What A Busy Day!

What A Busy Day!

This is one of those days that has something for everyone to get excited about! Let’s see, it’s Cinco de Mayo – the day in 1862 that the state of Puebla in Mexico defeated the French Army and won independence from France! Okay, so it's really only celebrated in the US and in the state of Puebla in Mexico, but that is no reason to ignore it, so drink a cerveza de Corona and celebrate already! Then for you astro-nuts, there’s a Super Moon tonight – the moon will be 14% larger and brighter. As described by the LA Times, “at 11:34 ET, [the] full moon will reach perigee -- the closest point to Earth in its elliptical pattern …and only one minute later, the moon will line up with the Earth and the sun to become gloriously full.”

Oh, and just in case you missed it, Obama officially kicked off his Presidential Re-Election Campaign today! I know what you are thinking. You didn’t know that he had ever stopped campaigning, but be that as it may, it is now official. If you are really interested in getting involve, you can donate $3 and possibly win a chance to meet “The One” and maybe even George Clooney! Or...

Last, but certainly not least, the 138th Kentucky Derby will be run today at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Known for great hats, mint juleps, and some of the most beautiful horses in the world, the Run For The Roses kicks off the race for the Triple Crown. If possible, if one horse can win the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness in Maryland, and the Belmont Stakes in NYC, then that horse will be crowned the greatest horse of its generation. It has only been won 11 times since 1919. The last horse to win was Affirmed in 1978.

The post positions for this year's Kentucky Derby are as follows:

1. Daddy Long Legs
2. Optimizer
3. Take Charge Indy
4. Union Rags
5. Dullahan
6. Bodemeister
7. Rousing Sermon
8. Creative Cause
9. Trinniberg
10. Daddy Nose Best
11. Alpha
12. Prospective
13. Went The Day Well
14. Hansen
15. Gemologist
16. El Padrino
17. Done Talking
18. Sabercat
19. I'll Have Another
20. Liaison
Info on the horses

Choose your horses. Post time is 5:24pm ET. The winner wins one of our famous invisible Commentarama T-shirts*!

*Subject to change without notice and availability**
**Subject to approval of "THe Management"***
***Only if the Boiler Room Elves are so inclined to make them.

This is one of those days that has something for everyone to get excited about! Let’s see, it’s Cinco de Mayo – the day in 1862 that the state of Puebla in Mexico defeated the French Army and won independence from France! Okay, so it's really only celebrated in the US and in the state of Puebla in Mexico, but that is no reason to ignore it, so drink a cerveza de Corona and celebrate already! Then for you astro-nuts, there’s a Super Moon tonight – the moon will be 14% larger and brighter. As described by the LA Times, “at 11:34 ET, [the] full moon will reach perigee -- the closest point to Earth in its elliptical pattern …and only one minute later, the moon will line up with the Earth and the sun to become gloriously full.”

Oh, and just in case you missed it, Obama officially kicked off his Presidential Re-Election Campaign today! I know what you are thinking. You didn’t know that he had ever stopped campaigning, but be that as it may, it is now official. If you are really interested in getting involve, you can donate $3 and possibly win a chance to meet “The One” and maybe even George Clooney! Or...

Last, but certainly not least, the 138th Kentucky Derby will be run today at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Known for great hats, mint juleps, and some of the most beautiful horses in the world, the Run For The Roses kicks off the race for the Triple Crown. If possible, if one horse can win the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness in Maryland, and the Belmont Stakes in NYC, then that horse will be crowned the greatest horse of its generation. It has only been won 11 times since 1919. The last horse to win was Affirmed in 1978.

The post positions for this year's Kentucky Derby are as follows:

1. Daddy Long Legs
2. Optimizer
3. Take Charge Indy
4. Union Rags
5. Dullahan
6. Bodemeister
7. Rousing Sermon
8. Creative Cause
9. Trinniberg
10. Daddy Nose Best
11. Alpha
12. Prospective
13. Went The Day Well
14. Hansen
15. Gemologist
16. El Padrino
17. Done Talking
18. Sabercat
19. I'll Have Another
20. Liaison
Info on the horses

Choose your horses. Post time is 5:24pm ET. The winner wins one of our famous invisible Commentarama T-shirts*!

*Subject to change without notice and availability**
**Subject to approval of "THe Management"***
***Only if the Boiler Room Elves are so inclined to make them.

What A Busy Day!

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A Good Day In New York City

A Good Day In New York City

Yesterday was a pretty cool day in NYC. We had the flyover of the space shuttle trainer that will be permanently housed at the Intrepid Museum along the Hudson River in New York City. Watching the Shuttle piggybacked onto a NASA 747 swoop through lower Manhattan glistening in the sunshine made me giddy as a schoolgirl and proud to be an American.

Yes, I am a child of the "Space Age". I remember watching with silent anticipation as numerous astronauts blasted off into space and being giddy at the final countdown as we all shouted "Blast Off" as the giant thrusters hurled these brave men into orbit. Knowing how important these events were to our young American minds, my elementary teachers brought small black and white televisions into the classroom, the lights were turned off, and we were allowed to watch the events unfold live before our very eyes. All other broadcasting ceased while these brave men risked their lives hurling themselves atop a giant Saturn V rocket. These men were our heroes - real heroes. President Kennedy, President Johnson, and, yes, President Nixon encouraged us to reach for the stars and every little boy wanted to be an astronaut (and even little girls too!). We were told that we were in a race for the future of the world and whoever wins would dominate. Who would win this race - the evil Russians or the Good Americans? These men and their rocketships were the key to a secure world for freedom loving people everywhere.

Twelve years after watching Neil Armstrong step on the Moon, once again I was sitting in a darkened room watching a small black and white television with the same child-like anticipation waiting for the Space Shuttle Columbia to make its first touchdown ushering a new era of space flight. It was still breathtaking. Since then we have had SkyLab, the International Space Station, unmanned flights to Mars, and the Hubble telescope which have all allowed us to see further into space with each new achievement and the benefits to mankind have been numerous.

We were indoctrinated as young children of the '60's to believe that we were the greatest nation on Earth and that we could achieve great things if we worked together. What our country has achieved though the space program with all the astronauts, scientists, engineers, and medical personnel is something that no head of state or politician has ever achieved without a war - global cooperation for the benefit of all mankind. It may be the indoctrination talking, but that makes me pretty darn proud to be an American.

Yesterday was a pretty cool day in NYC. We had the flyover of the space shuttle trainer that will be permanently housed at the Intrepid Museum along the Hudson River in New York City. Watching the Shuttle piggybacked onto a NASA 747 swoop through lower Manhattan glistening in the sunshine made me giddy as a schoolgirl and proud to be an American.

Yes, I am a child of the "Space Age". I remember watching with silent anticipation as numerous astronauts blasted off into space and being giddy at the final countdown as we all shouted "Blast Off" as the giant thrusters hurled these brave men into orbit. Knowing how important these events were to our young American minds, my elementary teachers brought small black and white televisions into the classroom, the lights were turned off, and we were allowed to watch the events unfold live before our very eyes. All other broadcasting ceased while these brave men risked their lives hurling themselves atop a giant Saturn V rocket. These men were our heroes - real heroes. President Kennedy, President Johnson, and, yes, President Nixon encouraged us to reach for the stars and every little boy wanted to be an astronaut (and even little girls too!). We were told that we were in a race for the future of the world and whoever wins would dominate. Who would win this race - the evil Russians or the Good Americans? These men and their rocketships were the key to a secure world for freedom loving people everywhere.

Twelve years after watching Neil Armstrong step on the Moon, once again I was sitting in a darkened room watching a small black and white television with the same child-like anticipation waiting for the Space Shuttle Columbia to make its first touchdown ushering a new era of space flight. It was still breathtaking. Since then we have had SkyLab, the International Space Station, unmanned flights to Mars, and the Hubble telescope which have all allowed us to see further into space with each new achievement and the benefits to mankind have been numerous.

We were indoctrinated as young children of the '60's to believe that we were the greatest nation on Earth and that we could achieve great things if we worked together. What our country has achieved though the space program with all the astronauts, scientists, engineers, and medical personnel is something that no head of state or politician has ever achieved without a war - global cooperation for the benefit of all mankind. It may be the indoctrination talking, but that makes me pretty darn proud to be an American.

A Good Day In New York City

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A Rant: What Were They Thinking???

A Rant: What Were They Thinking???

Seriously, what were they thinking? We all know what the Secret Service did in Columbia last week. The United States Secret Service advance team, that Service under the guidance of the Office of Homeland Security, that has been tasked with the protection and security of our President for over 100 years, were discovered to have been cavorting with prostitutes while on duty in a foreign country. They were caught quite literally with their collective pants down because our Secret Agent-men refused to pay the tab for their women of ill-repute. Fortunately, nothing happened, but the potential just boggles the mind.

Yeah, okay, "men will be men", but let's think about this for a minute. These are agents whose sole job it is to protect and defend the life and security of our President. These agents who have THE highest security clearance in the country (if not the world), pre-booked a team of playful prostitutes for which they could cavort while they executed the protection and security protocols in advance of our President's attendance at an important summit meeting with other foreign heads of state in a foreign country. Yes, that is "pre-booked" as in "made a reservation in advance" as part of their advance security team protocol.

This was not a GSA-type convention in Las Vegas where all of our Secret Service Agents were meeting to exchange security protocol ideas, swap funny Secret Service Agent stories with fellow agents, or give "The Best Secret Service Agent Of The Year" Award. These men, while executing their sworn duties, were knowingly cavorting with women who possibly had NO security clearance at all. And not only did these highest security level Secret Service Agents brag to these women about who they were and why they were visiting their country, but they compromised the security of our President by entertaining these women within range of information on the security protocols and travel plans that are top secret for a reason. I have read enough spy novels to know that woman, even an innocent-looking prostitute, can use her feminine wiles to obtain top secret information to perpetrate a grave harm.

Is it sinking in that this is not just a scandal about sex and prostitutes, but a grave breach of security that compromised the life of The President of the United States? Is it also sinking in that this was paid for by the US taxpayers?

Oh, I know, these things have been happening for years and these particular Agents just got caught. Well, I do not care who has done this in the past. This kind of behavior is unacceptable and should forthwith never happen again.

So, I propose a new rule to be inserted into the next edition of the Secret Service Agent Handbook. A rule that I think should have gone without saying, but here you are in bold type and ALL CAPS so that there is no misunderstanding:

NEW RULE NUMBER ONE

WHEN ON OFFICIAL BUSINESS TO SECURE THE SAFETY OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR ANY REASON FOREIGN OR DOMESTIC, YOU WILL NOT HIRE, ENGAGE IN ADVANCE, OR BE IN THE COMPANY OF PROSTITUTES, WOMEN OF THE EVENING, OR ANY OTHER LIKE PERSONS EVEN IF THE LAWS AND/OR STATUTES OF THE HOST CITY, COUNTY, STATE, OR COUNTRY DEEM IT LEGAL. IT WILL BE CONSIDERED AN EMBARRASSMENT TO YOUR COUNTRY, A GRAVE DERELICTION OF DUTY AND BREACH OF SECURITY THAT WILL BE PUNISHABLE BY THE MANDATORY DISMEMBERMENT AND/OR SEPARATION OF THAT BODY PART OR PARTS FOR WHICH WERE DIRECTLY ENGAGED AT THE TIME OF SAID DERELICTION.

Maybe it's a little harsh, but it gets the point across.

Seriously, what were they thinking? We all know what the Secret Service did in Columbia last week. The United States Secret Service advance team, that Service under the guidance of the Office of Homeland Security, that has been tasked with the protection and security of our President for over 100 years, were discovered to have been cavorting with prostitutes while on duty in a foreign country. They were caught quite literally with their collective pants down because our Secret Agent-men refused to pay the tab for their women of ill-repute. Fortunately, nothing happened, but the potential just boggles the mind.

Yeah, okay, "men will be men", but let's think about this for a minute. These are agents whose sole job it is to protect and defend the life and security of our President. These agents who have THE highest security clearance in the country (if not the world), pre-booked a team of playful prostitutes for which they could cavort while they executed the protection and security protocols in advance of our President's attendance at an important summit meeting with other foreign heads of state in a foreign country. Yes, that is "pre-booked" as in "made a reservation in advance" as part of their advance security team protocol.

This was not a GSA-type convention in Las Vegas where all of our Secret Service Agents were meeting to exchange security protocol ideas, swap funny Secret Service Agent stories with fellow agents, or give "The Best Secret Service Agent Of The Year" Award. These men, while executing their sworn duties, were knowingly cavorting with women who possibly had NO security clearance at all. And not only did these highest security level Secret Service Agents brag to these women about who they were and why they were visiting their country, but they compromised the security of our President by entertaining these women within range of information on the security protocols and travel plans that are top secret for a reason. I have read enough spy novels to know that woman, even an innocent-looking prostitute, can use her feminine wiles to obtain top secret information to perpetrate a grave harm.

Is it sinking in that this is not just a scandal about sex and prostitutes, but a grave breach of security that compromised the life of The President of the United States? Is it also sinking in that this was paid for by the US taxpayers?

Oh, I know, these things have been happening for years and these particular Agents just got caught. Well, I do not care who has done this in the past. This kind of behavior is unacceptable and should forthwith never happen again.

So, I propose a new rule to be inserted into the next edition of the Secret Service Agent Handbook. A rule that I think should have gone without saying, but here you are in bold type and ALL CAPS so that there is no misunderstanding:

NEW RULE NUMBER ONE

WHEN ON OFFICIAL BUSINESS TO SECURE THE SAFETY OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR ANY REASON FOREIGN OR DOMESTIC, YOU WILL NOT HIRE, ENGAGE IN ADVANCE, OR BE IN THE COMPANY OF PROSTITUTES, WOMEN OF THE EVENING, OR ANY OTHER LIKE PERSONS EVEN IF THE LAWS AND/OR STATUTES OF THE HOST CITY, COUNTY, STATE, OR COUNTRY DEEM IT LEGAL. IT WILL BE CONSIDERED AN EMBARRASSMENT TO YOUR COUNTRY, A GRAVE DERELICTION OF DUTY AND BREACH OF SECURITY THAT WILL BE PUNISHABLE BY THE MANDATORY DISMEMBERMENT AND/OR SEPARATION OF THAT BODY PART OR PARTS FOR WHICH WERE DIRECTLY ENGAGED AT THE TIME OF SAID DERELICTION.

Maybe it's a little harsh, but it gets the point across.

A Rant: What Were They Thinking???

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I am Woman...

I am Woman...

Okay, I have to rant for a minute (or two). Every since Hillary Clinton stated that she did not stay home and bake cookies and have teas, I have felt betrayed by the "Women's Movement". Yes, I am a woman of certain age who grew up with Helen Reddy's lyrics looping over and over in my head:

"I am Woman, hear me roar...I am strong, I am invincible, I am Woman"

We, as young girls and women of the '60's and '70's were indoctrinated to believe that we had choices. We were no longer to be defined by who we married or what kind of boy children we reared. We could be anything we wanted to be - doctors, astronauts, scientists, fashion models, flight attendants, etc. Well, we could anything that Barbie could be as long as it came with a great wardrobe and accessories.

But I was betrayed. I was betrayed because I believed them. I believed Ellie Schmeal. I believed Gloria Steinem. I believed them when they said that women were smart and capable and should have choices. What I failed to understand was the fine print. With all the indoctrination and all the propaganda, there was a job that was no longer considered fashionable and a real woman would never deign to do it. This job was so lowly, drudge-like, and menial that any truly capable and intelligent woman would think it beneath her dignity and a waste of time. We called it "Housewife and Mother" and/or "Stay-at-Home Mom". I mean, Barbie never came with a vacuum or maternity clothes, did she?

Which brings me to Hilary Rosen and her remark about Ann Romney. By now, we all know what she said:

"Can we just get rid of this word, “war on women”? The Obama campaign does not use it, President Obama does not use it — this is something that the Republicans are accusing people of using, but they’re actually the ones spreading it...What you have is Mitt Romney running around the country saying, ‘Well, you know my wife tells me that what women really care about are economic issues and when I listen to my wife that’s what I’m hearing.’ Guess what? His wife has actually never worked a day in her life.”

Oh, I know, Ms. Rosen, apologized and backtracked and tried to explain away her statement. She and the MSM have said that it is now time to move on. But I will not move on. I heard what she said and I know exactly what she meant and it offends me. She meant that woman who do not earn a paycheck outside the home are not real women and cannot possible have an opinion about what goes on in the world. It offends me because I fought for the right for women to be free to be what they wanted to be including "Stay-at-Home Moms" and she betrays every thing that I fought for. I am Woman, hear me roar, Ms. Rosen.

Oh, and I am guessing that Ms. Rosen forgets that there is now an ever-growing population of "Stay-at-Home Dads" too.

Okay, I have to rant for a minute (or two). Every since Hillary Clinton stated that she did not stay home and bake cookies and have teas, I have felt betrayed by the "Women's Movement". Yes, I am a woman of certain age who grew up with Helen Reddy's lyrics looping over and over in my head:

"I am Woman, hear me roar...I am strong, I am invincible, I am Woman"

We, as young girls and women of the '60's and '70's were indoctrinated to believe that we had choices. We were no longer to be defined by who we married or what kind of boy children we reared. We could be anything we wanted to be - doctors, astronauts, scientists, fashion models, flight attendants, etc. Well, we could anything that Barbie could be as long as it came with a great wardrobe and accessories.

But I was betrayed. I was betrayed because I believed them. I believed Ellie Schmeal. I believed Gloria Steinem. I believed them when they said that women were smart and capable and should have choices. What I failed to understand was the fine print. With all the indoctrination and all the propaganda, there was a job that was no longer considered fashionable and a real woman would never deign to do it. This job was so lowly, drudge-like, and menial that any truly capable and intelligent woman would think it beneath her dignity and a waste of time. We called it "Housewife and Mother" and/or "Stay-at-Home Mom". I mean, Barbie never came with a vacuum or maternity clothes, did she?

Which brings me to Hilary Rosen and her remark about Ann Romney. By now, we all know what she said:

"Can we just get rid of this word, “war on women”? The Obama campaign does not use it, President Obama does not use it — this is something that the Republicans are accusing people of using, but they’re actually the ones spreading it...What you have is Mitt Romney running around the country saying, ‘Well, you know my wife tells me that what women really care about are economic issues and when I listen to my wife that’s what I’m hearing.’ Guess what? His wife has actually never worked a day in her life.”

Oh, I know, Ms. Rosen, apologized and backtracked and tried to explain away her statement. She and the MSM have said that it is now time to move on. But I will not move on. I heard what she said and I know exactly what she meant and it offends me. She meant that woman who do not earn a paycheck outside the home are not real women and cannot possible have an opinion about what goes on in the world. It offends me because I fought for the right for women to be free to be what they wanted to be including "Stay-at-Home Moms" and she betrays every thing that I fought for. I am Woman, hear me roar, Ms. Rosen.

Oh, and I am guessing that Ms. Rosen forgets that there is now an ever-growing population of "Stay-at-Home Dads" too.

I am Woman...

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New York Update

New York Update

Earlier this week,  NYC Department of Education Chancellor Dennis Walcott announced that henceforth there will be 50 words and concepts that would no longer be allowed on the many standardized assessment tests created by NYC's vast network of standardized assessment test creators. The Committee-That-Knows-Better-Than-You put their collective heads together to created this list because they fear that some student could be so traumatized at the very thought of the concept of "children dealing with serious issues" that they will not be able to perform at their best. They decided that this is the reason for the steep decline in test scores over the last few years. Of course, not learning how to read, write a simple sentence, and to do simple arithmetic may be more traumatizing when faced with a standardized test, but hey that's just me. Some of the forbidden words are predictable, but some are just baffling. Here is the full list:

***WARNING: SOME OF THESE WORDS AND/OR CONCEPTS MAY BE TRAUMATIZING***

FORBIDDEN WORD/CONCEPT LIST

Abuse (physical, sexual, emotional, or psychological)

Alcohol (beer and liquor), tobacco, or drugs

Birthday celebrations (and birthdays)

Bodily functions

Cancer (and other diseases)

Catastrophes/disasters (tsunamis and hurricanes)

Celebrities

Children dealing with serious issues

Cigarettes (and other smoking paraphernalia)

Computers in the home (acceptable in a school or library setting)

Crime

Death and disease

Divorce

Evolution

Expensive gifts, vacations, and prizes

Gambling involving money

Halloween

Homelessness

Homes with swimming pools

Hunting

Junk food

In-depth discussions of sports that require prior knowledge

Loss of employment

Nuclear weapons

Occult topics (i.e. fortune-telling)

Parapsychology

Politics

Pornography

Poverty

Rap Music

Religion

Religious holidays and festivals (including but not limited to Christmas, Yom Kippur, and Ramadan)

Rock-and-Roll music

Running away

Sex

Slavery

Terrorism

Television and video games (excessive use)

Traumatic material (including material that may be particularly upsetting such as animal shelters)

Vermin (rats and roaches)

Violence

War and bloodshed

Weapons (guns, knives, etc.)

Witchcraft, sorcery, etc.

My sample question: If traveling (oops, don't use traveling because some kids may not have the means to travel) for 40 miles (what about those kids who only understand the metric system?) going East (oops, what if they live on the East Coast less than 40 miles from open water?) at 40 miles an hour (oops there's that metric issue again) how long will it take you to get to get to your destination in the astral plane (oops, no parapsychology references allowed) ?

It must be frustrating for any test writers. I mean, yeah, before you couldn't write questions based on pornographic images or with those seven words you couldn't say on television, but now you can't write questions based on "parapsychology".  I mean what is up with that?  It's interesting that the one word they do not use is "ban". These words are not "banned", they are just "forbidden". "Banning" is bad, "forbidding" is just fine if done by the most liberal school system in the country. Okay, in all fairness, Chancellor Walcott backed off the "forbid" to a much softer "suggest" four days later, but the list went out and the damage was done.

Next week: Foods and donations that are now banned...er forbidden...er suggested strongly that one not use or do.

Earlier this week,  NYC Department of Education Chancellor Dennis Walcott announced that henceforth there will be 50 words and concepts that would no longer be allowed on the many standardized assessment tests created by NYC's vast network of standardized assessment test creators. The Committee-That-Knows-Better-Than-You put their collective heads together to created this list because they fear that some student could be so traumatized at the very thought of the concept of "children dealing with serious issues" that they will not be able to perform at their best. They decided that this is the reason for the steep decline in test scores over the last few years. Of course, not learning how to read, write a simple sentence, and to do simple arithmetic may be more traumatizing when faced with a standardized test, but hey that's just me. Some of the forbidden words are predictable, but some are just baffling. Here is the full list:

***WARNING: SOME OF THESE WORDS AND/OR CONCEPTS MAY BE TRAUMATIZING***

FORBIDDEN WORD/CONCEPT LIST

Abuse (physical, sexual, emotional, or psychological)

Alcohol (beer and liquor), tobacco, or drugs

Birthday celebrations (and birthdays)

Bodily functions

Cancer (and other diseases)

Catastrophes/disasters (tsunamis and hurricanes)

Celebrities

Children dealing with serious issues

Cigarettes (and other smoking paraphernalia)

Computers in the home (acceptable in a school or library setting)

Crime

Death and disease

Divorce

Evolution

Expensive gifts, vacations, and prizes

Gambling involving money

Halloween

Homelessness

Homes with swimming pools

Hunting

Junk food

In-depth discussions of sports that require prior knowledge

Loss of employment

Nuclear weapons

Occult topics (i.e. fortune-telling)

Parapsychology

Politics

Pornography

Poverty

Rap Music

Religion

Religious holidays and festivals (including but not limited to Christmas, Yom Kippur, and Ramadan)

Rock-and-Roll music

Running away

Sex

Slavery

Terrorism

Television and video games (excessive use)

Traumatic material (including material that may be particularly upsetting such as animal shelters)

Vermin (rats and roaches)

Violence

War and bloodshed

Weapons (guns, knives, etc.)

Witchcraft, sorcery, etc.

My sample question: If traveling (oops, don't use traveling because some kids may not have the means to travel) for 40 miles (what about those kids who only understand the metric system?) going East (oops, what if they live on the East Coast less than 40 miles from open water?) at 40 miles an hour (oops there's that metric issue again) how long will it take you to get to get to your destination in the astral plane (oops, no parapsychology references allowed) ?

It must be frustrating for any test writers. I mean, yeah, before you couldn't write questions based on pornographic images or with those seven words you couldn't say on television, but now you can't write questions based on "parapsychology".  I mean what is up with that?  It's interesting that the one word they do not use is "ban". These words are not "banned", they are just "forbidden". "Banning" is bad, "forbidding" is just fine if done by the most liberal school system in the country. Okay, in all fairness, Chancellor Walcott backed off the "forbid" to a much softer "suggest" four days later, but the list went out and the damage was done.

Next week: Foods and donations that are now banned...er forbidden...er suggested strongly that one not use or do.

New York Update

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Question: What Would You Do?

Question: What Would You Do?

I don't know about you, but I'm all race-baited out. And to top it all off, the Mega Millions people decided that my numbers were not good enough for them. That is okay, I didn't want their stupid $640 million dollars anyway. It would have just complicated my tax return. Okay, I lie. I would love to win the lottery and just the possibility sends my fancy into flight. What would I do with all that money? Would I buy a fancy car, a Park Avenue penthouse, set up my own SuperPAC? So, let your fancy take flight...

Question: If money were not object, what is the first thing you'd do once the bills were paid, the loans paid off, and the family secure?

I don't know about you, but I'm all race-baited out. And to top it all off, the Mega Millions people decided that my numbers were not good enough for them. That is okay, I didn't want their stupid $640 million dollars anyway. It would have just complicated my tax return. Okay, I lie. I would love to win the lottery and just the possibility sends my fancy into flight. What would I do with all that money? Would I buy a fancy car, a Park Avenue penthouse, set up my own SuperPAC? So, let your fancy take flight...

Question: If money were not object, what is the first thing you'd do once the bills were paid, the loans paid off, and the family secure?

Question: What Would You Do?

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Question: Innovative or Exploitative?

Question: Innovative or Exploitative?

For more than 125 years, organizations have been trying to figure out ways to help the homeless. Innovative projects, first started by The Salvation Army in the 19th Century, have included "homeless" newspapers to give the chronically homeless a way to collect money with dignity and, in turn, to publicize the plight of the poor and homeless. In 1989, one such newspaper "The Street News" began operation in New York City.

The way Street News works is that they publish and sell daily tabloid-style newspapers to homeless individuals for a small up front fee. Then the homeless people sell the papers on the street or subways for the retail price and get to keep the profits. Therefore, rather than panhandle, they have a job selling newspapers and people were much more willing to buy rather than just hand out spare change for nothing in return. Even better, many of the articles are written by the poor and homeless who sell the paper which helps give a voice and face to their plight. However with the recent proliferation of free daily newspapers readily available at every street corner in New York City and the ever increasing rise of digital papers, the "homeless" papers and street sellers have lost their cachet.

Seeing a looming need to replace these newspapers with the next new innovation, an Austin, Texas-based homeless advocacy group Front Steps partnered with a New York City-based advertising firm Bartle, Bogle and Hegarty, to create "Homeless Hotspots". The new idea was to give homeless people mobile hotspot units and tee-shirts like the one in the photo. They could roam the parks and public areas and offer wireless network connections to tourists and anyone in need of an internet connection for a small fee. So with hardware in hand, the first 13 "homeless hotspots" were introduced at the South By Southwest Festival in Austin in March. If the idea proved successful, they would next be rolled out in New York City.

Well, as you can imagine, everyone across the nation weighed in including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and Huffington Post, and the overwhelming opinion was negative. One woman was horrified that human beings would be degraded to the function of mere wireless network access points. As a matter of fact, about the only people who thought it was a great idea were the first 13 homeless "hotspot" men. They thought it was great. Clarence, the man in the photo above who considers himself "houseless" rather than "homeless" said it gave him a chance to interact with many different people and the chance to make an honest living at a real job.

Frankly, I was one of those who, when I first read about this, I thought it was a terrible idea. But after I thought about it awhile and read more about it, I changed my opinion. For the record, Homeless hot spot idea* has been discontinued, but what do you think?

Question: Do you think this is innovative or exploitative?

*You can read a brief biography of each of these thirteen men on this link.

For more than 125 years, organizations have been trying to figure out ways to help the homeless. Innovative projects, first started by The Salvation Army in the 19th Century, have included "homeless" newspapers to give the chronically homeless a way to collect money with dignity and, in turn, to publicize the plight of the poor and homeless. In 1989, one such newspaper "The Street News" began operation in New York City.

The way Street News works is that they publish and sell daily tabloid-style newspapers to homeless individuals for a small up front fee. Then the homeless people sell the papers on the street or subways for the retail price and get to keep the profits. Therefore, rather than panhandle, they have a job selling newspapers and people were much more willing to buy rather than just hand out spare change for nothing in return. Even better, many of the articles are written by the poor and homeless who sell the paper which helps give a voice and face to their plight. However with the recent proliferation of free daily newspapers readily available at every street corner in New York City and the ever increasing rise of digital papers, the "homeless" papers and street sellers have lost their cachet.

Seeing a looming need to replace these newspapers with the next new innovation, an Austin, Texas-based homeless advocacy group Front Steps partnered with a New York City-based advertising firm Bartle, Bogle and Hegarty, to create "Homeless Hotspots". The new idea was to give homeless people mobile hotspot units and tee-shirts like the one in the photo. They could roam the parks and public areas and offer wireless network connections to tourists and anyone in need of an internet connection for a small fee. So with hardware in hand, the first 13 "homeless hotspots" were introduced at the South By Southwest Festival in Austin in March. If the idea proved successful, they would next be rolled out in New York City.

Well, as you can imagine, everyone across the nation weighed in including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and Huffington Post, and the overwhelming opinion was negative. One woman was horrified that human beings would be degraded to the function of mere wireless network access points. As a matter of fact, about the only people who thought it was a great idea were the first 13 homeless "hotspot" men. They thought it was great. Clarence, the man in the photo above who considers himself "houseless" rather than "homeless" said it gave him a chance to interact with many different people and the chance to make an honest living at a real job.

Frankly, I was one of those who, when I first read about this, I thought it was a terrible idea. But after I thought about it awhile and read more about it, I changed my opinion. For the record, Homeless hot spot idea* has been discontinued, but what do you think?

Question: Do you think this is innovative or exploitative?

*You can read a brief biography of each of these thirteen men on this link.

Question: Innovative or Exploitative?

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Another Open Thread...

Another Open Thread...

I've gone fishin' today, but that should not stop anyone from sayin' their peace (or is that "piece")? I will join in when I can...

I've gone fishin' today, but that should not stop anyone from sayin' their peace (or is that "piece")? I will join in when I can...

Another Open Thread...

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Obama's Bad Karma

Obama's Bad Karma

Not made in the US

If Obama was an investment banker, his career would not last very long. Yes, folks, another Obama green investment is going very badly, but with a new twist. In 2009, Obama and his crackerjack team of job creators invested over $500,000,000 in US taxpayer-funded loan guarantees to designer Henrik Fisker and Fisker Automotive, a Finnish car manufacturer. The loan stipulated that the money should be used to complete the design and manufacture of Project Nina in the US. Project Nina would be a smaller less expensive version of Fisker's high-end electric hybrid, the Fiskar Karma that was all ready to roll off the assembly line in Finland in that year.

Mr. Fisker immediately set about looking for the perfect place among all of the many closed US auto plants around the country. He finally chose a former Chrysler plant in Wilmington, Delaware. So in October of 2009 and with much fanfare, back-slapping and high five-ing, former Delaware Senator and current Vice President Joseph "Gaffe a lot" Biden and Secretary of Energy Stephen "I don't own a car, but my wife owns a gas guzzler" Chu, expounded at length about how this new project will bring in billions and billions and billions of dollars and thousands and thousands of jobs to Delaware and the US. And so, the new plant was deemed "reopened" sometime in the very near future.

Fast-forward to June 2011 (and two years behind schedule), the Fisker Karma came rolling off the assembly line, retailing for around $100,000 and all designed and made by Finns in Finland. But take heart, the very first went to an American actor Leo DeCaprio. But is is all good. The US workers were doing just fine. They are making thousands and thousands of dollars doing something. When questioned why there have been no real jobs created in Delaware so far, Mr. Fisker just could not...well this is what he had to say in an interview in an investigative report by ABC News:

“There was no contract manufacturer in the U.S. that could actually produce our vehicle. They don’t exist here.”

Well, apparently there are no workers in Finland who can manufacture them either because like the Chevy Volt, the Karma came with that special exploding battery problem too. But it was all good. In November of 2011, a worker noticed that the cars they had just finished (or is that "finnished") were leaking. The source was discovered to be a hose clamp that was incorrectly placed during assembly. Fortunately, there were only 239 built between June and November, so they just called Leo and the few other owners and quietly fixed the leaky hose. No one needed to inform the press or the general taxpaying public of this little S.N.A.F.U. [Fox News picked up on it, but it went unreported by all other news organizations.]

Well, okay then. Oh, wait...then this February, the US workers who had just been hired in June 2011 for "Project Nina" in Delaware were laid off. Again, no great loss since only 29 workers had been hired anyway. This was explained away by Fisker as a prudent business tactic because the sales for the Karma were not too brisk at the moment and Fisker was in danger of losing their loan guarantees for those potential other thousands and thousands of jobs that will bring in billions and billions and billions to the US. Okay then.

Then in a perfect trifecta, Consumer Reports issued their preliminary report this week on the Fisker Karma. Let's just say they found a few problems:

"We buy about 80 cars a year and this is the first time in memory that we have had a car that is undriveable before it has finished our check-in process."

So, let's review - For over $500,000,000 we got no car, no jobs, and no hope for any in the near future. Believe it or not, there is a bright side to all of this. Fisker has only actually received $193M of their promised $529M loan, so we have not yet lost the entire half billion yet.


[As an interesting side note: Media Matters picked the ABC report apart, not because it was necessarily incorrect, but that it was not an exclusive report. Fox News had been reporting on the Fiskar issue for almost two years...]

Not made in the US

If Obama was an investment banker, his career would not last very long. Yes, folks, another Obama green investment is going very badly, but with a new twist. In 2009, Obama and his crackerjack team of job creators invested over $500,000,000 in US taxpayer-funded loan guarantees to designer Henrik Fisker and Fisker Automotive, a Finnish car manufacturer. The loan stipulated that the money should be used to complete the design and manufacture of Project Nina in the US. Project Nina would be a smaller less expensive version of Fisker's high-end electric hybrid, the Fiskar Karma that was all ready to roll off the assembly line in Finland in that year.

Mr. Fisker immediately set about looking for the perfect place among all of the many closed US auto plants around the country. He finally chose a former Chrysler plant in Wilmington, Delaware. So in October of 2009 and with much fanfare, back-slapping and high five-ing, former Delaware Senator and current Vice President Joseph "Gaffe a lot" Biden and Secretary of Energy Stephen "I don't own a car, but my wife owns a gas guzzler" Chu, expounded at length about how this new project will bring in billions and billions and billions of dollars and thousands and thousands of jobs to Delaware and the US. And so, the new plant was deemed "reopened" sometime in the very near future.

Fast-forward to June 2011 (and two years behind schedule), the Fisker Karma came rolling off the assembly line, retailing for around $100,000 and all designed and made by Finns in Finland. But take heart, the very first went to an American actor Leo DeCaprio. But is is all good. The US workers were doing just fine. They are making thousands and thousands of dollars doing something. When questioned why there have been no real jobs created in Delaware so far, Mr. Fisker just could not...well this is what he had to say in an interview in an investigative report by ABC News:

“There was no contract manufacturer in the U.S. that could actually produce our vehicle. They don’t exist here.”

Well, apparently there are no workers in Finland who can manufacture them either because like the Chevy Volt, the Karma came with that special exploding battery problem too. But it was all good. In November of 2011, a worker noticed that the cars they had just finished (or is that "finnished") were leaking. The source was discovered to be a hose clamp that was incorrectly placed during assembly. Fortunately, there were only 239 built between June and November, so they just called Leo and the few other owners and quietly fixed the leaky hose. No one needed to inform the press or the general taxpaying public of this little S.N.A.F.U. [Fox News picked up on it, but it went unreported by all other news organizations.]

Well, okay then. Oh, wait...then this February, the US workers who had just been hired in June 2011 for "Project Nina" in Delaware were laid off. Again, no great loss since only 29 workers had been hired anyway. This was explained away by Fisker as a prudent business tactic because the sales for the Karma were not too brisk at the moment and Fisker was in danger of losing their loan guarantees for those potential other thousands and thousands of jobs that will bring in billions and billions and billions to the US. Okay then.

Then in a perfect trifecta, Consumer Reports issued their preliminary report this week on the Fisker Karma. Let's just say they found a few problems:

"We buy about 80 cars a year and this is the first time in memory that we have had a car that is undriveable before it has finished our check-in process."

So, let's review - For over $500,000,000 we got no car, no jobs, and no hope for any in the near future. Believe it or not, there is a bright side to all of this. Fisker has only actually received $193M of their promised $529M loan, so we have not yet lost the entire half billion yet.


[As an interesting side note: Media Matters picked the ABC report apart, not because it was necessarily incorrect, but that it was not an exclusive report. Fox News had been reporting on the Fiskar issue for almost two years...]

Obama's Bad Karma

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Question: If The World does end on December 23, 2012...

Question: If The World does end on December 23, 2012...

Tick, tick, tick...

As we all know, the world is scheduled to end on December 23, 2012. Well, that's according the people who think that the Mayans knew something that we do not know. Personally, I think the stone carver just got tired of carving in a circle, so he decided to just stop. The Mayans probably had it on their "to-do" list, but the Spanish Conquistadors got in the way and they just never got back to it. Or not. [Cue: scary, foreboding music...]

So, just for fun, and on the off chance that the Mayans might be right and the world will be ending on December 23, 2012 at precisely 4:44am, are you making plans?

For me, I am still on the fence about sending out Christmas cards. I mean, what would be the point really?


FYI: Broadway calls to me this afternoon, so I will be late in responding. Have fun!

Tick, tick, tick...

As we all know, the world is scheduled to end on December 23, 2012. Well, that's according the people who think that the Mayans knew something that we do not know. Personally, I think the stone carver just got tired of carving in a circle, so he decided to just stop. The Mayans probably had it on their "to-do" list, but the Spanish Conquistadors got in the way and they just never got back to it. Or not. [Cue: scary, foreboding music...]

So, just for fun, and on the off chance that the Mayans might be right and the world will be ending on December 23, 2012 at precisely 4:44am, are you making plans?

For me, I am still on the fence about sending out Christmas cards. I mean, what would be the point really?


FYI: Broadway calls to me this afternoon, so I will be late in responding. Have fun!

Question: If The World does end on December 23, 2012...

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Question: Presidents Day Special

Question: Presidents Day Special

There have been forty-four of them since April 30, 1789. I think you know who I am talking about. That's right, we have had forty-four Presidents of the United States of America. (Okay, we have had 43 Presidents and one Dictator-wannabe. Yes, I went there!) Here are some other fun facts about our Presidents:

1. Fourteen served as Vice-President before taking the top spot. Eight of them were elevated because the President died in office, and five were directly elected to the highest office. Only one, Gerald Ford, became President after a resignation. He is also our only sitting President who was not elected either Vice-President or President.

2. Twenty have been Governors. Though three of them, William Henry Harrison, Andrew Jackson, and William Taft, were not Governors of a State, but of US Territories. Jackson was the Military Governor of the Florida Territory. Harrison was Governor of the Louisiana District, Northwest Territory, and Indiana Territory. Taft was Governor General of the Philipines.

3. Speaking of William Howard Taft. He was our only President to serve in the judicial branch of our government. Taft was appointed by Benjamin Harrison to serve on the US Court of Appeals before he was President and was appointed by Warren G. Harding to the Supreme Court after his term as President. This also makes him our only former President to serve in an official federal position after his Presidential term.

4. Only three had no prior political experience. They were all former Army Generals - Zachary Taylor, Ulysses S. Grant, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. (Okay, you can count Obama, but that would be just a cheap shot, right?)

5. William Henry Harrison served the least amount of time. His administration lasted all of 30 days - from March 4, 1841 to April 4, 1841. He died following his other claim to fame - the longest inaugural address in US history. He caught pneumonia while he spoke on his cold and rainy inaugural day because he refused to wear a hat or overcoat.

6. Franklin Roosevelt served the longest with 12 years and three full terms. He died shortly after his inauguration to his fourth term in 1944.

7. There have been dynasties too and not one of them named Kennedy. Two fathers and sons (the Bushes and the Adamses), one grandfather and grandson (the Harrisons), and two sets of cousins (Madison/Jackson and the Roosevelts). However, Franklin Roosevelt has the distinction of being related by either blood or marriage to more US Presidents than any other - eleven in all - John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Ulysses Grant, William Henry Harrison, Benjamin Harrison, James Madison, Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, Zachary Taylor, Martin Van Buren, and George Washington. Maybe that is why he served so long!

So now that you may know a little more our Presidents, who is your favorite?

My personal favorite will always be William Henry Harrison. With only 30 days in office, he had not time to do anything wrong!

There have been forty-four of them since April 30, 1789. I think you know who I am talking about. That's right, we have had forty-four Presidents of the United States of America. (Okay, we have had 43 Presidents and one Dictator-wannabe. Yes, I went there!) Here are some other fun facts about our Presidents:

1. Fourteen served as Vice-President before taking the top spot. Eight of them were elevated because the President died in office, and five were directly elected to the highest office. Only one, Gerald Ford, became President after a resignation. He is also our only sitting President who was not elected either Vice-President or President.

2. Twenty have been Governors. Though three of them, William Henry Harrison, Andrew Jackson, and William Taft, were not Governors of a State, but of US Territories. Jackson was the Military Governor of the Florida Territory. Harrison was Governor of the Louisiana District, Northwest Territory, and Indiana Territory. Taft was Governor General of the Philipines.

3. Speaking of William Howard Taft. He was our only President to serve in the judicial branch of our government. Taft was appointed by Benjamin Harrison to serve on the US Court of Appeals before he was President and was appointed by Warren G. Harding to the Supreme Court after his term as President. This also makes him our only former President to serve in an official federal position after his Presidential term.

4. Only three had no prior political experience. They were all former Army Generals - Zachary Taylor, Ulysses S. Grant, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. (Okay, you can count Obama, but that would be just a cheap shot, right?)

5. William Henry Harrison served the least amount of time. His administration lasted all of 30 days - from March 4, 1841 to April 4, 1841. He died following his other claim to fame - the longest inaugural address in US history. He caught pneumonia while he spoke on his cold and rainy inaugural day because he refused to wear a hat or overcoat.

6. Franklin Roosevelt served the longest with 12 years and three full terms. He died shortly after his inauguration to his fourth term in 1944.

7. There have been dynasties too and not one of them named Kennedy. Two fathers and sons (the Bushes and the Adamses), one grandfather and grandson (the Harrisons), and two sets of cousins (Madison/Jackson and the Roosevelts). However, Franklin Roosevelt has the distinction of being related by either blood or marriage to more US Presidents than any other - eleven in all - John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Ulysses Grant, William Henry Harrison, Benjamin Harrison, James Madison, Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, Zachary Taylor, Martin Van Buren, and George Washington. Maybe that is why he served so long!

So now that you may know a little more our Presidents, who is your favorite?

My personal favorite will always be William Henry Harrison. With only 30 days in office, he had not time to do anything wrong!

Question: Presidents Day Special

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Occupy Wall Street...sort of - Part IV

Occupy Wall Street...sort of - Part IV

So, now that the Winter is in full swing, what's happened to all of those Occupiers of Wall Street? When we last left them on November 15, 2011 they were being evicted by force from Zuccotti Park. They sued, they lost, they appealed, realized that they couldn’t win (and maybe didn’t want to win because, well, Winter was moving in), and finally gave up their appeal. Well, let’s just say that they’ve kept themselves occupied with indoor activities.

Following their November eviction, sympathetic churches and synagogues opened their doors and their facilities to the Occupiers. Let’s call it a modern day “sanctuary”. Fast forward to February 2012, and now the churches and synagogues have had enough. Sanctuary just isn't what it used to be. It seems our Occupiers were not civilized enough to not steal because, well, ownership is such an outdated 20th Century concept. They stole or "acquired without benefit of ownership" just about anything that wasn’t nailed down including an expensive laptop and very valuable 800 lb baptismal font. Rev. Bob Brashears from the West Park Presbyterian Church, noted on his decision to evict the OWS’ers that “not even the crack addict mess with [the baptismal font[“. I will not tell you what they did to the sanctuary of a Park Slope (Brooklyn) church, but suffice it to say, that several of them had "accidents" on or near a cross. You know, one of those accidents that 3 year olds have. But hey, they said they were sorry for the thefts and the "accidents' and paid the churches a stipend for their trouble.

Next, our OWS’ers decided to use their force for good to “occupy” a home that was about to foreclosed on by one of those evil banks. The owner was thrilled, hoping that they would help him pressure the banks and the MSM to save his family home. Well, while the owner was trying desperately to save his home, the occupiers moved a “homeless family” in. They proceeded to tear down walls and “redecorate” so that others could move in, about 12 in all. With no help from OWS, the owner was able to save his home, but when he and his family were to move back in, they found 12 strangers living in their house and walls missing. So livid did this owner become he used the MSM to publically rebuke the OWS’er and used the sheriff to have them evicted. Again, they said they were sorry and paid to restore the owner’s home.

This week, they joined forces with the UFT and AFL-CIO to “Occupy the DOE”. The NYC Department of Education held public meeting this week to discuss when and why the Board of Education wanted to close 23 failing public schools and to give public and parents a chance to discuss. The Occupiers took over and became so loud and disruptive that the board members had to put on headphones to even hear each other. Parents did not get a chance to air grievances; the public did not get a chance to hear an explanation. The board voted to close the schools because no one was allowed to explain why they should not close them. The OWS’ers didn’t apologize for this one.

So, if you thought they were gone, they are not. If anything, they are becoming more aggressive. But they sure are not making any friends along the way.

So, now that the Winter is in full swing, what's happened to all of those Occupiers of Wall Street? When we last left them on November 15, 2011 they were being evicted by force from Zuccotti Park. They sued, they lost, they appealed, realized that they couldn’t win (and maybe didn’t want to win because, well, Winter was moving in), and finally gave up their appeal. Well, let’s just say that they’ve kept themselves occupied with indoor activities.

Following their November eviction, sympathetic churches and synagogues opened their doors and their facilities to the Occupiers. Let’s call it a modern day “sanctuary”. Fast forward to February 2012, and now the churches and synagogues have had enough. Sanctuary just isn't what it used to be. It seems our Occupiers were not civilized enough to not steal because, well, ownership is such an outdated 20th Century concept. They stole or "acquired without benefit of ownership" just about anything that wasn’t nailed down including an expensive laptop and very valuable 800 lb baptismal font. Rev. Bob Brashears from the West Park Presbyterian Church, noted on his decision to evict the OWS’ers that “not even the crack addict mess with [the baptismal font[“. I will not tell you what they did to the sanctuary of a Park Slope (Brooklyn) church, but suffice it to say, that several of them had "accidents" on or near a cross. You know, one of those accidents that 3 year olds have. But hey, they said they were sorry for the thefts and the "accidents' and paid the churches a stipend for their trouble.

Next, our OWS’ers decided to use their force for good to “occupy” a home that was about to foreclosed on by one of those evil banks. The owner was thrilled, hoping that they would help him pressure the banks and the MSM to save his family home. Well, while the owner was trying desperately to save his home, the occupiers moved a “homeless family” in. They proceeded to tear down walls and “redecorate” so that others could move in, about 12 in all. With no help from OWS, the owner was able to save his home, but when he and his family were to move back in, they found 12 strangers living in their house and walls missing. So livid did this owner become he used the MSM to publically rebuke the OWS’er and used the sheriff to have them evicted. Again, they said they were sorry and paid to restore the owner’s home.

This week, they joined forces with the UFT and AFL-CIO to “Occupy the DOE”. The NYC Department of Education held public meeting this week to discuss when and why the Board of Education wanted to close 23 failing public schools and to give public and parents a chance to discuss. The Occupiers took over and became so loud and disruptive that the board members had to put on headphones to even hear each other. Parents did not get a chance to air grievances; the public did not get a chance to hear an explanation. The board voted to close the schools because no one was allowed to explain why they should not close them. The OWS’ers didn’t apologize for this one.

So, if you thought they were gone, they are not. If anything, they are becoming more aggressive. But they sure are not making any friends along the way.

Occupy Wall Street...sort of - Part IV

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Question: What Sources Do You Use?

Question: What Sources Do You Use?

I hear much about how ignorant, stupid, and other not so nice things that Conservatives are because we only get our "news" from the evil and reviled Fox News organizations or "Faux News" as they are called on liberal-leaning websites. I mean, "they" did a study in an honest-to-goodness university of higher learning, then "they" took a poll! So we must believe "them" when they say Conservatives are ignorant and ill-informed, right? "They" wouldn't lie to us, would they?

Since we at Commentarama are well above-average in intelligence and certainly well-informed, where DO we get our information? Judging from these studies and polls, either we are not true Conservatives or we are just poor, deluded fools who THINK we are intelligent?

Question: What sources do you use to get news and other information?

I hear much about how ignorant, stupid, and other not so nice things that Conservatives are because we only get our "news" from the evil and reviled Fox News organizations or "Faux News" as they are called on liberal-leaning websites. I mean, "they" did a study in an honest-to-goodness university of higher learning, then "they" took a poll! So we must believe "them" when they say Conservatives are ignorant and ill-informed, right? "They" wouldn't lie to us, would they?

Since we at Commentarama are well above-average in intelligence and certainly well-informed, where DO we get our information? Judging from these studies and polls, either we are not true Conservatives or we are just poor, deluded fools who THINK we are intelligent?

Question: What sources do you use to get news and other information?

Question: What Sources Do You Use?

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Question: Is Atheism a Religion?

Question: Is Atheism a Religion?

It is no secret that I spend a fair amount of time at the Huffington Post website deep in discussion with those with whom I politely describe as believing "differently". One of the topics that keeps coming up over and over is the First Amendment battle being wages between Christianity and Atheism. The premise is always that Christians (those who believe in superstitions and "creation myths") or "Believers" are always trying to force their beliefs on the Atheists (those who do not believe in superstitions or "creation myths") or "Non-Believers".

Lately the discussions have revolved around a Rhode Island high schooler, the Atheist in this story, who was distraught at being force to have gaze upon a banner containing a prayer that was hanging in the cafeteria of her public high school**. It upset her so much that she had to sue the school system to have it removed. Of course, we all know that this case is based on the First Amendment argument of separation of church and state. But, as is becoming more common today, the argument is being distorted to include a much broader interpretation of separation of all perceived religious beliefs or religious references from any state-funded institution.

These kinds of cases always baffle me, because I see this young woman imposing her religious belief on others too. So I need your help in defining exactly what "religion" is exactly:

Discussion: Using the same broad interpretation, if one defines "religion" as a system of strongly-held beliefs, should Atheism be considered a religion too?


**FYI - Did I mention that this banner has been hanging in the cafeteria of her high school without incident since 1963?

It is no secret that I spend a fair amount of time at the Huffington Post website deep in discussion with those with whom I politely describe as believing "differently". One of the topics that keeps coming up over and over is the First Amendment battle being wages between Christianity and Atheism. The premise is always that Christians (those who believe in superstitions and "creation myths") or "Believers" are always trying to force their beliefs on the Atheists (those who do not believe in superstitions or "creation myths") or "Non-Believers".

Lately the discussions have revolved around a Rhode Island high schooler, the Atheist in this story, who was distraught at being force to have gaze upon a banner containing a prayer that was hanging in the cafeteria of her public high school**. It upset her so much that she had to sue the school system to have it removed. Of course, we all know that this case is based on the First Amendment argument of separation of church and state. But, as is becoming more common today, the argument is being distorted to include a much broader interpretation of separation of all perceived religious beliefs or religious references from any state-funded institution.

These kinds of cases always baffle me, because I see this young woman imposing her religious belief on others too. So I need your help in defining exactly what "religion" is exactly:

Discussion: Using the same broad interpretation, if one defines "religion" as a system of strongly-held beliefs, should Atheism be considered a religion too?


**FYI - Did I mention that this banner has been hanging in the cafeteria of her high school without incident since 1963?

Question: Is Atheism a Religion?

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Weekend Newsdrop

Weekend Newsdrop

These Friday afternoon news drops are getting to be the "new normal". You know what I mean. This is when the current Administration wants to appear "transparent", so they drop news on Friday afternoon while everyone is out enjoying their date night. It may not always be on Friday, but with the cooperation of the MSM, they can place the news at the perfect time where no one will pay too much attention and they can control the fallout. It is not unique to this Administration, but they have raised it to an art form. Here are two examples from this week:

The Bane of Bain Capital: Obama and his cohorts (with the help of Rick Santorum), have made this huge deal about how awful it is that Mitt (Milton) Romney worked for Bain Capital. I won't bore with what Bain Capital is because you know. Well, guess what? As bad as Obama and his cohorts want us to believe Romney is the great scourge of 99%'ers everywhere, they've done gone and hired themselves a former Bain guy of their very own! Well to be more accurate they have promoted one. The White House proudly, yet quietly, announced this week that Jeffrey Zeints former Deputy of the Office of Management and Budget has been promoted to Director following the promotion of the former Director as Chief of Staff. Obama included the following statement with the announcement:

“I’m pleased to designate Jeff Zients to lead the Office of Management and Budget. Since day one, Jeff has demonstrated superb judgment and has provided sound advice on a whole host of issues,”

They were careful to stress that Zients has “twenty years as a CEO, management consultant, and entrepreneur", however they failed to mention that he worked quite extensively with Bain Capital as far back as 1988. Romney worked at Bain from 1977-1984 and from 1991-1992, so their paths must have crossed. One would think by all the brouhaha, that Romney worked there right before his campaign started and right after he shaved off his large, waxed handlebar mustache that he used to twirl while throwing little old ladies out on the streets! But then again, Zientz probably worked for Bain Capital in the those years where they were the good guys.

GM Volt Update: I reported last week that GM and the National Highway Transportation Safety Adminsitration (NHTSA) had come to an understanding that GM had to fix the exploding batteries in the GM Volt. They both agreed with a plan and then let everyone know there was a problem. Well, because of this unprecedented cooperation between industry and government, the NHTSA has decided that no further action is needed and they have closed the investigation on this matter. According to Sec't of Transportation Ray LaHood, there nothing to see here, move along.

Fortunately, Congress thinks otherwise. Rep. Darrell Issa (R/CA) Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, says "Not so fast". He has called all the parties to appear before his committee on Wednesday to explain who knew what when. GM CEO Dan Ackerson and NHTSA Administrator David Strickland are scheduled to explain why they knew about the fires in June of 2011, but failed to announce it to the taxpayer/stockholders until November 2011. Oh, and why the Obama Administration may have known in September.

Well, that's two. Do you know of any others? We need to keep the pressure on.

These Friday afternoon news drops are getting to be the "new normal". You know what I mean. This is when the current Administration wants to appear "transparent", so they drop news on Friday afternoon while everyone is out enjoying their date night. It may not always be on Friday, but with the cooperation of the MSM, they can place the news at the perfect time where no one will pay too much attention and they can control the fallout. It is not unique to this Administration, but they have raised it to an art form. Here are two examples from this week:

The Bane of Bain Capital: Obama and his cohorts (with the help of Rick Santorum), have made this huge deal about how awful it is that Mitt (Milton) Romney worked for Bain Capital. I won't bore with what Bain Capital is because you know. Well, guess what? As bad as Obama and his cohorts want us to believe Romney is the great scourge of 99%'ers everywhere, they've done gone and hired themselves a former Bain guy of their very own! Well to be more accurate they have promoted one. The White House proudly, yet quietly, announced this week that Jeffrey Zeints former Deputy of the Office of Management and Budget has been promoted to Director following the promotion of the former Director as Chief of Staff. Obama included the following statement with the announcement:

“I’m pleased to designate Jeff Zients to lead the Office of Management and Budget. Since day one, Jeff has demonstrated superb judgment and has provided sound advice on a whole host of issues,”

They were careful to stress that Zients has “twenty years as a CEO, management consultant, and entrepreneur", however they failed to mention that he worked quite extensively with Bain Capital as far back as 1988. Romney worked at Bain from 1977-1984 and from 1991-1992, so their paths must have crossed. One would think by all the brouhaha, that Romney worked there right before his campaign started and right after he shaved off his large, waxed handlebar mustache that he used to twirl while throwing little old ladies out on the streets! But then again, Zientz probably worked for Bain Capital in the those years where they were the good guys.

GM Volt Update: I reported last week that GM and the National Highway Transportation Safety Adminsitration (NHTSA) had come to an understanding that GM had to fix the exploding batteries in the GM Volt. They both agreed with a plan and then let everyone know there was a problem. Well, because of this unprecedented cooperation between industry and government, the NHTSA has decided that no further action is needed and they have closed the investigation on this matter. According to Sec't of Transportation Ray LaHood, there nothing to see here, move along.

Fortunately, Congress thinks otherwise. Rep. Darrell Issa (R/CA) Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, says "Not so fast". He has called all the parties to appear before his committee on Wednesday to explain who knew what when. GM CEO Dan Ackerson and NHTSA Administrator David Strickland are scheduled to explain why they knew about the fires in June of 2011, but failed to announce it to the taxpayer/stockholders until November 2011. Oh, and why the Obama Administration may have known in September.

Well, that's two. Do you know of any others? We need to keep the pressure on.

Weekend Newsdrop

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Lost in Translation

Lost in Translation

It is funny how meanings of words can get lost in translation. There were two articles on the ‘net in the last couple of weeks that are great examples of how statements can be innocently mistranslated, or even intentionally used to mislead.

The first example is from an article posted on a Polish news website about purported statements made by Rick Santorum during his campaign in New Hampshire. I would not have known about the Polish article if a Polish friend had not pointed it out. So here’s how it went:

[Scene: Lunch room in typical American white-collar workplace. Polish friend runs in and plops down in front of me]

Me: Hello, Polish friend, what’s up?

Polish friend: So, who is this Santorum guy?

Me: He is running for the Republican Presidential nomination. Umm, why do you ask? [hoping to direct PF to Commentarama for a more in-depth discussion without breaking any politically correct workplace rules]

PF: I just heard from a friend of mine in Poland who said that it was reported by a Norwegian journalist that Rick Santorum said in New Hampshire that the greatest threats to the world right now are Iran, Islamic terrorists, and Poland!

Me: Poland?? Are you sure he said Poland? I can’t imagine anyone would think that Poland was a threat to anyone? I will do some research and get back to you.

End scene.

I went back to my desk to do a quick search. I figured that if Santorum had actual said that Poland was one of the greatest threats to the world that someone in the US press corps would pick it up and exploit it. (Yes, Huffington Post, I mean you!). Instead, I found nothing. I went back to my PF and asked her to show me the article. It was a 5-line article from a Polish language website which she kindly translated for me. Since I have no reason to doubt my friend's translation, I was surprised that a sitting Senator could make such a stupid blunder. But then I remembered that the then-Senator Obama stated during his 2008 campaign that there were at least 57 US states, so it could be true. But I still could not find any evidence in English.

Well, it took about 24 hours, but, to my surprise, I finally found an article on the New York Times blog reporting on Santorum's statement. Not a translation of the original statement as reported by the Norwegian journalist, but a clarification from Santorum. When asked by an unknown reporter if he really said that Poland was a threat, Santorum stated:

“I said the Obama administration stuck it to Poland by not putting a missile defense system there...I listed a bunch of countries that the Obama administration has messed up.

So, it was nothing against Poland?” the reporter asked.

Oh, I love Poland,” Mr. Santorum assured him. “Are you kidding me? It’s one of my favorite countries in the world.”

As my friend and I discussed, it is possible that someone heard "threat" and "Poland" in the same sentence and jumped to a mistranslated conclusion. Who knows, but it is safe to say that between my friend and I, we just save the world from of an international "whisper-down-the lane" game that went from English to Norwegian to Polish to possible war!

Now, I said there were two examples. The second was an article titled “GM to call back 8,000 Chevy Volts” published last week. You remember the Chevy Volt. It’s the General Motors electric car touted by the Obama Administration as the green solution to the American auto industry’s financial problems.

It was reported that The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration informed GM that, following extensive crash tests, they discovered that up to three weeks after a crash, the batteries in the Volt would catch fire. The following is a short performance art piece of how I perceive this conversation went:

[Scene: Telephone rings. Someone picks up receiver]

NHTSA: Hello, GM? Yeah, umm...did you know that up to three weeks after a crash, the Volt battery tends to catch on fire and explode?

GM: Umm, well, ummm...errr...yes, we did. Oops, did we forget to tell everyone that the Volt’s batteries needed to be drained after a crash? Sorry, my bad.

NHTSA: Not a problem. Just fix it and all will be forgotten...er forgiven.

GM: Do we need to issue a recall?

NHTSA: Heavens NO! Let's just say that you are "calling them back" and leave it at that. No reason to needlessly embarrass ourselves and you-know-who. You are going to voluntarily fix it anyway, right?

GM: Oh, yeah, riiiight.

End scene.

So GM issued a "call back" of their vehicle and as the article stresses, “GM’s move is considered a step below a recall, which would have been]issued by a car company and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration". It further reports that GM agreed to voluntarily fix the problem voluntarily. This is unlike, say, when Toyota was publicly pilloried and whose management was dragged before Congress to explain after their 2010 Prius "recall" which they had already agreed to voluntarily fix voluntarily too.

So in conclusion, to my Polish friends - beware of Norwegian reporters. From the bottom of my heart, both Santorum and I think that you are not a threat and, hopefully, you will never be a threat to the good people of Earth.

And to the taxpayers-slash-shareholders of the United States of America - beware the Obama Administration and a sympathetic press corps who will continue to mislead us about any of this Administration’s investments gone sour. They are mounting up, aren't they?

Addendum: I hereby revise my statement about the Polish after my "friend" made disparaging remarks about people over 40 being "that old?". They may be a real threat after all.

It is funny how meanings of words can get lost in translation. There were two articles on the ‘net in the last couple of weeks that are great examples of how statements can be innocently mistranslated, or even intentionally used to mislead.

The first example is from an article posted on a Polish news website about purported statements made by Rick Santorum during his campaign in New Hampshire. I would not have known about the Polish article if a Polish friend had not pointed it out. So here’s how it went:

[Scene: Lunch room in typical American white-collar workplace. Polish friend runs in and plops down in front of me]

Me: Hello, Polish friend, what’s up?

Polish friend: So, who is this Santorum guy?

Me: He is running for the Republican Presidential nomination. Umm, why do you ask? [hoping to direct PF to Commentarama for a more in-depth discussion without breaking any politically correct workplace rules]

PF: I just heard from a friend of mine in Poland who said that it was reported by a Norwegian journalist that Rick Santorum said in New Hampshire that the greatest threats to the world right now are Iran, Islamic terrorists, and Poland!

Me: Poland?? Are you sure he said Poland? I can’t imagine anyone would think that Poland was a threat to anyone? I will do some research and get back to you.

End scene.

I went back to my desk to do a quick search. I figured that if Santorum had actual said that Poland was one of the greatest threats to the world that someone in the US press corps would pick it up and exploit it. (Yes, Huffington Post, I mean you!). Instead, I found nothing. I went back to my PF and asked her to show me the article. It was a 5-line article from a Polish language website which she kindly translated for me. Since I have no reason to doubt my friend's translation, I was surprised that a sitting Senator could make such a stupid blunder. But then I remembered that the then-Senator Obama stated during his 2008 campaign that there were at least 57 US states, so it could be true. But I still could not find any evidence in English.

Well, it took about 24 hours, but, to my surprise, I finally found an article on the New York Times blog reporting on Santorum's statement. Not a translation of the original statement as reported by the Norwegian journalist, but a clarification from Santorum. When asked by an unknown reporter if he really said that Poland was a threat, Santorum stated:

“I said the Obama administration stuck it to Poland by not putting a missile defense system there...I listed a bunch of countries that the Obama administration has messed up.

So, it was nothing against Poland?” the reporter asked.

Oh, I love Poland,” Mr. Santorum assured him. “Are you kidding me? It’s one of my favorite countries in the world.”

As my friend and I discussed, it is possible that someone heard "threat" and "Poland" in the same sentence and jumped to a mistranslated conclusion. Who knows, but it is safe to say that between my friend and I, we just save the world from of an international "whisper-down-the lane" game that went from English to Norwegian to Polish to possible war!

Now, I said there were two examples. The second was an article titled “GM to call back 8,000 Chevy Volts” published last week. You remember the Chevy Volt. It’s the General Motors electric car touted by the Obama Administration as the green solution to the American auto industry’s financial problems.

It was reported that The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration informed GM that, following extensive crash tests, they discovered that up to three weeks after a crash, the batteries in the Volt would catch fire. The following is a short performance art piece of how I perceive this conversation went:

[Scene: Telephone rings. Someone picks up receiver]

NHTSA: Hello, GM? Yeah, umm...did you know that up to three weeks after a crash, the Volt battery tends to catch on fire and explode?

GM: Umm, well, ummm...errr...yes, we did. Oops, did we forget to tell everyone that the Volt’s batteries needed to be drained after a crash? Sorry, my bad.

NHTSA: Not a problem. Just fix it and all will be forgotten...er forgiven.

GM: Do we need to issue a recall?

NHTSA: Heavens NO! Let's just say that you are "calling them back" and leave it at that. No reason to needlessly embarrass ourselves and you-know-who. You are going to voluntarily fix it anyway, right?

GM: Oh, yeah, riiiight.

End scene.

So GM issued a "call back" of their vehicle and as the article stresses, “GM’s move is considered a step below a recall, which would have been]issued by a car company and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration". It further reports that GM agreed to voluntarily fix the problem voluntarily. This is unlike, say, when Toyota was publicly pilloried and whose management was dragged before Congress to explain after their 2010 Prius "recall" which they had already agreed to voluntarily fix voluntarily too.

So in conclusion, to my Polish friends - beware of Norwegian reporters. From the bottom of my heart, both Santorum and I think that you are not a threat and, hopefully, you will never be a threat to the good people of Earth.

And to the taxpayers-slash-shareholders of the United States of America - beware the Obama Administration and a sympathetic press corps who will continue to mislead us about any of this Administration’s investments gone sour. They are mounting up, aren't they?

Addendum: I hereby revise my statement about the Polish after my "friend" made disparaging remarks about people over 40 being "that old?". They may be a real threat after all.

Lost in Translation

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How Did We Ever Live Without...

How Did We Ever Live Without...

Smoke signals, messenger on foot or horseback, telegraph, telephone, telex, facsimile machines, internet, cellphone, wireless internet, and smartphones. Did I leave anything out? Since 1837, we humans have been on the fast track in developing newer and faster ways to communicate over long distances. For thousands of years, we communicated between villages, towns, and continents in a matter of months, sometimes years. Families would learn about births, deaths, marriages, and world events only when someone happened through a village or town entrusted with information that may or may not ever reach the recipient.

Most information was exchanged verbally because mostly people did not know how to read or write. As more and more people learned to read and write, faster and more organized ways of exchanging information over long distances developed. With the discovery of electricity, we were off to the races. Expansion of the railroad and the accompanying telegraph brought communication between towns from months or years to weeks or days.

Then came the telephone. Suddenly, we could communicate in a matter of hours or minutes. Within a matter of 50 years, we have graduated to the internet, email, cellphones, wireless/mobile internet and smartphones. With all of this we have gone from communicating in minutes to mere seconds.

With each successive upgrade, it is hard to remember how we ever lived with only smoke signals. But, are we better off? Now that we can carry handheld instant communication devices in which we can share all of the most intimate details of our daily lives as they are happening to anyone in the world, do we communicate better or just faster? What do you think?

Smoke signals, messenger on foot or horseback, telegraph, telephone, telex, facsimile machines, internet, cellphone, wireless internet, and smartphones. Did I leave anything out? Since 1837, we humans have been on the fast track in developing newer and faster ways to communicate over long distances. For thousands of years, we communicated between villages, towns, and continents in a matter of months, sometimes years. Families would learn about births, deaths, marriages, and world events only when someone happened through a village or town entrusted with information that may or may not ever reach the recipient.

Most information was exchanged verbally because mostly people did not know how to read or write. As more and more people learned to read and write, faster and more organized ways of exchanging information over long distances developed. With the discovery of electricity, we were off to the races. Expansion of the railroad and the accompanying telegraph brought communication between towns from months or years to weeks or days.

Then came the telephone. Suddenly, we could communicate in a matter of hours or minutes. Within a matter of 50 years, we have graduated to the internet, email, cellphones, wireless/mobile internet and smartphones. With all of this we have gone from communicating in minutes to mere seconds.

With each successive upgrade, it is hard to remember how we ever lived with only smoke signals. But, are we better off? Now that we can carry handheld instant communication devices in which we can share all of the most intimate details of our daily lives as they are happening to anyone in the world, do we communicate better or just faster? What do you think?

How Did We Ever Live Without...

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Question: What is your favorite word?

Question: What is your favorite word?

Since it is cold and a bit dreary today, I thought it would be fun to harken back to those early days of Yester-Commentarama when words were cheap and plentiful. So much has changed since then, but maybe your taste in verbiage has not. Here's a simple question to occupy your late afternoon that shouldn't be too taxing. So relax, clear your mind and...


Question: What is your favorite word or phrase?*

*Choose your word or phrase carefully because there just may be a "Part II" to this question for a later date.

Since it is cold and a bit dreary today, I thought it would be fun to harken back to those early days of Yester-Commentarama when words were cheap and plentiful. So much has changed since then, but maybe your taste in verbiage has not. Here's a simple question to occupy your late afternoon that shouldn't be too taxing. So relax, clear your mind and...


Question: What is your favorite word or phrase?*

*Choose your word or phrase carefully because there just may be a "Part II" to this question for a later date.

Question: What is your favorite word?

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Discussion: Regulations and Rules for Unruly Representatives

Discussion: Regulations and Rules for Unruly Representatives

Congress has once again proved that they just cannot be trusted. It seems that our esteemed elected officials have been making a killing in the stock market! At the same time many members of Congress have been railing against the Evil Wall Street Robber Barons and "Banksters", they have used pending legislation and lobbyist insider information to make a killing on Wall Street. If only they used pending legislation to balance the budget or help create a healthy climate for job growth. It is getting tiresome to know that what would land private citizens hefty fines and jail time, leads only to rebukes and hand slaps for our elected officials by our elected officials.

When did our government officials stop living by the same laws, regulations, and rules that they foist on us? Probably since the beginning of time, but now is the time to stop. We, the People of Commentarama need a manifesto of regulations and rules for our unruly representatives that we must insist that they follow like the rest of us. So put your thinking caps on.

Discussion: What laws, regulation, and/or rules do our Government officials egregiously flout at the same time they insist that We The People must follow or face the full force of the law?

Congress has once again proved that they just cannot be trusted. It seems that our esteemed elected officials have been making a killing in the stock market! At the same time many members of Congress have been railing against the Evil Wall Street Robber Barons and "Banksters", they have used pending legislation and lobbyist insider information to make a killing on Wall Street. If only they used pending legislation to balance the budget or help create a healthy climate for job growth. It is getting tiresome to know that what would land private citizens hefty fines and jail time, leads only to rebukes and hand slaps for our elected officials by our elected officials.

When did our government officials stop living by the same laws, regulations, and rules that they foist on us? Probably since the beginning of time, but now is the time to stop. We, the People of Commentarama need a manifesto of regulations and rules for our unruly representatives that we must insist that they follow like the rest of us. So put your thinking caps on.

Discussion: What laws, regulation, and/or rules do our Government officials egregiously flout at the same time they insist that We The People must follow or face the full force of the law?

Discussion: Regulations and Rules for Unruly Representatives

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Occupy Wall Street...Is Hazardous to Your Health

Occupy Wall Street...Is Hazardous to Your Health

It's been a bad few weeks for the Occupy movement - a homicide in Oakland, a suicide in San Diego, two drug overdose-related deaths in Toronto, and one unexplained death in Oklahoma City. Sad, but not unexpected for such a broad movement. However, there is something more disturbing rising from this movement...

Since at least the 19th Century, public health officials have fought hard to educate the public of the importance of proper hygiene and sanitation. It was observed that people living in cramped, unsanitary conditions caused the fast, virulent spread of deadly airborne diseases. As a result, cities and towns set about developing a system of public sewage disposal, indoor toilets, public parks, and the aggressive education of the need for proper hygiene. The simple act of washing one's hands has save more lives than all the antibiotics in the world. In the last 50 years, the Plague, cholera, typhoid, yellow fever, tuberculosis and many other diseases have all but been eradicated from the "first world" because of these agressive public health systems. Airborne diseases like influenza, that wiped out nearly 16 million people in 1918, are, today, just inconveniences for healthy people.

So why the public health history lesson? Well, as they say, when one does not understand history, one is doomed to repeat it. And when a group of people who have been raised in a world where major problems of public health have progressed to the dangers of "transfats" and "obesity", it is not even in their thought process that there is a reason for proper sanitation beyond the smell. Okay, I will get to my point - the Occupy movement has become a matter of public health! In the last few weeks, there has been an alarming rise in reported cases of airborne and sexually transmitted diseases running rampant through the Occupy camps. Respiratory ailments are so prevalent at the Occupy Wall Street camp that medical professionals have a name for it - "Zuccotti Lung". More disturbing is the antibiotic-resistant strain of tuberculosis that cropped up at Occupy Atlanta. And now, the occupiers are hunkering down for the Winter. Big military-style tents began to crop up at Zuccotti Park this week and it is rumored that there are bunkbeds coming to fill them. No running water, no proper toilet facilities, and cramped, closed quarters - the only thing left is a an outbreak of cholera, and we will be right back to the 19th Century. The health department has shut down businesses for not keeping soup at the proper temperature. Is it going to take a typhoid epidemic for our Mayor to do something?

It's been a bad few weeks for the Occupy movement - a homicide in Oakland, a suicide in San Diego, two drug overdose-related deaths in Toronto, and one unexplained death in Oklahoma City. Sad, but not unexpected for such a broad movement. However, there is something more disturbing rising from this movement...

Since at least the 19th Century, public health officials have fought hard to educate the public of the importance of proper hygiene and sanitation. It was observed that people living in cramped, unsanitary conditions caused the fast, virulent spread of deadly airborne diseases. As a result, cities and towns set about developing a system of public sewage disposal, indoor toilets, public parks, and the aggressive education of the need for proper hygiene. The simple act of washing one's hands has save more lives than all the antibiotics in the world. In the last 50 years, the Plague, cholera, typhoid, yellow fever, tuberculosis and many other diseases have all but been eradicated from the "first world" because of these agressive public health systems. Airborne diseases like influenza, that wiped out nearly 16 million people in 1918, are, today, just inconveniences for healthy people.

So why the public health history lesson? Well, as they say, when one does not understand history, one is doomed to repeat it. And when a group of people who have been raised in a world where major problems of public health have progressed to the dangers of "transfats" and "obesity", it is not even in their thought process that there is a reason for proper sanitation beyond the smell. Okay, I will get to my point - the Occupy movement has become a matter of public health! In the last few weeks, there has been an alarming rise in reported cases of airborne and sexually transmitted diseases running rampant through the Occupy camps. Respiratory ailments are so prevalent at the Occupy Wall Street camp that medical professionals have a name for it - "Zuccotti Lung". More disturbing is the antibiotic-resistant strain of tuberculosis that cropped up at Occupy Atlanta. And now, the occupiers are hunkering down for the Winter. Big military-style tents began to crop up at Zuccotti Park this week and it is rumored that there are bunkbeds coming to fill them. No running water, no proper toilet facilities, and cramped, closed quarters - the only thing left is a an outbreak of cholera, and we will be right back to the 19th Century. The health department has shut down businesses for not keeping soup at the proper temperature. Is it going to take a typhoid epidemic for our Mayor to do something?

Occupy Wall Street...Is Hazardous to Your Health

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