To have a well-balanced diet of political news from at least two of the main food groups I listen to a half hour of the openings of each of the Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity radio shows each weekday afternoon. Last Friday was by far the most mischievous of the 2016 presidential campaign to date, one would have thought the end of the Clinton campaign was at hand, only two hours later, fears were abated, the campaign will continue. The world will continue, at least as we have come to know it. It all started with of all people Anthony Weiner, and his texting using a laptop also used by Clinton aid Huma Abedin. On the other hand, Donald Trump after spending months calling the FBI ‘inept and corrupt’ is now praising them for having the ‘courage to right the horrible mistake, by continuing the Clinton email investigations. If you are a Trump supporter you should not be getting your news from the Trump campaign, if you are a Clinton supporter you should not be getting your biases from talk radio or you will find yourself rotated in the wrong direction at every turn of your head, make that brain…

To have a well-balanced diet of political news from at least two of the main food groups I listen to a half hour of the openings of each of the Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity radio shows each weekday afternoon. Last Friday was by far the most mischievous of the 2016 presidential campaign to date, one would have thought the end of the Clinton campaign was at hand, only two hours later, fears were abated, the campaign will continue. The world will continue, at least as we have come to know it. It all started with of all people Anthony Weiner, and his texting using a laptop also used by Clinton aid Huma Abedin. On the other hand, Donald Trump after spending months calling the FBI ‘inept and corrupt’ is now praising them for having the ‘courage to right the horrible mistake, by continuing the Clinton email investigations. If you are a Trump supporter you should not be getting your news from the Trump campaign, if you are a Clinton supporter you should not be getting your biases from talk radio or you will find yourself rotated in the wrong direction at every turn of your head, make that brain…

‘All’s fair in love and war’, a proverb, ‘The concept behind the phrase is that some areas of life are so important and overwhelming that you cannot blame someone for acting in their own best interest’, someone wrote on the web site, English Language & Usage, to explain the reasoning behind the proverb. Why did he kill? He was in love. Why did he kill? For love of country. It seems that almost any action can be explained away with the above concept and almost everyone will understand, understand up to a certain point, what that point is I will never know. Politicians will do or say almost anything if by so doing or saying will help them get elected into office, being convinced of their divine right to govern so much better than anyone else. ‘I run for the office of president because’…fill in the blank spaces. Is a person whom has never run for public office before more desirable, virginal, not tuned to the wicked ways of politics? Or is just too inept to be considered for the rough and tumble game of politics. The presidency is not an occupation for on the job training, what we want is know how on day one, not in a day or two. Oh, sure he knows how to say all the right things at the right moment but can he catch mice…I think not…Or is he just another rodent in a blue tweed suit, red tie with blond dyed hair…

 

‘Mary had a little lamb’, first published by a Boston publishing house on the 24^th of May 1830, has since been read as a favorite bedtime story to little girls the world over, it’s not unusual for dinner the next day to serve lamb chops to that same little girl without her discerning the connection. However, for that little girl to witness the slaughter of a little lamb may require weeks of recovery.

On the 24^th of November 2014, Sony Pictures Entertainment emails were hacked revealing company secrets as punishment some claimed by the North Koreans because of the subject matter of the film The Interview. The emails exposed the back-stage contract negotiations and trash talk among executives about clients in unflattering terms.

I site the above examples because what WikiLeaks has exposed is sausages being made. Without a doubt if your business and or personal conversations were so exposed those that claim to know you well, will be surprised by your prejudicial preconceptions about them and those you both know or think you know. A warning, be very careful of the source of any information without regard for how the information was obtained and of its veridicality.

The End

 

One last thought, WikiLeaks came for the Clintons, next week they may will be coming for you…

Those thinking about running a pipeline of refined petroleum it seems that the only consideration is the start and end points, encompassing the shortage route from points A to B. It may run over and under water used for drinking and bathing, for crop irrigation, housing ecosystems for small fish and wildlife, when any leakage, even a small one could devastate the environment for years if not forever. It’s always powerful forces at work even invoking eminent domain in some cases leaving anyone not directly involved in its benefits hopeless and helpless. If the pipe fittings don’t fail mother nature my do her labor with land shifting up, down or sideways that may go undetected for hours if not days. Great wealth can be had in the building of a pipeline crossing land or the land itself given to native Americans by treaty only to discover great wealth underground in the form of minerals and/or fossil fuels. When and if eminent domain is declared, all treaties can be cancelled, treaties that have been entrusted for generations, passed down not to an individual but to a community or tribe in the native American signification sense. ‘This land is my land’, no this land is our land whenever we want it to be ours forever…

The 27^th of January 1973, is the day the military draft ended in the United States, then the government started a campaign like no other to entice the young to enter the military and perhaps make it a career, like putting a worm on a hook, the enticement included, higher education in and outside of the military, travel, student loan forgiveness, et cetera, and most importantly, reup bonuses, the worm was without any wiggle room, none was needed, that is until this month, in view of the California National Guard scandal that was ordered to pay-back reup bonuses. The government bond was suddenly not a bond after all, if one cannot trust the government to keep its promises then who can one trust. However, if the bonuses were improperly awarded and one has always been a liberty loving solider, obedient in every regard, you accept any hardship and payment offered by your government without question, it’s not up to the troops to question but to obey. And if reup bonuses were not enough then the government should have appealed to one’s sense of patriotism first with just a little grease money to ease the way…instead of offering a bribe, which I understand it was not…

BEIJING — Every day, monitoring stations across the city measure air pollution to determine if the skies above this national capital can officially be designated blue. It is not an act of whimsy: with Beijing preparing to play host to the 2008 Olympic Games, the official Blue Sky ratings are the city’s own measuring stick for how well it is cleaning up its polluted air. Jim Yardley, 29 December 2007, The New York Times.

Too few seem to remember how the burning of fossil fuels, principally coal, can play havoc on the environment, if they did the promise of the restoration of the coal industry to its glory days in the United States would not be an ambition. If some of the visual news reports of 2006-07 Beijing, China are to be believed, it showed people walking about in surgical masks, vehicle restrictions enforced allowing only some to be operated on alternative days, respiratory problems actuality increased as air pollution becomes an everyday occurrence and concern. Is it responsible politics to promise a dyeing industry an enlightened future to crave votes when to do so is so clearly irresponsible both for the electorates health and the health of the nation. Especially when there are so many green energy options available worldwide, with more being brought on-line every day, I realize new is hard, old has a track record that is easy to follow but can lead to a down turn of all kinds of ills if continued to be pursued. A 1917 novel by Upton Sinclair, King Coal, that described the poor working and safety conditions in coal mining has not improved much since then, the picture of a days old baby in what looks like a small size industrial gas mask with the caption, ‘and a child shall lead them’ can have a ‘I told you so effect’, that can be so very hard to ignore…

 

At almost every turn I’m asked if election fatigue has set in yet? And yes, it has, a thousand times yes, if I must watch another string of clips of Clinton/Trump campaigning, well I have just had my fill. I never thought I would ever voice such a complaint since politics is my past time, not sports, but politics, many do not realize it, politics forms the basis of all of life’s endeavors, winning or losing sides of an argument, it’s the politics of the game, the game of life and how you play it, understanding that can make you come out a winner every time. So much for this personal stuff, now on to the current presidential campaign. Have you chosen a dog in this fight yet? If you have not what are you waiting for, for the dog to bite you first. I know, you are waiting for a candidate to make a big enough mistake to make the choice easier, that will never happen, in the back of your mind you have chosen a candidate already. Know how I know, it’s simple, whichever candidate makes a big mistake that you will be more forgiven of that will be your choice for president…Send me a confirming email on the 9^th of November…thanking me, I am your humble servant for now…

‘Malnourishment accompanied by hunger and starvation makes people look small and thin with wasting muscle tissue. In addition, malnourishment and hunger often result in dry or scaly skin, swollen or bleeding gums, tooth decay and bloated stomachs. However, in the United States, people who are overweight can also be malnourished due to inadequate amounts of vital nutrients as a consequences of poor food choices.’ 2016 Reference an IAC Publishing Labs Company.

On 8 November 2016 Americans, will be going to the polls to elect the 45^thv president of the United States and it is my hope that those that vote will be well nourished, not on food nutrients but on information of the intellect, you see there is no way just by looking who is malnourished, showing a lack of news and information, since we all can look and sound in speech, well informed. It is possible to feast on what some think is information only upon close examination to find that information to be empty as in empty calories, supplying energy but is nutritionally unbalanced. ‘But I watch the news every day’, yes, but is it the right news, meaning is it well balanced, providing you with a world view or a very narrow view that will never be able to pass the test of time. The 2016 voters may have the fate of the world in their hands when they enter that voting booth, I can only hope that they have had a well-balanced meal of information throughout that day and over the past ten years or so…

Is poverty generational? I think so, if your parents are poor so be you, unless you can achieve some spectacular feat to break that cycle, like mining a gold mine or finding a three-leaf clover. Breaking the cycle is the key, someone somewhere along the way pathway of life has got to give a helping hand, that can be paid tuition to higher education or vocational training to the trades. Every time a government combating program is proposed the cost is sighted as just too high and out of the question, and yet whenever the crime rate starts to climb money is found from somewhere for more law enforcement plus the cost of housing of the law breakers. When a little money spent up-front for programs beginning with head-start, after school programs with tutoring, and finally low interest rate government loans for education would be the cure all in advance of the expense of more police and prisons. It seems every election year, spending to combat poverty becomes a liberal or conservative issue, liberal expenditure vs. conservative saving, when the aim should be to break the poverty generational cycle…

The lyric from the Ash & Clay album by The Milk Carton Kids: ‘It only takes a moment for a lifetime to go by

         It only takes a moment for the changing of the sides’