The great majority of men and women, in ordinary times, pass through life without ever contemplating or criticising, as a whole, either their own conditions or those of the world at large. They find themselves born into a certain place in society, and they accept what each day brings forth, without any effort of thought beyond what the immediate present requires. Almost as instinctively as the beasts of the field, they seek the satisfaction of the needs of the moment, without much forethought, and without considering that by sufficient effort the whole conditions of their lives could be changed. A certain percentage, guided by personal ambition, make the effort of thought and will which is necessary to place themselves among the more fortunate members of the community; but very few among these are seriously concerned to secure for all the advantages which they seek for themselves. It is only a few rare and exceptional men who have that kind of love toward mankind at large that makes them unable to endure patiently the general mass of evil and suffering, regardless of any relation it may have to their own lives.

The new chairman of the Henry County Democratic committee called me a while back and asked me to give him some ideas about how to harness online tools in the most productive manner so that the Henry County Democratic Committee is getting its message out to people, getting people the info they are looking for, and is building up a network of contacts online that can then be harnessed during campaign season for GOTV efforts.

via Juan Matute:

1.  As the Republicant Party drifts further to the right, the position mantra of George Bush's "Compassionate Conservatism" has been abandoned.  This column speaks to that:

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/print/38568/

2.  We go through life, and accept things from science as pretty irrefutable, that is until they are refuted.   We have all lived with the premise that the speed of light is the ultimate event of science that is the fastest thing around.  Well, hang on, that is now under review:

http://news.yahoo.com/strange-particles-may-travel-faster-light-breaking-laws-192010201.html

3.  Time to really upset your day, and pass this on to you.  This piece elaborates on the extremists' goals in hijacking the GOP to the point of doing away with the Democracy of the Constitution and installing an oligarchy or plutocracy,     To them, the one-man-one-vote concept is ....well, they don't even bring that concept up.  Their concept is that voting should only be allowed by people who own property, and are not poor, and....well, go on and throw up now:

http://www.truth-out.org/print/6753

4.  The Republicant "debates" are interesting from the standpoint of several things, mostly about how things are said, or not said, but not much of what is said.  Substance is not their game.  Many GOP operatives cringe every time the crowd reacts with cruelty on live TV.  I keep wondering why Porky Newt hangs around, and I've figured it out that he's aspiring to a VP slot, that's gotta be it.  Anyway Gail Collins opines on the dismal display of talent:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/24/opinion/perrys-bad-night.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

5.  Charles Blow talks about a program in West Harlem that teaches, protects, houses, and trains children to be productive and good citizens.   The military pays about $800,000 for one Sparrow missile.  Those missiles are popped off at a good clip in and around the 10-year war.  Some hit a target, some don't.  When that $800,000 weapon blows up, it's done for....gone.....nothing left.   What you say we don't make those missiles any more by stopping the 10-year military complex war games, and take that same expenditure and fund stuff like the Broadway Housing Communities and the Dorothy Day Apartments.  The return on investment is much better, so much better:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/24/opinion/blow-it-takes-a-village.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

6.  All of you present and retired teachers will understand this next piece.  One has to wonder, if given the adequate resources (class size, resources, and realistic budgets) things would improve.  For now, this is just another example of a shitty day in the shadow of neglect of all our schools:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0924-banks-20110924,0,5562486,print.column

7.  Reform is not necessarily replacing something with a better system.  Case in point:

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-guestworkers-20110923,0,7389754,print.story

1.  The LA Times editorial is for Rick Perry's perusal, that is unless the swaggering Texan has closed his mind out of cranial austerity budgeting to accommodate limited resources:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-socialsecurity-20110919,0,4611857.story

2.  Reaganomics and its effect on us now:
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/print/38527/

3.  The Rich, Tax Cuts, Corporations, and Job Creation.  By the way, John Boehner keeps referring to the wealthy, scions, and captains of industry as the "job creators".  Should this term "job creation" also include the people who desperately need money (the unemployed and poor)?   If they had the money in their hands, somebody out there would immediately want to sell them what they have the money to buy.   Right now, corporations are sitting on a boatload of cash, but they are not doing any job creation.  Do you suppose that if they had more loopholes or tax breaks that this would inspire them to create jobs - no, no, no.   Not until someone is out there with the money to buy will there be any inspiration of manufacture to sell.  So, really who is creating the job?  The guy with all the money now, and not doing anything, or the guy out there who has postponed buying or can't buy because he has no money?  The chicken or the egg?:
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/node/38523

4.  A while back, the federal government took charge of General Motors to save it.  Has anyone checked in on them lately, GM is doing quite well; making better vehicles, and employing thousands.   Ownership is back in private hands now.   Cries of "Socialism" and a bunch of nasty slogans were heaped on the Obama administration for what it did.  Do we hear any of that now?   No.  Not a peep:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/gm-is-back-thanks-to-uncle-sam/2011/09/21/gIQACpT4lK_print.html

5.  Elizabeth Warren is out campaigning for a Senate seat in Massachusetts.  This woman scares the pants off of the Wall Street financiers because of the way she makes common sense in explaining their rip off schemes.  Now she is taking her clear and populist message to the voters, and her opponents will be flummoxed in figuring how to counter her.  Yes, Flummoxed, I say!!:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/class-warfare-elizabeth-warren-style/2011/03/03/gIQAeB2WlK_blog.html

6.  Let's see where this issue in Virginia, and a few other states, related to states enacting legislation that does not require them to obey a federal mandate goes.  It happened before and it ended in a bloody conflict called the Civil War:
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/21/breaking-news-the-civil-war-is-over/?pagemode=print

7.  This NY Times editorial cuts to the chase and succinctly lays out the high and main points of Obama's American Jobs Act:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/22/opinion/taxes-the-deficit-and-the-economy.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

8.  California state taxes, as this writer applies the Warren Buffett rule, is not the same.   However, I beg to differ.  If reform of state taxes is in order, which it is, start with eliminating the two-tier tax system of Prop.13:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cap-buffet-20110922,0,5846608,print.column

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