Category Archives: #Politics/Political Humor/Insanity/Crazy

Faulty Thinking

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portrait-of-a-mandarin
                     “That the birds of worry and care fly over your head, this you cannot change.
                                      But that they build nests in your hair, this you can prevent.”

                                                                                                  Chinese proverb

   The fiftieth anniversary of JFK’s death, and the infringement on the Thanksgiving holiday by retail has me pondering. Yep, noodling, contemplating, and ruminating about life. Americans are busy shopping and have forgotten Kennedy’s words, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what can you do for your country.”

What is happening in America?

Why trash Thanksgiving? There are 363 other days to shop.

Black Friday, I selected two ornaments hung on a community Christmas tree requesting gifts for children. The child’s name, age, item requested, and instructions, were typed on the paper Christmas bulb. Michael, a seventeen year old, hopes to receive earphones and Timber, a sixteen, pants and a top. Children’s Home Society of Florida sponsors the gift giving event.

I drove to Old Navy and selected several items for Timber, however, the line looked to be two or three hours long so left. People had wagons full of clothing.

What is happening to America?

We are not keeping up with the Jones, we are stepping over the poor, to bash the entire family on their heads.

Nevertheless, polls show people are more dissatisfied and most believe the next generation’s future is bleak. Fifty percent of Americans say “No!” when asked, “Are you better off than you were four years ago?”

Regan raised the question debating Carter in 1980 and won the presidency. Consequently, politicians and media believe the inquiry is a barometer on how to get elected. Unfortunately, Romney shot himself in the foot asking the question. The advertisement showed a white, most likely stay at home Mom, polishing a granite counter top, with custom drapes hanging in the dining room. The woman looked “better off” to me and definitely “better off” than others are. Guess it depends on defining better off, and who is to blame if you are not.

I call this faulty thinking. The focus is on who is at fault, not fixing problems.

Republicans smile and point their finger at entitlements. Democrats respond, “The people are starving,” and Republicans counter; “Let them eat cake.”

However, there is another type of faulty thinking that also is of concern, attaching events to the wrong outcome.

The Health Care debacle is a recent example of this type of thinking. Obama is to blame for a program that will not work and fingers point at him as not trustworthy because he said, “Americans will be able to keep their health care.” There is no mention of congress and insurance company foul play, talk about trustworthy.

I am reminded of a ten-year old who thinks his parents divorced because he did not floss his teeth. It is true his parents fought about his flossing, but they fought about everything. They had no resolution skills and did not get along and then there were the affairs.

Regardless, the kid never did floss, and now an adult suing his dentist because he has gum disease. Rumor is he is running for office and needs the money.

. . . .just saying

L is for Limericks and Lobbyists – The Alphabet Series

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New Thoughts on Words

shannon

Aging & Attitude

The words limerick and lobbyist make me laugh.  A limerick is a nonsense poem that follows a strict rhyme scheme (AABBA). The intent is to be humorous and obscene, many consider a clean limerick an oxymoron. Edward Lear is credited with popularizing the amphibrachic meter.

A limerick needs to be bawdy if not dirty.  This video Grandma Sis’s dirty limerick  captures the art form wonderfully. Please note the yellow sectional couch wrapped in plastic they are sitting on.

Competing with Grandma Sis is not easy, but I hope my first attempt (using L words) will bring you a chuckle.

There once was a lady who worked in Londonderry

She was lazy, lascivious and ordinary

She dressed in the nude

And was extremely rude

But somehow was paid anyway

    Lobbying is the practice of trying to influence decisions made by government officials. President Ulysses S. Grant’s  frequent visits to the Willard Hotel lobby to enjoy a cigar and brandy popularized the term. The hotel is a short walk from the White House. Washington wheelers and dealers knew where to find him and  pay for his drinks.

I have come up with this ditty.

There once was a President who had a hobby

He liked to hang out in the Willard Hotel lobby

When he was there he’d collapse in a chair

Light up a cigar and blow smoke into the air

And listen to political folly

My next limerick hopefully captures more recent shenanigans.

In 1995 Congress strengthened lobby laws

Although compromised, registration still has flaws

With a flick of a pen, Super PAC’s are in

Lobbyist’s spend a fifth of their time drinking gin

We still hear politicians clapping their paws

If you would like to try writing  a limerick click here limerick poem.

Please share your efforts in the comments section. It was fun but harder than I thought.

….just saying

The Best Bad Plan

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image_001

In Greek Mythology, Argo is the name of the ship the Argonauts sail to retrieve the Golden Fleece, and prove Jason worthy to reclaim his father’s throne.  In Ben Affleck’s new hit film, Argo is the title of a fake science fiction movie, or the best bad idea the CIA can conjure up to rescue six American Embassy staffers out of Tehran. It is a real nail biter, even though you know the ending, and peppered with great acting by John Goodman, Alan Arkin, and Bryan Cranston.

I love this type of movie where limited dialogue and stoic facial expression mysteriously communicate an emotional message. Ben Affleck as Tony Mendez, a CIA “exfiltration” specialist, will be an Oscar nominee even if his six-pack (viewed in one shirtless scene) is makeup made.

In November of 1979, Jimmy Carter was President and my children age four and two. I watched Laura and Luke’s wedding on General Hospital, not the evening news, and militants storming the U.S. embassy in Tehran. The movie credits the United States giving safe haven to the ex-Shah of Iran for medical treatment, for erupting Iran citizens to a frenzy. They break down the embassy door and take fifty-two American hostages. In the midst of the chaos, six Americans manage to slip away and find refuge in the home of the Canadian ambassador.

Tony Mendez’s job is to get them out of the country.

The initial plan is to give them all bicycles and they will pedal to the border. Tony points out the border is 300 miles away and the road unpaved. The bicycle plan is not only the worst bad solution, it’s stupid. The tires would wear out.

He has a better bad plan; a scheme that surrounds a fake movie, Argo. He attempts to convince superiors this is the best bad plan, arguing others are: horrible, terrible, dreadful, none are good, some are god –awful, miserable, and the worst; the travel by bike. The Argo movie plan is crappy, and no good, but the best.

The best bad plan concept precipitates thought about life, politics and politicians.

According to the government, in this situation there were no good solutions, just the best of the bad.

Tell that to the six Americans who left Iran, safely.

Argo is four star movie.                                      ….just saying

Electoral College for Kindergartners

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Jeff Parker

Capital_Building

I live in Florida, a swing State, and evidently a swing County, Flagler. The News Journal, our local paper, recently reported an Associated Press pre-election analysis that points fingers at 106 communities in nine states. Bullseye, voters living in Flagler County got real influence.

Remember the Chad uproar of the 2000 Bush/Gore election, the nation held hostage for a month, while volunteers inspected ballot tickets.

Nominee
George W. Bush Al Gore
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Texas Tennessee
Running mate Dick Cheney Joe Lieberman
Electoral vote 271 266
States carried 30 20 + DC
Popular vote 50,456,002 50,999,897
Percentage 47.9% 48.4%

Bush won 271 electoral votes, Gore 266, because of the twenty-five(2000 census) votes in question. Gore lost the election by 4 electoral votes. The chads spiced up the questionable  recount vote. Gore would have won 291 to Bush 246, so we know the significance  of Florida swinging.

Thirty states went to Bush; Gore, twenty; plus, the District of Columbia. However, Gore won the popular vote by five tenths of one percent, 50,999,897 to Bush, 50,456,002.

Does this make sense? Not to me either.

I went online to refresh my knowledge of the Electoral College, and by the way, there is no campus.

Each state is allocated a number of electoral votes equal to the number of members it has in the U.S. Congress.

The most recent Huffington Post   a “snapshot of where the presidential race stands based on hundreds of state-wide and national opinion polls, filtered through a poll tracking model and updated throughout the day.” On October 29th the polls  indicated the electoral vote distribution below:

Barack ObamaBarack Obama  277

(217 Strong Obama + 60 Leans Obama)

Mitt RomneyMitt Romney 206

(15 Leans Romney + 191Strong)

The graph shows five tossup states; Colorado 9 , New Hampshire 4, Virginia 13, North Carolina 15 and Florida 29, a total of seventy electoral votes. Polls have confidence Obama will win New Hampshire, Colorado and Virginia, and that Romney will win North Carolina.  In Florida the polls are split 48% to 48% with a 10% greater confidence Romney will win.
It takes an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to change the electoral college and popularity does not count.
The way Florida swings needs watching.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            …just saying

Am I Politically Stupid?

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Capital_Building

 Aging & Attitude

“Hardball” with Chris Matthews is on the television as I join Mr. Wonderful on the couch to snuggle.  The urgent tone in Matthew’s voice compels me to listen. A heated discussion about Mitt Romney’s selection of Paul Ryan as a VP running mate is taking place, analyst predict Ryan’s budget cuts will intensify the political fight over Medicare.

By commercial time I feel stupid, have difficulty following the ping-pong conversation and question what I can follow, as not making sense.

What fight over Medicare? Every republican in the House and Senate, including Paul Ryan signed into law Obama’s cuts to Medicare Providers (insurance companies, hospitals, nursing homes and drug companies).

Oops, right the 2012 budget was never passed on July 31st, a continuing resolution was approved.

“Oh wait, wait, don’t tell me,” Romney says he will not sign the bill into effect if elected.

After the break I turn up the volume and lean in to concentrate.

Chris Matthews introduces Ezra Klein,a political columnist for the Washington Post, and David Leonhardt, Washington bureau chief of New York Times, to clarify the politics of scaring people especial baby boomers.

Matthew insists Leonhardt delineate Obama, Romney and Ryan on Medicare for viewers.

Delineate sounds dangerous and I am nervous but Leonhardt delivers the difference clearly, with a smile. It is simple without all the political double talk.

  • Obama keeps a single payer government system with cuts to provider management and an emphasis on quality care in the future.
  • Paul Ryan voted yes for all of Obama’s cuts (“only because Obama did first”) but in ten years wants to move to a voucher system, aka, premium support e.g. a check sent to Mr/Ms Senior Citizen to shop around for a provider.
  • Romney wants the voucher system in ten years, but not the cuts in the 2013 Budget/ resolution deal, he will veto when brought to a vote in March 2013 if elected. (Republicans are foxy.)

Ezra Klein confirms the points and reiterates that Obama makes modest changes, the voucher plan is radical; and all three politicians predict the same path of growth in Medicare but look for savings in very different ways for the entitlement program.

The term entitlement blurs my mind and triggers thoughts of stupidity.  I know I’m entitled to Social Security and Medicare benefits because for the past fifty years I and my employer have contributed to the fund. We had a deal; give Uncle Sam part of your pay weekly and the money will be returned for retirement and medical coverage.

Why do I feel caught with my hand in the cookie jar?

Wait, wait don’t tell me, I’ll get my money back but what is left will not cover the costs of Medicare so  cuts are mandatory.

Let me get my pea size brain around this with an analogy I can relate to.

I put aside $100 to buy a dress, when I go to buy the dress it costs $115. There is  only $55 in the kitty because my sister Judy borrowed money to buy designer shoes, consequently, the dress costs too much. If Judy returns the designer shoes the dress becomes affordable.

Wait, wait don’t tell me, Judy has already worn the shoes so I have to shop around for a much cheaper dress (something under $55); what retires, now fifty-five will do in ten years according to a voucher plan.

Am I stupid or are people fifty-five and younger being thrown under a bus?                                                                                                     …just asking

$100,000 Harvard Pay Toilets

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Toilet_bowl : Several hundred dollar bills in a toilet bowl about to be flushed Stock Photo

Aging & Attitude

I sit in a doctor’s office waiting room. After about twenty minutes, annoyed with myself for not bringing a book, search the magazine rack and decide upon an issue of Time, dated March 12th. The news is still new to me, I have not read the magazine. In the business section, a small heading grabs my attention.

     $100,000  Pay Toilets Your Name Here

I am familiar with naming opportunities; a benefactor donates a huge chunk of change and a building is named for him.

The good news jumps across the page, millions are no longer necessary. A one hundred thousand dollar donation will get your name on something …a toilet. I continue to read looking for the punch line. It is not a joke.

The article by Josh Sanburn states, “It’s a strategy more universities are employing to raise cash in this strapped economy.”  And cites the University of Pennsylvania as an example. “Plaques saying, ‘This relief you are now experiencing is made possible by a gift from Michael Zinman’, line its bathroom walls.”

Naming toilets is deemed a win-win situation, grab extra tissue to laugh while you pee.

Sanburn explains the benefits to the benefactor, it is affordable, and for the university; necessary because “state government funding dropped nearly 8% last year nationwide”.

The genius who thought of this probably sold the Brooklyn Bridge, too. It gets better.

A recent NPR interview discusses the role of merit scholarships in raising college costs.

A merit scholarship is not awarded for brains or talent. Robert Massa, a vice president at Lafayette says. “The primary reason for awarding a non-need-based merit scholarship is to change a student’s enrollment decision from another institution to our institution. That’s why colleges do it.”

The toilet naming opportunity is not mentioned specifically, however, I speculate NPR will be interviewing Michael Zinman, his name appears on a throne.

Merit scholarships are getting bigger as each college competes for the best students.

Confused? Relax, you do not have to pay to pee at Harvard or Lafayette, yet. Peeing is still free.

Massa continues, “On top of that, the school gives need-based grants to many students. A majority of students get grants of some kind — fewer than 50 percent actually pay the full sticker price.”

The tuition increases.

Colleges pay students more than they need to come to their college and off set the cost by having  students who can pay more.

Now the need for naming toilets makes sense, it covers the difference.

Will people be impressed when you brag, Granddaddy has a bathroom named for him at Harvard Law School, or wonder, whatever?

                                                      …Just Saying

Betty Blasé and New Horizons

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Aging & Attitude

“I’ve become blasé,” said a woman at the New Horizons Brunch for new members, ending our conversation that threatened to become passionate. She smiled, and took a step back to distance herself from me. She wore ‘big-girl’ shoes with a large fake rhinestone separating her first two toes.

“Blasé what a wonderful word,” I respond, but fail to keep her engaged. The crowded breakfast nook engulfs her lack of interest. Soft wrinkles languish her face, her tone aloof as she snaps her neck to suggest she was not always apathetic, it is an acquired skill.

She wears it well like a sophisticated article of clothing, dance attire.  I want to be blasé. Blasé could be  equivalent to Botox or Juvederm injections and cheaper.  Her skin glows.

My mind escapes to a fantasy world and I morph into Betty Blasé, a new and improved self.  When motorists drive in my trunk during the day, I flip the rearview mirror to ‘night-vision’, instead of yelling, “wrap yourself around a tree, see if I care,” and as they speed by, adjust the air conditioning, calmly.

I feel in control of my emotions and straighten my back to stand a little taller. The room is decorated in damask lined drapes hung high upon the wall and sparkling glass tables.

Surely, I can learn indifference when the Bagger in Publix double wraps my chicken in plastic after I hand him cloth and painstakingly explained the chicken gets naked next to my eggs and butter at home in our refrigerator.

Several New Horizon members drift towards the front door ready to leave.  I promise myself the next time a group of kids covered with tattoos and reeking of profanity pass by I will NOT mumble, “You kiss your mother with that mouth?”

I exchange goodbyes with the host and mosey towards my car thinking, it is conceivable to yawn at newspaper stories debating those guilty of pet abuse; Obama, who ate dog or Romney, who transported Seamus, a pet, crated on a car roof.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Just Saying

 


Monkeying Around Washington

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Monkeying Around by http://jeffreykennedyart.com

Aging & Attitude

How do you stop Mitt Romney from telephoning?

On Wednesday, January 11th, 8PM the phone rings. I answer and hear a husky energetic voice say, “This is Mitt Romney.” I immediately hang up.

What is this man thinking?

Ryan Seacrest is center stage on TV and ready to say emphatically and for the eleventh time, “This is American Idol.”

Mitt is not deterred.

The next morning Claire calls with an invitation to attend a Sunday Republican rally at 4:30PM to greet, not meet the presidential candidate and his wife. I do not recognize Claire’s voice and she cannot be interrupted. This is not my friend Claire.

The former Governor, Romney must be living on a different planet, the Giants playoff game is Sunday.

As a courtesy, I stay on the line to say I have a previous engagement, but would not attend even if I did not, there is no such option. “STOP PHONING ME!” I scream into a dead connection.

The “caller unknown” phone calls continue morning, noon and night. I know it is Mitt, because we are on the Do Not Call List, although he does not leave a message and it might be Newt. I have no desire to listen to him either and do not answer.

Candidates have taken to using toss-a-way cells, it is cheaper and there is no turn around time when a last-minute rally is organized.  Evidently, as with insider trading, politicians are exempt from complying with the Do Not Call laws ( 888-382-1222) and take liberty to phone citizens at their pleasure.

Although not a Republican, I registered as one for the primary. It is misleading; I give the party that.

I was registered Independent and did not switch to Democratic because that primary is a done deal and I am not really a Democratic either.

If I am not a Republican, Democratic or Independent, what am I?

An angry voter, feeling like a mother needing to scold the children and yell, “Go to your rooms and don’t come out until you can act you age and solve the country’s problems.”

Oh, “And when you come out, lower your voice.”

                                                                                        . . . . Just Saying