Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Some Interesting View Points of Honesty

In looking at PolitiFact, which is non-partisan, it checks out statements made to see if they are honest or dishonest. They have six categories that I have summarized into three.

The first are either totally true or mostly true statements. The person is speaking the truth or they may have one small insignificant piece of information of no consequences that throws off their total.

The second are half true or barely true statements. It is not a lie, but sometimes to make it true you have to take several pieces of information and stretch them in an unnatural way.

The third things stated that are totally false and, in their words, liar, liar, pants on fire lies. However one parses it, the person ought not to have said this as what they are saying is totally false.

It should be stated that PolitFact is non-partisan and unbiased. In each case they validate, beyond doubt, by proving the person to be right, half-right, or dead wrong.

I chose a wide range of people and there are people who are clearly more honest than others. Barack Obama is the President and Sarah Palin is one of the leading Republican spokespersons at this time.

John Boehner is the House Minority leader, and Nancy Pelosi is the Speaker of the House and interesting as are several other pundits and political leaders.

I have no editorial comment to make on anyone other than the fact that I was appalled at many of the percentage figures for dishonesty. The Ninth Commandment must not be in a lot of Bibles...


Barack Obama
Truthful 47.5% of the time.
Halfway 34.7% of the time.
Dishonest 17.7% of the time.

Sarah Palin
Truthful 37.5% of the time
Halfway 30.0% of the time
Dishonest 32.5% of the time.

John Boehner
Truthful 50.0% of the time.
Halfway 25.0% of the time.
Dishonest 25.0% of the time.

Nancy Pelosi
Truthful 20.0% of the time.
Halfway 60.0% of the time.
Dishonest 20.0% of the time.

Rush Limbaugh

Truthful 8.3% of the time.
Halfway 41.7% of the time.
Dishonest 50% of the time.

Keith Olbermann

Truthful 28.5% of the time.
Halfway 43% of the time.
Dishonest 28.5% of the time.

Glenn Beck

Truthful 12% of the time.
Halfway 44% of the time.
Dishonest 44% of the time.

John McCain

Truthful 39% of the time.
Halfway 34% of the time.
Dishonest 28% of the time.

Rachel Maddow (in fairness, only four comments, but not a good start)

Truthful 0
Halfway 50% of the time.
Dishonest 50% of the time.

Joe Biden

Truthful 40% of the time.
Halfway 39% of the time.
Dishonest 21% of the time.

Mitch McConnell

Truthful 40% of the time.
Halfway 30% of the time.
Dishonest 30% of the time.

Hillary Clinton

Truthful 46% of the time.
Halfway 43% of the time.
Dishonest 11% of the time.

Harry Reid

Truthful 17% of the time.
Halfway 50% of the time.
Dishonest 33% of the time.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Monday Musings

BP is evidently close to putting a better cap on the well and the goal is to collect 100% of the oil being leaked. I do hope they are able to do this and the Gulf is able to be cleaned. This is a disaster of monumental proportions. The well is close to a mile underwater. I can’t fathom how it was drilled in the first place. I would think we need to be assured we can manage wells that deep.

Trading spies with Russia sounds weird to me. Evidently the spies in the United States had information mostly findable on Google and didn’t do a lot of damage. I’m wondering what the American spies found out. I’m not really sure any of us can really analyze if this was a good trade or not as we don’t know all the details; and never will.

The perfect ending to the story was LeBron James having a press conference at an inner city gym in Akron or Cleveland telling people he would never leave his home area and was committed to the people of the hard-working Midwestern area that has always been his home. It would have been the right thing to do and it would have been a good thing to do. Unfortunately, in this day and age ‘good’ and ‘right’ only seems to happen in fiction.

Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich says he's considering running for president in 2012 and expects to make a decision by early next year. I’m sure people are holding their breath in excitement waiting for him to make his decision.

There is something striking, to me, in the immigration debate. For all the comments about the Arizona law, it is difficult for me to make a lot of comments. I do not live in Arizona and have never been to Arizona and I don’t really have a grasp of the kind of problems the people of Arizona are facing.

But here is what I do know. The border between the United States and Mexico has been porous for as long as I can recall. The problem, at least to me, is that we have two competing signs up on the border. One says, “Keep Out!” The other one says, “Help Wanted!” People come across the border because people not only hire them, but people want to hire them for illegally low wages. We will not be able to enforce the “Keep Out” until we stop people from hiring illegal people for illegal wages. And, this little detail is the one that never makes the news and the root problem of the whole problem.

Speaking of illegal immigration, there is also the human slave trade issue. Increasingly, more and more people are smuggled into the United States from Asia and Eastern Europe especially, to work for slave wages or to ‘pay off’ their trip. Many end up abused in the sex trade. Not a lot of clamor about this in Washington, D.C. these days.

Jesse Jackson criticized Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert on Sunday, saying Gilbert sees LeBron James as a "runaway slave'' and that the owner's comments after the free-agent forward decided to join the Miami Heat put the player in danger. Jackson indicated that Gilbert saw himself as the owner of James and not the team. Jackson also conveniently left out all the money Gilbert offered James and all the perks that James received by Gilbert over the years to reward James for playing for Cleveland. Referring to a modern day professional athlete as a ‘slave’ dishonors those who actually were and are slaves.

Recent tapes are demonstrating that Mel Gibson is a racist and a sexist, and all around nasty guy. People are shocked the world over. Next thing they may do is tell us that the artist formerly known as Prince, Prince, and the artist formerly known as Prince is now known as Prince, is odd.

Lindsey Lohan is incredibly talented and beautiful and in trouble. I’m wondering of the judge was overly harsh on her because Lohan is a celebrity, or if the judge is actually going to save Lindsey’s life with this? I really hate to see young people like her go down the tubes.

Barbara Walters is 80. That is difficult to believe.

Jonathan Alter writes that Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner should have to debate on national television. Have them debate on what their role as the Speaker would be and how they would guide the House of Representatives, and what their ideas are for the future. I agree.

Friday, July 09, 2010

Revolting Comments

This was a recent Letter to the Editor in the Louisville Courier-Journal

The other day, a local talk-show host said people who get unemployment should be ashamed, and use that shame to motivate themselves to get a job. Isn't being poor, and having the family you love do without because you can't get a decent job, motivation enough?

I didn't choose to be poor, but I have been most of my life. My mother and I were by ourselves. She made 35 cents an hour as a stenographer and rode a bus to work; we had no car. I picked up bottles and cans for refunds until I was big enough to rake and mow yards. When I was a staff sergeant (E6) in the Army, with a wife and two kids, we qualified for the subsidized lunch program in public school and our kids were treated badly by kids with more money. My pay to die for my country was below the poverty level set by our government, and my wife and I both had part-time jobs to try and have clothes, food and shelter.

I am not ashamed. I have been poor, and I'm proud that we persevered through it all. The shame falls on the shoulders of the politicians who let our jobs go overseas, while the products are sold back here to those who lost their jobs. God bless the people who help the less fortunate in any way that they can. I've yet to meet a person who chooses to be poor because he or she is too lazy to work.

LARRY COPPALA
Fairdale, Ky. 40118


I am on a crusade to find out who said this. The radio talk show host should himself or herself be terminated and join the ranks of the many unemployed and, perhaps, receive some lessons.

The first lesson is this. The sin of poverty is a sin of the impoverished, but a sin on those who do not care for them. There are many debates on how to aid the impoverished. Those debates are political and valid. But aiding the impoverished and caring for them is actually a Gospel imperative.

If a person who had never read the Bible and new nothing about the history of Christianity were to listen to modern day Christianity the thing the person would presume Jesus spent the bulk of his time discussing was human sexuality and most especially homosexuality. The reality is that Jesus barely glanced on the subject of human sexuality and spent as much time discussing homosexuality as he did nuclear physics, namely none. There were two topics he spoke about a great deal.

The first was the sin of self-righteousness. The second sin most often addressed by Jesus was the sin of poverty. Often, when we see poverty, we blame the impoverished. Jesus consistently turns the tables on this way of thinking. When we see poverty, we are called, as Christians, to address it. When we care for those who are less fortunate to us, we are doing what Jesus calls us to do. When we walk on by, the sin is not on the guy laying in the ditch, it’s on us.

When there are people in our community who are hungry and we do nothing to provide them food, the sin is on us.

This radio talk show host demonstrated little knowledge of poverty or poor people. In our church’s Soup Kitchen and Clothes Closet and Health Fair we’ve really seen that a significant number of people who are poor have jobs. I see our clients all the time. They often work at local fast food restaurants, some in small family run restaurants, and large chain stores. Many work hard, have little to know benefits despite their long hours, and make close to minimum wage. All the manufacturing jobs people like this used to have are now gone. These people are hard working, proud, and poor.

When these folks become unemployed or have spent time on unemployment it was not that they were lazy or didn’t want to work. No one would hire them. Sadly, many went back to work taking jobs that not even didn’t pay what their previous job paid them, but the job actually paid less than their unemployment benefits did.

The comment by the talk show was ignorant, at best.

Secondly, this person needs to have a heart. Was the comment heartless? It was beyond belief heartless!

Often the stories of people who are home, out of work, are heart breaking. Self-esteem dies. Shame does come, but comes because the person is unable to find a job. Sadly, many people apply for dozens, even hundreds of jobs and never even receive the courtesy of a rejection letter. People are home, waiting, and praying, and hoping, and dying a little bit inside each and every day. This person wants them to feel MORE shame? Heartless.

My last point is this. I hope this person does not attend church. Seriously. I would be greatly depressed if this person is a Christian. It would mean, either, the person was ignoring the message of Jesus or that the person was in a church that was ignoring the message of Jesus. If the words came from a person who was practicing Christianity, I would be greatly distressed.

People all have different perspectives and I can live with many of them. This person’s perspective on this topic, frankly, sickens me. It makes my heart ache that there is this kind of cruelty and ignorance being shared with others.

Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Taking America Back

The other day a Facebook friend had a status update wondering about people who want to ‘take America back.’ He was wondering where they wanted to take America back to.

Sometimes I hear people speak about taking America back to when it was a Christian nation. I have often wondered when exactly that was.

Often people refer to the Founding Fathers and their Christianity. If one looks at the first four Presidents it is nebulous. George Washington worshiped in Anglican/Episcopal Churches, also known as the Church of England of that era. He was very quiet about his religious faith.

John Adams was probably the most religious having been raised a Calvinist Congregationalist (when Congregationalists were Calvinists) but rejected Calvinism, the Trinity, and the Divinity of Christ and became a Unitarian.

Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were both Deists who were avid supporters of separating church and state. The Colonial Era was many things religiously, but actually the vast minority of people attended church. It was like that through the 19th century as well.

The high point of church going in the United States was post-World War II, and through the 1950's. Again, the majority of people didn’t go to church but churches were at their largest.

So I’m not sure when we were a Christian nation. There have been Christian principles in much of our history, but we have never really been a Christian nation. And, unless George Washington’s letter to the Tauro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island was a forgery, Washington encouraged that congregation and promised it religious freedom to practice Judaism without interference.

So, where are we going back to?

Through much of the 19th century life was hard and there was slavery through the first half, a brutal war, and reconstruction. The latter part of the 19th century was great if you were rich and terrible if you were poor, and women had no rights or right to vote.

The first half of the 20th century had two World Wars, prohibition, the rise of organized crime, and a difficult fight for women to gain the right to vote. The second half of the 20th century had Korea and Vietnam, racial riots, and a war with Iraq-----as well as many other things.

So, what are people looking to go back to? Or when?

Makes me think we ought to learn with the world we live in right now. Right now doesn’t seem to bad...

Monday, July 05, 2010

Monday Random Musings

I decided I need to get back to blogging. I’m going to start with my Monday Musings.

Independence Day, to me, is an awesome day.

We remember the heroism and the hardships of the troops. George Washington was never noted as a brilliant strategist. He actually lost more battles than he won. Of course, he won the last battle, so.....

The thing about Washington was that he was a man of tremendous character and tremendous courage. He suffered, along with his troops, through difficult times. The only way to win the war was to keep at it for a long time. The British were will trained and an outstanding army. He had to make it a war of attrition and he did.

Conversely, we ought also honor the ‘thinkers’ of the day. Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, Madison, etc., were not noted for battlefield courage, but they were noted for their philosophical courage and intellectual genius. We might have never have had the wisdom of group of individuals again. They were the architects of the nation we now love.

Speaking of serious:

In reading about the conflict between Turkey and Israel, there is something nagging me. In the early part of the 20th century, Turkey afflicted upon the Armenian population one of the most horrific blights of the 20th century. While we speak of the Holocaust and of Stalin’s murders, we also need to include this. The Turks slaughtered the Armenians. President Obama promised to recognize the Armenian Genocide and stepped back from this in light of Turkey’s protestations. President Obama was wrong in backing down. Right now it is difficult to be excited about Turkey’s protestations about Israel...

The arrest of the Russian spies fascinates me. They were busy living the ‘American dream” and were spying for Russia? If they were so interested in the “Russian dream” then go back to Russian. It’ll be interested to see how well they live their ‘dream’ in prison.

The Reds and the Mets have a series in New York starting tonight. They are both in the thick of it. Who’d have thought this???

Toy Story III was wonderful.

I’m thinking that, whichever Democratic strategist who got Michael Steele his job as the head of the RNC deserves a raise...

I might be in the minority of this, but I hope LeBron James stays in Cleveland. Struggling Midwestern cities, like Cleveland, deserve a break. And, it’s not like he’s going to be poor if he stays there.

I’m looking forward to the Harry Potter movies. I LOVED the books. They are works of genius. And, for people who refer to them as demonic, I say only two words: READ THEM!!!

Apple is ‘stunned’ to have learned there was an IPhone 4 flaw. Who do they think they are? Microsoft?

Mel Gibson went on a racist, sexist tirade and it was all caught on tape. Now people are saying that Gibson is a racist, sexist guy. What a surprise...

Takeru Kobayashi was arrested because he’s in a contract dispute and was not part of the Nathan’s hot dog eating contest. He charged the stage, I guess, wanting a hot dog. I love Nathan’s hot dogs, but he was in Coney Island where they are readily for sale. He just needed to wait in line like everyone else.

Anthony Bourdain, a real hot dog afficionado, (he really is), recently decreed that Chicago has better hot dogs than New York. I also love hot dogs and was surprised he said this. Makes me have to truly respect the hot dogs coming from the Windy City. I mean, Anthony Bourdain is a world class chef and LOVES hot dogs. He, to me, is a credible voice. And, for those who know me and know that I tend toward sarcasm on occasion, please note. I am not being sarcastic about this. For once, I’m being totally serious.

Sunday, July 04, 2010

I Am So Lucky

I am so lucky that I will soon receive my fortune. It's only going to cost me a half million dollars!!!

FROM LEE CAMPBELL


ATTN MY GOOD FRIEND, I AM MR LEE CAMPBELL. THE FOREIGN EXECUTIVE COMMITEE ON DEBT RECONCILIATION. I'M WRITING YOU THIS MESSAGE BECAUSE COOL PENNY IS BETTER THAN MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.

IT'S BETTER FOR ONE TO LIVE AND DIE A POOR HONEST MAN THAN A RICH DISHONEST ONE. I AND THE CHIEF SECURITY OFFICER (CSO) OF OUR BANK HAVE ARRANGED WITH AN OFFICER IN THE COMPUTER SECTION OF THIS BANK, ENGINEER MIKE DAVIES TO BRING OUT PART OF YOUR TOTAL CONTRACT SUM AMOUNTING TO FIVE MILLION US DOLLARS.

WHY WE DID THIS. ACCORDING TO INFORMATION GATHERED FROM THE BANK COMPUTER, YOU HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR A LONG TIME TO RECEIVE YOUR MONEY WITHOUT SUCCESS, AS I FOUND OUT THAT YOU HAVE ALMOST MET ALL THE STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS OF THE CBN IN RESPECT OF YOUR CONTRACT PAYMENT, BUT YOUR PROBLEM IS THAT OF INTEREST GROUPS.

LOTS OF PEOPLE ARE INTERESTED IN YOUR PAYMENT AND THOSE PEOPLE ARE MERELY DOING PAPER WORK WITH YOU AND THAT EXPLAINS WHY YOU RECEIVE FAX AND PHONE MESSAGES FROM DIFFERENT PEOPLE EVERYDAY. ALSO WE FOUND OUT THAT SOME OF THE OFFICIALS OF VARIOUS PARASTATALS HAVE BEEN EXHULSTING A LOT OF MONEY FROM YOU IN RESPECT OF HELPING YOU RECEIVE YOUR MONEY, BUT I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT THIS MAY LAST FOR SEVERAL YEARS, YET NOTHING WOULD HAPPEN IF YOU DO NOT MAKE UP YOUR MIND TODAY AND STOP ANY TRANSACTION WITH THOSE OFFICERS THAT YOU CALL YOUR PARTNERS.

I AM WILLING TO HELP YOU GET YOUR MONEY, BUT PLEASE FOR SECURITY PRECAUTION, DO NOT TELL ANYBODY ABOUT THIS UNTIL YOU RECEIVE THE CASH AT YOUR DOORSTEP. THE MONEY IS IN TWO SECURITY-PROOF BOXES WEIGHING 10KG EACH, THAT IS 20KG FOR THE TWO BOXES. YESTERDAY, WE WENT TO FOUR COURIER SERVICE TO MAKE ARRANGEMENTS ON HOW TO SHIP THEM BY COURIER SERVICE TO YOU. DHL, EMS , FEDEX AND ISA, BUT WE WERE NOTISFIED THAT THEY WILL HAVE TO OPEN THE BOXES FOR INSPECTION BY THE CUSTOMS BEFORE SHIPMENT.

THIS IS SOMETHING WE WANT TO AVOID BECAUSE THE BOXES WERE PADDED WITH MACHINE. WE TOLD THE COURIER SERVICE THAT THE BOXES CONTAINS PHOTOGRAPHIC AND FILM MATERIALS AND WHEN OPENED WILL LOOSE ITS EFFICACY. WE DID NOT DECLARE MONEY BECAUSE COURIER SERVICE DOES NOT CARRY MONEY.

TODAY, A FRIEND OF MINE WHO WAS A CHRISTIAN LIKE ME NOTIFY ME THAT THERE IS A COURIER SERVICE THAT DO SEND PACKAGES AND INFORMATION FROM ONE COUNTRY TO ANOTHER, AND THE COURIER SERVICE CAN DELIVER THE PACKAGES ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD WITHOUT ANY INSPECTION FROM CUSTOMS. THE NAME OF THE COURIER SERVICE IS IAZ COURIER COMPANY.

I WILL MEET WITH THEM AS SOON AS YOU HAVE PERMIT ME TO GO AHEAD. THE COURIER SERVICE WILL HELP US NOT TO HAVE ANY PROBLEM. AND YOU WILL HAVE TO COMPENSATE US WITH FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS AS SOON AS YOU RECEIVE YOUR MONEY. TO THIS EFFECT, YOU WILL SEND US A PROMISSORY NOTE FOR FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS ALONG WITH YOUR ADDRESS FOR SENDING THE BOXES BY COURIER. AND PLEASE MAINTAIN UTMOST SECRECY AS IT MAY LEADS TO A LOT OF PROBLEMS IF FOUND OUT THAT WE ARE USING THIS WAY TO HELP YOU. DO NOT EVER TELL ANYBODY ABOUT THIS UNTIL YOU HAVE RECEIVED YOUR MONEY.

I AM WILLING TO HELP YOU DUE TO THE PERCENTAGE YOU WILL GIVE ME WHEN WE ARE DONE, AND PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU SEND OUR PERCENTAGE TO US IMMEDIATELY WE'VE HELPED YOU SHIP YOUR MONEY.

DO RE-CONFIRM THE UNDERLISTED DETAILS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE FOR ONWARD SHIPMENT OF YOUR OVER DUE CONTRACT FUND:


YOUR FULL NAME:
PRIVATE TELEPHONE NUMBER:
FULL ADDRESS WITH ZIPCODE: {where you wish the consignment delivered}:
PRESENT OCCUPATION:
AGE:

GOD IS WITH US, AS WE AWAIT YOUR SOONEST REPLY.

YOURS FAITHFULLY,
MR.LEE CAMPBELL