Ring Ring

Ring Ring

Me: Hello
Phone (male voice): Hello, I'm calling on behalf of so-n-so poling agency and am would like to ask if you have a few moments for a survey regarding the 2012 presidential race?
M: Sure
P: Do you currently approve or disapprove of President Obama's performance as president?
M: Approve
P: Somewhat approve or strongly approve?
M: Somewhat
P: I'm going to list a number of issues, please tell me which one is most important to you.

(The list includes creating jobs, maintaining our presence in Iraq / Afghanistan, reducing the deficit, etc.

M: Jobs
P: Please tell me if you have heard or know of the following?
M: OK
P: The Democratic Party
M: That's a dumb question - NEXT question please
P: (names some candidate for the Republican party)
M: Yes
P: (names another Red candidate)
M: No
P: The Republican Party
M: That's a dumb question - NEXT question please
P: (names another Red candidate)
M: No

(more of the same)

P: If the election were held today, are you more likely to vote for Obama or X (republican candidate)?
M: I do not have enough information about the Republican candidate to answer that question.
P: I'm going to make a number of statements. Please tell me if each will make you more likely or less likely to vote for president Obama. Indicate somewhat or strongly for each.
M: OK
P: (ten statements ensue in which they are all negative in stating something that Obama said or did and the consequence was less than desired) (example: The unemployment rate was 5.?? when Obama took office and is now 10.??. Does this make you less likely or more likely to vote for Obama?) (somewhere in there, I made a statement that the next question had better relate to a positive image of Obama. Didn't work.)

P: If the election were held today, are you more likely to vote for Obama or X (republican candidate)? (yes, the same question a second time - this after negatively beating on Obama)
M: I do not have enough information about the Republican candidate to answer that question.

(You know where this is going, more of the same. A few questions about the Tea Party movement and the affect of the Occupy Wall Street movement is having ensued.)

A few personalized statements from Mighty:

1) President Obama had nothing to do with the stock market crash. It dump due to the housing bust.
2) President Obama had nothing to do with the housing dump. It faltered because it became unsustainable with unqualified housing loans and over inflation of home prices due to investment types (both individuals and industry) looking to make a fast buck. You know, I'll buy the house, clean the bathroom mirror with Windex and that is sure to add $1000 to the homes value. Then sell sell SELL. This type of price management can only sustain itself for so long before the resources of the buyer are over stripped.
3) President Obama had nothing to do with the higher unemployment rate. See No. 1 and 2. Crash of Fannie Mae.
4) The federal deficit is fueled in large part to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Wars started before Obama was president. To put a true bench mark on Obama's affect on the deficit, take away the cost of these wars.

For god's sake people, when you get a call of this nature, please try to see through the crap. Think for yourself. While I am not condoning Obama here, this call was clearly designed to put Obama in a negative light. EVERY candidate will have positives and negatives. Look to what you believe in. Practice compromise when selecting a candidate. Know that even your candidate will have outcomes that differ from paper to reality due to unforeseen circumstances and the weight of congress - i.e. the Democratic process.

There - Mighty has spoken!

Speaker Clips

The problem with audio presentations that are edited to include a series of clips by speakers to argue a point pro or con towards a position is that most often, only clips that support said argument are shown. That is, you may only hear half of a complete sentence by the speaker.

What is missing is the complete narrative that will usually change the meaning of the spoken segment.

For example - The statement "I hate Jews . . . " as a short segment greatly changes meaning and perspective when the complete narrative is heard, "I hate Jews who do not treat their fellow brother according to the traditions of Jewish society and the teachings of the Torah."

The Big Picture

President Barack Obama:

The enduring faith of over a billion people is so much bigger than the narrow hatred of a few.

HP's CEO

Today, Hewlett Packard replaced its eleven month old CEO with Meg Whitman in hopes that she will turn the company around.

Is HP's falling revenues a result of the former CEO's misguidance or are other factors at play?

Like the falling of bookstore giant Borders (not to mention many other smaller bookstores) to the rise of e-book readers, Borders really could do nothing to stem the tide that came.

Now, as smartphones and tablets surge into popularity, is this just another case of a shift in consumer purchasing that will inevitably result in fewer laptop and desktop computers being sold? Can any CEO of HP stem this sort of tide?

Experts in Sleep

Just what exactly is a sleep expert?

Mattress Firm advertises that a sleep expert will help you in selecting the right mattress for you by taking you through a unique comfort test.

Just what is this ?? Lay here. How does that feel? Not good? Try this one.

I'm sure they know about back issues and sleep problems, but really, in the end, it's all about personal preference when you lay on the bed.

The store sales person is probably trained in house to know which brand's are softer, firmer, or other such features of the beds but my guess is that they are not any more knowledgeable about more problematic sleep issues.

Just my two cents mind you. By the way, I sleep on a futon if your interested.

The Gestalt Prayer

I do my thing, and you do your thing.

I am not in this world to live up to your expectations

And you are not in this world to live up to mine.

You are you, and I am I,

And if by chance, we find each other, it's beautiful.

If not, it can't be helped.

(The Gestalt Prayer, Frederick S. Perls, M.D., Ph.D.)

Happy vs. Unhappy Men

Q: What's the most important factor distinguishing happy men from unhapy men?

A: Social attachment is a key factor in health, adjustment, and overall well-being, researchers have found. But it's not the number of friends so much as the quality of those friendships. Men often have casual ties with other guys, but not deep ones. To be happier, try reconnecting with buds from school, the service, or another special time.

(Special Father's Day Edition: Health Quiz, Parade, pp.14-6)

Musical Diversion

The Band Perry - If I Die Young
*******

If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a, bed of roses
Sink me in the river, at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song

If i die young bury me in satin
lay me down on a bed on a bed of roses
sink me in the river at dawn
send me away with the words of a love song
Uh oh, uh oh
Lord make me a rainbow, I'll shine down on my mother
She'll know I'm safe with you when she stands under my colors, oh and
Life ain't always what you think it ought to be, no
Ain't even grey, but she buries her baby

The sharp knife of a short life, well
I've had, just enough time

And I'll be wearing white when i come into your kingdom
im as green as the ring on my little cold finger,
I've never known the lovin of a man
But it sure felt nice when he was holdin' my hand
there's a boy here in town says that he'll love me forever
Whoever thought forever could be severed by
The sharp knife of a short life well I've had just enough time

If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a, bed of roses
Sink me in the river, at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song

The sharp knife of a short life well I've had just enough time

So put on your best boys and I'll wear my pearls
what I never did is done a penny for my thoughts oh no
I'll sell em' for a dollar they worth so much more after I'm a goner
and maybe then you'll hear the words
I've been singing funny when you're dead how people start listen'

If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a, bed of roses
Sink me in the river, at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song

Uh oh (uh, oh)
The ballad of a dove (uh, oh)
Go with peace and love
Gather up your tears, keep 'em in your pocket
Save them for a time when you're really gonna need 'em, oh
The sharp knife of a short life, well
I've had just enough time
So put on your best boys
And I'll wear my pearls

So put on your best boys, and I'll wear my pearls

Clutter Getting to Me

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The "junk room" is an accepted, even honorable, convention in our society - like the fruit cellar, the guest room, or the recreation room. Are you surrendering a full quarter, a fifth, or even a tenth of your hard-won home space to an idle collection of clutter? The true name of your junk room or area is "The Indecision Room."
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(Clutters Last Stand: T=It's Time to de-Junk Your Life!, Don Aslett, Adams Media, p.58)

Public Domain

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Fires where a catalytic invention in human evolution. Not only did they allow us the physiological benefits or cooked food, but hey also brought us together in a shared reliance on common resources, laying the foundation for cooperative social structures. Whenever I sit before a fire, I imagine what our earliest ancestors must have felt as the heat drew them close, providing refuge from the threats of the night in those times before man was the conqueror of all he saw.
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I found myself wondering: what does it say about our world that the most basic of human comforts -- a park, a fire, a place to sit, a view of the lake -- are assumed by default to be inaccessible to the average person, or accessible only under the constraints of a special permit or designation? To be, in a word, private?
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The schema of capitalism -- where the pursuit of private profits is sanctified -- has turned Americans shamefacedly away from the public life that is the birthright of all citizens in a democracy.
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(In Defense of the Public, pp.30-1, In These Times - Dec. 2010)