Good morning!

While we’re on the subject of “dogs,” :) check this out.

Study: Dogs can feel jealous, too

(CNN) – Sure, Fido is a brown Lab. But inside, he may also be a little green.

New research suggests that dogs can exhibit jealousy, a human emotion usually ascribed to squabbling siblings or the jilted third of a love triangle.

A study by scholars at the University of California, San Diego found that dogs showed jealous behaviors when their owners displayed affection toward an animatronic stuffed dog that barked, whined and wagged its tail. The dogs snapped at and pushed against the stuffed dog and tried to get between it and the human.

This may come as no surprise to any owner of multiple pooches who has seen them jostle for space on someone’s lap. And it’s not unusual for people to assign human feelings to their dogs, whose baleful eyes seem like deep pools of emotion when compared with those of, say, cats.

But animal-behavior experts say the study is a significant step forward in understanding our dogs’ emotional lives.

“This is the first study I know of that directly asks this question: Do dogs get jealous?” said Marc Bekoff, author of “Why Dogs Hump and Bees Get Depressed: The Fascinating Science of Animal Intelligence, Emotions, Friendship, and Conservation.”

The study by Christine R. Harris and Caroline Prouvostwas published Wednesday in PLOS One, a peer-reviewed online scientific journal. For their research, the authors videotaped 36 dogs individually at their homes while their owners ignored them and interacted with a series of three objects: the fake dog, a children’s book and a plastic jack-o’-lantern.

The canines included 14 small breeds such as pugs, dachshunds, corgis and terriers. Researchers chose small breeds so they could more easily control the dogs if they acted out violently.

The dogs acted jealous when their owners petted the stuffed dog and talked sweetly to it as if it was real, although they displayed less such behavior when the owner showered attention on the pumpkin or read aloud from the children’s book, which had pop-up pages and played melodies.

In this way, the study suggests, the dogs’ jealousy was triggered by social interaction and not merely by their owners’ ignoring them for an inanimate object. Eighty-six percent of the dogs sniffed the butt of the toy dog during the experiment, so many of them may have seen it as real.

New app helps you find lookalike for Fido

The findings mirror those of other studies that found human babies as young as 6 months displayed jealous behaviors when their mothers interacted with a realistic-looking doll. The infants did not act jealous, however, when their mothers attended to a nonsocial item such as a book.

“These results lend support to the hypothesis that jealousy has some ‘primordial’ form that exists in human infants and in at least one other social species besides humans,” the study said.

Although most animals clearly demonstrate primal emotions such as anger or fear, studies have been less conclusive in determining whether dogs are capable of more complicated feelings such as guilt or shame, Bekoff said.

But research has shown that dogs do understand when they’re being treated unfairly, he said.

“Dogs are really keen social observers,” Bekoff said.

Animal behavioral expert Patricia McConnell, author of “For the Love of a Dog” and other books, said she was impressed with the new study’s methodology.

But she’s not surprised by its findings.

“I think we share a tremendous amount of emotional life … with dogs,” she said. “But I have never thought of jealousy as a particularly complex emotion (in animals). Is human jealousy exactly like dog jealousy? I’m sure it’s not.”

*****

Readers: Thoughts? Blog me.

Ira: Nicely stated. Thank you for speaking out. I can’t imagine anyone could argue with your story. Being a woman, I personally cannot pretend to truly understand the terror women  such as Nazy, and other women who endure daily terror in their lives. It is beyond anything I could imagine. And that is what drives me because I know women are living in conditions that are unimaginable.

Thanks too for noting a solution for women. It does happen through our justice system. When we vote in people/party who are for women, we can get laws put into place that support women by putting such harsh consequences on the male perpetrators, that will get them to think before they act. And if they don’t, the consequences are harsh enough that puts them away preventing them from every doing it again.

Robert: I like what you said. Thank you for seeing a woman’s point of view so clearly. I am sorry for what happened to your niece and grateful that decency and courage prevailed. I too HOPE that it doesn’t take an awful personal situation like you experienced before a male considers a female’s position. It is men like you who speak out that will inspire other men to think differently.

By the way, are you the Robert that has been making comments pretty regularly? If so I think a moniker for you is in order. How about “Robert I,” as in Robert the 1st?

Marc: You’re correct about your facts…and you’ve asked some good questions. Thanks too for speaking up.

Clair: I applaud your questions because your sarcasm is palpable and evidently needs to be voiced.

Lucy:  You have also been commenting quite frequently. How about a moniker for you? How about “Lucy, ST?” For “Sojourner Truth” your pick for gracing our currency.

Delbar: Well said as well. It is the same sick minds when they claim to be so saddened by the loss of others killing their women and children, when, should their daughter be raped by a male relative or their daughter fall in love with someone of a different religion,  they are the first to dishonor and kill their own child. If a man can do this to his own child, the child he claims to love, you can bet that he has absolutely no feelings whatsoever for the life of any other. Love? This is not love.

I am so sick of seeing this on television – the ranting and raving of all of the killing, and how the men are suffering, and yet they rape and enslave their women. The media has yet to point out what I have just stated above.

I’m done. Your turn – blog me. 

Live and let live. Happy Sunday everyone.

Peace out. 

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2014

“Though she be but little, she be fierce.” – William Shakespeare Midsummer Night’s Dream 

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Good morning.

Social Butterfly: That is how I feel. My concern is the women too.

I really don’t give a damn about men. Why can’t the men leave the women out of it, and just go fight the wars they create amongst themselves until they all kill each other off? Why? Because like the men in countries such as Congo, they use women as weapons of war, and to satisfy their sick animalistic behavior.

The Islamic State group is no different. One can only imagine what these captive Yazidi women are having to endure now. Yes, the Yazidi men are not exactly like the Muslim men – the Yazidi faith has borrowed from multiple traditions, including Christianity. But don’t make the mistake, that Yazidi women still don’t endure hardships. In 2007 an honor killing made national headlines when a young 17 year-old Yazidi girl fell in love with a muslim boy and was stoned to death by 8-9 male members of her family (with hundreds to a thousand men, including armed police, watching and doing nothing.), her dead body tied behind a car and dragged through the streets.

Still, for most women whatever lives they had before…whatever they had to face before…probably was nothing compared to what many of their lives look like now that they are in the hands of ISIS.

My heart is heavy. I pray for them too.

From US News:

Iraqi official says 100s of Yazidi women held captive by Islamic State group militants

By SAMEER N. YACOUB, Associated Press

BAGHDAD (AP) — Hundreds of women from the Yazidi religious minority have been taken captive by Sunni militants with “vicious plans,” an Iraqi official said Friday, further underscoring the dire plight of Iraq’s minorities at the hands of the Islamic State group.

Kamil Amin, the spokesman for Iraq’s Human Rights Ministry, said hundreds of Yazidi women below the age of 35 are being held in schools in Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul. He said the ministry learned of the captives from their families.

“We think that the terrorists by now consider them slaves and they have vicious plans for them,” Amin told The Associated Press. “We think that these women are going to be used in demeaning ways by those terrorists to satisfy their animalistic urges in a way that contradicts all the human and Islamic values.”

The U.S. has confirmed that the Islamic State group has kidnapped and imprisoned Yazidi women so that they can be sold or married off to extremist fighters, said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the information came from classified intelligence reports. There was no solid estimate of the number of women victimized, the official said.

Tens of thousands of Yazidis fled when the Islamic State group earlier this month captured the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar, near the Syrian border. The Yazidis practice an ancient religion that the Sunni Muslim radicals consider heretical.

The extremist group’s capture of a string of towns and villages in the north has sent minority communities fleeing for their lives. The Islamic state views Yazidis and Shiite Muslims as apostates, and has demanded Christians either convert to Islam or pay a special tax.

About 50,000 Yazidis — half of them children, according to U.N. figures — fled to the mountains outside Sinjar where many of them remain, trapped and running out of food and water. Late Thursday, the U.S. military cargo jets dropped humanitarian aid to the mountains.

Amin’s comments were the first Iraqi government confirmation that some women were being held by the group. On Tuesday, Yazidi lawmaker Vian Dakheel made an emotional plea in parliament to the Iraqi government to save the Yazidi people, saying the “women have been sold in a slavery market.”

President Barack Obama said the humanitarian airdrops were made at the request of the Iraqi government as the Islamic State militant group tightened its grip on northern Iraq. In his remarks late Thursday, he mentioned “chilling reports” of fighters with the group “rounding up families, conducting mass executions, and enslaving Yazidi women.”

The U.N. Security Council issued a statement Friday condemning targeted attacks against Iraq’s minorities, adding that any widespread attacks against civilian populations based on ethnic, religious or political background may be considered a crime against humanity for which those responsible must be held accountable.

Readers: If it weren’t for the sick men all around the world, women wouldn’t be slaves, forced to endure living in such daily horrific conditions and in fear of their lives.

I hate the saying that men are dogs because that is an insult to my favorite four-legged friends, but I do wish, like dogs, we could castrate the mother fuckers. And while we’re at it, take the dick too. Hell, if I thought I could call a genocide….no a “menocide” against men and get away with it, you can bet I would. Why not. There is an unspoken “Femocide” against women on this planet.

I never used to feel this way but after years of writing and highlighting the plight of women and witnessing what women around the world go through every day, as I sit here, so blessed, safe in my home…I am desperate for an answer…desperate for a way to end the abuse. And that sadly, is the only answer that has come from my “I am an eye-for-an-eye kind of girl” attitude.

When men continue to do the sick things they do, they need to suffer the consequences of their hideous acts of violence and hate. Don’t like it? Most men don’t when the tables are turned. In fact, most men are cowards when you take away their guns and knives.

No doubt Anonz has witnessed many a gutless men pleading for their lives. I HOPE he is never kind, and they endure a slow painful death like the lives of the women disgusting men have taken. Oh, how I wish there were a thousand men that embodied Anonz’s bravery, skill, and love for the women of this planet, so that they could annihilate the men as they have done to so many women. Unfortunately, all we have is one Anonz. And thank God we do. But my heart is heavy for him too as there is only so much one can endure when one has seen the atrocities that he has seen.

Anonz: Thank you for being a true Man of mettle and a Hero to so many women. Thank you for your love and courage and commitment. I am so thankful for the man that you are, and so grateful to you for all you do for women. Wherever you are, I HOPE you and your men are safe, and kicking ass big time if you are in the mix of it all. But mostly, I HOPE that you have a respite soon, as no doubt you need it.

Lastly, and once again for you thin-skinned pussy men out there who can’t handle harsh words thrown at you (ouch!)…who are just frothing at the mouth to call me a “man hater,” –  I don’t hate men, I hate the things men do. What choice do you give me to feel any other way?

You men have it so easy. Oh, how we women wish it was just harsh words we had to endure everyday instead of harsh hands.

Well…what do you have to say? Blog me. 

Nancy:  Your nomination of Ann Coulter is noted and accepted.

Peace & Love…”Live, it, Give it.”

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2014

“Though she be but little, she be fierce.” – William Shakespeare Midsummer Night’s Dream 

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

Good morning!

Koch Fact Number 2: The Kochs want to eliminate minimum wage laws.

From Think Progress.

Billionaire Koch Brother Says Eliminating The Minimum Wage Will Help The Poor

A conservative mogul worth $43 billion says he knows the secret to helping poor people. According to Charles Koch, the U.S. needs to get rid of the minimum wage, which he counts as a major obstacle to economic growth.

On Wednesday, the Charles Koch Foundation launched a $200,000 media campaign in Wichita, Kansas, with a hint of expanding it elsewhere. It is the Kochs’ biggest media buy since they promised to do more to “persuade politicians” after suffering losses in the 2012 election.

In an interview with the Wichita Eagle published Tuesday, Koch said that the minimum wage is one policy he is working against:

We want to do a better job of raising up the disadvantaged and the poorest in this country, rather than saying ‘Oh, we’re just fine now.’ We’re not saying that at all. What we’re saying is, we need to analyze all these additional policies, these subsidies, this cronyism, this avalanche of regulations, all these things that are creating a culture of dependency. And like permitting, to start a business, in many cities, to drive a taxicab, to become a hairdresser. Anything that people with limited capital can do to raise themselves up, they keep throwing obstacles in their way. And so we’ve got to clear those out. Or the minimum wage. Or anything that reduces the mobility of labor.

The Kansas ad does not specifically mention the minimum wage, but it does claim that Americans earning $34,000 a year should count themselves as lucky, because that puts them in the top 1 percent of the world. “That is the power of economic freedom,” the ad concluded. Meanwhile, Charles and David Koch are the ones comfortably in the 1 percent, with a net worth of about 1 million times that figure. Watch the ad:

The ad cites a report from the Koch-funded Fraser Institute showing that “The United States used to be a world leader in economic freedom but our ranking fell. And it’s projected to decline even further.” (That same Fraser report interestingly ranks Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland, and Chile ahead of the U.S. Those places all have government-run health care, which the Kochs adamantly oppose.)

In the U.S., economic inequality has grown rapidly, and the lagging minimum wage is in large part to blame. Some states have moved to address the growing gap between what people earn and the rising cost of living, but nationally the minimum wage has barely moved in decades. Little to no evidence exists to support Koch’s claim that the minimum wage impedes companies or causes them to fire employees. In fact, raising the minimum wage to $9 would pump up to $48 billion into the economy by the next year and ease the income gap for 15 million low-wage workers.

Koch maintained his and his brother’s political efforts are not for their own benefit, but for the country’s greater good. “All the other large companies, or the great majority of them, are promoting some kind of special cronyism where they’re undermining economic freedom.” Although he deems low-wage workers part of a “culture of dependency” on the government, Koch Industries is on the receiving end of oil subsidies, government contracts, and bailouts.

*K*O*C*H*O*D*

Readers: What’s on your mind? Blog me.

Peace & Love…

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2014

“Though she be but little, she be fierce.” – William Shakespeare Midsummer Night’s Dream 

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

Good morning!

Today and possibly for the rest of the week, unless I decide to give you a break, you’re going to get a big dose of Koch. I HOPE you can handle it.

Koch Fact Number 1: The Kochs want to abolish Social Security.

From BuzzFeed Politics.

The Next Level Of The Anti-Koch Campaign: Treat David Koch Like A Candidate For Office

Digging deep into the 1980s! When a Koch brother called Social Security a pyramid scheme.

A New Beginning by 1980 Libertarian presidential nominee Ed Clark. David Koch ran as vice president and funded the campaign.

WASHINGTON — In 1980, David Koch ran in and funded a presidential campaign that called Social Security “The Ultimate Pyramid Scheme” and promised to abolish and replace it.

In 2014, Democrats are hoping to use that fact to tar the Republicans he and his brother Charles are bankrolling in 2014. Welcome to the next phase of theDemocrats’ anti-Koch strategy this year: Treat the Kochs like a candidate for office and try to make Republicans answer for the Kochs’ libertarian ideology.

Democrats have already painted the Kochs as a shadowy pair pouring millions into the political process for their own ends. In recent months Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has made almost a daily point of invoking their names, calling them “moles” Tuesday, for instance. In North Carolina, supporters of Democratic incumbent Sen. Kay Hagan — a top target for Koch largesse — say Republicans benefitting from Koch spending need to say whether or not they agree with statements like the one about Social Security in 1980.

David Koch didn’t actually write the book that called for the abolition of Social Security, but he was the main driver of the presidential campaign that pushed for it in 1980. Koch ran as vice president on the Libertarian ticket helmed by Ed Clark, but according to a 1980 New York magazine report on the race was selected by Libertarian party leaders as VP candidate before Clark was selected to run for president, mostly because of his ability to give their campaign effort more money than it had ever seen before.

“They liked me, I guess,” Koch told New York. “But obviously, my ability to give unrestricted funds was a major consideration.”

In the end, Koch spent more than $2 million on campaign. Enough, Hagan supporters say, to make him responsible for the campaign’s message.

And so, using a copy of Clark’s 1980 campaign book A New Beginning as a jump-off point, Hagan’s supporters are beginning to vet Koch as a candidate for office, shopping around the kind of opposition research campaigns usually send out on their opponents, not the people running ad campaigns.

The book explicitly calls for the abolition of Social Security as well as calling it a pyramid scheme.

“The injustice of Social Security cries out for reform. Neither the individual worker nor the economy as a whole can it much longer,” reads the text. “The system is collapsing under its own weight and it is bringing us all down with it. We must start removing it from our backs.”

The book calls for replacing Social Security with “a new system based on voluntary, cooperative, decentralized market institutions instead of the current centralized and bureaucratic system.” Younger workers would see the government stop collecting Social Security taxes “and allowing them to invest that amount in private plans.”

Democrats hope voters will be skittish over Koch’s 1980 support for the abolition of Social Security when considering the candidates he’s supporting in North Carolina. For team Hagan, that means Thom Tillis, Republican speaker of the state House. Tillis will face several other Republicans in the Senate primary in May.

“David Koch put $2 million of his own money into running for vice president on a platform that explicitly advocated dismantling Social Security and has a long record of threatening to break the promise we’ve made our seniors,” said Ben Ray, communications director for the coordinated Democratic campaign in North Carolina. “Now the Kochs are spending many times that on Thom Tillis. It’s up to Tillis to answer for their dangerous views.”

The Social Security chapter from A New Beginning:

*K*O*C*H*O*D*

Readers: I noticed that the write on Sunday inspired many comments. I am still reading them and all I can really say is how shocked I am and not surprised. I would like to say more but I am pressed for time today, so I will save my thoughts for another day.

The forum is open. Blog me.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2014

“Though she be but little, she be fierce.” – William Shakespeare Midsummer Night’s Dream 

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

Hello Monday morning!

I thought I would switch up my greeting a bit just to make sure you’re awake.

First things first…

Happy Birthday, Mr. President!

I am so grateful of the day that you were born.

I remember hearing you speak for the first time on the radio. And as I listened, all I kept saying was, ”Who is this man, Barack Obama?” I know exactly where I was. I had to pull over, stop my car, and call my husband, because I was so excited and moved by you. I will never forget it.

Thank you for being the incredible man that you are, and a president that we can love, trust, respect, and admire, as our leader. Thank you for your tenacity, commitment, humor, and grace. It is because of your attributes, and the fact that you are a man of mettle, that I am inspired to maintain my dedication  and wholeheartedly support you.

I HOPE you have a wonderful birthday celebrating with your family and friends!

Now onto today’s write…

Ryan’s Rhetoric 2.0

Paul Ryan’s Latest Rhetoric On Poverty Doesn’t Add Up To Any New Ideas

Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) introduced a new anti-poverty plan in a speech in Washington today. But while Ryan is trying out new rhetoric around the issue of poverty, his “American idea” is full of the same empty promises he’s been making for years, this time with Ryan Rhetoric 2.0. His plan to fight poverty doesn’t include a fair wage for hard work and would dismantle the safety net. We need an economy that works for everyone, and Ryan’s cuts to low and moderate income Americans are not what this country needs to continue to prosper.

Here are a few things we know about his plan:

1. The Math Doesn’t Add Up. Ryan claims his plan is deficit-neutral. That’s a 180 degree turn from his budget proposal from earlier this year, which gets over two-thirds of its cutsfrom programs helping low and moderate income families. So either the plan is a dressed-up version of his budget, or he has abandoned his goal to balance the budget.

2. “Consolidation.” Ryan’s rhetoric calls it consolidation, hoping you won’t notice he is actually cutting programs helping low and moderate income Americans. And we already know that this strategy doesn’t work. Ryan holds up the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program as a model reform of the safety net. But under TANF, extreme poverty rose, fewer families received help, and states were unable to respond to the Great Recession. Consolidating multiple programs into a single funding stream would carry these same risks. In fact, Ryan undermines his own argument by proposing to eliminate an already-existing block grant, the Social Services Block Grant, calling it “ineffective” (which, by the way, helps approximately 23 million people).

3. Not Every Idea Ryan Proposes Is Without Merit.Depending on the details, ideas such as reforming our criminal justice system to give people the opportunity to rebuild their lives have a lot of merit and could attract bipartisan support. In fact, Ryan is not a leader on this issue, which has already had a bipartisan team of Senate champions in Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY). On the whole, however, his plan would exacerbate poverty and inequality.

If Ryan were serious about cutting poverty, here are three policy ideas he could embrace — taken from a column by the Center for American Progress’s Melissa Boteach:

1. Increase The Minimum Wage. Ryan’s speech comes on the day marking five years since the last federal minimum wage increase. Progressive leaders and advocates around the country are marking the occasion by taking the “Live The Wage” Challenge — walking in the shoes of a minimum wage worker by living on the average minimum wage budget of $77 for one week. It’s simply not enough to live on. Raising the minimum wage to $10.10 could lift as many as 4.6 million people out of poverty.

2. Bring Our Work And Family Policies Into The 21st Century. Women are now the primary breadwinners or co-breadwinners in nearly two-thirds of families, but our workplace policies and public policies don’t reflect this change. One thing Rep. Ryan could do in this realm is support the Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act, or FAMILY Act, which would create a national paid leave program and stop the United States from being the only developed country that with no paid maternity leave. This is a critical poverty issue, as having a child is a major cause of poverty for families that can’t afford to leave the workforce.

3. Support High-Quality Child Care And Early Education.Poor families who pay out of pocket for child care spendapproximately one-third of their incomes just to be able to work. Ryan could support policies to provide greater economic mobility for low-income families, like Head Start. He could also sign onto the bipartisan Strong Start for America’s Children Act, which would invest in preschool, quality child care for infants and toddlers, and home visiting as a resource to pregnant women and mothers with young babies, simultaneously helping parents work while boosting the future economic mobility of young children.

Instead, just a day after his speech, he and his House Republican colleagues will vote tomorrow to exclude millions of low-income working families from the Child Tax Credit, pushing millions of children deeper into poverty.

BOTTOM LINE: Addressing poverty with more than rhetoric is the challenge our country faces. America was not built on rhetoric, it was built on an idea that if we came together and worked hard, we could create a nation full of opportunity. There are policy proposals that exist that would help us do that — create an economy that works for everyone, not just the wealthiest. Paul Ryan’s latest rhetoric on poverty is not the answer we need.

*****

Readers: This is the update on the vote. No surprise all Republicans voted in favor and most Democrats opposed. The bill cleared the House by a vote of 237-173. The White House threatened to veto the bill, though thankfully the Democratic-controlled Senate will unlikely pass it.

Thoughts? Blog me. 

Social Butterfly: No, I have not thought of a separate club for the LSOS ladies, but if you ask me, I feel they deserve to be included with the LSOS men in the same club. After all they do follow lockstep with the men so why give them any special privilege. If that’s all right with you, I will add your choice of Peggy Noonan as a new member, with a DAABOR status. Sound good with you? I HOPE you had a wonderfully delicious birthday! xox

Any other nominees for membership? We haven’t had a lot lately but we all know they’re out there.  Send ‘em to me!

Peace & Love. 

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

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