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HughBeaumont
HughBeaumont's Journal
HughBeaumont's Journal
February 15, 2015
2. "I'M Going to be RICH Someday, I Just KNOW it!"
3. "I'm Still Fighting The Cold War and Will Always Fight The Cold War."
4. "White Makes Right."
5. "It's ME Who's teh Oppressed, Not (insert actual oppressed ethnic group/gender/racial slur here)s!!!"
6. "Men Kissing EWWWWWWW!"
Is this a gross over-generalization? A broad brush? Divisive?
Look who their voters keep sending to the House and Senate. Look at their presidential candidates. These people, astoundingly, make The Failure Fuhrer and his puppetmaster Cheney look like benevolent PhDs.
When I encounter these people online, I'm looking at a bunch of scared, bitter, paranoid mice people who seem to have the deep understanding that, yes, it's really hard to defend their party's policies without some sense of shame or embarrassment. So their defense is to attack Democrats as being just as bad/worse or call them Communists. Yet that kind of skips the point, doesn't it?
Their economic policies rely on faith based/just-world hypothesis vaporware. Their foreign policy is "Turn The World into Glass Parking Lots pew pew pew 'murica!". Their domestic policy relies on bake sales to pay $200,000 cancer bills. They hate governmental shenanigans but have no problem whatsoever when a corporation does the same thing.
And yet, it all comes down to the Six Reasons. Maybe that's "What's Wrong with Kansas" . . . or Ohio or Michigan or New Hampshire or Iowa.
It's sad, really.
Six Lowest Common Denominator Reasons People Vote Republican:
1. "My Sky Daddy Will Beat YOUR Sky Daddies Up."2. "I'M Going to be RICH Someday, I Just KNOW it!"
3. "I'm Still Fighting The Cold War and Will Always Fight The Cold War."
4. "White Makes Right."
5. "It's ME Who's teh Oppressed, Not (insert actual oppressed ethnic group/gender/racial slur here)s!!!"
6. "Men Kissing EWWWWWWW!"
Is this a gross over-generalization? A broad brush? Divisive?
Look who their voters keep sending to the House and Senate. Look at their presidential candidates. These people, astoundingly, make The Failure Fuhrer and his puppetmaster Cheney look like benevolent PhDs.
When I encounter these people online, I'm looking at a bunch of scared, bitter, paranoid mice people who seem to have the deep understanding that, yes, it's really hard to defend their party's policies without some sense of shame or embarrassment. So their defense is to attack Democrats as being just as bad/worse or call them Communists. Yet that kind of skips the point, doesn't it?
Their economic policies rely on faith based/just-world hypothesis vaporware. Their foreign policy is "Turn The World into Glass Parking Lots pew pew pew 'murica!". Their domestic policy relies on bake sales to pay $200,000 cancer bills. They hate governmental shenanigans but have no problem whatsoever when a corporation does the same thing.
And yet, it all comes down to the Six Reasons. Maybe that's "What's Wrong with Kansas" . . . or Ohio or Michigan or New Hampshire or Iowa.
It's sad, really.
January 26, 2015
Simply stunning.
Creationism: It takes not so much a leap of faith, but rather a giant tumble down Mount Dumbass.
PD: Including creationism in public school curriculum part of well-rounded education.
The joke is I'm not kidding. The Plain Dealer actually published this on their website, from a "guest columnist" with Baptist University credentials.
http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/01/post_276.html#incart_opinion
Further, naturalism and evolutionary theory are the reigning paradigms within the scientific community. Even so, there is still a role for an explanation and exploration of the minority report. Indeed, proponents of both intelligent design and creationism argue that their understanding of science and the relevant data is coherent and corresponds to reality. If a theory has the most explanatory power and best accounts for the evidence on offer, then at the very least alternative and opposing viewpoints and perspectives should be considered on their own terms.
So, for example, including the spectrum of opinion on the origins and significance of irreducibly complex organisms would only enhance a student's understanding of the world. Even if the prevailing paradigm is naturalism, these phenomena should still be investigated.
This kind of interdisciplinary dialogue is not only appropriate but necessary to equip students to think carefully and critically about the knowledge they are receiving. Just as a curriculum that excluded an explanation of naturalism and evolutionary theory would be inappropriate for public schools, so too, one devoid of the options of intelligent design or creationism.
The world around us teems with life, breath-taking mystery, and terrifying intrigue. Why is there something rather than nothing? Why do the natural processes that we can observe and study continue to function in the way that they do? What keeps the cosmos intact and the biosphere contained?
So, for example, including the spectrum of opinion on the origins and significance of irreducibly complex organisms would only enhance a student's understanding of the world. Even if the prevailing paradigm is naturalism, these phenomena should still be investigated.
This kind of interdisciplinary dialogue is not only appropriate but necessary to equip students to think carefully and critically about the knowledge they are receiving. Just as a curriculum that excluded an explanation of naturalism and evolutionary theory would be inappropriate for public schools, so too, one devoid of the options of intelligent design or creationism.
The world around us teems with life, breath-taking mystery, and terrifying intrigue. Why is there something rather than nothing? Why do the natural processes that we can observe and study continue to function in the way that they do? What keeps the cosmos intact and the biosphere contained?
Simply stunning.
Creationism: It takes not so much a leap of faith, but rather a giant tumble down Mount Dumbass.
December 27, 2014
Today marks an unwanted anniversary:
50 YEARS since any of Cleveland's three sports teams won a championship.
That's 150 combined seasons with BUPKIS to show for it.
No three-sport city has that long of a drought (San Diego doesn't count since they were only a three-sport city from 1978 to 1984).
Only three teams have even reached the Championship match in their sport (1995 and 1997 Indians, 2007 Cavs) and have either bombed spectacularly or snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in all of them.
And Crunch fans, NO one gave a shit then or now, sorry.
December 19, 2014
Everything You Thought You Knew About Personal Finance Is Dead Wrong—Here's the Truth:
http://www.alternet.org/economy/everything-you-thought-you-knew-about-personal-finance-dead-wrong-heres-truthLP:Media figures like Suze Orman, David Bach and David Ramsey tell us, "Follow my advice and everything will be OK." Why is this promise a lie?
HO: All of these people are in the business of selling simplistic solutions to complex problems. Should we live below our means? Of course. Is it always possible to do so? No. It’s not easy to live within your means if your means are a $300-a-week unemployment check. As if that were not enough, some of the advice they are purveying is flat-out wrong. Our financial woes are not the result of spending our funds on lattes and other small luxuries, like David Bach says. You can’t choose not to participate in a recession, despite what Dave Ramsey thinks. Personal finance can’t do it all for us.
LP:You write about the financial literacy movement, which, on first glance, looks like a helpful educational crusade. How has it conspired to make us poorer? What does it mean that big banks like Capital One promote it?
HO: Financial literacy classes sure sound good. But students who take the classes don’t seem to retain much of the knowledge. And, when you think about it for a moment, that makes sense. The idea that taking a class on how finance works at the age of 17 can save someone from a predatory 100-page small-print mortgage when they are 40 is just preposterous. Don’t believe me? Tell me how the French and Indian War contributed to the American Revolution. See what I mean? I swear that was taught in your high school history class.
HO: All of these people are in the business of selling simplistic solutions to complex problems. Should we live below our means? Of course. Is it always possible to do so? No. It’s not easy to live within your means if your means are a $300-a-week unemployment check. As if that were not enough, some of the advice they are purveying is flat-out wrong. Our financial woes are not the result of spending our funds on lattes and other small luxuries, like David Bach says. You can’t choose not to participate in a recession, despite what Dave Ramsey thinks. Personal finance can’t do it all for us.
LP:You write about the financial literacy movement, which, on first glance, looks like a helpful educational crusade. How has it conspired to make us poorer? What does it mean that big banks like Capital One promote it?
HO: Financial literacy classes sure sound good. But students who take the classes don’t seem to retain much of the knowledge. And, when you think about it for a moment, that makes sense. The idea that taking a class on how finance works at the age of 17 can save someone from a predatory 100-page small-print mortgage when they are 40 is just preposterous. Don’t believe me? Tell me how the French and Indian War contributed to the American Revolution. See what I mean? I swear that was taught in your high school history class.
December 17, 2014
Who are all of these people Tamir is aiming at? 1 passerby, he just mostly ignored, as he did the 911 caller in the gazebo, and he eventually left. In fact, there doesn't seem to be a deluge of people even at this park.
Also, why would you pull what seems to be 2-3 feet away from a suspected dangerous threat? Do I have to be a cop to know that's just a blatantly stupid idea and in no way part of proper tactics in dealing/negotiating with a supposedly armed suspect?
Are the yee-haw racist cousinhumpers online still going to tell me that Tim Loehmann told him "Hands on your head!!" THREE TIMES?? It proves that people only see what they want to see, as the elapsed time (giving the cops the benefit of the doubt) on the screen clock from the time they appear on the screen to the time they shot him in the chest was 3 seconds and some change. That means that they only had two seconds to reel off three (according to the report) "HANDS ON YOUR HEAD!" commands. NOT HAPPENING.
The kid looks like he's just confused as to what to do, which would likely happen if cops stormed up on you yelling random things and you're in your own little world, as a 12 year old likely would be.
Why are they just standing over him doing nothing?
This was a fucking drive-up 2A Death Sentence by a severely incompetent and untrained LEO.
Tim Loehmann seemed to already have his gun unholstered and ready to fire coming out of the vehicle.
Who are all of these people Tamir is aiming at? 1 passerby, he just mostly ignored, as he did the 911 caller in the gazebo, and he eventually left. In fact, there doesn't seem to be a deluge of people even at this park.
Also, why would you pull what seems to be 2-3 feet away from a suspected dangerous threat? Do I have to be a cop to know that's just a blatantly stupid idea and in no way part of proper tactics in dealing/negotiating with a supposedly armed suspect?
Are the yee-haw racist cousinhumpers online still going to tell me that Tim Loehmann told him "Hands on your head!!" THREE TIMES?? It proves that people only see what they want to see, as the elapsed time (giving the cops the benefit of the doubt) on the screen clock from the time they appear on the screen to the time they shot him in the chest was 3 seconds and some change. That means that they only had two seconds to reel off three (according to the report) "HANDS ON YOUR HEAD!" commands. NOT HAPPENING.
The kid looks like he's just confused as to what to do, which would likely happen if cops stormed up on you yelling random things and you're in your own little world, as a 12 year old likely would be.
Why are they just standing over him doing nothing?
This was a fucking drive-up 2A Death Sentence by a severely incompetent and untrained LEO.
December 15, 2014
Rrrrrrrrigghht, because opening fire and performing drive-bys on men and children with pellet guns completely follows the letter of the law . . . which, in both cases, the LEOs will get off scot-free.
Hey, as soon as you fellers admit that "Open Carry" is only for white folks, you might get a "sorry". But until then .. . .
AW, the Cwevewand Powice got their widdle feewings hurted!
This week, it was Cleveland wide receiver Andrew Hawkins, who wore a T-shirt reading "Justice for Tamir Rice and John Crawford III" during pregame warmups and introductions:
Tamir Rice, age 12, died last month after Cleveland police shot him while he was waving a pellet gun. John Crawford III was shot in an Ohio Wal-Mart earlier this year while holding an air rifle. Both cases have drawn scrutiny because of the uncertain and questionable reasons behind the shootings.
The message didn't go over so well with the Cleveland police department. "It's pretty pathetic when athletes think they know the law," said Cleveland police union head Jeff Follmer, per a local Cleveland journalist. "They should stick to what they know best on the field. The Cleveland police protect and serve the Browns stadium, and the Browns organization owes us an apology."
If the Browns follow the same path as other teams whose players have taken public stands on social issues, there will be no apology.
Tamir Rice, age 12, died last month after Cleveland police shot him while he was waving a pellet gun. John Crawford III was shot in an Ohio Wal-Mart earlier this year while holding an air rifle. Both cases have drawn scrutiny because of the uncertain and questionable reasons behind the shootings.
The message didn't go over so well with the Cleveland police department. "It's pretty pathetic when athletes think they know the law," said Cleveland police union head Jeff Follmer, per a local Cleveland journalist. "They should stick to what they know best on the field. The Cleveland police protect and serve the Browns stadium, and the Browns organization owes us an apology."
If the Browns follow the same path as other teams whose players have taken public stands on social issues, there will be no apology.
Rrrrrrrrigghht, because opening fire and performing drive-bys on men and children with pellet guns completely follows the letter of the law . . . which, in both cases, the LEOs will get off scot-free.
Hey, as soon as you fellers admit that "Open Carry" is only for white folks, you might get a "sorry". But until then .. . .
December 10, 2014
My friend just lost her job as an Analytical Chemist.
I mean, it makes sense when you think about it.
I'm guessing "Analytical Chemist" must be along the lines of "assembly line worker" or some run-of-the-mill redundant career choice like that, as throwaway and replaceable as "applications programmer", "mechanical engineer", "physicist", "financial analyst" or some other burger-flipper-level job.
After all, it was folly to think that 8 years of college would yield a long-term career path . . . . "Chemist" . . . pffffffft! What a poor choice. Shoulda, woulda, coulda, you know? Come on, why didn't she pick "Hedge Fund Manager", or "CEO" or start her own business??
It's more than feasible that, at age 48 and with no income stream coming in and bills that are due now, that she could . . . retrain, head back to college and pick a smarter career path . . . work really, really, really harder and she just might GET that awesome new job. Millions of workers in the '60s - '90s did it, why is she such a special snowflake? And if a reduction in force so that major shareholders can purchase that third mansion should happen again, then retrain again. And again! You should never stop learning or trying to find that cheese in the maze, even if someone continually moves it. NO EXCUSES!!
If you don't have the prognostication skills of a career counselor to tell what the hot occupations are going to be 5-10 years down the road (planned obsolescence, economy or plain bad luck be damned), then you, my friend, are missing out and need to get some. This great meritocracy of ours doesn't guarantee equal results, equal fairness or equal pay . . . only equal opportunity that you can either get on board with or starve to death under a bridge. YOUR CHOICE!!
as if it needs to be said.
November 22, 2014
Steve Wynn, CEO of Wynn Resorts (their stock rose nearly a thousand percent at one point since 2009), frequently makes boilerplate CNBC-ready statements about how President Obama is "bad fer bizness in general". Well, I guess we know how they're doing so well . . . .
Wynn Resorts probed on money-laundering controls (Haa haaaaa)
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/wynn-resorts-probed-money-laundering-194400825.htmlFederal authorities are investigating whether casino operator Wynn Resorts Ltd. violated money-laundering laws, according to people familiar with the matter.
The criminal probe comes as U.S. authorities step up their scrutiny of casinos’ efforts to prevent money laundering. Regulators have long been concerned about vulnerabilities at casinos, which are complex financial institutions that conduct a large amount of cross-border and cash transactions. Wynn, which is run by casino entrepreneur Steve Wynn, is the third major Las Vegas casino company in recent years known to be investigated for possible violations of money-laundering laws.
The criminal probe comes as U.S. authorities step up their scrutiny of casinos’ efforts to prevent money laundering. Regulators have long been concerned about vulnerabilities at casinos, which are complex financial institutions that conduct a large amount of cross-border and cash transactions. Wynn, which is run by casino entrepreneur Steve Wynn, is the third major Las Vegas casino company in recent years known to be investigated for possible violations of money-laundering laws.
Steve Wynn, CEO of Wynn Resorts (their stock rose nearly a thousand percent at one point since 2009), frequently makes boilerplate CNBC-ready statements about how President Obama is "bad fer bizness in general". Well, I guess we know how they're doing so well . . . .
October 12, 2014
http://blog.cleveland.com/letters/2014/10/middle_class_lives_better_than.html
And from my city, no less. Classic.
It's like he's living in an imagined world where the American middle/working/poor classes are just living SO high off the hog and economic opportunity is in abundance and job security has never been better and we're with the jet set in Dubai and . ... luxuries like cellphones for kids abound . . .. because reasons.
His sentence about yachts and golf courses .. . . . . yeah, anyone got a google map to that point?
. .. . Of course, if you read the comments, I responded in kind.
Dumb letters to the PD Dept: "You guys have it WAAAAAY BETTER!!"
http://blog.cleveland.com/letters/2014/10/middle_class_lives_better_than.html
Liberal economist Paul Krugman is chief spokesman for the "income inequality" crowd. In his column "Ostentation, your ship has come in thanks to changed economic times" (Forum, Sept. 28), he presses his theme that the super-rich have fattened up at the expense of the middle class. But he disproves his own thesis by harking back to the 1950's, when, he says, because of higher taxes, tycoons had more modest lifestyles than today's nabobs.
The fact is the middle class lives infinitely better today than in the 50's, even though that was a decade of unprecedented prosperity. I was there. If my father, who died in 1959, could come back, he would be astounded by our houses - mile after mile of homes that only rich people would have dreamed of then; our cars - an SUV and sedan in most garages; our restaurants; our vacations, summer cottages, winter homes and RVs; our clothing - one child's clothes would fill all the closets in our old house; our school-age children walking around with smart phones and so on.
Krugman highlights yachts. Have you seen a yacht in any of the Lake Erie marinas? I haven't, but thousands of pleasure craft. What plutocrats own those? What about golf courses?
Sure, he could give you statistics that incomes have stagnated, but what would you expect when the labor force has increased by the entry of so many women?
If our way of life is threatened, it is not because of income inequality, but because the next generation may think they have a constitutional right to start the day with a $4 cup of coffee.
John Duffy,
Avon Lake
The fact is the middle class lives infinitely better today than in the 50's, even though that was a decade of unprecedented prosperity. I was there. If my father, who died in 1959, could come back, he would be astounded by our houses - mile after mile of homes that only rich people would have dreamed of then; our cars - an SUV and sedan in most garages; our restaurants; our vacations, summer cottages, winter homes and RVs; our clothing - one child's clothes would fill all the closets in our old house; our school-age children walking around with smart phones and so on.
Krugman highlights yachts. Have you seen a yacht in any of the Lake Erie marinas? I haven't, but thousands of pleasure craft. What plutocrats own those? What about golf courses?
Sure, he could give you statistics that incomes have stagnated, but what would you expect when the labor force has increased by the entry of so many women?
If our way of life is threatened, it is not because of income inequality, but because the next generation may think they have a constitutional right to start the day with a $4 cup of coffee.
John Duffy,
Avon Lake
And from my city, no less. Classic.
It's like he's living in an imagined world where the American middle/working/poor classes are just living SO high off the hog and economic opportunity is in abundance and job security has never been better and we're with the jet set in Dubai and . ... luxuries like cellphones for kids abound . . .. because reasons.
His sentence about yachts and golf courses .. . . . . yeah, anyone got a google map to that point?
. .. . Of course, if you read the comments, I responded in kind.
September 10, 2014
Of all the ridiculous strawmen the Republicans come up with, regarding the much, MUCH needed raise to the federal minimum wage, this has to be one of the most idiotic.
It's not only being tossed by every Homer, Jabez and Bertha Sue chiming in on the wingnut-laden internets, it's the go-to of right-wing pundits (Kevin O'Leary) and even supposedly educated economists (like Lindsey Piegza, for instance).
But hey, as long as we're playing this card, you know, why not LOWER the minimum wage to 4 bucks an hour?
How about TWO an hour (while I'm being facetious, jerks like Peter Schiff are for real with that figure)? Hey, why hold back and just simply demand workers PAY their businesses for the privilege of working there???
It's re-branded Feudalism, regressive and immoral, that's why.
More buying power in the hands of people who need to spend every dime is simply a smarter long game for economic health, and pretending tax cuts are a viable substitute for an increase in a sustained income is the folly of the Von Mises set.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-zombeck/the-ridiculous-minimum-wage-argument_b_5565074.html
"Why stop at $10 an hour? Why not raise it to $50 or $100 or $1,000 dollars an hour??"
Of all the ridiculous strawmen the Republicans come up with, regarding the much, MUCH needed raise to the federal minimum wage, this has to be one of the most idiotic.
It's not only being tossed by every Homer, Jabez and Bertha Sue chiming in on the wingnut-laden internets, it's the go-to of right-wing pundits (Kevin O'Leary) and even supposedly educated economists (like Lindsey Piegza, for instance).
But hey, as long as we're playing this card, you know, why not LOWER the minimum wage to 4 bucks an hour?
How about TWO an hour (while I'm being facetious, jerks like Peter Schiff are for real with that figure)? Hey, why hold back and just simply demand workers PAY their businesses for the privilege of working there???
It's re-branded Feudalism, regressive and immoral, that's why.
More buying power in the hands of people who need to spend every dime is simply a smarter long game for economic health, and pretending tax cuts are a viable substitute for an increase in a sustained income is the folly of the Von Mises set.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-zombeck/the-ridiculous-minimum-wage-argument_b_5565074.html
I'm not sure when we became a nation of greedy, hateful pigs, but I do remember a time when a business took pride in not only their workmanship, but in the fact that they were creating jobs in their community. They gave people a purpose and a living wage. It allowed a person the dignity of being self-sufficient and the security of taking care of themselves and their family. In return the company got dedication, loyalty and a product or service that others wanted to buy. Henry Ford, one of the country's biggest manufacturing icons made a point of making sure that his employees earned enough to buy a car. Today, we have Walmart workers, who despite working full time are so poorly paid that they have to rely on taxpayer subsidized food stamps, welfare and Medicare totaling more than $1 million per store.
So, it's interesting that the recent news of job market 'improvement' doesn't mention that of the ten occupation categories projecting the greatest growth in the next eight years, only one pays a middle-class wage. Four pay barely above poverty level and five pay beneath it, including fast-food workers, retail sales staff, health aids and janitors. The job expected to have the highest number of openings is 'personal care aide'--taking care of aging baby boomers in their houses or in nursing homes. The median salary of an aid is under $20,000. They enjoy no benefits and about 40 percent of them must rely on food stamps and Medicaid to make ends meet, plus many are in the 'shadow economy,' vulnerable to being cheated on the already miserly wages.
That means the father or mother with a couple of kids, now looking at the degree they have from some university they probably still owe money to, is going to take whatever they can get to pay for the roof over their head and to put food on the table. They may even need to take two. It also means that the boomer couple who lost their pension, 401k, savings, and home value as a result of the felonious acts of the same corporations who are now opposing a living wage, isn't going to retire when they thought they would and will be looking into landing one of those jobs. That's who members of Congress are giving the finger to. People do what they need to do to survive. It's been that way since the beginning of time and this country has proven time and time again that when the going gets tough, the tough get going, but the argument and the opposition to allowing people a living wage for full time work is frankly embarrassing.
So, it's interesting that the recent news of job market 'improvement' doesn't mention that of the ten occupation categories projecting the greatest growth in the next eight years, only one pays a middle-class wage. Four pay barely above poverty level and five pay beneath it, including fast-food workers, retail sales staff, health aids and janitors. The job expected to have the highest number of openings is 'personal care aide'--taking care of aging baby boomers in their houses or in nursing homes. The median salary of an aid is under $20,000. They enjoy no benefits and about 40 percent of them must rely on food stamps and Medicaid to make ends meet, plus many are in the 'shadow economy,' vulnerable to being cheated on the already miserly wages.
That means the father or mother with a couple of kids, now looking at the degree they have from some university they probably still owe money to, is going to take whatever they can get to pay for the roof over their head and to put food on the table. They may even need to take two. It also means that the boomer couple who lost their pension, 401k, savings, and home value as a result of the felonious acts of the same corporations who are now opposing a living wage, isn't going to retire when they thought they would and will be looking into landing one of those jobs. That's who members of Congress are giving the finger to. People do what they need to do to survive. It's been that way since the beginning of time and this country has proven time and time again that when the going gets tough, the tough get going, but the argument and the opposition to allowing people a living wage for full time work is frankly embarrassing.
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