Flip-Flop:
v.
1. To change or shift policies or positions based solely upon political expediency rather than a genuine change of heart.
n.
1. A change or shift in policy or position based solely upon political expediency rather than a genuine change of heart.
Feb. 2009
Now he wants 5 more years.
Aug. 2009 on raising taxes during a recession. Talking with Chuck Todd, no less.
Instead of pro-growth tax reform, he wants to hike marginal rates.
July 2008 on the national debt.
Over $6 trillion in debt in one Obama term.
If Bush was unpatriotic, what do you call this?
Let's be serious here.
Were not talking about things you changed your mind on in your teens.
We're talking about seasoned adult politicians.
The commercials write themselves.
They say if you're not part of the solution...
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Iran.
With all the naval and aerial exercises and sabre-rattling coming out of Iran, tensions have been mounting in the Persian Gulf region.
Tehran also apparently seems intent on building nuclear facilities buried deep in nearly-inaccessible mountainous regions.
Pressure from the West, in an expected exclusion from SWIFT, which would ban more than 40 Iranian banks and institutions from the clearinghouse, signifies punitive sanctions with some teeth. Mounting sanctions, including sanctions against Iran's central bank, have had serious effects upon the Iranian currency and economy. Inflation and the price of goods has risen. This means it is affecting real people.
I find it a silly notion to believe that a nuclear-armed Iran (they deny ambitions for nukes, citing a need for energy) poses an existential threat to the United States.
Whether or not it poses an existential threat to the state of Israel (which would be a much more logical argument if you wanted to have it) is an entirely different story. Patriot missile batteries exist, but they are imperfect. It's much akin to hitting a bullet with another bullet.
What is most important here is the psychology of those calling the shots in Tehran.
For one, I don't buy the "nuclear energy" bit for one second.
They want nukes like most everybody else.
Are they a suicidal theocracy?
Can they be reasoned with, or deterred through the concept of mutually assured destruction (M.A.D.)?
The fate of Israel is one point to consider here.
What would another result of a nuclear Iran be?
One possibility is a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, with countries like Turkey, Saudi Arabia, or even Egypt entering the fray.
So, as you can see, this is much larger than just Iran and Israel. This has ramifications for the stability of the entire region.
For these reasons, I support efforts to derail Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
Sabotaging their centrifuges with Stuxnet was a good idea.
Assassinating top Iranian nuclear scientists? Sure.
One missed opportunity was not supporting the Green Revolution in Iran that took place in 2009.
Obama whiffed on that one. It was a golden opportunity.
In an ideal world, there would be some way to convince Moscow and Beijing to twist some arms in Tehran to curb their nuclear ambitions.
They couldn't care less about the safety of Israel, but what about the stability of the region and the world in general?
If sanctions and diplomacy aren't enough, it seems as if nothing good will come from this situation.
What happens when and if Israel attacks?
That's the million-dollar question.
Tehran also apparently seems intent on building nuclear facilities buried deep in nearly-inaccessible mountainous regions.
Pressure from the West, in an expected exclusion from SWIFT, which would ban more than 40 Iranian banks and institutions from the clearinghouse, signifies punitive sanctions with some teeth. Mounting sanctions, including sanctions against Iran's central bank, have had serious effects upon the Iranian currency and economy. Inflation and the price of goods has risen. This means it is affecting real people.
I find it a silly notion to believe that a nuclear-armed Iran (they deny ambitions for nukes, citing a need for energy) poses an existential threat to the United States.
Whether or not it poses an existential threat to the state of Israel (which would be a much more logical argument if you wanted to have it) is an entirely different story. Patriot missile batteries exist, but they are imperfect. It's much akin to hitting a bullet with another bullet.
What is most important here is the psychology of those calling the shots in Tehran.
For one, I don't buy the "nuclear energy" bit for one second.
They want nukes like most everybody else.
Are they a suicidal theocracy?
Can they be reasoned with, or deterred through the concept of mutually assured destruction (M.A.D.)?
The fate of Israel is one point to consider here.
What would another result of a nuclear Iran be?
One possibility is a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, with countries like Turkey, Saudi Arabia, or even Egypt entering the fray.
So, as you can see, this is much larger than just Iran and Israel. This has ramifications for the stability of the entire region.
For these reasons, I support efforts to derail Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
Sabotaging their centrifuges with Stuxnet was a good idea.
Assassinating top Iranian nuclear scientists? Sure.
One missed opportunity was not supporting the Green Revolution in Iran that took place in 2009.
Obama whiffed on that one. It was a golden opportunity.
In an ideal world, there would be some way to convince Moscow and Beijing to twist some arms in Tehran to curb their nuclear ambitions.
They couldn't care less about the safety of Israel, but what about the stability of the region and the world in general?
If sanctions and diplomacy aren't enough, it seems as if nothing good will come from this situation.
What happens when and if Israel attacks?
That's the million-dollar question.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
What am I looking for?
What am I looking for in a girlfriend and (if things go well a) potential wife?
First off, you must have a sense of humor.
If you don't have a sense of humor, it's never going to work out.
Anyone who knows me knows this much.
We can be goofy together.
Second, a ya gotta be purdy.
Looks aren't everything, but let's be honest: they do count.
I like to believe that I have good taste.
Bahaha.
Third, we must share the same faith.
It's no fun going to church by yourself.
Fourth, you must know how to cook.
I'm not a chauvinist, but it's a matter of necessity.
Why?
Because I surely can't cook.
Somebody's gotta be able to hold that fort down.
Fifth, you must be able to tolerate my nerdy side.
I don't game much anymore, but I don't need a smack upside the head every time I feel like playing some Smash Brothers with my friends.
Sixth, I don't care if you are black, white, yellow, brown, or purple.
I'm an equal-opportunity romantic.
I'm colorblind.
And if you happen not to be black, and your parents happen to have a problem with me, you need to come equipped with a spine. If you don't have one already, you'll never grow one. Why bother?
Seventh, I hope you enjoy watching sports.
If you hate sports, we might have a problem.
Lastly, you must be supportive of me and my professional/business endeavors, whatever those happen to be at the time.
I am an easy man to please, and I do not ask for much.
Just support and a little love.
Honest.
First off, you must have a sense of humor.
If you don't have a sense of humor, it's never going to work out.
Anyone who knows me knows this much.
We can be goofy together.
Second, a ya gotta be purdy.
Looks aren't everything, but let's be honest: they do count.
I like to believe that I have good taste.
Bahaha.
Third, we must share the same faith.
It's no fun going to church by yourself.
Fourth, you must know how to cook.
I'm not a chauvinist, but it's a matter of necessity.
Why?
Because I surely can't cook.
Somebody's gotta be able to hold that fort down.
Fifth, you must be able to tolerate my nerdy side.
I don't game much anymore, but I don't need a smack upside the head every time I feel like playing some Smash Brothers with my friends.
Sixth, I don't care if you are black, white, yellow, brown, or purple.
I'm an equal-opportunity romantic.
I'm colorblind.
And if you happen not to be black, and your parents happen to have a problem with me, you need to come equipped with a spine. If you don't have one already, you'll never grow one. Why bother?
Seventh, I hope you enjoy watching sports.
If you hate sports, we might have a problem.
Lastly, you must be supportive of me and my professional/business endeavors, whatever those happen to be at the time.
I am an easy man to please, and I do not ask for much.
Just support and a little love.
Honest.
Monday, February 13, 2012
It wasn't really a final word...
...but maybe this will be.
We need a constitutional amendment which guarantees certain things:
1) Under no circumstances shall anyone be mandated to accept any kind of cybernetic chip implant or EES patch. Also, we need extremely harsh penalties for those who would be tempted to administer these technologies upon the unknowing and unwilling. The threat of life in prison ought to be enough to deter most.
2) Any and all chips or patches should have no connection to commerce or banking. In other words, no connection to money exchanging "hands" whatsoever.
3) Paper and coin money must always be accepted at brick-and-mortar stores as legal tender for all transactions. It should in no way be "phased out". At least no more than it already has. That’s a grab for control.
Isn't paying for your coffee with your phone far and spooky enough?
What do you think?
This is all assuming that technologies like these are not banned outright.
We need a constitutional amendment which guarantees certain things:
1) Under no circumstances shall anyone be mandated to accept any kind of cybernetic chip implant or EES patch. Also, we need extremely harsh penalties for those who would be tempted to administer these technologies upon the unknowing and unwilling. The threat of life in prison ought to be enough to deter most.
2) Any and all chips or patches should have no connection to commerce or banking. In other words, no connection to money exchanging "hands" whatsoever.
3) Paper and coin money must always be accepted at brick-and-mortar stores as legal tender for all transactions. It should in no way be "phased out". At least no more than it already has. That’s a grab for control.
Isn't paying for your coffee with your phone far and spooky enough?
What do you think?
This is all assuming that technologies like these are not banned outright.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
"You know what grinds my gears?"
Being dismissed as loony in a standard, DSM knee-jerk reaction.
It also doesn't help when you can't prove to the doctor that you're not as nuts as he suspects. (I'll source Wikipedia if they've got it right.)
What would you say if I walked into your office with no credible way of proving my claims, except for "cherry-picked" articles from some newspapers?
Plausible deniability, unfortunately, keeps me with one foot in society and one foot in the loony bin. One false move and the people around me may move to have me put away somewhere, which is pretty messed up.
Which is why the "crazy" card has been played on me the whole time, and used to its fullest advantage.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
A final word...
on chips.
Not Doritos.
Microchips.
What exactly is the endgame here?
Knowing what we know about these cybernetic implants, we understand that they can theoretically be used to help a doctor arrive at a correct psychiatric diagnosis. That is, if the person being subjected to the implant is unaware of its presence.
The most accurate readings you would receive from something like this would take place in the time slot between implantation and discovery of the implant's existence by the test subject.
By the way, in my case, a period of 6 or more months is plenty to gather someone's "baseline."
Why don't you ask to see those records (I'm kidding, it's none of your business anyway. But it would prove my point.)?
Those would be the most accurate results available.
After the "discovery," the results are totally tainted.
Except for those moments in which you forget it's there, which happens only minutes at a time.
So, since we know that these things only work properly when they are unbeknownst to the implantee, the only plausible uses are upon people who do not have the wherewithal to understand what is happening to them. In other words, people who can be taken advantage of.
Let's say we have a child with a severe form of Autism, and their parents worry about them wandering.
This implant company goads their parents into offering their child up for this type of implantation.
While the child is sleeping, the implant is inserted.
Sure, I'm sure much could be gleaned from studying that child and others like him.
Then what?
Eventually, data would have been mined from every nook and cranny about Autism.
What's the plan then? Would they keep creating and inventing "patients" to implant, and hire one person for every chipped person to "watch" over them to create jobs? They tout job creation as an excuse for this, you know.
Wouldn't there be much less invasive ways of monitoring your special needs child?
I say "invasive" because you need a brain surgeon to fix the problem of having 0 privacy whatsoever.
Would you be willing to be hooked up to a machine for an "accurate diagnosis" only to have brain surgery later?
Probably not.
Traditional methods still work.
Even with an Autistic wanderer, don't they have simple GPS units available which could be utilized in the incidence of a disappearance?
So, just who would be the "target" of these new implants?
I'm struggling to come up with answers for this.
Probably because there are no legitimate "targets."
Unless you want to release psychopaths from prison and monitor them with some kind of pre-crime division, or something crazy like that. (Please don't. Keep them behind bars.)
This isn't about creating jobs for the American people, it's about corporations convincing you that you somehow need to purchase their product. It's about making money and the omnipresent possibility of serial abuse of a powerful product.
What if a hostile foreign power got its hands on this and implanted our president or one of our high-ranking cabinet members? We have absolutely no idea what kind of havoc could be wreaked if something like that were to ever happen. I hope it doesn't ever, but stranger things have happened.
It's a flawed product peddled on a flawed premise.
They're trying to sell something that doesn't even work properly when used legally, only illicitly.
There is no market for this.
Tell them to peddle their snake oil elsewhere.
Not Doritos.
Microchips.
What exactly is the endgame here?
Knowing what we know about these cybernetic implants, we understand that they can theoretically be used to help a doctor arrive at a correct psychiatric diagnosis. That is, if the person being subjected to the implant is unaware of its presence.
The most accurate readings you would receive from something like this would take place in the time slot between implantation and discovery of the implant's existence by the test subject.
By the way, in my case, a period of 6 or more months is plenty to gather someone's "baseline."
Why don't you ask to see those records (I'm kidding, it's none of your business anyway. But it would prove my point.)?
Those would be the most accurate results available.
After the "discovery," the results are totally tainted.
Except for those moments in which you forget it's there, which happens only minutes at a time.
So, since we know that these things only work properly when they are unbeknownst to the implantee, the only plausible uses are upon people who do not have the wherewithal to understand what is happening to them. In other words, people who can be taken advantage of.
Let's say we have a child with a severe form of Autism, and their parents worry about them wandering.
This implant company goads their parents into offering their child up for this type of implantation.
While the child is sleeping, the implant is inserted.
Sure, I'm sure much could be gleaned from studying that child and others like him.
Then what?
Eventually, data would have been mined from every nook and cranny about Autism.
What's the plan then? Would they keep creating and inventing "patients" to implant, and hire one person for every chipped person to "watch" over them to create jobs? They tout job creation as an excuse for this, you know.
Wouldn't there be much less invasive ways of monitoring your special needs child?
I say "invasive" because you need a brain surgeon to fix the problem of having 0 privacy whatsoever.
Would you be willing to be hooked up to a machine for an "accurate diagnosis" only to have brain surgery later?
Probably not.
Traditional methods still work.
Even with an Autistic wanderer, don't they have simple GPS units available which could be utilized in the incidence of a disappearance?
So, just who would be the "target" of these new implants?
I'm struggling to come up with answers for this.
Probably because there are no legitimate "targets."
Unless you want to release psychopaths from prison and monitor them with some kind of pre-crime division, or something crazy like that. (Please don't. Keep them behind bars.)
This isn't about creating jobs for the American people, it's about corporations convincing you that you somehow need to purchase their product. It's about making money and the omnipresent possibility of serial abuse of a powerful product.
What if a hostile foreign power got its hands on this and implanted our president or one of our high-ranking cabinet members? We have absolutely no idea what kind of havoc could be wreaked if something like that were to ever happen. I hope it doesn't ever, but stranger things have happened.
It's a flawed product peddled on a flawed premise.
They're trying to sell something that doesn't even work properly when used legally, only illicitly.
There is no market for this.
Tell them to peddle their snake oil elsewhere.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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