Monday, October 29, 2012

My Vote, Putin's Reprisal

"Experts say the entire 2012 election could come down to just eight states. The states are: confusion, dismay, depression, apathy, shock, disbelief, despair, and anxiety. Those are the eight states." – Jay Leno
"Do you know who is endorsing Mitt Romney? Lindsay Lohan. It may seem silly to you but not to the Romney campaign. They're very excited. They said they have a chance now to get the shoplifter vote." – David Letterman
"A new poll found that 59 percent of Americans would rather eat a burger with President Obama while only 41 percent would eat one with Mitt Romney. While most Americans don't care who they're with, as long as they get that burger. " – Jimmy Fallon



I spent the weekend filling out my ballot, it's now ready to be mailed in. Actually, I don't trust the mails around here, so my brother-in-law will drop off our ballots on his way home from work. I think that just about everyone in America has already made up their mind who they will vote for, especially after the last debate. So, please let's outlaw political commercials on the television and on Youtube, from the last debate until November 6th... I find that most of the time that I end up yelling at the television is during one of these commercials made by a superpac, I get too wound up responding to the flat out lies they spout as if they were facts... Of course, we could have debates all the way up to election day, that could be entertaining. And just not candidate vs candidate, it could be debates that we choose who the debaters are, say, Bill Clinton versus Sara Palin!!! When Barack Obama was on the Jay Leno show the other night, he was asked how he felt now that the debates were over, and he replied that he felt like he was just warming up... On the other hand, Mitt romney's campaign is making sure that Mitt will not be giving interviews and speaking to reporters until after election day, to make sure that he doesn't say anything controversial or stupid, especially since the subject of rape came up on the national radar... Last year there were over 120,000 instances of rape reported, and 80,000 of them resulted in pregnancies. In an opinion piece in the NY Times on Sunday, Nicholas Kristoff also related that about 80% of the rape kits that have been done on suspects are sitting on shelves in evidence lockers in police depts, and have never been processed. I guess the world is still run by old, white men, nudge, nudge, wink, wink... Hell, I know for a fact that in California it's easier to get away with murder than it is to commit voter fraud...

Those who miss the debates can take solace in the daily poll reports. Just remember, as my father so often said to me, "There are lies, there are damned lies, and then there are statistics..." I often wonder if there's a correlation between those who put their faith in political polls and those who use statistics in the mental health field. I'm trying to bend this into an argument that most right wing conservatives are mentally ill, which is why we see so much crazy behavior from their candidates and spokespeople... After all, they can't all be using prescription anti-depressants...


What happens to the old, discarded heads of state once they are no longer in office? Here in the US, we let them found Foundations and let them wander all over the globe, while in places like South America, Africa, the Ukraine, and Italy, they charge them with corruption and put them in jail. Helluva retirement benefit... Silvio Berlesconi, Italy's richest man and who was Prime Minister for several years has just been sentenced to six years in jail for some silly thing trumped up as corruption. He has yet to face more serious charges of partying with prostitutes and paying an underage girl as a prostitute... In Russia you don't even have to have been elected before being put in jail; all you have to do is run against Vladimir Putin to have charges like treason and encouraging unlawful assembly brought against you... Maybe the Russian people will figure out how far out there, just how crazy Putin has gotten when he starts putting their heads on pikes in front of the Kremlin, then stands beside them shirtless for a photo op... Ahh, for the good old days when they all moved to the south of France...

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Addendum To Previous Post

"Fox News is upset that empty headed puppets are trying to brainwash and indoctrinate Americans. Perhaps they could sue them for copyright infringement." - Jon Stewart 
"A new poll found that only 47 percent of voters find Mitt Romney to be trustworthy. Then Romney was like, 'Well, I hope it's not the same 47 percent I don't care about.'" –Jimmy Fallon
"Can you believe it's only another month until we start arguing about whether the election was stolen or not?" – Jay Leno




Not only is Iran's economy tanking, but their ability to print more money is at a critical point. Like many countries, Iran is dependent on European currency production companies to provide printing presses, engraving paper, and anti-counterfeiting technology in order to create the perfect rial. There are three main companies in Europe which are no longer doing business with Iran because of sanctions. If the conversion rate of the rial continues to plunge, and last week it was 36,000 rials to one US dollar, then we may see the economy implode real soon. This is a devastating dance to play over a silly match of pride and ego...

The weird part is that Iran used to be on friendlier terms with the US and Israel, though mostly through back-room deals while keeping a fierce public stance. It wasn't too long ago that Iran bought US arms through Israel in a deal brokered by agents of the Ronald Reagan administration, sending the cash to the right-wing Contras in Central America... Also, Iran has been heavily patrolling its border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, in order to catch drug smugglers. Yes, they've joined in the US's War On Drugs. Evidently, administrators in Tehran are worried that there are more young people addicted to drugs than there are those who volunteer as suicide bombers...



I live in Colorado, considered as one of the swing states in this year's presidential election. We are famous for the mass shootings of our citizens by college and high school students, then rewarding them by passing laws allowing the carrying of concealed weapons onto our colleges and state parks... My congressional district is famous for being one of the most conservative districts in the US, mainly thanks to all of the retired military personnel. The generals retire to estates in Virginia, while the grunts who are so good at following orders and not thinking for themselves retire in places like Colorado Springs. Our latest foray into the national spotlight was when a woman was filmed registering voters, but only allowing people to register as Republicans, while claiming that she was paid by the county clerk's office. Hint to understanding this: it is illegal to deny anyone who wishes to register to vote, no matter what party they want to belong to. Punishable by time spent in a federal jail...

The company that actually hired this girl and trained her in her illegal practices was one contracted by the GOP. It was started in Arizona by the local head of the GOP, and was involved in fraud back in 2004. Not only did it commit voter fraud here in Colorado, but it was also caught doing illegal acts in Florida, like throwing out registrations for the Democratic Party, and putting the names of dead people onto the rolls of registered Republicans. Ironic that everywhere else tea party groups like True the Vote couldn't really find examples of voter registration fraud, so they had to make it up themselves...


It will be interesting to see how the latest presidential debate is reported on Spanish language stations like Univision and Telemundo, since the Hispanic vote could very well carry the election... Romney tried to clarify what he meant by the phrase self-deportation. He's not going to round up 12 million people then process them back to their home countries, no, he's going to deny them driver's licenses, health care, and legal jobs until they feel there's no other options left but to leave. Obama, for his part, evaded the fact that he hasn't done anything concrete towards finalizing legislation like the Dream Act, so he has problems, too. At least neither candidate referred to the act of self-deportation as the order in Star Trek to "Beam me up, Scotty..."

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Presidential Debates, Tehran Lottery



One of the health problems I have been dealing with has been a form of dementia. One side-effect has been that I had forgotten that I had a blog, and just recently remembered when I came out of my mental fog. One of the reasons I started this blog was to try and keep my mind sharp and not lose my sense of humor. I also forgot about my Facebook and other social media accounts, and tomorrow I will have to attack the 10,000 or so emails that have accrued... So, some of the things I say may seem a bit dated, at least until I catch up on current events. At least I subscribe to the paper edition of the New York Times, and I will have to renew my subscription to the Denver Post, but I still have the news to read with my morning cup of coffee...

A couple of weeks ago was the General Assembly of the United Nations, and the annual practice of walking out on the speech given by Iran's Mahmoud Achmadinejad. Ahmadinejad's 4 year term runs out this year, and he's not eligible for re-election, so this was the last time that Western diplomats would have to snub him in public. If it was up to the Iranian congress or the ayatollahs, Ahmadinejad wouldn't be allowed to leave the country, what with the guaranteed embarrassment he causes them. But, he is their president, so whatcha gonna do?

The Iranian economy is in the tank, it's on the verge of bankruptcy, thanks to the sanctions that cut off the central banks from the rest of the world. New sanctions from Europe began on Monday that will add to the crippling... A rial went from 24,000 rials per one US dollar, up to 36,000. People were desperately trying to change as many rials as possible into US dollars, and many companies were insisting on payments for goods in US dollars only, putting further stress on the banks, which could only get a limited amount of dollars from Europe, and dig deeply into the central banking reserves.

Ahmadinejad was able to bring along an entourage of over 140 lottery winners, who took advantage by spending their time shopping in New York, making a group trek to the Harlem COSTCO, loading up on foodstuffs, clothing, and computers to take back home. This story reminds me of the Russian concert pianist I met while in Thailand several years ago. He had a couple of palettes of blue jeans that he had bought on the black market, and was planning on smuggling them back into Moscow, where he could realize a profit selling them for over $200 per pair, top dollar if the labels read Levi's...



I just finished watching the second presidential debate, and the overwhelming emotion that I felt was that I wanted to punch that arrogant bully Mitt Romney in the face. It's obvious by his dismissal of the moderator, and the disrespect he showed to Obama, even where he told him to hold on, you'll get your turn... Besides whatever gobbledegook the candidates had to say about their policies, I was struck by how much I dislike Romney and his arrogant, mean-spirited personality. It makes me wonder about his wife, who has said how funny Mitt is, that he is always making her laugh. Either she has the same mean-spirited sense of humor, or she is so used to being demeaned and trivialized by Mitt, and her fostering such a co-dependent relationship... OK, Mitt isn't as bad as Fox News was after the Biden - Ryan debates, where they hired a doctor to wonder if all of Biden's smiling was because he was coming down with Alzheimer's... almost as much fun as a binder full of women...

When Obama was elected, I was happy that we finally had someone in charge that is smart enough to look at issues from all angles and not go running off making decisions without enough information, like George Bush seemed to. And I believe that Obama will win re-election because his opponent is a robot, who really doesn't care for you and the rest of the American people, and who still won't publish his economic plan and policies on his web site.Then, if we can drive the tea partyers, those mindless marching morons, back into the hinterlands, it will make the task of rebuilding the GOP a lot easier. But, somehow I doubt that will happen, and we'll witness them raging in the dying light, whining, bitching and moaning into that good night.