Obamaville, February 16 - Everyone buys the lies!

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When is a fix a fix and what kind of a fix?

I think you know something is broken when everybody buys the lies.  That seems to be happening in our nation's capitol a lot lately.

Automated Phone Answering Systems

Have you tried calling your government lately?  Computers have taken over the phone system for the government and about everyone else who needs someone to answer phones.  It is certainly a great way to avoid dealing with a frustrated public.

Yesterday I spent 22 minutes talking to government computers trying to get the answer to a simple question.  After failing to answer three requests for different ID numbers which I never heard of before, I never even got to talk to a real person.

The voice was one of those nondescript female voices from a Stepford wife, straight monotone and clearly machine made or maid.  At first I thought of her as Vanna White on Valium but by the time she asked for voice responses to a question for the seventh time and I futilely answered for seventh time her name morphed to Bitch in my head.

Seems I was making a fatal mistake in my mission, I sounded too much like a hayseed from Iowa for my English to be understood.  Quite odd since hayseeds from Iowa were always the top news broadcasters on television because people speaking all the different forms of English in America could understand the hayseeds.

Now I have often reached real people operators, especially at computer companies, who are from foreign countries and you cannot understand a word they say.  But for an American government agency to have an automated computer that doesn't understand hayseed English is a setback for American technology.

I finally hung up on the computer when she asked if I wanted to start over.

Our federal government is supposed to have over 2 million employees.  Why can't they answer the phones?  I say every automated system should reduce the government payroll and somehow compensate people for the nonsense we have to go through to reach our elected and appointed representatives.

What President raised the National Debt the most?

Since both political parties blame the other for the National Debt and the politicians try to confuse us by double talking about both the Federal Budget Deficit and the National Debt, as if they were one and the same, where does the truth lie?  Well, as a matter of English usage truth can never lie as the question implied.

That is the same problem with political parties and politicians.  In Washington they teach you to tell lies so often it becomes the truth, at least your truth, and hopefully the truth for the unsuspecting public.  Are we really that dumb?

For the record, if you took all the national debt in our history for the 39 presidents who preceded Ronald Reagan, all 39, and added them together, it would not equal the total national debt raised by any one president since Ronald Reagan's time.

Bet you never heard that from the Democrats or Republicans.  But the truth is this.  When Reagan got elected and took office in 1981 the National Debt was about $712 billion.  So what happened during the presidential terms since then?  Here are the facts.

Reagan served 8 years and the National Debt rose from $712 billion to $2.1 trillion, an increase of about $1.4 trillion.

Bush 1 served 4 years and increased the National Debt from $2.1 to $4.2 trillion, an increase of about $2.1 trillion.

Clinton served 8 years and increased the National Debt from $4.2 to $5.7 trillion, an increase of $1.5 trillion.

Bush 2 served 8 years and increased the National Debt from $5.7 to $10.6 trillion, an increase of about $4.9 trillion.

Obama served 4 years and increased the National Debt from $10.6 trillion to $16.2 trillion, an increase of about $5.6 trillion.

Was that so hard to understand?  All of our last five presidents are in the exclusive Trillion Dollar League secret society.  Facts being what they are, Obama did increase the National Debt more in four years than the previous record by Bush 2, except Bush 2 took eight years.

Searching for debt ceiling

Did we fix the housing crisis like Obama said?

This week the president announced a $26 billion settlement with banks and mortgage lenders over foreclosed housing in which these big, bad companies must cough up the big bucks.  So far they must pay $21.5 billion to foreclosed people and it is not clear where the other $4.5 billion goes.

Of course a couple of years ago the government announced two programs to help those being foreclosed promising they would end the problem by serving 4 million families.  So far about 900,000 were helped but by no means saved.

In other words government housing programs generally fail based on past experience.

There are a few things I don't understand about the latest effort to wave the magic wand and solve our problems.

There are 4 million foreclosed homes and another 11 million homes delinquent and in foreclosure.  These homes represent over $700 billion in negative equity, meaning value lost.  How does $26 billion from the bad boys cover the $700 billion in lost equity in the homes facing foreclosure, say nothing of the trillions and trillions of dollars in lost equity by those Ame4ricas who did pay for their homes?

Is this just another example of Obamanomics?

Should we really be paying their salaries?

President Obama is in just the early part of his 4th year and has already held around 200 campaign fundraisers raising tens of millions of dollars.  For a mere $38,500 a ticket you can go and rub shoulders with the pres.

During the same time Congress, including both the House and the Senate, has been passing about 1-3 important bills a year while failing to adopt a single budget in four years.

The President, Democrat controlled Senate and Republican controlled House have all failed to address our most critical needs like deficit spending, increasing National Debt, broken health care and dormant housing.

Nor have they addressed the future needs of our nation like Social Security shortfalls, Medicare waste and runaway entitlement costs.

So why don't we pass a People's Constitutional Amendment saying all politicians and their staff must serve the needs of our people and nation or simply not get paid?

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Did You Hear About This in the News?

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Someone forgot to tell us the news we can use

I'm a curious sort so I try to understand the world view on America by following news sources from around the world.  It has always fascinated me how the American, and the television network and cable news stations in particular, seem to filter what we need to know.

So I check out the BBC in the UK and other sources in France, Germany, Russia, China, Japan, Mexico and South America every day.  Many international events are not even reported on American television.  In fact, a lot of American events are not reported on American television.

It makes one wonder.  Why are stories important to the world considered not important to our own television network and cable news shows?  Isn't that what they are supposed to do?

Take a look at some of the following stories that can be found around the world.  Don't you think it would be important to know about them?  Don't you think they have an impact on America?

Europe freezes: Death toll over 600; 140,000 people trapped by snow

Today Europe faces a tremendous tragedy from a brutal winter as the death toll from the European deep freeze has killed 600 people and 140,000 more are isolated from help by the record snow and cold pounding the continent.  Snow drifts reaching rooftops have trapped tens of thousands of villagers from the UK to Russia.

More than 47,000 Mexicans Killed in USA Border Drug War

Mexico has made a concerted effort to take down top leaders of criminal organizations, saying 22 of the 37 most important kingpins have been captured or killed since 2009.

American officials have said President Felipe Calderón has pressed for more high-profile captures, even as a growing body of analysts suggest that the country needs to focus more on shoring up its justice system to weaken the groups.

The public has grown increasingly wary of the drug war here, which the government said last month had led to the deaths of more than 47,000 people since 2006, when Mr. Calderón began an offensive against the gangs as violence increased.

America's Legal Drug Addiction

Prescription drug abuse has become a major problem in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 100 people die from drug overdoses everyday in the US; and nearly 3 of 4 drug overdoses are caused by prescription painkillers.

In other words, legally prescribed drug abuse results in 27,375 deaths a year, while illegal drug abuse results in just 9,125 deaths a year.  Think about it.  Three times as many people are killed by doctors as all the illegal drug dealers combined.

Deaths from Hospital Medical Errors Near 200,000 a year in USA

Preventable medical mistakes and infections are responsible for about 200,000 deaths in the U.S. each year, according to an investigation by the Hearst media corporation.

In a separate article by Dr. Gary Null, (archived at government statistics were gathered to present an overall picture of the extent of death-by-the medical-system serving the United States.

Here is a summary of the data supporting Dr. Null’s conclusion that the American medical system is the leading cause of death and injury in the United States resulting in at least 783,136 dead.

The medical system mortalities break down this way: adverse drug reactions: 106,000; medical error: 98,000; bedsores: 115,000; infection: 88,000; malnutrition: 108,000; outpatients: 199,000; unnecessary procedures: 37,136; and surgery-related: 32,000.

As Dr. Null explains, these are conservative estimates that do not attempt to overcome the considerable limitations of self-reporting regarding error and negligence.

Dr. Null's report is at:
http://www.mercola.com/2004/jul/7/healthcare_death.htm

Are Medical Mistakes Counted in "Leading Cause of Death Records in USA?

Leading Causes of Death

(Data are for the U.S. and are final 2009 data; For the most recent preliminary data see Deaths: Preliminary Data for 2010 [PDF - 724 KB])

Number of deaths for leading causes of death

·         Heart disease: 599,413

·         Cancer: 567,628

·         Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 137,353

·         Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 128,842

·         Accidents (unintentional injuries): 118,021

·         Alzheimer's disease: 79,003

·         Diabetes: 68,705

·         Influenza and Pneumonia: 53,692

·         Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 48,935

Posted by the US Center for Disease Control

Editors Note:

Do you see a category for any of the Medical Mistakes that cause deaths?  Neither the Hearst investigation nor the study by Dr. Gary Null which indicates there are nearly 800,000 deaths a year from Medical Mistakes are reflected in the CDC report.

Why are we not being told what is going on in America?

When considering these stories and the death totals note that the In Hospital Medical Error deaths (200,000) would rank it as the 3rd highest cause of death in America while the Medical Mistakes deaths (800,000) would make it the number one cause of death in America.

Is there a financial incentive for news media to NOT report the news?  Stay tuned for further updates.

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Chinese Dominate American Politics, Sports and Dog Shows

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The Year of the Dragon 2012

What a month for the Chinese in America starting with the Chinese New Year on January 23, 2012 celebrating the Year of the Dragon.

Think about the dragon!

In Chinese astrology the dragon is the only animal of the Chinese zodiac year that is not real.

In Chinese astrology the dragon is quite special and very much revered.

The dragon holds special significance for the Chinese people.

More than 4,000 years ago, there were two large tribes and many smaller tribes in China. The tribes had animals as emblems. The two large tribes unified and chose the dragon as their symbol. In fact, the Han Chinese still call themselves the descendants of the Dragon.

In Chinese astrology the dragon was seen as a powerful almighty king because it was made up of different parts of animals such as a tiger, fish, snake and an eagle.

The Chinese dragon was not seen as a threatening evil being as we do in the west - rather a symbol of power, superiority and rule.

Still today, the Dragon is a revered symbol. You can see many sculptures and carvings of the dragon. Even today, the Chinese associate the dragon with power and wisdom.

In Chinese astrology a dragon person is special. Born in the Chinese Year of the Dragon they usually stand out as befits a dragon. They are powerful and wise.

Future Leader of China Visits America

China's leader-in-waiting, Vice President Xi Jinping, met with President Barack Obama Tuesday on the first day of his week in the USA with stops scheduled in Iowaand Los Angeles.

The 58-year-old is expected to succeed China's President Hu Jintao, who must retire as head of the Communist Party later this year and from the presidency in 2013.

He becomes the highest ranking Chinese official to visit the USAsince 2002 and he noted that 40 years ago it was President Richard Nixon who was the first American leader to visit China and open the door to future cooperation.

Nixon's visit to the People's Republic of China in 1972 opened diplomatic relations between the two nations.

Chinese American Jeremy Lin and Linsanity

TORONTO (AP)—Even after his amazing week, this one took Linsanity to a whole new level. Against Toronto on Tuesday, it was Lin for the win!

New York Knicks sensation Jeremy Lin made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with less than a second to play to cap his finishing flurry of six straight points and New York rallied to beat the Raptors 90-87, extending its winning streak to six games.

“I’m just glad it went like this so we can calm the Linsanity down,”cracked Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni.

No chance of that. The NBA’s first American-Taiwanese player, Lin scored 27 points and added a career-high 11 assists in his first game since being named Eastern Conference player of the week.

Pekingese Struts Away with Westminster Dog Show Championship

A Pennsylvania dog has claimed top honors at the prestigious Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.  Malachy, a Pekingese won Best in Show tonight at the 136th New York show, beating seven other group winners.  The victory was his 115th overall best in show title.

The Pekingese is a well-balanced, compact dog of Chinese origin.

Chinese art throughout the ages, starting with the Tang dynasty of the 8th century, abounds with images of the Pekingese, who gets his name from the ancient city of Peking, now called Beijing.

Pekingese were held sacred in ancient China and could only be owned by royalty. At that time, the punishment for stealing a Pekingese was death. Pekingese came to Europe as a result of war. When the British overtook the Chinese Imperial Palace in 1860, they returned home with several of the dogs.
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Obamaville, February 14 - Obamanomics Center of Budget Debate

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 The Wizard of Washington on Economics

This week President Obama unveiled a record $3.8 trillion budget, promising $4 trillion in deficit savings the next ten years while sticking it to the rich.  Of course most of the cuts are from mandatory budget cuts resulting from the inaction of Obama and Congress on reaching any agreement on the budget.  Other cuts came from ending the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Didn't stop the administration from taking credit for it.

Obamanomics did not include anything new to cut federal spending, fix Social Security, make Medicare sound, reduce the national debt, lower health care costs or most other things he, the GOP and Democrats promised.  Imagine that, broken promises from politicians.

One wonders if the fact he dumped his entire economic team that guided him through the first three years had anything to do with the lack of details and failure to address national priorities.

Congress and the White House will now spend the rest of the election year blaming each other or the political parties for all their failures that have been and are yet to come even though no one has done anything to find solutions.

The failure to address long term debt and deficit issues is turning their back on all of our youth because the systems will be broke long before today's youth have finished paying their fair share.

Sometimes it seems as if the only solution to our problems, which are caused by political expediency, greed, waste and abuse, would be to throw them all out of office.  It might make things interesting if Washington, D.C. was filled with new faces.

We already know how to survive an inexperienced president and no one seems to know what Congress is even doing.  Perhaps it would be wise for Congress to just take a vacation for the year thus ending the name calling and back stabbing so much a part of our political process.

One thing no one wants to discuss is why are we trying to raise billions of dollars in taxes on anyone when we are already wasting billions of dollars on everyone.

When nothing is getting done what have we got to lose?

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Dolly Parton and the Angel of Newark Whitney Houston

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CNewsoxy

By: John Lester

Dolly Parton, who wrote Whitney Houston’s biggest hit, “I will always love you,” has spoken about the legendary pop singer’s reported alleged drug and alcohol overdose.

When Jennifer Hudson sang the song during the 2012 Grammy Awards on Sunday night, Dolly Parton says she was brought to tears. It was a surreal feeling for the fans because Hudson put all of her heart & soul into the performance. It is one performance that will be remembered for a long time to come.

“I was brought to tears again last night, as I’m sure many were, when Jennifer Hudson sang ‘I Will Always Love You’ on the Grammys in memory of Whitney. Like everybody else, I am still in shock. But I know that Whitney will live forever in all the great music that she left behind. I will always have a very special piece of her in the song we shared together and had the good fortune to share with the world. Rest in peace, Whitney. Again, we will always love you.”

Parton had shared a similar sentiment on her website Saturday, just after learning of the star’s death, again alluding to the fitting title of their shared song.

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Kentucky Wildcats 25-1 and Still Number One!

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College Basketball Week 15: Kentucky Stays Runaway No. 1 In AP Top 25

Is this the year Kentucky finally wins the National Champioship again? After taking three diffeent teams to the final four will Coach John Calipari finally get his national championship and ticket to the Hall of Fame? The master of coaching the kiddie corp, Kentucky is of course dominated by freshmen, is dominating the polls and opponents as the last few games are played before March Madness begins.

What is it about the Kentucky basketball mystique?

Kentucky basketball history is a glorious thing. And, new coach John Calipari is leading the Cats back to college basketball heaven.

Widely considered to be the best men’s basketball program in the Southeastern Conference, the University of Kentucky Wildcats are in fact also ranked among the elite programs across the nation. Among all NCAA men’s basketball programs, Kentucky ranks #1 all-time with 1,948 career victories (the University of North Carolina is second, with 1,914 career victories). With an all-time record of 1948-608, Kentucky is also #1 all-time in winning percentage, at .762.

The University of Kentucky’s basketball program came into existence in 1910, when E. R. Sweetland signed on as UK’s Director of Athletics and its first basketball coach. And while UK tasted its first championship of any kind in 1921, when it upset Tulane, Mercer, Mississippi A & M, and Georgia to win the first Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association basketball championship, it wasn’t until the hiring of Adolph Rupp, regarded by many as one of the greatest collegiate basketball coaches of all time, [see Top All-Time SEC Basketball Coach] that UK was elevated to a national level of prominence.

The University of Kentucky has won 7 National Championships in Men’s Basketball. The first four, in 1948, 1949, 1951, and 1958, came under the coaching of Rupp. The remaining championships came in 1978, 1996, and most recently, in 1998. That team, coached by Tubby Smith, earned he nickname the “Comeback Cats”, due primarily to their penchant for falling into deep deficits early in games only to rally late, including overcoming double-digit 2nd half deficits in comeback victories in each of the final 3 games of the 1998 NCAA Tournament.

The 1996 Championship team, coached by Rick Pitino, is widely considered to be among the greatest Men’s Basketball teams of all time. See Best All-Time SEC Basketball Team.

That team, which became the first team in 40 years to complete SEC conference play undefeated, went 34-2 en route to its victory over Syracuse in the NCAA Championship game. Kentucky's 1996 basketball team, rated as the best of all time by statistical guru Jeff Sagarin, featured nine future NBA players.

Many former Wildcats have gone on to find success in the NBA. In fact, from 1949-2006, UK ranks sixth nationally with 34 players selected in the first round of the NBA Draft. Among the former UK stars that went on to NBA success are players such as Dan Issel, Jamal Mashburn, Cliff Hagan, Pat Riley, Rex Chapman, and Frank Ramsey.

How big is Kentucky basketball?

By Ron Higgins on February 13, 2012 11:20 AM

So if you're John Calipari and your No. 1 nationally ranked Kentucky team doesn't have a game on Wednesday, what do you do?

You hold a practice, plan to open it to the public and maybe televise it.

"There are a lot of people, fans and students, who never get a chance to see us play," said Calipari during today's SEC teleconference. "They never get a chance to feel that experience."

So Calipari is in the process of trying to figure out where he wants to practice, depending how many people show up.

"If we get 4,000 to 8,000 fans, we'll probably do it in Memorial Coliseum," Calipari said. "If it's 20,000 fans, then Rupp Arena."

What about using Commonwealth Stadium?

"I woke up this morning and it was a little frosty," Calipari said with a laugh.

Kentucky is still unbeaten in league play and doesn't play until Saturday when the Wildcats are home against Ole Miss. Calipari said he's not thinking about winning the league regular season championship with a perfect 18-0 record.

"We're not talking in those terms," Calipari said. "It might happen, it might not happen. I'm just worried about improving and I see that we are. But we have a lot of hard games left. It's not about running the table. It's about putting ourselves in the best possible position at the end of the year.

"I thought our team last year was the best in the country at the end of the year. But that team lost six games on the road in the SEC. It helped us get where we were at the end of the year."

The Basketbowl - Michigan State versus Kentucky
The Basketbowl, between Michigan State and Kentucky, was the most attended basketball game in history. It occurred on December 13, 2003 at Ford Field in Detroit, setting an attendance record of 78,129. The previous record of 75,000 was held by the Harlem Globetrotters during their exhibition game at Berlin, Germany's Olympic Stadium.

Kentucky won the game 79–74. The NCAA was impressed with the massive size of the crowd that they decided in 2008 to expand the seating capacity for the Men's Division I Basketball Championship to a minimum of 70,000 starting with the 2009 Final Four, which would be held in that stadium.

Keep in mind, folks, this was a regular season game.

UK Cheerleaders are National Champions as well

The University of Kentucky climbed back atop the cheerleading world’s pyramid on January 15, 2012, at the Universal Cheerleading Association’s (UCA) College Cheerleading National Championships. Kentucky, competing in the UCA’s Coed IA division beat out 19 other squads from across the nation to win its record 19th national title. Last year’s Division IA champion, Alabama, finished second. The University of Central Florida, the only other squad to topple Kentucky in the past 10 years, finished third.

Thoughts about UK Basketball

"I just thought it was the Kentucky fans coming in." - Coach Billy Gillispie in Atlanta after a tornado slams into the Georgia Dome.

"Really, UCLA's a great place as well, but they don't have the kind of environment they have here. The fans here have a passion." - Dick Vitale on Kentucky fans, December 23, 1999.

"He's got the puppies set off the bus." - Bill Raftery talking about Tayshaun Prince hitting his fifth straight three-point shot from U.

"Apparently the University of Kentucky basketball dynasty is to continue forever." - Philadelphia Inquirer, December 23 1954.

"Turner ... Burner .... and one" - Jim Nantz

"Kentucky has found the secret of basketball, that it's five guys playing together." - former University North Carolina coach Frank McGuire

"I see no reason to end the basketball season in February just so some of these schools can start spring football practice early... Someday they are going to wake up and realize that basketball is here to stay." - Adolph Rupp on his Southeastern Conference brethren in 1934.

"I'd just as soon freeze to death." - Actress Ashley Judd relating a story of being offered a University North Carolina - Chapel Hill jacket on a chilly movie set. - Lexington Herald Leader, August 15, 1996.

"It's not wise to come to Kentucky and try to run them off their court. Not too many teams have ever done that." - Mississippi State Coach Babe McCarthy in 1962.

"When you see Kentucky's fans, you just wonder. You think how wonderful it would be to go to their school. You wish you could trade places for a day, just so you could experience that feeling." - UCLA player Kris Johnson

"In the next four or five years, Kentucky will be at its best. It has taken a lot of hard labor, but down the road we will be at our best." - Rick Pitino in 1995

"They had it before you, they had it during you, they'll have it when you're gone"...." - Al McGuire on Kentucky Basketball Tradition

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