I was reading the stuff on my Facebook page today, and I saw a graphic with pictures of Pres. Reagan and Pres. Obama side by side. It made the comparison that one had raised the deficit during his term and had happy support in doing so, and the other had cut the deficit during his term and was compared to Hitler. The comment I read first located the reason for the unfairness depicted in the graphic as being rooted in bigotry.
Stop the bus. The deficit has been cut?????? Really?
Well, last time I checked, assholes, idiots, and creeps come in every color. They come from every culture. They come from throughout the entire human race.
I have also noticed that liars, lazy people, and malcontents can't get out of their own way, or anyone else's either.
So to anyone within earshot, I have these questions. First, when was the last time this country was able to reduce the federal deficit? Surely we have not just let it go unchecked since the mid-eighteenth century - ? Where would I go to find that simple information where I can see it without the paste of pontification dripping from every digit? Can I find it on the internet? Who do I trust these days for plain information? (Certainly not the NYTimes, or any other newspaper. Not sure there's a magazine out there either. They don't have the desire OR the sources for checking facts.)
Then, has someone claimed that this president has reduced our federal debt? How is that possible? And then, importantly, why would people choose to share crap like that? Did not one of my friends think about the facts behind the message? Were they really trying to stir up emotions with false notions? Did one of my friends start this, or are they again today a victim of the target-less crime of what I'll call 'witless social comment'. That's what happens when you take up some more or less innocent looking piece of information and pass it on, with or without your stamp of approval, comment, or embellishment, without even giving a thought to it's truthfulness, purpose, or origin. Or maybe the thought was there, just no action, no personal contact, to interchange of anything but electronic signals and pretty colors.
Then later on I read an article about a gold mine in Alaska. Well, it's not a gold mine. It's a tract of land that's been explored, analyzed, mapped, and considered for mining. There are of course in the story the opposing environmentalist factions who are almost as loud and often more costly than regulating entities like governments and local populations. What I had to chuckle over was that when a mining official (lamely, I must agree) asked his questioners where the jewelry-selling environmentalist leading the charge was getting their gold (in a veiled attempt to call out the regulations that also try to ensure that 'dirty gold' [from mines that do not go through the extensive process of mining, drilling, or other harvest of natural resources with the protections of regulation and care for the environment required in this country these days] doesn't reach consumers) the reply was that 98% of what was refined in American facilities, which was 60% of the total refined by that entity, WILL follow the regulations. When will the disclosure follow regulations? Where does the other 60 percent come from? Where is it refined? Where is it sold and marketed? Why would they want any mine on American soil, with the expense of all the regulations, red tape, supervision, licensing, environmental protection....when the cheaper product comes from 'dirty' companies on foreign soil where they never have to see the poverty on the streets, the spoiled landscape, and the waste?
I attended a petroleum industry luncheon last month. I listened to a speaker who talked about what I, and maybe you too, have been suspecting for some time now - that some of this stuff is hookah, and it's not the 'good' guys selling the stinkiest pile. Take a look at FrackNation if you get the chance. I promise you'll have a new thought or two.
So right now, as I should be SLEEPING, it doesn't matter if it's calling out bigotry or environmental irresponsibility - if it's not based on the truth, it's a red herring, a diversion, and a LIE.
Where do presidents come from? Where do representatives and senators come from? Where do CEO's and executive managers come from? If we want better leaders, we need to be a better society. Our leaders come from our SOCIETY. You and me, folks. From the places we meet, the places we live. The schools we take our kids to, the restaurants where we eat and the businesses where we get our first job. What a difference if we each did just this one thing for a while - to call out LIES and LIARS. To stand up to things that are unpleasant against our pride, to do the right thing, and to tell the TRUTH or shut up. If my friend had an abortion when she was in school, it's not a lie to keep that quiet, it's just none of anyone's business. If my friend told me that a doctor made a wrong diagnosis, administered some bad medicine, and she spent two days in the hospital when really she had an abortion and it didn't go well, that's a lie that effects the doctor who tried to help, me as a friend that is there to rely on, and my decisions to get good care in the future from someone who I now think is not good at what he does. Keep good secrets, tell no lies. Be reliable, trustworthy, and true to everyone. Be fair with liars, remembering that often their decision to deal is deceit will be it's own punishment if you step out of the way and let it. Be careful not to spread lies by being too lazy to check out facts for yourself.
Bed now. Hopefully later this will get an edit. Now is time for BED.
Stop the bus. The deficit has been cut?????? Really?
Well, last time I checked, assholes, idiots, and creeps come in every color. They come from every culture. They come from throughout the entire human race.
I have also noticed that liars, lazy people, and malcontents can't get out of their own way, or anyone else's either.
So to anyone within earshot, I have these questions. First, when was the last time this country was able to reduce the federal deficit? Surely we have not just let it go unchecked since the mid-eighteenth century - ? Where would I go to find that simple information where I can see it without the paste of pontification dripping from every digit? Can I find it on the internet? Who do I trust these days for plain information? (Certainly not the NYTimes, or any other newspaper. Not sure there's a magazine out there either. They don't have the desire OR the sources for checking facts.)
Then, has someone claimed that this president has reduced our federal debt? How is that possible? And then, importantly, why would people choose to share crap like that? Did not one of my friends think about the facts behind the message? Were they really trying to stir up emotions with false notions? Did one of my friends start this, or are they again today a victim of the target-less crime of what I'll call 'witless social comment'. That's what happens when you take up some more or less innocent looking piece of information and pass it on, with or without your stamp of approval, comment, or embellishment, without even giving a thought to it's truthfulness, purpose, or origin. Or maybe the thought was there, just no action, no personal contact, to interchange of anything but electronic signals and pretty colors.
Then later on I read an article about a gold mine in Alaska. Well, it's not a gold mine. It's a tract of land that's been explored, analyzed, mapped, and considered for mining. There are of course in the story the opposing environmentalist factions who are almost as loud and often more costly than regulating entities like governments and local populations. What I had to chuckle over was that when a mining official (lamely, I must agree) asked his questioners where the jewelry-selling environmentalist leading the charge was getting their gold (in a veiled attempt to call out the regulations that also try to ensure that 'dirty gold' [from mines that do not go through the extensive process of mining, drilling, or other harvest of natural resources with the protections of regulation and care for the environment required in this country these days] doesn't reach consumers) the reply was that 98% of what was refined in American facilities, which was 60% of the total refined by that entity, WILL follow the regulations. When will the disclosure follow regulations? Where does the other 60 percent come from? Where is it refined? Where is it sold and marketed? Why would they want any mine on American soil, with the expense of all the regulations, red tape, supervision, licensing, environmental protection....when the cheaper product comes from 'dirty' companies on foreign soil where they never have to see the poverty on the streets, the spoiled landscape, and the waste?
I attended a petroleum industry luncheon last month. I listened to a speaker who talked about what I, and maybe you too, have been suspecting for some time now - that some of this stuff is hookah, and it's not the 'good' guys selling the stinkiest pile. Take a look at FrackNation if you get the chance. I promise you'll have a new thought or two.
So right now, as I should be SLEEPING, it doesn't matter if it's calling out bigotry or environmental irresponsibility - if it's not based on the truth, it's a red herring, a diversion, and a LIE.
Where do presidents come from? Where do representatives and senators come from? Where do CEO's and executive managers come from? If we want better leaders, we need to be a better society. Our leaders come from our SOCIETY. You and me, folks. From the places we meet, the places we live. The schools we take our kids to, the restaurants where we eat and the businesses where we get our first job. What a difference if we each did just this one thing for a while - to call out LIES and LIARS. To stand up to things that are unpleasant against our pride, to do the right thing, and to tell the TRUTH or shut up. If my friend had an abortion when she was in school, it's not a lie to keep that quiet, it's just none of anyone's business. If my friend told me that a doctor made a wrong diagnosis, administered some bad medicine, and she spent two days in the hospital when really she had an abortion and it didn't go well, that's a lie that effects the doctor who tried to help, me as a friend that is there to rely on, and my decisions to get good care in the future from someone who I now think is not good at what he does. Keep good secrets, tell no lies. Be reliable, trustworthy, and true to everyone. Be fair with liars, remembering that often their decision to deal is deceit will be it's own punishment if you step out of the way and let it. Be careful not to spread lies by being too lazy to check out facts for yourself.
Bed now. Hopefully later this will get an edit. Now is time for BED.
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