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Saturday, March 29, 2008

Tired, Worn Out, Taking a Break

I'm taking a break from blogging. I've had some fun with it but my perspective on politics is skewed and I don't like it. Whereas President Bush and his cronies was an easy target to rail against it was pointed out to me by a very dear friend that my topics are focused lately on bashing Democrats during this primary election for President. In retrospect my friend is right. I went against being pissed off at what the current administration is doing and labeled and directed my anger at a person just running for President as a Democrat.

It took me a day to think about it and in those thoughts are a break well deserved. I'm a tired man dealing with many issues on many levels and the bigger picture is far more important when it comes to my family. I just need a breather from all the hyper adrenalin that it takes to write sincere posts from the heart and I do not feel that it pushes the Democrat cause to bitch and moan against fellow Democrats that I want to see in the White House in 2009.

I will be back maybe in a week or so but this political writer needs to take some vacation time from blogging.

Take care of you and God bless to all that have faithfully read this site...

Papamoka

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Friday, March 28, 2008

Hillary Looses a Big Endorsement in PA


I have to thank my friend for this post birth. With Hillary Clinton declaring that she would tear apart her own political if not nominated then this is indeed the time for all Democrats to own up. This is not the time for any elected official to sit on the sidelines and wait for a declared winner if they are true Democrats. If the party is worthy of the next Presidency then ALL politically elected Democrats need to get off of their hands and speak loud and clear. Is our party owned by Hillary Clinton and her husbands Hench men?

No matter how you look at what Hillary Clinton and her crew of fund raising thugs have promised it is a burn the party General W. T. Sherman theology for not towing the Clinton line. If that isn’t a tantrum by the Senator from New York then I don’t know what one is?

Over at the New York Times they have this on one Democrat fed up with her bullying tactics that has previously sworn to stay neutral…

In a surprise move, Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania has endorsed Senator Barack Obama in advance of the April 22 Democratic primary. Mr. Casey had said he would remain neutral in the race in part because he wanted to help broker a reconciliation between Mr. Obama and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton afterward.

“I believe in my heart that there is one person who’s uniquely qualified to lead us in that new direction and that is Barack Obama.” Mr. Casey said during a rally in Pittsburgh Friday.

“I really believe that in a time of danger around the world and in division here at home, Barack Obama can lead us, he can heal us, he can help rebuild America,” he said.
Mr. Casey is going against the grain in his state, where polls show Mrs. Clinton ahead by at least 12 percentage points and where she has the endorsement of most of the state’s major Democratic figures.

Snip

“For a long time, I was not only neutral, I was undecided an undecided voter,” Mr. Casey said at a news conference in the ornate Soldiers and Sailors Military Museum and Memorial in Pittsburgh.

But, having made his decision, he made clear he intended to throw not just his family name, but his political know-how into Mr. Obama’s effort. “I know a lot about campaigns and a lot about our state,” said Mr. Casey. “I think it’s very important that I make the decision public.”

He framed his support for Mr. Obama in terms of character, with a sideways glance at the increasingly acrimonious primary season. “A campaign can test someone; he’s been tested,” Mr. Casey said. “He’s appealed to the better angels of our nature under very difficult circumstances.”
- New York Times

If Hillary Clinton wants to tell all politicians that she wants a fight at the convention then that is more or less telling any true politician that she is the Queen. Her will be done… or else. For the most part, if I were a politician holding any seat in government I would look to the fact that he or she was elected by the people. And what the Senator from New York is suggesting is that she will be the next Democrat nominee for President with or without the popular vote and caucus results from each state. How does that actually work Senator Clinton?

That is the key question that reporters from ABC, CBS, Washington Post, MSNBC, NBC, New York Times, FOX, CNN and the Wall Street Journal should be asking. If Hillary Clinton is so sure that she will be the nominee regardless of the popular vote in each state then what back room deals are written in stone. You find that answer by investigating all of the obvious routes. Somewhere is the answer and knowing the Clinton family past it involves money and that is the just the beginning.

Democracy should be by the people and not some deal made by political favors and promises given if the Presidency is handed over as if passing a scepter. Our nation is not a Monarchy!

Somebody explain that fact to her Highness to be Queen Hillary Clinton!

The American people are not stupid. We know and see what she is doing and what she is doing is wrong. As much as she is complaining about the people of Michigan and Florida not having their say in a vote she is also telling the rest of the Democrat Party that she will be the nominee no matter how you voted in your state. Not only is she burning her party but she is burning the road to re-election as Senator from New York. Hopefully, she didn’t spend all of the money from her last book deal.

Papamoka

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Thursday, March 27, 2008

Scorched Earth Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton today announced that she will take her election all the way to the Democrat convention for a knock down drag out fight to win her parties nomination. This news comes out at the same time as the mega millionaire Hillary Clinton supporters drafted a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with a vague threat of pulling support from all Democrats if she doesn’t play ball with Hillary Clinton.

It may come as a shock to some people reading this article but I’m pretty sure Hillary Clinton would sell her soul to be the next Democrat nominee for President. Politics being what it is, by its own nature is a cut throat occupation and those willing to make back room deals are usually the ones with no conscience as to the will of the people. In that respect, would you support a nominee for President if it was stolen from the peoples actual vote? I know for a fact that I would not support a Democrat candidate that manipulated the process to place their name on the ballot against the voters wishes.



This latest stunt by Hillary Clinton is deplorable and very much likely will backfire on her. The American people can see a bully in the school yard and we know how to deal with bullies. For one thing we do not line up in lock step to support them because we just might be the next target of their anger. Politically, this was a very brazen and idiotic move by Hillary Clinton. As for her denying full knowledge of what was in the Mafia type letter sent to the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi… Bull!!!

Tucker Carlson put it right in stating that there is no way to deal with Hillary Clinton if she will destroy the party she supposedly loves if that party does not serve her up as the nominee.

Somebody grab a chill pill and kindly offer it to the Senator from New York. If she insists on taking the election by hell or high water then she will find many Democrats voting for McCain come November.

***** Well researched and opposing opinion at I See My Dreams
http://iseemydreams.blogspot.com/2008/03/in-it-to-win-it.html


Papamoka

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Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Hillary Should Bow Out


Personally, I don’t like to knock the distinguished Senator from New York and former First Lady when it comes to politics. And yet this post is all about politics and reality. The Democrat Party is united in one message, no more Bush! That is a concept that we all can agree on. Something that makes your blood boil and your heart race in anger as you contemplate the unbelievable morphisim of Senator John McCain over the last couple of years into a George W. Bush clone. The war in Iraq and Afghanistan is a total wag the dog hypocrisy created by Bush and Cheney and the soldiers coming home in caskets continue on a daily basis simply because they serve our nation.

Do we as Democrat’s want more of this or do we want to pick one another’s pockets to see what deep dark secrets our candidates really have? Do we as Democrat’s want to see our political party dissolved and lose the next election because the opponent on the Republican side loaded his gun with the ammunition we supplied willingly? As many main stream media pundits have pointed out, Hillary Clinton can not win the nomination from the Democrat Party. Mathematically, it is impossible and yet she continues for the sake of what? Being right? Being a political party contender? Or simply for believing that the Clinton political machine will come through for her? That isn’t going to happen. The votes are not there for her, the delegates are not there for her and the ride is over.

Bill Clinton destroyed the Clinton political machine with the disgrace he brought to the Presidency. What Bill did should not reflect on Hillary but it does whether she or you like it or not. People see a cheater, a liar, a man that looked us all straight in the eye and told us all that he did not have sexual relations with Monica Lewinski. What part Hillary had to do with what is irrelevant. Bill Clinton lied, destroyed the trust of the people in doing so and is now a President that achieved such great heights but the matter still comes down to the blue dress evidence. Again, not Hillary’s fault.

Politics is a very strange business and Hillary Clinton has given this a good run. I respect her gumption for sticking in it for so long but her place is in the Senate from the great state of New York. From that post she can do much good and use her skills to work across party lines to unify a divided nation. From that spot she can make change possible with one voice among many with a hammer as strong as her personal convictions.

For the good of the Democrat Party, Hillary Clinton should bow out in an honorable manner. If she and her husband the former President, are in fact true Democrat’s, then they both know that the unification of all Democrat’s is the most important fact facing America today. This nation can not survive another President in the pocket of big business and the industrial military complex. Those free range pigs need to be rounded up and brought back to the family farm so to speak.

Hillary and Barack are alike when it comes to all of the issues and if the outcome of the election process is that our political party is too divided over personal issues then who wins? Answer the door because John McCain is knocking on the door of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Is that what we want as a political party?

Papamoka

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Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Obama Family Made Big Bucks?


Let me first start out that this is an in the tank slam on the Obama campaign for President from MSNBC. While his tax filings are released, his opponent, the well respected foggy memory Senator from New York are not. I might also point out that out of all the Democrat candidates in the original field of candidates, Barack Obama was among the poorest of the mega millionaires.

Why is this even a story plays into the racial card that the Clinton campaign unleashed with the Reverend Wright matter. If black people are not supposed to make it in the big time roll of millionaires and politics then Oprah and Bill Cosby should just sit down and shut the hell up. I don't think so! Screw you MSNBC!

The beginning of this lead story on MSNBC should have read that the Clinton family has not as yet released their tax returns but the Obama family has. Yellow journalism is alive and well at this story over at MSNBC…

Obama's tax returns show leap in income
The family's best year came in 2005 with a combined income of $1.6 million

By Jim Popkin
Senior Investigative Producer, NBC News
updated 4:05 p.m. ET, Tues., March. 25, 2008

WASHINGTON - The tax returns for Sen. Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, offer new insights into the power couple's rising fortunes. They chronicle the candidate's rise from state legislator to U.S. senator and beyond.

The tax returns are dated between 2000 and 2006, showing a steep increase in family income.

For example, the first return indicates that the Obamas' combined income was $240,505. That included Obama's salary as a young state senator in Illinois, $16,500 in fees as a "foundation director/educational speaker," and his wife's salary as a hospital administrator.

But just six years later in 2006, the Obamas' combined income was $983,826, some $740,000 more. Obama had become a U.S. senator by then, making about $165,000 a year, and his wife's income from the University of Chicago Medical Center had sharply climbed to about $265,000 a year.

Obama's book-writing career had also become profitable, earning him $551,240 in author fees for 2006 alone.

Michelle Obama also made an additional $51,200 that year, as working as the director of TreeHouse Foods. According to the company's website, it's a "food manufacturer servicing primarily the retail grocery and foodservice chains."

The Obamas' best financial year came in 2005, when their total combined income was $1.6 million. That included $1.2 million in author fees for Obama's best-selling books. Michelle Obama's salary that year was $316,962 plus another $45,000 from TreeHouse Foods.
- MSNBC

Maybe we need to be realistic and ask how much Bill Clinton as a former President of the United States of America gets for every speech he gives. Last I heard it was upward of $100,000 bucks for thirty to forty minutes worth of breath from Bill Clinton to spew his sense of reality to any organization with the check book big enough to pay him. Good for him to be able to take that kind of coin down!

Maybe we need to look at what Senator Clinton made off of her book deals. Not that having a book in print is a crime but that income is a play on politics just as Obama’s was so is Obama a bad person for making money off of a book deal?

Mud is flying and the press is just as guilty as the political campaigns of both candidates. What this story from MSNBC stunk, stank, and filled the back of my throat with bile was the simple fact that they do not think a Black African American should be making that kind of money? Baffles my mind!

What bothers me is not how the story was placing facts as much as it was the manner of the facts. He made X amount of dollars and his wife made X amount of dollars as if it was all ill gotten income and not deserved. Again, Screw you MSNBC!

Barack Obama and his wife Michelle earned their lot in life the hard way and overcame the many obstacles that our society threw at them. I give them full credit for a job well done and hope my children can be half as good in their life travels.

In this latest phase of the political campaign for President it seems that a black man is not allowed to have a life with financial gains even though his Harvard education and life mission is to be in public service. Hillary Clinton is somehow absolved of this guilt trip.

Hillary’s income is clean but Barack Obama’s is wrong? That is political stereo typing gone wrong and the Main Stream Media is playing it up as if the Obama’s do not deserve to have a life with rewards based on the same life mission.

Papamoka

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Monday, March 24, 2008

Hillary Clinton Lied... Who'd of thunk?

When you are running for President of the United States it is a very good idea not to lie about your past experiences. It’s especially important not to lie about it if you were the former First Lady with one hundred or so reporters and camera crews following you. Hillary Clinton spoke recently of sniper fire and ducking for cover to reach her car on a trip to Bosnia while First Lady. The only hitch to her memory of the event is that it never happened that way.

This kind of experience is called fabrication and Hillary Clinton is guilty of it. I’m simply baffled why she would make up such a story knowing that it could be vetted so easily? Maybe she was talking about dodging questions rather than bullets but this little story is going to bury her campaign for President.

Over at YouTube they are having a field day with this one…



It will be interesting to see what the Obama Campaign does with this game ending fumble from Hillary Clinton. We shall see won't we?

Papamoka

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Sunday, March 23, 2008

Bipolar Testing Gone Mad


When it comes to knowing what someone that is diagnosed with Bipolar disorder is all about I think I have a front row seat on the topic. By no means am I any kind of medical doctor or someone with fifteen letters after their name with advanced degrees in mental health education. I’m one of two parents that have faced it for years with one of our children and it is not an overnight diagnosis. Matter of fact, technically you can not be diagnosed bipolar until you are an adult. But Bipolar conditions in people can be narrowed down and treated with the right professional medical care and tested medications.

One of the things that I am certain of is that there is not one single doctor out there that will overwhelmingly say that any individual is bipolar even after several visits with the patient. Apparently, all of the medical doctors, counselors, psychiatric health care workers are out of a job due to a spit in a cup test that nails a person as bipolar. I can’t make this stuff up and MSNBC has this to say on it…

Experts troubled by at-home bipolar gene tests

Many such products sold online with almost no government oversight

Associated Press
updated 2:23 p.m. ET, Sun., March. 23, 2008

SAN DIEGO - Dr. John Kelsoe has spent his career trying to identify the biological roots of bipolar disorder. In December, he announced he had discovered several gene mutations closely tied to the disease, also known as manic depression.

Then Kelsoe, a prominent psychiatric geneticist at the University of California, San Diego, did something provocative for the buttoned-down world of academic medical research: He began selling bipolar genetic tests straight to the public over the Internet last month for $399.

His company, La Jolla-based Psynomics, joins a legion of startups racing to exploit the boom in research connecting genetic variations to a host of health conditions. More than 1,000 at-home gene tests have burst onto the market in the past few years.

The proliferation of these tests troubles many public health officials, medical ethicists and doctors. The tests receive almost no government oversight, even though many of them are being sold as tools for making serious medical decisions.

Health experts worry that many of these products are built on thin data and are preying on individuals’ deepest anxieties.

“People are always rushing to the market on the basis of one or two studies,” said Dr. Muin Khoury, director of the National Office of Public Health Genomics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We have very little evidence that telling people their genetic information is going to make any difference.”

Tests have become available claiming to help predict and diagnose everything from serious illnesses like cancer and Alzheimer’s to athletic ability and a person’s ideal diet. Psynomics’ offering is one of the first psychiatric gene tests on the market.
- MSNBC

First off, the human mind is a very complex machine that will never be fully understood even with thousands of years of research. Granted that great progress has been made in the last forty years but that progress is only the very tip top of the iceberg.

Having been through the long trials of a child with mental health issues it is not anything that you would ever want to go through. It’s painful, it’s full of very difficult decisions, and it’s full of many highs and many lows. There is no middle ground when it comes to being the parent of someone that is probably Bipolar. All of the heartaches faced are from the person afflicted with the diagnosis that is not guaranteed and the ones that love them without question. One thing I am certain of is that many well educated people saw my child, diagnosed approximate disorders, missed the medications she needed and missed the overall picture. Standing back after years, if you picked apart the summation of each doctor and psychiatrist she saw you might have the overall picture but it is still a guess. Even to this very day it is a mystery so spitting in a cup is not the tell all diagnosis by any means.

One thing I am certain of is that you can not know what a persons mind is truly all about completely. Spitting in a cup and mailing the results back to your doctor is only one possible piece to the big picture that is the human mind. Our human mind is a jigsaw puzzle of the magnitude that if you spread all of the pieces out end to end it would take millions of light years to reach the end of it and that would only be the first we would ever understand. Assembling the pieces is a challenge we might never find the solution too when all of the pieces can change shape at any point in time. This kind of test is not cast in stone result positive of Bipolar, Alzheimer’s, Dementia or any other mind altering medical condition.

These conditions of the mind are not like being pregnant that chemically changes the entire human bodies chemistry. Don’t ever think that you can diagnose a child or anyone simply by spitting in a cup and sending it off to some lab that has unknown conditions for testing your samples. That is where the dangers of this miss appropriated use of a general knowledge of the bodies DNA and chemical properties can be greatly mistreated.

One of the things that scares me about this type of alleged science is the simple fact that is not regulated or perfected and the possible abuse that it will cast forth on millions of innocent people will never be known. I can literally picture someone thinking their child might be bipolar and rather than spend the time with therapists and doctors they choose the unproven method of spitting in a cup and it becomes biblical results to the parents. Same thing goes for someone that thinks they might have Alzheimer’s disease and spitting in a cup with positive results ends up destroying the future they had as a person.

You can never replace the serious education it takes to actually treat someone with Bipolar conditions. Many of the drugs needed to help someone with symptom’s similar to bipolar have been tested and proven to work for years before actually on the market. In some cases it could be as simple as vitamin deficiencies to help the patient brain chemistry and in others it may take a combination of prescription drugs but being Bipolar is treatable.

What I truly find ironic about this testing by spitting in a cup will be substituted by many as real health care by people without health insurance. That is how this story and diagnosing anyone with a mental health issue will find the abuse of a very willing open unregulated market that does not care what you do with the results as long as your check clears.

Thank you UMASS Medical and Transitions for stabilizing what was once a child diagnosed as possibly Bipolar. The future is far better than the past and true mental health professionals made that possible.

Papamoka

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Saturday, March 22, 2008

Big Bank Buyout


There is a probable solution to our nations banking crisis that started out with all of those bad loans that then turned into millions of foreclosures. Keep in mind you have to think like a wheeler and dealer like billionaire’ Donald Trump or Warren Buffet to make this proposition work.

If Bear Sterns could be bought for $2 per share then I think it’s possible for this blogger to enter the high finance games of Wall Street. First off you have to read this piece over at Reuters…

Goldman, Lehman outlooks cut to "negative" by S&P
By Jonathan Stempel


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc's and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc's credit rating outlooks were cut on Friday by Standard & Poor's, which said volatile markets could result in lower profit and revenue.

S&P revised its outlook to "negative" from "stable" on Goldman's "AA-minus" and Lehman's "A-plus" long-term credit ratings, suggesting a possible downgrade in one to two years.


(Snip)

Banks have suffered from lower earnings and share prices as the housing crisis, a slowing economy and worries about credit quality led investors to stop buying a wide range of riskier securities. This has cut into revenue from trading, arranging debt offerings, and advising on mergers.

Several banks have also been cutting jobs, and Bear Stearns Cos agreed last Sunday to a $2-per-share buyout by JPMorgan Chase & Co after a cash crisis.

S&P still has a negative outlook on Merrill Lynch & Co's "A-plus" credit rating, and expects to decide within 30 days whether to downgrade Morgan Stanley's "AA-minus" rating. The credit rating agency said net revenue in the industry may decline 20 percent to 30 percent this year.
- Reuters

Keep in mind that my plan to buyout one of the nations largest investment banks will involve a little principal I like to call the meek shall inherit the earth. In this case I’m talking about all of us that have been victims to bad loans, poor decisions and foreclosure on our homes. Believe it or not we all hang out at the local diner sipping coffee and blaming Wall Street for our lot in life. For the sake of argument lets assume that there are ten million of us. It’s a big diner!

All we need to buyout Goldman Sach’s and Lehmans is fifty-one percent of the shares so right off the bat we have a 49% discount. All of the members of our little club have to contribute to the plan for this to work so here goes. Below is my top secret plan for us to finance our plan. Remember this is top secret so don’t tell anyone.

We’ve all gotten those flyers in the mail that you get $25 if you open a new savings account, we each open an account and pool the results. Then we look for all the banks offering free toasters and we open an account and sell the ill gotten toasters on Ebay for $50 each. (Really nice top of the line toasters with the assumption that there will be a bidding war for all ten million of them.) Again pooling all of the money. Seeing that we are all going to be high finance bankers we are going to need reliable transportation to get to Wall Street. We each buy a new car and pool the $1000 cash rebate. Before we give the dealer our old clunker of a car we each find $10 in spare change in it. We need a Green side to this buy out so everyone has to collect $100 worth of bottle and can deposits from the side of the road. Since we are going to be dealing with stocks and bonds we are all going to need new computers so we each buy a top of the line computer with a $400 rebate on the computer and a $100 rebate on all of the software.

This is the really creative part of the financing… We each sign up for that beta testing for tracking emails that Microsoft is undertaking. That should pay each of us $2000 and Bill Gates will thank each and everyone of us for helping him out. Next up, we each email back all of those crooked bankers in Africa that have $30,000,000.00 sitting in dead men’s checking accounts.

If my math is correct it looks like out little group of dead beat losers has to much money now. That’s a nice problem to have. It looks like we can take Goldman Sach’s and Lehman private at $4 per share. Oh, I almost forgot, we each have a $1 off coupon! With the change we have left over it looks like we can buy Canada and rent it back to them.

The Donald will be so proud of us…

Papamoka

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Cross posted at MichaelLinnJones.com
*****Reuters has picked up this post...

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Friday, March 21, 2008

Richardson Goes for Obama


In a very surprising and controversial time in the Obama campaign they have found a new friend with the very much needed endorsement of Governor Bill Richardson. Even the close friendship of former President Bill Clinton could not sway the Governor of New Mexico to join the Hillary Clinton band wagon. Over at MSNBC they have this to say about it…

SANTA FE, New Mexico - New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, America's only Hispanic governor, is endorsing Sen. Barack Obama for president, calling him a "once-in-a- lifetime leader" who can unite the nation and restore the country's international leadership.

Richardson, who dropped out of the Democratic race in January, is to appear with Obama on Friday at a campaign event in Portland, Oregon, The Associated Press has learned.

Snip

Richardson has been relentlessly wooed by Obama and Clinton for his endorsement. As a Democratic superdelegate, the governor plays a part in the tight race for nominating votes and could bring other superdelegates to Obama's side. He also has been mentioned as a potential running mate for either candidate.
- MSNBC

What is interesting about this endorsement is the quality of the individual. Earlier in this political contest Bill Richardson was a huge favorite for Independents and Moderate voters. Even at one point there was talk back in the Iowa caucus days of Richardson and Biden joining camps to form a super Democrat ticket.

Richardson’s endorsement brings some serious credentials with it when it comes to diplomacy around the world. When he was still running for President he spoke at length about talking to nations of the world with issues against America rather than brow beating them into submission or using military force to show them the true path.

What will be interesting to see is if the endorsement of Obama by Governor Richardson will swing a big enough chunk of Hispanic voters away from the Clinton campaign. That will be the true test of this endorsement.

It begs at the mind to wonder if Barack Obama has promised the Vice Presidency to the Governor if nominated by the Democrats. Having a running mate with five Nobel Peace Prize nominations under his belt certainly would work to Obama’s favor when it comes to foreign policy.

Papamoka

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*****This post was picked up by Chicago Sun Times
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Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Obama on Racial Tension in America


Maybe I’m just an idiot that just does not or will not ever understand how anyone can be a racist in America. We as a people have come from all shores in our immigration based nation and yet in every couple of generations going all the way back to the first Pilgrims we have always had racism in America? Why? America is the land of opportunity for all so why does hate of a persons heritage exist? Why do people look at the color of a persons skin and stereotype them as the bad guys regardless of never actually getting to know them.

This nation was founded for one nationality and that is that we all are Americans. You can be an Irish American, a Polish American, an English American and an African American and one thing you have in common is that you are all Americans! Your neighbor, your coworkers, your fellow church members, and your elected leaders are all from diverse backgrounds that have made this nation great not because they cherish their personal heritage but because they believe in an America for all.

If you were running for President, would you be liable for what a friend says that for the most part in fact is true but is a divisive topic? Barack Obama is fighting that ownership and I have to agree with the Senator. We are a melting pot society and sometimes the hate surfaces to the top of the pot and spills over. Over at the Washington Post they have this on Obama and the Reverend Wright issue…

By William Branigin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 18, 2008; 2:15 PM


In what his campaign billed as a major speech in Philadelphia, Obama tried to come to grips with the issue of race in his run for the presidency and to reinforce his primary theme that he can help bring fundamental change to the nation. His remarks were aimed at repairing the damage his campaign has suffered from his association with Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. and addressing what he called a "particularly divisive turn" in recent weeks as videos of the fiery pastor's sermons have circulated.

Saying that America remains stuck in "a racial stalemate," the Illinois senator said he was not naive enough to believe that the divisions could be overcome in a single election. But he said Americans working together "can move beyond some of our old racial wounds."
He described his own heritage as a biracial American married to a black woman "who carries within her the blood of slaves and slave owners."

"I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible," Obama declared.


Jumping Ahead…

"I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community," Obama told supporters at Philadelphia's National Constitution Center. "I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother -- a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed her by on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe." - Washington Post

If you want to call Reverend Wright a racist then by all means do so. That title comes to the Reverend with years of experience of living as a black man in a white mans world in the cheap seats of his local community. While he works to make a better world for his fellow man he has seen the injustices of the world against his fellow man and they are his flock. If I were in his shoes I would be screaming at the rafters in disgust and his pointing this fact of life out is and should be the news. America needs to change its overall look on who Americans are and face the fact that people of color, African, Mexican, Peruvian, Cuban or any other color than white are Americans too!

I for one am a firm believer that you never forget where you came from and Senator Obama’s refusal to send his friend Reverend Wright to the dogs is admirable. Most politicians would have thrown Reverend Jeremiah Wright under the bus as they speeded off to the next campaign stop. What Obama said today is true of the American spirit and that simply is American’s never forget our past and our allies! If that isn’t a hint of Presidential qualities then I do not know what is.

I find it intriguing that people of the Catholic, Protestant, Jewish or Baptist faith are not bound by the labels that our Pope, Pastors, Rabbi’s, or Ministers are voicing from the pulpit as an individual but Barack Obama is? This was a bomb that was politically motivated to send the same message as the Bush 2000 race. Divide and conquer the voters and it backfired. America is changing year by year and those that refuse to accept that change will look to the past to bring down the leader of change. As the messenger of change in our American government Barack Obama has been the light and the hope for a better tomorrow. He has handled this issue like a true statesman and that is proof of how he will act as President of these United States of America.

Racism is an ugly word and it has no place in what America can be for all of its people. I’m personally blessed to have many people of many different nationalities that are Americans as friends. You get those friends by simply starting off with a hello and enjoy the conversations from there. Much like Smokey the Bear‘s message, only you can end Racism in America.

Papamoka

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Cross posted at MichaelLinnJones.com and Bring It ON!
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Monday, March 17, 2008

It's Not Often We Get To Relive History: Bush Out-Hoovers Coolidge

Courtesy www.todaysseniorsnetwork.com

BY MICHAEL LINN JONES

By 1932 the economy was so bad that a children's rhyme came about that mentioned then President Hoover and his Secretary of Treasury, Andrew Mellon:

Mellon drove the engine,
Hoover rang the bell,
Wall St. blew the whistle,
and the country went to hell.


From the mouth of babes, as they say....it condenses into a short poem the feelings and beliefs at the time. Herbert Hoover got stuck with the policies of Calvin Coolidge, yet President Hoover was a captive of what John Kenneth Galbraith later described as "the conventional wisdom."

The Franklin Roosevelt administration came into office at a time when American business was looking for someone to save them from themselves. What Roosevelt did certainly alleviated many of the harshest aspects of the Depression, but never cured it. But at least he tried which is more than can be said for his predecessors. One good, and lasting side of FDR's time was the imposition of some common-sense regulation on American finance.

Since the 1970's, many of those regulations were removed by Congress, sometimes at the behest of the president in office. It all looked great, "unleashing the shackles" from business. The first inkling of the wisdom of this was the mortgage crisis of the late 1980's. We were returning to the "conventional wisdom" with a vengeance. Several years ago Congress passed, and President Bush gleefully signed something called the consumer protection act. I love their sense of humor. That law was written by, and for, credit card companies. It was to address the problem of the irresponsible behavior of individuals who ran up credit card debt and then declared bankruptcy. Keep that logic in mind.

Last Friday, President Bush gave a speech at The Economic Club of New York. You can't get more grassroots than that; a roomfull of millionaires/billionaires filling their shorts with fear; fear of losing what they have taken risks with other peoples' money for great personal gain. In Bush Acknowledges Weakness In American Economy by Jennifer Loven (AP writer), our president regurgetated thoughts expressed 80 years ago.
NEW YORK - Trying to calm jitters about the economy, President Bush conceded on Friday that the country "obviously is going through a tough time" but expressed confidence that it will rebound. He cautioned against overreacting to fix the problems.

In a speech to The Economic Club of New York, Bush said this was not the first time the economy has been rattled and that he is certain that it will ride out its troubles. "These are uncertain times," he said.

SNIP,

The president chose American's financial center as the backdrop — and the titans of finance and commerce as the audience — for his attempts to calm nerves from Wall Street to Main Street.

The Economic Club of New York is an exclusive, wealthy, largely homogenous group of top executives. Speaking before the gathering had Bush somewhat literally preaching to the choir — the 101-year-old group's new chairman is Glen Hubbard, the first head of the White House Council of Economic Advisers for Bush.

SNIP,

His main message, aside from optimism, stuck to Republican economic orthodoxy: warning repeatedly against too much government intervention.

For instance, while insisting his administration has an "active plan" to deal with the problems, Bush said he opposed several measures pending on Capitol Hill. They included proposals to allocate $400 billion to purchase abandoned and foreclosed homes, to change the bankruptcy code to allow judges to adjust mortgage rates, and to artificially prop up home prices.

"It's important not to overcorrect, because when you overcorrect, you end up in a ditch," Bush said. "It's important to be steady."

He said his administration would address the crisis "in a way that respects the ingenuity of the American people, that bolsters the entrepreneurial spirit and ensures that when we make it through this rough patch, that the driving will be smooth."

President Bush went on to lament Democrats' recalcitrance on approving more of those "free trade" deals that have done so much for American multinational corporations.

I love the bit where he emphasizes the growth of productivity was one of the strengths of the economy. That is a half-truth. Presidents Coolidge and Hoove also bragged about the growth of productivity. What all fail to realize is that increased productivity is useless if the wages do not rise in accordance with them.

To my dying day I will be a strong proponent of capitalism. It isn't pretty, but it creates wealth; no other system does. Greed is not good, but it's a much better catalyst in wealth creation, however it is distributed. That is the role of government to some degree; to curb the excesses of unfettered capitalism.

Two days after President Bush's speech in New York, it was announced that the Federal Reserve was loosening credit (again) for business. And, that it was involved in pulling Bear Stearns bacon out of the fire (by having it sold to J.P. Morgan for pennies on the dollar).

Some argued that Bear Stearns, an investment bank that screwed the pooch with subprime mortage notes, should go under...to deal with the consequences of its unwise actions. You know, like those individuals who got lectured vehemently several years ago when those bankruptcy laws were tightened.

But, to the Bush administration....like the Coolidge and Hoover administrations....the worth of one bank is much greater than millions of individuals. Suddenly on Wall Street we don't hear the usual cries of "rugged individualism." Of course not; such a notion is silenced in times like these.

Simply put, if our economy is a ship, if it is taking on water, the first thing the captain is going to do is ensure the lifeboats are filled with the first class passengers FIRST.

The wealthy elites are, to borrow from Neil Young, the silver seeds of a grandiose future.

George Carlin was once asked if he thought we had a dope problem in America.

"Sure,' he said, " I think we have too many dopes."
*****************************
Cross-posted at Michaellinnjones.com

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Saturday, March 15, 2008

Screaming at the Moon


Not for nothing, I’m pissed off and sick and tired of the bull that all of the politicians are tossing at us all. While they are all flinging mud at one another America is in a world of hurt if you live below the $200,000 income range. The only place the mud they are all flinging will stick is in the news and hype over the elections. What does that mean to you and I as the people facing this recession full on? Nothing!

If you want to know what Americans really care about then forget about what the other candidate is saying and talk to US! We don’t care what your pastor said, we don’t care what your husband said. Talk to us and tell us what you will do for us!

This election has turned into an old bitty over the fence argument over rose bushes creeping into a neighbors property when the real problem is that the roots of that same rose bush are ripping the septic tank apart. The end result is you have a beautiful flower but it will be dead in a couple of days. What do you have left after that?

Cut the political crap and just face the facts. It would take an act of God for Hillary Clinton to win the White House just by the current delegate count to the PRIVATE Democrat convention. That is if you count John McCain as the very best and last built stage coach of the Republican Party. Even Mitt Romney as his Vice President candidate he could not pull off this election cycle and he can thank George Bush for that unwelcome endorsement.

John McCain lost many conservative and moderate voters when he accepted President Bush endorsement just for the simple reason that he did not say “Thank you but no thank you.”.

John McCain lost many voters in the bible belt simply because he refused to deny the endorsement of Reverend John Hagee. Not to mention the right leaning Catholics that Hagee dictates as going to hell simply because we too believe in Jesus Christ. That is an oxymoron that I would like explained to me. We just don’t see Jesus Christ buying a Cadillac and mansion for his own gain to profess his faith and doctrine. John McCain spit in the face of every Catholic with that lack of denial of that endorsement. Is that no different than spitting in the face of veterans coming home from Vietnam? Faith is a funny business and calling the Catholic church a whore is not something you want your name associated with but McCain accepted the endorsement? All you Catholic’s grab a rock and crawl under it, you are not worthy of John McCain!

Hillary and Barack need to find out that this election is not just about them. It is about America! It is about the American people that are tired of being railroaded with every step they take. Bush is gone come January and one of you need to step up to the plate and take charge. The numbers going to the convention do not lie so Hillary needs to play nice and stop the divide and conquer politics that is dividing the party. Barack needs to suck it up and deal with the fact that Hillary Clinton has a platform that is not that much different from his. Unite, unify, consolidate, join together and push the madness that is our current form of government out.

Together Obama AND Clinton can not be defeated, divided they are a house of cards one breath away from falling.

Otherwise, keep feeding the RNC all the ammo they need to put Bush Junior that used to be Senator John McCain in the White House. Ya, that would be change?

Papamoka
Cross Posted at MichaelLinnJones.com

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St. Patrick's Day Thoughts

Couresy www.rootsweb.com

(Photo courtesy of http://www.rootsweb.com/)

BY MICHAEL LINN JONES

In a department store the other day I was confronted with one of those appeals to commercialization. It was a display filled with all the items someone needs to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. It included green felt hats with buckles on them (for leprechauns I presume), green beads adorned with shamrocks and beer mugs (of course), and so on. I'm proud to say that American marketers and Chinese factories have gone all-out this year to portray the Irish (and their descendants across the globe) as carefree, mindless drunks.

This is not to rain on anyone's parade, but rather to give a little perspective of what St. Patrick's Day is about. Or, at least to me. Like many, I won't let facts get in the way of a good story, but in this case I'll do my best.

The photo above is of the Rock of Cashel, in County Tipperary. It was here, as legend has it, that St. Patrick gathered a crowd and used a shamrock to teach the listeners of the Holy Trinity, each petal of the shamrock (since there's three) stood for The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. St. Patrick spread Christianity across the entire island. He did it not with a sword, nor with threats. The pagan religion that prevailed at that time in Ireland gave way to Christianity, or adapted well to it in some aspects.

The people of Ireland were Celts. The Celts were a mysterious people who thrived in the British Isles for several eons. Also in what is now England the Angles mixed with the Saxons (Germans if you will). The Celts were widespread. To this day they are the Irish, the Scots, the Welsh, and small areas of Cornwall in England and a slice of Brittany in France, if you can believe it.

Zip forward in history to the 18th and 19th century to see the result of colonial empire. Ireland was a vassal colony of the English. There were "penal laws" in existence that prohibited Catholics from practicing their faith, owning land, and a myriad of other things. The most offensive was the law that required Catholics to pay tithe to the Church of England. What is little known is the fact that in the north of Ireland, Presbyterians were just as ruthlessly persecuted as the Catholics.

By the early years of the 19th century the "penal laws" were repealed; mostly through the efforts of one Daneil O'Connel. O'Connel was a member of Parliament (as well as a Protestant). He was given the name "the great liberator."

Despite that, economic freedoms were not extended. A native of Peru (the potato) became the staple diet for the vast majority of the Irish. When a blight of potatos arrived (from America I'm sad to say) the food people ate simply ceased to exist. It was known as the Great Famine, roughly lasting between 1844 and 1870. But a famine it was not, for that word implies no food at all was available. However, Irish farmers literally died from starvation while watching ships loaded with grain bound for England.

It was a horrible time. So many people were dying that coffins were made with a false bottom; the coffin would be lowered into the ground, the deceased would be released and the coffin would be re-used over and over. The dead were put on ships ("coffin ships") that would be sunk offshore. One man told me that if you could walk underwater, you could walk from the Dingle Peninsula to Boston Harbor without leaving the decks of the coffin ships.

Today we might call it ethnic cleansing. Ireland's population shrunk from 12 million to just over 3 million. About two million died of starvation and disease. The rest just left. They went to New York, Boston, San Francisco, Britain, Australia, and many other places. There were no leprechauns and no pots of gold at any rainbows for them. At least not in Ireland.

Here's something to think about on St. Patrick's Day: during the mass exodus of the Irish, cholera became one of the biggest killers. One man and his wife, from Cork, emigrated to Canada. Cholera had become so rampant that immigration authorities had all ships arrive at an island in the St. Lawrence river. Those who were healthy moved on. Those who were sick were detained on the island until they either recovered or died. This man's wife came down with cholera shortly before their ship arrived. He stayed on the island with her, but she quickly succumbed to the disease. Heartbroken, he moved on, eventually re-marrying and settling in Detroit. His son was Henry Ford

Many years later, Henry Ford established the first Ford factory outside the U.S. in Cork. Cork is a very hilly city (a little San Francisco some call it). One area is known as Fair Hill.. There is a street there named after an Irish revolutionary, Wolfe Tone. But long before that it was named Fair Lane. So those of you old enough to remember have learned how the Ford Fairlane got its name.

I was taught in college sociology that those who are oppressed learn well how to oppress. This was to explain the proliferation of dictatorships that evolved in so many former English colonies. Ireland is one that defintely did not. The Irish are a kind, intelligent, and welcoming people. Their national psyche will always carry the echos of past sufferings and loss, though.

They are irrepressible and have, I must confess, the most beautiful application of the English language in the world. I don't know about this "wearin' of the green" stuff. You don't know what green is until you've been there. I hope you go someday.

Just don't go with anticipation of seeing the "pig in the parlor" Irish, as they refer to it over there. Their outlook is modern yet much different than an American's. Culturally we owe them much.....at the very least the respect they deserve. For of all nations, Ireland has earned it as much as any other, if not more.

One thing Americans and the Irish have in common: being one or the other is a state of mind. If you want to celebrate anything on March 17th, celebrate that. Ireland is not the only nation to have suffered; as many people around the world are living a nightmare as bad as the Irish ever did.

But they are, if you will, a testimony to the resilience of the human spirit, and what it can accomplish.

Now THAT's something worth lifting a toast to.
**********************************
Cross-posted at Michaellinnjones.com

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Friday, March 14, 2008

Say Hello to MSYahoo


When it comes to corporations strong arming their way through any competition Microsoft is King. Once more Microsoft will obliterate yet one more great internet tool for all of us to use and insert themselves as the new messiah of the Internet. All the news about Microsoft buying Yahoo are officially over with the meeting of all the executives to find some common ground to get the deal done.

Pass out the billion dollar paychecks to all the Yahoo executives and wait for your Yahoo email account to suddenly become a Hot Mail account. Latest news from the New York Times on Yahoo being bought out by Microsoft…

Microsoft, Yahoo Execs Finally Meet

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: March 14, 2008
Filed at 5:42 p.m. ET

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Microsoft Corp. met with Yahoo Inc. to discuss the software maker's unsolicited takeover bid earlier this week, a breakthrough that could be the first step toward a friendly deal between the two rivals.

The meeting occurred Monday near Yahoo's Sunnyvale headquarters, according to a person familiar with the situation. The person spoke Friday on the condition of not being identified because the preliminary talks haven't been formally disclosed.

No investments bankers attended Monday's meeting, nor was there any discussion about whether Microsoft is willing to raise its offer, initially valued at $44.6 billion, or $31 per share. Yahoo's board already has rejected that bid, arguing the company's Internet franchise is worth more.

Although it's unclear whether Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer and his Yahoo counterpart, Jerry Yang, attended Monday's meeting, senior management from both companies were on hand.
- New York Times

I’m doing my best to help out Bill Gates with his latest email tracking software but this situation calls for my full attention and yours as well. Bill sent me a personal email from his old Netscape email account and asked my thoughts on the new name for the former Yahoo. I’ve been scratching my head over it but this is what I have so far.

Yarightthebastid’sofferedusmoremoneythanGodcouldcountwaaahoooo!.com

Msminefuhrerhoo.com

Mswemadethemadealtheycouldnotrefuseboohoo.com

Yawesquashedthemhoo.com

Msborgyouwillbeassimilatedyahoo.com

Micascrewyooo.com

MicroYoowillonlyseewhatwewantyoutoseesoft.com

Yawewillownalloftheinternethoo.com


Let me know if you come up with some other names for the new Microsoft division soon to be formerly known as Yahoo. I’m under a hot deadline because Bill wants to come out with five versions and new releases that will lock up and close you out within the next year.

Papamoka

Cross posted at MichaelLinnJones.com and Bring It ON!

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Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Silda Wall Spitzer, L.I.P.

Courtesy www.weblogs.newsday.com

BY MICHAEL LINN JONES

Ever since the "affaire de Spitzer" hit the headlines, much speculation has surrounded Eliot Spitzer's wife, Silda Wall Spitzer. A Charlotte talk show host asked for callers to decide if Mrs. Spitzer was a "chump" for showing up at her husband's press conferences. I can't quite put my finger on it, but there is a scent of sexism in that.

No one would ever accuse me of being an ardent feminist, but I adhere to certain beliefs about women that might run contrary to other men's. Or women's, even. A wise man in Ireland once commented to me that "anyone who thinks men and women are the same is a fool. And anyone who thinks men and women are not equal is a fool also. Men and women are different; while enjoying the difference we should never lose sight of the fact that we are equal."

As I told a friend recently, I have a mother, two sisters, a wife, and a daughter. Never in my life have I consider them or any other female as less (or more) of a person. If you want to talk about weight-lifting, sure, I probably have it over them. But life-lifting? No. What is life-lifting you say? It is the long and arduous task of not only giving life to other human beings, but providing that which allows those humans to grow and prosper. Very few women will stop short of death itself for their children. And then most also offer that life-lifting to their partners; in most cases to men whom they marry.

I don't know much about Silda Wall Spitzer. The photo I found shows her smiling, which she may do again someday. Right now, though, she ain't happy. Neither are the three children she bore with her husband.

What do I know about Governor Spitzer? In short, he's an egomanical, egocentric, hypocritical, lying son of a bitch. When I read that his "tryst" involves something north of $80,000, my first thought was: that's roughly the same amount of money someone on disability receives in a DECADE.

He's resigning as of March 17th. I'm sure that will be one happy St. Patrick's Day for his family. It isn't the betrayal of the citizens of New York that bothers me so much. After all, North Carolina or any other state always has plenty of volunteers to doubletalk their way into our hearts and wallets.

No, what bothers me is the perception that Mrs. Spitzer is some kind of putz for standing there next to her husband, humilating herself in order to provide support that is not warranted. That is for her to decide, not us. Rightly or wrongly Silda Wall Spitzer is carrying on a tradition that is as old as human society. She is providing that life-lifting that will carry her family through this mess, no matter the costs to herself. She's not "standing by her man".....not really. She's standing there displaying courage and a silent message to her children. And, to what friends she has who have enough perception to know her strengths.

So I say to Ms. Wall-Spitzer, and her children....L.I.P. Live in Peace. Whether you decide to continue your marriage is up to you, not us. You don't need three guesses to figure out what I'd recommend......or many others. But it is a life decision, a personal fork in the road that only she can make.

My grandmother bore five sons. Two died as children. The other three went off to war. One was killed in combat while the other two were P.O.W.'s of the Japanese for over three years. To her dying day she mourned the loss of her children and their suffering. But she was no wimp, no "chump." She was just one tough, compassionate lady.

Perhaps Silda Wall Spitzer is, too. Let's hope so.
****************************
Cross-posted at Michaellinnjones.com

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Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Mississippi Going for Obama


Even before the votes are counted Senator Clinton is counting the great state of Mississippi out for Senator Obama. Not that that surprises me but you would have thought she at least might have thought the contest might just be close before the results were even tallied. Given all the blunders of all the polling numbers I would never personally give the state to any candidate before the full vote count was in.

When it comes to delegates to the Democrat Convention and that is what the primaries are all about, this state plays a key role when it comes to the final process. Not simply because they are holding a primary but simply because they played by the rules of the Democrat Party on selecting a candidate. We’ll get into that a little bit latter after we look at this piece from MSNBC on Hillary Clinton’s white flag campaign for Mississippi…

Clinton battles Obama for Mississippi votes
Illinois senator favored to win majority of state's 33 delegates


Obama began the night with 1,579 delegates, to 1,473 for Clinton. It takes 2,025 to win the nomination.

Neither of the two rivals appears able to win enough delegates through primaries and caucuses to prevail in their historic race for the nomination, a development that has elevated the importance of nearly 800 elected officials and party leaders who will attend next summer's national convention as unelected superdelegates.

Obama leads Clinton among pledged delegates, 1,368-1,226 in The Associated Press' count, while the former first lady has an advantage among superdelegates, 247-211.

Adding to the uncertainty of the nominating campaign, Democrats from Florida and Michigan are pressing for their delegations to be seated at the convention.


Snip and Tuck

"Some people have said 'Well Mississippi is very much a state that will most likely be in favor of Senator Obama.' I said 'Well, that's fine,' but I want people in Mississippi to know I'm for you," she said in Hattiesburg before flying to Pennsylvania.

Obama made a stop Tuesday in Greenville before heading to Pennsylvania, too.

"I've been praying for you," a man called out.

"I believe in prayer," Obama replied.
- MSNBC

Both Obama and Clinton probably have better access to polling numbers than I do and I would hope that they do. What I’m getting at is even if the numbers are bloody ugly, a candidate for President should never leave any state chucking the bird at the folks that just happen to be in the middle of the road and undecided. How many times do you have to see on the local news, national news and every single online news site that many people made their decision on who they want for the Democrat candidate for President when they actually were in the voting booth?

As for the ongoing debate over the delegate’s to the Democrat Convention from Florida and Michigan, that is or should be ended with three words, “Let Them Vote”.

Make no mistake about it, this process is not a popularity contest for the general public. This is the Democrat primary for President of the United States of America. It is a political party that allows Independent voters to participate but there are rules for all candidates to abide by. Florida and Michigan broke the rules of the Democrat Party by moving their voting dates up. In doing so the Democrat Party stripped them of their delegates to the Democrat Party Convention. If you broke the rules you get penalized for it.

There are some that say the delegates from each state should be seated as the process stands and I would have to argue with you on that point. Both candidates vowed to not run in Florida and yet Senator Clinton’s name was the only one on the ballot? Knowing many a friend and family in Florida that just happen to be Democrats they didn’t even bother to vote because they were told the election process did not count. Same goes for Michigan!

If you want to make this a fair fight then schedule a re-vote for both states with all of the candidates on the ballot. Schedule it, let the candidates campaign in the states and let the voters decide with an actual vote that THEY know will count. Don’t back door, smoke filled room, old boys of the Democrat Party decide who can and can not be seated at the convention. Doing that wreaks of political election corruption and we have had enough of that under the current occupant of the White House.

It is our political party and the people in Florida and Michigan should be given the opportunity to decide who THEY want to face John McCain in the next general election for President. If the Democrats back room dealings seat the delegates from Florida and Michigan without a re-vote then the election process is a joke for every single Democrat.

Papamoka
Cross posted at MichaelLinnJones.com

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Job Hunt Battle Plan


If you read this little blog often enough then you know that I’m without a job. Just for giggles and to keep many of my online friends posted on how I’m doing I decided to post my latest adventures in my “War On Unemployement“. I’m calling it a war because of the fact that I still have a rather large family to feed and of course that same family with no medical coverage. After ten plus years of dedicated service to my employer I received no severance pay so we are out on a limb till unemployment kicks in.

This is just a few inklings of what I am doing to find a new job. My first priority was updating my resume so that all of the information was accurate. I’m going to be tapping a few friends to let me know how it reads and edit accordingly.

There is a ton of information on many other much more qualified sites than this one so if you too are looking for work I would suggest the following sites that I have found amazingly useful. Monster.com has an amazing system to post your resume on and will email you relevant jobs that fit your searches every day when you sign up for their free service. Monster.com has all the information you might need to start your job search out on the right foot and I highly suggest tapping them as a go too source of information as you begin your job search. If you find others that work out just as well or better please let me know in the comments below!

Many companies you hear of through word of mouth that might have a job opening ask for you to fax in your resume. I have heard of several already thanks to many friends and family. If you have access to a fax then good for you, if you do not have access to a fax then you can fax your resume in using a free online fax service called EFAX. Sign up for your free account here. They will email you what your private fax number is along with your PIN number. Not all possible employers companies are on the world wide web and information highway so check it out and let me know what you think.

Yesterday I spent most of the day on the road dropping off my resume to similar companies in my field of expertise in the local area. In the wire and cable manufacturing industry there is a close knit family of employees that have worked with one another at any point in history, many lifetime friends. I’m tapping that network of friends by letting them know that I need a job. I’m thinking it is just common sense to network with the people you have worked with in the past to move my resume to the top of the heap with a friendly suggestion from someone inside the box so to speak.

Where I worked as an Account Manager dealing with customers all across the nation I spent last Thursday and Friday letting my former customers and friends know that I was no longer with my former employer. Regardless of how I personally feel about my separation from my former employer it would not serve me well in the long run to bash them to people that will still be their customers. This proved out with very fruitful results with several of my former customers and friends asking me for my resume. One such customer, the President and owner of a company that I serviced for ten years located in Illinois could not offer me a job but his source of contacts in the Boston area just might be able too. That was a big boost to my “War On Unemployment” morale.

This battle and this war can be won so check back often to Papamoka Straight Talk to see how the war is being fought.

By all means please offer your tips and insight on what has or has not worked for you. I really appreciate all the feedback from everyone on any angle. If you have a job for this blogger aka wire and cable inside sales account manager then by all means contact me right away in the email in the side bar.

Papamoka

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