A Truth Journal

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Funny 2012 Election Politics, Obama, Bin Laden Cartoons

President Obama

From Denny: When it rains it pours, goes the proverb. It applies to weather these days from the Spring snow melt-offs flooding the American Midwest to the South to the frenetic weirdo politics of 2012 presidential campaigning.

Mississippi River flood

I live in south Louisiana in Baton Rouge, a large city just south of the Morganza Spillway. The Army Corps of Engineers let open a number of gates to flood 18,000 acres of farmland and small towns. They hoped to save two of the largest population centers that are each a large port: the capital city of Louisiana, Baton Rouge and the largest port, New Orleans.

So far the drought conditions in Louisiana have contributed to keeping the earthen levees strong enough to hold the strong Mississippi River while it pushes to change its course. Millions of gallons of water per minute are straining to scour the river bed and the levees as the river challenges its boundaries.

At present the estimated damage economically is about $2 billion due to the flooding. The flooding prevents planting crops that feed the nation. The flooding prevents port traffic on the River that slows down or prevents the chemical plants, the oil refineries and farms from delivering products.

Osama Bin Laden death

Speaking of boundaries - it's that segway thing - Bin Laden wore out his welcome on the national stage a decade ago and has been hunted ever since. Finally, this president and his intelligence community found the rat, set the trap and dealt with him and his enablers.

President Obama came under withering fire from Republican opponents trying to highlight on the Bin Laden success. The GOP, the Bin Laden family and other Arab groups keep demanding Bin Laden death photos. Obama refused to highlight on the terrorist's death and rejected releasing the death photos of America's nemesis.

Last week, Obama did allow Senators to view the death photos in an effort to quell the need to release the photos to the general public. Even GOP Senators commented at how gruesome the photos were with Bin Laden's brains protruding out of his eye socket where the bullet had entered.

Of course, Al Qaeda and The Taliban continue to vow vengeance. Even they have to be shaken that America finally lost patience with Pakistan's protection of Bin Laden, killing him ever so easily. Once the terrorist groups were convinced Bin Laden was invincible. Now they know he was not - and neither are they.

Since then, evidence of Bin Laden's life at the compound has surfaced. Video of him watching TV wrapped in a blanket, sitting on the cold floor, looking spaced out on drugs. More video of Bin Laden stumbling over a speech, looking to the side for encouragement and help from someone else clearly in charge. Marijuana crops growing outside the kitchen window like some innocent herb garden.

Then there's the pornography found in abundance. The guy had four of his wives living with him. Why did he require pornography? Really makes you wonder what a supposed "holy man" was doing with all that mental garbage. Again, Bin Laden was a scam, someone who marketed himself as something he clearly was not.

And so it ends, the life of the typical cult leader imploding from a bad foundation built upon a house of cards. It does make a person wonder what he could have accomplished with his life if he had decided instead to do something constructive for society rather than specializing in death and destruction. Well, I guess that's Bin Laden's contemplation for his next try on the Wheel of Life. Can you imagine trying to live down that karmic debt? Makes you wonder just how many life times that will require. See, there really is justice.

Newt Gingrich and the 2012 election

Speaking of justice - don't you just love that segway thing? - there's Newt Gingrich jumping up onto the national stage to provide us with endless amusing entertainment. It's like this guy is one big wad of chewing gum satire all wrapped up into a bow for the comedians and cartoonists. He makes their job easy.

This past week, Newtie declared officially he was running for president. I'm sure the Obama White House was secretly filmed doing the Excessive Celebration Dance in the hallways. OK, they were probably laughing their a$$ets off. I know I would be.

Newtie thought himself one slick Baby Boomer that tweeted his announcement on Twitter with a link to his YouTube video. Like Jon Stewart commented, "The close-up was not a good idea. They should have pulled out the camera - to somewhere like Cleveland." Well, yeah.

Of course, this week, Newtie thought he would run away from the carefully polished conservative image and run to the political center. He decided to go on a talk show and talk up how he agreed with Obama. That backfired and enraged his conservative supporters who told him he should leave the Republican Party.

Maybe if we are lucky he will leave the planet. Then again, the aliens will probably deport him from the Universe for Excessive Pompousness. If you look up one stargazing night and see a shooting star it just might be Newt Gingrich booted out of an alien spaceship.

It's been less than a week and Newtie, as usual, can't keep his mouth shut or prove he is presidential material. Read that as a major gaffe with the GOP who want his head on a platter. The rough and tumble politics seems to be coming less from the candidates this year and more from the exasperated voters on both sides of the political aisle.

2012 election and Donald Trump

And the best news of all this week? Donald Trump decided against running for president. Quick, everyone make their best chagrined face. Yeah, me too. Like any of us were surprised at this huckster trying to pump up his flagging ratings for his idiot "Apprentice" show. What made Trump the most nervous is the possibility of the business sector finding out he really isn't worth as much as he has been claiming all these years. He is no longer a billionaire.

But hey, Daddy gave him $300 million to start years ago and he has left now in his coffers around $200 million. He is such a "great" businessman. Why anyone places this man on a pedestal is beyond me. He is always giving his name to projects - yet has no money invested in them. Sneaky, isn't he? Licensing the use of his name or spreading investment rumors to get others to invest. What a huckster.

Take a look at the cartoonist opinion:

Mississippi River flooding:

Politics:

Obama and Bin Laden:

Conservative cartoonist fussing about Obama:

Bin Laden and Pakistan:

Middle East revolutions:

Economy:

Immigration:

2012 Election politics:

2012 Election politics and Newt Gingrich:

2012 Election politics and Donald Trump:

Oh, yeah...

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Monday, May 16, 2011

Mississippi River Rising: Flood of the Century

Photo by Dave Martin/AP

From Denny: This weekend I traveled downtown in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to take a look for myself at the above flood stage Mississippi River in my home town proverbial back yard. Can I tell you it was a regular "shock and awe" moment?

Just imagine for a moment a herd of elephants gone rogue and running fast and furious down hill. They are a herd packed tight and fanning out three miles wide. The Old Man River looked like those elephants were just under the water, the top of their heads barely seen in the rough choppy water. The surface of the water looked like a 60 mile an hour wind was pushing it yet the reality was there was barely a slight breeze.

I live a good 20 miles out from the River yet when I witnessed the power of this fierce water even I was wondering if it was time to leave town for good. The River has never behaved like this in my life time. But think about it. We have a 10,000 year ice age ending with the melting off of both polar ice caps. The water has to go somewhere.

The glacial waters evaporate and then return down as massive rains and flooding. The glacial waters evaporate in cold weather and return as massive snowfalls. Then Spring arrives as the Earth warms: yes, massive flooding as the snow melts into torrential waters. Get the picture? The Mississippi River is carving out a new channel and trying to change course. How long can any levees hold?

To their credit, the local officials were preemptive. They banned all cars off the levee roads that are on top of the levees. They banned all pedestrians from standing, walking or gawking on the levees even on the sidewalks, the train tracks, the grass medians of the levees.

As I walked up the hill to get a view of the massive River running by I could see how it was about to top the levee, within a few feet. It was already well beyond flood stage but within four feet of splashing over the levee.

Baton Rouge is the fifth largest port in America. Banned traffic on the Mississippi River were all the barges that ferry chemical products and crude oil and agricultural products. Officials did not want any boat traffic to place pressure on the earthen levees. Lucky us in Louisiana lately. We have had extremely dry weather, downright drought conditions. As a result the levees are holding nicely and absorbing water easily so far.

The Corps of Engineers originally thought they would require 50 percent of the flood gates of the Morganza Spillway to be opened just above Baton Rouge, ending up flooding a lesser populated area. At the moment they have opened up to 25 percent, hoping it's all they will require. Instead of 25 feet of flooding there is about 15 feet. Considering most homes in Louisiana are only one story, most ceilings are only eight feet, some up to 12 feet, it's not much consolation.

Here is what the USDA is promising farmers impacted by this intentional flooding. They are eligible for crop insurance payments in accordance with their crop insurance policies. Farmers who are unable to plant because of the flooding will be be eligible for prevented planting payments in accordance with their policies.

How many acres of crops are affected in the Morganza Spillway, Atchafalaya Basin and the fore bay area between the spillway gates and the River? Try over 18,000 acres will be lost to the flooding.

“We wanted to make sure our farmers got the same deal as the Missouri farmers who lost their crops when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers artificially breached the levee to save lives,” said Louisiana Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain.

In this local news video you can see a police car riding on top of a levee and see how high is the water now. Also, it shows a barge that flipped over because the water was moving so fast.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Friday, May 13, 2011

Funny Donald Trump On Obama Birth, Royal Wedding Cartoons

From Denny: Since Blogger had hacking - oops, maintenance - issues this entire week and we poor pathetic hungry bloggers were starving while waiting to post... Well, let's play catch up on the humor opinions! First off, The Crazy Donald Trump brings lots of national color to the 2012 presidential race as Captain Outrageous. And here we all thought Ol' Newtie Gingrich was vying for that dubious title. The Republicans sure do enjoy their fair share of weirdos and loud mouths.

This week Newt Gingrich announced he was joining the presidential race - and did so on Twitter. Everyone seems amazed an old dog could learn a new trick or two. Aww, come on, he's just copying Sarah Palin. Newtie never did do anything new. After all, he's a history professor who tried desperately to unseat a president AND a vice president in order to replace them when he was Speaker of the House. What is it with this guy? Is he addicted to the promise of power just out of his greedy grasp?

Speaking of the power Gingrich wishes he had - and the promise of being king too - United Kingdom William and Catherine's royal wedding was beautiful and under stated. Of course, the complainers are already calling her Your Royal Blandness because she tries hard not to cause embarrassment to the country - unlike some of the other royals.

I like her just fine so far. I'm sure she will figure out her niche just like any other political wife and work her arena until she becomes a polished expert. As a royal she has a life time to perfect it with "on the job" training. Must be nice to realize you can't get fired. Guess Donald Trump will just have to stand in the corner. :)

The Donald and "The" Birth Certificate:

If the real news were marketed like a royal wedding:

The real royal wedding:

Monday, May 9, 2011

How Do Mothers Fare Around The World?

PRT, ADT women help celebrate Women's Day in Kunar [Image 3 of 3]

*** original post found here at http://thesocialpoets.blogspot.com Photo of International Women's Day celebration in Afghanistan of Women from the Kunar Provincial Reconstruction Team and Iowa National Guard’s 734th Agribusiness Development Team, 8 March, photo by DVIDSHUB @ flickr

From Denny: The recent Mother's Day celebration does make us wonder how other women fare in the rest of the world. The organization, "Save The Children," conducted a study and ranked the best - and the worst places - in the world to be a mother.

They ranked child and maternal mortality, health care, and education. The disparities were glaring:

Women who die from pregnancy-related causes:

Afghanistan: 1 in 11 women die
Norway: only 1 in 7,600 die

The bottom worst countries ranked:

Children that die before the age of five: 1 out of every 6 children
Women who die of pregnancy-related causes: 1 out of 30 women die
A skilled attendant at birth: fewer than 50 percent
Children who suffer from malnutrition: 1 out of 3 children

How well did America fare in the study? Not that well. We were ranked at 31 out of the 43 developed countries. Considering the state of our expensive health care system and wages driven down to the point people have dropped their health care insurance it's no surprise.

Any good news after these depressing statistics? Yes. Over the past 20 years child deaths have decreased worldwide from a high of 12 million down to now eight million. That's progress.

It's American aid that has helped drive down these numbers by improving the situation for the mothers and children in developing countries.

From Mary Beth Powers, chief of Save the Children's Child Survival Campaign: "The work that we’re doing globally, funded by the US government, is making a difference." Powers says she is worried that America's budget concerns will threaten some of these investments in developing countries and gains in child survival.

Powers says tools are already present to make a difference:

Training front-line health care workers
Training these workers to recognize and treat common childhood diseases
Investing in midwifery schools in developing countries

From Powers: "The hopeful piece of this is that we do know what to do. We’re not racing for a cure, we have the cures in hand."

Last week our State Department announced a new initiative for the world's mothers. It's called the Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action (MAMA). The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has partnered with Johnson & Johnson.

This alliance will focus first on Bangladesh, India, and South Africa. The future plans will involve exploring ways to harness increasing mobile-phone networks and other technology as a means to get more resources and information into the hands of expectant and new mothers.

From Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: "Women in developing countries, some of the women most at risk for pregnancy-related problems, will be able to use their cell phones to get health information via text messages or voice mails, and the information can even be customized for the stage of pregnancy or the age of their children."

Sec. Clinton discussed other improvements in maternal and child health involving the US and UNICEF. The efforts have dramatically contributed to a 30 percent decline in maternal deaths in as many as 19 countries.

"This is one example of where we can really trace US government efforts that have made a difference in the lives of women, babies, and children."

The worst areas of the world for women and children is in sub-Saharan Africa and other developing countries. Yet America is not without problems. We have dropped by three rankings from last year's report. America is behind small poor countries like Croatia, Estonia and Latvia.

What is America's poorest showing in the lifetime risk of maternal mortality? We have the highest maternal mortality of all the industrialized nations at 1 in 2,100. Right here in America a woman is seven times more likely to die of pregnancy-related causes than a woman from Ireland. We are 15 times more likely to die from the same than a woman from Greece. That's outrageous considering our expensive and supposedly great technologically advanced health care system.

How does America fare in children under the age of five mortality rate? Again, it's outrageous where we are ranked at eight out of 1,000 births. We are worse than 40 other countries. Compared to Norway how do we fare? Norway's rate is only three out of 1,000 births.

Women in America get the short end of the stick, performing poorly, in other areas as well compared to other developed countries: preschool enrollment and maternal-leave policy.

From Powers: "We aren’t making the investments that would improve childhood-mortality rates in this country. Our government is considering cutting funding for preschool, and for underserved populations. That’s where these pockets of deaths to mothers and children are happening, in impoverished communities."

Where a woman lives in the world could very well determine her life expectancy and whether she has a good chance of surviving child birth. The discrepancies are hideous indeed.

Norway is at the top of the rankings. There a typical woman can live up to 83 years. She can acquire 18 years of formal education. Only one in 175 women will experience the loss of a child before they turn five years old. Almost every woman can expect a skilled attendant when she is giving birth, helping to ensure her survival.

Sadly, it's Afghanistan that ranks at the bottom of the Save The Children report. An Afghani woman can only expect to experience less than a mere five years of education. The typical Afghani woman is middle-aged at age 25 because she can expect to die before she turns age 45. Only 14 percent have skilled attendants at birth.

And the high rate of children who die before they turn five years old? In Afghanistan you can expect that one out of every five children to die. That means that practically every mother can expect the loss of a child to happen to them.

From Powers: "In Afghanistan, it is still more risky to give birth than ... fighting in Afghanistan."

Write Congress and your President and demand they help the women and children of the world. Here's the White House contact site. Here's the House of Representatives site. Here's the United States Senate site.

Without our continued help those decreasing mortality figures - which we have worked so hard to create - will begin to rise. How can we call ourselves a compassionate nation of moral and religious values if we abandon the vulnerable and helpless?

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Funny Video: Colbert Reveals Style Tips From Bin Laden As Glam On The Lam

From Denny: Shaking my head while I'm grinning - what a precocious man child. Only Colbert. What can I say? I'll let him speak for himself...

Colbert on Bin Laden: "He's been found to be living in a mansion. He peaked in 2002 and he's been in trouble with the law ever since. He's basically a fundamentalist Lindsey Lohan."

Acting like a celebrity media gossip show, Colbert takes us inside the Bin Laden compound to hear the latest juicy gossip about how Bin Laden lived his life in luxury: Glam on the Lam. It turns out that "terrorists are just like us!"

It's terribly important for the world to know the compound was full of bulk foods and had a lot of Nestle products. Sweet product placement for Nestle. I bet that CEO is cringing about now. Can you imagine the advertising guys coming up with slogans like "Nestle: loved by terrorists around the world."

More brands to get the coveted Bin Laden Bump are Coke and Pepsi. Colbert: C'mon, Bin Laden, we're in a cola war; pick a side!"

Bin Laden grew vegetables like cabbages and necessary "medicinal" good time plants like marijuana. And then there are those not yet released death photos of Bin Laden. The debate goes on...

Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Terrorists: They're Just Like Us!
Reporters reveal all the juicy gossip about Osama bin Laden's lifestyle of glam on the lam.

The Colbert Report
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