The T-Dude: A Growing Discontent Since 1965

Measuring Trump - Stolen from Eric Zorn, Chicago Tribune

noreply@blogger.com (The T-Dude) — Fri, 20 Jan 2017 21:24:00 +0000

Eric Zorn of the Chicago Tribune wrote a column today setting the benchmark for measuring whether or not President Trump (I am still struggling with that title.) is making America great again.

I have stolen the figures and reposted them here. Zorn writes:

Some of the facts and figures are up-to-date; others are a year or two old but reflect the most current available research. Sources and links are available here. And though in some cases presidents have very little influence on the numbers, they often get the credit or blame for how the numbers move.

• Public approval of Donald Trump: 40 percent
• Public approval of Barack Obama: 58 percent
• Unemployment rate: 4.7 percent
• Civilian labor force participation rate: 62.7 percent
• National average price per gallon of regular gasoline: $2.33
• Consumer confidence indexes: 113.7
• Annual inflation rate: 2.1 percent
• Median U.S. household family income: $53,889
• Percentage of the nonelderly U.S. population without health insurance: 10.4 percent.
• Poverty rates: Adults, 13.5 percent; children, 19.7 percent.
• National average 30-year fixed mortgage interest rate: 3.96 percent.
• National debt: $19.96 trillion.
• Annual federal budget deficit: $441 billion (2.6 percent of the gross domestic product)
• Financial markets: Dow Jones industrial average,19,732.40; NASDAQ, 5,540; Standard & Poors 500, 2,264.
• GDP growth rate: 3.5 percent
• Teen birth rate: 22.3 per 1,000 female teenagers
• Out-of-wedlock birth rate: 43.4 per 1,000 females
• Abortion rate: 14.6 per 1,000 females
• Number of federal prison inmates: 189,316
• Overall number of adult prisoners: 6,741,400 (about 2.7 percent of the population)
• Violent-crime victimization rate: 372.6 per 100,000 persons
• Average temperature of the world's land and ocean surfaces: 58.69 degrees Fahrenheit
U.S. high school graduation rate: 83.2 percent
• U.S. monthly international trade deficit: $45.2 billion
• Immigrants living in the U.S. illegally: 11.1 million
• Abusers of opioid drugs, including heroin: 12.7 million

To follow along, you can regularly visit The Trump Baseline

Courage vs Ratings

noreply@blogger.com (The T-Dude) — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 18:41:00 +0000

The ESPYs are awards handed out by ESPN to athletes or teams for a variety of accomplishments. They give awards for things like Best Comeback of the Year, Best Upset of the Year, Male Athlete of the Year, Female Athlete of the Year, etc.

One award, the Arthur Ashe Courage Award is "presented to the sports-related person(s) or team, irrespective of gender or sport contested, adjudged to have made the most significant or compelling humanitarian contribution in transcendence of sports in a given year."

This year, they are presenting that award to Caitlin Jenner, formerly Bruce Jenner, for her courage in transitioning from a man to a woman.

Okay. That takes a lot of courage. But I think there were more deserving candidates. For my money, Lauren Hill should receive this award. For those who don't know Lauren's story, she was a freshman college basketball player who died of brain cancer. But instead of allowing the cancer to deny her dream of playing college basketball, she fought it, and in the process, helped raise over a million dollars for cancer research.

Here is an excerpt from her Wikipedia biography:

"Born in Greendale, Indiana, Hill's battle with cancer became public when the NCAA agreed to allow Mount St. Joseph to play Hiram College two weeks prior to the original game date so Hill could play.The location of the game was also originally moved from Hiram's Price Gymnasium to Mount St. Joseph's Harrington Center so that Hill would not have to travel the over 300 miles from Cincinnati to Hiram. However due to public interest in the game, it was later moved from the 2,000 seat Harrington Center to the 10,250 seat Cintas Center on the campus of Xavier University. She raised US$1 million for pediatric cancer research with a Cincinnati telethon for The Cure Starts Now Foundation. The Foundation has raised US$1.1 million thus far.^"

^{I watched Lauren be interviewed multiple times. I watched her live her dream of playing college basketball. She was humble, she was honest and sincere, and she knew she was going to die. It would have been easy to walk away and do nothing, to wallow in self pity, but Lauren chose to make what time she had left matter. She was one of the strongest, most courageous people I have seen. Her bravery deserves to be recognized.}

^{So why did ESPN choose Caitlyn Jenner instead?}

^{I suspect it has everything to do with ratings. Jenner's transformation is big news, the Vanity Fair cover photo damn near broke the Internet. But here's the thing, while I agree that Jenner's coming out was brave, it was a choice. Jenner is an adult who made a choice to go public about his gender identity. Lauren was a young woman who had no choice in her fate and she faced her coming death by devoting her remaining time to helping others. That is the ultimate courage.}

^{That is why I won't be watching the ESPYs this year. I want them to know that while ratings may be the blood that sustains television, in this case, recognition of true courage is more important.}

Repainted History: With a Happy Face

noreply@blogger.com (The T-Dude) — Thu, 25 Sep 2014 13:21:00 +0000

Not too long ago, I blogged about the Koch Brothers using their money to provide right wing dogma-driven curriculum to cash strapped schools.

Now conservatives in the Jefferson County Colorado school district are attempting to rewrite history to emphasize more conservative values.

The proposed curriculum would “promote patriotic material, respect for authority, and the free-market system,” the Denver Post reports. “In turn, the panel would avoid material about ‘civil disorder, social strife or disregard of the law.’ (Slate.com)

So I guess the labor movement, the civil rights movement, the women’s suffrage movement and the plight of Native Americans would get short changed, regardless of their importance to the history of our country.

What would they get instead I wonder? The beauty and clearly moral purpose of manifest destiny? The greatness of the robber barons of old? The brilliance of George Bush and Ronald Reagan in dealing with 9/11 and the Communist Bloc?

If anything gives me hope, it is reports that students walked out of class in protest of the proposal. According to the Associated Press, "[h]undreds of students walked out of classrooms around suburban Denver on Tuesday in protest over a conservative-led school board proposal."

"I don't think my education should be censored. We should be able to know what happened in our past," said Tori Leu, a 17-year-old student who protested at Ralston Valley High School in Arvada.

Using political power to rewrite history in order to influence the opinions of future voters isn’t just wrong, it’s immoral. In fact, it is exactly the kind of thing Stalin did all the time. And just because you are a rich conservative capitalist and not a Communist dictator doesn’t change that.

And if for no other reason that it is funny, let’s watch this clip from John Stewart showing just what conservative dogma/teaching leads to:

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,The Daily Show on Facebook

UPDATE: Air Force Reverses Course

noreply@blogger.com (The T-Dude) — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 13:25:00 +0000

It would seem that the Air Force has seen the light and pulled an Immelman turn on forcing enlistees to say "So help me God" as part of their oath. As I reported before, an Atheist airman who wanted to reenlist was being denied the opportunity to do so because he refused to use that phase in his oath.

From the Air Force statement on the change:

WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- The Air Force has instructed force support offices across the service to allow both enlisted members and officers to omit the words “So help me God” from enlistment and officer appointment oaths if an Airman chooses.

In response to concerns raised by Airmen, the Department of the Air Force requested an opinion from the Department of Defense General Counsel addressing the legal parameters of the oath. The resulting opinion concluded that an individual may strike or omit the words “So help me God” from an enlistment or appointment oath if preferred.

“We take any instance in which Airmen report concerns regarding religious freedom seriously,” said Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James. “We are making the appropriate adjustments to ensure our Airmen's rights are protected.”

Since I called out the Air Force for denying airman the religious freedoms that they were swearing to protect, it is only right that I congratulate them on making this injustice right.

Click here to read the entire Air Force statement.

Here is my original post: Quick Hits: Now with Military Grade Irony

Quick Hits - Now with Military Grade Irony

noreply@blogger.com (The T-Dude) — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 16:41:00 +0000

You have got to be kidding me.

An airman in the U.S. Air Force wants to re-enlist but the Air Force won't let him. It isn't because he isn't a good soldier. He didn't commit a crime. He hasn't done anything wrong, he just refuses to sign or say an oath containing the phrase "So help me God."

You see, he is an Atheist. And up until October 30th of last year that was fine, you could omit that phrase. But since that date, a change to Air Force Instruction 36-2606 demands that all enlistees swear the complete oath including the phrase "so help me God".

That same enlistee's oath also requires them to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic;" and makes them promise to "bear true faith and allegiance to the same;".

Allow me to quote from that same Constitution the enlistees are swearing to protect, Article XI to be exact:

"The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States." [emphasis added]

Now, if an Atheist refusing to sign an oath including the phrase "So help me God" isn't bearing true faith and allegiance to the Constitution, then I don't know what is.

And what religious zealot made the change in the first place? They do know that this is America and that freedom of religion includes freedom FROM religion, right? I guess not.

Only in the military...

Do Unto Others

noreply@blogger.com (The T-Dude) — Fri, 01 Aug 2014 21:21:00 +0000

It is no secret that big business doesn’t like unions. In fact, they have spent billions of dollars supporting the campaigns of candidates who are anti-union.

But what business doesn’t seem to understand is that if they treated their employees well, if they recognized the importance of a vibrant, viable middle class, then unions wouldn’t be necessary.

Case in point, let’s look at the very real difference between grocery store chain Market Basket and the McDonald's Corporation. Both are suffering from employee dissatisfaction, both have been the targets of work stoppages but for very different reasons.

McDonald’s workers have been staging strikes to protest wages and the employment practices at the restaurant chain. In response to these strikes, some of the employees have allegedly been retaliated against by their employer. Many of those employees have filed complaints and as a result, McD’s finds itself on the wrong end of an important rulingthat could help bolster the case for unionization of its employees.

In 43 complaints filed with the National Labor Relations Board, the NLRB found that McDonalds, not just its franchise owners, are responsible for how workers are treated. That means that they are partially liable for any awarded damages in the allegations of wage fraud, retaliatory firings etc.

If McDonald's paid a living wage, if they provided benefits and generally treated their employees better, do you think they would be suffering strikes and labor complaints? I don’t think so, and to illustrate my point, let’s look at the troubles at Market Basket.

They too are suffering from work stoppages and protests. Shelves are empty and the company is losing millions of dollars. Here’s the twist - all this is happening not because they treat their employees poorly, but because they have historically been treated well thanks to the recently ousted CEO Arthur T. Demoulas. They are protesting because the board of directors of the family owned grocery chain fired Arthur T. for being too good to the employees.

They are protesting because they want him back.

Why? Because starting employees make more than minimum wage, long time managers can make six figure salaries, there were regular bonuses, and the company matched 15 percent of the employee’s salary for their retirement fund. At Market Basket, an experienced cashier could make as much as 40K a year.

On top of that Arthur T. was visible. He actually went to the stores, knew the employees (and often their relatives) by name. In other words, he treated the people who had made him and his family members multimillionaires with respect.

What has helped endear Arthur T. to workers proved to be a sticking point for shareholders, as he apparently hasn’t been running the company at the expected level of ruthless corporate efficiency. As the Globe’s Adrian Walker wrote, the generosity of Market Basket’s profit-sharing program particularly irked some board members. In one instance back in 2008, Arthur T. made sure the company made up for a loss of $46 million that the profit-sharing fund suffered during the economic crisis.

It’s no wonder that employees such as Tom Trainor, a district manager of 37 stores who was fired on Sunday, have taken to thinking of Arthur T. as a storybook character. “He’s George Bailey,” Trainor told the Washington Post, invoking the hero of It’s a Wonderful Life. “He cares more about people than he does about money.” [Slate.com]

Let’s be clear, before these protests, the company wasn’t in any trouble, it was doing well. Everyone was making money. But the board wants to make more money, and they want to do it by talking the cash out of the pockets of its workers. And they are, and have been, willing to fight tooth and nail to get as big a slice of the profit pie as possible.

Considering the board’s decision last year, led by Arthur S., (Arthur T.’s cousin, a rival heir to the company who now controls the company’s board) to funnel an extra $250 million of Market Basket takings to its nine family shareholders, it’s easy to see why workers are concerned that they may get short shrift in the shakeup. (The We Are Market Basket website and Facebook page has been compiling a steady list of evidence to that effect.)

This isn’t the first time Arthur S. has tried wresting control of Market Basket from his same-named cousin. An ugly legal battle raged last year in which Arthur S.’s side of the family, who control 50.5 percent of the company, tried to grab some $1.5 billion in payouts on top of the $500 million they’d made in the past decade, according to Globe columnist Adrian Walker. These intra-family fights go back decades. Back in 2000, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly described the Demoulas vs. Demoulas saga as follows: “One family. Ten years. $800 million. More than a dozen lawyers. One witness on the stand for 17 days. One case that wouldn’t end. … [It] was a monster, a modern-day Hydra: every time one evil head would be severed, two more would sprout in its place.” [Slate.com]

Why do we need unions? Because greed has become more than commonplace in the boardrooms of corporate America, it has become the prevailing creed under which these companies operate. Rich isn’t rich enough. The only good money is more money. And the workers who make that wealth possible are no more important than the share croppers of old. They are expendable. Their poverty is their problem and the food stamps and welfare they need to survive is paid for by you and me, the taxpayer.

When the tax rates for the very rich were between 70 and 90 percent, it made sense for those people to invest their money in their workers and their companies, but with the loop holes and historically low tax rates they now enjoy it makes it easy to keep that money for themselves.

That is why we need unions, because even the good executives can’t stop the culture of greed that now dominates big business. And if they can’t survive, if responsible CEO’s like Arthur T. can’t keep their jobs, then who besides a union is left to protect workers and their livelihoods.

Just Say No to Koch in School!

noreply@blogger.com (The T-Dude) — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 19:19:00 +0000

Let’s just say, for arguments sake, that you are a dyed in the wool Republican. I’m not talking an old school Eisenhower Republican; I’m talking a true right-wing libertarian, Fox News watching, Glenn Beck loving, free market, trickle down economics Republican.

And then, for the fun of it, I told you that the Teamsters and the Service Employees Union had gotten together and are sponsoring a business class for high school students, taught by your local high school teacher in your local high school. And what if that class focused on the importance of unionization to the economic future of America?

And for the icing on the cake, at the end of the class, the students got paid with scholarships etc.

Would you be comfortable with that? (If you are such a Republican, I suspect you just popped a nitro tablet to fight off the angina.)

Well my hardcore Republican friends don’t worry. It is actually just the opposite of what I described. It is, instead, the very right wing Charles G. Koch Foundation and they are buying their way into schools to teach the anti-regulation, free market dogma that mirrors the Tea Party libertarian view of the world.

That’s right folks, the hardcore right wingers at the Koch Foundation don’t like the fact that kids go to college and start thinking, so they are trying to indoctrinate them before they get there through a subsidiary organization called Youth Entrepreneurs.

“Lesson plans and class materials obtained by The Huffington Post make the course's message clear: The minimum wage hurts workers and slows economic growth. Low taxes and less regulation allow people to prosper. Public assistance harms the poor. Government, in short, is the enemy of liberty.”

And this it isn’t just the interpretation of the Huffington Post. Emails obtained from the program’s open Google group (thanks guys!) make the true intent of the program is clear.

“…the current structure of the program began to take shape in November 2009, documents show, when a team of associates at the Charles G. Koch Foundation launched an important project with Charles Koch's blessing: They would design and test what they called "a high school free market and liberty-based course" with support from members of the Koch family's vast nonprofit and political network. A pilot version of the class would be offered the following spring to students at the Wichita Collegiate School, an elite private prep school in Kansas where Koch was a top donor.

"First, the Koch team chose its mascot: a golden eagle holding a knife in its beak. They also assigned each other nicknames: Ol' Mucky Terrahawk, Mighty Killer, Big Gay Mule, Midnight Bandit and the Erratic Assassin. The group dubbed itself the "Wu-Teach Clan.

"Over the next six months, members of the Wu-Teach Clan exchanged hundreds of emails with one another and with Koch lieutenants. They hashed out a strategy to infiltrate public schools after surveys showed that the wealthy prep school students largely failed to absorb their libertarian message.

"The emails show that Charles Koch had a hands-on role in the design of the high school curriculum, directly reviewing the work of those responsible for setting up the course. The goal, the group said flatly, was to turn young people into "liberty-advancing agents" before they went to college, where they might learn "harmful" liberal ideas.” [HuffPost]

Here are just a few of the “falsehoods” that the YE group wanted to dispel with students:

·         Rich get richer at the expense of the poor

·         FDR/New Deal brought us out of the depression

·         Government wealth transfer programs help the poor

·         Private industry incapable of doing functions that public sector has always done

·         Unions protect the employees

·         People with the same job title should be paid the same amount ...

·         Minimum wage, "living wage," laws are good for people/society

·         Capitalist societies provide an environment for greed and materialism to flourish

Hey, this is a long article and I’m not going to run through the entire thing. The bottom line is this. The Koch Foundation is targeting woefully underfunded school districts that are desperate for any infusion of cash or free curricula with right wing propaganda designed to shape the student’s ideology so that it more closely reflects their own. They aren’t teaching kids to think, they are attempting to indoctrinate them into the extreme political right-wing.

And it doesn’t have to stop after high school.

“A student can take the YE course in high school, participate in the YE Academy to earn scholarship money and then use that money to pay for a degree from a Koch-funded university. So it isn't just a relatively small but growing high school program offered in Kansas and Missouri. It's part of a larger mission.” [HuffPost]

YE isn’t about the students, its mission is creating a political future that serves to protect the wealth of the elite to the detriment of the rest of us. It is about securing the future of those with money and power. It is, simply put, class warfare designed to ensure that the robber barons of today continue to pillage the economy of tomorrow.

Full Article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/16/koch-brothers-education_n_5587577.html

The Stock Markets Are Just a Casino

noreply@blogger.com (The T-Dude) — Thu, 10 Jul 2014 17:56:00 +0000

This report from Yahoo Finance shows just how Vegas like the financial markets have become. They are no longer about investing in something, they are no longer about owning a part of a company that builds things, they are about moving money and making short-term profits – in other words, gambling Texas Hold’em style.

The company profiled in the article is called CYNK Technology. It claims to be some sort of social media company and its stock price has climbed nearly 25,000 percent in the past three and a half weeks.

You are reading that correctly, twenty-five thousand percent.

That growth, as of the writing of this post, gave the company a market cap of around 5 BILLION dollars. According to the filings on the company, they have no assets and at last reporting an operating loss of 1.5 million dollars.

But here’s the thing, no one can even prove that that the company exists. It has never turned a profit, it has only one known employee, and the location of the company is uncertain.

Given that, how is that kind of growth in price even possible?

Because investors no longer care what a company makes, they just want to know if they are going to make money. They don’t buy the stock for the dividend or the long-term prospects of the company.

They buy it for the change in price. It is buy low, sell high on steroids.

This is one of the reasons our infrastructure in America is crumbling. Investing in infrastructure is a long-term investment and investors are looking to the next quarter, to the next trade, not years down the road.

From ten cents a share to over four dollars a share in a month…based on absolutely nothing.

If this doesn’t make the case for more regulation in the financial markets, if this doesn’t illustrate what is wrong with the ever growing investment side of our economy, then I don’t know what to tell you.

Something has to be done before we find ourselves in another recession built on the ponzi-scheme like greed of the financial players in our investor class. Like Veruca Salt of Willy Wonka fame, they want it all and they certainly don’t care what it takes to get it. And that includes screwing the economy into the ground and leaving the American people to pick up the tab…again.

Courage Under Fire

noreply@blogger.com (The T-Dude) — Wed, 09 Jul 2014 20:19:00 +0000

Girls are constantly under attack for the way they look. The clothes they wear, their body type, the hair style they choose. Carleigh O'Connell was bullied by peers through a piece of graffiti. It hurt, she was upset, and then she decided to fight back in the best way she could, by showing her courage to the world.

She donned a swimsuit and stood next to that piece of hateful scrawl and took a picture. She then put that picture up on Instagram and sent it to her mother so she could share it on Facebook. Carleigh wanted other victims of this type of bullying to know “There are people there for you. You’re not alone,”

To quote Carleigh's mother:

"For all youth across America and the world. Words can hurt but how you handle the words makes all the difference.

"Please share this example with anyone you think is hurting because of others and thank you for reading this."

Carleigh O’Connell, as the father of two daughters I want you to know that I am proud of you for the example you just set for young women everywhere. You knocked it out of the park.

And to the person(s) who wrote that little missive on that concrete all I can say is:

Well...I can't say what I want to say because I'm attempting the same level of class and dignity as Carleigh, something I'm not always capable of doing, particularly when it comes to bullies.

To help share this example of courage, go here to Daryl Lynn O'Connell's Facebook post. And while you are there, read the entire post by Carleigh's mom. As a parent, I totally get where she is coming from and I applaud her for standing up with her daughter in her efforts to help others. It is hard to let your kids be courageous, your instincts are to protect them. But sometimes the best way to protect them is to let them be brave. It's not always easy to do.

Kudos Ms. O'Connell, you and your daughter have done something special and I applaud you.

(If you know of a kid struggling with these kinds of problems http://us.reachout.com/, and http://www.about-face.org/ have a really positive message and were created for teens to have someone to talk to whenever they need it, day or night.)

I Can’t Be a Slut, I Have a Gold Card!

noreply@blogger.com (The T-Dude) — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 16:48:00 +0000

Where are the feminists when you need them?

When I was a kid, you couldn’t swing a dead cat without hitting a dyed in the wool feminist. They wore their empowerment, their sexual liberation, like a medal of honor. And they demanded that women stand together in their hard fight for equality.

Well turn back the clocks ladies, because the young women of America are eating their own and they are doing it in a nasty way.

A recent study out of the University of Michigan has examined the act known as “slut shaming” and has found that rich girls are using the label of "slut" to separate themselves from those girls who come from lower incomes.

According to the study as reported on NBC.com:

Researchers […] studied a group of 53 women who lived on the same college dorm floor in the 2004-2005 academic year and followed them for about five years for the study published in the June issue of Social Psychology Quarterly.

What the researchers found is that class warfare, expressed in terms of sexuality, is alive and well. Rich girls, who have more hookups than their less well-to-do female classmates, believe their own sexual escapades are "classy." Their poorer classmates who have the same sexual behaviors are "trashy," or "slutty."

That so-called "classiness" gives the more well-to-do young women license to enjoy sexual exploration without the fear of a derogatory label, explains lead researcher Elizabeth A. Armstrong, associate professor of sociology and organizational studies at the University of Michigan.

"We were surprised by how willing (these) women were to throw around the word 'slut,' since it's so clearly damaging," says Armstrong, co-author of "Paying for the Party: How College Maintains Inequality."

Simply put, the rich girls are actually having more sex but they want you to think they're classy. So they throw damaging labels like "slut" and "whore" on girls who aren’t as rich as they are in order to feel better about their own sexual escapades.

I’ve written more than once on the damage income inequality does to our country and our society. But I never thought about this cruel and personal way that it affects our young girls. As a parent of two girls, I am both worried and disgusted by the way they could be treated merely because we are middle class.

Feminism, in nearly all its forms, would not condone using sexual slurs as a way to cement a woman’s superior social status over another woman. The way that these girls are bullying those less financially fortunate than themselves hurts both the individuals targeted and the overall cause of equality for women. Women are still paid less than men. Women are still be bought and sold as sex slaves. And yet the little rich girls would rather bully another young woman than stand with her in solidarity.

Of course, it could be a case of depraved indifference. The rich girls have it pretty good these days. Their families are getting richer while everyone else is treading water or getting poorer. They have their designer bags to hold their gold cards while the rest of us are pinching pennies at WalMart.

Or maybe it is just a manifestation of the dark side of human nature. Since the beginning of human civilization, beating up on the poor has been a popular sport for the well-to-do, why should today be any different?

All I know is, Bella Abzug must be rolling in her grave.

"But what about Chris' right to live?"

noreply@blogger.com (The T-Dude) — Thu, 29 May 2014 15:35:00 +0000

Samuel Wurzelbacher

Every time one of these mass shooting tragedies happens, some moron has to give the “Guns don’t kill people” speech. You’d think they would be smart enough to keep their mouths shut, but they just can’t help themselves. Zealots are like that I guess. But this one is particularly disgusting.

Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, also known as Joe the Plumber, was the poster child for the McCain/Palin campaign. He was supposed to be the example of how Democratic policies were keeping the hard working little guy down. He recently penned an open letter to the parents of the Santa Barbara victims. In this letter, he wrote:

"I am sorry you lost your child. I myself have a son and daughter and the one thing I never want to go through, is what you are going through now. But: As harsh as this sounds -- your dead kids don’t trump my Constitutional rights,"

Well, I have an open letter for Mr. Wurzelbacher:

Dear Mr. Plumber,

As harsh as this sounds, you can go fuck yourself. In fact, why not use that gun of yours to do it. Just take the bullets out (Safety First!) and shove it straight up your ass.

Oh, and while you’re enjoying that bit of self abuse, think about this: You are wrong. The children killed in Isla Vista, in Aurora, in Sandy Hook, and in the streets of Chicago every day had a right to live. They had the right to grow up and get married and have kids of their own. They were given that right by the U.S. Constitution as well as by God.

The Preamble to the Constitution reads:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

I think, and I suspect most scholars would agree, that getting gunned down in the streets is a violation of these founding principles.

Now Sam, I know you are not a scholar. You’re just an average Joe trying to make his way in the world, but even you can agree that an innocent kid getting shot to death is surely a violation of his Constitutional rights.

(That gun making your bungholio sore? Try more lube.)

The 2^nd Amendment says “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

The very first phrase sets the context for the rest of the sentence. In Heller, the U.S. Supreme Court stated that "[t]he adjective 'well regulated' implies nothing more than the imposition of proper discipline and training."

The vast majority of average Joe’s do not have the proper discipline and training to own anything more than a BB gun. I know you were in the Air Force Sam, but Joe Six-Pack wasn’t. His training was at best his old man telling him how to shoot, how to load, and how not to shoot himself or his buddies by mistake. But I really don’t think that qualifies as “well regulated”.

Besides, anyone who has even glanced at the history of this amendment knows that it was intended to be an alternative to a standing federal army. Nowhere in the debate was defense against common crime or the right to go hunting ever mentioned. This was about providing for the “common defense”, the defense of our country, not your right to blast away at scary people on your doorstep or at fuzzy critters in the woods.

And don’t get me started on assault rifles. They are designed to kill people. They were intended for the military. Joe Six-Pack isn’t military and he doesn’t need to have a 30 round magazine in a semi-auto killing machine.

Besides, you’re a “gun guy”, you and I both know that a short barreled shot gun is the very best choice for home defense. It won’t accidentally send a bullet down the street and kill your neighbor and you don’t need much aim to use it.

How’s that sphincter feeling right about now? Hurts? Well, now you know how the rest of us feel about you gun nuts and your misguided, ignorant and hurtful statements like the one you made to the parents of those dead kids. You are a huge pain in the rest of our asses and we’d really like you to just shut the fuck up.

Sincerely,

The T-Dude

The bottom line is this: gun control is constitutional, it is appropriate, and it is proven to be an effective way to reduce gun deaths. We force car owners to have liability insurance, to be licensed, to pass tests. Shouldn't that be at least the minimum requirement to own something specifically designed to kill? You may have a right to bear arms, but that right was never intended to fill our streets with weapons…and the bodies of dead children.

Quick Hits: Now with Sex, Death and Reading

noreply@blogger.com (The T-Dude) — Tue, 29 Apr 2014 20:32:00 +0000

That’s a Wide Load

I sometimes wonder if scientists talk to each other or read each others research. A new study has come out that says that women with wider hips have more sex. The reason they suspect has to do with ease of childbirth and less fear of having a child.

Seriously?

Did they completely ignore the research showing that women who don’t fit the stick thin ideal that the fashion houses and women’s rags promote are more likely to have sex because they are seeking affirmation of their attractiveness?

Women with wide hips aren’t less afraid of giving birth and therefore are less afraid of having sex. Women with wide hips are afraid they aren’t as pretty as other women and therefore are more likely to use sex to feel desirable.

One in 25 on Death Row Likely Innocent

According to a new study, four percent (or one in every 25) of all defendants sentenced to death – and who are still on death row, are likely innocent of the crime of which they have been convicted.

To quote my youngest daughter’s famous line from kindergarten, “What the hell Josh?” (And soon after to her teacher who overheard: “It’s okay, it’s in the Bible. Besides, my mom says it all the time.)

Those revenge hungry, pro-death penalty folks will also quote the bible. An eye for an eye they say. But in every passage they quote, the person to be put to death is GUILTY. If we are unable to ensure that the people we are giving the ultimate penalty are actually guilty, then we have no business executing anyone at all.

Executing an innocent person is murder. If I remember the commandments, somewhere around five or six on the “Thou shall not” hit parade is murder. Whether you are a Christian or not, I think we all agree that murder is wrong and that is exactly what the death penalty is, or could be four percent of the time.

Oh, and the next time a pro-death penalty advocate decides to go all Old Testament on you, just give him the President Bartlett treatment.

Maycomb County goes Digital!

Harper Lee

For those of you who share my affinity for To Kill a Mockingbird, perhaps the greatest American novel, there is good news. Author Harper Lee has given the okay for a digital release of her book. It comes out comes out July 8, the 54^th anniversary of the book’s original release.

I hope this opens up the beauty that is Mockingbird to a whole new audience. It is a masterpiece that everyone should read.

Another Reason to Occupy Wall Street

noreply@blogger.com (The T-Dude) — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 19:08:00 +0000

You learn something new every day.

Unfortunately, these days, it seems like I’m not learning anything that really makes me feel good. At first, I thought it was me. But the more I read, the more I learn, the more disillusioned I become, the more I realize it is the world around me and I’m just reacting the way any sane person would.

This excellent article in The Week is a perfect example.

It turns out that one of the big drivers behind our faltering infrastructure in this country is the deregulation of the banking industry and the total Vegas-esque free-for-all that is the investment sector of the economy.

Because of the disproportionate growth of the financial sector, money is no longer flowing to infrastructure or R & D investment. In its simplest terms, the Wild West Wall Street investors are looking for short-term profits. Investment in infrastructure and R & D is a long-term investment in the future.

To quote the article:

The deregulation of the financial sector — promoted by Republican and Democratic administrations — has changed America from an economy focused on sustainable growth toward a free-for-all for the wealthy.

This change is called "financialization." The financial sector has grown to almost 8 percent of GDP, from about 4 percent in Reagan's time. That the financial sector has grown isn't necessarily a problem; what is a problem is that it has grown faster than the rest of the economy. The purpose of the financial sector is to facilitate investment in a wide array of activities — to grease the wheels of the economy, so to speak. If the rest of the economy doesn't grow along with the financial sector, it is not fulfilling that purpose.

So, instead of money flowing to things like building/repairing bridges and roads and sewer systems that create good middle class jobs (which raises the ability of the masses to consume which helps grow the economy), money is being gambled back and forth at the Wall Street craps table where all the money goes back into the pockets of the gamblers.

Oh, and the occasional hooker.

When you combine that with the historically low taxes on this type of income and the growing wealth and income disparity, cities and states no longer have the cash (or financing) available to keep our roads from crumbling from beneath our feet.

There is more to this story than that, but that is the gist. Not only did the tax payers have to bail out the “too big to fail” banks, but now they are back to screwing us so that they can make even more profit.

We have to put some common sense back into our economy. The richest among us should be taxed at a much higher rate, Wall Street needs to be regulated, and investment in infrastructure, in our country's future, should be rewarded.

It seems so simple when I say it out loud, but it doesn't make me feel any better.

Cosmopolitan or Pornography - Which is Exploiting Women?

noreply@blogger.com (The T-Dude) — Tue, 04 Mar 2014 21:03:00 +0000

There was an Internet debate raging last week centered on a young Duke University co-ed who was outed as a porn actress. It seems she had been flying out to the west coast to shoot hardcore porn scenes as a way to pay for her education.

Much of the discussion focused on whether being a porn actress was empowering or demeaning. Is this young woman demonstrating and exercising her sexual independence or is she willingly participating in an exploitative and damaging activity?

The whole debate got me thinking about how women are portrayed in mainstream media and how women consume those portrayals. I have never been a fan of the advertorial “women’s” magazines like Cosmopolitan, Style, Vogue etc. I have always believed that they contribute more to the unhappiness of women than pornography ever will.

Why? Because they are infinitely more accessible to women, more readily consumed by women and they have an obvious and negative effect on the how women feel about themselves. Their pages are filled with images of stick figure models and Photoshopped ads that sell a definition of beauty that is unobtainable for nearly all and unhealthy to boot.

That’s right, these magazines that are targeted at women, consumed by women and often times produced by women are stomping on the self-esteem of women. They are setting unhealthy standards that nearly no one can live up to nor should even try. And women are suffering for it.

Past research has shown that women who are regularly exposed to media portraying the ultra-thin, supposedly beautiful ideal are more likely to suffer lower self-esteem, body dissatisfaction, and depressive moods.

The really scary part comes from a recent study that suggests that these negative effects on women and their perception of how weight affects beauty begins with as little as 60 seconds of exposure.

(For those of you who don’t want to read, here is a short video report on the study.

Ann Taylor ad model before and after photoshopping

And we wonder why young women are cutting themselves, are suffering eating disorders and are lying down in cancer-causing, radiation emitting beds in an effort to feel empowered and beautiful. We wonder why heavier girls are having sex sooner in an effort to feel desired. We wonder why women gulp diet pills that have no proven effectiveness yet sell millions of bottles. It is, in part, because of these magazines and the advertising that occupies most of their pages.

They are intentionally making women feel inferior, they are driving down the self-esteem of women because they want to sell more make-up, more clothing, more perfume, more body slimming undergarments to women who are unhappy and depressed. And they are unhappy and depressed because they are failing to meet the unhealthy standard of beauty that these rags promote.

The World Dictionary definition of “exploit”: to take advantage of (a person, situation, etc), esp. unethically or unjustly for one's own ends

Does pornography exploit or promote the exploitation of women?

If you answer that question in the affirmative, then I think you must also agree that these mainstream women's magazines and media outlets, and the advertising they run, are exploiting women as well. The fashion houses and makeup companies that shuttle out these rail-thin waifs and Photoshopped fantasy images are exploiting women. They are not only preying on their fears and insecurities, they are feeding them. They are cultivating an illness so that they can sell the snake oil cure.

If that isn’t exploitation, then what is?

Two Words

noreply@blogger.com (The T-Dude) — Mon, 03 Mar 2014 19:17:00 +0000

I hate it when medical societies and other medical not-for-profit organizations use the word "healthcare" in their press releases. It's "health care", two words if you please. Check your damn AP Stylebook people!

They really ought to know better, don't you think?

Quick Hits - In the Barn with Pork and Hannah Montana

noreply@blogger.com (The T-Dude) — Tue, 25 Feb 2014 19:42:00 +0000

It’s Hard to Make Bacon when you’re Porking Yourself

Mega retailer WalMart is porking itself. They have opposed a hike in the minimum wage but now that the Federal subsidies for low wage/no wage workers are drying up, workers like the ones employed by WalMart can no longer afford to shop…at WalMart.

“On Thursday morning, the retailing giant announced a 21 percent drop in profits in the last three months of the year, which covers the crucial holiday season. Some of the drop had to do with weather -- more than 200 Walmart stores had to close some time over the last few months because of winter storms. However, much of the decline was the result of a pull back by shoppers pinched by recent federal benefits cuts, officials said on an earnings call Thursday.

U.S. same store sales dropped 0.4 percent last quarter U.S. CEO Bill Simon said on the call. If the government hadn’t cut food stamp benefits in November, “we believe the quarter would have been flat,” he said.

In other words, the food stamp cuts were so devastating; customers were too poor to shop at Walmart.” Huffington Post

You know, if the minimum wage was raised to say 10 or 11 bucks-an-hour, don’t you think more of WalMart’s core customers would have enough money to shop at WalMart?

Hannah Montana Ended Up Naked - And Parents are Pissed

Parents aren’t too thrilled with Miley Cyrus. In fact, some are going so far as to complain to her record label about the racy nature of her most recent concert tour.

“Right now, Miley’s show includes her simulating oral sex on a Bill Clinton lookalike, riding a flying hot dog in a suggestive manner and fake-pleasuring herself on stage.

“Oh, and don’t forget the twerking. She’s still doing that.” Kansas City Star

Are these parents just f-ing stupid or do they live under a rock? How can you live in the US and not know that Miley has been slutting it up all over the place. From the simulated sex/twerking on the Grammys to her naked ride on a wrecking ball in her music video to her latest half topless photo shoot Miley has taken Hannah Montana out the barn for a game of “Skin to Win.”

And Miley hates to lose.

If you don’t want your kids exposed to Miley’s “art”, then don’t buy a ticket. It isn’t her fault that you plunked down the cash for a show you don’t want your kid to see. In fact, before you buy a ticket for your kid to go see a concert, or a movie, or a theatrical performance, or anything else, do a little research first.

It’s called parenting, give it a try sometime. One thing I know for sure - it isn’t Miley’s job to raise your kid.

Big, Fast, Strong, Gay and... Really Smart

noreply@blogger.com (The T-Dude) — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 21:02:00 +0000

Michael Sam is poised to be the first openly gay player in the National Football League.

He isn’t yet. Right now, he is just a high quality college player waiting to be drafted.

How high quality? The 6-foot-2 and 260 pound Missouri University defensive lineman was a first team All-American, was named the top defensive player in the Southeastern Conference, and teammates named him the team's most valuable player.

That is the kind of resume that gets you drafted.

Now, the NFL isn’t exactly known for being a gay-friendly environment. Just ask ex-Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe who isn’t gay, but is an outspoken supporter of gay rights. He has also been very public about the abuse and ire he suffered for speaking out in support of gay marriage. He goes so far as to say that his support of gay rights contributed to his being released by the Vikings and ultimately out of the NFL.

Why would a football player who is hoping to get drafted publicly announce that he was gay?

Because he wants to get drafted, that’s why.

Michael Sam had already told his teammates that he was gay. That means that the NFL scouts would know that he was gay. And in the war rooms on draft day, they could, under the cloak of secrecy, decide not to draft him without anyone knowing that his sexuality was a contributing factor in that decision.

Now the NFL has to make that decision in the light of day.

Michael Sam will be drafted. And the team that drafts him will do it knowing that he is gay and knowing that the world knows that his is gay. If Michael Sam had waited and come out after being drafted, there would be resentment from teammates, from management and from narrow-minded fans who would have claimed he failed to be upfront and honest before being offered a roster slot. His coming out before the draft was the smart move that makes those criticisms moot.

Michael Sam is gay. He is out. He is going to be drafted by the NFL. Slide over and make some room on that bench of honor Jackie Robinson, here is another courageous athlete who is breaking down the barriers built by bigots.

I only hope that the rough road paved by Jackie helps make Michael Sam’s journey just a little bit easier.

Oh, and let’s hope that he doesn’t get drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs.

Kansas State House Passes Bill Allowing Refusal of Services to Same Sex Couples

The Middle Class is Dying - And Corporate America Knows

noreply@blogger.com (The T-Dude) — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 20:58:00 +0000

The Republican’s don’t want to admit it, but the middle class is dying. It is dying the way most things do any more, slowly running down until they just cease to function.

The irony is that the corporate/investor world, a cornerstone of the Republican political base, knows this is happening. They are, in fact, telling the world with their investment dollars that the middle class’s future health is a dim prospect.

According to this New York Times article:

“…new research by the economists Steven Fazzari, of Washington University in St. Louis, and Barry Cynamon, of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, backs up what is already apparent in the marketplace.

In 2012, the top 5 percent of earners were responsible for 38 percent of domestic consumption, up from 28 percent in 1995, the researchers found.

Even more striking, the current recovery has been driven almost entirely by the upper crust… Since 2009, the year the recession ended, inflation-adjusted spending by this top echelon has risen 17 percent, compared with just 1 percent among the bottom 95 percent.

More broadly, about 90 percent of the overall increase in inflation-adjusted consumption between 2009 and 2012 was generated by the top 20 percent of households in terms of income, according to the study, which was sponsored by the Institute for New Economic Thinking, a research group in New York.”

Investment money flows toward profit. Why would it not? And the richest among us are buying things, eating at higher end restaurants, they are spending and the rest of us are not so those businesses are expanding while those that target the middle class are shutting their doors.

In the end, what does this mean? According to a Facebook post by former Labor Secretary Robert Reich:

“As a result: (1) the sinking middle class no longer has enough purchasing power to keep the economy growing and creating sufficient jobs; (2) the shrinking middle isn’t generating enough tax revenue for adequate education, training, safety nets, and family services; while (3) the rich are accumulating more and more political power to reduce their own taxes and get corporate welfare (subsidies, bailouts, tax cuts) for their businesses.”

I think another risk in this inequality of income and wealth is the devastating effect a stock market slide could have on the economy.

Consumers are a primary driver of the economy. The rich are the only consumers who are expanding their spending. When the casino that is the stock market turns bearish, and it will, they will reduce their spending and suddenly we are staring at another recession.

A strong middle class is an imperative for our economy. They produce, they consume, and they mitigate the effects of economic negatives like rising oil prices and housing downturns. Investing in a strong middle class is a kind of economic insurance against things like the Great Recession.

It is time that the conservatives learn that. And it is time for the Democrats to walk the walk and start playing hard ball on investing in our county’s future - a vibrant, employed middle class.

The State of Union – Quick Hits Edition

noreply@blogger.com (The T-Dude) — Mon, 03 Feb 2014 21:21:00 +0000

The President’s State of the Union speech was 13 pages long, not a Clinton-esque verbal marathon but still substantial. And I know it's sometimes hard to pull yourself away from those Criminal Minds and NCIS - Cleveland reruns so I have done you a favor. I have summarized the speech, in fact, I summarized it twice.

The first version is for everyone who has the attention span of an ADD squirrel on Red Bull - otherwise known as everyone under the age of 25.

The second is for those folks who eat standing up and don’t have time to digest an entire sit down meal.

A couple of notes, the section dividers are mine. They just seemed to make sense. Second, I had to cut stuff, mostly hyperbole, and paraphrase other things. If you want the full political Monty, quit being lazy and watch the damn speech.

The Over Caffeinated ADD Squirrel Version:

Congress sucks and everything good that has happened is in spite these contrary, obstructionist do-nothings. They are really just a bunch douche bags who want to screw the poor, raise more money from their rich friends and get reelected. So, blame this room full of fucktards if you are pissed and know that I’m going to try to accomplish stuff anyway - with or without them.

The Standing Diners Edition:

Introduction

People in America are doing great things – working hard for both their families and to make America stronger.

Economy - General

The economy is stronger, more job creation, stronger markets (housing, manufacturing), a majority of oil used is from America. We are battling back from the Great Recession.

We may argue over the size of government, but failing to address our nation’s problems with government shut downs and threatening our credit rating is “not doing right” by the American people.

The recent budget compromise restored some vital programs, but it isn’t enough. With economic growth, high stock prices, and high corporate profits, the rich are doing great, but the average American is still hurting, working harder than before for not enough to get by.

The Economy Part 2 - If Congress Won’t – I will

We have to help the middle class and help the poor. I will try to work with Congress to do that but if they won’t work with me, I’ll go it alone.

Without Congress, we have worked to reduce childhood obesity (Let’s Move!), get veterans jobs (Joining Forces Alliance), and make college education more accessible (College Opportunity Summit). We are partnering with state and local elected officials on other issues (homelessness and marriage inequality)

Americans are tired of the stale political arguments; they believe success should be an opportunity for all, not just the rich. More than half of American big manufacturers are considering bringing jobs back from overseas. Government has to make that easier through tax reform that encourages hiring Americans.

Economy Part 3 – Infrastructure and Research

We need to Congress to spend money on building America’s infrastructure to create jobs. But even if they don’t, I will act on my own to reduce the barriers (reduce bureaucracy) to keep infrastructure projects moving forward.

We are launching more high tech manufacturing hubs (two exist now) but Congress has to authorize them. We have to be able to compete in international markets while protecting our environment and our workers. This includes more government funded research, bipartisan trade promotion authority and patent reform.

Economy Part 3 - Energy

A big factor in creating jobs is American energy and we are closer to energy independence than we’ve been in decades thanks to natural gas. I will cut red tape to help states move more factories and transportation to natural gas while strengthening environmental protections.

We are becoming a global leader in solar energy and that creates jobs in America. We need to stop giving 4 billion a year to fossil fuel companies and invest more in fuels of the future that create jobs in America.

Climate change is a fact and I am working with states and industries to set new, tougher standards for carbon emissions.

Economy Part 4 – Immigration

We need to get immigration reform done this year. Economists say reform can grow the economy and shrink the deficit by nearly a trillion dollars over the next two decades.

Economy Part 5 – Jobs and the Unemployed

We know how hook up employers with job seekers and to train workers for jobs (American Job Centers). I have asked VP Biden to lead an across the board reform of America’s training programs to train American’s in the skills that employers need and then to match them with jobs.

We also have to restore unemployment insurance that Congress just allowed to expire for 1.6 million people. They are hard working people who want to work. Congress – give these people a chance to get back on their feet.

I’ve been talking with CEOs to give more long-term unemployed a job.

Education

We need to give every child access to a world-class education. Race to the Top has helped states raise performance. But we have to start educating kids sooner research shows one of the best investments we can make is high quality early education. And as Congress decides what it wants to do, I am pulling together a coalition of elected officials, business leaders and philanthropists to get kids more access to pre-K education.

Toward meeting my pledge last year of connecting 99 percent of students to high speed Internet, we have started connecting more than 15,000 schools and 20 million students over the next two years.

We are also offering millions the opportunity to cap their monthly student loan payments at 10 percent of their income.

Women, the Economy, and the Minimum Wage

It is embarrassing that women make up half the workforce but only make 77% of what men make. More women work in low wage jobs. I asked Congress last year to raise the minimum wage. Five states of done it on their own and I ask others to do so.

I am issuing an executive order requiring federal contractors to pay federally-funded employees $10.10 an hour. Raising the minimum wage will give business customers more money to spend and it doesn’t require any new programs. Give workers a raise.

Support the Earned Income Tax Credit.

Savings and Income Disparity (sort of)

Help people save for retirement. Tomorrow I will direct the Treasury to create a new way to save for retirement called MyRA, a new savings bond that gives a decent return with no risk. Congress needs to help as well by fixing an upside down tax code that gives big breaks that help the wealthy save but no help to the middle class and offer every American access to an automatic IRA on the job so they can save just like Congressmen and Senators do.

Send me legislation to protect homeowners from having to foot the bill in a housing crisis.

Health Care

The Affordable Care Act is working. Nine million people now have insurance and no one can be denied insurance because of a pre-existing condition.

ACA is the law of the land; we don’t need another 40 votes to repeal it. If the Republicans have ideas on how to make it better, I’m happy to listen.

Common Citizenship

Citizenship means standing up for everyone’s right to vote. I appointed a bipartisan commission and they have offered reforms so no one has to wait more than a half hour to vote.

Citizenship means standing up for the lives that gun violence steals from us every day. With or without Congress I will work to stop more tragedies like Sandy Hook.

International Part 1 - Afghanistan

By the end of the year, our troops will be out of Afghanistan and we will support a unified Afghanistan. If the Afghans sign a security agreement, a small number of Americans with NATO allies will remain to fight terrorism and train Afghan security forces.

International Part 2 – Terrorists/Intelligence and Privacy

The danger from terrorism remains. We will continue to fight these networks. Combat new threats like cyber attacks and in the reformed defense budget make sure our soldiers have what they need.

The military alone cannot protect America. I won’t send troops unless truly necessary. We won’t fight the fights the terrorists want – large scale deployments that drain our strength and feed extremism. We must move off of a permanent war footing.

I will work with Congress to reform surveillance to provide our intelligence while protecting the privacy of ordinary people because the example of our constitutional ideals helps set an example for other countries. Congress needs to lift the restrictions on detainee transfers and we need to close the prison at Guantanamo Cuba.

International Part 3 – The Importance of Diplomacy

Through diplomacy we have prevented nuclear materials from falling in the wrong hands and Syria’s chemical weapons are being eliminated. We are supporting difficult talks between the Palestinians and Israel. And we have halted progress in Iran’s nuclear program.

Negotiations have been difficult and sanctions helped us get to this point, but now we must let diplomacy work. I will not sign a bill authorizing more sanctions unless Iran’s leaders don’t seize this opportunity. And then all options will be back on the table.

The Value of Values

American leadership isn’t defined by our defense against threats but by our ability to do good and promote understanding around the globe.

In the Ukraine we stand with the right of the people to speak, in Africa we are working with business and government to double access to electricity and fight poverty. In the Philippines we rushed to the aid of the typhoon victim to the cheers of “God Bless America.”

The world turns to us because of the principles we stand for and the burdens we bear to advance them.

The America we want isn’t easy, but if we work together I know it is within our reach.

God Bless You and the United States of America.

Quick Hits: The Rumors of My Demise...

noreply@blogger.com (The T-Dude) — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 14:18:00 +0000

...are greatly exaggerated. But some of the news over the past few days prompted me to write, something I haven't felt like doing for quite some time. Perhaps this is a rebirth of the T-Dude, maybe my muse finally got tired of vacationing and decided to return. I don't know, but for the moment, here I am. So enjoy this latest edition of Quick Hits - a quick scan of some of the news stories that got me thinking/pissed off/amused/befuddled.

If This is Class Warfare, Most of Us are Losing

According to a report by Oxfam, 85 people control more wealth than 50 percent of the rest of the world. That's right, enough people for a decent party on a yacht have more wealth than approximately THREE BILLION people. Not scary enough for you? Okay, then let's take a gander at incomes. (Wealth isn't income, income is like a salary. Wealth is better described as the monetary value of things like investments, businesses, homes, etc.)

As reported in this excellent article in The Atlantic, in the U.S., the wealthiest one percent "captured 95 percent of post-financial crisis growth since 2009," Oxfam reports. The bottom 90 percent actually LOST wealth. This translates into the U.S. having the greatest growth in income inequality in the world.

So, if you feel like you are working harder for less and think the richest among us are just get richer and richer, you'd be right. And the Republicans have the gall to say that Progressives are engaging in class warfare.

Don't Piss on my Mitre and Tell Me it's Raining

Even the Pope believes that the Uber-Rich, and the political policies that have helped make them that way, need to change. While the world business leaders meet in Davos, Switzerland (This way they can visit their Swiss bank accounts in person and actually touch all that stashed cash) the Pope issued them a blessing, of sorts.

“We must recognize the fundamental role that modern business activity has had” in improving global well-being, Francis said in the message, which was sent by e-mail today. “Nonetheless, the successes which have been achieved, even if they have reduced poverty for a great number of people, often have led to a widespread social exclusion.”

...The Argentinian pope, elected last year, is making the gap between rich and poor a focus of his pontificate. In November, he condemned “trickle down” economic theories, saying it’s incorrect to assume policies that help the rich will eventually help the poor.

I have to say, it is nice to see a Pope who is concerned with more than just birth control.

Speaking of Making it Rain...

Move over Lindsay Lohan, there's a new Mayor of Debaucheryville. Justin Bieber reportedly dropped $75,000 in singles at the King of Diamonds, a Miami strip club during Lil'Scrappy's birthday bash. (Don't even ask, I have no idea who this Scrappy fellow is.)

Seventy-five thousand...in singles? Man, his lap must be truly sore. But I have to say, it sure is nice to see that trickle down economics at work

Oh Yeah...and Me!

noreply@blogger.com (The T-Dude) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 15:29:00 +0000

On this day in history - April 30th
(lifted from Wikipedia)

My personal favorite is 1945 - Hitler and Eva Braun committ suicide and Russia raises the victory banner over the Reichstad.

311 – The Diocletianic Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire ends.

313 – Battle of Tzirallum: Emperor Licinius defeats Maximinus II and unifies the Eastern Roman Empire.

1315 – Enguerrand de Marigny is hanged on the public gallows at Montfaucon.

1492 – Spain gives Christopher Columbus his commission of exploration.

1513 – Edmund de la Pole, Yorkist pretender to the English throne, is executed on the orders of Henry VIII.

1557 – Mapuche leader Lautaro is killed by Spanish forces at the Battle of Mataquito in Chile.

1598 – Juan Oñate makes a formal declaration of his Conquest of New Mexico.

1671 – Petar Zrinski, the Croatian Ban from the Zrinski family, is executed.

1789 – On the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City, George Washington takes the oath of office to become the first elected President of the United States.

1803 – Louisiana Purchase: The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million, more than doubling the size of the young nation.

1812 – The Territory of Orleans becomes the 18th U.S. state under the name Louisiana.

1838 – Nicaragua declares independence from the Central American Federation.

1863 – A 65-man French Foreign Legion infantry patrol fights a force of nearly 2,000 Mexican soldiers to nearly the last man in Hacienda Camarón, Mexico.

1871 – The Camp Grant Massacre takes place in Arizona Territory.

1885 – Governor of New York David B. Hill signs legislation creating the Niagara Reservation, New York's first state park, ensuring that Niagara Falls will not be devoted solely to industrial and commercial use.

1894 – Coxey's Army reaches Washington, D.C. to protest the unemployment caused by the Panic of 1893.

1900 – Hawaii becomes a territory of the United States, with Sanford B. Dole as governor.

1900 – Casey Jones dies in a train wreck in Vaughn, Mississippi, while trying to make up time on the Cannonball Express.

1904 – The Louisiana Purchase Exposition World's Fair opens in St. Louis, Missouri.

1907 – Honolulu, Hawaii becomes an independent city.

1920 – Peru becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.

1925 – Automaker Dodge Brothers, Inc is sold to Dillon, Read & Company for $146 million plus $50 million for charity.

1927 – The Federal Industrial Institute for Women opens in Alderson, West Virginia, as the first women's federal prison in the United States.

1927 – Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford become the first celebrities to leave their footprints in concrete at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

1937 – The Philippines holds a plebiscite for Filipino women on whether they should be extended the right to suffrage; over 90% would vote in the affirmative.

1938 – The animated cartoon short Porky's Hare Hunt debuts in movie theaters, introducing Happy Rabbit (a prototype of Bugs Bunny).

1938 – The first televised FA Cup Final takes place between Huddersfield Town and Preston North End.

1939 – The 1939-40 New York World's Fair opens.

1939 – NBC inaugurates its regularly scheduled television service in New York City, broadcasting President Franklin D. Roosevelt's N.Y. World's Fair opening day ceremonial address.

1943 – World War II: Operation Mincemeat: The submarine HMS Seraph surfaces in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Spain to deposit a dead man planted with false invasion plans and dressed as a British military intelligence officer.

1945 – World War II: Führerbunker: Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide after being married for one day. Soviet soldiers raise the Victory Banner over the Reichstag building.

1947 – In Nevada, the Boulder Dam is renamed the Hoover Dam a second time.

1948 – In Bogotá, Colombia, the Organization of American States is established.

1953 – In Warner Robins, Georgia, an F4 tornado kills 18 people.

1956 – Former Vice President and Senator Alben Barkley dies during a speech in Virginia. He collapses after proclaiming "I would rather be a servant in the house of the lord than sit in the seats of the mighty."

1961 – K-19, the first Soviet nuclear submarine equipped with nuclear missiles, is commissioned.

1963 – The Bristol Bus Boycott is held in Bristol to protest the Bristol Omnibus Company's refusal to employ Black or Asian bus crews, drawing national attention to racial discrimination in the United Kingdom.
1966 – The Church of Satan is established at the Black House in San Francisco, California.

1967 – The Aldene Connection opened in Roselle Park, NJ, shutting down the CNJ's Jersey City waterfront terminal and transferring commuters to Newark Penn Station.

1973 – Watergate Scandal: U.S. President Richard Nixon announces that top White House aides H.R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman and others have resigned.

1975 – Fall of Saigon: Communist forces gain control of Saigon. The Vietnam War formally ends with the unconditional surrender of South Vietnamese president Duong Van Minh.

1980 – Accession of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.

1982 – Bijon Setu massacre

1993 – CERN announces World Wide Web protocols will be free.

1993 – Monica Seles is stabbed by Günter Parche, an obsessed fan, during a quarterfinal match of the 1993 Citizen Cup in Hamburg, Germany

1994 – Formula One racing driver Roland Ratzenberger is killed in a crash at the San Marino Grand Prix run at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari outside Imola, Italy.

1995 – U.S. President Bill Clinton becomes the first President to visit Northern Ireland.

1999 – Cambodia joins the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bringing the number of members to 10.

2004 – U.S. media release graphic photos of American soldiers abusing and sexually humiliating Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison.

2008 – Two skeletal remains found near Ekaterinburg, Russia are confirmed by Russian scientists to be the remains of Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia and Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna, one of his sisters.

2009 – Chrysler files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

2009 – Seven people are killed and 17 injured at a Queen's Day parade in Apeldoorn, Netherlands in an attempted assassination on Queen Beatrix.

2009 – Azerbaijan State Oil Academy shootings 12 people were killed(students and staff members) by an armed attacker.

2013 – Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands abdicates and Willem Alexander is invested as King of the Netherlands.

Births

1245 – Philip III of France (d. 1285)

1331 – Gaston III, Count of Foix (d. 1391)

1553 – Louise of Lorraine (d. 1601)

1623 – François de Laval, French bishop (d. 1708)

1651 – Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, French educational reformer and Catholic saint (d. 1719)

1662 – Mary II of England (d. 1694)

1664 – François Louis, Prince of Conti, French general (d. 1709)

1710 – Johann Kaspar Basselet von La Rosée, Bavarian general (d. 1795)

1723 – Mathurin Jacques Brisson, French naturalist (d. 1806)

1770 – David Thompson, Canadian explorer (d. 1857)

1777 – Carl Friedrich Gauss, German mathematician (d. 1855)

1803 – Albrecht von Roon, Prussian soldier and statesman, 10th Prime Minister of Prussia (d. 1879)

1812 – Kaspar Hauser, German mystery boy (d. 1833)

1829 – Ferdinand von Hochstetter, Austrian geologist (d. 1884)

1850 – George Gibb, British transport administrator (d. 1925)

1857 – Eugen Bleuler, Swiss psychiatrist (d. 1940)

1857 – Walter Simon, German philanthropist (d. 1920)

1864 – Jean, duc Decazes, French aristocrat and sportsman (d. 1912)

1864 – Juhan Liiv, Estonian poet (d. 1913)

1865 – Max Nettlau, German anarchist and historian (d. 1944)

1869 – Hans Poelzig, German architect, painter, and set designer (d. 1936)

1870 – Franz Lehár, Austrian composer (d. 1948)

1870 – Dadasaheb Phalke, Father of Indian Cinema (d.1944)

1874 – Cyriel Verschaeve, Flemish clergyman (d. 1949)

1876 – Orso Mario Corbino, Italian physicist (d. 1937)

1877 – Alice B. Toklas, American businesswoman (d. 1967)

1877 – Léon Flameng, French cyclist (d. 1917)

1880 – Charles Exeter Devereux Crombie, Scottish cartoonist (d. 1967)

1883 – Jaroslav Hašek, Czech novelist (d. 1923)

1884 – Olof Sandborg, Swedish film and theatre actor (d. 1965)

1893 – Joachim von Ribbentrop, German Nazi foreign minister (d. 1946)

1895 – Philippe Panneton, Canadian physician, diplomat, and writer (d. 1960)

1896 – Hans List, Austrian inventor and entrepreneur (d. 1996)

1896 – Reverend Gary Davis, American singer and guitarist (d. 1972)

1897 – Humberto Mauro, Brazilian director and screenwriter (d. 1983)

1900 – David Manners, Canadian-American actor (d. 1998)

1901 – Simon Kuznets, Ukrainian economist, Nobel laureate (d. 1985)

1902 – Theodore Schultz, American economist, Nobel laureate (d. 1998)

1905 – Sergey Nikolsky, Russian mathematician (d. 2012)

1908 – Eve Arden, American actress (d. 1990)

1908 – Bjarni Benediktsson, Icelandic politician, Prime Minister of Iceland (d. 1970)

1908 – Frank Robert Miller, Canadian airman and politician (d. 1997)

1909 – Juliana of the Netherlands (d. 2004)

1909 – F. E. McWilliam, Irish sculptor (d. 1992)

1910 – Srirangam Srinivasarao, Telugu poet and lyricist (d. 1983)

1910 – Levi Celerio, Filipino composer and lyricist (d. 2002)

1914 – Dorival Caymmi, Brazilian singer-songwriter, actor, and painter (d. 2008)

1916 – Claude Shannon, American engineer and mathematician (d. 2001)

1916 – Robert Shaw, American conductor (d. 1999)

1920 – Duncan Hamilton, English racing driver (d. 1994)

1921 – Tove Maës, Danish actress (d. 2010)

1923 – Percy Heath, American jazz musician (Modern Jazz Quartet) (d. 2005)

1923 – Al Lewis, American actor (d. 2006)

1923 – Francis Tucker, South African race car driver (d. 2008)

1923 – Kagamisato Kiyoji, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 42nd Yokozuna (d. 2004)

1925 – Corinne Calvet, French actress (d. 2001)

1925 – Johnny Horton, American singer and musician (d. 1960)

1926 – Shrinivas Khale, Indian composer/music director from Maharashtra, India (d. 2011)

1926 – Cloris Leachman, American actress

1928 – Hugh Hood, Canadian author (d. 2000)

1930 – Félix Guattari, French philosopher and theorist (d. 1992)

1933 – Dickie Davies, English television presenter

1933 – Willie Nelson, American singer-songwriter, musician, actor, and activist

1934 – Jerry Lordan, English singer-songwriter and composer (d. 1995)

1934 – Don McKenney, Canadian ice hockey player

1938 – Juraj Jakubisko, Slovak director

1938 – Gary Collins, American actor (d. 2012)

1938 – Larry Niven, American author

1940 – Burt Young, American actor

1941 – Stavros Dimas, Greek politician

1941 – Johnny Farina, American musician and composer (Santo & Johnny)

1943 – Frederick Chiluba, Zambian politician, 2nd President of Zambia (d. 2011)

1943 – Bobby Vee, American singer

1944 – Jill Clayburgh, American actress (d. 2010)

1945 – Annie Dillard, American writer

1945 – Mimi Fariña, American singer-songwriter, musician, and activist (d. 2001)

1945 – Michael J. Smith, American astronaut (d. 1986)

1946 – Lee Bollinger, American lawyer and educator

1946 – Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden

1946 – Don Schollander, American swimmer

1946 – Bill Plympton, American animator

1947 – Leslie Grantham, English actor

1947 – Finn Kalvik, Norwegian singer and composer

1947 – Tom Køhlert, Danish footballer

1947 – Manousos Manousakis, Greek director and producer

1947 – Mats Odell, Swedish politician

1948 – Perry King, American actor

1948 – Alexander Onassis, American Greek socialite, son of Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis (d. 1973)

1948 – Pierre Pagé, Canadian ice hockey coach and executive

1949 – Phil Garner, American baseball manager

1949 – António Guterres, Portuguese politician, Prime Minister of Portugal

1952 – Jacques Audiard, French director

1953 – Merrill Osmond, American actor and singer (The Osmonds)

1954 – Thom Bray, American actor

1954 – Jane Campion, New Zealand director

1954 – Frank-Michael Marczewski, German footballer

1955 – Nicolas Hulot, French journalist

1955 – Dimitra Liani, Greek air hostess, widow of Greek Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou

1956 – Lars von Trier, Danish director

1957 – Aviva Chomsky, American historian, daughter of Noam Chomsky

1958 – Charles Berling, French actor, director and screenwriter

1959 – Paul Gross, Canadian actor, director, and writer

1959 – Stephen Harper, Canadian politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Canada

1959 – W. Thomas Smith, Jr, American author and columnist

1960 – Kerry Healey, American politician

1960 – David Miscavige, American leader of the Church of Scientology

1961 – Isiah Thomas, American basketball player

1963 – Stefan Kisyov, Bulgarian novelist

1963 – Michael Waltrip, American race car driver

1964 – Tony Fernandes, Malaysian entrepreneur

1964 – Ian Healy, Australian cricketer

1964 – Kent James, American singer-songwriter, actor, and actvist

1964 – Barrington Levy, Jamaican singer and musician

1965 – Adrian Pasdar, American actor

1965 – The T-Dude, American blogger and general whiner

1966 – Jeff Brown, Canadian ice hockey player

1966 – Dave Meggett, American football player

1967 – Steven Mackintosh, English actor

1969 – Paulo Jr., Brazilian musician (Sepultura)

1969 – Warren Defever, American musician and composer (His Name Is Alive)

1971 – John Boyne, Irish novelist

1971 – Darren Emerson, English DJ (Underworld)

1972 – JR Richards, American singer-songwriter, and musician (Dishwalla)

1973 – Kinna McInroe, American actress

1973 – Jeff Timmons, American singer and producer (98 Degrees)

1975 – Michael Chaturantabut, Thai-American actor

1975 – Johnny Galecki, American actor

1975 – Tomi Joutsen, Finnish metal vocalist (Amorphis)

1975 – Elliott Sadler, American race car driver

1976 – Amanda Palmer, American singer-songwriter, and musician (The Dresden Dolls and Evelyn Evelyn)

1977 – Jeannie Haddaway, American politician

1977 – Alexandra Holden, American actress

1977 – Pell James, American actress

1978 – Tom Fulp, American video game programmer

1979 – Gerardo Torrado, Mexican footballer

1980 – Jeroen Verhoeven, Dutch footballer

1980 – Luis Scola, Argentinian basketball player

1981 – Nicole Kaczmarski, American basketball player

1981 – John O'Shea, Irish footballer

1981 – Emma Pierson, English actress

1981 – Kunal Nayyar, Indian-English actor

1982 – Lloyd Banks, American rapper (G-Unit)

1982 – Kirsten Dunst, American actress

1982 – Cleo Higgins, English singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress (Cleopatra)

1982 – Drew Seeley, Canadian singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor

1983 – Tatjana Hüfner, German luger

1983 – Marina Tomić, Slovenian athlete

1983 – Troy Williamson, American football player

1984 – Shawn Daivari, American wrestler and manager

1984 – Lee Roache, English footballer

1985 – Ashley Alexandra Dupré, American call girl, columnist, and singer

1985 – Gal Gadot, Israeli actress and model

1985 – Brandon Bass, American basketball player

1986 – Dianna Agron, American actress, singer, and dancer

1987 – Alipate Carlile, Australian rules footballer

1987 – Rohit Sharma, Indian cricketer

1987 – Nikki Webster, Australian singer

1988 – Andy Allen, Australian chef and winner of Masterchef Australia season 4

1989 – Jang Wooyoung, South Korean singer (2PM)

1992 – Marc-André ter Stegen, German footballer

2002 – Miguel Urdangarín y de Borbón

Florist, Hairdresser, Dancer, Fashion Designer...

noreply@blogger.com (The T-Dude) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 19:55:00 +0000

Why couldn't it be a big, mean, scary defensive end with a reputation for hurting people?

Nope, just like so many other entertainment products, the NFL may cast itself with a stereotype. The first openly gay player could very well be former Middle Tennessee State kicker Alan Gendreau. That's right, a kicker.

Most of the players in NFL don't even regard kickers as football players. Hell, there is only one player in the Pro Football Hall of Fame who got in as a place kicker. That's right, of the more than 265 players in the Hall of Fame, Jan Stenerud is the only inductee who played solely as a place kicker.

Most football players see kickers as an unfortunate necessity, the little guy with the wierd name whose uniform never seems to get dirty and spends most of his time on the sideline with the cheerleaders but never talks to them.

In other words, they are the super neat, better dressed guy who never really seems to sweat and who doesn't seem to notice the hot chicks right next to him.

If that isn't playing to a stereotype, I sure as hell don't know what is.

Openly gay former college kicker Alan Gendreau trying to get in NFL

Boston

noreply@blogger.com (The T-Dude) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 00:58:00 +0000

What the Fuck? I hope they catch the cowards and put them in a cell with a 12-inch ass monger and throw away the key.

"We are conservative around here. That's just the way of this town."

noreply@blogger.com (The T-Dude) — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 17:30:00 +0000

Just because you are a small town doesn't mean you have the right to discriminate against gays. The only place in the country where you have the right to be a bigot is in your creepy, conservative compound where you clean your guns and wait for the Rapture. Inside those walls, you can be as big an asshat as you want. But out here in the real world, the rest of us demand to be treated equally, regardless of race, creed, or sexual orientation.

Plans for prom barring gays rocks Ind. community - Associated Press

Can't Win? Change the Rules, it's the Republican Way!

noreply@blogger.com (The T-Dude) — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 21:12:00 +0000

Regardless of your political affiliation, if you are a supporter of fair elections, if you believe that the person with the most votes should win, if you are believer in democracy, then you have little choice than to condemn the recent actions of the Republican party.

Still reading?

Good.

The Republicans are unhappy with the last Presidential election. They wanted to win. Unfortunately for them, more people voted for President Obama. In fact, President Obama won the national popular vote by nearly five million votes. A pretty firm margin of victory by any accounting.

But that still doesn't satisfy the Republican party. You know those guys, the white dudes who love tax breaks for the rich and are constantly trying to keep traditionally Democratic voters from casting ballots.

But since those tactics didn't work, they want to follow Josef Stalin's advice ( "You know, comrades,... I consider it completely unimportant who in the party will vote, or how; but what is extraordinarily important is this — who will count the votes, and how.") and are now trying to change the way that votes are counted.

The tool they are using is the U.S. Constitution itself. In Article 2, Section 1, the U.S. Constitution states:

Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.

That means the way that the electors are allocated to candidates in each of the states is determined by the states themselves, not the Federal Government. All but two states are "winner take all". You win the popular vote in that state, you win all their votes in the Electoral College.

The exceptions are Maine and Nebraska. In those states only two of their electoral votes go to the candidate who wins the popular vote. Each additional electoral vote goes to the candidate with the most votes in each congressional district.

The Republicans crunched the post-election numbers and suddenly fell in love with this idea. You know why? Because if this was the method used in the rest of the country for the 2012 election, we would all be talking about the recent inauguration of President Romney. That right, President Romney, even though he was nearly five million votes short in the national popular vote.

In its simplest terms, the Republicans want to take the Presidential election out of the hands of the voters and put it in the hands of those gerrymandering hacks who redraw congressional districts every 10 years to gain political advantage. In the end I honestly don't care what political party you belong to just as long as you have the sense of fairness, the moral fiber to proclaim that in a democracy, the person with the most votes should win. These guys a shameless and need to be stopped.

GEEK ALERT --

A footnote: Am I the only one who heard/read about the Republican's attempts and thought of the Kobayashi Maru simulation and Captain Kirk's unique approach to solving it?

Saavik: "Sir, may I ask you a question?"

Kirk: "What's on your mind, Lieutenant?"

Saavik: "The Kobayashi Maru, sir."

Kirk: "Are you asking me if we're playing out that scenario now?"

Saavik: "On the test, sir. Will you tell me what you did? I would really like to know."

McCoy: "Lieutenant, you are looking at the only Starfleet cadet who ever beat the no-win scenario."

Saavik: "How?"

Kirk: "I reprogrammed the simulation so it was possible to rescue the ship."

Saavik: "What?"

David: "He cheated."

Kirk: "I changed the conditions of the test. Got a commendation for original thinking. I don't like to lose."

Hey Republican Party! I know Jim Kirk. Jim Kirk is a hero of mine. Let me tell you, you are no Jim Kirk.