Daily Mail: Obama 'sucked less than Romney': Former US Sen. Bob Kerrey

Former Senator Kerrey is a Democrat from Nebraska who served in the senate for two terms from 1989-2001. He really takes President Obama to task during a recent interview:

Former U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey thinks President Barack Obama, a fellow Democrat, was re-elected in 2012 because he 'sucked less' than former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

The Nebraskan straight-talker told MailOnline in an exclusive interview that Obama isn't up to the job of bringing liberals and conservatives to the table to rescue America's slowly choking entitlement programs.

And Obama, he said Wednesday in his Manhattan office, knew full well he was lying when he promised that the Affordable Care Act would allow Americans to keep insurance plans they liked.

'He had to know he was misleading the audience,' Kerrey said quietly, recalling the newly minted president's countless promises as Congress and the public debated his signature health insurance overhaul.

There was a time I fervently followed what was going on in Washington, DC. These days I don't do that great of a job, however, I do recognize if you believe quick blurbs here and there that there is a polarization going on these days. Perhaps worse now than ever. What does Sen. Kerrey say about this?

Asked how to break the congressional logjam, Kerrey thought for a moment and said, softly, 'It takes a president. It takes a president.'

Is Barack Obama that president? Kerrey stayed silent but shook his head.

'I'm shaking my head "no,"' he acknowledged, finally.

'If he was up to it, he would have done it. He can't run for re-election.'

Finally this is what he says about "Obamacare":

When the Affordable Care Act met its most vigorous Republican opposition in late 2009, the U.S. economy was still floundering and the business community's eyes were focused on GDP growth, not a new set of health-benefit mandates.

'I wouldn't have done health care,' Kerrey said.'I think the big mistake was ... to say, "Whew! We've got the stimulus done, okay, the economy's going to come bouncing back in 12 months – let's do health care,"' he explained.

'Only the economy didn't come bouncing back.'

'We're teetering on the edge of going out of business through most of 2009,' Kerrey recalled. 'And I think you need to just keep driving, driving, driving on the economy, and make it as bipartisan as possible.'

Obama compounded his rhetorical mistakes with political ones, he said, by agreeing to ditch a proposal allowing Americans to buy into the Medicare system the way they would buy a policy from a private insurer.

'"And now you want to do health care," Kerrey imagined Democratic pols telling Obama near the end of his first year in office. 'It's okay, you're going to do health care. I haven't talked you out of it, Mr. President. [But] don't give on the public option.'

Even if the Obamacare law had died in Congress, he insisted, the politics of holding fast to the public option would have favored Democrats since Medicare is among the federal government's most universally popular programs.

'I would have been much better off campaigning saying, "My opponent does not want you to have the right to buy into Medicare,"' Kerrey mused.

If only the Prez had this prudent advice during his first term in office.

ABC7Chicago: Chicago police officer fatally shoots man in Woodlawn

When I first saw this story it caused me to want to read 2nd City Cop. Man they were all over this story and said what I expected them to say. Man if you hear about a shooting that takes place in a Black neighborhood, it's worth reading over there.

It's easy to get into the heat of the moment and assume the worst, however, there are two sides to every story. Sadly in this case one thing is not in dispute, someone still died!

So the Mayor of Chicago was caught using a flip-phone

Mayor Emanuel seen on Chicagoland via DNA Info

This article tickles me, a bit. Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago using a flip-phone. Even though I converted to a smartphone back in 2010 now it's unusual for me to find anyone still using a flip. At the same time flips were cool in their various forms. Indeed I once owned a Motorola Razr which is one of my favorites and the design of that phone was very cool before Apple unveiled their iPhone.

So anyway, it appears people are talking about Emanuel with his flip when he appeared in a CNN documentary Chicagoland. Please forgive me, I never watched the program but hopefully it's available online somewhere since this is where most of my entertainment comes from these days. Anyway here's a bit of this story by Mark Konkol from DNA Info:

Using one can make you the subject of ridicule, as Dallas Cowboys owner, billionaire Jerry Jones, found out last season when he got teased for using a flip phone on ESPN's "C'mon Man" bit.

And for folks not hip to the slang, "burner" typically refers to prepaid disposable cellphones sometimes used by people up to no good.

Last week, Angela Knox took to Twitter to ask the most obvious question, "Why did Rahm have a flip phone in 2013?"

The reporter found his number from a guy who was behind the mayor standing in line at the dry cleaners. As it turns out the guy somehow was able to remember his number and this was before Emanuel's election as Mayor of Chicago. So this intrepid reporter dialed the number:

I did a little reporting — the number was right. So, I dialed, one number at a time — 3 … 1 … 2 …

"Hello," the mayor said, not annoyed at all.

Rahm said there's a perfectly good reason he uses a phone that peaked in popularity during the pre-iPhone era.

"Here's the deal: If I'm talking on the phone and someone's emailing, there's a couple beeps alerting you to an email that you have to see right now, and that gets distracting," he said. "I have to do emails and be on the phone at the same time. I'm finishing an email right now as we're talking."

Still, a flip phone seems a little archaic for a mayor who's made such a big push to court technology startups and bolster Chicago's digital economy.

"I've got another phone, a smartphone. I'm probably the only mayor in the country to have Google's Motorola iPhone," Rahm said.

And then he put any question of whether his flip phone was indeed a "burner" to rest.

"Look, some politicians don't use any electronic communication devices — for other reasons," he said. "For me, it's a matter of efficiency."

Later on the reporter

Later on the reporter attempted to contact his source who provided him the number and found himself instead talking to the mayor again. Then noted that he blamed this mishap on his smartphone which he says is "only as intelligent as the guy using it". LOL!

Check out this spam comment

I took a screen cap of this comment to my recent post about Arsenio Hall. Needless to say I was amused by it. Needless to say I marked it as spam but it did get posted to the blog. lol

Is Arsenio Hall back on TV for good?

[VIDEO] The above vid is from Arsenio Hall's first edition of his program from 1989.

When the 1st incarnation of The Arsenio Hall Show aired I wasn't exactly in the target audience of the show. As a matter of fact, one time Arsenio was doing his monologue and something he said caused a loud noise. I knew he said something, but the noise and the reaction of the audience had me rolling. When I got started laughing my mother immediately kicked me out of the room. He probably used a profane term although I was too young to understand what he was talking about.

Well it's old news that Arsenio Hall is back on TV with a 2nd incarnation of his program. He offered something different for late night audiences that wasn't seen. Another part of this was that one target demographic of his program were from urban areas who may not have been covered by the mainstream late night programs of the day or even now.

I remember years ago listening to his radio program, Mancow Muller made hay about other late night programs who have sought to replicate Arsenio Hall's success. Most have failed for varying reasons and Mancow noted that when people watch late night programming they want to wind down and programs that seek to replicate Arsenio's format were more late night parties than anything else.

Then again, I wondered why Hall succeeded for as long as it did where others have failed. There was once a show named Vibe - named for Vibe magazine - that only lasted two seasons of only 28 episodes. Keenan Ivory Wayans had his own late night talk program for a year. Even Magic Johnson made his own disastrous attempt with The Magic Hour. Also BET made two attempts to replicate the format and it crashed and burned - the final attempt with comedienne Mo'Nique.

Arsenio probably succeeded in the first place because he was something different. Not sure if that explains why others have failed after his program got cancelled after five seasons in 1994. But Mancow was probably right in stating that Hall's program offered something different.

To be honest I haven't had much of a chance to watch the new show which was recently renewed for another season. It seems different than the original although granted it's been close to 25 years since the 1st incarnation premiered. So it's probably something I should put on this list for late-night programming.

In fact since Jay Leno gave up his job at host of The Tonight Show to Jimmy Fallon I've been watching more late night programming. I gave Fallon a try when he first started and then I followed Seth Meyers the new host of Late Night although that program seemed to have gone off to a rocky start. Further more for the first time in years I watched David Letterman who has always been a long time favorite of mine. Of course I often could be found watching Conan O'Brien's eponymous program on TBS.

What can be said about the late night talk landscape, is there's certainly something for everyone!

BTW, I forgot there was another attempt at Hall's format that aired for two seasons on TBS called Lopez Tonight hosted by comedian George Lopez. I was about to call it much more successful but in the listing I have earlier in this posting it probably could rank up there with Vibe & The Mo'Nique Show.

There should be another Star Trek Compendium book...

USS Enterprise NCC-1701

I had a dream one night that a new Star Trek Compendium was published and was being sold at bookstores where I was browsing and reading. It seemed to include all Star Trek TV series and movies and the cover was much different than I was used to. Alas, it was only a dream.

The Star Trek Comendium I'm familiar with was written by Allen Asherman and largely chronicled the development, production, and eventual re-birth of the 1960s Star Trek series. And recently I just had this vision that some day in the future there may be another Compendium book where the last two Star Trek movies - by JJ Abrams - would be included.

Besides, Star Trek & Star Trek Into Darkness were based on those original characters that Gene Roddenberry created for the original Star Trek series of the 1960s. It wouldn't hurt to include those in addition to synopsis of the original 1960s episodes, the 1970s animated series episodes, and the six movies that feature the original cast of the 1960s series.

Years ago, I had purchased an edition of the Compendium which included the original episodes, the animated series and the first five Star Trek films that featured the original cast. There was an edition that contained synopsis for all six movies but for whatever reason I never purchased it.

However, if Mr. Asherman or anyone else elected to do a companion book for the original Star Trek series and included the Abrams movies. This would be something that's worth purchasing! For now at least the last edition from 1993 is still available via Amazon.

Really? Rauner has the support of Black Democrats...

If I may explain this story posted on Twitter before going to bed last night. Bruce Rauner won the GOP nomination for Illinois Governor on Tuesday beating out three other candidates. Barely eking out a victory over state Senator Kirk Dillard who was largely boosted by money from teacher's unions who endorsed him. If not for that it's entirely possible that Mr. Rauner could have ran away with the recent primary election.

So Gov. Pat Quinn, who only faced token opposition by anti-violence activist Tio Hardimon although it seems he'd have gotten support in downstate Illinois. All the same Gov. Quinn still isn't very popular in this state and his last election - 2010 where he got his full-term as Governor - barely eked out a victory against his Republican opponent Bill Brady. As a matter of fact what probably saved the Governor was overwhelmingly winning the stat's most populous county - which is Cook County.

So, let's not count Quinn out it's already predicted that this campaign could get nastier probably nastier than any past gubernatorial campaign. Rauner is a wealthy man who made his money as a venture capitalist - that is he provides money for small firms. Also it's reported that he hired Mayor Rahm Emanuel once-upon-a-time and they still share a close relationship. In spite of the report you see above, I'm sure Quinn - who in the past was reported to not be able to get along with the Mayor - could use that against him.

Why is because Emanuel currently isn't very popular in the Black community. It doesn't help when you close 50 schools in primarily Black & Latino communities in Chicago to start with. To be sure, I'm sure Rauner's Republican opponents have brought up his relationship with the Democratic Mayor of Chicago.

So it appears from the above story and this list of Democrats backing Rauner this year that he may have some support in those communities who generally doesn't support Republican candidates. The question we should ask is whether or not Rauner and his new allies can deliver significant votes to him in November to beat out the incumbent Governor.

WND - Top U.S. general: Look for missing jet in Pakistan

If you're wondered what happened to that plane that took-off from Malaysia and disappeared not long after that this article could provide some answers. How does a plane just disappear and why? Could this disappearance be part of a plot?

Business and the economy

Via Chicago is the World

Sometimes I need to keep an even better eye on economics and business news than I have been. It would be a lie if I ever stated that I knew a lot about economics issues. Besides my only experience with economics and business was taking macro & microeconomics, public economics, and business law at Morehouse. Even then I'm not entirely certain I get it.

All the same, every now and then I may pay attention to economic news but not often enough. I may still have questions about the economy and economic cycles. The answers to those questions I'm not sure where to find them or otherwise arrive at an answer that satisfies me.

For example it was in the news recently that Gov. Pat Quinn of Illinois is getting some help from Hollywood - with actor Martin Sheen - to raise the minimum wage in Illinois. To be sure this has been talked about for years since the last increase and that was four years ago. At the moment there seems to be little momentum to get that passed.

Minimum wage is in this state is $8.25/hour but according to the article I read Gov. Quinn wants to get it up to $10/hour. Obama noted in his 2014 State of the Union address he would like to see the federal minimum wage go up from $7.25/hour to at least $10/hour.

My only response is that it sure only sounds good to those of us who already have a minimum wage job and have seen absolutely no raises in our earnings. Another part of the economic news we may hear about is the unemployment rate and whenever I see any news about that so far during Obama's presidency it's often up or down. Although it seems it's never enough to really offset the number of unemployed so far.

Then it leads me to my question, how does minimum wage affect the job market? Especially for the unemployed who are still looking for some type of gainful employment?

Recently I showed one example and surely there are others like him who fell so far down and forced to take an entry-level position at a store. You do what you got to do if the job you really want is not the job you get in the end.

Still, I have a lot to read-up on if I'm to ever get a greater understanding of how the economic and business cycles work.

WSJ: Job Hunting? Dig Up Those Old SAT Scores

It sometimes threw me off when you apply for a job and there's space for GPA. Although in some respects I understand, if there's barely any job experience shown seen then you need something. Not that GPA is an indication of future success at work.

Still, it would throw me off even more that hiring managers would be interested in SAT or ACT scores. When I was in high school - Go Falcons - my ACT score wasn't that good so I wouldn't be entirely happy if I go for a job, get interviewed, and then my scores were requested. Even if it had been a decade out of high school, even if I had already gotten my degree, and even if I should've established a decent work record.

All the same, this aspect of this Wall Street Journal article concerns me:

Putting too much stock in standardized tests can put minority candidates at a disadvantage. In 2013, SAT test-takers in the "Black or African-American" category scored an average 431 on the exam's critical reading section, 429 on math and 418 on writing. White test-takers, meanwhile, scored nearly 100 points higher on average in every section. There is a racial divide for ACT score reports as well.

In any case, that article explores all aspects of this practice. Even notes companies that stopped this practice. Unfortunately this "fad" may not go away any time soon, however, it's good to know it's being evaluated and some just choose to go another direction.

It's like many ways that employers seek to screen out candidates. It's often unfair, but it's what they use and especially frustrating in an economy with high unemployment.

As far as "fads" perhaps one day employers won't even bother with these pre-employment assessments anymore in the future. Are those an indicator of future success?

Hat-tip for my new favorite blog - Ask a Manager - where a commenter on her blog pointed readers to that Wall Street Journal article. There was a question about whether or not an applicant for an office manager position should provide old SAT scores.

Proofreading

Something I like to pride myself is being a good writer although at times my writing isn't as clear as it should be. Sometimes I go through past posts and see where the grammar and the meaning of sentences could be improved. Often times I just simply change them long after the fact.

I'm usually prompted when finding that old posts recieves visitors although the main thing about blogs is that they're constantly updated. For the most part a blog reader isn't exactly going through the archives thoroughly. They're reading for the more recent posts and the blog must be constantly updated.

Reading one of the more recent posts one morning there was one mistake that certainly changed the meaning of what was supposed to be said. It was the post about the state trooper who took a phone call answering questions about a newly enacted law his agency was expected to enforce. Seeing the mistake although days after the fact, it was important to make a word substitution to make clear the point of the necessary statement.

Acknowledging that as a blogmaster that sometimes writing mistake are made, it's time to do better within that regard. Perhaps it's time to do some proofreading before hitting publish. Even better perhaps the post need not be published when done writing, but can be scheduled so that there is time to properly proofread. Or at the very least leave the post as the draft so that it would get one more proofread before publication.

With that being said, I shall do better in the future!

Thinking about the past after a recent visit to a courthouse...

Looking outside of the courthouse

Recently, I was summoned to jury duty at the Cook County criminal courthouse when it hits me that many years before had been my first visit actual visit to this area. My 8th grade class at Bennett School took a field trip to the adjacent Cook County Jail where we were met by the inmates who's apparent goal was to scare us straight.

They made a unified statement telling us to think about it. Some of us smirked to which some of these inmates let us know that there was nothing funny about what they said. Some of us were passionate as whatever these inmates were saying struck a nerve. Some were in tears and others had an outburst.

Many of them tried to relate to us tales of what happened to put them in jail and some of my peers were finding themselves in the same situation anyway. In fact, I'm sure this experience probably saved a few of us that day. Unfortunately in spite of this trip, there is at least one classmate who was headed for trouble back then who is no longer walking among us today.

In fact that experience was the first time I realize that some of my peers were in gangs. It was a revelation that was only the beginning as I headed to one of the worst high schools in the city at the time. If I had no clue they were in a gang when I finally got to my assigned high school that fact would be thrown in my face.

Hopefully the youth of today don't have a trip such as this, one of the most unusual during my time in public school. Although perhaps a trip such as this should be reserved for the ones who are known to be trouble. Although if only we had a true crystal ball for the ones who's future are either dead & buried or constant trouble with the law.

If anything I'd rather hope we sent our youth to the courts for a tour of a courthouse. If only my grammar school had arranged for that back in the day instead of a trip to the jail. Perhaps someone in my class - especially myself - could've been inspired to be a lawyer or judge. Or the future 8th graders could be inspired to have a career in the law.

All the same, I'm satisfied only with having to make a rare trip to a Cook County Courthouse for jury duty. Thankfully no brushes with the law that would land me at either Cook County Jail or in a courtroom at the Cook County Criminal Courthouse. And I hope to keep it that way!

The Atlantic: Ex-journalist's life as a retail worker...

I tweeted this story earlier today about a ex-journalist who was forced to take a retail job after having a long prosperous career. Then unfortunately he made one bad move and he was out of a job. In some respects I sympathise with him because I'm sort of in the same boat as he is.

My situation is slightly different than his in his case he got off to a great start until one event caused his career to unravel. In my case, I'm still looking for mine and illustrated one example recently where unfortunately it didn't work in my favor.

Every now and then we hear stories about how x-amount of jobs were added to the economy, but seemingly not enough to offset the number of unemployed right now. Thankfully I do have a job, but at the same time you got your start now it's time to move ahead to something better. The question that keeps hitting my mind is what does it take?

We got to keep moving and we got to keep plugging away. Best wishes to those out there looking.

Hat-tip Woodlawn Wonder!

When one asks police a question about gun confiscations...

[VIDEO] I generally try to respect police officers. If we respect them then hopefully they will respect us so long as we're still within the bounds of the law. All the same, police officers while they have authority especially when it comes to enforcing the laws are still human.

Not that I would condone this, because if there is a law out there that you disagree with that's what the court system is for. It's OK to ask questions about certain aspects of the law that we as citizens are unsure about. In this case we may have to ask questions of those people who are on the front-lines, the police officer who would likely come to our homes if we're not within the bounds of the law.

BTW, the video you're watching is a phone call by Ashley to a Lt. Vance of the Connecticut State Police. Lt. Vance apparently was the spokesman during the course of the unfortunate Sandy Hook massacre. After he realized the nature of this call he refers to this caller as "anti-American". Lt. Vance also refers himself as "the master" and at that point he falls off the rails. He shouldn't even be a spokesman for a police agency if he uses such language.

Police officers do already have a tough job, but I'm sure the last thing many of our dutiful officers need are other police officers causing a noose to be tightened around the neck. Besides the beauty of America is that we're free to ask these questions not only of our lawyers but also our leaders and even our police officers. Although if you do question our officers let's hope you're not doing it in a situation where you could find yourself arrested.

Hat-tip Newsalert!

So what's going on over there in the Ukraine???

Sometimes I wish I knew something about cartography. I could create a visual aid illustrating Russian movements into the Ukrainian region of Crimea. Crimea is bounded on this map provided between the Black Sea and Sea of Azov.

The Urkaine is a former Soviet republic that became independent with the breakup of the former Soviet Union. Also on the map provided I learned for the first time that Chernobyl is actually located within that nation's borders.

Anyway, we're learning that there's some instability occurring in that nation. A government was essentially overthrown although that government still claims that they're the rightful regime. While a new regime is trying very hard to defend against a Russian incursion who's stated purpose is to protect Russian citizens within the Ukraine.

It's bascially decided that Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to behave like a thug in the long line of Russian autocrats, I'm concerned that it could get ugly. In fact a Canadian Foreign Minister referred to Russia's recent campaign as akin to the Nazi's invading the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia.

We see that President Obama is interested in this development as he has made comments condemning Russia. It seems he had a very cool relationship with his fellow head of state in President Putin. So who knows if Obama's word will have an effect on the situation.

Here's hoping this situation doesn't develop to be much uglier than it seems to be so far.

Epiphany on social networking sites

facebook.com

I've reached something of an epiphany recently. Actually when you think about it, it seems there are epiphanies about anything with me. In any event, I've come to a conclusion about social networking.

Believe it or not, I've been using Facebook since it was brand new. So brand new in fact that when a user registered they must have a college-issued e-mail address. It wasn't as wide open as it is now.

Never would I have ever imagined that there would be other ways of distracting ourselves online - such as Twitter, Instagram, or Snapchat - during the course of a given day. In fact now these sites have evolved beyond the PC which was the only was to access sites such as FB years ago. Now we can access these sites via cell phones or a tablet device.

So getting in touch with our friends and more random people via these various sites are easier than ever because now we can use cell phones and tablet devices. You don't have to wait until you get to a PC to utilize these sites.

Then it hits me, it's cool to be able to use these various platforms to communicate with a number of people. We could reconnect with childhood friends, classmates, family, or even make new friends. It's as useful as the many uses you can make of it however you choose.

At the same time there is a dark side to using such sites. Like any tool, if you use it the right way it will prove to be beneficial. At the same time if you use it the wrong way, then it probably will cause more harm than good. You can use such a site to project yourself as you are until you find someone who decides to mess with your reputation using online sources. And unfortunately it seems a lot of people put a lot of their lives online.

Then here comes my epiphany....there's got to be better ways to pass that time than on a PC or a mobile device. This should be time connecting with our friends and family offline and perhaps taking them to a movie or to a restaurant. That is being truly social with them in the real world.

While, I'm a long way from ever removing myself from these various sites perhaps it's time we consider how important our time is with the people we do care about. And anything else that happens online whether wanted or unwanted is at some point merely noise.

Reason: What's Wrong with American Politics?

[VIDEO] Christopher Kay is interviewed by Reason.tv asking why Americans are frustrated by democracy. Mr. Kay is responsible for a documentary Of By For and seemingly evoking the historical Gettysburg Address. He traveled the nation asking not only American citizens but also the many powers that be in Washington, DC. I wonder when this doc will eventually be available.