If He Could Only Do That 313 Million More Times

Yes there are approximately 313 Million people in the US (I rounded up). And if Romney thinks handing cash to one poor woman will win him the presidency, he is way off.
Romney Gives Cash to Woman in Need
Yes it makes him look slightly less douchey, but winning would take him giving away way more cash than say approximately $75  to one out of the millions in this country, who have faced hardships since the economic crisis.
Perhaps instead of throwing out money from his own wallet, he could say.. try not to make offensive comments, like you're worried about income inequality because you're jealous. Or say things like "I like firing people" whether they're insurance companies, or just regular Joes. Or he could just fire his whole staff and hire new one's that know how to write a speech that doesn't include him reciting America The Beautiful.

If Mary Is My Homegirl, And Ron Paul Is My Homeboy, What Does That Make Jesus?

Well it's Sat night, and I'm actually a bit too tipsy to be writing, but what the hell.

“Ron Paul Is My Homeboy”

I mostly liked this article because I thought just about everyone forgot about those "Jesus Is My Homeboy" T-shirts that were unfortunately popular a decade ago (I blame it on Y2K).
Yet I find this article to be way too simplistic (yes even in my highly inebriated state of mind). The article does not really go into what the effect might be for Obama who previously was able to yield the youth vote and gain victory. Does Ron Paul have enough of the youth to make a major dent if he were to decide to run as an independent (a la Nader).
Also this article hasn't really gone into why Paul has so much of the youth in his corner. It alludes to some of it (his plan to legalize marijuana), but it doesn't really go into his conservatism and why it would appeal to the youth.
As a somewhat youth myself I would hazard a guess that most of his supporters don't really know where he stands on a lot of issues, due to his lack of media coverage until his recent surge.
The slate article has this quote from a political scientist (whatever that means): For Paul supporters, “it’s not really about political views, it’s about knowledge,” says Dan Cassino, a political scientist at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Supporters tend to talk about the congressman as a would-be educator-in-chief."

Not really something you'd expect to hear about someone who doesn't believe in evolution or global warming.  Libertarianism can often be found in between extreme conservatism and extreme liberalism, but Ron Paul, both an extreme conservative and extreme liberal has put himself in such a corner that not even the Republicans would do anything with him.
The question is why does this appeal to the youth vote? Well his foreign policy probably makes sense to kids who have seen this country at war for over ten years, and that's not even counting the war on drugs which has wasted way more money and has lasted far longer.
Perhaps the other candidates (Romney) should figure out what it is about Paul that appeals to the youth and try to copy it. It's not like he's never changed positions before and, personally I think it would be the only way the Republicans would beat Obama at this point.

Have Your Drank Mouse Lately?

Well over the holidays, Michelle Bachman dropped out of the race and no one cared, Santorum became the new Republican front runner, and no one cared.
Oh and according to Pepsi, you could be drinking mouse.
Pepsi Says Mountain Dew Can Dissolve Mouse Carcasses
You can't possible have found a mouse in Mountain Dew, because it would have dissolved the carcass.. really? That's the best defense they came up with?

All Life Is Precious.. Unless It's A Womans

Perry Changes Position on Exceptions for Abortion

Whatever your opinion on abortion or when life begins might be, I find it very worrying and scary when politicians (or anyone else for that matter) say they are against abortion, even when the life of the mother is at stake. I can understand being pro-life in the case of rape or incest, but to ignore the life of the mother seems to be very calloused.
Rick Perry is essentially saying that the life of the unborn child is more important than the mother, and what politician (or any other person) is qualified to say whose life is more important. It sets a very dangerous precedent.
And I'm no doctor, but it is my understanding that in pregnancies where the life of the mother are at risk, there's not that great of a chance that the baby will survive either.

UN Dictatorship... Really?

Old Ron Paul Video Warns of One-World Religion, UN Dictatorship

I have to say, this kind of made me laugh. Of all the organizations in the world, and all the possible threats to freedom, I can't say it ever once occurred to me that the UN would want to take over the world.
And I can't possible imagine why they might think it would be a threat to their religious freedom. Last time I checked Christianity is still the number one religion in the world, and I doubt it's going anywhere anytime soon.

Not Racist, But Number One With Racists

Paul Disowns Extremists’ Views but Doesn’t Disavow the Support

As Ron Paul attempts to distance himself from the racism portrayed in the Newsletters he published, this article come out in the New York Times. The gist? Ron Paul disagrees with racists and right wing extremist groups, but is happy they vote for him.
Personally, I think if Ron Paul wants people to believe that he really didn't know what was published in those newsletters, he has to try a lot harder to distance himself from these extremist groups.

Romney's Attempts At Being Human Make Him Appear More Robotic

I just love this article
Romney Teases Reporters Over Lunch
It's a perfect example of how awkward Romney is when attempting to display human emotions.  His attempts at joking with reporters, just come across as awkward and weird.

And Ron Paul Will Probably Still Win Iowa

Just as speculation is circulating of Ron Paul's chances in Iowa, the media has renewed focus on newsletters written by Ron Paul in the 90's that are so racist, it makes Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich (and yes even Wayne Brady) look like Malcolm X.
New Focus on Incendiary Words in Paul’s Newsletters

Paul, who got in trouble a few months ago during one of the numerous Republican debates for saying he would have voted against The Civil Rights Amendment, of course not only denies writing them, says he has no idea who did. But the fact is, his name is on the newsletters so does have to bear responsibility for what was printed in them.
I love this article that nicely details all the offensive comments made by Ron Paul
Ron Paul's Shaggy Defense

But I think Mother Jone's  states it best:

"Turning a blind eye to racist sentiment is, obviously, far more common than overt racism these days. But as Thers says, that very fact can sometimes make it even worse. After all, everyone already knows that the world contains a few virulent assholes. In some cases you can shrug that off. But learning that lots of people who otherwise seem perfectly decent are willing to tolerate it? That can be pretty disheartening.
Still and all, lots of us fail to do the right thing sometimes because we lack moral courage. Ron Paul's failings go quite a bit further. He didn't tolerate the racist views in his newsletters merely because he didn't have the gumption to put a stop to it. He actively let it continue because the newsletters made money and because he was hoping to appeal to a paleocon constituency beyond his small libertarian base. That's pretty repellent."

We Turn Our Backs For One Second..

Evading arrest, Iraqi VP denies hit squad claim
The day after the US officially withdrew all forces from Iraq, a warrant was issued for Iraq's Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi. Accused of running hit squads, this could either be good news for Iraq, or really really bad news.
Either Iraq is committed to purging the government of corruption (and strangely wanted to wait until the US had left to do it), or as the vice president claims, it could be an attempt of the Shiite led government to discredit him.
Either way it leads to more instability at a time when Iraq could hardly afford it.

Blogs, Just As Accurate As Wikipedia

Romney Ku Klux Klan Report Backfires on Media
While this proves for the billionth time that the news media never does any fact checking (though it's a step up from getting stories from wikipedia), I really don't think there's enough of a difference from "keep America American" and "keep America America" for the Romney campaign to have any complaints. Like really, you're saying the same thing, one letter of a difference doesn't make it any less creepy.

Now I'm on my way to a job interview in hopes of no longer being one of the 50%.

Don't Let The Door Hit You On Your Way Out!

Scott Walker Recall Effort Collected 507,000 Signatures in a Month
Wisconsin is well underway on their efforts to recall Scott Walker.  But I think it's pretty ridiculous. While I may not agree with his policies, I don't think you should be able to recall a politician who only did what he said he was going to do.
Walker ran on the promise that he would balance the budget. The people of Wisconsin elected him, without bothering to ask him, how exactly he was planning to do that. Even though he never mentioned his plan to attack unions, the lesson we should learn from this is that the people and the media really need to ask these politicians what their plans are.
Politicians can be pretty savvy at answering questions without really saying anything, or just mentioning whatever issue is hot at the time, but people shouldn't vote for anyone unless they set out a detailed list of their issues and what they're going to do once elected.

Forget The 99%, What About The 50%

Census data: Half of U.S. poor or low income
This is pretty bad, but considering how hard it can be to find a job these days, not too surprising. Prices are only going up, and wages are going way down. If things don't get better soon, the US might be considered a third world country in a few years.

Rape Far More Common Than Previously Thought

Nearly 1 in 5 Women in U.S. Survey Say They Have Been Sexually Assaulted
I wish I could say I was surprised by the findings in this article, but sadly I'm not. My sister always told me that all men are potential rapists.. While it's not necessarily true, sometimes it's safer to assume the worst in people.

MSNBC Apologizes For Keeping It Real

MSNBC Apologizes to Romney Campaign for Klan Report

So I'm slightly confused as to why MSNBC apologized. There was nothing in the report that was factually wrong, unless you count the fact that the phrase "keep America American" has been used by groups other than the KKK (like say a group that hates immigrants and Catholics.. so much better).

Will China Shame The US and Canada Into Being More Green? Probably Not

 China Calls Canada's Kyoto Protocol Withdrawal 'Regrettable'
On Monday, Canada announced plans to back out of the Kyoto Protocol (presumably so they can pollute more without feeling guilty about it), just a day after the treaty had been renewed at a conference in Durban, South Africa.
While China, remains one of the two largest polluters in the world, they have at least made a commitment and are working towards a greener environment.
 Who's the other largest polluter you ask? The US, which never signed the Kyoto Protocol.

Can the US Live Up to Its Climate Pledge?
In 2008 Obama made a lot of promises in regard to the environment and green technologies, but the subject has become almost taboo lately. No one wants to mention what kind of visible effects we're now having on the environment. But as one of the largest polluters in the world, we have to recognize that we're not just destroying our country.

Sinking Feeling: More Bad News for Pacific Island Nations
Entire islands are on the verge of disappearing. And the global climate only needs to rise by 2C to release the methane trapped in the arctic permafrost.

The easiest and quickest way to not only fix our environment, but also decrease our dependency on foreign oil would be to outlaw the manufacturing of fuel dependent cars. Require all cars manufactured after say.. 2014 be either hybrids or electric. We have the technology, we should use it. And the increased demand will lower the cost of electric cars, and improve the technology over time.
Not only that, but require all buildings built to be made energy independent, as well as set standards that each state receive a certain amount of energy from solar or wind and have standards that business and government buildings have solar panels. Not only would all of these cut our carbon emissions, reduce our dependency on oil, but it would also create jobs. But none of this would never happen because corporations have way too much say in how our government is run.

Mitt Romney Quotes The KKK

Romney Invokes KKK Slogan

In a speech in Iowa, Romney notes that he wants to "keep America American"  borrowing the phrase from various Ku Klux Klan slogans that have been used since the 1920's. The slogan was used before World War II, when the KKK objected to Jewish refugees entering America, and again in 1950 just before the KKK bombed a number of black owned homes.
So apparently Romney thinks it appropriate to use this particular slogan in a speech. Even if you give him the benefit of doubt and say he's just historically ignorant and it was all his speechwriters fault, the speech itself does sound a bit inflammatory.

Romney wants to ‘keep America American’
“There are people in this room who are informed and who care about this election, who recognize that this is a defining time for America,” he said. “We have on one side a president who wants to transform America into a European-style nation, and you have on other hand someone like myself that wants to turn around America and keep America American….”


Now, while I don't think Romney is a closet Ku Klux Klan member (Mormons are way too nice for that), he certainly does seem to be pandering to the KKK vote...

Republicans Avoid Raising Taxes By Charging Fees... Which Amount To The Same Thing

As Governor, Romney Balanced Budget By Hiking Fees

How is charging blind people a fee (or tax) on being blind better than raising taxes? Republicans retain most of their public support by being known for being the anti tax party. Everyone believes if you elect a Republican, they will lower taxes, but this shows that it's just been semantics.
It's impossible to balance a budget without generating some revenue and that's going to have to come from somewhere.

Millionaires on Food Stamps? Guess Not..

Millionaires on food stamps, jobless pay? GOP is on it
You have to love the headline. Even when the articles waits until the third paragraph to say it's an extreme rarity for millionaires to receive food stamps.
It definitely is a step in the right direction cutting millionaires off from collecting unemployment, but I don't think it goes far enough. Why not cut them off from collection social security and medicare while we're at it? They were programs put in place to prevent poverty in the elderly, an especially at risk population. Not to help supplement the incomes of millionaires.

Why The Government Doesn't Want Your Kids Eating Pears

Oregon Senator Pushes Local Pears For School Lunches

Having local food in school lunches benefits just about everyone. It benefits farmers, the kids and the local economy. What it doesn't benefit, is the corporations that like having a monopoly on feeding kids frozen and processed crap.
This bill might pass, but it's sad that Senator Wyden has to work so hard to get it through. And it's sad that it will be available only in Oregon.

This Day In History

Netherlands Apologizes To Indonesia For 1947 Massacre
On December 9th, 1947, Dutch troops massacred anywhere in between 150 to 431 men and boys, during the Indonesian War for Independence. Today Dutch officials officially apologized on the 64th anniversary of the tragedy, which comes after years of legal battles and a civil court ruling just this December, declaring the Netherlands responsible.