...dashboard Mao...

Jon Huntsman Criticizes Mitt Romney Over China Policy Despite Endorsement?
Read More...

The idiotology of ideology?

Despite being raised in an "atmosphere of privilege", humbled by Polio when he was 39 years old, F.D.R. had "it". 

Dwight D. Eisenhower also had "it". While it's difficult to pinpoint the exact moment Ike learned about "it", a tour of a Nazi Concentration Camp certainly contributed to his own personal awakening of what "it" meant for the future of humanity.


Henry Dunant. Mohandas Gandhi. Martin Luther King. César Chávez.

Richard Nixon became aware of "it" after Watergate. Jimmy Carter was judged for having too much "it". George H.W. Bush was only a one term President because he forgot about the importance of "it".

Desmond Tutu. Tenzin Gyatso. Aung San Suu Kyi.

Part of the message of the New Testament of the Bible is dedicated to the spiritual idea of "it".

In 2008, it was clear that Senator John McCain (a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for five and a half years) and then Senator Barack Obama (an educated black man born in America) both had "it".

So, what is "it"?
ἐμπάθεια. Einfühlung. Empathy.

It's an important human quality which separates a mere politician from a leader. In the view of this Blogger, Mitt Romney doesn't have "it". Indeed, Mitt will never have "it".

And for this reason alone, this Blogger believes the former Massachusetts' Governor will not, but more importantly should not, be elected President.

It remains to be seen whether or not the country is prepared for Mitt to be IT.

Romney Update:
$374,327.62 for 9 Political Speeches = "Not Very Much"?
Read More...

Empathy? Envy? Even Newt Gingrich didn't try to play hide the tax banana with his K-Street money in the Caymen Islands.

Empathy Update:
(2/1/12)
"I am fed up with politicians in either party dividing Americans against each other. I am running to be the president of all the American people and I am concerned about all the American people." ~ Newt Gingrich



Romney says he’s not concerned about the poor?
Read More...

Mitt’s class problem?
Read More...

In fairness to the candidate, running for the highest office is a grueling experience. It's difficult to keep ones own mouth and mind on the same sheet of political music. With that said, once again, because Mitt Romney has never worried about keeping a roof over his head, for this reason alone, he'll never be able to connect with average Americans struggling from paycheck to paycheck.

And finally, how many of Romney's five sons have served in uniform? It's one thing to beat the drums of war, it's quite another to actually send ones own son or daughter into harm's way. Just ask Vice President Joe Biden.

Suggested Reading: Pew Research Center

Class Warfare in 2012?

New Studies Determine Which Social Class More Likely to Behave Unethically?
Read More...

"The increased unethical tendencies of upper-class individuals are driven, in part, by their more favorable attitudes toward greed. These findings have very clear implications for how increased wealth and status in society shapes patterns of ethical behavior, and suggest that the different social values among the haves and the have-nots help drive these tendencies."
~ Paul Piff, a doctoral student in psychology at UC Berkeley and lead author of the paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Read More...

Possible Definition of "Politically Incorrect"?

Facebook Quote: "I drove behind a car with an Obama sticker on it, which means I'm a follower of an Obama follower, so I'm a gobless Commie, according to the real America. Right?"

North Korean Performers

Wangjing, Beijing, China

June 2008
Photo by Peter Rimar.

Grand Obstructionist Party?

"The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president."
~ Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), in an interview with the National Journal, describing his goal in retaking the Senate.

One of the main political talking points of Republicans is that President Obama got everything he wanted his first two years in office:


"A lie told often enough becomes the truth"?

If one individual uses a specific grouping of words to express an idea at a particular time and place, and it's then cited by others (for example the Wall Street Journal), it's called a quote. If one or more individuals employ the same phraseology over and over again to support a specific political agenda, it's called a message. To put it another way, a slogan is a slogan is a slogan. It's how ideological soap is bought and sold in the political marketplace (see Echo Chamber).

Clearly, any video which includes Rachel Maddow must be pure liberal propaganda. So, what is the truth? Instead of accepting this politically partisan video at face value, this blogger went directly to the source: The U.S. Senate. Read More...

The public record is the public record. Numbers don't lie. Can you say Grand Obstructionist Party? This blogger has a theory. The partisan goal is simple: stop and/or delay every action of government in order to create a climate of economic uncertainty.


GOP Senator won’t seek re-election, cites Washington’s increasing polarization?
Read More...

Suggested Reading List:
Glass-Steagall Act
Cost of Wars

"Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future." ~ John F. Kennedy

Photo by Peter Rimar.

Kim Kardashian. (Pause) Why?

"I've seen the people who talk about their love lives in print invariably have doomed relationships with the person they're talking about."
~ John Cusack

Satan Attacks America?

Suggested Reading:
Modern Language Association guidelines for citing a Tweet
in an academic paper or news report.

"To find joy in work is to discover the fountain of youth." ~ Pearl S. Buck

It's all about selling SOAP?

Last July, Sarah Palin's documentary The Undefeated opened to an empty theater in Orange County, California (Read More). While on the surface, the movie's box office failure was rather humorous, unfortunately, a majority of journalists missed the point on why the film was released in the first place. It's the same reason that Newt Gingrich, despite his low approval ratings in every national poll, is still campaigning for President.  
When this blogger lived and worked in the People's Republic of China, I discovered that cigarettes and alcohol were used to bribe local government officials. Indeed, the central government actually monitors the sell of expensive cigarettes to gauge the level of corruption in different cities. While the average price per pack was LESS than a dollar, several brands from Yunnan Province cost more than $110s a cartoon. 

Why? Well, cigarettes are a form of hard currency which cannot be individually traced by the government. Thus, local officials accept cartoons of cigarettes, as bribes, without drawing the attention of the central government. 

Economic crimes, such as tax fraud and corruption, routinely appear among the criminal dockets of those given the death penalty. Read More...

Intead of cigarettes, in the United States, special interest groups purchase books and DVDs (in bulk) to support candidates who support their specific agenda. Sarah Palin is a paid political commentator for Faux News. She earns more than six figures a year just giving speeches. As long as she remains a political celebrity, she'll continue selling SOAP. While I have the deepest respect for Senator John McCain, somebody spiked his Kool-Aid in 2008 when he picked Palin as his running mate.

Billionaire Sheldon Adelson Says He Might Give $100M To Newt Gingrich Or Other Republican?
Read More...

Photo of CCP Building Art, Guangzhou, PRC (August 2008).
Going Rogue: An American Life (Hardcover)

"Politics is the art of postponing decisions until they are no longer relevant." ~ Henri Queuille

Our Digital Age?

It's hard to imagine a world without the internet, Facebook, Twitter, international air travel, talk radio, 24/7 television news channels, digital cameras, voice activated software, cell phones and GPS...

The Library of Congress recently published a digital collection of images from one of the early pioneers of photography. Between 1905 and 1915, Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii traveled the far reaches of the Russian Empire on behalf of Tsar Nicholas II. His task was to visually document a country undergoing a rapid transformation. Read More...

After the Bolshevik Revolution, the photographer left Russia and eventually settled in Paris. In 1948, the Library of Congress purchased his work from his heirs. Because of the unique techniques he developed and used to photograph and then process glass plate negatives (digichromatography), up until now, these images could only be viewed within the confines of the Library itself. With advances in digital photography, it's now possible to take a glimpse of a world soon to be swept away by war, revolution and industrialization. View Collection Here...

Rights and Restrictions Information

Iraqi School Girl, Baghdad, Iraq (April 2005).
Photo by Peter Rimar.

Contraception Crusade?

Rick Sextorum surging in the polls?

Up to this point, this blogger has avoided writing anything of substance regarding this specific GOP hopeful. Why? To be honest, I've always considered the former Pennsylvania Senator a one-dimensional candidate.

Basically, his key political talking points are centered around three main social-conservative issues: abortion, same-sex marriage and birth control. On this last point, the candidate is on record as saying that states should have the right to ban all forms of birth control. Read more...

At a time when the 2012 election should be about jobs, jobs and jobs, this candidate continues to attract voters with a theocratic agenda regarding the role government in the private lives of its own citizens. Read More...

Limited government? Really? A woman who is raped should be denied the option of taking the morning after pill (a form of contraception)? A daughter, wife or mother must carry around her pain and shame for nine months to fulfill some religious, moral obligation to society? A zygote has more rights than a victim of rape or incest? Since when did an acorn dipped in water become a tree? Every Sperm is Sacred?


Morality? What morality? How is a product of rape a gift?

And condoms, which have helped turn the tide against the human tragedy of the AIDS pandemic, should be outlawed? Believe it or not, banning condoms will not stop people from having sex, so why even go back down this rather dangerous public health road? The Vatican and the Catholic Church? Humanae Vitae?

Is it really 2012? Read More...

This whole political mythology that the Republican Party somehow holds a monopoly on so-called Family Values is completely absurd. Read More...

In 2009, by it's own published estimates, Catholic Charities received 67% of its funding from "Government Revenue". Read More...

If a so-called religious organization receives more than 50% of its funding from the government, should it still be allowed to call itself a religious charity? When did a hospital become a church? Why is the government giving taxpayer money to religious institutions in the first place?

In Florida, Mitt Romney destroyed Newt Gingrich with $15,000,000 worth of negative TV and radio ads. No matter what this blogger thinks or writes about Rick Santorum, it's clear that Romney's Restore Our Future Death Star is already preparing to put down The Alliance to Restore the Republic rebellion in Arizona and Michigan. While money "can't buy you love" (or votes), it sure helps when you're a Presidential hopeful battling all sides of the political Force.

Special Note to Dr. Ron Paul Supporters:
Speaking of liberty, Viagra is sold as an over-the-counter drug in China.

[pseu·do·nym]

A fictitious name used by an author to conceal his or her identity.

"Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority. It thus exemplifies the purpose behind the Bill of Rights, and of the First Amendment in particular: to protect unpopular individuals from retaliation—and their ideas from suppression—at the hand of an intolerant society. The right to remain anonymous may be abused when it shields fraudulent conduct. But political speech by its nature will sometimes have unpalatable consequences, and, in general, our society accords greater weight to the value of free speech than to the dangers of its misuse."
~ Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens
McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Comm’n 514 U.S. 334, 357 (1995)

How to Remove Your Google Search History Before Google's New Privacy Policy Takes Effect?
Read More...

International Peace Garden, North Dakota (July 2011)

Possible Definition of Mainstream Media?

Twenty years ago, if a Presidential candidate said something to a small crowd in a coffee shop in New Hampshire, the words and emotions of that moment would forever stay in that moment.

Times have changed. Believe it or not, it was just seven years ago yesterday the domain name YouTube.com was activated. It's difficult to image today's digital world without an endless stream of uploaded cute puppy and dancing baby videos. Beyond the funny and humorous, with a cell phone, one person has the power to change the political conversation. Links to a YouTube video, shared on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter, can actually be "the shot heard around the world".

In an exclusive news release to Reuters, Google reported that YouTube receives more than four billion video views a day. Additionally, 60 hours of material are uploaded to YouTube every minute. Read More...

Despite being BLOCKED by the Chinese and Iranian Government, judging this website by just the raw numbers, YouTube is already recognized globally as mainstream.

In terms of describing and defining the mainstream media itself, radio stations, TV stations and printed newspapers are all traditional, brick and mortar type business operations.

In the view of this blogger, if a syndicated talk show host reaches millions of daily listeners on more than 600 radio stations, by definition, that individual is a card-carrying member of the mainstream media. If this same college dropout earns more than $40,000,000s a year speaking into a Golden Microphone and actually watched Superbowl XLVI in the luxury box of the New England Patriots owner, Rush Limbaugh's sheer wealth, political connections and public notoriety makes him the poster child of today's mainstream media.

"Travel teaches toleration." ~ Benjamin Disraeli

Buddhist Temple, Seoul, R.O.K. (July 2009)

Cancer drug reverses Alzheimer's in mice?

So, why does the U.S. Federal Government provide medical research grants to universities?

In case you missed it, this week there was breaking news that some medical hope may be on the horizon for millions of families battling the darkness of this dreaded disease.
Read More...
Read More...
Read More...

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum (June 2010)

Happy Birthday Charles Darwin?

There's a certain truth to the saying that "a dog is man's best friend". For this blogger and his wife, our JoJo is family (see photo).

Which brings me to the point of this particular post. At the time Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, Boston Terriers, as a breed, did not exist. But then again, we could deny that a man-made process employing elements of natural selection helped create the distinctive look and personality of our beloved family member. With actual physical evidence that evolutionary processes are part of the natural order of life, why do a significant percentage of Americans still believe otherwise? Read More...

We love JoJo not because he's a Boston Terrier. We love him because he loves us. He brings joy to our daily lives. This blogger would no sooner deny his existence then the existence of God. "All dogs go to Heaven!"

Still confused? Add an R to the word evolution and it's actually possible to understand something about the guiding principals and the original intent of America's Founding Fathers. In 1776, there was no contradiction between individual faith and freedom, a belief in a God and the use science as a tool to explain our world. Read More...

America's Darwin Problem?
Read More...

"If someone in 2012 wants to criticize Henry Ford because he didn't know everything about automobiles a century ago, it's a little silly. If someone says evolution did not happen, walk away, just like you should walk away if someone says astrology works or the Moon is made of cheese."
~ Hank Campbell
Read More...

Sadly, on more days than not, the political battles in 2012 feels like the country is undergoing a rapid process of de-evolution. Read More...


Suggested Reading: The Galileo Affair

Political Quote of the Week?

"Well, I thought you'd be interested in knowing, that running for President of the United States is really one series of humiliations after another. But it's also an educational experience. I learned three things when I was running for President. First of all, I learned where John Wayne was born. That's very important. And then second, I learned the day that Elvis Presley was born. These are vital issues to our Republic. And third I learned, never forget the three things that you learn. Very important when you're running for President."
~ Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann
CPAC 2012 (February 9, 2012)

"Conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative."
~ Oscar Wilde

Poet sentenced to seven years in prison?
Read More...

Marilyn Monroe 'officially' joins Twitter?

"Hollywood is a place where they'll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul."
~ Marilyn Monroe
Read More...

CIA Following Twitter And Facebook To Analyze Public Opinion, Predict Major Events?
Read More...

Theory: Could an agent of a foreign government, employed by one of the major social networking services, directly access the accounts of human rights activists in different countries? For example, Facebook uses both facial recognition and global positioning software. Theoretically, anonymous user data, obtained using these specific technologies, could be shared between foreign governments attempting to suppress internal political opposition. Also, employing these technologies could cut both political ways.

Hacked e-mails reveal Syrian spin used to defend crackdown?
Read More...

The more a conspiracy theory appears technically plausible,
the more likely that same theory becomes highly probable.
Read More...

"I don't think Newt Gingrich got into this race, originally, thinking he was going to be President. I think he was doing it for personal publicity. Ron Paul is a message candidate. He's just out there to get his Libertarian message out there. I think he's quite sure that he's not going to become the President of the United States. Mitt Romney is the only one that ever had a real chance once Pawlenty dropped out and Rick Perry imploded. He's the only one with a real chance to win this thing." 
~ Ron Reagan on MSNBC Live
February 6, 2012