QUICK HITTERS. POST #1. CAMPAIGN SLOGANS, PHRASES AND OTHER NONSENSE.

            

  


                                                                         

As another election approaches, the same old tired rhetoric is out in force.  How come we are still bombarded by phrases and slogansthat add nothing new to the latest election cycle?

"I'm Pro- Family"-  I love this one.  Oddly enough, I have never heard of anyone running on an "Anti- Family" platform.  Of course, many of those who trot this slogan out are happy to define "Family" for you.

"I Support Traditional Values."-  What?  A value system differs from individual to individual, and group to  group. In addition, are these "values" taken from what was considered the norm in 1900, 1950, 1980 or 2010?  History shows us that each generation learns from the past, and develops its own set of values.  This is a phrase with no real meaning.

"I'm Pro- Choice", or , "I'm Pro- Life."-  These are perhaps, the most divisive phrases of all.  Whatever your stance on abortion is, the implied meaning is clear;  These two short sentences are not meant to promote what their speakers stand for, but to point out what they oppose.  "Pro- Life"- is another way of saying the opposition is "Pro- Death or "Anti- Life."  When someone says they are "Pro- Choice", the implication is that to be against them you are "Anti- Freedom" or "Pro- Government Intervention" into personal privacy.

When deciding which candidates to chose, we must look beyond simple catch phrases.  Find out the reason or process that led them to take certain stands on issues you think are important.  Don't buy into worn out campaign slogans, it's a disservice to the entire electoral process.

Date-  8/21/2014

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THE CLASSROOM 2. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL. U.S. SENATOR. TAKE ACTION: Equal pay for equal work. #21.

If you follow soccer, you know two big things happened recently: One, our U.S. Women’s National Team stormed to a 7-0 victory here in Connecticut. Two, we learned that despite this triumph, the incredible women on that team are paid just a fraction of what’s paid to members of the men’s team.

Unfortunately they are not alone: On average, American women earn just 79 cents for every dollar men are paid for completing the exact same work.  I need you to join me and send an unequivocal message: Whether on a soccer field or an oil field, in a corner office or a corner store, every person deserves to be paid equally for completing equal work.

Will you join me.. in demanding Congress take action to right this wrong?

When extremists in Congress block efforts to reduce wage disparities, they tell women in Connecticut and across the country: Your work may be just as good, but you are worth less than men. We marked Equal Pay Day this week, and we must be 100% clear: Women are notless than, and inequality is not an American value. This is not a complicated issue, and it should not be a debate.

I’ve fought to end discrimination like this my whole career, and I won’t stop now.

Tell Republicans in Congress it’s time to close the gender wage gap.

Thank you.

Date- 4/14/2016.

THE CLASSROOM 2. ANAY BICKHAM, DEMOCRACY FOR AMERICA. WHAT HAPPENED IN ARIZONA IS UNACCEPTABLE. DATE- 3/29/2016. #20.

I’ve lived in Phoenix for more than 20 years -- and what I witnessed last Tuesday during Arizona’s presidential primary is unacceptable.  

Election Day should have gone smoothly. In the days leading up to the election, people were excited. But when I went to my polling place on Tuesday, long lines stretched around the building -- and people were visibly angry and frustrated.

I wasn’t alone. According to news reports, voters stood in lines for hours in several locations -- some as long as 5 hours or more. Only 60 polling sites were open in Maricopa County -- the most diverse, populated county in the region with the highest voter turnout in Arizona. Many people were turned away or walked away -- unable to vote. 

Believe it or not, Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell -- who has been in charge of elections and making sure every vote counts in the county since 1988 -- immediately defended herself, answering a reporter's question by asserting that voters were to blame:

"Well, the voters for getting in line, maybe us for not having enough voting places."

Last Wednesday, during a county board meeting Purcell changed her tune by taking responsibility. But this is not enough.

Purcell's outrageous decision to close 140 of 200 polling places disenfranchised marginalized communities from the voting process. For voters who were able to travel long distances to one of these polling places, many were turned away.

For decades, Arizona has been at the forefront of voter suppression -- disenfranchising Black and Latino communities.  During last Tuesday's primary, it happened again, as some areas largely populated by residents of color had only one polling place or no polling place at all. As Ari Berman in The Nation wrote:
"Election officials said they reduced the number of polling sites to save money -- an ill-conceived decision that severely inconvenienced hundreds of thousands of voters. Previously, Maricopa County would have needed to receive federal approval for reducing the number of polling sites, because Arizona was one of sixteen states where jurisdictions with a long history of discrimination had to submit their voting changes under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act."

"This type of change would very likely have been blocked since minorities comprise 40 percent of Maricopa County’s population and reducing the number of polling places would have left minority voters worse off… But after the Supreme Court gutted the [Voting Rights Act] in 2013, Arizona could make election changes without federal oversight."

"The long lines in Maricopa County last night were the latest example of the disastrous consequences of that [Supreme Court] decision."

Many Republican officials, charged with the responsibility of election oversight, continually work to restrict access to voting by closing polls, misinforming voters, and enacting Voter ID laws -- creating frustration, fear, and vulnerability for many communities.

FEATURE ARTICLES. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO FOLLOW THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD? PT 3.

One of the Greatest Misconceptions about the SCIENTIFIC METHOD, and its History, is that many people believe it has been around for Centuries.

This Erroneous Belief is Commonly Used by Proponents of Bogus Science to Promote Their Ideas, Assumptions, and Conclusions. It is claimed that the Rejection of Their Work, by the Scientific Community 

and Government Agencies, is Similar to some of the Laws and Mechanisms of Science that we take for granted Today, being Suppressed in the past.

This is not only Untrue in a Historic Sense, but it is also takes the form of an INVALID ARGUMENT.

-  IN THE PAST, SOME OF THE RULES OF SCIENCE AND THE NATURAL UNIVERSE WE TAKE FOR GRANTED AS BEING TRUE TODAY, WERE PROHIBITED FROM BEING TAUGHT AND DISCUSSED BY THOSE IN A POSITION OF POWER.

-  THROUGH EDUCATION, THE RULES OF LOGIC, AND PROPER METHODOLOGY WE NOW KNOW THE SUPPRESSION OF THESE IDEAS WAS NOT BASED ON PROPER SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH.

-  THEREFORE, THE REJECTION IN TODAYS WORLD OF CERTAIN IDEAS AND THEORIES IS JUST THE LATEST EXAMPLE OF THE POWERS THAT BE SUPPRESSING SCIENTIFIC TRUTHS THAT DO NOT FIT THEIR VIEW OF THE UNIVERSE.

HOWEVER,

-  EVEN IF IT WAS COMPLETELY TRUE THAT SCIENTIFIC TRUTHS AND NATURAL LAWS WERE SUPPRESSED IN THE PAST,  FOR CONTRADICTING ESTABLISHED BELIEFS THAT WERE HELD BY POWERFUL INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS, IT DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN THAT THOSE REJECTED TODAY ARE THE RESULTS OF THE SAME TYPE OF IRRATIONAL AND SELF- CENTERED MINDSET.

THE MAIN REASON-  THE REJECTION OF SCIENTIFIC TRUTHS AND LAWS THAT WERE PUT IN PLACE IN THE PAST, WERE NOT THE RESULT OF THE MISUSE OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD, BUT OF FACTORS THAT HAD LITTLE TO DO WITH PROPER ANALYSIS, CRITICAL THINKING AND OBEYING THE RULES OF LOGIC. 

Date-  5/27/2015.