There are so many things going on at the same time today, and so much media overload that deciding what to post about can be challenging, daunting, even paralyzing.
So, to help alleviate the logjam of stuff that passes in front of my eyes and ears, I am going to post a collection of things that have grabbed my attention, but I just didn't have the time or inclination to make a complete blog post about them.
With that in mind, first up is a couple of charts.
The first chart shows the number of attacks on US diplomatic targets worldwide. Republicans like to suggest that Obama is a total loser and is not doing enough to protect US diplomatic interests around the globe. They have been harping on Benghazi for months, desperately hoping something incriminating will turn up. It hasn't. But that hasn't stopped the GOP from endlessly harping and LYING about Benghazi. Indeed, I have been watching politics for decades, and I have never seen such a level of mendacity as we have seen from the GOP under Obama.
As you can see from the chart, we seem to be attacked far more frequently under Republican administrations than Democratic ones. Fascinating. The latest Bush had fairly low figures, but that 9/11 attack was pretty nasty, wasn't it?
(You may need to click on the charts and pictures to see them in detail)
The second chart shows how well the S&P stock index has been performing under all Presidents going back to Hoover. The "conventional wisdom" is that the GOP is better for the economy than the Democrats, but as often happens, the conventional wisdom is incorrect. The US economy performs far better under Democrats, but that doesn't stop the GOP from lying about it.
Just to remind everyone that the Republicans didn't used to be so insane, below is a look at a condensed version of the 1956 Republican Party platform. I'm sure that the Tea Partiers would be simply aghast if today's GOP tried to emulate something like this. This data shows how deeply the GOP has sunk in recent years. Pretty sad, isn't it?
Those who call themselves "pro-life" seem to only care about unborn children. Once the child is born, they want to cut off food stamps, cut off welfare, and suddenly adopt a survival of the fittest attitude. Yes, today's "Christians" are horribly hypocritical.
The GOP rails against Obama for not creating more jobs, but they stand in the way of any program that might improve the job outlook.
"Chickenhawk" is the term used to describe someone who advocates for war or aggression, yet when they had a chance to serve this nation in the military, they looked for any way out. They are all for war, as long as someone else, and someone else's kids, fight it.
The Founding Fathers were HUGE supporters of hemp, even almost passing a law REQUIRING people to grow it. It seems that large special interests, primarily the forestry industry, conspired to get the government to outlaw hemp cultivation in the mid-20th century. Now, the US imports hemp from all over the world, but it is still illegal to grow it here in America. How horribly short-sighted, but if looked at through the lens of Congress being in the pocket of big business, it makes sense. Depressing sense.
I love Neil DeGrasse Tyson. I'll bet he's an atheist like I am. I wish he could elevate his visibility somewhat to become a real champion of science, like Carl Sagan back in the '60's and '70's. We need more scientists to speak up for science and push back against the Bible-thumping creationists.
Pretty much whenever a big (or small) change is proposed in the status quo, some sectors of society will predict doom and gloom if the change is adopted. Can you say "conservatives"? The list below is an incomplete look at the specious arguments advanced when a change of some kind was proposed. Without fail, the arguments have been wrong.
Libertarians are very conflicted people. They want the government off their backs and everything privatized. And the Tea Partiers bemoan encroaching "socialism" although it's obvious they don't even understand what socialism is. For the common good, we all contribute to a pool of money that is used to fund things for the common good, like police and firefighters. And yet, we see some libertarians - Rand Paul, are you listening? - that want government to dictate what women can do with their own reproductive capabilities. Horrible hypocrites.
And now a couple of 'toons. I think they pretty much speak for themselves.
This next one strikes close to home. Texas is such an anti-regulations state. This kind of thing is what will happen when you truly let bidniss do whatever it wants. Businesses do not tend to do what is best for their communities, they do what is best for their bottom lines. The two interests are in conflict, and unfortunately we need regulations to keep things in relative check. Most businesses WANT some kind of regulations, but idiotic states like Texas seem to think that no regulations are the best regulations.
This is a good one. Today's GOP has been working so hard to sabotage anything Obama wants to do, they are acting like traitors. Mike Lukovich likens them to terrorists, and the charge has a ring of truth to it. The GOP doesn't care who gets hurt, as long as their interests are advanced.
And, hey, all you liberals out there, find out when your House Rep or Senator is having a Town Hall meeting during this current August recess, and go and give them an earfull. For too long now, only Tea Partiers or other right-wing haters have been being heard. Democrats do not stand up enough for what they believe.
Unfortunately for me, my House Rep, Ted Poe, does not have a single Town Hall planned. Neither does one of my Senators, John Cornyn. Ted Cruz, the other recently-elected Senator, has only one scheduled so far, in Dallas, but he has plenty of fundraisers on his schedule. If you don't get out and tell them what you want, how do you expect them to even try to give it to you?
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Finally, talk about close to home. Right next door to my house is a relatively large complex of single-story buildings that were sold earlier this year. They have remained vacant. This week, this artwork appeared on one of the walls of one of the buildings. Word has it the new owner is going to create art studios and art spaces in the four-building complex. We could not be happier!!
Get out there and shape your world. If you don't, someone else will.
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