Category: Politics

What has happened to this country…

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Illegal Immigration – Pros and Cons

I am still trying to figure out how I feel about all the illegal immigrants in this country and the various action plans floating around to deal with them.  My gut reaction is not kind, but I know there is much more to the picture than what my knee-jerk emotions are telling me.   I do know that many legal immigrants that I have spoken to resent the illegal immigrants that have not jumped through all the hoops they have, yet seem to be able to stay in this country unbothered.

Towards the end of clarifying my thought process I thought I would gather up some of the arguments, favoring and oppositional.

We have a tendency due to our dysfunctional political system to not act, to drift, to let the status quo rock on.  This should not be the case with immigration reform as the current system is full of abuse, personal and systematic.   Continue reading “Illegal Immigration – Pros and Cons”

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Winner-Take-All Politics

Winner-Take-All Politics by Hacker & Pierson available at Amazon.com

The book is subtitled: How Washington Made the Rich Richer – And Turned Its Back on the Middle Class

This book needs another review like a hole in the head.  Typing the full title into Google resulted in close to 30,000 hits.  But hey, why not!

First and foremost, while I found the book deeply troubling and depressing, it is an important book to read if you want to really understand what is happening in Washington currently.   This book really did not tell me anything that I did not intuitively already know from decades of watching the American political scene.  It did reaffirm and document my intuition. Continue reading “Winner-Take-All Politics”

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Fair and Balanced…Not

There is so much I could say.  What scares me is that Fox News is the most popular cable “news” source.  What scares me even more is that those folks that watch Fox News seem to accept it lock, stock and barrel.  Plus they absolutely are clueless as to why someone would not.   I do not think it a coincidence that NASCAR fans are by and by, big consumers of Fox News.  There seems to a major dearth of critical thinking and self examination in this country.  I have no idea if it is a new phenomenon, but it feels like the extent to which it is happening does seem to have reached new bounds.

I’m not sure what their overarching goal is a Fox News, but it is not the long run good of this country or the majority of its citizens.  The country that Fox News and its bought and paid for political candidates envision is not a country I want to live in.   I doubt it is a country Thomas Jefferson would want to live in.

Below is a link to a commentary on the study.  Obviously from their headline they are a little harsher than I might be.  When I read the study the impression I get is that we are all sadly misinformed or captive to our belief systems.  My personal opinion is that for democracy to work really well, the voters should be informed and involved.  We really have neither.  And there are more than a few sources intent on spreading misinformation aka propaganda.

Study Confirms That Fox News Makes You Stupid

The full study from World Public Opinion.org

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Kangaroo Care…KISS

A simple low cost solution for caring for premature babies in 3rd world countries, and in this country.   Holding the baby against the mother’s chest continually, termed Kangaroo Care.

It was developed (relearned?) by Dr. Edgar Rey  in Bogota, Colombia who lacked enough incubators.  Clinical trials has shown that it is effective.  The babies do well,  start breastfeeding earlier and put on weight quicker.  Besides the physical benefits there is the emotional and social benefits.  Mothers and other caregivers, who spell her, are bonding better.  This leads to fewer abandoned babies.

What is the old rule of thumb…”KISS – Keep It Simple Silly”

Below is a link to the article on the New York Times website.  It is well worth the read.

The Human Incubator – NYTimes.com

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Only 6% of Scientists are Republicans

This article is drawing the conclusion that because most scientist are Democrats (or at least not Republicans) it draws into question the science behind some big issues today.

Climate change is the example given. Whether you believe that climate change is happening splits down party lines. Which makes me wonder about how much our politicians are really examining the issues, but that is another topic. The article wonders if science is pushing science or perhaps politics (and funding) is pushing science.

I have another question. Scientists on the whole are a very well educated group. They are trained to look at most things in a critical and factual manner. If you do not know the answer they are trained to search for it, or say we really do not know at this time.

Given the above, I find it very interesting that only 6% are Republicans. But that is just me!

Article at Slate.com
Most scientists in this country are Democrats. That’s a problem.

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Mr. President: You promised change. Where is it?

Mr. President, 

I will admit to being a Liberal.  I wear the label with great pride.   I used to consider myself an independent and always registered to vote as such.  During the Clinton years I became so appalled at the behavior of the Republicans I began to identify myself as a Democrat.  I have since become so appalled at the lack of any clear direction or backbone in the Democratic Party that I am back to considering myself an independent.

It strikes me that our government was effectively been co-opted by the corporations and a small percentage of obscenely wealthy individuals.  This stealthy coup d’état was in a large engineered through the Republican Party.   Continue reading “Mr. President: You promised change. Where is it?”

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Show Down at the Shariah Corral

Oklahoma is generally thought of as a backwater by the rest of the country and I suspect big parts of the industrialized world.   Oklahoma State Question 755 passed with 71% of Okies voting for it.  It bans state judges from considering Shariah or International law when deciding cases.  I’m not sure what problem they were trying to solve…even preemptively.  It is currently in suspension awaiting legal action.

In this Bible Belt state you have got to wonder where acceptance and tolerance  have gone.  My reading of the Bible leads me to think that they should be the backbone of Christianity.

Shariah at the Kumback Café Frank Rich Editorial at The New York Times

From the article:

‘To understand U.S. politics today, try “It’s the fear element, stupid.”’

This seems to be part of a bigger movement to breed fear and paint our President as “un-American”.  I’m not sure what an “American” is except one of a group of immigrants living in a common land, hopefully with some shared goals.

Apparently tolerance for differences is not one of those goals.

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B-A-N-A-N-A… R-E-P-U-B-L-I-C

I’m not much on conspiracy theories, but I am beginning to concoct one.  Our government is adrift.  We have not had any real leadership in the President’s office for 10 years.  What little “leadership” there has been has been counter to benefiting the vast majority of us.

The question then is who benefits from lack of leadership in this country.  My short answer would be cowboys on Wall Street and the wealthy 1 or 2 percent of Americans who seem to be setting the government’s agenda. Continue reading “B-A-N-A-N-A… R-E-P-U-B-L-I-C”