Merry Christmas

I get a charge out the sense of humor from The Far Left Side.

Merry Christmas to all.

Census Shift in Political Power

Some of the folks on the right side of the political aisle might be chuckling over the political shift of lost seats from the Northeast to the south and west of the nation but it is actually a double edged sword. Census results for 2010 have turned what was up and what was down upside down. Ergo the house of representatives is all in a tizzy over lost or won seats in red and blue states.

WASHINGTON — The Census Bureau rearranged the country’s political map on Tuesday, giving more Congressional seats to the South and the West, and taking away from the Northeast and the Midwest, in largely anticipated changes that will have far reaching implications for political life cycles over the next decade. – New York Times

Speaking as someone from the left side of the political spectrum, I look at this whole situation as a win for new political blood in states where there was nothing but desert before. It is all just a matter of perspective as to how the nation is just a bunch of migrant Americans that just happen to love warmer weather. Most of the movers are retired voting Democratic voters moving into warmer climates where they will vote. DNC operatives know this and now it is clear that some of those red states in the warm climates have an influx of blue state voters that just might want to be heard.

Time for the people that know how to actually run a political campaign and influence voters to start spending some time in states they thought were a “gimmee” to Republicans. There be Democats’ in them there states now!

Look at little old me for instance, once a New England die hard liberal now living in the land of the “Show Me” state of Missouri. Am I going to vote Republican just because my MA turned into MO on my return address labels? Hell no!

Papamoka

Alzheimer’s Disease Breakthrough

For my Dad... to the left aka Grampa Jack

From the point of view from someone that actually has Alzheimer’s disease it must be frustrating to know that you are slowly losing everything you know that is you. You will forget who you wife or husband is and fear them. You will forget who your own children are and be cautious and accusatory toward them. Eventually, you will forget everything that ever mattered in your life and find yourself crying because you will know that you are lost. Having seen my own father go through it, it would terrify me to think that there but for the grace of God go I. This debilitating disease robs your mind of all of the memories that were your life and as we baby boomers get older and more fragile we better start to care more about the research that is needed to make it the Small Pocks cure for our generation, and the next, and the next.

Researchers are now finding new answers to old questions by looking at the reverse angle of Alzheimer’s Disease. Beta amyloid build up in the brain otherwise known as plaque was thought to be the body building to much of the needed chemical in the brain but current thought is looking at it as the body not being able to dispose of the beta amyloid properly. Amazing stuff if you care to read about it over at the New York Times…

Alzheimer’s researchers are obsessed with a small, sticky protein fragment, beta amyloid, that clumps into barnaclelike balls in the brains of patients with this degenerative neurological disease.

It is a normal protein. Everyone’s brain makes it. But the problem in Alzheimer’s is that it starts to accumulate into balls — plaques. The first sign the disease is developing — before there are any symptoms — is a buildup of amyloid. And for years, it seemed, the problem in Alzheimer’s was that brain cells were making too much of it.

But now, a surprising new study has found that that view appears to be wrong. It turns out that most people with Alzheimer’s seem to make perfectly normal amounts of amyloid. They just can’t get rid of it. It’s like an overflowing sink caused by a clogged drain instead of a faucet that does not turn off.

That discovery is part of a wave of unexpected findings that are enriching scientists’ views of the genesis of Alzheimer’s disease. In some cases, like the story of amyloid disposal, the work points to new ways to understand and attack the disease. If researchers could find a way to speed up disposal, perhaps they could slow down or halt the disease. - New York Times

When you think about all of the programs in America where mentors that are retired are helping the younger generations to avoid the mistakes they made in business and in life it is such a waste to see so many brilliant minds lost to Alzheimer’s disease. There is no greater loss in the world than knowledge and inside each one of these senior citizens minds is a wealth more valuable than gold.

This disease should be on the fast track to cure and yet it is just one of those old people problems that nobody thinks about till it actually punches you in the gut and it is someone that you love that is affected. Then it never leaves your conscious thought even after your loved one is long gone. And I’m not talking about dead and buried.

Papamoka

Bachmann to Torpedo Tax Cuts and Unemployment Extension

Michelle Bachmann needs to be told a little story about Marie Antoinette by her own political party that she does not want to say no to everything. The Tea Party queen is telling the long term unemployed and the mega boo-coo buck tax break buddies of George W. Bush to just eat cake. Her latest comments and intentions are intended to torpedo the GOP battle cruiser on extending Bush era tax cuts for the mega rich and simply harpoon the long term unemployed dingy of President Obama. Ergo she is throwing a tantrum because she can't have her cake and eat it too.

A House Tea Party leader said Monday that GOP lawmakers might vote down an extension of tax cuts if it's tied to an extension in unemployment aid.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), the chairwoman of the House Tea Party Caucus, said Republicans could balk at voting to extend all the tax cuts for two years if it's tied to a long-term extension of jobless benefits.

"I don't know that Republicans would necessarily go along with that vote. That would be a very hard vote to take," Bachmann said on conservative talker Sean Hannity's radio show on Monday.

President Obama is said to be amenable to extending all the tax cuts for two years as a concession to Republicans as long as unemployment benefits and certain tax breaks are extended as well. – The Hill

Everyone knows that when you teach a two or three year old how to say no that they will say it nonstop even if they really mean yes. The baby wants the juice bottle but loves to say no. The baby wants to watch their favorite cartoon but loves to say no. The baby loves its crackers but loves saying no even more. That is what happens when a baby learns to say no. And every parent knows that the process of educating a baby on what they want or do not want is a long process of yes and no.

Let the “Party of No” aka GOP, proudly stand behind the batshit looney Michelle Bachmann on saying NO to extending long term unemployment benefits and also saying NO to extending Bush era tax cuts for the top 2% of income earners in America simply because she can say no. She isn’t offering any alternative plan other than saying no. Isn’t it refreshing to hear in a nation that is depending on the mega rich to create jobs and the unemployed depending on funds to get past one of the worst economic hardships since the great depression that someone is intent on just saying screw you all?

Maybe all that we need to do for little miss Michelle is rephrase the questions so that even a two year old will understand that No means yes?

Papamoka