First 100 days 27 promises kept 6 broken

Since many are focusing on the whole "100 days" of the Obama presidency, I thought I'd take a look at PolitiFact's Obamameter and see how many promises were kept versus those that were broken.

Twenty Seven promises are shown as kept; six are shown as broken. I'm not going to bother with the ones that were compromises, because can you really compromise on a promise? You either keep it or you don't...

In reality only breaking 6 isn't that bad, though I do have to say the most recent one is troubling, It is:

"Two years ago, I criticized the Secretary of State for the firing of U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, after he properly used the term 'genocide' to describe Turkey's slaughter of thousands of Armenians starting in 1915. … as President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide."

Twice the President avoided the use of the word "genocide" in relation to Armenia...I wonder how Armenians For Obama who supported him based in this promise feel, I did find this:

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On April 24, the Armenian Council of America (ACA) stated with great disappointment that US President Barack Obama retreated his pledge of promoting changes in Washington’s policy, ACA reported to PanARMENIAN.Net. “Barack Obama did not keep is pre-electoral promise, and preferred to characterize the 1915 events as the ‘greatest atrocities of the 20th century’,” the ACA report says. Although the President has gone further than his predecessors by continuously stating that his “personal views have not changed,” he swayed on his pledge towards historical truth with the absence of the word “genocide”.

Nonetheless, ACA attaches great importance to the fact that the US President and his advisors realize that Armenia and Turkey cannot normalize their relations unless Ankara acknowledges the historical truth. “I feel deep sorrow that Obama did not keep his promise under Turkey’s pressure of refusing to normalize its ties with Armenia,” ASA Chairman Vazgen Khodanyan said.

Another busy week...

Between Glass City Jungle, babysitting my two granddaughters and my oldest daughter coming into town as well as other assorted life situations, another week has flown by. This next week may be a little less action packed, I'm babysitting a bit more but so far? The rest of my work load appears to be lighter.

Which hopefully means I'll have more time to have fun expounding on politics...

:-)

Sandals versus flip flops and sticker shock...

For years I resisted wearing flip flops, where you realize it's really hard to find inexpensive sandals that don't utilize the whole thong thing between your big toe and your second toe. This may not sound like something worth "ranting" about, but with my increasing mileage in walking, sandals most times are not comfortable and flip flops are to me less comfortable than walking barefoot and when it's really hot tennis shoes are just not appealing. While my preferred method when the weather is warm is barefeet, that's not a smart thing to do when trying to trek a few miles, even if the soles of your feet have become like leather. (Who knows someday I might want to be a firewalker - lol.) My favorite pair of sandals I've had for years, Dr. Martens, appear to have reached the end of their lifespan and it doesn't seem as if that particular style that I love is still available.

I finally tried one of the many pairs of flip flops in this house, magically finding a pair that matched, since most of the girls in this household seem to have no problem not wearing the same color on both feet, yes, you may think there is a pair just like that at home, but like socks, flip flops disappear around here. They also don't last long, which is not a big deal since most of them are pretty cheap but I'm used to having my shoes/sandals last for quite a few years, I just don't find the flip flops comfortable at all. So, my hunt for a pair of walking sandals has started, I've seen some that look appealing made by Ecco shoes but spending over $100.00 for a pair of sandals is a bit out of my range, though I now also see that the Dr. Martens are pretty pricey compared to how they used to be. I know, I've just given away how long it's been since I shopped for shoes if I think that over $100.00 is expensive, it makes me wish I would have done what I did with my boots, I really loved them so I bought two pairs while they were on sale, then? I'd still have an extra pair of my favorites...

Why Canadian Banks surived better than ours...

I watched this on CBS and I thought it was interesting so I wanted to share the online version of the coverage of, Canadian Banks Avoided Mortgage Meltdown. I recommend reading the story and the newscast is online as a video. What I thought was most interesting:

Another villain in the financial crisis were toxic mortgage-backed securities - risky loans that were chopped up and resold in countless different ways. Many banks gobbled up the now virtually worthless investments. Ed Clark got out 4 years ago saying they were just too complex.

Clark: "As soon as you see that complexity, you say, 'How can I possibly think I actually can guess whether this will work or not?' And as soon as I hear that, I say, 'Get out of it.'"

Sherry Cooper spent years at the Fed overseeing Wall Street, before moving to Bay Street, the Canadian equivalent.

"It didn't take long for me to discover that this is an entirely different culture," said Cooper, chief economist at the Bank of Montreal. "Canadian banks were up to their ankles in the toxic muck whereas American banks were over there heads."

"A lot of this is about saying, 'Here are old banking rules, and we're prepared to give up short term profit in order to make sure we have a balance sheet that doesn't blow up on us,'" Clark said.

One reason why Canada is the only industrialized nation in the world without a single bank failure in the current economic downturn.

Maybe the US should hire some Canadian experts....

Healthy as a horse?

I started wondering where the phrase "healthy as a horse" came from, I turned to my trusty google, only to discover there were others searching for the answer to this question but most of the idiom sites didn't include an answer. I found lots of links for all kinds of horse related quotes and horse supplements, but nothing on the history behind that quote.

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth" was a more popular quote, that appeared to have some answers with most believing that phrase went back to the days when a person would look at the teeth of a horse to determine if it was worth buying. So if any of my expert phrasesmith's out there know the answer? I hope you share it.

:-)

Why it's hard to believe the New York Post is credible

Okay it's been too long since I had the time to sit down here and type out a rant, but here I am and here we go. As I headed over to read what Real Clear Politics titled as "Obama Ignores Festering Threats" but was titled O'S FOREIGN FOLLIES on the actual New York Post article page, the first thing I saw immediately was an unflattering picture of Hillary Clinton.

Wasn't this considered "wrong" when it was done to Condi Rice?

Then I read the actual article, which takes President Obama to task with his not wanting to order the Navy to go after the Somalia pirates. Which made me wonder, exactly how did the Bush administration deal with these pirates since they are nothing new...It was a complicated issue back in November of 2008...Ironically the same type of military action that Ralph Peters is suggesting the Obama administration should take against the pirates is something that when the Bush administration suggested? Wasn't supported by military leaders and others.

I'm pretty well known for having no problem calling out our current President when I disagree with something he's done, but the reality is the problem in Somalia isn't going to be fixed by killing the pirates or even sending our military into Somalia to hunt them down.

It's also interesting how many seem to forget the US's role in Somalia, a flashback to 2007:

The current downward spiral began in December 2006, when Ethiopian troops, backed by U.S. intelligence and air and naval support, overthrew Somalia's Islamic Courts Union, a conservative Muslim regime that had ruled for just six months.

U.S. views on the Courts were influenced by Ethiopia's prime minister Meles Zenawi, a brutal dictator who is a staunch ally in the War on Terror and also a major recipient of U.S. humanitarian and military aid. Meles had his own reasons for toppling the Mogadishu regime: He accused the Courts of aiding separatists in the Ogaden desert, a vast, ethnically Somali region that lies within Ethiopia's borders. The two countries fought a war over the Ogaden in the late 1970s. These days, the region is the scene of brutal internal warfare, and may soon be familiar in the way of Darfur.

We helped a brutal dictator, then left the people there to suffer, and are surprised that things are bad...sound familiar?

Piracy is bad, but clearly some in Somali find it preferable to starvation...

Media silliness, Michelle Obama "touched" the Queen

CNN reported:

First lady Michelle Obama was expected to make headlines in Europe with her style and flair as she accompanied her husband to the Group of 20 summit, but it was a simple gesture that has set off a media frenzy.

While meeting Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in London on Wednesday, the two women briefly embraced -- not your typical scene at Buckingham Palace.

The British media called it everything from a breach of protocol to an extraordinary show of affection from the queen.

Actually, Time magazine stated, The Queen and Mrs. Obama: A Breach in Protocol with a good number of the British papers reporting the media hullabaloo not coming from them but from the United States. This Times Online story as an example:

When Michelle Obama put her arm round the Queen at Buckingham Palace, some of the more excitable elements of the media - particularly the Americans - suggested she may have been guilty of a breach of protocol.

My initial thought? Are you kidding me? Don't we have more important issues to obsess over?

As a well established member of the hugging philosophy, while I realize protocol would not make it acceptable for me to hug the Queen, I think it's silly that there are time lapse type photographs out there to demonstrate who touched who first and how many seconds later Michelle Obama still kept her hand on the Queen's back after the Queen removed her hand from Michelle Obama's back.

The Meaning of the Iowa Gay Marriage Decision

I recommend reading Time's The Meaning of the Iowa Gay Marriage Decision though I know some of you who read here are not in support of gay marriage.

I personally feel that the state should not be involved in marriage "the religious ceremony" at all, that should be something that couples do within whatever rules their particular religion dictates. That civil unions should exist if there is going to be a scenario where unions are recognized by the government and it should be open to both same and heterosexual couples for the legal and other civil benefits to a contractual union. That would eliminate all of the religious aspect to gay marriage and it would also ensure that there was a separation of church and state, since I have always found it ironic that government and religion meddle in each others affairs all too often.

Marriage would still exist for those that want it, you'd get a civil marriage license, then have your service performed by a minister, or whoever your state gave the power vested to perform the service. You could have as big or as small of a marriage ceremony as you wanted, or if you opted for none? You didn't have to, the act of purchasing your civil union certificate and taking a quick oath would be enough. Divorce would still exist, since there would need to be a process in place as in any form of contract law to dissolve a contract...

Yet, my way would create common sense, and eliminate the division that people have on this issue from a governmental standpoint. Instead? We will have many more court decisions where:

"This class of people asks a simple and direct question: How can a state premised on the constitutional principle of equal protection justify exclusion of a class of Iowans from civil marriage?" Justice Mark S. Cady asked.

The answer? It can't.

Happens...

Identity theft and consumer tips...

Consumer Federation of America released a report in March entitled, "To Catch a Thief: Are Identity Theft Services Worth the Cost?" that I found to be an interesting read. Last year, nearly 10 million people became victims of identity fraud, according to a Javelin Strategy & Research annual survey. The number of companies out there marketing identity theft protection has also grown.

There's a common sense aspect to protecting your identity but it's not always possible, which means no matter if you do it yourself or use a identity theft protection program, do your homework. Read what is included and make your decision based on that as opposed to letting the headlines in the media on the most recent identity theft story make you respond.

So, I ask myself...why did I go home?

Some of you probably noticed the lack of posting, I was in California visiting my oldest daughter and while I tried to do a bit of blogging on my local blog as far as keeping up with some of the media releases/breaking news type stories, I was taking a semi-break from blogging since I was spending time with her.

Last night I left San Francisco Airport at 9:40 California time and arrived at Detroit Metro Airport at 5:00 a.m.; yes, the red-eye. Normally I'd sleep but things were a bit turbulent (perhaps a warning as to what was to come?) and I had some guy behind me who kept kicking my seat as well as one in front of me who snored almost as loud as my husband. Since it was only a little over a four hour flight I decided to just stay awake and keep reading, so I finished two books during the flight.

My friend Kate came to pick me up, you find out who really loves you when it comes to asking them to pick you up at the airport that early in the morning. We had a nice drive back to Toledo, stopped and got some McDonald's and I had visions of getting home, hugging my husband before he went to work and then going to bed.

The hug happened, then I learned the washing machine broke yesterday, no one knows why. Okay, fine I told myself, I'll deal with that later, I was going to sleep. Then I started getting text messages from daughter number four, she wasn't feeling well and wanted to come home. The next two hours were used waiting for daughter number 3 to call me back so I could have her go pick up her sister from school. Since I knew I couldn't sleep until that was resolved, I transcribed a City Council meeting for my other blog and headed downstairs to see if I could fix the washer. It was full of water and won't drain, so I headed out to the garage to get a piece of hose to siphon off some of the water.

Imagine my surprise to discover one of my cats in the garage, not looking like he was in good shape. My cats are not outdoor cats, they are indoor cats. It looked like he had been outside for some time...I called my husband who knew nothing about the cat even missing.

I then discovered when daughter number three finally called me that daughter number 4 for some strange reason in this cold weather we had here in Ohio had the screen for her window up and opened the window. The cat fell out of the window and neither one bothered to a) try to collect the cat or b) tell my husband that the cat was outside.

It should be pointed out that both daughters number 3 and 4 were previously considered bright, now of course I question that description.

Hopefully the cat will be okay, a trip to the vet is on the schedule for today. I plan to nail the screen shut so that daughters 3 & 4 can no longer demonstrate their lack of common sense. The washer is under warranty so I'll have the joy of dealing with a repair man and perhaps at some point today I'll actually get some sleep...

Or say the hell with it and go back to California where life was so much more stress free...

:-)