Scotts 2 Cents

Check out this video, good luck.

Human Perception and Attentiveness

Humans are interesting.  Most of them.

A technicality on a complicated bill vote is one thing and nearly every politician has voted on a bill with something in it that will come back to haunt them and sound bad when taken out of context.  But some of the lies and mis-information being put forth by the Barack Obama campaign and scary.  Not only are they signficant lies they have some significantly fundamental problems as well.  Can you really vote for this guy?

TERRY ANDERSON, A  BLACK LOS ANGELES TALK RADIO HOST,   WENT DOWN A LIST OF THINGS SENATOR OBAMA HAS SAID THAT  AREN’T   EXACTLY CORRECT.   

Obama’s Not  Exactlys:

1.) Selma March Got Me Born -  NOT EXACTLY, your parents felt safe enough to have you in 1961 - Selma had no  effect on your birth, as Selma was in 1965. (Google’Obama Selma ‘ for his full  March 4, 2007 speech and articles about its various untruths.)

2.) Father Was A Goat Herder -  NOT EXACTLY, he was a privileged, well educated youth, who went on to work with  the Kenyan Government.

3.) Father Was A Proud Freedom Fighter -  NOT EXACTLY, he was part of one of the most corrupt and violent governments  Kenya has ever had.

4.) My Family Has Strong Ties To African  Freedom - NOT EXACTLY, your cousin Raila Odinga has created mass  violence in attempting to overturn a legitimate election in 2007, in Kenya . It  is the first widespread violence in decades. The current government is  pro-American but Odinga wants to overthrow it and establish Muslim Sharia law.  Your half-brother, Abongo Obama, is Odinga’s follower. You interrupted your New  Hampshire campaigning to speak to Odinga on the phone. Check out the following  link for verification of that….and for more.

Obama’s cousin Odinga in Kenya ran for  president and tried to get Sharia muslim law in place there. When Odinga lost  the elections, his followers have burned Christians’ homes and then burned men,  women and children alive in a Christian church where they took shelter.. Obama  SUPPORTED his cousin before the election process here started. Google Obama and  Odinga and see what you get. No one wants to know the truth.

5.) My  Grandmother Has Always Been A Christian -  NOT EXACTLY, she does her daily Salat prayers at 5am according to her own  interviews. Not to mention, Christianity wouldn’t allow her to have been one of  14 wives to 1 man.

6.) My Name is African Swahili -  NOT EXACTLY, your name is Arabic and ‘Baraka’ (from which Barack came) means  ‘blessed’ in that language. Hussein is also Arabic and so is Obama.

Barack  Hussein Obama is not half black. If elected, he would be the first Arab-American  President, not the first black President. Barack Hussein Obama is 50% Caucasian from his mother’s side and 43.75% Arabic  and 6.25% African Negro from his father’s side. While Barack Hussein Obama’s  father was from Kenya , his father’s family was mainly Arabs.. Barack Hussein  Obama’s father was only 12.5% African Negro and 87.5% Arab (his father’s birth  certificate even states he’s Arab, not African Negro). 

7.) I Never Practiced Islam -  NOT EXACTLY, you practiced it daily at school, where you were registered as a  Muslim and kept that faith for 31 years, until your wife made you change, so you  could run for office.

4-3-08 Article ‘Obama  was ‘quite religious in islam” http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=60559

8.) My School In Indonesia Was Christian -  NOT EXACTLY, you were registered as Muslim there and got in trouble in Koranic Studies for making faces (check your own book).

February 28, 2008. Kristoff from the  New York Times a year ago: Mr. Obama recalled the opening lines of the Arabic  call to prayer, reciting them with a first-rate accent. In a remark that seemed  delightfully uncalculated (it’ll give Alabama voters heart attacks), Mr. Obama  described the call to prayer as ‘one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at  sunset.’ This is just one example of what Pamela is talking about when she says  ‘Obama’s narrative is being altered, enhanced and manipulated to whitewash  troubling facts.’

9.) I  Was Fluent In Indonesian -  NOT EXACTLY, not one teacher says you could speak the language.

10.) Because I Lived In Indonesia ,  I Have More Foreign Experience -  NOT EXACTLY, you were there from the ages of 6 to 10, and couldn’t even speak  the language. What did you learn except how to study the Koran and watch cartoons.

11.) I  Am Stronger On Foreign Affairs -  NOT EXACTLY, except for Africa (surprise) and the Middle East (bigger surprise),  you have never been anywhere else on the planet and thus have NO experience  with our closest allies.

12.) I  Blame My Early Drug Use On Ethnic Confusion -  NOT EXACTLY, you were quite content in high school to be Barry Obama, no mention  of Kenya and no mention of struggle to identify - your classmates said you were  just fine

13.) An  Ebony Article Moved Me To Run For Office -  NOT EXACTLY, Ebony has yet to find the article you mention in your book. It  doesn’t, and never did, exist.

14.) A  Life Magazine Article Changed My Outlook On Life -  NOT EXACTLY, Life has yet to find the article you mention in your book. It  doesn’t, and never did, exist.

15.) I  Won’t Run On A National Ticket In ‘08 -  NOT EXACTLY, here you are, despite saying, live on TV, that you would not have  enough experience by then, and you are all about having experience first.

16.) Voting ‘Present’ is Common In Illinois Senate -  NOT EXACTLY, they are common for YOU, but not many others have 130 NO VOTES.

17.) Oops, I Misvoted -  NOT EXACTLY, only when caught by church groups and Democrats, did you beg to  change your misvote.

18.) I  Was A Professor Of Law -  NOT EXACTLY, you were a senior lecturer ON LEAVE.

19.) I  Was A Constitutional Lawyer -  NOT EXACTLY, you were a senior lecturer ON LEAVE.

20.) Without Me, There Would Be No Ethics Bill -  NOT EXACTLY, you didn’t write it, introduce it, change it or create it.

21.) The Ethics Bill Was Hard To Pass -  NOT EXACTLY, it took just 14 days from start to finish.

22.) I  Wrote A Tough Nuclear Bill -  NOT EXACTLY, your bill was rejected by your own party for its pandering and lack  of all regulation - mainly because of your Nuclear donor, Exelon, from which  David Axelrod came.

23.) I  Have Released My State Records -  NOT EXACTLY, as of March, 2008, state bills you sponsored or voted for have yet  to be released, exposing all the special interests pork hidden within.

24.) I  Took On The Asbestos Altgeld Gardens Mess -  NOT EXACTLY, you were part of a large group of people who remedied Altgeld  Gardens . You failed to mention anyone else but yourself, in your books.

25.) My  Economics Bill Will Help America -  NOT EXACTLY, your 111 economic policies were just combined into a proposal which  lost 99-0, and even YOU voted against your own bill.

26.) I  Have Been A Bold Leader In Illinois -  NOT EXACTLY, even your own supporters claim to have not seen BOLD action on your  part.

27.) I  Passed 26 Of My Own Bills In One Year -  NOT EXACTLY, they were not YOUR bills, but rather handed to you, after their  creation by a fellow Senator, to assist you in a future bid for higher office.

28.) No  One on my campaign contacted Canada about NAFTA -  NOT EXACTLY, the Canadian Government issued the names and a memo of the  conversation your campaign had with them.

29.) I  Am Tough On Terrorism -  NOT EXACTLY, you missed the Iran Resolution vote on terrorism and your good  friend Ali Abunimah supports the destruction off Israel.

30.) I  Want All Votes To Count -  NOT EXACTLY, you said let the delegates decide.

31.) I Want Americans To  Decide - NOT EXACTLY, you prefer caucuses that limit the vote,  confuse the voters, force a public vote, and only operate during small windows of time.

32.) I  passed 900 Bills in the State Senate -  NOT EXACTLY, you passed 26, most of which you didn’t write yourself.

33.) I  Believe In Fairness, Not Tactics -  NOT EXACTLY, you used tactics to eliminate Alice Palmer from running against  you.

34.) I  Don’t Take PAC Money -  NOT EXACTLY, you take loads of it.

35.) I  don’t Have Lobbysists -  NOT EXACTLY, you have over 47 lobbyists, and counting.

36.) My  Campaign Had Nothing To Do With The 1984 Ad -  NOT EXACTLY, your own campaign worker made the ad on his Apple in one afternoon.

37.) I  Have Always Been Against Iraq -  NOT EXACTLY, you weren’t in office to vote against it AND you have voted to fund  it every single time.

38.) I  Have Always Supported Universal Health Care -  NOT EXACTLY, your plan leaves us all to pay for the 15,000,000 who don’t have to  buy it.

39.) My  uncle liberated Auschwitz concentration camp -  NOT EXACTLY, your mother had no brothers and the Russian army did the liberating.

If you aren’t already registered to vote, time is running out.  This will be without question the largest voter turnout in years - possibly in all our lifetimes.  Be a part of it.  And although recent history will be difficult to contend with it could also be one of the closest elections in history.

Watch this video, it doesn’t suck, and pass this link along to at least five people.
http://www.scotts2cents.com/2008/10/02/register-to-vote/

And if you really get bored check out Purple Widget

Thanks - and remember - VOTE!

See how I got through this whole post without mentioning the nightmare that Universal Healthcare would be, or the government taking over our lifes with more social programs then we could every pay for without massive tax hikes that a liberal President would bring.

None of this is good, but can we stop hearing about all the deaths in Iraq?  Should we pull out of Chicago?

 

Thank you for the combat zone in Chicago. Of course they’re all blaming each other.

 

Can’t blame Republicans, there aren’t any! 

State pension fund $44 Billion in debt, worst in country. Cook County (Chicago) sales tax 10.25% highest in country. (Look’em up if you want). Chicago school system one of the worst in country. This is the political culture that Obama comes from in Illinois. He’s gonna ‘fix’ Washington politics?

I can’t possibly ad anything to these unbelievable photos.  Just some of many that show just how bad it was for Galveston, Texas.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/09/the_short_but_eventful_life_of.html

Similar stories were common coming out of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and they need to be heard.  This is absolutely ridiculous.  This is how people act?  Deplorable.

This past spring into summer (2008) there was catastrophic flooding in Iowa - if you watched the Olympics you heard about Shawn Johnson’s hometown flooding.  That was the case over much of the state of Iowa, a disaster very near the level of any hurricane, homes were destroyed, livelihoods taken.  

What didn’t come out of Iowa were stories like this one.  Nobody looted, nobody begged for handouts, nobody cried racism, nobody blamed the Federal Gov’t, nobody blamed anybody.  Instead people helped their friends and neighbors the best they could; people acted like human beings.   

So what’s the difference between people in Iowa and people in Louisana?  You tell me.  Faced with the same tragedy, the same circumstances how can the story of human behavior be so different?  You tell me.

—————-

Dear Editor,
I am a nurse who has just completed volunteer working approximately 120 hours as the clinic director in a Hurricane Gustav evacuation shelter in Shreveport, Louisiana over the last 7 days.  I would love to see someone look at the evacuee situation from a new perspective.  Local and national news channels have covered the evacuation and “horrible” conditions the evacuees had to endure during Hurricane Gustav.

True - some things were not optimal for the evacuation and the shelters need some modification.

At any point, does anyone address the responsibility (or irresponsibility) of the evacuees?

Does it seem wrong that one would remember their cell phone, charger, cigarettes and lighter but forget their child’s insulin?

Is something amiss when an evacuee gets off the bus, walks immediately to the medical area, and requests immediate free refills on all medicines for which they cannot provide a prescription or cur rent bottle (most of which are narcotics)?

Isn’t the system flawed when an evacuee says they cannot afford a $3 copay for a refill that will be delivered to them in the shelter yet they can take a city-provided bus to Wal-mart, buy 5 bottles of Vodka, and return to consume them secretly in the shelter?

Is it fair to stop performing luggage checks on incoming evacuees so as not to delay the registration process but endanger the volunteer staff and other persons with the very realistic truth of drugs, alcohol and weapons being brought into the shelter?

Am I less than compassionate when it frustrates me to scrub a mess from the floor near a nauseated child while his mother lies nearby, watching me work 26 hours straight, not even raising her head from the pillow to comfort her own son?

Why does it incense me to hear a man say “I ain’t goin’ home ’til I get my FEMA check”, when I would love to just go home and see my daughters who I have only seen 3 times this week?

Is the system flawed when the privately insured patient must find a way to get to the pharmacy, fill his prescription and pay his copay while the FEMA declaration allows the uninsured person to acquire free medications under the disaster rules?

Does it seem odd that the nurse volunteering at the shelter is paying for childcare while the evacuee sits on a cot during the day as the shelter provides a “daycare”?

Have government entitlements created this mentality and am I facilitating it with my work?

Will I be a bad person, merciless nurse or poor Christian if I hesitate to work at the next shelter because I have worked for 7 days being called every curse word imaginable, feeling threatened and fearing for my personal safety in the shelter?

Exhausted and battered,

Sherri Hagerhjelm, RN

Kids and a video camera, what more do you need?

The best part about this video is that the little girl has no idea she’s saying anything wrong….

When I first started this blog it was mainly to learn about how WordPress worked and how blogs worked.  My intent was to ramble on about things that I wanted to vent about.  Like idiot drivers, horrible customer service, the stunningly inaccurate weather forecasts in Kansas City, how bad our local sports teams are and why, etc…  I had planned to drop a few of the e-mails we all get and secretly love reading in here just for some content.  Turns out that’s about all I’ve really done so far.  When I’m driving, or lying awake and a rant pops into my head it sounds good and very blog worthy but by the time I get around to actually putting it down in “print” it either doesn’t sound so good or more commonly I’m just not that fired up about it anymore.  But today, something a bit different.  A reflection about old friends and why we lose touch and why it’s so nice when we hear from them.  Deep Thoughts with Jack Handy it’s not but perhaps if anybody ever reads this they won’t at least be left thinking they’ve just wasted 6 minutes of their life that they can never get back.

During the year (it’s 2008 by the way, since things on the Internet never seem to die) I’ve gotten in touch with 3 old friends.  I believe all 3 reached out to me first, which maybe says something about me (though I’m not sure what), of course I could be remembering wrong since it really doesn’t matter.  One was my girlfriend of nearly 4 years starting senior year in high school and into college.  I had been back in touch with her once before about 10 years ago, but only briefly and that had been after about 6 years since we graduated college.  Another was my childhood best friend.  Somewhat ironically aforementioned girlfriend may have been the beginning of the end of that friendship that didn’t quite survive all the way through high school.  He too I had been back in touch with previously, very briefly a rather long time ago and again we had lost touch.  Now we’ve been out for drinks a few times and saw a movie that was replayed at theaters one night only for it’s 25th Anniversary - we both recall seeing it together 25 years earlier.  Stop crying, I know it’s touching….  Lastly, I got an e-mail from an old friend from college, again connected to said old girlfriend - she was her college roommate for at least 2 years , maybe 3….???  Anyway, her and I became good friends for a few years as well.  And keeping with the theme were back in touch very briefly many years ago but again lost touch for a long time.

So it’s interesting.  All 3 I had been back in touch with several years later, but several years ago and obviously we didn’t stay in touch then and yet we get back in touch now, again.  Will it stick this time?  Maybe.  Maybe we’re all more secure and stable in our lives where jealousy, or old feelings (good or bad) are no longer a factor.  Certainly it’s easier now with e-mail (which did exist last time we said hi, we aren’t that old) and new social websites (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.. which didn’t exist last time around) but it still takes time to stay in touch.  So will it stick this time?  In at least one case I can already say no.  My ex-girlfriend and I said hi, exchanged a few e-mails and caught up with our lives.  As much as you can cover 10 years in a few e-mails.  It was very nice, good to know that someone who meant so much to you, even so long ago is doing well and is mostly happy.  But that’s been it.

It probably makes a really big difference on who they were in your past whether or not you stay in touch or just stop with the quick catch up.  When it comes to my childhood friend I think we’re discovering we do have some things in common besides just very fond memories of our childhood and its possible we’ll stay in touch and even see each other once in a while.  And that’s likely the most important thing - something in common now.  That’s why we’re friends with people now isn’t it?  Common interests.  Someone to talk sports with, share political points of view (even if you don’t agree), etc….  That’s a more sound basis for a friendship then anything that happened 25 years ago, even if it was somebody you spent more time with than anybody else during your childhood.

Last but not least, my most recent lost friend who got back in touch by her own admission 18 months after she came across e-mail addresses for some old friends from college.  We were good friends in college, spent a lot of time together.  Not always by choice I guess and I don’t mean to speak for her but I think we “got” each other.  Similar sense of humor and the benefit of no sexual tension - I don’t think either of us were trying to sleep with each other.  Again, can’t speak for her but think I’m real safe here 
It was great to hear from her and who knows if we’ll do more than forward stupid (but often very funny) e-mails now and again.  Only time will tell but if nothing else it was nice to hear from an old friend who seems to be doing well and is pretty happy.  That’s all you can ask for.  Happiness.

So why do we lose touch in the first place?
I think the real reason is that we live boring lives.  What are we going to keep up with…hey I mowed the grass today and you should have seen what the cat threw up yesterday!
It really goes back to who they were in your past and how/why the relationship ended.  For an ex-girlfriend it probably ended bad.  To quote the movie Cocktail “everything ends badly; otherwise it wouldn’t end”.  And if one person thinks it didn’t you can be pretty sure the other person does.  For a childhood friend, people change.  Especially when after their girlfriend breaks up with them a few months later is dating you.  People find themselves and learn a lot about themselves in high school and college and sometimes what they find is that what you want to be or have become may not be the same thing as your buddy from 6th grade.  I suppose we’re always finding ourselves and always changing but in 6th grade it means something different than it does as a senior in high school or freshman in college or as a 30-something guy married with kids.

I think for me, it’s that most people suck so when you find ones that don’t, or at least didn’t you should keep in touch.

Maybe it’s just nice to know that someone remembers you.