on that murky subject.

Who Does the NRA Advocate For?

To answer their question…it is not the average gun owner, but the corporations that funnel money to them.

It is past time for sensible gun regulation in this country.

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No More Teddy Bears

No more candle light vigils.  No more piles of teddy bears.  No more stacks of flowers.  No more fences covered with ribbons.  No more platitudes or speeches of remembrance.  We react compassionately to tragic events after the fact.  They fade from memory and we fail to act to prevent the next one.

There were probably a multitude of factors that collided in the Tucson shooting that left 6 dead and many more wounded.

First, it is much, much too easy to get guns in this country.  I read recently that there are 85 guns for every 100 people in the US.  If they were evenly distributed that would be almost be a gun for every man, woman and child in the US.

Secondly, access to health care in this country is atrocious Continue reading “No More Teddy Bears”

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Wealth Inequality = Social Problems

Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times Equality, a True Soul Food

He is summarizing a British report on the societal effects of wealth inequality. Currently in America “the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans possess a greater collective net worth than the bottom 90 percent.”  I do not understand why everyone, except the 1%, is not shocked and up in arms over this fact.  But that is me.

The basic premise of the study, backed up by tons of data is this.  With great wealth inequality you create a wide variety of personal and social stressors.  There are increases in crime, Continue reading “Wealth Inequality = Social Problems”