Saturday, June 30, 2012
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
From Jack
When we could get along
Once upon a time, before America became radically partisan, I sought the help of the president of the United States, a U.S. senator, a U.S. representative and the director of a major federal program. The president, senator and director were Republicans; the representative, a Democrat -- and Mormon.
I wrote to the president, and I met with the senator and representative (both ran for president) in Arizona, the director in Washington.
The president enabled an introduction to a General Motors Corporation executive. The senator and representative advocated for the related demonstration grant I sought; the director supported me. The proposal was funded; GMC provided a van.
The principals: the Republican President Richard Nixon, the Republican Sen. Barry Goldwater, the Democratic Rep. Morris Udall and the Republican Donald Rumsfeld, then director of the Office of Economic Opportunity. The demonstration received a two-page acclaim in the Congressional Record.
The desert demonstration -- about telemedicine -- was an Associated Press Top 10 News Story; the White House was briefed. Today, Arizona has the nation's leading telemedicine program.
Once upon a time, 42 years ago.
Monday, June 25, 2012
From Addicting Info
20 Obvious Lies That Will Shock Conservatives (If They Ever Bothered To Read A Book Or Two)
Whenever conservative bloggers try to be clever and “expose” liberal myths, you just know it’s time to pull out the rain coat, ’cause there’s gonna be a whole lot of bullshit flying around. The latest example of this is John Hawkins’ “20 Obvious Truths That Will Shock Liberals” whose real title should be “20 Easily Disprovable Stories That Conservatives Chumps Buy Hook, Line & Sinker.” Let’s take a look shall we?
1) The Founding Fathers were generally religious, gun-toting small government fanatics who were so far to the Right that they’d make Ann Coulter look like Jimmy Carter.
That’s nice. They also thought leeches could cure illness. Does that mean we should stop advancing medicine or building on their ideas for a better future? I’ll keep this mind the next time some gibbering buffoon demands that “original intent” be the only guide for interpreting the Constitution. The original intent of the Founders was that slavery was just fine, black people counted as only 3/5 of a man and women couldn’t vote at all. Let’s get back to basics!! Warning: you might find that women and African-Americans have some objections.
As for “small government?” Pure ignorance. They had laws dictating what kind of public behavior was acceptable and what size barrel could be used to transport food stuffs. Small government? Don’t make me laugh.
2) The greatest evil this country has ever committed isn’t slavery; it’s killing more than 50 million innocent children via abortion.
Tell that to a slave. But, in reality, abortion is a very complicated issue. Far more complicated than the bumper sticker mentality of your typical conservative can process. I’ll help conservative make their case, though. All a conservative has to do to convince me that they truly consider abortion to be the murder of a human being is explain to me why they do not have a funeral for miscarriages and demand a death certificate be issued.
Good luck with that.
3) Conservatives are much more compassionate than liberals and all you have to do to prove it is look at all the studies showing that conservatives give more of their money to charity than liberals do.
Only a conservative can equate money to compassion. You’re pro-death penalty, pro-war, anti-gay, anti-universal healthcare, anti-Medicare, anti-Medicaid, anti-Social Security but you give some money to a church that might use it to feed the homeless but could just as easily use it (and millions more) to deny gay couples the right to marry. Therefor, YOU are more compassionate than a liberal who wants an end to war and poverty.
hah…ahahah…ahahahahahha…bwahahahahahahaAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!
(the author must take a break to catch his breath)
4) When the Founding Fathers were actually around, there were official state religions and the Bible was used as a textbook in schools. The so-called “wall of separation between church and state” has absolutely nothing to do with the Constitution and everything to do with liberal hostility to Christianity.
Ah, the old “America is a religious country” bit. And to a conservative, that can only mean “Christian.” Here’s a fun fact about the Founders: to them, religious did not mean “Christian,” a very subtle nuance that seems to escape conservatives even when they read quotes from Jefferson like “Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law” or from the Treaty of Tripoli signed in 1797 that states: “As the Government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Musselmen (Muslims); and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.”
That is directly from the mouths of the people who created the country. It literally cannot be stated more clearly than that.
5) The biggest problem with our economy today is Barack Obama. His demonization of successful people, his driving up gas prices, his regulatory overload and threats to increase taxes have terrified businesses into hunkering down, refusing to spend money, and declining to hire new people. Replacing him would do more than any government policy to spur economic growth.
Funny how American gas prices have mirrored the fluctuations of the world market precisely. I guess President Obama controls the entire oil market single-handedly. It’s also amazing, how, despite the fact that we’re supposed to “drill, moron, drill,” the United States is now a net oil exporter. That’s right, we sell more oil than we take in but gas prices are still going up. I have yet to meet a conservative that can honestly explain why that is. As for refusing to spend money, why is it that no conservative can ever tell me WHAT corporations should spend the money on? Hire more people to do…what? Fill demand? They’re already filling what demand there is. More employees won’t fill it any better. Despite this, the unemployment rate has steadily (if slowly) declined under Obama as opposed to skyrocketing under the conservative policies that the right pretends didn’t cause the crash in the first place.
6) Not only are conservatives more patriotic than liberals, but most American liberals “love” America in about the same way that a wife-beater loves his wife.
In 2008, a black man was elected to the White House in a fair and open election. It was not a suspiciously close vote that required the conservative Supreme Court to stop a recount and give the election to the Republican candidate. The Democratic Party won a super majority in the Senate (but only for eight months) and a large majority in the House. What did the “patriotic” right do? Immediately started to scream that it wasn’t fair and it wasn’t right and they wanted their country back. The GOP (ab)used the filibuster more than any other time in history, death threats against the president spiked and right-wing militias dramatically increased in numbers, along with foiled plots to start a revolution. Right Wing politicians started talking about secession and “second amendment remedies” and Rush Limbaugh stated, publicly and repeatedly, that he hoped Obama would fail.
If THAT’S what a conservative considers “patriotism,” they’re delusional. Patriotism is more than wearing a lapel pin. It’s more than polishing your gun and swearing to shoot the first federal agent that steps foot on your land. It’s more than wrapping yourself in the flag while screaming “I hate that nigger!” at Fox News. It’s more than being against something. You have to stand for something besides your own petty little needs. Conservatives have forgotten this, if they ever knew it the first place.
7) Out of every 100 cries of “Racism” you hear these days, 99 are motivated by nothing other than politics.
That would be because they are directed at Republican politicians and pundits passing around racist emails, calling President Obama a skinny little crackhead or man-child and demanding to see his “real” birth certificate because being born to an American mother and a Kenyan father magically makes you “not American” despite several past (white) presidents having a foreign national as a parent. When the Right stops using the Southern Strategy of racial resentment that they have flat out stated that are using, we’ll stop calling them racist.
8) Anyone paying income taxes is certainly paying his “fair share” — and then some — compared to the people who pay nothing.
When the rich paid a 90% marginal tax rate, the rich still got richer but the economy boomed. The less the rich paid, the richer they got but the worse the economy did. So let me ask you this: How is it “fair” when the rich take the most from the economy but give less, as a percentage of their profits, than the rest of us back to that economy?
9) You don’t have a “right” to anything that other people have to pay to provide for you.
Then you do not have the right to police protection, a fire department or even a 911 emergency line. You do not have the right to clean air or safe food. You do not have the right to a military to protect you from foreign invasion. You do not have the right to a single thing that is government-run. Oh? What’s that? You pay taxes so you deserve all of those things?
Exactly, you stupid bastard. If everyone else was not chipping in, i.e. “paying to provide for you,” you would not be able to afford all that nifty stuff. It’s called “socialism” and only very stupid people think they are completely self-sufficient.
10) If we can ask people to present an ID to buy alcohol, drive a car, or get on an airplane, then asking them to present identification to vote is a no-brainer.
Only a conservative could debase the right to vote by comparing it to getting drunk. Liberals hold their franchise to a higher standard, apparently. Tell me again how liberals are the ones that hate what America stands for?
To read the entire article CLICK HERE.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
From My Modern Met
Kumi Yamashita, a Japanese artist created the following portrait from a single unbroken thread. You may see other photorealistic thread and nail portraits of hers at My Modern Met.
From Rachel Maddow Blog
The wealth inequality chart Rachel showed last night
-
Thu Jun 21, 2012 8:31 PM EDT
It comes as part of a nice collection of related infographics on the Mother Jones site.
If you're a source material kind of person, the actual study is here (pdf) and includes another, longer chart, which one of the researchers, Dan Ariely, explains on his blog.
Also, you may be aware, Timothy Noah at Slate wrote a huge series about income inequality. Here's his write-up of the study that produced this chart.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Saturday, June 16, 2012
From The White House Blog
President Obama Speaks on Department of Homeland Security Immigration Announcement
June 15, 2012 | 8:56 |
Public Domain President Obama announces a new Department of Homeland Security policy that will allow certain young people who were brought to the United States as young children, do not present a risk to national security or public safety, and meet several key criteria to be considered for relief from removal from the country or from entering into removal proceedings.
Transcript of the remarks by the President on Immigration in the Rose Garden
THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, everybody. This morning, Secretary Napolitano announced new actions my administration will take to mend our nation’s immigration policy, to make it more fair, more efficient, and more just -- specifically for certain young people sometimes called “Dreamers.”
These are young people who study in our schools, they play in our neighborhoods, they’re friends with our kids, they pledge allegiance to our flag. They are Americans in their heart, in their minds, in every single way but one: on paper. They were brought to this country by their parents -- sometimes even as infants -- and often have no idea that they’re undocumented until they apply for a job or a driver’s license, or a college scholarship.
Put yourself in their shoes. Imagine you’ve done everything right your entire life -- studied hard, worked hard, maybe even graduated at the top of your class -- only to suddenly face the threat of deportation to a country that you know nothing about, with a language that you may not even speak.
That’s what gave rise to the DREAM Act. It says that if your parents brought you here as a child, if you’ve been here for five years, and you’re willing to go to college or serve in our military, you can one day earn your citizenship. And I have said time and time and time again to Congress that, send me the DREAM Act, put it on my desk, and I will sign it right away.
Now, both parties wrote this legislation. And a year and a half ago, Democrats passed the DREAM Act in the House, but Republicans walked away from it. It got 55 votes in the Senate, but Republicans blocked it. The bill hasn’t really changed. The need hasn’t changed. It’s still the right thing to do. The only thing that has changed, apparently, was the politics.
As I said in my speech on the economy yesterday, it makes no sense to expel talented young people, who, for all intents and purposes, are Americans -- they’ve been raised as Americans; understand themselves to be part of this country -- to expel these young people who want to staff our labs, or start new businesses, or defend our country simply because of the actions of their parents -- or because of the inaction of politicians.
In the absence of any immigration action from Congress to fix our broken immigration system, what we’ve tried to do is focus our immigration enforcement resources in the right places. So we prioritized border security, putting more boots on the southern border than at any time in our history -- today, there are fewer illegal crossings than at any time in the past 40 years. We focused and used discretion about whom to prosecute, focusing on criminals who endanger our communities rather than students who are earning their education. And today, deportation of criminals is up 80 percent. We've improved on that discretion carefully and thoughtfully. Well, today, we're improving it again.
Effective immediately, the Department of Homeland Security is taking steps to lift the shadow of deportation from these young people. Over the next few months, eligible individuals who do not present a risk to national security or public safety will be able to request temporary relief from deportation proceedings and apply for work authorization.
Now, let's be clear -- this is not amnesty, this is not immunity. This is not a path to citizenship. It's not a permanent fix. This is a temporary stopgap measure that lets us focus our resources wisely while giving a degree of relief and hope to talented, driven, patriotic young people. It is --
Q (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: -- the right thing to do.
Q -- foreigners over American workers.
THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me, sir. It's not time for questions, sir.
Q No, you have to take questions.
THE PRESIDENT: Not while I'm speaking.
Precisely because this is temporary, Congress needs to act. There is still time for Congress to pass the DREAM Act this year, because these kids deserve to plan their lives in more than two-year increments. And we still need to pass comprehensive immigration reform that addresses our 21st century economic and security needs -- reform that gives our farmers and ranchers certainty about the workers that they'll have. Reform that gives our science and technology sectors certainty that the young people who come here to earn their PhDs won't be forced to leave and start new businesses in other countries. Reform that continues to improve our border security, and lives up to our heritage as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants.
Just six years ago, the unlikely trio of John McCain, Ted Kennedy and President Bush came together to champion this kind of reform. And I was proud to join 23 Republicans in voting for it. So there’s no reason that we can’t come together and get this done.
And as long as I’m President, I will not give up on this issue, not only because it’s the right thing to do for our economy -- and CEOs agree with me -- not just because it’s the right thing to do for our security, but because it’s the right thing to do, period. And I believe that, eventually, enough Republicans in Congress will come around to that view as well.
And I believe that it’s the right thing to do because I’ve been with groups of young people who work so hard and speak with so much heart about what’s best in America, even though I knew some of them must have lived under the fear of deportation. I know some have come forward, at great risks to themselves and their futures, in hopes it would spur the rest of us to live up to our own most cherished values. And I’ve seen the stories of Americans in schools and churches and communities across the country who stood up for them and rallied behind them, and pushed us to give them a better path and freedom from fear --because we are a better nation than one that expels innocent young kids.
And the answer to your question, sir -- and the next time I’d prefer you let me finish my statements before you ask that question -- is this is the right thing to do for the American people --
Q (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: I didn’t ask for an argument. I’m answering your question.
Q I'd like to --
THE PRESIDENT: It is the right thing to do --
Q (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: -- for the American people. And here’s why --
Q -- unemployment --
THE PRESIDENT: Here’s the reason: because these young people are going to make extraordinary contributions, and are already making contributions to our society.
I’ve got a young person who is serving in our military, protecting us and our freedom. The notion that in some ways we would treat them as expendable makes no sense. If there is a young person here who has grown up here and wants to contribute to this society, wants to maybe start a business that will create jobs for other folks who are looking for work, that’s the right thing to do. Giving certainty to our farmers and our ranchers; making sure that in addition to border security, we’re creating a comprehensive framework for legal immigration -- these are all the right things to do.
We have always drawn strength from being a nation of immigrants, as well as a nation of laws, and that’s going to continue. And my hope is that Congress recognizes that and gets behind this effort.
All right. Thank you very much.
June 15, 2012 | 8:56 |
Public Domain President Obama announces a new Department of Homeland Security policy that will allow certain young people who were brought to the United States as young children, do not present a risk to national security or public safety, and meet several key criteria to be considered for relief from removal from the country or from entering into removal proceedings.
Transcript of the remarks by the President on Immigration in the Rose Garden
THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, everybody. This morning, Secretary Napolitano announced new actions my administration will take to mend our nation’s immigration policy, to make it more fair, more efficient, and more just -- specifically for certain young people sometimes called “Dreamers.”
These are young people who study in our schools, they play in our neighborhoods, they’re friends with our kids, they pledge allegiance to our flag. They are Americans in their heart, in their minds, in every single way but one: on paper. They were brought to this country by their parents -- sometimes even as infants -- and often have no idea that they’re undocumented until they apply for a job or a driver’s license, or a college scholarship.
Put yourself in their shoes. Imagine you’ve done everything right your entire life -- studied hard, worked hard, maybe even graduated at the top of your class -- only to suddenly face the threat of deportation to a country that you know nothing about, with a language that you may not even speak.
That’s what gave rise to the DREAM Act. It says that if your parents brought you here as a child, if you’ve been here for five years, and you’re willing to go to college or serve in our military, you can one day earn your citizenship. And I have said time and time and time again to Congress that, send me the DREAM Act, put it on my desk, and I will sign it right away.
Now, both parties wrote this legislation. And a year and a half ago, Democrats passed the DREAM Act in the House, but Republicans walked away from it. It got 55 votes in the Senate, but Republicans blocked it. The bill hasn’t really changed. The need hasn’t changed. It’s still the right thing to do. The only thing that has changed, apparently, was the politics.
As I said in my speech on the economy yesterday, it makes no sense to expel talented young people, who, for all intents and purposes, are Americans -- they’ve been raised as Americans; understand themselves to be part of this country -- to expel these young people who want to staff our labs, or start new businesses, or defend our country simply because of the actions of their parents -- or because of the inaction of politicians.
In the absence of any immigration action from Congress to fix our broken immigration system, what we’ve tried to do is focus our immigration enforcement resources in the right places. So we prioritized border security, putting more boots on the southern border than at any time in our history -- today, there are fewer illegal crossings than at any time in the past 40 years. We focused and used discretion about whom to prosecute, focusing on criminals who endanger our communities rather than students who are earning their education. And today, deportation of criminals is up 80 percent. We've improved on that discretion carefully and thoughtfully. Well, today, we're improving it again.
Effective immediately, the Department of Homeland Security is taking steps to lift the shadow of deportation from these young people. Over the next few months, eligible individuals who do not present a risk to national security or public safety will be able to request temporary relief from deportation proceedings and apply for work authorization.
Now, let's be clear -- this is not amnesty, this is not immunity. This is not a path to citizenship. It's not a permanent fix. This is a temporary stopgap measure that lets us focus our resources wisely while giving a degree of relief and hope to talented, driven, patriotic young people. It is --
Q (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: -- the right thing to do.
Q -- foreigners over American workers.
THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me, sir. It's not time for questions, sir.
Q No, you have to take questions.
THE PRESIDENT: Not while I'm speaking.
Precisely because this is temporary, Congress needs to act. There is still time for Congress to pass the DREAM Act this year, because these kids deserve to plan their lives in more than two-year increments. And we still need to pass comprehensive immigration reform that addresses our 21st century economic and security needs -- reform that gives our farmers and ranchers certainty about the workers that they'll have. Reform that gives our science and technology sectors certainty that the young people who come here to earn their PhDs won't be forced to leave and start new businesses in other countries. Reform that continues to improve our border security, and lives up to our heritage as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants.
Just six years ago, the unlikely trio of John McCain, Ted Kennedy and President Bush came together to champion this kind of reform. And I was proud to join 23 Republicans in voting for it. So there’s no reason that we can’t come together and get this done.
And as long as I’m President, I will not give up on this issue, not only because it’s the right thing to do for our economy -- and CEOs agree with me -- not just because it’s the right thing to do for our security, but because it’s the right thing to do, period. And I believe that, eventually, enough Republicans in Congress will come around to that view as well.
And I believe that it’s the right thing to do because I’ve been with groups of young people who work so hard and speak with so much heart about what’s best in America, even though I knew some of them must have lived under the fear of deportation. I know some have come forward, at great risks to themselves and their futures, in hopes it would spur the rest of us to live up to our own most cherished values. And I’ve seen the stories of Americans in schools and churches and communities across the country who stood up for them and rallied behind them, and pushed us to give them a better path and freedom from fear --because we are a better nation than one that expels innocent young kids.
And the answer to your question, sir -- and the next time I’d prefer you let me finish my statements before you ask that question -- is this is the right thing to do for the American people --
Q (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: I didn’t ask for an argument. I’m answering your question.
Q I'd like to --
THE PRESIDENT: It is the right thing to do --
Q (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: -- for the American people. And here’s why --
Q -- unemployment --
THE PRESIDENT: Here’s the reason: because these young people are going to make extraordinary contributions, and are already making contributions to our society.
I’ve got a young person who is serving in our military, protecting us and our freedom. The notion that in some ways we would treat them as expendable makes no sense. If there is a young person here who has grown up here and wants to contribute to this society, wants to maybe start a business that will create jobs for other folks who are looking for work, that’s the right thing to do. Giving certainty to our farmers and our ranchers; making sure that in addition to border security, we’re creating a comprehensive framework for legal immigration -- these are all the right things to do.
We have always drawn strength from being a nation of immigrants, as well as a nation of laws, and that’s going to continue. And my hope is that Congress recognizes that and gets behind this effort.
All right. Thank you very much.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
More Photos from the Smokies
Known as the “redwood of the east,” some of the largest and most common trees in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park are the Eastern Hemlocks. They can grow more than 150 feet tall with trunks measuring over six feet in diameter. Some hemlocks in the park are over 500 years old. Unfortunately, they are under attack from a non-native insect called the hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA). The last photo is of a giant dead Eastern Hemlock on the Alum Cave Bluff Trail in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.
Ecologically, hemlocks play a vital role by providing deep shade along creeks, maintaining a cool micro-climate that is critical to the survival of many cold water species. The impact of widespread loss of the hemlock could trigger changes more significant than those that followed the demise of the American Chestnut.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
From Jack
PUBLIC SERVANT OR SELF-SERVANT?
by Jack Reeves
That a person seeks public office could be due to belief in having superior knowledge and ability linked to a strong ego. Nothing the matter with that. This could include Lincoln, FDR, Reagan, Obama.
In too many instances, though, I detect that so-called public servants, self-cloaked in 'for-the-public-good,' are self-servants.
Because our national political system contains a significant number of determined-to-survive egos, self-interest and its consequences can and do adversely affect the rest of us.
What causes the great difference between two Kentucky-raised Republicans, Abraham Lincoln and Sen. Mitch McConnell? Lincoln preserved a strong federal government; McConnell champions what cost Lincoln his life: states' rights.
I suggest that advocating smaller government enables the senator to channel his ego and its interests. He doesn't need the job. Worth perhaps $33 million, he's the 12th wealthiest senator.
Thursday, McConnell urged extension of the Bush tax cuts. I can't help being angry and cynical.
by Jack Reeves
In too many instances, though, I detect that so-called public servants, self-cloaked in 'for-the-public-good,' are self-servants.
Because our national political system contains a significant number of determined-to-survive egos, self-interest and its consequences can and do adversely affect the rest of us.
What causes the great difference between two Kentucky-raised Republicans, Abraham Lincoln and Sen. Mitch McConnell? Lincoln preserved a strong federal government; McConnell champions what cost Lincoln his life: states' rights.
I suggest that advocating smaller government enables the senator to channel his ego and its interests. He doesn't need the job. Worth perhaps $33 million, he's the 12th wealthiest senator.
Thursday, McConnell urged extension of the Bush tax cuts. I can't help being angry and cynical.
Jack has a graduate degree in psychology and taught it.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Sunday, June 10, 2012
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