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BETTER TOGETHER–Campaign 2016

  1. This should be the campaign slogan for a Hillary + Elizabeth Warren ticket.
                 B E T E R  T O G E T H E R !
    It sums up the core message of the campaign on many levels–-wings of the party; the diversity that makes the country so great, however one slices; the larger world we are inevitably part of.  It also takes the “unifier’s” high ground, in stark contrast to the wall-builder-divider’s separatist nationalism.  –4 July 2016[This was just before the “Stronger Together” official motto was announced. The rest of the article is in the “Year of the Fluke” pdf.]

 

The Obama-Biden legacy

While no one can prove how an Al Gore led world would have gone (and in retrospect there were serious strategic flaws in his campaign, including his choice of Lieberman rather than Bradley as v-p), we do know that the Bush-Cheney leadership was among the worst–an eight-year run ending with the world economy, Islamic crescent, and political infrastructure all in shambles. With things rapidly falling apart in the fall of 2008, markets tanking, foreclosures starting to rise, the country voted for competence & inspiring ideals over service & possible flakiness.

Without the collapse of both domestic economy and foreign floundering, Obama would never have been elected. Only the worst of times made such an unconventional choice possible. It wouldn’t be easy to pick a worst president in my lifetime, and maybe W. wouldn’t be top choice, but he’d certainly be on the short list. I suppose one have a similar list for the best, but at this point, at the end of their eight-year run, I’d give that honor to Obama & Biden, individually & as a team.

[Reasons are included in th efull article, in the “Year of the Fluke” pdf.]

 

What’s Next?

WHAT’S NEXT?

With all the rapid changes in culture & society recently, more & more people are asking WHAT’S NEXT? To help answer that question, WHAT’S NEXT staff has
# looked into its crystal balls
# consulted prognosticators
# asked experts
# surveyed random people
# spun itself into a dizzy trance
# used proprietary supplements under supervision of a certified shaman
# suggested the following “probabilities”:

The Marine Corps will make “SEMPER BI” its alternative motto.

[Not wanting to be left behind, other branches of the Navy will try to stay competitive by advertising its Co-Ed Spirit & LGBT Friendly-Anchors Away atmosphere,” while the submarine service will keep its current motto—“Going Down Together,” which the rest of the Navy has never been comfortable with, ever since first cabled from a sinking ship.]

Campaign 2016 –& Supreme Quart Vacancy

The stew thickens. I don’t see Trump or Cruz making it, each with high negatives that are flip sides of their attractions—one a loose canon, the other too evangelical. It’s amazing how little traction Jeb has been able to get, despite so much backing. Kasich & Rubio will pick up some steam. Kasich is positioning to be the go-to compromise, an acceptabled (i.e., solid) choice. Rubio has survived his knock-down from Christie (who hasn’t), however.

Don’t tell Republicans, but a Rubio-Haley ticket would be extremely hard to beat, even more than Rubio-Gardner. We’ll see if that thought gets a kick start from today’s S. Carolina primary (2/20/16). “Winning” particular contests isn’t where the action is, besides, but getting to a majority of delegates, preferably without totally alienating supporters of one’s also-rans, whether outright or available as fall-back. In primaries, how one wins makes a difference, whether for mending sufficient fences or bringing in new support.

[Obviously, the crystal ball was a bit murky…. The rest of its revelation is in the “Year of the Fluke” pdf.]

 

Alice–the Little Girl at 150

Today, Nov. 26, 2015, is the exact 150th anniversary of the day Charles Dodgson presented Alice Liddell his illustrated manuscript of Alice’s Adventures Underground as an early holiday gift. If you count the July 4 day Dodgson had started telling the Liddell girls the stories, and the publication of the expanded version awhile later, there are many birthdays & anniversaries. Those interested in more detail about the origins, as well as the people & their relationships, including images, may click on the following.

Alice-at 150 pdf

 

Peace Corps-India 37

This month, India 37 held a mini-reunion in Columbia, Missouri, site of our first training. Thanks to voice & other health issues, I was not able to be there, but have just listened to an interview done with some of those who were, for a radio program called “Thinking Out Loud,” shared by RPCVF Don Grey. I have two main responses.

First, how little I remember of so much, there are places where we had to be in different counties, or countries. Since this was in the Sixties, it follows, I remember so little, I must’ve been there! (I don’t know about the rest of you.) This could be added to the “Usually Ignored Laws of History,” as: If you remember the events, you weren’t there; if you can’t, you may have been. Kidding aside, the law here may be more like,

~~~~~~People see different things, often at the same time.

Sometimes, one person’s memories trigger another’s, whether from a similar or different perspective, or “point of view, or angle of looking. Thus, the value of different accounts. In that spirit, then, here are some of my reflections on what happened back in Columbia, MO, starting the end of August 1966….

PC-India 37-a personal account [click to open]
clinic scenes group 001

 

[left] Clinic scenes, near Scott’s Bungalow,

Srirangapatna, Mysore State, S. India

1967–

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part of the bungalow gang 001Basket boy 001

 

 

[right] Part of the Scott’s Bungalow gang, with friends….

 

[below] back from Bangalore,
boy in his basket, Priest’s Hole,
by the Kauvery River….
[below] Marge + daughter

Marge & 001

(Rare) COMMON SENSE–#1, Terrorism, a clearer view

Hopefully, the article below will shed some light on the term & its use, as well as the reasoning behind actions so labelled. While political motives & government policies are often factors, further thought (& the latest act of domestic terrorism reported in today’s news) may remind us that the term is also frequently used to describe entirely apolitical actions, which have little or nothing to do with government policies.

As reported again earlier today (Oct. 1, 2015), a shooter enters a school to conduct “10 minutes of terror.” Whether or not associated in the shooter’s mind with political &/or religious content, the majority of such actions are carried out for more or less purely psychological motives, with no attempt to change institutional or government policies. The motive is far more personal in such cases, to get back at the world for some perceived slight, to show “them” you were someone of consequence, to bask in the thoughts of the limelight to follow, to achieve fame, to live out the excitement of the violent video game or follow the compulsive directions of an inner voice disassociated from the human world.

When you think this through a level further, it becomes obvious that these psychological motives also play a role in many politically framed operations, particularly for the lowest level of recruits, who carry out such actions supposedly on behalf of the expressed cause. In some few actual cases, the suicide bomber, for example, may actually believe (however strategically naive or misled) that the contemplated action will have such-&-such a political influence. In many other cases, however, the disassociated state of mind, whatever its cloaks of dogma & quasi-religious rallying cries, is not much different from that of the delusional warrior who kills his mama & then shoots up an elementary school.

If there’s a political or sectarian veneer, in other words, it’s often not the critical element that draws the sacrifice on the ground. The political & sectarian objectives may be more significant for those higher up the operational chain–not the ones who blow themselves up, but who recruit, brainwash, & manipulate the psychologically vulnerable.

Rare Common Sense-On Terrorism copy