Mitt in 1985

Talking to a group of employees, caught on video...

 "“Bain Capital is an investment partnership which was formed to invest in startup companies and ongoing companies, then to take an active hand in managing them and hopefully, five to eight years later, to harvest them at a significant profit.”"

How's that for job creation?


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Poll: Romney Ahead in Presidential Race, Say Replacement Refs : The New Yorker

Poll: Romney Ahead in Presidential Race, Say Replacement Refs : The New Yorker:

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From Birds on the Brain

Birds on the Brain:
"A word about PowerPoint. PowerPoint was released by Microsoft in 1990 as a way to euthanize cattle using a method less cruel than hitting them over the head with iron mallets. After PETA successfully argued in court that PowerPoint actually was more cruel than iron mallets, the program was adopted by corporations for slide show presentations. Conducting a PowerPoint presentation is a lot like smoking a cigar. Only the person doing it likes it. The people around him want to hit him with a chair. PowerPoint is usually restricted to conference rooms where the doors are locked from the outside. It is, therefore, considered unsuited for large rallies, where people have a means of escape and where the purpose is to energize rather than daze."

These words are so true!

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From TIME GOES BY

 What Plutocracy Looks Like: Read this!

Because I don't enjoy the verbal friction among guests, found on the TV shows of political pundits, I don't even know who Chris Hayes is. But I do know a well written piece and this is one. ( I like Rachel Maddow, precisely because she has no guests...go figure)



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Isn't it time?

Among all of the voices heard during this political season, one is curiously absent. That would the voice of the last President. The one that has a real grasp on the ins and outs of the financial disaster that is plaguing us. Yet he is silent. In fact, if he has thrown his support to the Republican candidate, I must have missed it. Where is President Bush? As a senior statesman of the Republican party, you would think that he would be crisscrossing the country, giving speeches in support of Romney. Isn't it time for him to come out in support of his budget; the one that President Obama inherited? President Clinton was eager to talk about his budget!

I still have a copy of the book, The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict by Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes. It came out in 2008 and so it doesn't include all of the costs of the war in Afghanistan. I'm willing to guess that there are at least another two trillion dollars that will come from that war. If you haven't read it, you should. Four years later and it's even more timely.

Those are Bush's wars. Those are Republican wars. Did Democrats vote to go to war? Yes, they did; based on Bush's lies.

I really don't know why I bother to point out all of this evidence. Romney Republicans don't read. They're not about to let facts get in the way of their hatred for a black/white President.

Whenever I become engaged with a Romney supporter, I just ask 'who did you vote for in 2000 and 2004?'
When they answer 'Bush' I simply say 'Well, there's your problem.' Case closed.' and I turn and leave.

US ranks 28th

US ranks 28th in Internet connection speed: report: "

"People in Japan can upload a high-definition video in 12 minutes, compared to a grueling 2.5 hours at the US average upload speed," the report said."

by the way, we also pay the very most for our connections.


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Inside the brain

I just started reading The Republican Brain; The Science of Why They Deny Science - and Reality by journalist Chris Mooney. So far, so good. It should be explained that Mr. Mooney is writing about the 'brain' of the far right wing, radicalized Republican. In other words, your average Romney follower. 

Although I could never be a Republican; it's simply not in my genes, I do know a lot of very nice Republicans. And I have to wonder what they are thinking as they see this empty suit pretending to be anything that his base wants him to be. The Grand Old Party will never be the same after this election, no matter who wins. The leadership is now exposed for the greedy poltroons that they are. 

Speaking of poltroons...I was thinking that perhaps we could start using some of the old political nicknames for our slate of politicians. How about The Know Nothings? I think it's perfect! It fits for one reason; because they were Republicans!

Although I'm happy to see Willard making all sorts of mistakes these days, I am not certain of victory for the Democrats. The people that want to own this country have more money...and greed than we can imagine. And they aren't afraid to use it.

Mother Jones via the NYT

Mother Jones Releases Complete Video of Romney at Private Fund-raiser - NYTimes.com:

I'm a Mother Jones fan and have been a subscriber to the magazine named for her, for many years. But this has to be one of the best things they have ever done to protect our freedom. I can hardly wait to read the article...



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From No More Mister Nice Blog

No More Mister Nice Blog:

Once again I've found that this blog is pretty good. These are pretty much the same sentiments that I have...


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Pictures, we got pictures!

I don't remember if I have ever mentioned the HAMB Jalopy Journal before and since I can't remember, I will proceed as if I have not. This image thread was started almost three years ago and members have contributed thousands of photos. The theme was supposed to be 'old' cars and items related to the automobile industry. That changed over the years and there are photos of just about everything...but all are 'old'. So, if you like to browse through an endless supply of photos, this the place (HAMB Jalopy Journal)
You never know what you might see; For instance, I've seen photos of my old hometown, Manhattan Beach. I recently ran across a large photo of Hermosa Beach, taken from uptown and showing the luxurious Hermosa Biltmore. Plus a lot of photos of the drive-ins that we used to cruise on the weekends. Nostalgia? Plenty of it.

From "No More Mister Nice Blog"

No More Mister Nice Blog

A brief history of the life of Steve Klein...

I never cease to be amazed at the depth of perversion that's found in the Right Wing Christian groups... so here I am, amazed and disgusted.

Some clarity

From a blog I just read... it seems that the NY Times had one story (the one below) early in the AM and then this quote was deleted in the final story. Go to Blogging via Typewriter for the story

“an adviser to the campaign who worked in the George W. Bush administration” who went so far as to say that Romney “had forgotten the first rule in a crisis: don’t start talking before you understand what’s happening.” 

Anti-Islam Filmmaker

Anti-Islam Filmmaker Went by 'P.J. Tobacco' and 13 Other Names from Wired Magazine

Mystery solved. And there was a piece of human garbage involved. And then he found more just like him to help... what isn't clear is the question of criminality. Did he commit a crime by making this film? I certainly hope so!


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I feel so much better

I left Facebook...the management at Facebook seems to have lost their moral compass or they have lost control of their employees. Besides that, it is a big waste of time.

From now on it's Blogger, Twitter and Tumblr.

I suppose you could call those three 'time wasters' as well, but they seem a little bit cleaner.

Mitt Romney and the "Libya Surprise":

Mitt Romney and the "Libya Surprise": How it Unfolded : The New Yorker:

But he couldn't wait to shoot his mouth off. Facts, Governor. The world operates best on facts.

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Libya

Mitt Romney is an embarrassment to the human race. Or is he just Rove's puppet like the last Republican wannabe President? He criticized the President as soon as Rove heard the news and told him what to say but he didn't bother to verify anything at all. Is this how he would govern us? That last Republican President (the one whose name cannot be said) governed that way and we all know how that turned out.
Something serious, very serious, happened in Libya and Mitt needs to butt out and let the grownups work on it.

News Flash

"After months of rampant rumors and hype, Apple debuted the company's latest smartphone today, claiming it is the world’s thinnest."

Who did they steal that idea from?

memories

I was just reading Left Leaning Lady's post for today and the memories cane back. I was in Grandview, Missouri at the time, teaching a future estimator how to use our software. There was a television on in the break room and we soon heard the loud voices through our closed office door. We couldn't make sense of what they were talking about so we went to the break room to see for ourselves. Everyone was talking at once, and since I couldn't fathom the thought of an airliner hitting the building, told my 'student' that we ought to continue where we left off. We had just sat down when the second tower was hit. Now we knew. We closed the office and I drove back to my hotel room in Lenexa, Kansas. I turned the TV on and sat there dazed, trying to grasp the enormity of it all. I called home and we shared our fears over the phone. I needed to be home; I knew that. But I was in Kansas and home was in Northern California and there were no planes flying. I checked with my boss and he got our travel coordinator to arrange for our rental cars to be driven anywhere they needed to go. We had staff scattered all around the country so there were about 2 dozen cars involved. It wasn't until later that I realized how lucky I was to have that rental car. I set off the next morning. As I traveled, the radio would fade in and out as I passed the towns on the prairie. And all I heard were stories of great bravery. Amazing!
Traveling on I-70, I soon noticed that the majority of the cars on the road were rental cars. Everyone without a flight to take was heading home. After about 12 hours I was approaching the Denver Airport and as I passed the turnoff I looked up and scanned the sky; not a single plane to be seen. Eerie! I got as far as Eagle, Colorado that first day after driving for 15 hours. I got the last room at the hotel and the clerk told me that every car in the parking lot was either a rental or one that had been purchased just for this one trip home.
One advantage to driving all by yourself across half the country is...plenty of time to think. And I thought about what had just happened almost continuously. And I think that long drive healed me in a way; I was no longer fearful. I was putting it all in perspective; my perspective, certainly, but still calm and rational.
The next day was a 17 hour day, but I was home. The day after my long drive, I returned the car to Avis at the Sacramento Airport. 'Life' began again.
To be honest, I'm not much for physical memorials. No one is returned to life by erecting them. If they comfort someone...fine. The memorial to the victims of the 9/11 attack is embedded in my memory and will never go away. The only physical memorial I approve of is the Vietnam War Memorial. It should be law that every President, Senator and Congressperson walk around this memorial to those killed in a wrongful war, once every year. Have them read the names as they go...
 

Foreign Policy Team:

Mitt Romney Foreign Policy Team: 17 of 24 Advisors Are Bush Neocons:

Doesn't that bother anyone in the MSM? I know it scares the heck out of me! (especially Cofer Black and John Bolton. These people are evil)

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Teachers’ Strike in Chicago

Teachers’ Strike in Chicago Tests Mayor and Union - NYTimes.com:

"Kelly Farrell, a kindergarten teacher at Higgins Elementary on the city’s South Side, said her class had so many pupils that she did not even have enough seats for them all. “They are 5 years old,” she said. “They want their teacher’s attention, and there is one of me and 43 of them.”"

It's not always about money...but it's a fact that taxpayers don't want to buy new classrooms. They don't want to buy new books. They don't want to buy paper and pencils. They don't want to buy computers and software. But they do want their children educated. So I guess it is about money and it's also true that you get what you pay for.


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From the Nameless Cynic:

Nameless Cynic: Why Does The GOP Loves Mitt Romney?:

Flipping and flopping...you need to read this. Or, you should read this. What a difference fifty years makes.

From Who Hijacked Our Country:

 Are You Better Off Than You Were Four Years Ago? YES

Click on the link and see the headlines from September of 2008...4 YEARS AGO! And who was President? The man that no one (Republican) will mention...George Bush. He did this to us. And the Republican Party wants to do it again. Apparently, they didn't get all of our money last time.

Relativity

I've been fooling around with genealogy once more. It's fascinating and I will enjoy it for a month or so and then the 'facts' begin to inundate my poor brain. Then I have to stop for awhile; perhaps a year or so. Just long enough for my brain to recover.
I've always used Ancestry dot com for my research and the program has become easier than ever to use. A plus for me as I need all the help I can get. And speaking of help; I have found two relatives that are deep into genealogy and they have helped immensely. One is my second cousin, a relative I didn't know about until I began to explore, and the other is the wife of my wife's cousin. They are both wizards! Generous wizards.
Anyway, one of the relatives I found, died in an insane asylum in the 1800's. Terrible! And one of my relatives is Jane Seymour. Yes, that Jane Seymour; the mother of King Edward and a wife of Henry the VIII. She is my 12th Great Grand Aunt.and that's a long way back. Born in 1509 and died 1n 1537 from ?infection? following childbirth at the age of 28. She did give birth to a male heir (Edward) so if she had lived, she would have been the luckiest of Henry's wives. The others, if they did not produce a male child, were disposed of. In that day they did not know that it was the male that determined the sex of the baby.

Time does go by

I was reading a favorite blog, Time Goes By, and Ronni Bennett was noting how aging affected her. That happens to be a favorite subject of mine as I'm reminded of my age every ten minutes, 18/7. I find it more difficult to get out of the chair or off of the couch. Not because I don't want to, but because my body refuses to spring into action and catapult me into an upright position. I watch myself as I try to find some leverage spot that will ease me upwards. And I can't help but compare what I see with what used to be. We go to a gym now in an effort to slow the aging process and that's where I'm faced with brutal reality. It's hard work! But we persevere and then I go to the pool to join a group of elders in an elders water fitness program. I want to hide. My once trim body (I was a sheetrocker! 6'2" and 180#) is now overweight (6'1" and 240#) and my belly is hanging over the edges of my swim trunks. I debated leaving my shirt on but since I would be the only one doing that, I decided to bare it all. Well, not ALL, but my stomach was going to be exposed. I joined the elders in the pool. Oh, my...they were all old. Really old! Was I 'old' as well? I try not to think about it. We do this three times a week for an hour each time and I think...that my bracelet is a little bit looser now. That's progress. And if it continues, I will be able to take the covers off of the mirrors at home.

End of the week

We watched the DNC last night by way of our recorder. We were out and about on Thursday, so a recording had to be made. It was great! What else can I say?
I'm no longer a Democrat, having left the Party about 12 years ago because they were becoming the party of the center and I'm a liberal. We lost our fit. But last night I was glad to see that the Democrats had regained some courage. There was no centrist appeal to their message. And the audience in the convention center was fantastic!  Every color of humankind was represented. There were Muslims! They would never have made it past security at that 'other' convention. There were Sikhs with their colorful turbans. They too would have been viewed with suspicion at the RNC.
With the conventions out of the way, the Republicans are unleashing all that money that Romney's 'friends' have promised him. The American public has shown themselves to be gullible and with this flood of money we are looking at the buying of a Presidency and a nation. But why? Why on earth would you want to return to the same failed policies and think they will work this time? Reagan proved it didn't work. So did Bush #1. Then Bush #2 proved it in the most destructive way possible, leaving the country in financial meltdown. Didn't any voter notice that Bush #2 wasn't invited to Tampa nor was his name mentioned? Doesn't that make anyone suspicious? If it doesn't, I give up on the American voter...  

PolitiFact | Barack Obama's file

PolitiFact | Barack Obama's file: versus Mitt Romney's file

but I forgot...the Romney Campaign said they didn't care about 'facts'. Well, that's obvious!

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From BLOGGING via TYPEWRITER.

 - Hey after Michelle’s speech go back and find Ann Romney’s and watch that too and cringe at the insincerity.:

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A dumb question

From No More Mister Nice Blog:

 "Suppose your house is on fire and the firefighters race to the scene. They set up their hoses and start spraying water on the blaze as quickly as possible. After the fire is put out, the courageous news reporter on the scene asks the chief firefighter, "is the house in better shape than when you got here?""

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Where did the time go?

It's a day off! (I'm retired, so every day is a day off...) and what am I doing? I'm scrolling through Tumblr and then 'pinning' interesting Tumblr posts to my Pinterest account. It's a  terrible time waster but I excuse it by saying that I have a painting that is drying, and this scrolling is educational. Both things are true. I do have a painting that is drying and I will be adding to it in just a few more minutes. And Tumblr can be educational if you pick the right people to 'follow'. I have followed artists of all schools and so I'm constantly seeing great works. And I see great work by unknowns as well. Tumblr and Pinterest are definitely habits...the jury is out on whether or not they are bad habits.

John Deere

Last night, I was watching a television program that I had stumbled across and it was all about the making of Combines by the John Deere Company. And it showed just how those combines worked for the farmer. Great stuff! Really. And as I watched these huge machines being assembled, I was struck by the fact that robots were being used all over the factory floor in different operations. Now John Deere is a fine All-American company, so nothing was being outsourced, but the humans were slowly being replaced by the non-complaining robots. This same scenario is being played out from coast to coast. I don't know how to solve the problem but I do know that it is growing. In a year or two, we will be our own worst enemy and we won't be able to blame outsourcing for the disappearance of jobs. So what do we do? It might help if industry and our school systems worked hand in hand. Why are we educating children to do work that is disappearing?

What's going on?

I have not decided to allow a third party to advertise on this blog, yet I found one that had sneaked on to my blog...Text Enhance. Where did that come from? I have a feeling that the search and remedy will take me some time. Blogger, you frustrate me!

Once again

     It's that time of year. I've made it to the age of 72, an age that would have made me snort with laughter when I was 16. Who could possibly be 72 years old? Maybe that old man, Ed Sullivan; he might be 72. At the age of 16, my world vision was quite limited.
     I received a birthday greeting last night from my second cousin who lives in St. Louis. She found me while working on her family tree. I'm sure glad she did! It's nice to have a little more family, even when she's half way across the country. Someday I hope to meet Cece in person...
     We're not going to the gym this morning. We did that yesterday and had a full workout. We've only been going to the gym for about two weeks now but I think I have begun to firm up the stomach once again. Ever since my first surgery, I have put on about 40 pounds. Fear of pain kept me out of the gym until we decided to use the Silver Sneakers free gym membership offered by our AARP supplemental insurance. I had no pain after the first trial workout and so I'm continuing with it until I see 200 pounds on the scale once again.
      I am going to be painting again this morning. I have half a dozen pieces that I'm working on; some in acrylics and some in water soluble oil pastels. I love getting my hands into my work and the oil pastels are perfect for that kind of pleasure. Recently, I had an offer to show my work at a local sports club and I'm going to need more pieces than I have hanging around the house. I have until February to put the show together and that should be enough time.
      I'm trying to avoid framing my work. Frames are the worst! They're expensive and if you make the wrong choice in the frame, it doesn't matter that your art work is stunning, you'll never sell it. I have been using MDF panels that I cover in 2 coats of gesso and then 'frame' them with wood backing. I sand the wood and the edge of the MDF at the same time and leave them unfinished. I like the look. Or, I put a frame that is smaller than the piece and then it looks like the piece is floating on the wall; another nice look.
       We still have smoke in the air from the two fires that are not fully contained. Other than that, it's really just another ordinary day around here. I like it! Now I think I'll go paint for awhile...

Fact-Checkers Howl

Fact-Checkers Howl, but Both Sides Cling to False Ads - NYTimes.com: "

“We’re not going let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers,” Neil Newhouse, the Romney campaign’s pollster, said this week during a breakfast discussion at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., that was sponsored by ABC News and Yahoo News. He said that fact-checkers brought their own sets of thoughts and beliefs to their work, and that the campaign stands behind its ads."

Facts are thoughts? Facts are beliefs? Not on this planet. Facts ARE facts. Period. Mr. Newhouse is a liar. Disgraceful!


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Lies?

I just finished another morning of reading about the lies. You know, the Republican convention lies. Apparently, the Republicans have decided to abandon all integrity and take the lowest road in the quest for the White House. The party has already declared that they were not going to be dictated to by 'fact checkers'. If not the 'fact checkers', than who will moderate their speech? You would think that the moderate Republicans would be speaking out on this issue and calling for more honesty from their candidates. You would think that moderate Republicans would be embarrassed. Are there any moderate Republicans left? I don't think so and that's a terrible loss for our country. We no longer have the give and take between the parties that used to be a symbol of our democracy. Now the Republican rhetoric is 'slash, burn and take no prisoners'.

(Check out PolitiFact for the latest count on Pants on Fire lies...it's depressing)