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]
Fecal Cliff Crisis Put Off One More Day
After strenuous negotiations with the lower intestines, the Body finally passed a continuing “Moist Driftwood” resolution that allowed for the continued order and function of its digestive system for one more day. Thus, the daily “Fecal Cliff” crisis has been pushed back for another 24 hours.
“It’s frustrating to have to go through this every day,” said Bill Schmalfeldt’s brain, nominal chief executive and operating officer of the Body.… [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]
The rejection of Westboro Baptist Church: A bi-partisan affair
The Patriot Guard Riders form a shield to protect grieving families from it. The hacker group “Anonymous” targets it. And now, a new White House petition seeks to designate it as a hate group.
Westboro Baptist Church: A hate group (as previously designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League) on a mission, with the tax-exempt status of a religious organization as its reward.… [Read more]
Cheers To 2012!
With Christmas behind us and a new year about to begin, we are drawn to reflect on the events of the year just passed. Overwhelmingly, we have been accosted with news of more tragedies than we should have to endure, and some days it has been difficult to find the bright spots in it all. I wanted to wrap up the year here with a list to remind us that 2012 was more than just a year of rapidly escalating protests, political upheaval, and tragic gun violence.… [Read more]
Holiday Cheer for Boehner, Jeers for Us
Air Force One has landed; President Obama cut short his family vacation. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid addressed the nation and legislators…of one party. Yes, it’s still holiday time in the nation’s capital as it is elsewhere so celebrations and relaxation are expected. But when you have a nation to run, and the taxpayers business to manage, it behooves you to drag your tired arse back to work to do the job the citizens elected you to do.… [Read more]
Iraq and Syria: You Can’t Address One Without the Other
As much as I cringe whenever I hear someone spout that “all politics is local,” this clichéd idiom often rings true. Microanalyses of regional and societal happenings are indispensable. Yet this advice sometimes wrongly plays the role of replacement to macroanalyses rather than complement. While in-depth reports on specific countries or regions are important, ignoring regional context can often be disastrous, especially in areas, like the Middle East, where ethnic, religious, ideological, and economic identities readily cross state borders.… [Read more]
Ron Paul’s Policy on Drugs
Retiring Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) has made his views widely known. Among his most-discussed policy ideas are his views on the nation’s ‘War on Drugs’. Paul’s policy on drugs became a topic of discussion during a recent argument. Quite predictability, Portugal’s success in decriminalizing drugs was claimed as the ultimate proof that Ron Paul’s policy will work in the U.S.… [Read more]
Why Democracy in the Middle East Could Be Doomed
Democracy, loosely defined as for the people by the people, has long been a fantasy of developed countries for the Middle-East and North Africa. Though it would be heart-warming to think that this goal is purely altruistic, this is not the case. There are economic motives to consider amongst many other variables which contribute to the pressing desire to spread democracy.… [Read more]
Best Wishes to All!
It’s holiday season. For those among us who don’t celebrate Christmas and/or hold any particular religious beliefs, you’re not forgotten. We thought we’d keep things light by posting this clip from the classic comedy, Seinfeld — and we keep in mind that in this country, we are all free to worship – or not – whomever and whatever we choose this or any other time of the year.… [Read more]
Our Happy Thoughts Jar
Fitting the season…It’s just an old papier-mâché salt water taffy bank from Atlantic City that now sits on a shelf with a small pad of pink Post-It® notes.
This is an experiment in positive thinking, something at which I am rather inexperienced.For years, being plagued by negative thoughts, general anxiety and thoughts of revenge and potential eternal damnation for others — something in which the Atheist in me doesn’t believe — I decided it was time to try another tack.… [Read more]
From the Mouths of Babes: Free Speech and Technology in Schools
Mark Twain, sage of the 19th century Mississippi that inspired his Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, once suggested that when he was a teenager, his own father was so irredeemably stupid that the old man’s mere presence was unbearable ….and how amazing it was that the dumb bastard relic had got a lot smarter by the time Twain passed his 21st birthday.… [Read more]