First he was an actor, then he was president of Screen Actors Guide, then he became a politician. He was Governor of California, and then reached the highest office in America . . . No! not CEO of Goldman Sachs, silly: the President.
Long dead, he is now called a "great economist." I like the way we re-write history to make our heroes seem even more heroic.
For my tax plan, I take a page out of one of my great economists that I admire, Ronald Reagan . . . I want to reinstitute the Reagan tax model from the 1980s. - Michelle Bachmann
This is a brilliant idea! If we returned to the tax model of the Reagan years, we could probably get out of debt and revitalize our treasury!
Sure, taxes fluctuated between 30% and 50% during Reagan's administrations, but, he knew that taxes played an integral part of running a nation. Today's leaders campaign on the notion that taxation is bad, giving credence to the insane anarchistic notions of libertarians.
Taxes must be collected.
It is not wealth re-distribution as the rigfht-wing likes to say. It is collection of monies for fees and services rendered by the government that built the most amazing society in history.
Even if we don't change to the tax levels of 1984, I sure wish the right-wing would treat taxation the same way as the right-wingers of 1984.
According to Spirit of Truth Community, a St. Paul, Minnesota-based Christian group "that strives to put love and justice at the center of everything we do. . . . ", Jesus would support President Obama's jobs-creation plan.
Most politicians who pass themselves off as Christian (Michelle Bachmann, from Minnesota, comes to mind), vehemently oppose the jobs plan, saying it is bad for America.
Spirit of Truth has decided to confront Bachmann:
"Jesus would support this bill," said Brandon Nessen, the group’s spokesperson. "Ask the wealthiest to contribute so that ordinary families can get back on two feet again." See Dangerous Minds article
I think he might be on to something!
"A group of church-going progressives will descend on her Woodbury office to ask her to support President Obama's jobs bill, which would use revenue from taxes on the wealthiest Americans to pay for infrastructure projects and other bipartisan policies aimed at stimulating job growth," the group's statement said.
Spirit of Truth will re-enact the biblical story of the loaves and fishes to feed thousands of hungry people, a story they say is a lesson for all of us to help those less fortunate.
I look forward to hearing about Bachmann's reaction (which I suspect will be non-existent).
Tom Petty's "American Girl" was one of my favorite post-punk rock songs. He was very pretty in his black leather jacket and mouthful of perfect teeth. OK, he was adorable.
I don't remember the venue in which I first saw him perform, but I am pretty sure it was in Boston or New York and it was a theater, not a club. At that time, a little bit went a long way. he had some great pop diddies, but his catalog was not something I would pursue.
He went on to work with the most formidable names in the music industry, has remained socially and politically active, and never once fell back to rest on his laurels.
I don't listen to a lot of his records, but I am a fan.
Michele Bachmann, a no-talent, conservative" dullard from the vast American wasteland known as the "Hearltand" recently announced that she was running for President. I want to laugh, but since the election (twice) of Ronald Reagan, I know that any imbecilic, in-bred white person can be elected to lead the western world. All she has to do is dye her hair orange, instead of that mousy brown she's chosen, and she could be the new GOP Bozo.
That's unfair. I'm sorry. Bozo was actually a really smart guy who worked hard for a living.
Michele Bachmann doesn't even know American History and wants to be President (Oh! I guess I am implying that Ronald Reagan did know history. I bet he knew more about American History than Bachmann).
So, Bachmann holds a press conference and uses Petty's song "American Girl" as the theme song. It's nice to know that she considers herself a girl and not a woman. I feel the same way.
It took Petty no time at all to have a cease and desist letter to Bachmann's lawyers instructing them that their girl is no allowed to use his song for her own profit.
It gets better!
Katrina Leskanich, lead singer of Katrina & the Waves, recently stated that she and the band do not endorse Bachmann's use of the song "Walking On Sunshine," and she has told her lawyers to take the steps needed to enjoin Bachmann from playing it at her rallies. Leskanich is quoted in Rolling Stone: "if I disagree with the policies, opinions or platforms for its use, I’ve no choice but to try and defend the song and prevent its misuse. . . ."
Legally, the artists have little recourse and Bachmann can use their songs at any event that is licensed by Performance Rights Organization to use songs handled by PRO.
So, the posturing is wonderful, but may be ineffectual and the right-, er, wrong-wing could turn this around and use ONLY songs by non-"conservative" artists. I hope all musicians who consider themselves thinkers and thoughtful will speak-out against the insipid mindlessness of "conservatism" and "conservatives."
American Girl [Live]:
Walking On Sunshine [Commerical]:
I applaud all musicians who take a position, even a position with which I disagree, because the minstrels and the jesters carry more weight in the world than the kings and the king-makers.
Ted Nugent has a song titled "Cat-Scratch Fever" that I think perfectly sums-up the political thoughts and platform of America's so-called "conservatives" and they should all use that song.
I know this is an old video, but I just can't get enough of it.
I know there are people who think this woman is brilliant, who want to vote for her, and think she will make a good President.
Michelle Bachmann is an amazing example of just how stupid Americans have become. She is convinced that if she says "the world is flat" enough times, then the world will be flat. So she keeps repeating that carbon dioxide is not dangerous, and eventually everybody will believe her. Well, those people who think the world is flat, like the people of Minnesota!
If you look at the periodic table above, you will see that carbon (C) and oxygen (O) are both natural elements, so that means that CO2 must be twice as safe as anything else in nature, like methane, for example.
Here is an excerpt about carbon dioxide that appears to be non-partisan (that is, it does not appear to be presented by anybody that opposes the tea party):
Carbon dioxide and health
Carbon dioxide is essential for internal respiration in a human body. Internal respiration is a process, by which oxygen is transported to body tissues and carbon dioxide is carried away from them.
Carbon dioxide is a guardian of the pH of the blood, which is essential for survival.
The buffer system in which carbon dioxide plays an important role is called the carbonate buffer. It is made up of bicarbonate ions and dissolved carbon dioxide, with carbonic acid. The carbonic acid can neutralize hydroxide ions, which would increase the pH of the blood when added. The bicarbonate ion can neutralize hydrogen ions, which would cause a decrease in the pH of the blood when added. Both increasing and decreasing pH is life threatening.
Apart from being an essential buffer in the human system, carbon dioxide is also known to cause health effects when the concentrations exceed a certain limit.
The primary health dangers of carbon dioxide are:
- Asphyxiation. Caused by the release of carbon dioxide in a confined or unventilated area. This can lower the concentration of oxygen to a level that is immediately dangerous for human health.
- Frostbite. Solid carbon dioxide is always below -78 oC at regular atmospheric pressure, regardless of the air temperature. Handling this material for more than a second or two without proper protection can cause serious blisters, and other unwanted effects. Carbon dioxide gas released from a steel cylinder, such as a fire extinguisher, causes similar effects.
- Kidney damage or coma. This is caused by a disturbance in chemical equilibrium of the carbonate buffer. When carbon dioxide concentrations increase or decrease, causing the equilibrium to be disturbed, a life threatening situation may occur
by Dick Mac
