Daily Mood Quotes - December 11, 2011

Daily Mood Quote

Day 219 – December 11, 2011

“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”

~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Gee whizz, I really hate to wax political, its such an unseemly mess and there are way too many blogs dedicated to polarized sides of any political issue. But, I must tell you that I have been distantly following the Republican Presidential primary, with indifference and a healthy dose of skepticism. I know that historically these things are at very best a popularity contest, won by the candidate who is willing to bend the lowest and pander to the fears and greed of socially disconnected, special interest groups. For the past thirty years, the Republican party has progressively distanced itself from anything that remotely resembles the genuine will or needs of the people of the Unites States of America. Ostensively, the party's leaders have been focused almost exclusively on the narrow financial interest of a small group of self-serving, ideologists (I would say idiots, but...) that have bastardized the American ideal and transplanted it with a twisted, mono-partisan and greed driven perspective. I hasten to remind, that when Mr. Gingrich was Speaker of the House, the split between parties became a gaping chasm. His rhetoric is corrosive, destructive and completely ignorant. If you don't believe me, check this out. If it sounds a bit harsh I can't really apologize, because it isn't nearly as harsh as the viewpoints expressed by him.

The following recent statements are from the front running Republican Presidential Candidate Newt Gingrich.

"Really poor children in really poor neighborhoods have no habits of working and have nobody around them who works so they literally have no habit of showing up on Monday. They have no habit of staying all day. They have no habit of 'I do this and you give me cash,' unless it's illegal."

“I think that we’ve had an invented Palestinian people who are in fact Arabs, and who were historically part of the Arab community,” said Gingrich. “And they had a chance to go many places, and for a variety of political reasons we have sustained this war against Israel now since the 1940s, and it’s tragic.”

Ummm. “Stupid is as stupid does” as Forrest Gump (played by Tom Hanks in the movie Forrest Gump) would so eloquently profess. It really needs no further explanation, or comment. However, I say what's on my mind (it is a daily mood quote), so here it goes. First of all, no child rich or poor, aspires to poverty, for that matter I suspect neither do their parents. He has blithely disrespected and turned a blind eye to millions, not thousands, but millions (if not billions globally), of working poor; the honest, hardworking people who have not had the advantages, that I might add, where given to him to start their lives. Need examples? What about the children of working single moms who have two, or sometimes three jobs and yet still struggle to make ends meet? What about the children of split shift working fathers who may work sixty hours a week and are not paid a fair and equitable wage for their efforts because of the inequities of the system? What about those, through no fault of their own, are unemployed and can't find work? Does he know how fast savings evaporate, when you are unemployed and trying to keep a roof over your head, while trying to feed those “poor” children? Poor can come at you fast and hard, without mercy. But, I guess he wouldn't know that having almost his entire life paid for, from his teen years on. And, I might add, for the most part, paid for by the tax money wrenched away from the “poor” people he just spit on.

Dalai Lama said, “Where ignorance is our master, there is no possibility of real peace” well, these two statements demonstrate true slavery to ignorance. Is this really the best America has to offer for Presidential candidates? Are you freakin' kidding me (thanks Mike C.)? What kind of peace can an idiot like this make? What I find so surprising is that Mr. Gingrich has a PhD and taught History and Geography at West Georgia College in the 1970's. Apparently, he learned nothing but how to twist the arms of political contributors and manipulate the easily swayed. I think a quote from Maya Angelou would be appropriate here, “My mother said I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and more intelligent than college professors." I think that says it best.

To end my little rant: In my opinion, Newt Gingrich is a political prostitute, pandering for money to advance his campaign's “war fund.” He'll say or do anything, without thought to the consequences, to achieve his goals. Do you honestly think the rest of the world's memory is as failing as our attention deprived voters? Can you image what would happen, if he spoke like that at the United Nations? He does not represent the nation. Nor should he ever... Mr. Gingrich, shame on you and your ignorance.

Will you think before you speak today?

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Daily Mood Quotes - November 21, 2011

Daily Mood Quote

Day 201 – November 21, 2011

Americans never quit

~Douglas MacArthur

Unless your a politician, then quitting, at least to go on “break” is easy, because it doesn't affect them. Okay, (deep breath) as I stated earlier I don't often like to wax political. In fact I really try not to enter this area, as I really have a distaste for the whole thing. But, what is happening is just completely ridiculous. Here's what I mean; Today I heard on the news that the “Congressional Super Committee” is quitting and going home for the holidays. They claim it is too hard to reach a compromise. Are you freakin' kidding me? Must be nice to have the luxury of bailing (quitting) on the most important task you have ever been given and still having a job to come back to after a paid, extended, holiday vacation. In my personal opinion they can just stay home; they don't need to come back, because they can't or won't (which is more probable) do their job. Just exactly, why can't we fire these guys?

It's funny, most Republicans rail against organized labor, yet when you really look at it, they seem to be the members of the most corrupt labor union ever invented, the United States Congress. They can get away with doing nothing forever and still have jobs. What's up with that? Most of us would get fired on the spot for far less egregious failures, And lets not fool ourselves, that's exactly what they are. How else can you explain having a job for 12, 16. 24 or more years and accomplishing nothing that you were hired to do? How do these people keep their jobs?

Democrats are not blameless either, they have taken their being hired (elected) as a license to clean out America’s bank account and spend without thought of consequence. Truthfully, the way the Democrats acted when they got the house majority was nothing short of hijacking the system, a coup de tat, to follow a political agenda that was out of step with mainstream America. Annnnd, since that is all we have, that's all we get; two parties, black or white, up or down, “my way or the highway.” The real world just doesn't work like that, so why does our government? The American public also gets held accountable here; we hired these yo-yos (but that's another story). They go back and forth, and accomplish nothing...yo-yos. Yet, at the end of the day, they get to collect their government paychecks, go home to a Thanksgiving dinner and leave the rest of the nation, those who were counting on them, out in the cold. In some cases literally... It just upsets me at how these people, congressman/woman seem to have no conscience, they talk a good game, but in the end they really don't care.

With that said, here's something to think about. I am in favor of “term limits for the House of Representatives.” We have one for the President, so the precedent has been set. The founders meant our government to be citizen centric and citizen run. I cannot fathom that they would have imagined people would make entire careers in one political office. I promise you, Thomas Jefferson would have thought longer and harder about the wording of our Constitution, if he would have even an inkling that some congressional offices would have taken on the demeanor and color of a miniature monarchy. The framers of our Constitution vehemently abhorred such a concept. Yet, here we stand 240 years later with exactly that going on. I said our Constitution for a reason. It is our Constitution we, not the political pontiffs own it. Just like a house, when its yours, you are responsible for its continuing maintenance and upkeep. We as a nation have left its care in greedy and self-serving hands. This partisan bickering is a direct reflection of our congress's focus on the next election cycle, and not the needs of the nation, or its people. If they can't pitch it, they won't do it; whether it's right or not. If they can't point a finger at someone and say, “they're bad” (as per Newt Gingrich) they clam up and ride their name recognition into office, again and again and again; focusing on nothing but getting elected again. It's just ludicrous, that we have allowed ourselves to get into this situation. I do believe most of it is because we have only two viable parties, there is no tie breaker. Nobody to build coalitions with and find the common sense, middle ground. That's a part of the “great experiment” we to this point have allowed to go so wrong.

Let's be serious here, our political system is in many ways spinning out of control and we are the pilots. So when the next election is upon us, please think before you vote. Ask yourself, how long has this person been in office? Are they effective anymore? If not and they're just riding on the coat tails of our seemingly unaware society, FIRE THEM IMMEDIATELY. Better to, as Monty Brewster (played by Richard Pryor) said in Brewster's Millions, “Vote none of the above.” than to let the “mini-monarchs” to continue. The way it is now is freakin' feudal, but not futile. I'm not naïve here and know there are other factions that benefit from this foolishness and lots of money to be made by a few who can “put their boy/girl in place.” It's up to the citizenry to make the decision to vote responsibly. Please remember I'm not saying these things to get anyone upset, or to point fingers, there is enough of that going on. I'm just telling it the way it is, as I see it. I love our nation and our democracy. It's just time for some “fall cleaning” to clear the cobwebs out. Too many ancient fingers in the pie and they're taking it away from the very people who hired them. Told you I was upset!

How will you view “representative government” today”

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Daily Mood Quote - November 3, 2011

 

Daily Mood Quotes

Day 183 – November 3, 2011

“Integrity is telling myself the truth. And honesty is telling the truth to other people.”

~Spencer Johnson

Integrity is defined as, adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character, honest. And, honesty is defined as, the quality of fact of being honest; uprightness and fairness. Truthfulness, sincerity, or frankness, freedom from deceit or fraud. (thank you Dictionary.com). So, if we know what they mean, then why do we have so much difficulty in understanding them.?

Over the past several months, I have used the mute button on my remote control to silence the political ads on television, and when they come on the radio, I turn it off. I don't know about you, but as a voter, I am sick and tired of the negative, pointing fingers, he said, she said, they said...I say, “knock it off, I've heard enough.” Republican, Democrat, Liberal, Tea Party, really as the song by Billy Joel goes, “we didn't start the fire, it was always burning, since the world's been turning, we didn't start the fire, no we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it.” Now we're just sick of being burned by people who can apparently do nothing but point fingers, find fault and distract us from the truth that none of them are really worthy of our votes. Personally, I wish they would put their fingers in a light socket, it may shock back to common sense. You never know...

So, in all the political crap, where is the truth? Hidden by political advisers and PR firms, who would sell their bosses out for a nickel and a shot at an interview on 60 Minutes. And also, where pray tell is the most remote relevance to what they should be focusing on? The needs of the people should be on all the agenda's of those running for office. Somehow, somewhere the “vote for me, because the other person is worse” has become acceptable practice. To quote an old friend from Long Island, “What, Are you kidding me!! It's like dealing with a group of elementary school children on a kindergarten playground, trying to be the most popular student. Getting attention and gaining popularity through tattle-tailing? Obviously, we missed those lessons about growing up and taking responsibility for our actions. It just makes me sick to see our political system, once the highest expression of human aspiration, dragged into the gutters by these losers. “We the people” let this happen and “we the people” will need to make a few adjustments to what we pay attention to. That is if we can pry ourselves away form reality shows, video games and online auctions long enough to see what we have let happen.

Here's where the honesty and integrity part comes in, let's be honest with ourselves; we as a nation only pay attention to the bad crap and not to the important issues, unless we're the ones who are suffering. “Painful, the truth is.” (Thanks Yoda). Personally, I'd say “Vote for none of the Above!” just as Monty Brewster, (played by Richard Pryor) said in Brewster's Millions, but that would let the “biggest loser” win without a fight. And so even though we disapprove, we let it slide and those of us who aren't buried in their Wii tennis, wobble to the poles and punch the button for the name they recognize most. Ouch, I've even done that once - a very long time ago and I apologize to all of America for that. Its insanity and we perpetuate and enable it by our apathy. Thomas Jefferson said, “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.” So lets wise up and be honest about that fact that we let ourselves get into this situation by our own collective hand. We have to get ourselves out by participating a little in our own governmental process (remember grade school civics class?). In the movie The American President, Lewis Rothschild (played by Michael J. Fox) said “...And in this country it is not only permissible to question our leaders, it's our responsibility!” By the way that's the last thing they really want. As Michael Douglas who played President Andrew Shepard in the same movie noted, “And whatever your particular problem is, I promise you, (insert candidate here) is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things and two things only: making you afraid of it and telling you who's to blame for it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections.” Sadly, that theatrical bit of monologue is painfully true. Just watch what happens over the next 12 months. We are in for an interesting year...more thoughts on honesty, truth and integrity tomorrow.

How will you be honest today?

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Thank you for reading.

Daily Mood Quote - July 30, 2011

 

Daily Mood Quote

Day 88 – July 30, 2011

Anytime you suffer a setback or disappointment, put your head down and plow ahead.

~Les Brown

Burning desire to be or do something gives us staying power - a reason to get up every morning or to pick ourselves up and start in again after a disappointment.

~Marsha Sinetar

Another disappointing week, on Thursday my husband received an e-mail, not a phone call (cowards) saying he was no longer a candidate for a job he had an in-person interview for, a week earlier. Yes, this was the job he had to “sign-off” on for a credit check, to get the interview. Yes, this was also the job that “claimed” they wouldn’t “do” a credit check, unless they offered him a job. No job offer, a credit check was done... typical...immoral, unethical, but typical. Shame on you, because you just lost the hardest working, most honest, educated, intelligent and talented person you could ever find to work for your company. I wonder if Warren Buffet would approve of these hiring practices? I have also wondered if Donald Trump, a man who has filed bankruptcy himself-several times, has ever turned away a good employee candidate, because they have had hard, or unfortunate times? Just a question.

I can tell you when someone in the family suffers a disappointment, it affects everyone in the family and it takes sometime to get over it. Especially when you have the education, experience, intelligence, talent and drive, but you can't catch a break because of your credit score. Hard to believe that our society has found a way to pre-judge people, make assumptions (we all know what a-s-s-u-m-e means) and use irrelevant personal information against someone. Studies have shown repeatedly, credit rating cannot predict job performance. Yet, it continues to be a HR screening tool. If I didn't know better, I would think we were all back in high school. Wow, what a flashback .. “not happy Bob, not happy at all” (thanks The Incredibles). In my personal opinion human resources people - departments are just about the worst thing to ever happen to the business world. The first, depends on who you are and your situation. For us, the worst are small minded, business people who lie, or claim to be experts (accountants) and then sell you a bill of goods and Famuzzled (fa-muzz-l-ed, my husband has stronger words,but we won't use them) up your taxes. Don't even get me started....

All right, maybe I am being a little harsh, but everybody needs to vent, this is me venting, or hopefully making enough of a point to change things. I really don't like the way businesses do business anymore. Yesterday, on the CBS News with Scott Pelley (Bob Schieffer was filling in) there was a news report on the four newly elected politicians from South Carolina, discussing their votes on the debt plan. I found myself having respect for these four “Renegade Republicans” for standing their ground and not letting Washington get away with “business as usual” “the wheeling and dealing for a vote.” Maybe some companies can follow the examples of these Renegade Republicans and hire the right people and not “paper-perfect”, or worthless relatives for the job. Bad things happen to good people all the time. Why would someone want to continue to cause bad things to happen to others by not giving them a opportunity? What have we previously said about the universe? “What goes around, comes around!” Look out.

In the movie Major League, Ricky Vaughn (played by Charlie Sheen) said to Lou Brown (James Gammon), “I got news for you Mr. Brown, you haven't heard the last of me. You may think I'm shit now, but someday you're gonna be sorry you cut me. I'm gonna catch on somewhere else and every time that I pitch against you I'm gonna stick it up you're f@#$%^' a**!” OK, you get the point. In the movie Dave, President “Dave” (played by Kevin Kline) says to a room full of press reporters, “If you've ever seen the look on somebody's face the day they finally get a job, I've had some experience with this, they look like they could fly. And its not about the paycheck, it's about respect, it's about looking in the mirror and knowing that you've done something valuable with your day. And if one person could start to feel this way, and then another person, and then another person, soon all these other problems may not seem so impossible. You don't really know how much you can do until you, stand up and decide to try.” People are trying, now companies and organizations need to try too.

Who will you give a “second chance” to today?

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