All Rights Reserved © 2005 Thomas W. Day
My big bitch about modern politicians is with their total lack of vision and leadership abilities. In the last forty years we've either had cowards and crooks like the Bush clan and Nixon, fools such as Reagan and Ford, the distracted and egocentric underachieving Johnson and Clinton, or Carter's well-intentioned, but incapable micro-management. The country and the world need and deserve more.
Take Bush's current fake emergency, Social Security. An obvious way to fix the possible disaster that could land on our children's shoulders would be for the about-to-retire generation, the Baby Boomers, to . . . not retire. We could ask, or force, our government to be responsible with the money we turn over to them and we could build an idyllic future for our children. We could behave responsibly and make sacrifices so that our children could have a better, more secure future.
"Sacrifice." What a nasty word. However, the only way this world is going to resemble the science fiction future we'd hoped for in the 1950's is if we rearrange the world's priorities; especially the United States' priorities. We need to take charge of our government, make plans for the future, and build a world that resembles something we'd want to hand over to the next generation.
In the 1960s, the ruling class created the Vietnam "crisis," the 20-year recession, and manhandled the working classes to create a "growth economy" that only provided economic benefits for the leisure class. Because it looked like working class kids with good educations might be a lot harder to manipulate, they smashed our economy, disassembled the public education system, and promoted the fantasy that "growth is good and necessary" when all evidence points to the contrary. Population boomed, middle and working class income shrank, working class quality of life shriveled to a miserable bare existence, and science and technology have barely provided a single useful cultural improvement in 40 years.
Yeah, computers are smaller and cheaper. That hasn't proved to be a terrific social improvement for anyone but the richest and most educated in society. Cars are practically the same boring, noisy, polluting, and consumptive vehicle they were 50 years ago. Planes are barely faster, a little noisier, and barely more efficient than they were in the 1960s. Trains and public transportation are virtually identical to their 1950s versions. In the modern world self-proclaimed "leading economy," 2005 looks a hell of a lot like 1960.
All of this happened, or didn't happen, because society and, especially, our government decided on quantity over quality. It's time to try a different tact.
Republican "leaders" are advocating opening the boarders for "skilled labor." Bush claims that there are lots of "jobs that Americans won't do" out there and that we need to import millions of laborers from the third world to fill those positions. Welders, roofers, computer programmers, and call center operators are among the "jobs that Americans won't do." We won't do those jobs for minimum wage, especially a minimum wage that isn't even close to a living wage. That isn't the same as not being willing to work. Every necessary job in this country could be filled with a current resident if we made the sacrifice to rebuild education, limit immigration, and forced our ruling class to live by the same rules they apply to the majority.
All things begin at the top. Morality is a top-down leadership-drive cultural quality. So is education, motivation, honor, justice, and every other trait that United States' citizens take pride in possessing. It has been decades since the country has had moral leadership. Maybe it's time to begin a new American Revolution and to take back the direction of the country before we hand off a worthless shell of a nation to our children. We can begin that revolution by making sacrifices in our comfort for the good of our children and grandchildren.
July 2005
11/23/2015
11/16/2015
#136 Gonzo is Dead, Long Live Gonzo (2005)
All Rights Reserved © 2005 Thomas W. Day
"Doctor" Hunter S. Thompson, the King of Gonzo Journalism, died by his own hand this week. The eulogies and anthems and homilies began the moment Thompson's son discovered the body and reported it to the Aspen City Police. This rant has been a bitch for me to write. I've written it, posted it, removed it, rewritten it, and re-posted it at least four times. I usually don't rethink my thoughts all that often. The Doctor made me rethink my thoughts often throughout my life.
One of the best reviews of Hunter Thompson in life was an article written for, of all places, the Wall Street Journal by Tom Wolfe. Wolfe and Thompson attracted major league attention to their writing through books about the same general crowd; the Hell's Angels and the freaks who ran with Ken Kesey's Cool Aid Acid Tests. Wolfe went mainstream almost as soon as he recovered from his Acid Test hangover. Thompson couldn't find a mainstream with a map and a guide and GPS and a well-marked path. Hunter Thompson was so completely polarized to oppose the mainstream that he was magnetically drawn off the worn trail, away from conventional wisdom and "common sense," and into the middle of tributaries that ordinary men considered too ferocious and uncivilized to be useful.
Even in death, Thompson went his own way. At 67, he apparently shot himself with one of his many weapons. "Thompson took his life with a gunshot to the head," was his son's statement to the local press. The Doctor had a long history with guns, explosives, fast motor vehicles, drugs and alcohol, and life on the edge of a long, deep, dark precipice. Recent portraits show a man who put a lot of miles into those 67 years. Some photos illustrate a man who looked nearly twice his actual age. He was recovering from complications of a fall, including back pain and a broken leg, which would be enough to make a lot of 67-year-old folks cash it in. His friends and family saw a collection of warning signs that Thompson was depressed and considering a final exit. Still, part of me wants to believe that Thompson wasn't as selfish and egocentric as his final moments appear.
Part of me wants to be convinced that The Doctor was something better than human. This is the age of paranoia and I have yet to see a depth that the neo-Nazi-conservatives won't fall. Maybe I'm seeing the Gestapo under every unhappy event, but I think the Bushies would torture and kill Christ, Santa Claus, Mother Theresa, Ray Charles, and the Easter Bunny to fatten their portfolios and increase their power. So far, there hasn't been a report of a suicide note, which seems a bit odd for someone so chronically inclined to write about everything that crossed his mind. If you do a web search on Hunter Thompson, you'll find articles on everything from politics to the XFL to assassinating rabbits that dared to venture into his "compound" to an in-depth analysis of the Bushies and their sycophants; Hey Rube: Blood Sport, the Bush Doctrine, and the Downward Spiral of Dumbness. Thompson was eternally interested in practically everything that happened in his world. And he wrote about those things constantly. Why he wouldn't choose to put down a few notes about his final thoughts is, at least, curious. That's what I'd like to believe.
Whatever the final story of this benchmark in American literature, I'm going to miss him as much as I miss George Harrison, Harry Nilsson, John Lennon, Bertrand Russell, and the growing hoard of people who have changed my world and left it with increased knowledge and wisdom. Because of Hunter Thompson, I have a different definition of "evil" and "terrible" than the simple concept my father provided for me. I don't know who has the true fix on those values and terms, but I know which one works for me and I have my experiences enhanced by Hunter Thompson's words to thank for that.
But, man, the thought that the great Hunter Thompson could blow his brains out so that his son and six-year-old grandson would hear the shot and find him and his residue splattered all over the room is beyond distain. Thompson tended toward egomania more often than not. He spent most of his life posing as a little boy waving his arms, yelling "Hey, look at me!" He was one of the few people who could control the center of attraction by claiming that he didn't want to be the center of attraction. Like many dope-inspired artists, Thompson had delusions of worlds revolving around his center of gravity. At the end of his life, he gave up wrestling with the devil and became one to the family members who cared the most for him.
For a man who hoped to be so familiar with courage and honor, he failed to die to his own standards. I have a lot of respect for those who go down in flames, but you have to drag demons into the fire not the people who love you. Gonzo may have just been ego and that may be the legacy that Hunter Thompson leaves us when all the weights and measures are balanced.
Killing yourself is a bitch, though. Anyone can talk about doing it, only the truly desperate can do it. I doubt that Thompson had any fantasies of "crossing over to a better world," so he was giving up on life. I suspect, that when life becomes so painful that he could make all of the moves necessary to end his life, he had to seize the moment regardless of how inconvenient the moment was for those around him. Thompson's life was all about seizing moments of all sorts and his death was probably just another such moment.
June 2005
"Doctor" Hunter S. Thompson, the King of Gonzo Journalism, died by his own hand this week. The eulogies and anthems and homilies began the moment Thompson's son discovered the body and reported it to the Aspen City Police. This rant has been a bitch for me to write. I've written it, posted it, removed it, rewritten it, and re-posted it at least four times. I usually don't rethink my thoughts all that often. The Doctor made me rethink my thoughts often throughout my life.
One of the best reviews of Hunter Thompson in life was an article written for, of all places, the Wall Street Journal by Tom Wolfe. Wolfe and Thompson attracted major league attention to their writing through books about the same general crowd; the Hell's Angels and the freaks who ran with Ken Kesey's Cool Aid Acid Tests. Wolfe went mainstream almost as soon as he recovered from his Acid Test hangover. Thompson couldn't find a mainstream with a map and a guide and GPS and a well-marked path. Hunter Thompson was so completely polarized to oppose the mainstream that he was magnetically drawn off the worn trail, away from conventional wisdom and "common sense," and into the middle of tributaries that ordinary men considered too ferocious and uncivilized to be useful.
Even in death, Thompson went his own way. At 67, he apparently shot himself with one of his many weapons. "Thompson took his life with a gunshot to the head," was his son's statement to the local press. The Doctor had a long history with guns, explosives, fast motor vehicles, drugs and alcohol, and life on the edge of a long, deep, dark precipice. Recent portraits show a man who put a lot of miles into those 67 years. Some photos illustrate a man who looked nearly twice his actual age. He was recovering from complications of a fall, including back pain and a broken leg, which would be enough to make a lot of 67-year-old folks cash it in. His friends and family saw a collection of warning signs that Thompson was depressed and considering a final exit. Still, part of me wants to believe that Thompson wasn't as selfish and egocentric as his final moments appear.
Part of me wants to be convinced that The Doctor was something better than human. This is the age of paranoia and I have yet to see a depth that the neo-Nazi-conservatives won't fall. Maybe I'm seeing the Gestapo under every unhappy event, but I think the Bushies would torture and kill Christ, Santa Claus, Mother Theresa, Ray Charles, and the Easter Bunny to fatten their portfolios and increase their power. So far, there hasn't been a report of a suicide note, which seems a bit odd for someone so chronically inclined to write about everything that crossed his mind. If you do a web search on Hunter Thompson, you'll find articles on everything from politics to the XFL to assassinating rabbits that dared to venture into his "compound" to an in-depth analysis of the Bushies and their sycophants; Hey Rube: Blood Sport, the Bush Doctrine, and the Downward Spiral of Dumbness. Thompson was eternally interested in practically everything that happened in his world. And he wrote about those things constantly. Why he wouldn't choose to put down a few notes about his final thoughts is, at least, curious. That's what I'd like to believe.
Whatever the final story of this benchmark in American literature, I'm going to miss him as much as I miss George Harrison, Harry Nilsson, John Lennon, Bertrand Russell, and the growing hoard of people who have changed my world and left it with increased knowledge and wisdom. Because of Hunter Thompson, I have a different definition of "evil" and "terrible" than the simple concept my father provided for me. I don't know who has the true fix on those values and terms, but I know which one works for me and I have my experiences enhanced by Hunter Thompson's words to thank for that.
But, man, the thought that the great Hunter Thompson could blow his brains out so that his son and six-year-old grandson would hear the shot and find him and his residue splattered all over the room is beyond distain. Thompson tended toward egomania more often than not. He spent most of his life posing as a little boy waving his arms, yelling "Hey, look at me!" He was one of the few people who could control the center of attraction by claiming that he didn't want to be the center of attraction. Like many dope-inspired artists, Thompson had delusions of worlds revolving around his center of gravity. At the end of his life, he gave up wrestling with the devil and became one to the family members who cared the most for him.
For a man who hoped to be so familiar with courage and honor, he failed to die to his own standards. I have a lot of respect for those who go down in flames, but you have to drag demons into the fire not the people who love you. Gonzo may have just been ego and that may be the legacy that Hunter Thompson leaves us when all the weights and measures are balanced.
Killing yourself is a bitch, though. Anyone can talk about doing it, only the truly desperate can do it. I doubt that Thompson had any fantasies of "crossing over to a better world," so he was giving up on life. I suspect, that when life becomes so painful that he could make all of the moves necessary to end his life, he had to seize the moment regardless of how inconvenient the moment was for those around him. Thompson's life was all about seizing moments of all sorts and his death was probably just another such moment.
June 2005
11/09/2015
#135 Trade Show Logic (2005)
All Rights Reserved © 2005 Thomas W. Day
You hate to kill the golden goose when the goose is spewing eggs in your direction, but it's a lot easier when the goose is in someone else's yard. One of my all time favorite geese, when I was in industry, was the trade show. It's practically impossible to imagine an easier gig for any salesperson, or any other working person, than staffing a trade show booth. Execs, of course, see trade shows as "hard work," but that simply re-establishes the obvious fact that execs are unfamiliar with the whole "work" concept.
Trade shows have become consumer product shows in the last couple of decades. It only makes sense that vendors and show management would want to increase their profits by drawing consumers to their demonstrations. It makes a little less sense that consumers would want to see the newest stuff as soon as the manufacturers have it ready to be seen. What doesn't make sense is the idea that consumers would be willing to pay top dollar to experience the same sales pitch they'd receive in a store.
This past weekend my wife worked her first trade show; a home products show. The turnout for the show was abysmal, a disappointment even for the trade show management but a complete bust for the vendors. Over a holiday weekend, barely 500 customers bothered to make the trip to half-alive downtown St. Paul, suffered the outrage of $15 "special event" parking, and coughed up $7.50 for the privilege of having a few hundred salespeople try to sell them stuff they didn't need. In the end, even the large vendors wondered why they bothered with the show. There were more vendors on the floor at any time during the show than there were customers.
While I think that it's interesting perspective, it's even more interesting that so many trade show organizers think the American public is so stupid that we'll pay to be exposed to salespeople and their pitches. From cars to computers, there are "shows" that are little more than small-time state fair vendor booths hawking their wares to a self-captured audience foolish enough to pay for the privilege.
Why anyone would pay to be pitched is beyond my comprehension. As we've all seen over the years of my publishing the Rat Rants, many things are beyond my comprehension. Cable television, for example. Originally, cable TV was sold as a way to escape ads by paying for the service directly, instead of indirectly through the irritation of 5 minutes of ads every 15 minutes of television programming. Today, however, dumbasses pay to be pitched and television executives are laughing all the way to the bank. The bank where they store their golden parachutes. On the occasion that I find myself in a cable-ready motel room, I'm always amazed at the dearth of interesting programming and the wealth of advertising to be suffered on cable TV. More evidence that no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the public; American or otherwise.
May 2005
You hate to kill the golden goose when the goose is spewing eggs in your direction, but it's a lot easier when the goose is in someone else's yard. One of my all time favorite geese, when I was in industry, was the trade show. It's practically impossible to imagine an easier gig for any salesperson, or any other working person, than staffing a trade show booth. Execs, of course, see trade shows as "hard work," but that simply re-establishes the obvious fact that execs are unfamiliar with the whole "work" concept.
Trade shows have become consumer product shows in the last couple of decades. It only makes sense that vendors and show management would want to increase their profits by drawing consumers to their demonstrations. It makes a little less sense that consumers would want to see the newest stuff as soon as the manufacturers have it ready to be seen. What doesn't make sense is the idea that consumers would be willing to pay top dollar to experience the same sales pitch they'd receive in a store.
This past weekend my wife worked her first trade show; a home products show. The turnout for the show was abysmal, a disappointment even for the trade show management but a complete bust for the vendors. Over a holiday weekend, barely 500 customers bothered to make the trip to half-alive downtown St. Paul, suffered the outrage of $15 "special event" parking, and coughed up $7.50 for the privilege of having a few hundred salespeople try to sell them stuff they didn't need. In the end, even the large vendors wondered why they bothered with the show. There were more vendors on the floor at any time during the show than there were customers.
While I think that it's interesting perspective, it's even more interesting that so many trade show organizers think the American public is so stupid that we'll pay to be exposed to salespeople and their pitches. From cars to computers, there are "shows" that are little more than small-time state fair vendor booths hawking their wares to a self-captured audience foolish enough to pay for the privilege.
Why anyone would pay to be pitched is beyond my comprehension. As we've all seen over the years of my publishing the Rat Rants, many things are beyond my comprehension. Cable television, for example. Originally, cable TV was sold as a way to escape ads by paying for the service directly, instead of indirectly through the irritation of 5 minutes of ads every 15 minutes of television programming. Today, however, dumbasses pay to be pitched and television executives are laughing all the way to the bank. The bank where they store their golden parachutes. On the occasion that I find myself in a cable-ready motel room, I'm always amazed at the dearth of interesting programming and the wealth of advertising to be suffered on cable TV. More evidence that no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the public; American or otherwise.
May 2005
11/02/2015
#134 Bashing the Ecology in Fiction (2005)
All Rights Reserved © 2005 Thomas W. Day
Way back in my simple youth, one of my favorite science fiction authors was Michael Crichton. One of the things I like the most about Crichton was his ability to write straight-up science fiction while avoiding the dreaded "spaceship" tag in libraries. Other than a couple of mediocre social statement books, Crichton has always written SF but he's never been pigeon-holed into that demeaning little corner of our local libraries, next to "detective," "romance," and "western" novels. I think that's a fairly amazing achievement. Other, far more technical, more consistently excellent writers, writing far more scientifically and socially valid books, have languished under that nasty space ship curse while Crichton has flourished on the general-fiction best seller lists as straight fiction.
I still find time to read Crichton's books, within a few months of publication. I don't enjoy them as much as I did when I was a lot younger, but he usually provides an interesting diversion. Crichton's newest book may be a little too revealing of from whence he comes. In State of Fear Crichton releases a moderately scientific ire upon environmentalists. Somehow, he has decided that environmentalists, who have been mostly irrationally pacifist in their actions to date, are about to become well-heeled, large-scale eco-terrorists. Is this more evidence that as men age they become timid conservatives? Maybe, maybe not.
As usual, Crichton's hero is a geek; an MIT-academic who saw the light and fights against the terror of environmentalism. Somehow, this geek has become an action hero in his spare time, something Crichton is typically short in explaining. In his most recent books, Crichton has grown short on anything other than lecture space. In fact, Crichton books feel considerably shorter in page length and seem larger in text size than the average detective novel. The upside to this tendency is that his books don't take long to read. The downside is that I often feel a little cheated about the time I am spending on the pages of a Crichton novel; in the same way that I feel cheated when I have the flu, can't read, and waste a day watching television. The best description I can provide is that it feels like I've allowed someone to pop the top of my cranium and take a dump in the vacant hole.
If you'd like to read some of the contradicting info to Crichton's fable and pseudo-science, check out The Earth Institute News' "Michael Crichton's State of Confusion." Take a look at RealClimate.org, while you're in a research mode. Science isn't Crichton's bag in this book. He's really writing in the ever-popular liberal-dissenter-bashing genre that's always popular in conservative literature. Which is interesting because he is a fairly scientific sort of writer and, on general principles, has been about as conservative as Ralph Nader. In fact, he recently said "When did 'skeptic' become a dirty word in science? When did a skeptic require quotation marks around it?" In a recent speech defending his position opposing global warming and other environmental issues, Crichton went so far as to compare environmentalism to religion, stating that religion has been notoriously useless as a problem-solving tool throughout the history of humanity. Not a very conservative position, unless you're supporting the primary conservative position that opposes the majority of the evidence science has accumulated.
The critical flaw in Crichton's logic is that he argues that the majority of folks are tree-huggers. Therefore, an environmentally conservative position is the "safe" and ordinary position. His anti-environment position is the "skeptical" and more revolutionary position. Imagine G.W. Bush as a scientific revolutionary and you'll be able to "feel" Crichton's argument. However, the overwhelming majority, the consensus, in the United States is far from environmentally concerned. In a high-energy-consuming, SUV-driving, urban-territory-expanding, corporate-driven-government nation, the average citizen thinks of everything but the environment, first. "Fear" makes the dubious claim that the national consensus is that the world environment is in danger and that governments should do anything necessary to protect us from eco-catastrophe. How Crichton derived this conclusion in the face of reality escapes me. Americans, especially, appear to be less interested in the world ecology and the fate of their children in a world of vanishing resources than any people in the history of the world. We, in fact, do everything we can to hurry the end of the world's natural resources, including air and water.
This strange fiction doesn't really seem to be Crichton's personal belief. Once escaped from the confines of a fictional world of his own creation, he's considerably less conservative. In a lecture at CalTech ("Aliens Cause Global Warming"), Crichton keeps pounding at religion and faith, calling SETI ". . . unquestionably a religion," for example. Defining the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence and ecological conservation as flaws in logic, which he defines as "faith" rather than science, Crichton makes a useful point or two. And he defines faith "as the firm belief in something for which there is no proof." The CalTech lecture is especially interesting, because Crichton takes on a lot of his pet peeves. He also sounds more rational than he did as the author of "State of Fear."
In fact, most of Crichton's CalTech rant could be read as a condemnation of all sorts of religion, including various scientific specialties that approach religious conviction. He attacks global warming (as he did in "State of Fear"), nuclear winter, SETI, over-population, and Scientific American magazine for their religion-like dedication to limited facts and lack of scientific rigor. Maybe his real reason for writing a piece as inflammatory as "State of Fear" was to be allowed a forum to express his real irritation, which isn't with environmentalists at all, but with scientists and their false articles of faith. Unfortunately, he's taken on a collection of his own religious fallacies as evidence against the scientific establishment.
April 2005
Way back in my simple youth, one of my favorite science fiction authors was Michael Crichton. One of the things I like the most about Crichton was his ability to write straight-up science fiction while avoiding the dreaded "spaceship" tag in libraries. Other than a couple of mediocre social statement books, Crichton has always written SF but he's never been pigeon-holed into that demeaning little corner of our local libraries, next to "detective," "romance," and "western" novels. I think that's a fairly amazing achievement. Other, far more technical, more consistently excellent writers, writing far more scientifically and socially valid books, have languished under that nasty space ship curse while Crichton has flourished on the general-fiction best seller lists as straight fiction.
I still find time to read Crichton's books, within a few months of publication. I don't enjoy them as much as I did when I was a lot younger, but he usually provides an interesting diversion. Crichton's newest book may be a little too revealing of from whence he comes. In State of Fear Crichton releases a moderately scientific ire upon environmentalists. Somehow, he has decided that environmentalists, who have been mostly irrationally pacifist in their actions to date, are about to become well-heeled, large-scale eco-terrorists. Is this more evidence that as men age they become timid conservatives? Maybe, maybe not.
As usual, Crichton's hero is a geek; an MIT-academic who saw the light and fights against the terror of environmentalism. Somehow, this geek has become an action hero in his spare time, something Crichton is typically short in explaining. In his most recent books, Crichton has grown short on anything other than lecture space. In fact, Crichton books feel considerably shorter in page length and seem larger in text size than the average detective novel. The upside to this tendency is that his books don't take long to read. The downside is that I often feel a little cheated about the time I am spending on the pages of a Crichton novel; in the same way that I feel cheated when I have the flu, can't read, and waste a day watching television. The best description I can provide is that it feels like I've allowed someone to pop the top of my cranium and take a dump in the vacant hole.
If you'd like to read some of the contradicting info to Crichton's fable and pseudo-science, check out The Earth Institute News' "Michael Crichton's State of Confusion." Take a look at RealClimate.org, while you're in a research mode. Science isn't Crichton's bag in this book. He's really writing in the ever-popular liberal-dissenter-bashing genre that's always popular in conservative literature. Which is interesting because he is a fairly scientific sort of writer and, on general principles, has been about as conservative as Ralph Nader. In fact, he recently said "When did 'skeptic' become a dirty word in science? When did a skeptic require quotation marks around it?" In a recent speech defending his position opposing global warming and other environmental issues, Crichton went so far as to compare environmentalism to religion, stating that religion has been notoriously useless as a problem-solving tool throughout the history of humanity. Not a very conservative position, unless you're supporting the primary conservative position that opposes the majority of the evidence science has accumulated.
The critical flaw in Crichton's logic is that he argues that the majority of folks are tree-huggers. Therefore, an environmentally conservative position is the "safe" and ordinary position. His anti-environment position is the "skeptical" and more revolutionary position. Imagine G.W. Bush as a scientific revolutionary and you'll be able to "feel" Crichton's argument. However, the overwhelming majority, the consensus, in the United States is far from environmentally concerned. In a high-energy-consuming, SUV-driving, urban-territory-expanding, corporate-driven-government nation, the average citizen thinks of everything but the environment, first. "Fear" makes the dubious claim that the national consensus is that the world environment is in danger and that governments should do anything necessary to protect us from eco-catastrophe. How Crichton derived this conclusion in the face of reality escapes me. Americans, especially, appear to be less interested in the world ecology and the fate of their children in a world of vanishing resources than any people in the history of the world. We, in fact, do everything we can to hurry the end of the world's natural resources, including air and water.
This strange fiction doesn't really seem to be Crichton's personal belief. Once escaped from the confines of a fictional world of his own creation, he's considerably less conservative. In a lecture at CalTech ("Aliens Cause Global Warming"), Crichton keeps pounding at religion and faith, calling SETI ". . . unquestionably a religion," for example. Defining the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence and ecological conservation as flaws in logic, which he defines as "faith" rather than science, Crichton makes a useful point or two. And he defines faith "as the firm belief in something for which there is no proof." The CalTech lecture is especially interesting, because Crichton takes on a lot of his pet peeves. He also sounds more rational than he did as the author of "State of Fear."
In fact, most of Crichton's CalTech rant could be read as a condemnation of all sorts of religion, including various scientific specialties that approach religious conviction. He attacks global warming (as he did in "State of Fear"), nuclear winter, SETI, over-population, and Scientific American magazine for their religion-like dedication to limited facts and lack of scientific rigor. Maybe his real reason for writing a piece as inflammatory as "State of Fear" was to be allowed a forum to express his real irritation, which isn't with environmentalists at all, but with scientists and their false articles of faith. Unfortunately, he's taken on a collection of his own religious fallacies as evidence against the scientific establishment.
April 2005
10/26/2015
#133 The White Collar Crime Party
All Rights Reserved © 2005 Thomas W. Day
GeeWiz Bush's close friendship with "Kenny Boy" Lay (ENRON) and a large collection of recently convicted and accused corporate criminals is pretty good evidence that Republicans are closely linked with white collar crime. Ronald Reagan hardly knew anyone who wasn't a corporate criminal and presented the nation to a close experience with several of those crooks in his cabinet and administration. As a result, a record number of Reagan Presidential associates were accused, fined, or went to jail during that seriously flawed Presidency.
The first edition of President George Bush smoothly slipped from hanging with oily white collar criminals to the Presidency and back to his high life with Fortune 500 mafia cronies. Fahrenheit 9/11 showed us GB 1's close relationship with corporate oil criminals in a scene with a crowd of oil executives and Saudi royalty.
Here in Minnesota, our current governor Pawlenty was "employed" doing nothing for a year, at $4500/month by his "advisor" and Access Anywhere pay telephone exec Elam Baer. Pawlenty had this gig for a year running for the highest state office and "serving" in the state legislature. Pawlenty's big money backer asked absolutely nothing from his Republican pool boy for two years, while the candidate established his candidacy. In exchange for nothing, Pawlenty received at least a $54k "consulting fee" and his backer received "future considerations" (as they say in Republican doublespeak). Even before the election, the money guy was saying that he'd "received fair value" for his investment in Pawlenty. We're still waiting to see the pictures of what Pawlenty did to earn $54k. Access Anywhere and its subsidiaries have been fined for a variety of consumer fraud abuses by several states.
These fine examples of Republican amorality are nothing new for the GOP. Since Grant, most Republican candidates have been crooks first, politicians second, and Americans behind every other entertainment. Eisenhower was a slight departure from the norm, but he waited until his last moment as President to, uncharacteristically, lash out at the white collar criminals heading the "military-industrial complex." Otherwise, his term of office was decorated with scandals and abuses of power and weeks of vacationing at the nation's finest golf courses. Republicans are nothing if not expert at relaxing and ignoring they job they've been elected to perform.
This year, though, the Republicans are coming out of the closet with the kind of confidence that could only belong to a party that does not fear losing the next election. They have a right to feel fearless, now that they have fixed national and local elections so that they can "win" any office they decide to fill. Being unafraid of the whim of democracy, their first act is to provide the same kind of immunity to their white collar criminal buddies. So, "tort reform" has risen to "the most important problem the nation faces," according to Republicans and their $4,000 suit cohorts.
"Tort reform," if you haven't been paying attention, is directed at a specific, very narrow aspect of civil law; the part that allows the rest of us to strike back at the abuses of big business and other white collar criminals. Real tort reform would embrace all aspects of legal time-wasting, including the overwhelming number of frivolous business-to-business lawsuits. But Republicans, on the rare occasion they develop any practical skills, are occasionally corporate lawyers. And business law is one of the few places where large companies can beat small companies. So, this pretense of "tort reform" is only aimed at limiting the capability of class action lawsuits. Because the last thing a Republican wants is for his gravy train to be taken to court, shown to be as criminal as we all know they are, and deprived of millions of dollars that could be better spent putting a well-connected Republican into political office.
Forbid the thought that a poor or middle class person might find a way to strike back at a corporation that caused loss of life, limb, or means of survival. Republicans believe that our courts are reserved for whatever purposes the really evil white collar criminals believe they are best served. "Tort reform" is intended to protect big tobacco, bigger oil, drug manufacturers, polluters, inside traders, creative accounting executives, and the long list of incredibly rich and powerful white collar criminals.
The arrogant bastards who are promoting this think you don't have the brains to know what they are doing. So far, all of their decisions have been based on the assumption that the average US voter is too dumb to know what's good for him. They're probably right. The world is still waiting to hear about the first scumbag to go broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.
April 2005
GeeWiz Bush's close friendship with "Kenny Boy" Lay (ENRON) and a large collection of recently convicted and accused corporate criminals is pretty good evidence that Republicans are closely linked with white collar crime. Ronald Reagan hardly knew anyone who wasn't a corporate criminal and presented the nation to a close experience with several of those crooks in his cabinet and administration. As a result, a record number of Reagan Presidential associates were accused, fined, or went to jail during that seriously flawed Presidency.
The first edition of President George Bush smoothly slipped from hanging with oily white collar criminals to the Presidency and back to his high life with Fortune 500 mafia cronies. Fahrenheit 9/11 showed us GB 1's close relationship with corporate oil criminals in a scene with a crowd of oil executives and Saudi royalty.
Here in Minnesota, our current governor Pawlenty was "employed" doing nothing for a year, at $4500/month by his "advisor" and Access Anywhere pay telephone exec Elam Baer. Pawlenty had this gig for a year running for the highest state office and "serving" in the state legislature. Pawlenty's big money backer asked absolutely nothing from his Republican pool boy for two years, while the candidate established his candidacy. In exchange for nothing, Pawlenty received at least a $54k "consulting fee" and his backer received "future considerations" (as they say in Republican doublespeak). Even before the election, the money guy was saying that he'd "received fair value" for his investment in Pawlenty. We're still waiting to see the pictures of what Pawlenty did to earn $54k. Access Anywhere and its subsidiaries have been fined for a variety of consumer fraud abuses by several states.
These fine examples of Republican amorality are nothing new for the GOP. Since Grant, most Republican candidates have been crooks first, politicians second, and Americans behind every other entertainment. Eisenhower was a slight departure from the norm, but he waited until his last moment as President to, uncharacteristically, lash out at the white collar criminals heading the "military-industrial complex." Otherwise, his term of office was decorated with scandals and abuses of power and weeks of vacationing at the nation's finest golf courses. Republicans are nothing if not expert at relaxing and ignoring they job they've been elected to perform.
This year, though, the Republicans are coming out of the closet with the kind of confidence that could only belong to a party that does not fear losing the next election. They have a right to feel fearless, now that they have fixed national and local elections so that they can "win" any office they decide to fill. Being unafraid of the whim of democracy, their first act is to provide the same kind of immunity to their white collar criminal buddies. So, "tort reform" has risen to "the most important problem the nation faces," according to Republicans and their $4,000 suit cohorts.
"Tort reform," if you haven't been paying attention, is directed at a specific, very narrow aspect of civil law; the part that allows the rest of us to strike back at the abuses of big business and other white collar criminals. Real tort reform would embrace all aspects of legal time-wasting, including the overwhelming number of frivolous business-to-business lawsuits. But Republicans, on the rare occasion they develop any practical skills, are occasionally corporate lawyers. And business law is one of the few places where large companies can beat small companies. So, this pretense of "tort reform" is only aimed at limiting the capability of class action lawsuits. Because the last thing a Republican wants is for his gravy train to be taken to court, shown to be as criminal as we all know they are, and deprived of millions of dollars that could be better spent putting a well-connected Republican into political office.
Forbid the thought that a poor or middle class person might find a way to strike back at a corporation that caused loss of life, limb, or means of survival. Republicans believe that our courts are reserved for whatever purposes the really evil white collar criminals believe they are best served. "Tort reform" is intended to protect big tobacco, bigger oil, drug manufacturers, polluters, inside traders, creative accounting executives, and the long list of incredibly rich and powerful white collar criminals.
The arrogant bastards who are promoting this think you don't have the brains to know what they are doing. So far, all of their decisions have been based on the assumption that the average US voter is too dumb to know what's good for him. They're probably right. The world is still waiting to hear about the first scumbag to go broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.
April 2005
10/19/2015
#132 So Now that You Can't Vote, What Can You Do? (2005)
All Rights Reserved © 2005 Thomas W. Day
I predict that the violence this country suffered during the 1960's will return. In fact, I predict that political assassinations and kidnapping will begin to occur at a state level in Florida and Ohio. Since Florida and Ohio suspended voter rights to further the neocon Republican agenda, it only seems logical that the violence would begin there. I could be wrong, maybe people won't care which state politicians they attack, but I think it's inevitable that politicians and the government will come under attack.
For all practical purposes, Republican power mongers have eliminated the right to vote in the United States. In most states, Republican radicals have physically taken over the voting machinery and, now, the act of voting is an unnecessary and pointless exercise. The outcome is predetermined and there is, politically, nothing individual citizens can do about it; nothing democratic.
Voting is a non-violent, relatively painless way to affect political change. When fair and honest elections are unavailable, the only method left to affect change is civil disobedience violence. L.B.J. and Tricky Dick created a similar non-responsive political system in the late 1960s and their political ineptitude spawned the Weathermen, Black Panthers, and the Symbionese Revolutionary Army along with a generation of political activists who often considered violence along with traditional political action.
The problem with non-democratic political systems is that they have to be totalitarian and viciously self-protective. The mythical benevolent dictator is an impossible fantasy. As Phillip Dick wrote, "Sometimes the appropriate response to reality is to go insane." I suppose that explains suicide bombers. When citizens have no way to change their political system other than through violence, violence becomes a valid and effective political option. If you can't vote with a ballot, you can always voice your opinion with a bullet, a bomb, or by kidnapping the nearest politician's family members.
Of course, whoever the powers that be, who are The Powers That Be, will call that response "terrorism." Terrorism is defined as " the use of violence, or the threat of violence, to create a climate of fear in a given population." When the "given population" is a group that wields a grossly disproportional amount of power and controls an overwhelming portion of the nation's assets and has worked hard to create a "climate of fear" in the general population, the definition still stands but it doesn't elicit anywhere near as much sympathy for the "terrorized" population.
The response of many Americans to the Oklahoma City bombing was surprisingly neutral, until the media focused on the injured and murdered children of the federal employees who were attending the government-provided childcare in the federal building. I was regularly surprised at middle-Americans who felt sympathy for "the kids" and apathy toward the adults who died in that act of terrorism. These were not just right or left wing extremists, but unbelievably ordinary, middle-class working folks from all areas of life. Americans, apparently, are incredibly disassociated from their government and the people who work for that government. So isolated, in fact, that we have a hard time deciding who to root for, the bomber or the bombed, when a U.S. government is blown to bits.
The current political system is creating an atmosphere ripe for revolution. In forcing the middle class to carry the weight for the rich, our government is destroying the economic system that created the nation's wealth. David Cay Johnston, the author of Perfectly Legal, The Covert Campaign to Rig Our tax System to Benefit the Super Rich--and Cheat Everyone Else and a New York Times reporter, describes how we suffer under "the only government in the world that is pursuing a low wage strategy." Our tax system is designed to export middle class jobs, to transfer wealth from the middle class to the rich, and to provide economic security only for the rich; especially the inherited rich.
If there is a perfectly worthless, deadbeat class in America today, it's the inherited rich who believe they have a right to their sloth and destructive traditions. You'd think that Americans would be repulsed by the existence of a class of citizens who are "royal" and powerful simply because of their parentage. We aren't yet, but that doesn't mean we won't get there damn soon.
Without the bright lights and sparkly distraction of television and video games, I suspect that we'd be in the middle of a revolution today. As it is, most Americans haven't noticed that their children are sliding into an international third-class status as uneducated, unskilled, minimum-wage laborers. With the deadly combination of religious hallucinations and credit cards, they can distract themselves from the painful facts that should be faced, sooner or later. But that doesn't mean those distractions will put food on the table or a table under a roof or a roof over a family.
Society's usual canaries in the mine are already beginning to show the strain, though. Revolutions are not carried out by the masses. Only 1% of the population participated in the American Revolution. Fewer than 1% of the 1960s kids fought against the Vietnam War and Nixon's corrupt administration. The overwhelming majority of every population is cowardly and conservative, but change doesn't depend on the majority's participation. Change is driven by a innovative, energized, creative few. The rest of the human sheep simply follow the flow or hide and watch. When one mechanism for change is removed (voting rights, for example), another will take its place. If the United States' government no longer interested in guiding and protecting democracy and freedom, another entity will take its place. This country's power comes from the middle class and the energy of the middle class won't be contained as easily as the Bushies hope. Bush should be careful about dismantling the systems of democracy. The tools for change won't vanish, but they will change. Sometimes, when the tide changes, more than just sandy beaches are washed away.
March 2005
I predict that the violence this country suffered during the 1960's will return. In fact, I predict that political assassinations and kidnapping will begin to occur at a state level in Florida and Ohio. Since Florida and Ohio suspended voter rights to further the neocon Republican agenda, it only seems logical that the violence would begin there. I could be wrong, maybe people won't care which state politicians they attack, but I think it's inevitable that politicians and the government will come under attack.
For all practical purposes, Republican power mongers have eliminated the right to vote in the United States. In most states, Republican radicals have physically taken over the voting machinery and, now, the act of voting is an unnecessary and pointless exercise. The outcome is predetermined and there is, politically, nothing individual citizens can do about it; nothing democratic.
Voting is a non-violent, relatively painless way to affect political change. When fair and honest elections are unavailable, the only method left to affect change is civil disobedience violence. L.B.J. and Tricky Dick created a similar non-responsive political system in the late 1960s and their political ineptitude spawned the Weathermen, Black Panthers, and the Symbionese Revolutionary Army along with a generation of political activists who often considered violence along with traditional political action.
The problem with non-democratic political systems is that they have to be totalitarian and viciously self-protective. The mythical benevolent dictator is an impossible fantasy. As Phillip Dick wrote, "Sometimes the appropriate response to reality is to go insane." I suppose that explains suicide bombers. When citizens have no way to change their political system other than through violence, violence becomes a valid and effective political option. If you can't vote with a ballot, you can always voice your opinion with a bullet, a bomb, or by kidnapping the nearest politician's family members.
Of course, whoever the powers that be, who are The Powers That Be, will call that response "terrorism." Terrorism is defined as " the use of violence, or the threat of violence, to create a climate of fear in a given population." When the "given population" is a group that wields a grossly disproportional amount of power and controls an overwhelming portion of the nation's assets and has worked hard to create a "climate of fear" in the general population, the definition still stands but it doesn't elicit anywhere near as much sympathy for the "terrorized" population.
The response of many Americans to the Oklahoma City bombing was surprisingly neutral, until the media focused on the injured and murdered children of the federal employees who were attending the government-provided childcare in the federal building. I was regularly surprised at middle-Americans who felt sympathy for "the kids" and apathy toward the adults who died in that act of terrorism. These were not just right or left wing extremists, but unbelievably ordinary, middle-class working folks from all areas of life. Americans, apparently, are incredibly disassociated from their government and the people who work for that government. So isolated, in fact, that we have a hard time deciding who to root for, the bomber or the bombed, when a U.S. government is blown to bits.
The current political system is creating an atmosphere ripe for revolution. In forcing the middle class to carry the weight for the rich, our government is destroying the economic system that created the nation's wealth. David Cay Johnston, the author of Perfectly Legal, The Covert Campaign to Rig Our tax System to Benefit the Super Rich--and Cheat Everyone Else and a New York Times reporter, describes how we suffer under "the only government in the world that is pursuing a low wage strategy." Our tax system is designed to export middle class jobs, to transfer wealth from the middle class to the rich, and to provide economic security only for the rich; especially the inherited rich.
If there is a perfectly worthless, deadbeat class in America today, it's the inherited rich who believe they have a right to their sloth and destructive traditions. You'd think that Americans would be repulsed by the existence of a class of citizens who are "royal" and powerful simply because of their parentage. We aren't yet, but that doesn't mean we won't get there damn soon.
Without the bright lights and sparkly distraction of television and video games, I suspect that we'd be in the middle of a revolution today. As it is, most Americans haven't noticed that their children are sliding into an international third-class status as uneducated, unskilled, minimum-wage laborers. With the deadly combination of religious hallucinations and credit cards, they can distract themselves from the painful facts that should be faced, sooner or later. But that doesn't mean those distractions will put food on the table or a table under a roof or a roof over a family.
Society's usual canaries in the mine are already beginning to show the strain, though. Revolutions are not carried out by the masses. Only 1% of the population participated in the American Revolution. Fewer than 1% of the 1960s kids fought against the Vietnam War and Nixon's corrupt administration. The overwhelming majority of every population is cowardly and conservative, but change doesn't depend on the majority's participation. Change is driven by a innovative, energized, creative few. The rest of the human sheep simply follow the flow or hide and watch. When one mechanism for change is removed (voting rights, for example), another will take its place. If the United States' government no longer interested in guiding and protecting democracy and freedom, another entity will take its place. This country's power comes from the middle class and the energy of the middle class won't be contained as easily as the Bushies hope. Bush should be careful about dismantling the systems of democracy. The tools for change won't vanish, but they will change. Sometimes, when the tide changes, more than just sandy beaches are washed away.
March 2005
10/12/2015
#131 Fat People on Welfare (2005)
All Rights Reserved © 2005 Thomas W. Day
Nothing stripes my ass faster than getting stuck behind fat people in the grocery line, trying to pay their grocery bill with food stamps or a Minnesota EBT card. I don't have a problem with welfare for people who need it, but it's obvious that fat people don't need help finding food. I'm not buying the hormone excuse, you get fat because you eat too much crap and exercise too little. Someone on welfare or food stamps should be working way too hard to get fat. Usually, the cherry on top of the pissed-off donut is the newer-and-far-more-expensive-than-mine, over-sized, typically-American car that the welfare recipient stuffs his and/or her groceries into.I'm equally incensed by pretty much anyone who abuses public assistance. Smack on top of my list is every sort of corporate welfare. Fat cat corporations who are not contributing anything exceptionally valuable to their communities do not deserve public funding. Sports teams ought to be paying for the privilege of polluting the airways and local traffic with their meaningless "entertainment." Even asking for concessions on the concessions at pro sports events ought to grounds for public humiliation for those fat cats. Apparently, politicians are below any threshold of personal honor, since it's never hard to find a crooked pol to sponsor yet another publicly financed gladiator stadium.
Corporate welfare is the norm in this country. Ethanol, for example, is a spectacular source of welfare in the US. "Family farmers" are just corporate farms, so protecting that "national tradition" is as stupid as worrying about protecting the last of the slave plantations. It takes somewhere between 1 and 1.5 btu's of energy to produce a single btu of ethanol, counting manufacturing, processing, and transportation. My inability to pin down the range of inefficiency is mostly because the folks who create this corrupt pork barrel don't want the average taxpayer who receives absolutely no benefit from ethanol to know how bad they're being screwed. However, if foreign oil independence is a national goal, wasting 1 barrel of Arab fuel to produce 3/4 barrel of mediocre corn gas isn't going to achieve that goal. What it does produce is easy welfare money for unproductive Midwestern farmers.
I think that anyone ought to have exhausted all possible sources of income and sold off all excess property before even considering asking for public assistance. Welfare is for the poor, not the lazy, not folks who feel inconvenienced by normal business hours, and, especially, not for people who simply can't manage their lives competently.
A few years back, an acquaintance who had managed to lose a half-dozen jobs in a two year period found himself out of work in the heart of the Bush II recession. He was already inclined to be an uninformed "conservative," but his experience with the Minnesota public assistance system tipped the scales for him. He'd been fired, with cause, from his last two jobs and had been in those positions for less than three months. He wasn't qualified for Unemployment. He applied for welfare.
In his mind, he "really needed" public assistance. He was astounded to discover that the state was unconvinced. Maybe it was the brand new, gas-guzzling double cab 3/4-ton pickup that he drove to the welfare office. Maybe it was the fact that his wife earned a little above the poverty level at her job. According to the welfare folks, his problem wasn't that he was poor. His problem was that he managed money about as competently as George Bush manages the English language. For some reason, they expected him to give up a little luxury and excess before they were willing to start tossing public money in his direction.
He's no different that corporations who want to tap into the public finance vein. They're making buckets of money, but they can see that competition might, someday, put an end to their success. So, they buy a politician, write a bill that provides them with a pile of tax money, and manipulate the system so that they get paid not to work. It's the American Way.
Our current tax system is wall-to-wall welfare for the rich. The rich and crooked get rich on the backs of the middle class. They elected a deadbeat dope addict to further their agenda and move the cost of maintaining an elite class to the working middle class. They want to dip their crooked fingers into the national economy and be protected and subsidized while they do it.
Fat people on the public dole are only slightly more irritating than fat people trying to get onto the public dole without even a half-reasonable cause.
March 2005
10/05/2015
#130 Looking for King George (2005)
All Rights Reserved © 2005 Thomas W. Day
I've heard at least a zillion explanations for why executives are worth the humongous salaries they're paid for doing the mediocre work they usually avoid. Not a one of those justifications makes a lick of sense.
The dumbest is the comparison between professional athletes and executive salaries. The story goes that if an uneducated street kid who happens to be able to run fast, throw a ball hard, jump high, and/or coordinate his hand and eye at a superhuman level is worth X-million-dollars a year, it should be obvious that the CEO of a Misfortune 500 Company deserves even more money for whatever the hell he does. Sort of an if X=Y, then Z=$6,000,000 kind of logic.
First, we have some standard of comparison for the athlete, even if it's totally irrational because some dumbass CEO is the fool who decides what the athlete is "worth." At least the athlete has to be able to do his job well enough to produce points or prevent them from being produced before some silly executive will assign a value to that job. Second, it's indirectly possible to pretend that there is a marginally direct link between an athlete's performance and the dollars spectators will spend to witness that performance.
No such logic exists for executive salaries. An exec can completely suck at his job, providing no leadership, no technical skills, no Big Picture insight, and no useful reason for his or her existence and that exec can still drain big bucks from the corporate till. Any half-competent corporate researcher can find examples of thousands of execs who have mismanaged their company into oblivion and walked away with a magnificent golden parachute. Sometimes those parachutes can be directly attributed to the company's death and that doesn't seem to phase anyone.
No, I think the reason American companies pay such ridiculous salaries for non-performing execs is because we're looking for King George. A paltry 1% of the original citizens of the United States participated in the American Revolution. The overwhelming majority were perfectly happy with taxation without representation and a class system that stifled England into 3rd world status in the next 200 years. A disgusting number of the elite who participated in the creation of the Constitution wanted a government similar to the one the country had just defeated, many of them urged George Washington to become King George Washington. Today, most Americans are doing everything they can to return to the social structure and economic system that killed crushed the life out of Jolly Ole' England.
We're happily and stupidly electing an inherited political system, setting ourselves up for years of inbred Bush family-screw-ups. We've created a class system of upper crust, Ivy League morons who float to the top of almost every corporate institution, in spite of inability and lack of imagination and infected by the age-old ruling-class-total-absence-of-ethical-standards.
Humans are an incredibly simple-minded animal, at the core. We're desperately hoping that there is more to life than . . . life. We want "meaning" to be applied to this painful and degrading existence, but we don't want to work for that significance. We want someone to impart it upon us. Since gods are notoriously absent during times of trial and turbulence, we hope that the gods will speak to "special people": the inherited ruling class. As stupid as that theory is, it's as old as human society. If you can find a single example of a king being anything but a drain on his culture or a queen being anything but a useless figurehead sucking the lifeblood away from the folks who do actual work, I'll be astounded. But I won't be convinced that your one example establishes anything but an incredible example of dumb luck in a single moment in time.
The best companies are more democratic than autocratic. The most successful companies in modern history have a structure that is dramatically more flat that pyramidal, decision and salary-wise. Not that anyone cares. We're more interested in being comfortable than in being productive. Apparently, most of us are more comfortable when we're being ruled by a royal class whose inheritance is decreed by non-existent gods. P.T. Barnum must have been thinking of this trait when he said "there is a sucker born every minute." The only thing wrong with this sentiment, in 2005, is that suckers are born at a much faster rate.
February 2005
9/29/2015
#129 Imagine This (2005)
All Rights Reserved © 2005 Thomas W. Day
This strange . . . parable(?) was sent to me several months ago by a Kansas family member. I hung on to it for weeks, considering sending a "reply to all" as a correction to the many logical flaws in this irrational rant, but decided that the Rat is a better place to "publish" my response. The "letter" is highlighted by lines beginning with ">" and my response is found in the bits without that weird punctuation.
Funny how a powerful majority religion can be so paranoid about its status in a country that it clearly rules with fear and repression. Even non-believers are afraid to express disagreement in the current climate. Like Islamic fundamentalists in Iran or Saudi Arabia, neo-con Christians continue to push their agenda on everyone who thinks like or unlike them. When anyone questions their ethics, honesty, fantasies, or superstitions, they cry "persecution!" and act like "freedom from religion" is the worst crime Jefferson perpetrated against humanity.
Even worse than owning slaves. A psychologist might diagnose this as either paranoia or megalomania. From my perspective, it seems more like the kind of insecurity that has driven religious despots since the beginning of human communities. Vicious historic actions like witch hunts, the Inquisition, England's purge of all churches other than the Church of England (not long before the American Revolution attempted to separate politics from such oppression), and Hitler's purge of Jews and other non-white, non-Christian citizens in 1945 are examples of this insecurity in action. I'm unconvinced that a significant number of people in any culture "trash God." However, it's obvious that all people do not believe in the same gods. Or the same ideals from a shared God. If that's trashing God, I guess my last paragraph explains this statement. If the writer hopes to create a unified human mind, she's living a drug-addled superstitious fantasy.
The history of this often-edited book is anything but clear and unambiguous. Which makes it easy to pick and choose what you want from the version that most suits the crime you want to commit. Depending on the section and the edition it's not difficult to find arguments for "loving your neighbor" or "killing the heretics." The argument you choose probably says more about you than it says about your faith. Aside from Christianity, we have the Book of Mormon, the Koran, the Torah, the sacred documents of 60-some Indian (not Native Americans, India Indians, you dolt) religions, the Buddhist Bible, and only the gods know how many other religious documents exist.
There is no shortage of gods to celebrate and everyone seems to think the believers of other gods are heretics. Personally, I don't have time to sort out who's right. Living in the here and now is tough enough without inventing and justifying the "next life." People of faith have used the Bible and other famous religious books to justify slavery, genocide, infanticide, homicide and assassinations, war, theft, greed, selfishness, and every other human fault. How, exactly, do you know when a person is acting in good faith or in self-interest?
Obviously, Christians are not particularly good at making that determination, since they picked a marginally recovered drunk and drug addict who swindled his home city for his share of the $7.5 million dollar debt for a publicly financed baseball stadium. Choosing a man who executed 250+ people, while claiming to be "pro-life" is equally inconsistent. Bush's list of un-Christian acts would go on for pages and pages, but he's just one piece of evidence that life is, apparently, more complex than defining the hereafter. As for the claim that "we believe what the newspapers say," most people rarely believe much that newspapers say. The press has a credibility rating that is considerably beneath used car salespeople. Maybe that's because so much of the press is dominated and owned by the same folks who want us all to bow to the same religion? Rupert Murdoch and Sun Myung Moon own right wing newspapers that are regularly quoted as "unbiased Christian sources." Right. If the Klan is unbiased, so are those sources.
Having read a good bit of the Christian Bible, I think it's impossible to not "do anything the Bible says." The Bible can give justification to just about any act, if you look for a specific justification. Murder ("an eye for an eye"), genocide, incest, it's all there. The Old Testament, in particular, is specially ruthless and wide open for interpretation.
January 2005
This strange . . . parable(?) was sent to me several months ago by a Kansas family member. I hung on to it for weeks, considering sending a "reply to all" as a correction to the many logical flaws in this irrational rant, but decided that the Rat is a better place to "publish" my response. The "letter" is highlighted by lines beginning with ">" and my response is found in the bits without that weird punctuation.
- Imagine this happening to you...
- One Sunday morning during service, a 2,000 member congregation was
- surprised to see two men enter, both covered from head to toe in black
- and carrying submachine guns. One of the men proclaimed,
- "Anyone willing to take a bullet for Christ remain where you are."
- Immediately, the choir fled...
- the deacons fled...
- and most of the congregation fled....
- out of the 2,000 there only remained around 20.
- The man who had spoken took off his hood...
- He then looked at the preacher and said "Okay Pastor, I got rid of all
- the hypocrites... Now you may begin your service. Have a nice
- day!"
- And the two men turned and walked out.
- Funny how simple it is for people to trash God ...
- and then wonder why the world is in the condition it is today....
Funny how a powerful majority religion can be so paranoid about its status in a country that it clearly rules with fear and repression. Even non-believers are afraid to express disagreement in the current climate. Like Islamic fundamentalists in Iran or Saudi Arabia, neo-con Christians continue to push their agenda on everyone who thinks like or unlike them. When anyone questions their ethics, honesty, fantasies, or superstitions, they cry "persecution!" and act like "freedom from religion" is the worst crime Jefferson perpetrated against humanity.
Even worse than owning slaves. A psychologist might diagnose this as either paranoia or megalomania. From my perspective, it seems more like the kind of insecurity that has driven religious despots since the beginning of human communities. Vicious historic actions like witch hunts, the Inquisition, England's purge of all churches other than the Church of England (not long before the American Revolution attempted to separate politics from such oppression), and Hitler's purge of Jews and other non-white, non-Christian citizens in 1945 are examples of this insecurity in action. I'm unconvinced that a significant number of people in any culture "trash God." However, it's obvious that all people do not believe in the same gods. Or the same ideals from a shared God. If that's trashing God, I guess my last paragraph explains this statement. If the writer hopes to create a unified human mind, she's living a drug-addled superstitious fantasy.
- Funny how we believe what the newspapers say...but question what the Bible says...
The history of this often-edited book is anything but clear and unambiguous. Which makes it easy to pick and choose what you want from the version that most suits the crime you want to commit. Depending on the section and the edition it's not difficult to find arguments for "loving your neighbor" or "killing the heretics." The argument you choose probably says more about you than it says about your faith. Aside from Christianity, we have the Book of Mormon, the Koran, the Torah, the sacred documents of 60-some Indian (not Native Americans, India Indians, you dolt) religions, the Buddhist Bible, and only the gods know how many other religious documents exist.
There is no shortage of gods to celebrate and everyone seems to think the believers of other gods are heretics. Personally, I don't have time to sort out who's right. Living in the here and now is tough enough without inventing and justifying the "next life." People of faith have used the Bible and other famous religious books to justify slavery, genocide, infanticide, homicide and assassinations, war, theft, greed, selfishness, and every other human fault. How, exactly, do you know when a person is acting in good faith or in self-interest?
Obviously, Christians are not particularly good at making that determination, since they picked a marginally recovered drunk and drug addict who swindled his home city for his share of the $7.5 million dollar debt for a publicly financed baseball stadium. Choosing a man who executed 250+ people, while claiming to be "pro-life" is equally inconsistent. Bush's list of un-Christian acts would go on for pages and pages, but he's just one piece of evidence that life is, apparently, more complex than defining the hereafter. As for the claim that "we believe what the newspapers say," most people rarely believe much that newspapers say. The press has a credibility rating that is considerably beneath used car salespeople. Maybe that's because so much of the press is dominated and owned by the same folks who want us all to bow to the same religion? Rupert Murdoch and Sun Myung Moon own right wing newspapers that are regularly quoted as "unbiased Christian sources." Right. If the Klan is unbiased, so are those sources.
- Funny how everyone wants to go to heaven...
- provided they do not have to believe, think, say, or do anything the Bible says.
Having read a good bit of the Christian Bible, I think it's impossible to not "do anything the Bible says." The Bible can give justification to just about any act, if you look for a specific justification. Murder ("an eye for an eye"), genocide, incest, it's all there. The Old Testament, in particular, is specially ruthless and wide open for interpretation.
- Funny how someone can say "I believe in God"...
- but still follow Satan (who, by the way, also "believes" in God).
- Funny how you can send a thousand 'jokes' through e-mail and they
- spread like wildfire... but when you start sending messages regarding
- the Lord, you think twice about sharing.
- Funny how the lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene pass freely through
- cyberspace... but the public discussion of Jesus is suppressed in the
- school and work place.
- Funny, isn't it? Funny how someone can be so fired up for Christ on
- Sunday... but be an invisible Christian the rest of the week.
- Are you laughing?
- Funny how when you go to forward this message...
- You will not send it to many on your address list because you're not
- sure what they believe...
- or what they will think of you for sending it to them. *Funny how I
- can be more worried about what other people think of me...... than what God thinks of me.
- Are you thinking?
- Will you share this with people you care about?
- Or not?
January 2005
9/22/2015
#128 What's an Executive Worth? (2005)
During a recent NPR business-babble program, Weekend Edition, Bill Catlin asked numbskull "expert, Jim Sillery, an executive compensation consultant, if executives were "worth" the idiotic salaries they receive for mismanaging over-stuffed American Misfortune 500 disaster zones. This brilliant question was inspired by the recent Fannie Mae accounting mismanagement fiasco, which was preceded by ENRON and a few hundred similar incidents of gross and corrupt mismanagement in the last few years. Of course, Sillery assured Catlin that boards of directors only pay what they "need" to pay to get the "talent" their companies require. Talent? Need? What would a couple of stuffed suits who never worked an honest day in their lives know about talent or need?
NPR's "business" program morphed into an equally silly discussion between Scott Simon and Fortune magazine editor Joe Nocera. They continued the fanzine babble over the wonders of executive inspiration. Spoken like the true outsider he is, Nocera pronounced Steve Jobs to be the 2004 Business Man of the Year. Somehow, Nocera fantasized that Jobs was the Apple "founder" who's technical wizardry turned Apple into the poster-biz for rags-to-riches. Catlin listened to this BS as uncritically as GeeWizz Bush receiving a lecture on world affairs from his puppet master, da Veepmeister.
I would wager a good piece of spare change that neither Catlin, Sillery, Simon, or Nocera have worked on a production line, been a part of a product design team, or spent time in customer service. At best, these four spoiled children might have had a summer job flipping burgers or pretending to be country club lifeguards. There is no way that people with such limited useful business experience could know what a CEO "contributes" to a company, its products, the company's morale, inspiration, or daily function.
Jobs is about as far from a tech-wiz as GeeWizz Bush. Steve Wozniak provided the technical skills that created and still inspire Apple. Jobs chased Wozniak out of his own company with power plays, back-stabbing, and by turning a cool, creative company into a tech sweatshop. Jobs' claim to fame, in every Apple product, is the quickly dated "look" of Apple products. With the same trendy vision that new cars look like old cars in two years, Jobs cranks out plastic boxes that look 50 years old by the time the next generation of products appears. Jobs might be a marketing wiz, but he's no Woz. He is not a technical innovator, an inspiring manager, or a creative force. He's a political animal and there is no shortage of those in these United States. The best analogy I've seen of Wozniak and Jobs compared them to the Beatles: Jobs was McCartney, a self-promoting pop icon with limited skills but lots of unfounded sex appeal, Wozniak is Lennon, multi-talented, ahead of his time, and completely dedicated to music and making the world a better place to live.
Leadership is a grossly misunderstood quality. For some reason, humans want to imagine that leaders are something you can breed and grow like pedigreed sheep. For centuries, human cultures have gravitated toward promoting the most useless, least visionary, least talented men to the highest positions in the country. We all know this isn't reality. Hollywood and historians have made a living out of retelling the story that we all know to be true; that our leaders are distracted and incompetent and, without the constant assistance and supervision of critical middle management, they will drive us to ruin. Crooked and doped up politicians, dimwitted kings and CEOs, loudmouthed but foolish bosses, sexist and clueless managers, and the long list of people in power who don't have the capacity or motivation to do the leading their job implies they should provide. That's the universal stereotype for "leadership." Writers and comedians have been working with that material for centuries.
Cultural and corporate heroes are always the rare born leader who spends his time leading and doing the work that needs doing, instead of politicking, stuffing knives into backs, and avoiding useful work. The fools who rise to the top of the corporate and political ladder are excess baggage with ambition. They don't care who they hurt, how much damage they do to their culture and associates (they rarely have friends), or what happens to the business or country they mismanage after they receive their golden parachutes or are assassinated (politically or actually). Claiming that these men are critical to a company's success is as clueless as imagining that Reagan destroyed the Soviet Union or that Bill Clinton created the Information Society. Just because they were sitting at the top of the pile when those things happened is no evidence that they were any part of the cause or the effect.
The myth survives because, rarely, a real leader actually ends up on top of the heap. When that happens, the lucky heap is massively stronger than other heaps. Microsoft is that kind of company and we all know how popular that company's leader is. Human herds do not like people who actually are smarter than the average dull upper-crust wit. But when a company or a culture does well, that isn't an indication of that kind of luck. It's most often a different sort of happenstance. The kind that is driven from somewhere less visible but more typical. Most companies can get along fine without any of their deadbeat executives, but no company can survive without middle management, customer service, and the rest of the folks who actually do work.
January 2005
NPR's "business" program morphed into an equally silly discussion between Scott Simon and Fortune magazine editor Joe Nocera. They continued the fanzine babble over the wonders of executive inspiration. Spoken like the true outsider he is, Nocera pronounced Steve Jobs to be the 2004 Business Man of the Year. Somehow, Nocera fantasized that Jobs was the Apple "founder" who's technical wizardry turned Apple into the poster-biz for rags-to-riches. Catlin listened to this BS as uncritically as GeeWizz Bush receiving a lecture on world affairs from his puppet master, da Veepmeister.
I would wager a good piece of spare change that neither Catlin, Sillery, Simon, or Nocera have worked on a production line, been a part of a product design team, or spent time in customer service. At best, these four spoiled children might have had a summer job flipping burgers or pretending to be country club lifeguards. There is no way that people with such limited useful business experience could know what a CEO "contributes" to a company, its products, the company's morale, inspiration, or daily function.
Jobs is about as far from a tech-wiz as GeeWizz Bush. Steve Wozniak provided the technical skills that created and still inspire Apple. Jobs chased Wozniak out of his own company with power plays, back-stabbing, and by turning a cool, creative company into a tech sweatshop. Jobs' claim to fame, in every Apple product, is the quickly dated "look" of Apple products. With the same trendy vision that new cars look like old cars in two years, Jobs cranks out plastic boxes that look 50 years old by the time the next generation of products appears. Jobs might be a marketing wiz, but he's no Woz. He is not a technical innovator, an inspiring manager, or a creative force. He's a political animal and there is no shortage of those in these United States. The best analogy I've seen of Wozniak and Jobs compared them to the Beatles: Jobs was McCartney, a self-promoting pop icon with limited skills but lots of unfounded sex appeal, Wozniak is Lennon, multi-talented, ahead of his time, and completely dedicated to music and making the world a better place to live.
Leadership is a grossly misunderstood quality. For some reason, humans want to imagine that leaders are something you can breed and grow like pedigreed sheep. For centuries, human cultures have gravitated toward promoting the most useless, least visionary, least talented men to the highest positions in the country. We all know this isn't reality. Hollywood and historians have made a living out of retelling the story that we all know to be true; that our leaders are distracted and incompetent and, without the constant assistance and supervision of critical middle management, they will drive us to ruin. Crooked and doped up politicians, dimwitted kings and CEOs, loudmouthed but foolish bosses, sexist and clueless managers, and the long list of people in power who don't have the capacity or motivation to do the leading their job implies they should provide. That's the universal stereotype for "leadership." Writers and comedians have been working with that material for centuries.
Cultural and corporate heroes are always the rare born leader who spends his time leading and doing the work that needs doing, instead of politicking, stuffing knives into backs, and avoiding useful work. The fools who rise to the top of the corporate and political ladder are excess baggage with ambition. They don't care who they hurt, how much damage they do to their culture and associates (they rarely have friends), or what happens to the business or country they mismanage after they receive their golden parachutes or are assassinated (politically or actually). Claiming that these men are critical to a company's success is as clueless as imagining that Reagan destroyed the Soviet Union or that Bill Clinton created the Information Society. Just because they were sitting at the top of the pile when those things happened is no evidence that they were any part of the cause or the effect.
The myth survives because, rarely, a real leader actually ends up on top of the heap. When that happens, the lucky heap is massively stronger than other heaps. Microsoft is that kind of company and we all know how popular that company's leader is. Human herds do not like people who actually are smarter than the average dull upper-crust wit. But when a company or a culture does well, that isn't an indication of that kind of luck. It's most often a different sort of happenstance. The kind that is driven from somewhere less visible but more typical. Most companies can get along fine without any of their deadbeat executives, but no company can survive without middle management, customer service, and the rest of the folks who actually do work.
January 2005
9/16/2015
How'd That Hopey Changey Stuff Work Out for You?
Yep, I’m quoting the laziest, most corrupt, dumbest ex-politician on the planet, Sarah Palin (the “funniest Palin”). I heard a local dimbulb quote her on the radio this morning and decided I’d had enough. Most of the people whining—on either side of the political spectrum—about what President Obama has not accomplished consider handing their income tax information to a clerk working for H & R Block their most impressive achievement of the year. (The accounting for most of those people don’t require anything more complicated than the usual 1040 short form, so this “accomplishment” is a pretty sad statement of incompetence.)
I’ve managed two manufacturing companies (20 to 140 employees) and at least a half-dozen small to mid-sized departments (3 to 60 employees) from start-up privately held companies to Misfortune 500 disasters and I had big “hopey, changey” goals for everyone of those jobs. I planned on fixing everything I’d seen done poorly by my predecessors or companies I’d done business with in the past. I had BIG plans. Like President Obama, I came to a hard, rough landing within a year or so of taking those jobs. Upper management was usually what shot me down, sort of like the Congressional Teabags, the Fox News propaganda machine, and Obama’s big plans for cooperation between the three branches of our fragile and dysfunctional government.
Outside of unnecessary obstacles, I often discovered industry presented a fair number of unreasoning roadblocks without the assistance of mismanagement. Underwriters Laboratory (Yes, “Underwriters’” should be possessive plural, but only the Canadian offices get that right.), for instance is a large, brain-dead bureaucracy that, like ISO9000 is best negotiated with bribes and luxury accommodations for the “inspectors,” rather than actual product safety or quality improvements and processes. Asking any of these morons “why” their sub-standards are as they are will not get you a useful answer. Again, pretty much like the Koch Congress and Extreme Court.
Then, of course, you have the people who work for you. During the extended economic downturn of the 80’s, the company whose manufacturing facility I managed had a couple of mediocre years followed by one bad one. Management decided to take a 20% salary cut (off of some very reasonable salaries) to prevent layoffs for the first year and a half. The economy didn’t get better and we were forced to cut back on manufacturing salary expenses. People were just standing around or we were building inventory we couldn’t hope to sell. We gave the assembly crew a choice: cut back to 4-days-a-week, 8-hour-a-days (and the associated 20% decrease in income) or we’d have to layoff 20% of the manufacturing crew. The crew voted to have their fellow workers (they hoped) laid off. This would be the national equivalent of conservatives voting to limit the effectiveness of the President who saved their economic asses from the full brunt of the Bush/Cheney Depression in 2010 and 2014.
As for the jackasses who whine that President Obama hasn’t been an effective “leader” because he can’t get Fox and the Koch Congress on his side, fuck you, you ignorant morons. Did Roosevelt get Hitler or Tojo on his side? While I’d stop short of calling Republicans “fascists,” they are traitors to the nation while being focused on their loyalty to the people who would love to trash the country and turn it into a dictatorship. Mostly, they’re fools who don’t realize how quickly their usefulness will expire. Some are spectacularly corrupt and amoral psychopaths. You can not lead people who refuse to be led and you can not educate people who are proud of their ignorance.
Here’s a fair list of President Barak Obama’s accomplishments, borrowed from http://PleaseCuttheCrap.com/obama-accomplishments/:
- Within his first week, he signed an Executive Order ordering an audit of government contracts, and combating waste and abuse. http://1.usa.gov/dUvbu5
- Created the post of Chief Performance Officer, whose job it is to make operations more efficient to save the federal government money. http://n.pr/hcgBn1
- On his first full day, he froze White House salaries. http://on.msnbc.com/ewJUIx
- He appointed the first Federal Chief Information Officer to oversee federal IT spending.http://www.cio.gov
- He committed to phasing out unnecessary and outdated weapons systems. To that end, he also signed the Democratic-sponsored Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act, which attempted to put a stop to waste, fraud and abuse in the defense procurement and contracting system. http://bit.ly/hOw1t1http://bit.ly/fz8GAd
- Through an executive order, he created the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. http://bit.ly/hwKhKa
- Pushed through and signed the Democratic-sponsored American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, otherwise known as “the stimulus package.” The bill passed, even though only three Republicans voted for it. In a major departure from the previous administration, he launched recovery.gov, a website that allows taxpayers to track spending from the Act. http://1.usa.gov/ibiFSshttp://1.usa.gov/e3BJMk
- The Bush-led Great Recession was costing the economy nearly 800,000 jobs per month by the time President Obama took office. But by the end of his first year, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act created and sustained 2.1 million jobs and stimulated the economy by 3.5%. http://reut.rs/i46CEE
- Not only did he completed the massive TARP financial and banking rescue plan, he also leaned on the banks and others, and recovered virtually all of the bail-out money. http://1.usa.gov/eA5jVShttp://bit.ly/eCNrD6
- He created the Making Home Affordable home refinancing plan. http://1.usa.gov/goy6zl
- Oversaw the creation of more jobs in 2010 alone than Bush did in eight years. http://bit.ly/hrrnjY
- Along with Democrats, and almost no Republicans, implemented an auto industry rescue plan, and saved as many as 1 million jobs. http://bit.ly/ibhpxr Many are of the opinion that he saved the entire auto industry, and even the economy of the entire Midwest. http://bit.ly/gj7mt5This resulted in GM returning to its place as the top car company in the world. http://lat.ms/zIJuQx
- Doubled funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, which is designed to improve manufacturing efficiency. http://bit.ly/eYD4nf
- Signed the Democratic-sponsored Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act giving the federal government more tools to investigate and prosecute fraud in every corner of the financial system, and create a bipartisan Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission to investigate the financial fraud that led to the economic meltdown. http://abcn.ws/g18Fe7
- Signed the Democratic-sponsored Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act, which was designed to to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive credit card practices. http://1.usa.gov/gIaNcS
- Increased infrastructure spending after years of neglect. http://bit.ly/f77aOw
- Signed the Democratic-sponsored and passed Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, expanding on the Making Home Affordable Program to help millions of Americans avoid preventable foreclosures. The bill also provided $2.2 billion to help combat homelessness, and to stabilize the housing market. http://bit.ly/eEpLFn
- Through the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009, he and Congressional Democrats provided tax credits to first-time home buyers, which helped the U.S. housing market recovery. http://bit.ly/dZgXXwhttp://bit.ly/gORYfL
- Initiated a $15 billion plan designed to encourage increased lending to small businesses. http://1.usa.gov/eu0u0b
- Created business.gov, which allows for online collaboration between small businesses and experts re managing a business. (The program has since merged with SBA.gov.) http://www.business.gov
- Played a lead role in getting the G-20 Summit to commit to a $1.1 trillion deal to combat the global financial crisis. http://nyti.ms/gHlgp5
- Took steps to improve minority access to capital. http://bit.ly/f9xVE7
- Signed an Executive Order instructing federal agencies to review all federal regulations and remove any unnecessary and/or burdensome regulations from the books. http://1.usa.gov/Lpo5bd
- Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, saved at least 300,000 education jobs, such as teachers, principals, librarians, and counselors that would have otherwise been lost. http://1.usa.gov/ez30D
- Dismantled the Minerals Management Service, thereby cutting ties between energy companies and the government. http://nyti.ms/bw1MLu
- Along with Congressional Democrats, provided funding to states and the Department of Homeland Security to save thousands of police and firefighter jobs from being cut during the recession. http://bit.ly/g0IKWR
- Used recovered TARP money to fund programs at local housing finance agencies in California, Florida, Nevada, Arizona and Michigan. http://on.msnbc.com/i1i8eV
- Crafted and signed an executive order establishing the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability to assist in financial education for all Americans. http://bit.ly/eyqsNE
- China’s largest manufacturer, Foxconn, is building a large plant in Pennsylvania http://cnnmon.ie/1k7LT4S
- Worked with Apple Computer to get them to build more product here, and thecompany is building two large plants to manufacture products here; one in Texas http://zd.net/1nkpt2O and one in Arizona http://bit.ly/1mXY5Vg
- Oversaw increase of manufacturing jobs by more than 500,000 since 2010, and created an institute to invest in more manufacturing jobs in the technology fields of the future. http://nyti.ms/1egyXrV
- Ordered all federal contractors to pay a minimum wage of $10.10 per hour, leading the way to a national increase. http://wapo.st/1iaU5kd
- Ordered the completion of the International Trade Data System, a digital trade record book, by 2016. This move will streamline and simplify the process through which small- and medium-sized businesses set up the export of US goods. http://bit.ly/1nwSRF4
- Created a climate in which there have been 55 consecutive months of job growth, totaling more than 10 million jobs, which is roughly 10,000,000 more jobs than Bush created in eight years. http://1.usa.gov/1vBDeyCThis is also the longest stretch of private-sector job growth in US history. http://wapo.st/1w3J8Zy
- Led the country to 64 consecutive months of economic expansion, eclipsing Saint Reagan’s record, by far. http://onforb.es/1sxJ2by
- Oversaw a reduction in the dollar amount of the federal budget deficit by two-thirds since taking office. http://bit.ly/1xKMmjY
- Reduced the federal budget deficit from 9.8% of GDP in Fiscal Year 2009 under Bush, to 2.9% of GDP in FY 2014. http://www.cbo.gov/publication/45653
- Under Obama, the stock market has reached record highs, restoring most of the economic losses felt during the Bush Recession, when it reached record lows, adjusted for inflation. http://bit.ly/1z4FAtL
- Signed an order banning gifts from lobbyists to anyone in the Executive Branch. http://bit.ly/fsBACN
- Signed an order banning anyone from working in an agency they had lobbied in previous years, and put strict limits on lobbyists’ access to the White House. http://nyti.ms/gOrznV
- Held the first-ever first online town hall from the White House, and took questions from the public. http://bit.ly/gVNSgX
- Became the first to stream every White House event, live. http://1.usa.gov/kAgOP5
- Established a central portal for Americans to find service opportunities. http://www.serve.gov
- Issued an Executive Order on Presidential Records, which restored the 30-day time frame for former presidents to review records, and eliminated the right for the vice president or family members of former presidents to do the reviews. Provides the public with greater access to historic White House documents, and severely curtails the ability to use executive privilege to shield them. http://1.usa.gov/gUetLb
- Improved aspects of the Freedom of Information Act, and issued new guidelines to make FOIA more open and transparent when processing FOIA requests. http://1.usa.gov/gjrnp2
- Proposed rules that would streamline the Department of Education’s procurement policies and make them more transparent. http://bit.ly/1r9oQvh
- Provided the first voluntary disclosure of the White House Visitors Log in history. http://1.usa.gov/hQ7
- Signed a law to completely reform NSA Data Collection program and keep phone records in the hands of the phone company. http://bit.ly/1dG34vD
- Ordered 65 executives who took bailout money to cut their own pay until they paid back all bailout money. http://huff.to/eAi9Qq
- Along with Congressional Democrats, pushed through and got passed Dodd-Frank, one of the largest and most comprehensive Wall Street reforms since the Great Depression. http://bit.ly/hWCPg0http://bit.ly/geHpcD
- By signing Dodd-Frank legislation, created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau http://1.usa.gov/j5onG
- Created rules that reduce the influence of speculators in the oil market. http://bit.ly/MDnA1t
- Fashioned rules so that banks can no longer use YOUR money to invest in high-risk financial instruments that work against their own customers’ interests. http://bit.ly/fnTayj
- Supported the concept of allowing stockholders to vote on executive compensation. http://bit.ly/fnTayj
- Endorsed and supported the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act of 2009 that would close offshore tax avoidance loopholes. http://bit.ly/esOdfBhttp://bit.ly/eG4DPM
- Negotiated a deal with Swiss banks that now permits the US government to gain access to the records of criminals and tax evaders. http://bit.ly/htfDgw
- Signed the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act, which closed many of the loopholes that allowed companies to send jobs overseas, and avoid paying US taxes by moving money offshore.http://1.usa.gov/bd1RTq
- Established a Consumer Protection Financial Bureau designed to protect consumers from financial sector excesses. http://bit.ly/fnTayj
- Oversaw and then signed a Democratic bill constituting the most sweeping food safety legislation since the Great Depression. http://thedc.com/gxkCtP
- Through the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act, extended the False Claims Act to combat fraud by companies and individuals using money from the TARP and Stimulus programs. http://bit.ly/SLTcSa
- Set up rules for banks in handling legal marijuana money. http://nyti.ms/1b80o2K
- Signed Executive Order to add a number of further protections to consumer financial transactions, to further limit instances of identity theft. http://1.usa.gov/1pjfUFq
- Took steps to prevent pirate fishing and protect fish populations, and ordered stricter labeling requirements on labeling of seafood products in stores. http://1.usa.gov/1BYhTUn
- Along with Congressional Democrats, advocated for and signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which made it a federal crime to assault anyone based on his or her sexual orientation or gender identity. http://bit.ly/gsMSJ7
- Pushed through, signed and demanded the Pentagon enact a repeal of the discriminatory “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy that forced soldiers to lie in order to be eligible to fight for their country, and put our troops at risk by disqualifying many qualified soldiers from helping. http://bit.ly/fdahuHhttp://bit.ly/mZV4Pz
- Extended benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. http://1.usa.gov/g2RLCj
- Appointed more openly gay officials than anyone in history. http://bit.ly/g1lA7D
- Appointed first openly transgender Cabinet Official in History. http://bit.ly/58zUp7
- Changed HUD rules to prohibit gender and sexual orientation-based discrimination in housing bit.ly/9RxEnP
- Changed his mind and publicly expressed support for same-sex marriage. http://bit.ly/JsiFKp
- Issued a Presidential Memorandum reaffirming the rights of gay couples to make medical decisions for each other. http://1.usa.gov/aUueGT
- Wrote and signed an Executive Order establishing a White House Council on Women and Girls to ensure that all Cabinet and Cabinet-level agencies evaluate the effect of their policies and programs on women and families. http://bit.ly/e1puTkhttp://1.usa.gov/rFfqMM
- Signed the Democratic-sponsored Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which restored basic protections against pay discrimination for women and other workers. This was after the GOP blocked the bill in 2007. Only 5 Republican Senators voted for the bill. http://bit.ly/fT3Cxg
- Signed two executive orders that mirror provisions of the Paycheck Fairness Act, because the GOP Congress refuses to pass it. It makes is possible for employees to talk about their salaries without retaliation, and orders salary data collection. These measures will make it harder for employers to pay women less. http://huff.to/1nwVOWf
- Expanded funding for the Violence Against Women Act. http://1.usa.gov/dSbI0x
- Under his guidance, National Labor Relations Board issued final rules that require all employers to prominently post employees’ rights where all employees or prospective employees can see it, including all websites and intranets. http://1.usa.gov/qu2EhQ
- Advocated that United Nations adopt a policy supporting gay rights worldwide. http://lat.ms/pQe1RS
- Issued an order requiring hospitals to allow visitation by same-sex couples. http://reut.rs/llNJek
- Appointed Kareem Dale as the first ever Special Assistant to the President for Disability Policy. http://1.usa.gov/fi5IY0
- Helped Democrats in Congress pass and signed the Civil Rights History Act. http://bit.ly/th0JC8
- Established the White House Council of Native American Affairs, to improve government-to-government relations with Native American nations. http://1.usa.gov/1cIEeEv
- Formed a commission to examine and make recommendations for fixing the broken voting system. http://wapo.st/16K0D
- As soon as the Supreme Court invalidated the Defense of Marriage Act, he moved to extend federal benefits to same-sex couples. http://wapo.st/1avDjue
- At a press conference August 9, 2013, gave up a small measure of executive power, promising to create adversarial process in FISA regarding NSA surveillance. http://1.usa.gov/1dQmnyQ
- Proposed new HUD rules that would enhance Fair Housing Laws, to give HUD and other enforcement agencies more teeth in enforcing them. http://bit.ly/1qkz4uQ
- Shattered another glass ceiling by naming Janet Yellen chair of the Federal Reserve beginning Feb. 1, 2014. http://usat.ly/1gqMBfk
- Appointed several prominent gay athletes and others, and plans to show US government’s commitment to gay rights to anti-gay Russia. http://on.cpsj.com/1fckN9h
- Ordered a review of capital punishment policies after several botched executions. http://nyti.ms/RDJp58
- Obama’s Department of Agriculture propagated new rules designed to better enforce nondiscrimination when it comes to USDA investigations. These rules also extended nondiscrimination to gender identity. http://bit.ly/1yChJhi
- Obama’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission clarified and strengthened rules prohibiting discrimination against pregnant workers. http://alj.am/1mo0kjV
- Banned all federal contractors from discriminating against gay workers. http://1.usa.gov/1ok1gfH
- Created a requirement in which companies who bid on federal contracts of more than $500,000 must publicly disclose all previous violations of labor law, including unpaid claims for back wages. http://1.usa.gov/V54qY3
- Made it illegal for federal contractors with more than $1 million in contracts to force employees into arbitration to settle workplace discrimination accusations. http://1.usa.gov/V54qY3
- The Obama Department of Justice made significant reductions in drug sentencing guidelines for current prisoners, thus releasing thousands from US prisons. This is the first step in 30 years toward reducing the US prison population, which is the highest in the world. http://n.pr/1mWBLkM
- Thanks to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, inflation in the healthcare sector dropped to its lowest point in 50 years. http://on.wsj.com/1E6cYjF
- Through a Presidential Memorandum, changed the rules to concentrate immigration enforcement on those who commit crimes, and voed to stop breaking up families. http://1.usa.gov/1uTZ8gV
- Through another Presidential memorandum, President Obama streamlined the visa process, to make it more responsive and humane for those who want to be here legally. http://1.usa.gov/1tgDRti
- Took steps to tighten the reins when it comes to providing local law enforcement agencies with military-style equipment and exercising more control over the equipment they receive. http://1.usa.gov/1ATWV3K
- Oversaw the first drop in the federal prison population in 32 years. http://bit.ly/1B5h8rW
- Vetoed Republican bill that would have blocked new NLRB rules that were designed to speed up the time it takes workers to unionize. http://reut.rs/1agujMO He also added a Memorandum of Disagreement to make his reasons for the veto clear and made a major statement in support of unions. http://1.usa.gov/1NG7RuA
- Persevered with his campaign to turn “gay marriage” into “marriage” and won in the Supreme Court. http://cbsloc.al/1M4qLKb
- Plans to broaden his use of clemency to release thousands of non-violent drug offenders from prison. http://nyti.ms/1KE8DJG
- Created new rules to improve fair housing rules and make more affordable housing available to more people. http://cnn.it/1JcR3qB
- Visited more countries and met with more world leaders than any previous president during his first six months in office. http://bit.ly/hZycda
- As he promised, he gave a speech at a major Islamic forum in Cairo early in his administration. http://nyti.ms/dKvY4g
- Helped to restore America’s reputation around the world as a global leader that does the “right thing” in world affairs, at least according to the rest of the world. http://bit.ly/h743y7http://bit.ly/ho4TCr
- Re-established and reinforced our partnership with NATO and other allies on strategic international issues. http://1.usa.gov/e7QuDj
- Closed a number of secret detention facilities. http://nyti.ms/rpUc9l
- Improved relations with Middle East countries by appointing special envoys. http://1.usa.gov/tiGAGe
- Pushed forward the first realistic Middle East peace strategy in more than a decade, without abandoning the two-state solution. http://wapo.st/1avyste
- Pushed for military to emphasize devlopment of foreign language skills. http://bit.ly/AxUCLV
- Offered $400 million to the people living in Gaza, called on both Israel and the Palestinians to stop inciting violence. http://bit.ly/9axfWh
- Refused to give Israel the green light to attack Iran over their possible nuclear program, and thus avoid another war that Republicans wanted. http://bit.ly/xVmSZK
- Ordered the closure of the prison at Guantanamo Bay. It was Republicans (and, unfortunately, progressive Democrats) who prevented follow through. http://bit.ly/eW6CVF
- Ordered a review of our detention and interrogation policy, and prohibited the use of torture, or what Bush called “enhanced interrogation.” He ordered interrogators to limit their actions to the Army Field manual. http://bit.ly/g6MTuC
- Ordered all secret detention facilities in Eastern Europe and elsewhere to be closed. http://bbc.in/h6N9ax
- Released the Bush torture memos. http://bit.ly/hWJ5z0
- On his second day in office, he signed a detailed Executive Order that banned torture, reversed all Bush torture policies, and put the United States in compliance with the Geneva Convention. http://1.usa.gov/dL6Zvehttp://nyti.ms/hzWWys
- In response to the emerging “Arab Spring,” he created a Rapid Response fund, to assist emerging democracies with foreign aid, debt relief, technical assistance and investment packages in order to show that the United States stands with them. http://bit.ly/zfmGv9
- Ended the F-22 program, saving $4 billion. Though the single-seat, twin-engine, fighter aircraft cost $358 million each, and the military had 187 built, the F-22 never flew a combat mission. http://slate.me/PYzmzT
- Passed the Iran Sanctions Act, to prevent war and encourage the Iranian government to give up their nuclear program. http://1.usa.gov/wLtNjb
- Ended the Iraq War. http://tgr.ph/ru0tyS
- Worked to keep our withdrawal from Afghanistan on track, despite GOP opposition.http://reut.rs/1cIOsF1Reiterated that commitment in 2014. http://nyti.ms/1exnmRF
- Authorized and oversaw a secret mission by SEAL Team Six to rescue two hostages held by Somali pirates. http://bit.ly/y8c9Fz
- Through United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice, helped negotiate a peaceful split of Sudan into two countries, this allowing for the creation of an independent South Sudan. http://reut.rs/qzE0Tj
- Worked with Democratic Congress to make donations to Haiti tax deductible in 2009. http://huff.to/6YkAVY
- Established a new U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue. http://1.usa.gov/eX28DP
- Issued Executive Order blocking interference and helping to stabilize Somalia. http://1.usa.gov/hxdf8U
- Established new, more reasonable policies in our relations with Cuba, such as allowing Cuban-Americans to visit their families and send money to support them. http://n.pr/hY3Kwa http://nyti.ms/emQBde
- Negotiated the framework for an agreement with Iran that would end their nuclear weapons program. http://bit.ly/1y5aD97
- Became the first US President to visit Jamaica in more than 30 years and worked to restore relations with the country, and signed a natural gas distribution agreement with the country. http://bit.ly/1JtpFqi
- Opened the first Embassy in Cuba in more than 55 years. http://abcn.ws/1ghLrEs
- Negotiated a deal with Iran that will prevent them from getting a nuclear weapon anytime soon, without firing a shot or invading the country. http://cnn.it/1M3Hpvv
- Created a comprehensive new strategy for dealing with the international nuclear threat. http://1.usa.gov/gDX1nE
- Authorized a $1.4 billion reduction in Star Wars program in 2010. http://1.usa.gov/gLFZl2
- Restarted nuclear nonproliferation talks and built up the nuclear inspection infrastructure/protocols to where they had been before Bush. http://lat.ms/gkcl3i
- Signed and pushed through ratification a new SALT Treaty. http://bit.ly/f3JVtw
- Negotiated and signed a new START Treaty that will lst until at least 2021. http://1.usa.gov/cI1bC4
- Through the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), reversed the Bush Administration and committed to no permanent military bases in Iraq. http://bit.ly/hk73OJ
- Developed first comprehensive strategy with regard to Afghanistan and Pakistan designed to facilitate the defeat of al Qaeda and the withdrawal of most troops, as well as the rebuilding of Afghanistan. http://wapo.st/ee4Xcs
- Returned our focus to Afghanistan, stabilized the country, and began the process of withdrawing our troops from the country. http://bit.ly/lNXUna
- Negotiated a deal with Afghan govenment, to withdraw troops and military support, while assisting in rebuilding and modernizing of the country. http://bit.ly/K362an
- Took steps to severely weaken al Qaeda and limited their ability to terrorize the world. http://yhoo.it/n5lXs6
- Negotiated and signed a nuclear nonproliferation treaty with India. http://1.usa.gov/aHp0Cn
- Took decisive action to use NATO to limit the slaughter of innocents in Libya, so that the Libyan people could topple the despotic Khadaffy government and determine their own fate. http://aje.me/qAh4Sj
- Got Egyptian President/dictator Mubarak to leave the Egyptian government to the people, to determine their own fate. http://f24.my/efvgNZ
- In 2011, reoriented American focus from the Middle East to the Asian-Pacific region by simultaneouly engaging China and crafting new alliances with Asian countries uncomfortable with Chinese behavior. http://bit.ly/RGlMDi
- Restored federal agencies such as FEMA to the point that they have been able to manage a huge number of natural disasters successfully. http://bit.ly/h8Xj7z
- Authorized Navy SEALS to successfully secure the release of a US captain held by Somali pirates and increased patrols off the Somali coast. http://nyti.ms/efBO7B
- Increased border security http://bit.ly/1JQDGz9
- Ordered and oversaw the Navy SEALS operation that killed Osama bin Laden. http://bit.ly/jChpgw
- Established the Homeland Security Partnership Council, which will attempt to enhance the nation’s ability to “address homeland security priorities, from responding to natural disasters to preventing terrorism, by utilizing diverse perspectives, skills, tools, and resources.” http://1.usa.gov/VJjLXO
- Signed agreement with Afghanistan to end war, turn security over to Afghans. http://nyti.ms/1xSjgBd
- Breaking with presidential tradition, especially recent tradition, instead of just attacking Syria in the wake of chemical weapons attacks on Syrians, Obama ordered a full report on the decision-making process, should he decide to order one. http://cbsn.ws/184RFgu
- Instead of holding hearings and trying to create a political football, quietly captured a suspect who actually committed the Benghazi terrorist attack. http://wapo.st/1jFlmzv He is also getting a lot of useful information from the suspect. http://nyti.ms/UfE2Ka
- Signed an executive order allowing sanctions against individuals and groups that threaten national cybersecurity. http://1.usa.gov/1HWcGMG
- Limited local police acquisitions of military-style equipment, to reduce the likelihood of overkill. http://n.pr/1NGkBjT
- Signed Blue Alert Law, which provides police officers with more information when they are threatened. http://bit.ly/1NGksga
- Provided active combat troops with better body armor. http://bit.ly/hzSv2h
- Created Joint Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record program for military personnel, in order http://abcn.ws/1ghLrEshttp://abcn.ws/1ghLrEsto improve the quality of their medical care. http://1.usa.gov/f4yaxW
- Put an end to the Bush-era stop-loss policy that kept soldiers in Iraq/Afghanistan beyond their enlistment date. http://nyti.ms/e2YQ7Q
- Along with Congressional Democrats, supported and signed Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act, which made more money available to enable better medical care for veterans. http://1.usa.gov/fN4ur1
- Along with Congressional Democrats, ushered through largest spending increase in 30 years for Department of Veterans Affairs, with money to go to improved medical facilities, and to assist states in acquiring or constructing state nursing homes and extended care facilities. http://1.usa.gov/gY8O3x
- Created the Green Vet Initiative, which provided special funding to the Labor Department to provide veterans with training in green jobs. http://bit.ly/epwUQY
- Initiated and signed a recruitment and employment plan to get more veterans into government jobs. http://bit.ly/b48coi
- Oversaw a $4.6 billion expansion of the Veterans Administration budget to pay for more mental health professionals. http://bit.ly/gjzTxX
- Signed the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act, which ensures that spouses of military personnel who are forced to move because their spouse is posted for military duty will be able to avoid state taxes in their temporary residence. http://bit.ly/1Gh0NX
- Issued an Executive Order to improve access to mental health care for veterans, military personnel and their families. http://1.usa.gov/TP7PVZ
- was able to get Syria to dismantle its chemical weapons without military firing a single shot or dropping a single bomb. http://nyti.ms/1lVEkU7
- Along with Congressional Democrats, not only reauthorized families of fallen soldiers to be able to visit when the body arrives at Dover AFB, but also provided funding for it. Ended the media blackout on coverage of the return of fallen soldiers. http://nyti.ms/glqN66 http://bbc.in/gWSSkA
- Funded Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) with an extra $1.4 billion to improve veterans’ services. http://1.usa.gov/huhqfo
- Signed into law a bill that provides support, counseling, and breastfeeding supplies to military moms who are covered under TRICARE, the health insurance provided to veterans. http://bit.ly/1yNxL8O
- Refocused the Federal Government on Education, Made Rational Reforms
- Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, invested heavily in elementary, secondary and post-secondary education. http://1.usa.gov/gGRIAr
- Created the Race to the Top program, which encouraged states to come up with effective school reforms and rewards the best of them. http://bit.ly/NHtZ7L
- Oversaw major expansion of broadband availability in K-12 schools nationwide. http://bit.ly/fNDcj3
- Oversaw major expansion in school construction. http://bit.ly/fYwNrV
- Also through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, he put $5 billion into early education, including Head Start. http://1.usa.gov/tzT2Rr
- Signed the Democratic-sponsored Post-9/11 GI Bill, also known as GI Bill 2.0 http://bit.ly/hPhG7J
- Oversaw expansion of the Pell Grants program, to expand opportunity for low and middle income students to go to college. http://bit.ly/hI6tXz
- Along with Democratic Congress, passed and signed Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which provided an extra $12.2 billion in funds. http://1.usa.gov/dQvtUe
- Took major new steps to protect students from ineffective for-profit colleges through “gainful employment” measures, whereby schools have to demonstrate that its students actually find work to get federal aid. http://1.usa.gov/jkzQe2
- Repeatedly increased funding for student financial aid, and at the same time cut the banks completely out of the process, thus us creating greater accountability. http://bit.ly/gYWd30 http://bit.ly/e9c7Dr http://bit.ly/eEzTNq
- Reformed student loan program, to make it possible for students to refinance at a lower rate. http://nyti.ms/dMvHOt
- Created a rating system for colleges, so that those applying for student financial aid know better what they’re paying for. http://bit.ly/14Dn7UL
- Created a Presidential Memorandum to restore scientific integrity in government decision-making. http://1.usa.gov/g2SDuw
- Opened up process for fast-tracking patent approval for green energy projects. http://bit.ly/j0KV2U
- Eliminated Bush-era restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, and provided increased federal support for biomedical and stem cell research. http://bit.ly/h36SSOhttp://ti.me/edezge
- Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, committed more federal funding, about $18 billion, to support non-defense science and research labs. http://nyti.ms/fTs9t7
- Signed Democratic-sponsored Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act, the first comprehensive attempt to improve the lives of Americans living with paralysis. http://bit.ly/fOi2rb
- Expanded the Nurse-Family Partnership program, which provides home visits by trained registered nurses to low-income expectant mothers and their families, to cover more first-time mothers.http://bit.ly/jRRRJc
- Obama EPA reversed research ethics standards which allowed humans to be used as “guinea pigs” in tests of the effects of chemicals, to comply with numerous codes of medical ethics. http://bit.ly/bKgqdS
- Conducted a cyberspace policy review. http://1.usa.gov/gmbdvC
- Provided financial support for private sector space programs. http://bit.ly/fn8ucr
- Oversaw enhanced earth mapping, to provide valuable data for agricultural, educational, scientific, and government use. http://bit.ly/dNTRyP
- Along with Democrats in Congress, ushered through and signed a bill authorizing FDA to regulate tobacco. http://on.msnbc.com/fiKViB As a result, the FDA has Ordered Tobacco Companies to Disclose Cigarette Ingredients and banned sale of cigarettes falsely labeled as “light.”
- Through American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, provided $500 million for Health Professions Training Programs. http://bit.ly/ecQSgA
- Increased funding for community-based prevention programs. http://bit.ly/frMPG3
- Oversaw a 50% decrease in cost of prescription drugs for seniors. http://bit.ly/e5b1iqhttp://1.usa.gov/fVNkt9
- Eliminated the Bush-era practice of forbidding Medicare from negotiating with drug companies on price. http://bit.ly/fOkG5b
- Two weeks after taking office, signed Democratic-sponsored Children’s Health Insurance Reauthorization Act, which increased the number of children covered by health insurance by 4 million. http://bit.ly/fDEzGv
- Urged Congress to investigate Anthem Blue Cross for raising premiums 39% without explanation. Democratic Rep. Waxman responded by launching a probe, and Anthem Blue Cross put increase on hold for two months. http://yhoo.it/e8Tj9C
- Ushered through and signed Affordable Care Act, which expanded health insurance coverage to at least 30 million more people, ended many common insurance company practices that are often detrimental to those with coverage. He also established healthcare.gov, so that taxpayers could keep up with developments. http://www.healthcare.gov/
- Through ACA, allowed children to be covered under their parents’ policy until they turned 26. http://nyti.ms/fNB26V
- Through the ACA, provided tax breaks to allow 3.5 million small business to provide health insurance to their employees, and 29 million people will receive tax breaks to help them afford health insurance. http://nyti.ms/fNB26V
- Through the ACA, expanded Medicaid to those making up to 133% of the federal poverty level. http://nyti.ms/ekMWpo
- Through the ACA, health insurance companies now have to disclose how much of your premium actually goes to pay for patient care. http://nyti.ms/fNB26V
- Provisions in the ACA have already resulted in Medicare costs actually declining slightly this fiscal year, for the first time in many years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The increase in 2011 was 4%, which is very low compared to the average 12% annual inflation rate during previous 40 years. http://1.usa.gov/oMxpTh
- Since passage of the ACA, health care inflation is at its lowest level since 1960. http://1.usa.gov/1vXR0Ld
- Created the HIV Care Continuum Initiative, to strengthen the government’s ability to respond to the continuing domestic HIV epidemic, after years of Republicans weakening the government’s ability to deal with the crisis. http://1.usa.gov/1iLED0t
- Expanded space exploration and discovery options to include more players. http://1.usa.gov/13qmZpm
- Through the Connect America Fund, pushed through and received FCC approval for a move of $8 billion in subsidies away from telephone landlines to assist lower-income rural families in accessing broadband. http://lat.ms/vhRUEs http://bit.ly/129V3SY
- In the wake of the West Fertilizer tragedy, in which an entire small town was devastated by an explosion at a fertilizer plant, in part because Republican negligence let the company do whatever it wanted, formed the Chemical Safety and Security Working Group, to work on measures to prevent another such event. http://1.usa.gov/18kHSlA
- By 2014, the Affordable Care Act dropped the number of uninsured Americans by 22.3%, which amounts to more than 10.3 million people with insurance who didn’t have it before. Only 13.9% of Americans are uninsured, a drop from 18.9% in 2013. http://on.msnbc.com/1r4kjGn
- The Affordable Care Act has increased the life expectancy of Medicare greatly. http://on.wsj.com/1yuNco6
- Established a Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center, a recommendation made by the 9/11 Commission, to coordinate efforts to fight cyber-crime and terrorism. http://1.usa.gov/1A0aEoS
- The Obama FCC, with his leadership, adopted strong net neutrality rules, to keep the Internet open and equal for everyone. http://fcc.us/1MhTlIA
- Signed bill that will provide health insurance premium support to workers who lose their health insurance due to foreign competition. http://bit.ly/1evvVDF
- In response to the confusion triggered by the asinine Hobby Lobby decision, which essentially declared that corporations could have “religious rights” and lord them over employees, created new rules to give all women with insurance the right to free birth control. http://on.wsj.com/1O44a1t
- Implemented the National HIV/AIDS Strategy for 2015-2020, which is a follow-up to the first such strategy in US history, which he implemented in 2010. http://1.usa.gov/1IXknHm
- Set up a National Strategic Computing Initiative, to “maximize benefits of high-performance computing (HPC) research, development, and deployment.” http://1.usa.gov/1IN3FZa
- Worked to provide affordable, high-quality child care to working families. http://bit.ly/fNfidS
- Cracked down on companies that were previously denying sick pay, vacation and health insurance, and Social Security and Medicare tax payments through abuse of the employee classification of independent contractor. http://nyti.ms/fOGLcj
- Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, cut taxes for 95% of America’s working families. http://bit.ly/eSEI4F
- Tax rates for average working families are the lowest since 1950. http://bit.ly/f74pD8
- Extended and fully funded the patch for the Alternative Minimum Tax for 10 years. http://bit.ly/eFeSdP
- Extended discounted health coverage under the COBRA health insurance law for the unemployed from 9 months to 15 months, and he’s also extended unemployment benefits more than a few times. http://aol.it/evtVxDhttp://nyti.ms/emrqKJ http://bit.ly/hOtIpg http://bit.ly/fTT7kz
- Provided a $20 billion increase for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Food Stamps). http://nyti.ms/gfLqyM
- Signed an Executive Order that established the White House Office of Urban Affairs. http://wapo.st/eWECA8
- Included the Buffet Rule in his 2014 budget proposal, thus trying to fulfill a campaign promise, to make sure tax rates are fair between the rich and the middle class. http://1.usa.gov/19PkdQo
- Used the fiscal cliff negotiations to extend for five additional years the American Opportunity Tax Credit, which provides tax credits to families for college-related expenses, thus saving those families up to $10,000. http://onforb.es/17zYg3u
- Increased protections for those who are unemployed and are seeking a government job. http://1.usa.gov/1jgXATu
- Updated and modernized overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) http://1.usa.gov/1iGDO8e
- With First Lady Michelle Obama, passed the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, which will improve nutrition in schools and make children healthier. http://1.usa.gov/GAXkSk
- In his continuing effort to make college more affordable and accountable, will begin rating colleges with regard to affordability and value. http://bit.ly/14Dn7UL
- Initiated a reform of federal job training programs, to make them more relevant to the current economy and the job market. http://1.usa.gov/1kZLQHG
- Under Obama, the bottom 95% of taxpayers are paying lower federal income taxes than at any time in the last 50 years, including under Reagan, Bush 41 and Bush 43. http://bit.ly/1w1W8Ns
- Signed a presidential memorandum authorizing six weeks paid leave for all federal employees with a new baby, and encouraged Congress to do the same for all workers. http://bit.ly/18613XA
- 2014 marked the first time since 1984 that unemployment dropped in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. 1.usa.gov/1E25u0C
- Took steps to improve workplace safety by creating an Advisory Board to study workers’ exposure to toxic substances. http://1.usa.gov/1M4s8IG
- Changed overtime rules to make it far more difficult for employers to avoid paying overtime to workers. http://politi.co/1KHfiBe
- Doubling federal spending on clean energy research. http://bit.ly/iN0sCE
- Pushed through a tax credit to help people buy plug-in hybrid cars. http://bit.ly/j8UP5Y
- Created a program to develop renewable energy projects on the waters of our Outer Continental Shelf that will produce electricity from wind, wave, and ocean currents. http://1.usa.gov/fgfRWq
- Reengaged in the climate change and greenhouse gas emissions agreements talks, and proposed one himself. He also addressed the U.N. Climate Change Conference, officially reversing the Bush era stance that climate change was a “hoax.” http://bit.ly/dX6Vj3 http://bit.ly/fE2PxKhttp://nyti.ms/hfeqvv
- Fully supported the initial phase of the creation of a legally-binding treaty to reduce mercury emissions worldwide. http://bit.ly/eJ6QOO
- Required states to provide incentives to utilities to reduce their energy consumption. http://bit.ly/lBhk7P
- Under Obama, our dependence on foreign oil has dropped to its lowest rate since 1985, and continues to drop. http://1.usa.gov/1p6kTUy Meanwhile, consumption is way down because of reduced driving and higher mileage standards. http://ti.me/1z4HFG8
- Improved siting, review and permitting stations for power plants, in an attempt to seriously improve the nation’s electric grid. http://1.usa.gov/1l8zNqn
- Following the neglect of Bush’s eight year reign, he reengaged in a number of treaties and agreements designed to protect the Antarctic. http://bit.ly/fzQUFO
- Created tax write-offs for purchases of hybrid automobiles, and later he and Democrats morphed that program into one that includes electric cars. http://bit.ly/glCukV
- Established a quadrennial review of our energy infrastructure, to encourage a modernization of the grid, and to encourage the transition away from fossil fuel use. http://1.usa.gov/1nx2oMo
- Mandated that federal government fleet purchases be for fuel-efficient American vehicles, and encouraged that federal agencies support experimental, fuel-efficient vehicles. http://bit.ly/h5KZqyhttp://1.usa.gov/fLWq5chttp://1.usa.gov/hmUSbk
- Got BP to cough up $20 billion to establish Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, to reduce the need for taxpayer funds to be used for compensation and clean up. http://wapo.st/ds2BxT (Note: it took 20 years to get $1.3 billion for the Exxon Valdez spill. )
- Oversaw and pushed through an amendment to the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 authorizing advances from Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. http://1.usa.gov/yTRYVo
- Actively tried to amend the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to eliminate the liability limits for those companies responsible for large oil spills. http://nyti.ms/bxjDi3
- Became the first President to simply say “Climate Change is a fact,” and set up the first federal government protocols for dealing with the impacts of climate change. http://1.usa.gov/1b7V67B
- Initiated Criminal and Civil inquiries into the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. http://nyti.ms/bVuB7a
- Asserted federal legal supremacy to bar Texas from authorizing new refinery permits on its own.http://bit.ly/ww8eMd
- Set up new, stricter standards limiting power plant emissions. http://1.usa.gov/1mML2M3
- Strengthened the Endangered Species Act. http://bit.ly/hscjsH
- Strengthened protection for wildlife, and expanded enforcement of laws against wildlife trafficking. http://1.usa.gov/1fce1Ai
- Obama EPA improved boiler safety standards to improve air quality, and save 6500 lives per year. http://bit.ly/jYH7nt
- Through the EPA, attemped to take steps to severely limit the use of antibiotics in livestock feed, to increase their efficacy in humans. http://bit.ly/fBuWd2
- Through new EPA regulations, he created a pretext for closing the dirtiest power plants in the country, by limiting emissions of mercury and other toxic gasses. http://bit.ly/rQCIgA
- Increased funding for National Parks and Forests by 10% http://bit.ly/fbJPjY
- Announced greatly improved commercial fuel efficiency standards. http://1.usa.gov/oQiC1K
- Announced a huge increase in average fuel economy standards from 27.5mpg in 2010 to 35.5mpg starting in 2016 and 54.5 starting in 2025 http://1.usa.gov/qtghsW
- Issued an Executive Order to facilitate investments in industrial energy efficiency that will help create jobs, while strengthening US manufacturing. Increased efficiency could save businesses $100 billion over the next decade. http://1.usa.gov/WsIgbx
- Through an executive order, set up the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, which will to oversee Gulf Coast restoration efforts in the wake of the 2010 BP oil splll. The money to fund the restoration efforts comes from fines against BP. http://1.usa.gov/Rxjb29
- Through executive actions and bypassing the ineffectual Republican Congress, announced the most comprehensive plan to combat climate change in a generation. http://bit.ly/13lXhET
- Ordered energy plants to prepare to produce at least 15% of all energy through renewable resources like wind and solar, by 2021. http://reut.rs/fV155p (Republicans are trying hard to kill it.)
- Oversaw the creation of an initiative that converts old factories and manufacturing centers into new clean technology centers. http://bit.ly/mjnq2R
- guided the country into a 418% increase in solar power capacity between 2010 and 2014. http://bit.ly/1rHkWJC
- Bypassed Republican opposition in Congress and ordered EPA to begin regulating and measuring carbon emissions. http://bit.ly/froaP5
- Oversaw a tripling in the use of wind power to generate electricity. For the third year in row, the United States led the world in increased wind power capacity. http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5448
- Ordered the federal government to incorporate climate resilience and climate science into all international development in which the United States engages. http://1.usa.gov/YV1EpW
- Fast-tracked regulations to allow states to enact fuel efficiency standards that exceeded federal standards. http://nyti.ms/e8e94x
- Fast-tracked increased fuel economy standards for vehicles beginning with the 2011 model year. It was the first time such standards had been increased in a decade. http://politi.co/hiaPKM
- Oversaw establishment of an Energy Partnership for the Americas, to create more markets for American-made biofuels and green energy technologies. http://bit.ly/lZp73y
- Obama EPA reversed a Bush-era decision to allow the largest mountaintop removal project in US history. http://bit.ly/lP3yEL
- Ordered the Department of Energy to implement more aggressive efficiency standards for common household appliances. http://1.usa.gov/g3MTbu
- Obama EPA ruled that excess CO2 is a pollutant. http://bit.ly/iQTSNN
- Closed a deal with China to limit carbon emissions to perhaps slow down climate change. http://nyti.ms/1xzyS8K
- Blocked all oil and gas drilling in Bristol Bay, Alaska, one of the most pristine environments in North America http://lat.ms/13xUVFD
- Signed an Executive Order to improve environmental efforts in the Arctic region and to combat climate change by better coordinating the efforts of the 23 federal agencies operating in the area. http://usat.ly/ZEzLzE
- Vetoed a bill to fast track construction of the parallel Keystone XL pipeline. http://nbcnews.to/1DVDFo7
- Expanded clean water regulations to more stringently protect all of the nation’s waterways, even when states fail in their duty. http://bit.ly/1RdQpTc
- Signed an Executive Order committing the federal government to lead the way in building a sustainable economy. It’s his fifth doing just that. http://1.usa.gov/1EzO2ne
- Banned the use of antibiotics in food served in US Government-run cafeterias and ordered agencies to only use antibiotic-free meat. http://bit.ly/1G1vUxi http://bit.ly/1KHkl4N
- Developed new rules to address climate change and to create a significant boost to clean energy. http://bit.ly/1UnQcuR
- Nominated Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court. Sotomayor is the first Hispanic Justice in the court’s history, and the women represent only the third and fourth women to serve on the court, out of a total of 112 justices. http://huff.to/eOChg6http://bit.ly/i02wgP
- Appointed the most diverse Cabinet in history, including more women than any other incoming president. http://bit.ly/dX6vNB
- Eliminated federal funding for abstinence-only education, and rescinded the global gag rule. http://bit.ly/eCFAI1 http://bit.ly/f92drF
- Loosened the rules and allowed the 14 states that legalized medical marijuana to regulate themselves without federal interference. http://huff.to/eQfa7j
- Signed national service legislation, increasing funding for national service groups, including triple the size of the Americorps program. http://bit.ly/idgQH5
- Signed an Executive Order that will speed up deployment of a more comprehensive broadband infrastructure. http://1.usa.gov/M7rVpe
- Signed an Executive Order creating jobs immediately by instructing them to reduce the time needed for review and permitting of infrastructure projects. http://1.usa.gov/GHxaYt
- Signed a bill that provided $4.3 billion in additional assistance to 9/11 first responders. http://bit.ly/o7cWYS
- Signed an Executive Order pledging support for efforts to end the global problem of violence against women and girls. http://1.usa.gov/MHTRVU
- Signed the Claims Resolution Act, which provided $4.6 billion in funding for a legal settlement with black and Native American farmers who had been cheated out of government loans and natural resource royalties in the past. http://1.usa.gov/dGppUa
- To help those communities devastated by Hurricane Sandy, issued an executive order setting up the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force, and asked Congress to approve $60 billion in supplemental assistance to aid in storm recovery. http://1.usa.gov/134L7hl
- Produced 23 Executive actions designed to make it easier for law enforcement to identify those who shouldn’t have guns, thus helping them enforce the law. http://on.wsj.com/SX9xaZ
- Expanded trade agreements to include stricter labor and environmental agreements such as NAFTA. http://bit.ly/etznpY
- Oversaw funding of the design of a new Smithsonian National Museum of African American History, which is scheduled to open on the National Mall in 2015. He protected the funding during the recent budget negotiations. http://on.fb.me/fD0EVO http://bit.ly/ff5Luv
- Oversaw and passed increased funding for the National Endowment for the Arts.http://bit.ly/dFb8qF
- Despite the characterizations of some, Obama’s success rate in winning congressional votes on issues was an unprecedented 96.7% for his first year in office. Though he is often cited as superior to Obama, President Lyndon Johnson’s success rate in 1965 was only 93%. http://n.pr/i3d7cY
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