Dumb Information Nation Revolution

A recent Huffington Post article reveals a churning in the waters of America, a possible Wingnut Revolution in the making as super rich citizens are irate at the new political situation. Doomsday scenarios explained as to who and how the takeover is spelled out, as what is going on in Washington is not the answer. Huffington Post did not receive the memo, put out world wide April 11th 2008; it’s not the Wingnut Revolution, it’s the Dumb Information Nation.
This time, individuals from all parties will unite in the fight against stupidity and greed, the fight to rid the world of hatred and incompetence; it’s not a one sided bashing whether Republican, Democrat, or Independent. The simple thought process that maybe not benefiting me as an individual, it will benefit the masses that stand before and around me.
We do not have to agree on everything out there, but we do have to live together, and no matter who was behind the collapse of this nation, we are all in it together, win or lose (I for one am in it to win it, no matter who I call my Commander-in-Chief, because after all, if I win it, I win it). The recession is not discriminating while washing over the lower and middle class, it chooses no sides. I am not going to lose sleep or divert focus because the gentlemen down the street believes that all criminals regardless of the offense should die of natural causes; there is bigger and more dire concerns at hand.
Simple yet effective thoughts and ideas will get us through the toughest of times, the KISS method if you will.
Keep It Simple Stupid, because all of you have to agree, sometimes ignorance is bliss

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Put a Sock in it America

I am sick and tired of hearing all the problems with Obama, Bush, the Democrats, the Republicans, and any other politician that has walked the hallowed grounds of this nation. Mud is flying at a phenomenal rate in regards to the new Obama four year term, just as it flew during an eight year Bush stint at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Die hard elephants are attacking Obama on everything from the stimulus package to leaving the seat down while urinating, and most completely lock their thought patterns up when debates start in respect to how his presidency has started.
Die hard jackasses are still attacking Bush and Cheney for their eight year tenure in the White House, and when ideas are exchanged about why they did some of the things that they did, they lock up all thought processes quicker than a bowel movement after eating spicy curry with coffee on a hot summer day.
Republicans secretly despise Democrats, and Democrats loathe Republicans behind closed doors. This has gone on since the dawn of democracy in America, since the split of all parties, and since men were given the ability to think for themselves with a little assistance from the mass media.
Backyard barbecues and middle of the day water cooler discussions have created fight after fight on whose party has the best and smartest candidate, and whose party is the savior of the country.
Now, after the force feeding of the nearly $1 Trillion stimulus package, Obama and his followers are working on yet another stimulus package to try and inject some sort of life into this breathless country. Every under the radar website and media outlet is slamming him for his super duper top secret spending plans, and throwing him under any and every bus they see because he is doing exactly what he said he would before he was elected.
I pounded the pavement to get the first hand taste in the mouths of the masses, with astounding results.
“Honestly, I am tired of listening to all the crap about all of this. I don’t even want to turn on T.V. or the internet for fear of seeing something else negative about America,” stated one individual. (All names have been omitted to protect the innocent and weak)
“Obama has yet to show me he knows how to run a country. He has slammed through a huge stimulus package without letting the public see what was in it,” claimed another bystander very eager to voice his distaste with the newly elected President.
“He closed Gitmo without even looking at who was in it, where are all of those criminals going to go now,” asked yet another.
“He is the savior of the country, he will do things to help us all,” claimed another, but when asked what things, could not come up with any.
Before I go into my views on this controversial subject, let’s look at the facts.
Obama stated in his campaign that he would push through a massive stimulus package after taking oath; he did.
Obama promised to close Guantanamo Bay, Cuba while beating the trail for President; he has.
He has moved swiftly to try and solve the nations most critical issues, love him or hate him, those are facts.
Some staunch Republicans are now claiming issues with his character, but can not come up with any concrete evidence of wrongdoing yet. Researching the true meaning of character, I found that Wikipedia states “attributes including the existence or lack of virtues such as integrity, courage, fortitude, honesty, and loyalty, or of good behaviors or habits.”
Here are my thoughts reader, love them or hate them.
Obama has done what he said he would during his campaign, whether or not we like it. His massive spending package is the largest of all time, but took even larger balls and intestinal fortitude to make it happen. I don’t personally agree with some of the inserts of the package, but it’s not my country, it’s our country.
He has ordered the closure of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, just like he said he would. Prisoners are being released either due to lack of hard evidence or no evidence of wrong doing at all, which is something that is backed in our U.S. Constitution, words that are thrown around only out of convenience to the situation at hand. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, as stated in the law of the land. Hardened criminals in Gitmo that have lengthy lists of wrongdoings will be transferred somewhere else, not given a pardon. It’s a change in venue for those who need to stay behind bars, that’s it; but because Obama declared it, it’s a problem.
Because Bush started it at Gitmo, it was a problem. The Donkeys hated Bush with everything they had, so no matter what decision he made, it was the wrong one. The Elephants hate Obama with everything they have, so every decision he makes will be the wrong one.
Hatred is a disease, and that disease has spread faster than the likes of AIDS and cancer combined. It is a highly contagious disease, and affects human brain functions. It allows people to judge others based on such things as skin color, what kind of clothes they wear, and what they eat for breakfast. Hatred is a disease that could wipe out mankind, due to differences that are very minute when it comes to importance based on what is going on around us. We can agree to disagree on every issue in the world, but must find a common thread that will allow us to continue as a civilized planet.
I don’t agree with most of the things that Obama is trying, but at least he is trying something. He is not sitting back and hoping for the best, he is attacking to try and fix a half century of wrong that we have done to ourselves. He has the courage to bet his second term on the stimulus that he pushed for, which shows as much for character as anything else; intestinal fortitude, strength, courage, honesty. Like him or not, he is our president, and deserves the respect of at least the position he holds, just as Bush did and Clinton, Bush, and Reagan before them.
America needs to grow up and find the common thread that will allow us to forge ahead through the toughest times the living has seen. Without that common thread, we are all doomed to fail, both individually and as a nation.

C.E.C.

Molotov Cocktail

A recent article from a Berkeley, California genius claims that the United States should act now on the impending oil crisis of the future, raising gas prices to an across the board minimum of at least $4 per gallon to help wean us from the dependency on oil. If the fair market price of oil was for arguments sake $1.50 per gallon, then the government would pocket $2.50 to store away into a slush fund to pay for mass transit projects, stimulus packages, and bailed out mortgage company parties hosted by Nickelback.
“Consumers will gripe, but they’ll soon find solace in the reliable, affordable buses and trains they’ll ride when gas prices soar beyond reach. For low-income individuals who would truly suffer as a result of such a policy, a payroll tax offset or refundable tax credit can ease the burden,” the article states to sooth our fear of having to sit next to some serial killer on the subway.
Hey college grad genius, I am not in the low-income bracket, and seriously felt the pinch of nearly $4 per gallon of gas when the oil companies were sticking it up my family’s tailpipe. But because I slave for a six figure income, I will not be eligible for a tax offset to ease my pain.
I am tired of carrying the less fortunate with my tax dollars, which by the way keep getting increased on what seems like an hourly basis now. I struggled through high school, struggled through my early 20’s, and worked my nuts off to get to where I am at, with every other individual having either the same chances if not better to get to where I am at, and have to sit back and carry them to financial independence, all the while allowing you the severely over-educated to impose domestic working man tariffs so that you can move closer to your political goals of oil independence or toilet paper independence.
Well, here it is. I, the working man of the United States, say stick the minimum gas price and meter in my car tax for every mile driven and whatever else you want to stick my paycheck tax and shove it up your tailpipe. Just when we see some light at the end of the tunnel, you go and turn it off, just to turn it on when we are down and out, and when we have hope again, you turn it off. The extra $400 in my pocket to help stimulate the economy will buy me about five tanks of gas, helping only the already rich oil companies and distributors. If that kind of education is what a college degree gets you, I want no part of it.

A.E.

I Miss Louie

Is this what the news has come to? Are we at this point in our nation that the death of a cat is front page news?
Obviously so, as the death of the Clinton’s house cat is one of the top stories by the Associated Press. Not to take anything away from the importance of a good pet (as I have two dogs and my webmaster), but how is this front page material?
My beef with this is that much goes on in the world around us; deaths of soldiers, wars, skirmishes, hunger, starvation, deaths by beheading, and this is what pops up on Yahoo today. World news, what is meant to reflect the big stories going on, and I get a picture of a tuxedo cat that just spent his ninth life, as well as an entire story to go with it. DI has put together a few other insignificant stories around the globe during the mourning process of a feline.

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba – an official Pentagon report states that the prison meets the standard of humane treatment in the eyes of the Geneva Conventions, but cites many changes that need to take place. Hard core, dangerous criminals should be allowed to meet with the rest of the population, and have the privilege of additional recreational time. Prisoners also do not have dry cleaning services, mint on the pillow every morning services, or a hot cloth to wash their face after every meal.

Major League Baseball – it died, again, hopefully this time for good.

North Korea – plans to test fire an intermediate range ballistic missile in the next few months, despite a visit to the region by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, stating on other issues that she vowed “not to let human rights concerns hinder cooperation with China.”

Iraq War – leaders of the battlefield personnel want to push out the timetable for a troop withdrawal, while the politicians are still pushing for an immediate removal of the troops

George Mason University – picked a drag queen as the homecoming queen

Bailout – the population is now growing angry about the massive bailout, and the massive bailouts that have happened, and the massive bailouts that are yet to come, as homeowners that are struggling to keep up on their bills are now wondering why they didn’t just fall behind and not worry about it?

Israel – two more rockets were fired from southern Lebanon, injuring at least one

Obama Presidency – polls show that approval ratings for the new President are slipping, and articles gave us two to three sentences to explain why.

American Economy – it’s still tanking.

Yet, with all that is going on around us, we have to hear or read about the loss of the former “first cat.”
Thinking of this on a vehicle ride, I remembered my beagle that I grew up with. Louie, short for Louisiana, was a beautiful specimen, and one of the best friends a young boy could ever have. She was so protective of me and the rest of the family that she would somehow run away with any new dog we brought home, and amazingly find her way back home, alone. We lost several puppies, but always seemed to lure Louie back home with a single piece of cheese or bologna. She outlived her years, passing on my homecoming night junior year in high school at the ripe old age of 18 (126 in dog years). The Associated Press never showed up at my doorstep to write an article about that day, as they were most likely busy reporting more important things like the Serbian invasion of Bosnia, the Sri Lankan civil war, or the establishment of the European Union. I, however, didn’t care about any of that, because I had lost my friend; it just wasn’t news for the rest of the world.

Crutchfield, You’re in our Hearts

Dumb Information Nation has lost one of its own, and now mourns the passing of a great man. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Crutchfield family, who hold a special place in our hearts.
Good men must die, but death can not kill their names – Proverb

Unbiased Media Works Hard to Sway your Opinion

Binyam Mohamed is finally going home, or the last home he legally had, back in Britain. His stay in Guantanamo Bay is nearing its end, as British doctors have reviewed his condition and tagged him as fit to fly.
“A newspaper has reported that the Foreign Office solicited a letter from the US State Department that forced British judges to block publication of evidence of torture,” is how the article ended conveniently. Something to make the reader wonder, possibly ponder on for hours on end. Was there actually torture going on worlds away? Did they actually rub red paint on people’s faces to try and get them to talk?
Facts, much to the chagrin of the mainstream media, speak louder than rumors or gossip. But they know exactly when to throw in the bait, just when to add the possibility of something or where in the article to insert the maybe it actually happened to create a thinking tornado for the reader. The mainstream media has honed its skills over the course of the last century, and is as close to perfection as possible, possibly.
The hard facts are thrown in for this story, such as Mohamed being an Ethiopian Muslim convert who was granted asylum in Britain in 1994. He was also arrested in Pakistan in 2002 on “suspicion of involvement in terrorism.”
Once an Ethiopian slash British immigrant, he was in Pakistan during an American led campaign to rid that area of insurgency. He was in a region of the world that had severe travel warnings from Israel to Jamaica. He was caught up in a Taliban led area of Pakistan, in an area of the world that had been war torn for centuries. Government issued travel warnings, both U.S. and Britain, told him not to go, yet he did anyhow. He was caught up in a war, those are the facts.
Throw in what ever else you like to provide the “fat” of the article; I do it as well, but only to poke fun at something or to try and evoke a quick laugh. Rumors to try and make the reader wander in their thinking are something else; it’s what most would call propaganda, which is information being disseminated aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviors of the intended audience.
Propaganda is the deliberate, systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behavior to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist.
—Garth S. Jowett and Victoria O’Donnell, Propaganda and Persuasion

Well, we here at Dumb Information believe that the reader has a brain of his or her own, and have the ability to decide for themselves what is in front of them. We will continue to provide you with real world problems, throw in our two cents to try and pull out a smile or two, and let you decide. It’s up to you, now go out there and make your mind up.
Some analysts claim that Mohamed will be one of the many that end up back in the war zone assisting either the Taliban or some other insurgency based organization, crap I just did it didn’t I. Sorry, it possibly won’t happen again.

Stimulus and Bust

http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/amxiaynvarlg

http://news.yahoo.com/s/bw/20090213/bs_bw/0908b4120034085635

New research claims that even with a nearly trillion dollar stimulus package, if foreclosures in regards to the tanking sub prime market continue at their record pace, even the most thought out plan “wont spur an economic recovery.”
I am going to sit up on my high horse for just a minute and play devils advocate. If many out there don’t think that this massive infusion of government and taxpayer money isn’t the answer, then why are we continuing the path forward on spending it?
I, like many others that I know, was unfortunately intimately involved in the sub prime mortgage catastrophe. Through the several years that I spent in that industry, I found thousands of ways to cut corners and dodge bullets to get deals closed as quickly as possible. Thank god, if only for my own conscience (I have much more to worry about and really don’t need to add anything else to the pile), I never did anything to jeopardize my professional integrity, such as pushing a re-finance at 130% loan to value of the property or 55% debt to income ratio, almost guaranteeing a foreclosure when the inevitable happened. I do however know when something is askew, because I have learned through my many professions and employers what is right by being taught the wrong way, and something is very askew when it comes to the nearly $800 billion stimulus.
America, chew on this thought for as long as you wish.
It took on average longer to get an approval to re-finance a home during the peak of the sub prime boom then it did to pass the nearly trillion dollar stimulus plan, and look where our sub prime industry ended up. And in the middle of the sub prime frenzy, home owners re-financing their property received a three day window in what is know as a right of rescission to think about what they have done and if they made the right decision; do the taxpayers get this same luxury when it comes to the stimulus package?

Wake Up America

Wake up America.
Death threats, angry e-mails, and nasty letters have been sent to the new mother of octuplets, as the state may have to foot either most or all of the bills from the birth and care of the eight premature babies, a total that could run close to $1.3 million and change. Taxpayers are irate at the fact that they may have to reach into their pocketbooks to assist for the mounting health care costs. The taxpayer’s main concern: Nadya Suleman is unemployed, and was already the mother of six, three of which receive monthly disability checks from the government. She paid for in vitro fertilization, which enabled her to bear eight children at once, most of the financial backing coming from an on the job injury claim she states. The question that I ask is this; what sets her apart from the rest of the nation that utilize government funding to pay the bills other than the amount of children she has?
She receives food stamps, and will get a raise thanks to the new Stimulus plan passed by Congress. So will everyone else on welfare or government assisted funding, so I ask again what makes her stand out from the rest? DI’s answer, simply nothing.
It may very well be the history leading up to the birth of her eight new babies, or it’s the ever sinking economy that has ruffled the feathers of the taxpayer in the Golden State of California. What ever the case, the fact is that the taxpayer has been footing the bills of millions just like Ms. Suleman for the past three plus decades.
The newly revised Stimulus plan aids situations just like this, as people who currently receive food stamps, some 30 million currently, will get more, people receiving social supplementary income, will get a one time stimulus injection of $250 each, while cash depleted states will get massive injections to continue funding such programs as Medicaid.
Suleman is not alone; she is no different than a majority of individuals that walk to the mailbox to receive a monthly stimulus check to pay the bills. There is nothing that sets her apart from millions upon millions of others across our country, so leave her alone.
If you want to do something about her situation, attack the system. Vote for politicians that oppose systems and programs that you only know of now because you have lifted your blinders. You voted for this, or the mass around you did, now get out and pound the streets to change it. Change is not just a word, it’s an action as in the act of doing something, and with the power of the vote people can begin to see that action. If you don’t like how your politicians are running your small world, then work to get them voted out.
The answer is not to threaten the lives of people like Ms. Suleman; the answer is to change the system that they benefit from. As in several of my earlier articles, if someone really desperately needs the help, then by all means let’s help them. My only issue is when some 26 year old strapping man walks to the mailbox to collect his $625 a month plus his now $250 one time stimulus check and he has yet to try and find a job or pay taxes. I, however, have not sent death threats to that man, but voted to put in office politicians that agreed with my beliefs in welfare and government assistance.
America, wake up and figure out what is going on around you. It should not take a recession near depression to find out that this is going on, albeit not to the scale of Ms. Suleman, but compounded 30 million or so times over. It should not take the over exposure from the media, in this particular case, to show you what the government funds on a monthly basis. Do the research for yourself; the information is free in most cases. Do what you need to do to fix the world that surrounds you, but do it with pride and dignity, not only for yourself, but those around you.
“If we open a quarrel between the past and present, we shall find that we have lost the future,” Winston Churchill. We can only move forward from today with all the tools that are available to us. If you don’t like how your government is acting, say something, do something, but not to Ms. Suleman, because she is doing exactly what the government is allowing her to do.

AP’s Swimming Hoax

Seriously, the AP ran a story without researching it?
This is the absolute reason for the founding of DI, to offer the world a different view on news topics. We have added our own views from time to time, but have given you the reader the ability to make your own decisions when it came to the story at hand.
The Associated Press ran a story about a woman who swam the Atlantic Ocean, a heartwarming story during these pressing times. Why wouldn’t they, people have heard enough of the layoffs and market crashes, they were in need of something to boost their spirits along with boosting their own ratings. AP received the information, published the story, and moved on to the next big article in order to keep funds rolling in and the lights on. Problem is the story was not credible, much less possible. Additional research confirmed, with the help of the likes of marijuana stud Michael Phelps, that swimming that distance in that time frame was just not physically possible.

Bring Out the Lawyers… Pansies

Yet another sports controversy, this time in California high school football; a high school football team is under fire for running the dreaded A-11 offense. Players wearing jerseys with numbers typical of running backs and wide receivers are eligible to receive a forward pass, and Piedmont High School became one of the few in the nation to begin putting most of their players in those threads. All players on the field with the exception of the quarterback would be eligible to run downfield in hopes of catching history, just as in sand lot rules. Now, the California High School Association wants this nonsense stopped, as they have petitioned that it be barred from competitive competition. DI asks the question, where has all of the competitive spirit gone?
What does this teach our youth? In the case of Jericho the Great, his fastball was just too dangerous to allow others to face him (yet he had total control of his pitches, and up to that point never hurt an opposing player), so they banned him from the taking the mound. Now, California high school defenses are having a tough time defending this offensive monster scheme, so its time to ban it. It may be just a slice of America, little league baseball and high school football, but the defense of a tough competitor is becoming more and more the same. The best defense in America is just to find a way to stop the competition, no matter what has to be done. Legal systems aside, this is one of the biggest problems America faces today, the lack of competitive nature.
This is what we are teaching our children, that when your back is against the wall, its time to bring in the legal system. Stop the offense, and you have won the game. Problem is America; this is not typical in society, so when our youth get to that certain working age and land that dream job of working in a steel factory, the pressure is on them to produce.
They work it out for a few months, but begin to fall behind to the Paleolithic man next to them that works like a mule, never takes breaks, and swallows his spit to curb his hunger until the final whistle blows calling it a day. The boss comes around more frequently now, checking on the limited production that our youth is giving the company. Meanwhile, mule man over in the corner is now not only producing more, but balancing accounting sheets after school because he has no home life. Our youth have the answer; they will confront the boss and ask that an injunction be placed on mule man limiting his daily production so that no one looks bad. They have been taught this from an early age, that when the going gets tough, its time to bring in the legal system. The issues are that in real life, things are not that easy. The old adage of “when the going gets tough, the tough get going” is not what we are teaching the youngsters of today. Unfortunately real life brings different results, and mule man is now bringing home a little extra money because he can do his job as well as our now unemployed youth. I know that this must sound like I have just lost my mind, but trust me; it’s been lost for sometime now.
This is our fault, as America has lost her teaching ability. We teach our youth to find the easy way out, to take the road most traveled. We have done this to ourselves, as we have not instilled what is needed in the ones that will soon be our nation; pride, intestinal fortitude, strength, longevity, persistence, and fear. Working through problems, working to figure out how to defend that pesky offense, or how to figure out that tough tax problem for the company that pays our bills, that is what needs to be taught. The art of never giving up, never giving in, no matter what the odds, is exactly what our youth needs. Whether its cancer or a baseball game, learn to win with guts and determination, just as many before us have. Because without those characteristics in man, without the teachers that forced those qualities down the throats of so many, we would have never been able to enjoy a speech from Martin Luther King Jr., or had the privilege of watching Jim Thorpe and Jessie Owens run, or been able to enjoy movies such as Rudy and Rocky. Robert Frost said it best when he penned “I took the one (road) less traveled by”. What he meant, if only in my mind, was that tough times demand tough people, and that we should never give up when we are faced with obstacles. We should gut it out and find a way to win, whether it’s underneath the Friday night lights, or if its in a board room in San Francisco, or if its in a hospital in New Orleans. Never give up, never give in; it’s in all of us.