"You can't have your pudding, if you don't..."

... eat your meat." Love Pink Floyd. Thank the gods we no longer have to listen to the verbal onslaughts of political commercials. But here's the thing, will anything change? Is there a new mandate. Let's see, Obama is President, the House is controlled by the GOP, and the Senate is in the hands of the Democrats. Sounds familiar.



There is one mandate, the TEA PARTY seems to have been bagged and thrown into Boston Harbor. However, clearly, all of the problems that existed on November 5th exist on November 7th. World economies are a mess. The environment is a boiling cauldron. Major disasters will continue to demand ever dwindling public resources. The droughts, floods, severe storms are not going away. Tectonic plates are rumbling below, and cosmic radiation is raining down from above. The rich are getting richer and the poor are poorer.

If there is to be a new mandate, it must come from you, the people. The problem is that we want the pudding, but don't want to eat the meat.

-We want a cleaner environment, but we want cheap gas.
-We want safe products, but we want cheap products.
-We want jobs, but we want less government and fewer public employees.
-We want to be protected from bad business practices and toxic products, but we want fewer regulations.
-We want services, but don't want to pay for them.
-We want to bring our troops home, but we don't have any real understanding why we are even bothering with places like Afghanistan.
-We want quality education for our kids, but we fire our teachers.
-We want to be protected, but we lay off our police and firemen.
-We want to protect the environment, but we want our beach front property and build in areas prone to disaster.

The list goes on and on. We want the pudding of life but we are unwilling to change our lives so that our actions benefit all and harm none. If we want a new mandate, it will be up to you to send the White House and Congress a clear message When we, as a nation, have resolve, we accomplish great things. From WWI, WWII, to the space race, technology development and solving problems, when we stand united, we are unstoppable. But, when we falter, when we are divided, we fail ourselves and the world.

We are out of time. If we do not unite for a common purpose to basically save our place on this planet: "A nation divided shall perish."

VOTING: HOW TO DECIDE

We are all sick of the ads and the rhetoric. We are sick of the billions of dollars (just think of better ways this money could have been used) spent to convince, cajole, deceive, prod, scare and entice us to vote a certain way.

So how do you decide if there is any uncertainty in your decision making?

When you enter the booth, take a deep breath, close your eyes and ask yourself questions like this:

-Who will be best for the future of the country and the world?
-Who seems to have more compassion and empathy for the plight of others?
-Whose intentions appear to be most peaceful, yet also willing to stick to fundamental principles of human rights and respect for others?
-Which candidate garners your trust, has been consistent in their message, and not altered their message to the audience?
- Which candidate do you feel will at least try to leave the world a better place; recognizes the changing climate and environment; and really cares about creating a world that will protect the health and safety of you, your family, and the planet?

After you've thought about these questions for a few moments, start pulling the lever, let intuition be your guide. Don't second guess your choice, follow your heart.


ABOVE ALL ELSE, VOTE, DON'T PUT YOUR:

TIME OF CHOOSING

Don't let others choose for you. We are at a critical point in the history of our nation, the fate of the world, and the future of humanity. If you do just one thing tomorrow:

THE NOT AS GOOD AS WE THOUGHT BUT COULD BE MUCH WORSE ELECTION

Hopefully, all eligible voters will soon be heading to the polls to choose a U.S. president and to vote for those seeking congressional seats. Here's my take. When Obama was elected there was a sense of almost Camelot euphoria. Big changes were supposed to come in every aspect of society. Many of these changes never really materialized. In fact, numerous key issues regarding the environment and climate change didn't even get discussed. Perhaps this is what Obama meant when he said that you can't change the system from within. In other words, there are too many interests with too much power to create any real change once you get in the system. This is a form of forced co-option. No matter who sits in the oval office, they do not have the power most think they have. Money still reigns supreme in American politics. The inner system eats you up and uses you for their purposes, allowing only scant free reign to accomplish your own agenda. No matter the president, these forces are ever present.

Granted, the President faced an antagonistic House. At every turn, efforts at change were blocked or amended  in such a way as to render reform meaningless. If there is ever to be true change, it must come not from with the political system, but from without. In other words, the people must require that change occur. They must use their votes, their consumer dollars and information to expose the dangers and peacefully force a change. In other words, we are responsible for what our government does or doesn't do. If the President used the office to expose the way the system really works to rally the people, things might be different. Although, that path can be dangerous-shades of JFK.

However, while power, until we wake up, will remain in the hands of monied interests regardless of who is elected, there is still a choice. That choice rests in the fundamental philosophies of the candidates.  These choices include:

• Under Obama, there will be a hesitancy to pull the trigger or drop the bomb. Not so much so under Romney.
• Obama at least is making an attempt to have some form of universal health care. Romney will sell your health to the lowest bidder.
• Obama understands the importance of education and public schools. Romney would segregate the rich back into private charter schools like the good old days of the 18th and 19th centuries.
• There might be some discussion of alternative energy and climate change with Obama. With Romney oil and coal producers will get free rein to continue to ravage and rape the planet.
• The middle class has a fighting chance under Obama. Romney will sacrifice the middle class to aid the rich.
• Obama has a genuine concern, although not through actions, for the poor. Romney has no use for the poor. 
• More truth from Obama; less truth from Romney.
• More consistency from Obama; Romney, whichever the money blows.
• Obama has heart and soul; Romney has soul but little heart.
• Obama has a greater intellect than Romney and thinks things out more than Romney.
• Obama has empathy and sympathy. For Romney, sympathy can be found under 'S' in the dictionary.
• Both have ties to the wealthy and neither seem able or willing to stand up to big money. However, Romney is deeper into the club.

Something to consider is that most issues are now global. Climate change, economies, terrorists, environmental collapse, etc. will not be solved by either Obama or Romney. So many tipping points have been reached and we, the planet, is in big trouble. We will soon be looking at much "gnashing of teeth." When it all begins to crash, I guess I just trust Obama to help put it together than I ever would Romney who would probably try to restore the monarchy.

MARKET APPEASEMENT FAILING EU ECONOMIES...

In several posts I  indicated that the whole concept of Market Appeasement (Wall Street) was a dangerous and even absurd economic policy. The numbers are coming in and the hypothesis was correct, 'letting the markets dictate public policy leads to economic disaster.' The only people who benefit from austerity imposed measures are Wall Street. They get: higher interest rates, more guarantees that their investments are safe, elimination of those nasty social safety nets, a poorly funded educational system keeping the masses ignorant, and control over governments and politicians. Who benefits? Them-no one else. So here's what's happening in Europe, do we really want this to happen here, too?

Eurozone Unemployment Hits 10.9 Percent, A Record High

LONDON Record high unemployment for the 17 countries that use the euro is set to increase the pressure on Europe's leaders to switch from a focus on austerity to a pro-growth strategy to stop the region from moving deeper into recession. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/02/eurozone-unemployment-hits-record-high_n_1470237.html

 

Op-Ed Columnist

Death of a Fairy Tale

By PAUL KRUGMAN

Published: April 26, 2012

This was the month the confidence fairy died.

Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

Paul Krugman ---For the past two years most policy makers in Europe and many politicians and pundits in America have been in thrall to a destructive economic doctrine. According to this doctrine, governments should respond to a severely depressed economy not the way the textbooks say they should — by spending more to offset falling private demand — but with fiscal austerity, slashing spending in an effort to balance their budgets. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/27/opinion/krugman-death-of-a-fairy-tale.html?_r=1