Still addicted to Oil?

"Domestic crude oil production rose 3.6 percent last year to an average 5.7 million barrels a day, the highest since 2003, according to the Energy Department"? Read More...

Fun Fact: Did you know that Pandora's Box was actually a large jar?

"Animals are such agreeable friends. They ask no questions, they pass no criticisms."
~ George Eliot

Class Warfare in 2012?

New Studies Determine Which Social Class More Likely to Behave Unethically?
Read More...

"The increased unethical tendencies of upper-class individuals are driven, in part, by their more favorable attitudes toward greed. These findings have very clear implications for how increased wealth and status in society shapes patterns of ethical behavior, and suggest that the different social values among the haves and the have-nots help drive these tendencies."
~ Paul Piff, a doctoral student in psychology at UC Berkeley and lead author of the paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Read More...

"Fun is good." ~ Dr. Seuss

Soylent Green?

Prediction: It's only a matter of time before somebody in Hollywood dusts off this sci-fi classic and produces a remake of this Charlton Heston film.
Read More...

Burger King Marketing Sign, Seoul, R.O.K. (July 2009).

Our Digital Age?

Remember when a hard drive was used to describe a long trip, having a virus meant coming down with the flu and a keyboard was connected to a musical instrument?

"Music can change the world because it can change people." ~ Bono

Google+?

"This is your last chance. After this there is no turning back. You take the blue pill: the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill: you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes." ~ Morpheus, The Matrix

Satan Attacks America?

Suggested Reading:
Modern Language Association guidelines for citing a Tweet
in an academic paper or news report.

"Everything is changing. People are taking their comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke." ~ Will Rogers

"Faith becomes an ideology when some collective fear or hatred becomes political."
~ Self

It is what it is?

Definition of Vasectomy?

[vuh-SEK-tuh-mee]
noun: a 30 minutes of less surgical procedure intended to provide a permanent method of male birth control (see contraceptive)

"When we talk about giving fetuses constitutional rights, the flip side of that is forced birth. We are talking about the government forcing women to carry a pregnancy to term and then give birth. So in the same week we have Republicans tearing their hair out and making a big public show about Obama intruding into people's personal religious lives, we have lawmakers in Virginia passing a state sanctioned rape law. The hypocrisy is mind boggling." ~ Chloe Angyal on MSNBC (2/18/2018)


Is it really 2012?
Read More...
Republican birth control stance not politically smart?
Read More...
Original Photos by Peter Rimar


Update: Virginia scraps requiring invasive pre-abortion procedure?
Read More...

Political Food for Thought?

“The best way to lose weight is to close your mouth - something very difficult for a politician.” ~ Mayor Edward Koch

Government Regulations?

Instead of accepting political talking points at face value, this blogger usually fact checks the raw numbers behind an issue or subject. One of the central themes of this election cycle is the negative impact of government regulations on job growth. Looking at the numbers released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on February 3, 2012, considering the financial meltdown in 2008 was directly connected to the housing sector (subprime mortgage lending), it's no surprise the overall employment numbers in the construction industry remains one of the weakest segments of the economy. Read More...

The most interesting numbers released in this latest report are on page 6. If government environmental regulations are killing jobs, it's a bit curious that the overall employment numbers for the mining and logging industry are at the highest levels in more than 12 years:

"Since a low in October 2009, mining employment has expanded by 172,000, with 10,000 jobs being added in January (2012)."
~ U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Additionally, since reaching a peak of 455,595 barrels in August 2006, how do Republicans explain the continued downward trend in U.S. imported crude oil and petroleum products under the Obama Administration?
Read More...
US licenses first nuclear reactors since 1978?
Read More...

Undoubtedly, there are too many government regulations. It would be refreshing for this blogger if the politicians, particularly the Republicans, would throw this avid blogger a bone and specifically pinpoint which regulations needs to be changed, dramatically altered or thrown out with the bureaucratic bath water.

When it comes to the rising price of gasoline, Americans need to understand that the emerging markets in China and India will continue to impact global oil supplies.
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"I went to a restaurant that serves 'breakfast at any time'. So I ordered French Toast during the Renaissance."
~ Steven Wright

Grand Obstructionist Party?

"The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president."
~ Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), in an interview with the National Journal, describing his goal in retaking the Senate.

One of the main political talking points of Republicans is that President Obama got everything he wanted his first two years in office:


"A lie told often enough becomes the truth"?

If one individual uses a specific grouping of words to express an idea at a particular time and place, and it's then cited by others (for example the Wall Street Journal), it's called a quote. If one or more individuals employ the same phraseology over and over again to support a specific political agenda, it's called a message. To put it another way, a slogan is a slogan is a slogan. It's how ideological soap is bought and sold in the political marketplace (see Echo Chamber).

Clearly, any video which includes Rachel Maddow must be pure liberal propaganda. So, what is the truth? Instead of accepting this politically partisan video at face value, this blogger went directly to the source: The U.S. Senate. Read More...

Mr. Smith Rewrites the Constitution?
“All provisions which require more than a majority of any body to its resolutions have a direct tendency to embarrass the operations of the government and an indirect one to subject the sense of the majority to that of the minority.” ~ Alexander Hamilton

The public record is the public record. Numbers don't lie. Can you say Grand Obstructionist Party? This blogger has a theory. The partisan goal is simple: stop and/or delay every action of government in order to create a climate of economic uncertainty.


GOP Senator won’t seek re-election, cites Washington’s increasing polarization?
Read More...

Suggested Reading List:
Glass-Steagall Act
Cost of Wars

"Travel teaches toleration." ~ Benjamin Disraeli

Happy Birthday Charles Darwin?

There's a certain truth to the saying that "a dog is man's best friend". For this blogger and his wife, our JoJo is family (see photo).

Which brings me to the point of this particular post. At the time Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, Boston Terriers, as a breed, did not exist. But then again, we could deny that a man-made process employing elements of natural selection helped create the distinctive look and personality of our beloved family member. With actual physical evidence that evolutionary processes are part of the natural order of life, why do a significant percentage of Americans still believe otherwise?
Read More...

We love JoJo not because he's a Boston Terrier. We love him because he loves us. He brings joy to our daily lives. This blogger would no sooner deny his existence then the existence of God. "All dogs go to Heaven!"

Still confused? Add an R to the word evolution and it's actually possible to understand something about the guiding principals and the original intent of America's Founding Fathers. In 1776, there was no contradiction between individual faith and freedom, a belief in a God and the use science as a tool to explain our world. Read More...

America's Darwin Problem?
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"If someone in 2012 wants to criticize Henry Ford because he didn't know everything about automobiles a century ago, it's a little silly. If someone says evolution did not happen, walk away, just like you should walk away if someone says astrology works or the Moon is made of cheese."
~ Hank Campbell
Read More...

Sadly, on more days than not, the political battles in 2012 feels like the country is undergoing a rapid process of de-evolution. Read More...


Update: Study finds humans still evolving?
Read More...

Additional Reading: The Galileo Affair

Class Warfare against the Ruling Class?

On Faux News Sunday (September 18, 2011), Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI) spoke with Chris Wallace about President Obama's plan to reduce the budget deficit and fund the proposed American Jobs Act.

"Class warfare Chris may make for good politics but it makes for rotten economics. We don't need a system that divides people."
~ Rep. Paul Ryan

Considering the GOP has been waging a non-stop war against the right of workers to engage in collective bargaining, for this blogger, this Wisconsin Representative's comments framing the latest tax battle as class warfare sounded a bit like Rick Santorum lecturing Senator John McCain about the benefits of water boarding.

Who is Paul Ryan?
Representative Ryan is the quintessential, professional Beltway Baby.

How much money has he earned working in the public sector? Based on the Congressional Pay Table, since being elected to Congress in 1998 (at the age of 28), he has earned $2,078,100 (base salary). This figure does not include yearly travel expenses or the random $50 special interest group luncheon.

Prior to earning his own Congressional Franking Privileges, Ryan worked for Wisconsin Sen. Bob Kasten and Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback. 

From battling paper cuts as a Congressional mail room intern, to joining the staffs of two Senators, to eventually being elected to Congress himself, Representative Ryan has spent the majority of his adult life walking the corridors of Capital Hill (as well as collecting a government paycheck). So, when this Beltway Baby gives a supply side economics tax lecture about the Millionaire Club, please forgive this blogger for laughing.

Considering he's already banked over $2,000,000 as a public servant, taken advantage of 12 years of government sponsored health care, did not serve in Afghanistan or Iraq and has already qualified for the Congressional retirement package (not including Social Security), how on earth did this Washington Insider become the so-called Poster Child for the Tea Party Movement? 

All politicians sell SOAP. In the case of Representative Ryan, he is the SOAP. He is an actual product created by and for the Washington Beltway.

It's easy for a member of the GOP to go on Faux News. It's quite another to give an extended interview with someone like Rachael Maddox. As I've already written, there is no silver bullet for fixing this economy. Should the tax code be simplified? Yes. But with more than 12,000 lobbyists knocking on Congressional doors, I seriously doubt any reform package (which tackles tax loopholes and exemptions) will survive the Tsunami of special interest money.

Class Warfare? Please. The Koch Brothers have already spent more than $100,000,000 selling their Libertarian brand of corporate soap. Power is crack. Money buys crack. Tax reform without serious political reform still leaves a majority of Americans sitting on the sidelines. Confused? What political reforms? Read More...

REPOST: Can you name the first time in American history that the government cut taxes and decreased revenue as it marched off to war?

How many millionaires and billionaires served in Afghanistan or Iraq? How many of these same folks made money off these wars? Anyhow, the term Job Creators has a nicer ring to it than Campaign Contributors.



IF Ryan wants to talk about Class Warfare, bringing back compulsory military service (with a public service option for conscientious objectors) would be a great place to start the conversation.

During this latest debt ceiling debate, President Obama made a serious linguistic blunder. Instead of calling the expiration of Bush-era tax cuts - for the wealthiest Americans - the Buffett Rule, he should have named it the Two War Rule. In 2003, the Bush Administration projected the cost of military operations for Iraq between $50 billion to $60 billion dollars. Where was Ryan when the Congressional Budget Office was crunching those numbers for funding Dick's Halliburton War? Ryan voted for both wars and the Bush-era Tax cuts. 10 years & $1.3 trillion dollars later, this Congressman (now supported by the Tea Party) still refuses to pay the bills for Afghanistan & Iraq. Read Here & Here...

Sadly, even if the President had chosen a different package of words to sell his latest proposal, at the end of the day, Congressman Ryan would still have called it Class Warfare. And you know something...maybe he's right. Being born and raised inside the Washington Beltway gives a person a special interest perspective of this world. Read More...

Photos by Peter Rimar
Total Lobbying: What Lobbyists Want (and How They Try to Get It) 
(See all Political Lobbying Books)

Chinese poet sentenced to seven years in prison?
Read More...

Mao Calender on a Blue Hanger, Fenghuang, P.R.C. (March 2009).
Photo by Peter Rimar.

Tweet of the Week?

Every Sperm is Sacred?

Rick Santorum sweeps Missouri, Minnesota & Colorado?

Up to this point, this blogger has avoided writing anything of substance regarding this specific GOP hopeful. Why? To be honest, I've always considered the former Pennsylvania Senator a one-dimensional candidate.

Basically, his key political talking points are centered around three main social-conservative issues: abortion, same-sex marriage and birth control. On this last point, the candidate is on record as saying that states should have the right to ban all forms of birth control.

At a time when the 2012 election should be about jobs, jobs and jobs, this candidate continues to attract voters with a theocratic agenda regarding the role government in the private lives of its own citizens. Read More...

Limited government? Really? A woman who is raped should be denied the option of taking the morning after pill (a form of contraception)? A daughter, wife or mother must carry around her pain and shame for nine months to fulfill some religious, moral obligation to society? A zygote has more rights than a victim of rape or incest? Since when did an acorn dipped in water become a tree?


Morality? What morality?

And condoms, which have helped turn the tide against the human tragedy of the AIDS pandemic, should be outlawed? Believe it or not, banning condoms will not stop people from having sex, so why even go back down this rather dangerous public health road? The Vatican and the Catholic Church? Humanae Vitae?

Is it really 2012? Read More...

This whole political mythology that the Republican Party somehow holds a monopoly on so-called Family Values is completely absurd. Read More...

Update: In 2009, by it's own published estimates, Catholic Charities received 67% of its funding from "Government Revenue". Read More...

If a so-called religious organization receives more than 50% of its funding from the government, should it still be allowed to call itself a religious charity? When did a hospital become a church? Why is the government giving taxpayer money to religious institutions in the first place?

In Florida, Mitt Romney destroyed Newt Gingrich with $15,000,000 worth of negative TV and radio ads. No matter what this blogger thinks or writes about Rick Santorum, it's clear that Romney's Restore Our Future Death Star is already preparing to put down The Alliance to Restore the Republic rebellion in Arizona and beyond. While money "can't buy you love" (or votes), it sure helps when you're a Presidential hopeful battling all sides of the political Force.

Special Note to Dr. Ron Paul Supporters:
Speaking of liberty, Viagra is sold as an over-the-counter drug in China.

Public Bridegroom Hazing, Changsha, P.R.C. (May 2009).
Click on image to open in a new window.

"I don't think Newt Gingrich got into this race, originally, thinking he was going to be President. I think he was doing it for personal publicity. Ron Paul is a message candidate. He's just out there to get his Libertarian message out there. I think he's quite sure that he's not going to become the President of the United States. Mitt Romney is the only one that ever had a real chance once Pawlenty dropped out and Rick Perry imploded. He's the only one with a real chance to win this thing." 
~ Ron Reagan on MSNBC Live
February 6, 2012

Street Scene, Changsha, P.R.C. (February 2009)

Super Bowl XLVI?

During the pre-game show, NBC Sports ran a graphic on the political connection between the eventual winner of the Superbowl and the outcome of the last two Presidential Elections.

In 2004, the New England Patriots (AFC) defeated the Carolina Panthers (NFC) and President George W. Bush won reelection. In 2008, the New York Giants (NFC) defeated the New England Patriots (AFC) and then Senator Barrack Obama won the White House. Now that the Giants have defeated the Patriots in Superbowl XLVI, if Obama wins reelection, in four more years, this blogger predicts NBC Sports will dust off this rather absurd political connection. But then again, Rush Limbaugh did attend the big game as a special guest of Patriot's owner Robert Kraft.

Here's another prediction: It will be tough for Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New York City to host a ticker-tape parade for the Giants and delay a parade for Iraq Veterans. Indeed, if the country could find the money and the resources to fight two different wars, why not two different parades?

Waiting until military operations end in Afghanistan to salute the conclusion of America's involvement in Iraq is a mistake. First, by not acknowledging the differences between Afghanistan and Iraq, it sends the wrong message, at the wrong time, to the Iranian leadership. For the last ten years, Tehran has perceived itself as being encircled by U.S. Forces. Since 1979, no Administration (Republican or Democrat) has had the political will or courage to diplomatically engage the Iranians. Even during the Cold War, American leaders knew this country needed to interact with the Soviet Union. The global consequences for doing anything less were too high. Unlike North Korea, which Beijing keeps on a short leash, there is no economic, political or military counterbalance to the regime in Tehran. Libya is not Egypt, Syria is not Libya, Afghanistan is not Iraq, and Iran continues to be Iran.

Second, and perhaps more importantly, it delays the healing process for a nation that's been at war for over ten years. Once again, to hold a parade for the winners of a football game, and not the troops who served this country in the game of life is just plan wrong. It just doesn't pass the common sense test.