Many of us are thrilled to see 2012 leave but, that doesn’t mean that 2012 didn’t provide us with some interesting moments. As is typical of this time of year, where being reflective. From the funny to the absurd, the happy moments to the sad, and the moments in between that made us scratch our heads or shake our heads in shame, 2012 will be one for the history books.… [Read more]
Archives for December 2012
Get Well Hillary!
I suppose I could have sent a card to Presbyterian Hospital sending my good wishes for a speedy recovery, but I figured it would get buried in a mountain of similar greetings, so I’ve put it up here on Borderless News and Views to make sure you will see it!
We need you now, and we’re going to need you even more in 2016 — So please do your very best to get well, with good wishes from all your friends and supporters at Borderless News and Views and Barbara Broido (humble cartoonist).… [Read more]
Congressional Raises and Budget Games
Attached here is the “EXECUTIVE ORDER: ADJUSTMENTS OF CERTAIN RATES OF PAY” signed by President Obama on Friday. The Order ends the 2010 federal employees’ pay freeze, at which time the White House estimated that a salary freeze would save $2 billion for the remainder of fiscal year 2011 and approximately $28 billion over the next five years.… [Read more]
Return of the Swift Boats?
In 2004, Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry was narrowly defeated by incumbent George W. Bush. One of the factors in Kerry’s defeat was, no doubt, a so-called “527 Group” founded by John O’Neill: Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
The group, eventually known as Swift Vets and POWs for Truth, was disbanded in 2008, but not before its claims that John Kerry misrepresented his military service record were roundly debunked – and not before the term, “swiftboating,” came to represent smearing a political candidate with a specific ‘Big Lie’ while referring to it as truth.… [Read more]
Listen to the People
This week’s Say it in Song pick is by singing diva Martha Wash. Her lively song, “Listen to the People,” has a powerful message that should resonate in today’s often contentious environment.
Listen to the people… listen to them crying out
Everybody listen to the sounds of a better world
Listen to the children
Can you hear them calling out?… [Read more]
Ask Mrs. Vera: Dealing with the Fiscal Cliff
Question: Dear Mrs. Vera, How would you suggest the Congress deal with what they call the Fiscal Cliff?
Answer: Dear Cliff,
Try not to buy into the media hype regarding the fiscal cliff. I for one am completely unworried at the prospect of hurtling off THAT particular ledge. Most Americans’ finances these days are so drained and depleted that the gravity of the situation will barely affect them.… [Read more]
Mediation Averts East Coast Dock Strike
The Federal Mediation and Reconciliation Service announced today that a feared East Coast strike has been averted for the near term. The International Brotherhood of Longshoremen, representing dock workers, and port shippers have agreed to a 30-day extension of talks over remaining differences between workers and their bosses. Mediators expressed confidence that a lasting labor accord will be reached shortly.… [Read more]
What does violence against women have in common with dairy products?
Take a guess. If you guessed congressional inaction then you guessed correctly. The common denominator for all of the issues is obstruction in the matter of doing something about them. In April 2012 the Violence Against Women Act was up for renewal but it was vehemently opposed by conservative Republicans who objected to extending the Act’s protections to same-sex couples.… [Read more]
So This Is Goodbye
“Jesus died for somebody’s sins, but not mine.”
-Patti Smith
Well, the world didn’t end after all. We woke up the morning after the 21st to find that the dust had settled and it was just another day. Life does go on, and aside from the exciting, exasperating highs and lows of political conflicts, social struggles and apocalyptic tall tales, life is mostly pretty boring.… [Read more]
Thelma and Louise (a.k.a., Boehner and McConnell)
“Don’t stop, keep on going!”
“What do ya mean?”
“Go!”
“You sure?
“Yeah.”
These are the last words of Thelma and Louise in the 1991 movie “Thelma and Louise” as they drove off a cliff rather than being caught by the police. The leaders of the GOP in the US Congress both Rep. John Boehner and Senator Mitch McConnell have the Tea Party Republicans breathing down their necks just like the cop in the movie, and Boehner and McConnell have no way out except to keep on going off the fiscal cliff.… [Read more]