Al Gore Inspires University of Tennessee Graduates
Did you ever wonder what a graduation speech given by Chicken Little would be? Me neither, but thanks to Al Gore here it is. If you’re not on fire, floating down the flooded river, choking on pollution, etc., drop by Chicken Little’s website and let him know what you think!
If you are on anti-depressants or anything for paranoia, double up the dose before you watch this.
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Tea Party Fearmongering. A Little Knowledge Can Be Dangerous.
I really hate to post anything from infowars.com. This sight should place a disclaimer that it’s to be used for
entertainment purposes only. The website puts out some of the most ridiculous claims and most should realize it. I call it entertainment because I like to see how quickly I can either debunk what they’re saying or find someone else that has debunked one of their stories. I do fear that a loony could go crazy with their stories, but that’s free speech and we just have to take the good with the bad.
The latest that I know for certain is total bullshit is this story about the U.S. Army training to take on the tea party. It’s humorous when you know the truth about how the Army trains, but this would scare the crap out of someone who is a Tea Party member. The Army is not training to take on the Tea Party. I’m sure.
I am sure because I was a member of the 194th Armor Brigade in Fort Knox. The fact is, they do train as a heavy QRF(quick reactionary force) for all sorts of situations. We were placed on alert frequently and nobody really knew why. We did know to be prepared for anything.
It was common to be called out on alert and they tried to make things as realistic as possible. It’s been many years ago and I can’t remember the details of the SITREP(situation report). I do remember the first time I heard one that I was astonished by it. Nobody else batted an eye. I then learned that these SITREPS were usually just a bored Second Lieutenant who was charged with making up something for the fake alert. It’s just not to realistic to come out and say, “We’re calling everybody in to sit in the motorpool and nap on your rucksacks until we figure out where an open area is to go do some maneuvers.”.
My money is that the Army is not gearing up for a bunch of drunken Tea Partiers. They are gearing up for ANY major civil disturbance as they should be and have been for many, many years. The person who wrote this training exercise was most likely trying to come up with a scenario while he was watching MSNBC and this sounded as good as anything.
There may be some credibility to some stories at Infowars, but you can be sure that they’ve cranked up the hype on everything to keep everyone tuned into their constant end of the world news.
If You Believe We’re Recovering From the Recession, Please Read.
I found this post called, Is America’s Economic Recovery On The Whole Based On A Rotten Sham? It covers an angle of our economic troubles that I had not considered before.
The housing mess was caused by people wanting much more than they could afford and not paying what a McMansion’s payments should be and buying things that we couldn’t afford with credit cards. The government allowed, encouraged, and even forced the banks to do it, and then bailed them out when all of the Ponzi schemes and phony scams collapsed. The details are complex, as details always are in scams and Ponzi schemes, but the basics of what happened are very easy to understand. What I don’t understand is how very few have learned anything.
As I delivered pieces and parts to the McMansions, I couldn’t help but ask who was buying them. I couldn’t help but wonder how so many people were getting so wealthy while I wasn’t. The more I asked, the more I found out that they weren’t wealthy, just in debt. I found that the road to where we are was a facade, and now the recovery is a facade as well.
If you read this and still believe the news that good times are just around the bend, you’re not paying attention.
It’s an old joke, but relevant to how I feel after reading this article. A helicopter pilot gets lost in the Redmond, Washington fog. He lands at the Microsoft headquarters and Bill Gates walks up to the chopper. The pilot asks, “Where am I?”. Gates replies, “You’re in a helicopter.”.
We know how things got where they are and most of us know the situation we’re in. The question would be what do we do? Human nature being what it is, the majority are going to fall for the false good news. Many more are catching on and doing some strategic failures of their own. Nobody wants to be a sucker and actually pay for things right? Should we make plans like are jobs, if you have one, won’t be here much longer? Should we just take the, “this too shall pass” attitude and go about business as usual?
Bush’s fault? Obama’s fault. Left or rights fault? All of the above and everyone in between. We all either participated or let it happen. I say let’s get past that and find a solution. Let the frat boys fuel their own yachts, the rest of us need to start acting like we were taught and do the right things.
Personal Branding – Scam?
I’ve noticed a particular trend where many consultants and educational centers are trying to turn a dollar by promoting technology that they really don’t understand. With so many people looking for work or in fear of losing their current job, they are telling everyone that they need “branded”. Personal branding is the latest catch phrase. I think the last time the phrase was used, it was during slavery times and it wasn’t a good thing to have.
In short, personal branding is marketing yourself as an individual. The best examples are real estate agents. They really don’t have much to sell other than their self-image. Every realtor does the same thing in pretty much the same manner. The only difference is that some are known and trusted more than others. So what you end up with is a realtor’s photo from by-gone days next to every house for sale. They’re selling their looks and name to attract buyers to your house.
Personal branding “experts” are telling us that you need to utilize social networking websites to do the same no matter what business you are in. They want to either sell you a course on how to do this yourself or they want you to pay them to do it. All that you really have to do is read the website’s instructions and set up an account. Use some common sense to find out what you would like the world to know about you and keep your efforts current. Really, no course or consultant required.
Due to the fact that many personal branding experts lack the technical expertise, they bypass the fact that a personal website can do far more for you than any Facebook or Twitter setup could do. A low-cost WordPress installation that is well done will outperform them. You can use Facebook and Twitter to supplement your own website, but by no means should you really on websites that you have no control over to promote your “brand”.
With WordPress or any other content management system you choose, setting up your personal website becomes almost as easy as setting up a Facebook page. A personal website can be improved as your skills and time allow. You’re going to learn a few things in the process. This website will remain as long as you pay the $5/month hosting fees at a host like Lunarpages. As new fads in social networking evolve, you will always have a base website that will not need changed to keep pace.
Save your money and put up a personal website once rather than paying branding experts to set you up on Facebook. Your website has real value (a matter for another post) and will keep working for you for many years. Facebook, Twitter, and their twins will be old news while your website keeps gaining ground.
InfraGard. Is Your Boss an Official Junior G-Man?
Before I get on the subject of InfraGard, let me explain that I enjoy all conspiracy theories for the entertainment value if nothing else. The amount of work put into many of them is like a never ending lie. As soon as they’re debunked, they come up with another twist to make their unproven theory true. It’s almost as entertaining as listening to a global warming scientist, but better.
I also realize the danger that they can pose to those that follow blindly, but everything has a downside.
The subject of InfraGard came up on Jessie Ventura’s Conspiracy Theory tonight. Keep in mind, Jessie Ventura made a good amount of money as an actor with professional wrestling. He’s an entertainer and he would have a hard time convincing the normal person of anything. He’s playing on the fact that people like to be entertained and worrying that your government is out to get you is as good as any scary movie plot. Just the idea of InfraGard sent chills up my spine though.
keyhole from Crestock Photos
What the government is doing is gathering people to report suspected terrorist activity of all sorts. They are targeting high-level businessmen to take care of the task. They are hooking them up with secret clearances and giving them advanced warnings and intelligence. It sounds like a good idea in some respects. Many of these businesses are vital to our daily lives. Communications, chemicals, food suppliers, etc. are prime targets. There probably should ge an agency that takes care of these things, but do you want your boss playing Junior G-Man?
I found all sorts of holes in Jessie’s report. He played up the secret clearance for example. Privates in the Army have secret clearances just to look at a training version of a code book or listen to radios in vehicles. Many thousands of low-level government workers have them for very mundane positions. Basically, it’s just a step to make sure you’re not a criminal and that you are aware that some things you’ll see should not leave your workplace. Jessie claimed that the government was giving the authority for members of InfraGard to kill. Imagine your boss in the typical office telling his workers to use force? Most I’ve worked in, half the folks would be injured in a stampede running out the door to get home to safety if such an order was given. Jessie said that the only way to become a member is through the recommendation of a current member, but there is an application on the website. These types of fears I would suspect were for the drama of the show.
Here’s the fear I have with a program like this and the Patriot Act. I have to wonder if my fears aren’t warranted given the current economic crisis. I fear the abuse of any information they can get their hands on. Business leaders are just that. They live and die for the bottom line. The only oath they’ve ever understood is that profit for the stockholders is their only mission. If they are privy to information that will gain a profit for their business, you can bet that they will use it. If they need to smear a competitor, you can be sure they will. If just a bad reference isn’t enough for revenge on a perceived disgruntled ex-employee, they’re going to use their information to destroy him. If you don’t play ball with your boss/Junior G-Man, he’s going to use his information and FBI connections to take care of you.
When I hear of so many scandals where information unfolds at a blinding pace, I suspect the Patriot Act as the culprit. The defense for the Patriot Act would be that the government isn’t going to waste their time meddling in business affairs. Really? Did you know that the majority or our intelligence gathering is done through the use of contractors? These contractors are profit driven companies and it’s not like a profit driven company to turn down customers.
So am I worried that the government and my boss are going to spend money to find out secrets about me? Not at all. Your boss can spend $2500 and listen to anything he wants to in your place of employment. They’ve been doing it for years because it is so cheap. I don’t even worry about that because the only person that can operate the equipment is usually a nerd hardware guy that lacks the time to listen to everything. They only use this stuff when some serious red flags are thrown or the nerd hardware guy is trying to find out if the hot soon-to-be divorcee is available yet. I’ve seen it happen. You can actually have fun with tailored e-mails meant to send the nerd hardware guy into a frenzy.
My worry is that the government awarding the most unscrupulous individuals in our society with information that can change the outcome of your employer’s endeavors. My worry is that the InfraGard members will use their government granted authority to harass individuals that they choose. It’s nothing new. Employers have been using private detectives and law enforcement connections to do this illegally for many years. This just clears the path for them.
This is the first I’ve ever heard about them. Over 350 of Fortune 500 companies are members and I’m just now hearing about it? Why the secrecy? Wouldn’t the government want us to know about this use of our tax dollars if it were a good program? Wouldn’t they want terrorist to know that even our industries are on the lookout?
I shouldn’t even mention the Nazi feel to this group, but that is the first thing that comes to mind. It’s bipartisan as it started with Clinton after the Oklahoma City bombing and Bush never removed the program.
If you think your being spied on these days, you probably are.
Cash for Clunkers – $24,000 Spent Per Vehicle
$24,000 spent per car in the Cash For Clunkers program! Now there’s a headline that should make most people mad. The irresponsibility of the government, car companies, and car buyers is disgusting. The average sale price of the cars was $26,000, the cars could have been given away with efficiency this bad.
I got this figure from Edmunds. I’ll admit that the figures are a little murky to say the least. There are many arguable factors. The point to be taken is that there was much more than the amount the government stated given for the trade-ins when you factor in all costs involved.
The whole premise that the government would give people far more for their trade-in than it was worth if you bought a care THEY thought you have, should have sent Americans running. First of all, they were doing this with taxpayer dollars. Would you ask your neighbor to chip in on your new vehicle? If you took part in this program, you forced him! You also accepted the make and model that the government chose for you. Now, consider your job stability. In these times, you may not have a job long enough to pay for those shiny wheels, so there is a chance you’ll default on the loan and you will have no car at all soon.
So you’ve got your shiny wheels and you can’t believe they gave you so much for your clunker. What a deal! Wrong! The car dealers seen you coming as soon as they got wind of the program. They set their price on the new car higher and wouldn’t budge on the price. You didn’t get any more for your trade-in when you consider that they price of the new car was set high. The car dealers stuck it to you as usual and they got the government to pick up the tab on your old car. Not only that, they trashed all of the used cars. Now the used car market isn’t flooded, thus keeping used car prices high.
The government is claiming this was a success! I’d hate to see another failure if this is success. All that they did was figure out a way to get taxpayer money directed back to the unions. If it gets back the unions, it can filter it’s way back to the politicians. You were their tool to make this happen.
Oh but you are driving a car that so much better for the environment and saving gas! Do some research and you’ll find that when you consider the massive amounts of energy it takes to create your new car, you’re actually harming the environment when you replace your clunker. Save that explanation for your next meeting with Al Gore.
I hope people learn from this little clunker deal what the government is doing with your money and how they are playing you for a sucker. If you’ve bought one of these shit wagons because the government told you to, please don’t lean on my old Chevy truck and scuff it up. You’ve leaned on us all enough.
Documentary Stuff Debunked
I think it’s important that as many parents see debunked version of The Story Of Stuff.
The Story Of Stuff is a video currently being shown in public schools everywhere. It is so full of Socialist propaganda that the debunking commentator can’t make it more than 2 minutes without stopping to tell you about another myth, lie, or misrepresentation. She fails to represent material from her own research with accuracy!
The debunker does a great job explaining the documentaries faults, but you should think about why Annie Leonard has decided to misinform and persuade the youth. She seems like such a nice lady! She speaks like a child loving soul. How could she have bad intentions? I don’t know what she was doing while she was traveling all over the world for so many years, but she wasn’t learning much apparently. Look at her list of supporters and consider where they get there funding, they’re not friends of the United States by any assumption.
Since the producers of this documentary do not state their true intentions(or any other truths for that matter), I have to make assumptions about why they would need to lie to children in order to promote their agenda. The United States is particulary demonized in the video because they excel in the production of goods and they excel in the consumption. We have long held a position of power and wealth that the rest of the world envies. Our competitors have never been able to top us with straight out competition. The only way to beat us is to destroy the system which makes our way of life possible. Even current attacks on our economy and laws have proved to backfire on them. Destroy the youth’s will to succeed and you will weaken our country more than any other effort.
Anti-Capitalist Making Huge Money in a Capitalist World
It doesn’t happen often that a movie trailer catches my interest. Usually, I get a recommendation from someone about a movie before I bother with it. All it took to grab my interest for Michael Moore’s new movie was the title, Capitalism A Love Story. The irony that that one of the nations richest Anti-Capitalists was making a movie explaining the wrongs of the system that has made him one of the uber-rich sounds like a comedy, mystery, documentary, and drama all rolled into one.
- Like This Guy, Moore Loves The Money, But Hates Where It Comes From from Yuri Arcurs Website
Take one look at a list of Michael Moore’s material
For example, in Bowling For Columbine, he rants about gun control and links them to school killings. Not once does he mention that ALL school gun rampages were fueled by youths on psychotic drugs. He is so clueless to the real problem, that he wants to remove 2cnd Amendment rights as a response to poor parenting, poor medical diagnoses, and improper school supervision of children on psychotic drugs. Not to mention the education system actually receiving more money for the every child that they can claim to have a psychotic problem. Since I know he’ll never mention this root problem, I know that viewing his movie is a pointless liberal rant I can view nightly on MSNBC.
In Farhenheit 911, he’s going to tell us the “ugly truth” that the war in Iraq is all about oil. No kidding?! What investigative reporting. Everything you consume or use is derivative product of oil. Our entire modern way of life depends on it. Iraq has a bunch of oil. So is going to war over oil such a hard concept to grasp? That’s not the only reason we’re at war in the Middle East, but of course it’s a major concern. Anything this goof has to say on the matter, I can hear nightly on MSNBC.
And so goes my thoughts on everything he’s ever created, just more whining Liberal talk that provides no solution. But now, this guy has grasp my interest with Capitalism, A Love Story. My first thought is, “Is he going to come clean and explain why he actually loves Capitalism? Is he going to explain that America is so free that you can make your fortunes bashing it with unsubstantiated claims, while you enjoy the fruits of the system?” I look further into it and I find out that he’s going attack all corporations. At 10% unemployment, why not kick the country’s employers around a little right?
In the previews I already notice he’s going to start stepping on his own toes. One mention is a story in Pennsylvania where juveniles were sent to facilities on the most minor of charges to fill a private company’s pockets. Millions were tracked back to the judges. I thought that story would turn our entire system on it’s ear and we never heard a follow-up on the story. As he starts to explain that the government should never be tied to private interests, I think that he’s finally had a Conservative awakening. He even uses some quotes from the forefathers about the dangers of banking. Considering he cannot understand The Second Amendment, I was shocked that he understood anything our founders had written.
This interview with Larry King is very humorous and revealing. Mr. Moore gets very uncomfortable when he explains that 1% of the country holds 95% of the wealth, and he is in that top 1%! He then justifies that by simply explaining that it’s ok because he got his money making documentary films? You’re left scratching your head. Then he proceeds to explain the wrongs of the mortgage crisis using the Conservative viewpoint of how Capitalism SHOULD work. Then in the end, he twists everything back around by claiming that Liberal solutions could solve all of this.
Mr. Moore’s humble beginnings as an overpaid union auto-worker at GM makes me smile. Just the thought of this bafoon trying to operate on an assembly line had to be hilarious if you were not his boss. Mr. Moore got his media start by suing the Mother Jones magazine for a wrongful dismissal. He couldn’t follow instructions and as their editor, created a magazine that was even to far left for their taste. He’s taken that $58,000 win and used the stock market and and entertainment corporations to boost his net worth into well over $100 million. His current state of politics sounds like a 30 year old that has just figured out why Liberal ideals are childish and destructive, but yet he’s already profited beyond his wildest dreams from the system that he loathes.
His story could only happen in America and I think that is why I am so compelled to see this movie. I am pretty sure that my end decision will be finding a way to view the movie for free. I just can’t stand the thought of contributing one cent to Michael Moore’s fortunes.
Sharpton’s Baggage: Nearly $1.5M in Unpaid Taxes
- Al Sharpton In Middle
photo credit: cyvancefordaSharpton’s Baggage: Nearly $1.5M in Unpaid Taxes – Government records obtained by The Associated Press indicate that civil rights leader Al Sharpton and his business entities owe nearly $1.5 million in overdue taxes and associated penalties [Fox News Headlines]
Why do these people who demand that everyone pays higher taxes to support their special groups never pay their own taxes? Why don’t their followers see what the hypocrisy that they have fallen into? Not only does Al Sharpton not pay taxes, he is very wealthy! He is a member of the group that he wants to pay more taxes!
I suppose he claims that the taxes are unfair and racist.
Yes, the right has hypocrisy too. Bush spends our money like a drunken sailor and claims to be conservative for example, but most conservatives are the first to point this out. You never hear the libs make mention of his hypocratic foolishness.
Will we ever have a politician that has principles, sticks to them, and follows the Constitution?
Retailers Using Rebate as Bait
FOXBusiness: Retailers Using Rebate as Bait – [Fox News Headlines]
Wow, what a scam.
Everyone needs this “rebate” to pay bills and everyone from the general media, the government, to the retailers are out to make you spend it on frivilous endeavors. Don’t do it! Pay off or pay down a bill.
So the American government hands back money that they basically stole from us to begin with, then the majority of folks are going to rush out and buy more crap made in China. Wouldn’t it be great if the majority of us just put the money on debt!
As soon as that money hits my account, I’m cutting a check to a debt.
