Wednesday, December 07, 2016

One Month Post Election

The World Has Not Come To An End!

Though thoroughly malaise, I have not suffered an "Apoplectic Fit."



Yet


  

Monday, November 28, 2016

The Double Standard; IOKIYAR !








When you really sit back and look at everything Donald Trump has said and done, if he were a Democrat, there's absolutely no way in hell Republicans would have said any of this was okay.

Conservatives threw a fit when President Obama saluted Marines with a cup of coffee in his hand. Imagine if he had mocked POWs or attacked Gold Star parents.

Well, there are two huge things Republicans would be losing their minds over right now had they happened after Hillary Clinton (or any Democrat, for that matter) had just won a presidential election.

1. For the second time in the last five elections - and for only the second time since 1888 - this nation is going to elect a Republican president who lost the popular vote: When this happened in 2000, it was a big deal, but Al Gore only won the popular vote by 0.5% or just around 500,000 votes. While that's still a decent amount of votes, and it was fairly controversial at the time, it wasn't an emphatic popular vote victory.

But that's not the case this election.

With estimates of around 3-7 million more votes left to count (most coming from California, New York and California), Clinton's overall lead in the popular vote is over 2 million votes and is expected to grow fairly substantially by the time all the votes are counted.

We're looking at a situation where a presidential candidate may win the popular vote by a margin close to what President Obama won it with in 2012 (4-5 million/4-5%) - but lose the election.

Donald Trump and many his supporters were already on the verge of calling for an all-out revolution if he didn't win this election. Now imagine what their reaction would have been if he lost the election, yet received around 4-5 million more overall votes than Clinton.

It wouldn't have just been Trump and his supporters - the entire Republican party would be losing their minds. They would have lost 2 of the last 5 presidential election even though their candidate had won the popular vote each of those times. Especially this year considering how much Clinton will win the popular vote by, yet isn't going to become our next president.

I think it's time we realize that the electoral college needs to go. When the candidates for 40% of your presidential elections over the last 16 years became president despite not receiving the most overall votes - that's a problem.

Let's not pretend like there's nothing wrong with a system that hands a "win" to a candidate who actually lost to his opponent by several million votes, when that's happened for 2 of our last 3 presidents.

2. He just settled a fraud lawsuit for $25 million where he was accused of conning people out of tens of thousands of dollars: Throughout most of his campaign, the "Trump U" fraud lawsuit was an issue that lingered around Donald Trump. As expected, he proclaimed his innocence the entire time and insisted he'd never settle the lawsuit. He also falsely said that he never settles lawsuits, when he has many times.

He can say he settled just to "focus on being president," but that's ridiculous. To settle for that much money is a clear indication that there was plenty of damning evidence he knew was going to be made public and he certainly didn't want to be found guilty of fraud after he had taken his Oath of Office.

For a moment, think about what Trump and the GOP would be saying if Clinton had been facing a lawsuit where she was accused of defrauding people out of tens of thousands of dollars, declared her innocence up until after she won the election… then settled a fraud lawsuit for $25 million.

They would be losing their damn minds.

These are two examples where, if reversed, Donald Trump and the Republican party would be having an absolute meltdown. They'd accuse Clinton of setting up deals behind closed doors that would only be made public after she won. Meanwhile, I'm almost certain we'd be seeing a very… very dangerous situation in this country if she was declared our next president, yet Trump was on his way to winning the popular vote by around 4-5 million votes.

Yet here we are, weeks away from swearing in a president who's going to receive a few million votes less than his opponent and just settled a lawsuit for $25 million where he was accused of defrauding people out of tens of thousands of dollars by setting up a fake school where he conned them into believing it was a legitimate university.

I'm really glad so many folks couldn't get over a woman who repeatedly admitted making a mistake in how she handled her emails over four years ago. It's much better that we're going to have a man with a history of exploiting people for his own benefit, who basically just admitted to setting up a fake university to steal money from people.

Along with all these other horrific things he's done.

Donald Trump's entire campaign was basically an elaborate version of "Trump U." Only this time, over 60 million people were conned into believing his bullshit.

Monday, November 14, 2016

No, Nada, Nyet !

No, I Can't, "Just Get Over It."

And, neither can she; nor should she!



Emotionally, I was deeply invested in the progress and outcome of this recent Presidential Election. It was an election where, what was at stake was, the progressive ideas and values of Democratic Party versus the xenophobic, racist, sexist, misogynist campaign of the Populace Candidate Donald Trump. 

This turned into a WWE'ish spectacle where the "Baby-face" battles the "Heel", Good versus Evil. 

My candidate did not win; the victory was steered away from her by the interference of third parties both foreign and domestic. I, like multiple millions of American citizens were deeply stunned and worried upon waking and hearing the outcome of this election. 

My moral values and those that I believe that I shared with the majority of the population were repudiated with the election of Donald Trump.

There are people marching in the streets; I support them.

To the people of Facebook who paste messages of "reconciliation", of unity and patience; the "we can get through this" spam; know that I have blocked your post, I don't want to hear it.

To the two people who called me long distance; I do not "Suffer well with fools", you told me well before the election that you were not going to vote because, "They were going to put whosoever they want in there anyway". I have no respect for you because, you helped them put whom ever they wanted in place with your ignorance/apathy. That is why I refused to talk about the elections with you and ended the call.

Early in life, I found that it was not good to discuss salary, religion and politics at work or, in the company of others. Now more than ever, those rules are very relevant in today's social climate.

  

Thursday, November 10, 2016



  Don't Despair, Liberals: Fight


 By: mihir-sharma

Welcome, American liberals. Welcome to the special torment of discovering that you do not know your country.
You thought, no doubt, you were exempt -- immune from the shocks that liberals throughout the world have felt in recent years. And I can understand why: Because while you have suffered defeats at the hands of Reagan and the Bushes, and it seemed at times like your country would bend back the arc of history, it never really did.
But this time, you know, is different. This is a different sort of defeat, and a different sort of victor. You, too, have lost to an authoritarian populist, a man who sees himself as the only answer. And you can find no handle with which to criticize him, for the weapons of reason and ridicule and horror that have always worked before seem to have been rendered useless and impotent.
Welcome, as I said, for this is how liberals across the world have felt as their countries one by one turned to populist strongmen who evoked the virtues of a vanished past, and who promised to vanquish evildoers and globalist elites in order to restore those glories. Welcome to the pain of the citizens of Istanbul, of New Delhi, and ofLondon; of the embattled liberals of Russia or of Israel. In a day, you feel as if your countrymen have become strangers to you and your fond expectation of progress revealed as childlike fantasy. How can you cope with a president whose very existence is a repudiation of all you have hitherto believed?
Well, you will cope. We all have. And perhaps it will help if I share a few hints as to how.
First, do not tell yourself fanciful stories about what has happened. Do not seek to blunt the edges of your realization. Yes, your country is not what you imagined it to be. All around you, hopeful fellow-travelers will answer the questions this loss poses through the only story they are comfortable with: They will speak of “economic anxiety” and of globalization. You should know better. You should know that it was not the poorest who voted for the demagogue; they never do, and didn’t in this election.
Here in India, Narendra Modi’s sweeping victory in 2014 was about nationalism and pride. It was about jobs, too -- as was Donald Trump’s. But not in any way that should comfort you: Jobs and pride go together. People seek both, but pride is more potent and easier to deliver. In India, we have learned that when an authoritarian promises jobs, he actually promises status, and when he promises status, he promises pride.
So do not give in to attempts, from left and right, to legitimize an ethno-nationalist "take our country back" sentiment as a product of economics instead. Do not revisit the truths you have learned about progress. Trade and globalization have delivered long years of growth and cheap goods to the U.S., new jobs and a new way of living, just as economic liberalization in India has lifted millions out of abject poverty.
Revisit instead the assumption that people themselves are inevitably becoming more inclusive and tolerant. Do not deny that some of your fellow citizens feel the stress of dislocation and of dispossession; after all, working to address that is why you are a liberal. But do not for a moment deny they have freely chosen to blame that stress on those who have not caused it -- Muslims, foreigners, immigrants, women, those even poorer. To deny that choice would be condescending. To ignore that choice would be fatal. The choice needs to be fought, not wished away; the error corrected, not accepted.
Do not run to the left, or compromise with the right. Do not hanker after the reassuring ideological purity of your own populists -- for if they had any real answers, they and not their cousins on the right would’ve defeated you. Both, after all, hate you equally.
And do not seek to cozy up to ethno-nationalist politics; you will not defeat the authoritarian at his own game. In India, the social democratic Congress Party, roundly defeated in 2014, has tried bothin opposition -- sometimes embracing left-wing economics and sometimes rounding on Muslims. As a consequence, it’s become an even less powerful party today than when it was thrashed two years ago. Be rational where the authoritarian is not; focus on progressive policy, not on words; defend the weak, even if they did not turn out for you. Be an alternative, not a weak clone or a has-been.
And do not deny the ruler his legitimacy. Praise him when praise is due -- lavishly, if necessary. This is not only just; it is wise. Many such leaders crave respect and recognition above all. Think of Recep Tayyip Erdogan; compare his first term with what he is now, and learn how leaders who feel they receive no cooperation are freed to follow their instincts. And seek out the bipartisan policies that might make your country more liberal -- those that encourage people in left-behind states to move to solidly blue ones, those that expand access and opportunity and education. Compromise on policy, not on principle.
You might never feel as good again as you did a few days ago; because you now understand more fully what your country is. But you will eventually feel better. And if you keep fighting to improve your country, one day your country will return to you.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
To contact the author of this story:
Mihir Sharma at m.s.sharma@gmail.com
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-11-10/u-s-liberals-can-take-comfort-from-global-peers
.

Wednesday, November 09, 2016

November 9, 2016


Today, Wednesday November 9th in the year of our lord, 2016 is the day on which I have been forced to come to the conclusion that 'Right' does not triumph over 'Wrong'; that intelligence does not outweigh ignorance and that qualifications and dedication can be over-shadowed and undercut by the politically and morally corrupt.

There are no mood altering substances, legal, illegal or medical available to me that could change the way that I feel about the outcome of our Presidential Election -- maybe if, I shut my eyes, stuck my fingers in my ears, hummed loudly and shook my head from side to side -- for the next four years, it will all go away.

Yes, the Earth still travels in the same orbit around the Sun but, "Life" as we know it is about to change; intelligent human-kind shuttered upon hearing the news of the outcome of the United States of America's Presidential election.

We are a deeply divided nation.

 

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Euuuuu!

You know, there isn't a day that goes by that, I couldn't get on here and have something so say about something.

If, you didn't know me, it would not take long for you to stitch together a profile of me, my likes and dislikes. If you all ready know me then it would probably confirm both your positive and negative viewpoints of me.

Today, I am going to humbly make a request; I should hope that this doesn't apply to you or, that you have Steel-Toed Work boots on if it does.

First, let me acknowledge that you may be cute or, even good looking and beautiful and, let me also acknowledge that the lighting in bathrooms, for whatever reasons, are bright and seeming always placed at just the right angle to compliment your image in the mirror especially when seen with your cellphone camera.

But, I am tired of seeing "Selfie Photos" taken in the Ladies Room; I am especially nauseated when your "Selfies" are taken in just any bathroom, at the least, I will gag if I see another trash can or empty toilet tissue roll in the background of your "Selfie Pics".

If you want to be a Photographer/Model combination, learn how to compose a picture and, if there is a trash can or open bathroom stall in the background, PLEASE, don't post that picture.

Think about it.

Sunday, April 24, 2016

Reckless Operation Causes Road Rage!


     I was involved in two Road Rage incidences in one day! First, in my defense, I had “Drivers’ Education” and Drivers’ Training in High School and, I have been driving since the age of 15 ½ years old and, I have been on the “Information Superhighway” since 1995. The reason that I mention this is because, I am probably separated by one maybe two generations for you my readers.

     Let me tell you about what caused my first Road Rage incidence, to do that, I have to explain a little about my upbringing as a child. Adults always did as adults do, they told risqué jokes, cursed and swore but, us as kids had better not been caught “Lookin’ in Grown Folks mouth” and, the best way to get bashed in the mouth was to repeat something that you heard an adult say; “Whup-up” was the sound that my mother’s hand made as she backhanded me across my lips, “Where did you get that from?” she would ask; after the second time, I dared not answer, “I heard you say it.”

     Back to the first incidence which occurred on the “Information Superhighway”; a close-close family member had gotten on Social Media and made a posting. Some hours later, I saw the “message” and exploded into a rant where I noted, contradicted and corrected every line of the statement that he posted and hit “Enter”. Time passed – maybe three minutes; my cell phone starts to ring, it was my son.

     He was a riling ball of anger/embarrassment/sorrow; he told me that his posting was “only” the words of some other Rapper’s song and was not about our relationship. He told me that I had gone too far in exposing the “Dirty Laundry” which contradicted the words that he had “Co-opted” in his posting. I told him that the "Reckless Operation" of his keyboard made me look bad and that he should not be putting other peoples’ words in his mouth or on paper without giving proper credit; it could be taken out of context. He asked that I call him before I post messages (LOL).

     Now for my second incident of the day, less than three blocks from my driveway as I exited the Interstate highway 75 south, a large black woman with fake hair sewn onto her head driving a Chevy Suburban thought she could Bogart her way into the turning lane in front on me; nope, her options were to yield to me or run into my vehicle. She got pissed and we exchanged insults and, I invited her to run into my car if she wanted to and, I also told her, “That if I did something she didn’t like, she should make my nose bleed!” I was ready “to go there” if she had gotten out of that truck and put herself in a man’s place.

     My body is too old for all that but, my mind has not caught up yet.  


Sunday, April 17, 2016

Fundamental Values, Where Are They Now?

            In the earliest of times when humans first banded together as Tribes, Civilizations and Societies, there were "Fundamental Values" and if you will, rules and laws that were made in the best interest of the group.  It benefits society as a whole when concepts like, "Don't bear false witness, don't lie, steal, kill, commit adultery" and the such were enforced and the negative behavior was punishable by the rules of the group.

            Over the period of thousands of years, our societies has evolved and expanded to the point that what were once accepted "Fundamental values” are nothing more than suggestions and accommodations to groups or those who tend to not want to be social or follow accepted mores.

            For example, there is a school of thought that says, "Kids don't need two parents to grow up socially healthy manner" and, there are hundred of thousands of single women having babies by invetro-fertilization or, serial impregnators who father children but do not stay around to parent them.  Today's child is influenced more by electronic media; videos, Social Networking, Music than by parenting or education at school. 

            There is no such thing as discipline in schools, let's say that some little miscreant curses out the teacher so, what happens?  He gets suspended and falls behind in his class work.  I would have suggested dealing with it in the "Old Fashion Manner" using "The board of Education" across the seat of his pants.  That seemed to work for the children of the 40's, 50's and 60's.  However, in this day and age, there is no corporal punishment and as a parent, you are held in fear by CPS if you look at your kid too hard.

            This is my take on what should be done: Corporal punishment should be allowed in school, I believe that it should be phased in over 3 or 4 years with all parents given the knowledge that if Little Johnnie breaks the rules, he is going to get swatted on the backside.  The three to four year lead in time gives new parents time to condition themselves and their children before sending them to school.

            I am not advocating "Child Abuse" but, look at what a whole lot of "Spare-the-rod" has gotten us; school shooting and other associated anti-social acts committed by kids who could have been turned around before they grew unmanageable.  As parents, we are responsible for what we unleashed into the world at the age that they turn 18.

.


Saturday, April 16, 2016



Friends don’t let friends drive drunk – and then get on Social Media and mention how you could have prevented the deaths of three people.



CINCINNATI -- Bengals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick told WCPO Monday he does not want to comment about statements he made that revealed he was with the driver of a fatal wrong-way crash hours before it happened.
"I just want to show his family respect right now," Kirkpatrick said. "Everybody took (what I said) and ran with it. Just right now, I don’t need to say too much more.”

Kirkpatrick tweeted Friday he knew rapper Kory Wilson had been drinking and couldn't drive before police said Wilson caused a fatal wrong-way crash on I-75.
Kirkpatrick wrote he was hanging out with Wilson not long before the rapper, according to police, went the wrong way on northbound I-75. A subsequent crash killed Wilson and a Fairfield couple returning home after visiting family in Kentucky.
"I just want y'all to know that was my friend that got killed last night. And I was with him and I knew he was drinking and didn't stop him," Kirkpatrick tweeted Friday.

http://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/hamilton-county/evendale/bengals-cornerback-dre-kirkpatrick-says-he-knew-rapper-in-fatal-crash-was-drinking-couldnt-drive
As we have seen recently in the case of Pittsburgh television station WTAE-TV News Anchor Wendy Bell, she was fired for comments made on her Facebook Page; as a “De-Facto Representative” by reason of his employment, Bengals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick should be held to the same standards.

We have all heard the rhetorical question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Well, based upon Mr. Kirkpatrick’s statement, “Yes, ‘he should have been his brother’s keeper.’” There are two bereaved families who could wonder if Mr. Kirkpatrick was an Accessory-before-the–act and at least partially responsible in the wrongful deaths of three people.

Perhaps, this is something the legal system should be involved in.

Friday, March 11, 2016

A Connection between Genealogical Research and Crowd Source Funding



According to oral family history, my great-grand father, a free man living in the north was involved in a card game that went bad and he ended up shooting a couple of guys. He escaped across the Ohio River into Kentucky but was captured and sold back into slavery. Because of the notoriety surrounding the shooting, to distance himself, he changed his last name.

Sometime after the Civil War, some of his children, my Grandfather and Great Aunts and Uncles changed the spelling of their last names; some didn’t. This change of spelling lead to a "branching off" in the family tree. The "Smiths" went one way and the "Smythes" went in another direction.

Thanks to Genealogical science, my mother's sister located a cousin from the other branch of the family and we were "reunited" with other them.

Ten years later, Facebook came along and where, one connection with one family member lead to multiple connections between many family members spread across many states; one is even an acclaimed entertainer.

The entertainer recently announced on Facebook that he was going through some serious medical events and, he set up a "Go-Fund-Me" crowd source funding page to raise money to help with some of his medical expenses.

Now, if I break a $20 or $10 bill and end up with a couple of singles, I’ll stuff them in my cup holder so that they will be easily accessible to give to a deserving Pan-Handler or busking performer. I don’t have a problem contributing to someone who appears to be in need but, I have not contributed to the crowd source funding request from my distant family.

So, to put this in perspective, pan-handling is a form of crowd source funding as is the Go-Fund-Me accounts on the Internet. Is one really any different than the other?


Monday, February 29, 2016

Old Tools Find New Uses





Have you ever heard the expression, “That’s like herding cats?” I believe that the saying came from the observation of felines and the fact that they cannot be trained to perform tasks or be domesticated like cattle and chickens to produce eggs and milk or, provide meat (at least not in the area that I live in). I’m going to tell you about a newly discovered set of tools that are useful in today’s world.

Although Human Beings process superior intelligence and dominate the planet, each has their own wants, needs desires and opinion. Common tasks e.g. “work” can only be accomplished if there is a reward to be gained; the Lion Tamer manages the big cats because he has a piece of meat on a long stick as a reward and a sharp whip for negative reinforcement. People are the same way, they are just like the cats, if socialized, they live in an invisible cage and they work for rewards, and are punished by the Police and Justice system for negative behavior.

In these short treatises, for the purpose of making a point, I am going to compare the behavior of the American electorate to feral cats and the manner in which they are being wrangled and herded by “Powers and Principalities”; I am going to talk about the tools being used to effectively herd the cats.

One tamer or, should I say group of tamers appeal to and threaten us at our lowest common denominator and greatest fears while the other group of Tamers offer us our greatest wishes like, free healthcare, free higher education, luxurious retirement in our future with Prime Rib and Lobster for every meal. The cats have been successfully herded; these tools work especially well at election time.

These tools are wrought from our nightmares and our Disney “Wishes upon a star” and they are used to manipulate us at election time. At this point, you’re probably thinking that I’m not telling you anything you didn’t already know but, if that is the case, why do we still fall for the same old promises that never come true or the fears that never materialize?

This is just my opinion / viewpoint on the situation; maybe I’m right but, then again I could be wrong.