Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Too Close for Comfort
Right now this is my guess but it is too close for comfort. We need to do better.
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Friday, September 21, 2012
So Romney Files an Amended Return in Dec.
So Romney comes out with his 2011 taxes. He uses less charitable deductions then he is allowed so he pays 14%, otherwise he would have paid 9%. By the way most of his charitable deductions are tiths to the LDS church, which is basically a political organization IMHO. It would look pretty bad if he only paid 9%. But in December all he has to do is file an amended return. Is there a problem there or am I just looking for something.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Romney Will Say Or Do Anything
I had to put this quote here from an article by Michael Tomasky. "As I’ve said many times, the ongoing debate about whether Romney is really conservative or really moderate has wasted lots of airtime and killed many innocent trees. He’s neither. He’s nothing. He’ll say or do whatever he needs to do, whatever the Koch brothers or whoever tell him to do. He’s been dreaming of the presidency since 1968, and as he sees it slipping through his fingers, he’ll be capable of anything. It’s going to be a nasty seven weeks."
Sunday, September 9, 2012
My Response to a Good Friend on Facebook
This a question I received from my friend Jeff on Facebook today.
"Hey Richard, Why is it you get to rant and rave about the republiican party but if anyone says anything against Obama and his staff you go off the deep in???????? Why is all his records still sealed?"
Where do I start? How about the first day of the Obama presidency. On the inauguration day of the Obama presidency the Congressional leaders of the Republican Party, including Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell and about 20 others had a meeting to agree on methods and processes to sabotage the Obama Presidency. McConnell said afterwards that their number one priority was the defeat of Obama. That month we lost over 700,000 jobs and the economy was on the verge of collapse. So they didn't have a meeting to try to see how they could save the economy. They had a meeting to see how they could screw up the Government even more to make Obama look bad so they could defeat him in 2012. That was almost 4 years ago. Since then the Republicans have done absolutely nothing in congress other to obstruct whatever has been proposed by Obama. As a matter of fact we lost our AAA credit rating because the Republicans were essentially holding the Government hostage by refusing to raise the debt limit, which had been raised by every Congress for 50 years. Under Bush it was raise 19 times for a total of over $4Trillion. On top of that Bush never ever included the two wars in his budget. In my opinion what the Republicans have done to sabotage the Government during this presidency borders on treason. In the Senate the filibuster by Republicans has become the rule, not the exception as it has been in the past. In 2009 and 2010 cloture, which is the process to end a filibuster. was invoked 63 times which is more than was invoked from 1919 to 1982.
The point of all this is that no other president in history has been faced with the massive mess created by his predecessor and been expected to clean it up instantly. Now look at what he has done in spite of the obstructionism of the Republicans. (1) He has passed a health care program that prevents insurance companies from refusing to insure people for preexisting conditions and doesn't allow them to kick someone off because they exceeded some predetermined limits. It keeps children on their parents policy until 26 and it provides for preventative care to all. You may be all set with the VA but there are millions in this country who need this. (2) He essentially saved the economy from total collapse through the bank bailout program. You might think that was bad but if all those banks had gone belly up through lack of cash reserves it would have set a domino effect in motion that would put the world into an economic tailspin. No one know what the consequences would have been because luckily it didn't happen because it was stopped through massive influx of cash to prop up those banks. Banks that had brought on this disaster through uncontrolled speculation and selling and buying of equities that had no basis in value. (3) He saved the auto industry which was on the total verge of bankruptcy. No banks or other entities were willing to invest any money in them. Had the Government not come in and provide the cash resources in return for commitments from both management and labor we would have had another couple of million jobs lost, not to mention the loss of America's premier industry. (4) He has brought respect back to the United States from other world leaders and he has shown that he has the guts to make hard and risky decisions in order to protect us. You might think that he had nothing to do with the elimination of Bin Laden, but had he not gave the order to send the Seals in Bin Laden might still be out there. Had he chickened out and gone with a drone strike, we would have never know if he was really dead.
Well I could go on and on but it would make no difference. I know where you stand on this by the last part of your question. Why won't he release his records? If this is the most important thing about your dislike of Obama then there is not much hope. Unless you adhere to some weird conspiracy theory that the real Obama was murdered and some Manchurian candidate was put in his place to take over the Presidency, what the fuck difference does it make. These rumors that Fox News put out about no one ever remembered Obama at Columbia are bullshit also. Snopes.com already debunked that back in 2010 with the following:
Although Barack Obama may not have been particularly social or memorable during his years at Columbia, it isn't true that "no one ever came forward from Obama's past saying they knew him, attended school with him, was his friend, etc." Those who have attested to having daily personal experience with him during his time at that school include:
1981-83, including:
Read more at http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/columbia.asp#bBUXj8TEw3o8JzpG.99
For that matter how did G W Bush ever get into Harvard Business School with a 2.35GPA from Yale.
Anyway enough of this.
Goodnight All
"Hey Richard, Why is it you get to rant and rave about the republiican party but if anyone says anything against Obama and his staff you go off the deep in???????? Why is all his records still sealed?"
Where do I start? How about the first day of the Obama presidency. On the inauguration day of the Obama presidency the Congressional leaders of the Republican Party, including Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell and about 20 others had a meeting to agree on methods and processes to sabotage the Obama Presidency. McConnell said afterwards that their number one priority was the defeat of Obama. That month we lost over 700,000 jobs and the economy was on the verge of collapse. So they didn't have a meeting to try to see how they could save the economy. They had a meeting to see how they could screw up the Government even more to make Obama look bad so they could defeat him in 2012. That was almost 4 years ago. Since then the Republicans have done absolutely nothing in congress other to obstruct whatever has been proposed by Obama. As a matter of fact we lost our AAA credit rating because the Republicans were essentially holding the Government hostage by refusing to raise the debt limit, which had been raised by every Congress for 50 years. Under Bush it was raise 19 times for a total of over $4Trillion. On top of that Bush never ever included the two wars in his budget. In my opinion what the Republicans have done to sabotage the Government during this presidency borders on treason. In the Senate the filibuster by Republicans has become the rule, not the exception as it has been in the past. In 2009 and 2010 cloture, which is the process to end a filibuster. was invoked 63 times which is more than was invoked from 1919 to 1982.
The point of all this is that no other president in history has been faced with the massive mess created by his predecessor and been expected to clean it up instantly. Now look at what he has done in spite of the obstructionism of the Republicans. (1) He has passed a health care program that prevents insurance companies from refusing to insure people for preexisting conditions and doesn't allow them to kick someone off because they exceeded some predetermined limits. It keeps children on their parents policy until 26 and it provides for preventative care to all. You may be all set with the VA but there are millions in this country who need this. (2) He essentially saved the economy from total collapse through the bank bailout program. You might think that was bad but if all those banks had gone belly up through lack of cash reserves it would have set a domino effect in motion that would put the world into an economic tailspin. No one know what the consequences would have been because luckily it didn't happen because it was stopped through massive influx of cash to prop up those banks. Banks that had brought on this disaster through uncontrolled speculation and selling and buying of equities that had no basis in value. (3) He saved the auto industry which was on the total verge of bankruptcy. No banks or other entities were willing to invest any money in them. Had the Government not come in and provide the cash resources in return for commitments from both management and labor we would have had another couple of million jobs lost, not to mention the loss of America's premier industry. (4) He has brought respect back to the United States from other world leaders and he has shown that he has the guts to make hard and risky decisions in order to protect us. You might think that he had nothing to do with the elimination of Bin Laden, but had he not gave the order to send the Seals in Bin Laden might still be out there. Had he chickened out and gone with a drone strike, we would have never know if he was really dead.
Well I could go on and on but it would make no difference. I know where you stand on this by the last part of your question. Why won't he release his records? If this is the most important thing about your dislike of Obama then there is not much hope. Unless you adhere to some weird conspiracy theory that the real Obama was murdered and some Manchurian candidate was put in his place to take over the Presidency, what the fuck difference does it make. These rumors that Fox News put out about no one ever remembered Obama at Columbia are bullshit also. Snopes.com already debunked that back in 2010 with the following:
Although Barack Obama may not have been particularly social or memorable during his years at Columbia, it isn't true that "no one ever came forward from Obama's past saying they knew him, attended school with him, was his friend, etc." Those who have attested to having daily personal experience with him during his time at that school include:
- Friend and roommate Sohale Siddiqi, whom the Associated Press located and interviewed in
May 2008. - Roommate Phil Boerner, who provided his recollections of sharing a
New York City apartment with classmate Barack Obama to the Columbia College Today alumni publication and the New York Times in early 2009. - Michael L. Baron, who taught the year-long honors seminar in American Foreign Policy that Barack Obama took during his senior year at Columbia and recalled in an NBC interview Obama's "easily acing" the class and receiving an A for his
senior paper on the topic of nuclear negotiations with the Soviet Union.
- An article by Barack Obama published in the
10 March 1983 edition of Columbia's Sundial school magazine. - A January 2005 Columbia College Today profile of Barack Obama as a Columbia alumnus.
- A Columbia College press release from November 2008 identifying him as "the first College alumnus to be elected President of the United States."
Read more at http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/columbia.asp#bBUXj8TEw3o8JzpG.99
For that matter how did G W Bush ever get into Harvard Business School with a 2.35GPA from Yale.
Anyway enough of this.
Goodnight All
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Friday, September 7, 2012
Thursday, September 6, 2012
I Haven't Always Been a Liberal
I grew up in the South and am a product of my environment. In the Greensboro, North Carolina of 1960, when I was just entering high school, we had legalized segregation of our schools, movies, swimming pools, our restaurants, water fountains and even our toilets. I remember as a child, before I was even able to read, trying to drink from a water fountain with a sign above it saying "COLORED". It was either my mother, my aunt or my grandmother (can't remember which) who rushed over and pulled me away. It was like I was going to get a fatal disease and turn "colored" if I drank from that fountain. For a 5 year old that made an impression on me that stayed with me for a lifetime.
During my high school years Greensboro was the scene of some significant civil rights activity. In February 1960 four black students, later known as the Greensboro Four, from Greensboro's black AT&T University sat down at the lunch counter of the Woolworth store on Elm Street. Things were never the same after that. It took a while but by the summer Woolworth had desegregated all its stores and the black employees of the store, as well as everyone else, were able to sit down at the lunch counter and have a tuna sandwich. But that wasn't the end of segregation in Greensboro. We had a movie theatre that only allowed Blacks to enter from a side door and then only sit in the balcony. The black community saw what could happen through peaceful demonstrations and soon there were demonstrations outside the Carolina Theatre. But this time the police came in and broke up the demonstrations by arresting the demonstrators and herding them into busses to be sent to makeshift jails out in the county. To this day I have regret in my heart that I was one of the onlookers, cheering the police action, and encouraging them to jail all those black people who had the audacity to ask be allowed to enter the front door and sit in the lower section during the Saturday matinee, even though the only black actor was Sidney Poitier.
I give this history because I believe that the difference between Conservatives and Liberals has to do with a basic resistance of Conservatives to resist change, even when change is good and moral. In Greensboro we resisted the idea that Black people should have the same rights as we did and didn’t even think that it was wrong. Liberals on the other hand believe that there is a progression in civilization that has to be dealt with by changing what has been the norm. There were probably many white people in Greensboro that thought it was wrong to not allow black people to eat at lunch counters and enter the front door of the theatre, but at the time it was not socially acceptable to voice those concerns. I remember giving a speech in my speech class criticizing the black people for creating such unrest in Greensboro. I can still see the alarmed look of my speech teacher, Ms. Causy, when I finished. I can only imagine what she actually thought of my speech, but it was one the best grades I ever received in high school. It must have been pretty good although highly misinformed and racist.
Fast forward through 20 years in the Navy, completion of college, marriage, kids and some soul searching of ideals and I started to see that we as a people are just people. It is a total accident of birth that some were born white, some black, some from America, some from Mexico, some from Russia and yes some from Christian families and some from Muslim families. In reality we are all the same inside, all wanting happiness, love, security for ourselves and our loved ones. Yes we’re all individuals but we are part of a social system that benefits from the contributions of all. Some are lucky enough to inherit talent that makes it easy to make lots of money, some have a talent for building, some leading others, some have no talent but are just good inside. This social structure is present on the macro scale with world leaders, owners of multinational corporations all the way down to the smallest village in deepest Africa. Some people rise to the top, some only achieve mediocrity and some are a burden.
I see that I have again drifted off my point that I have not always been a Liberal. Good thing this is my own musings and very few people, if any, will actually read it. OK to pick up where I left off, as a teenager and into my twenties I was as conservative in my ideals as any Klansman. As a matter of fact I probably could have been a recruit for the Klan had I known anyone who was a member.
Believe it or not though my parents, especially my father was very liberal. I remember arguing with him during the campaign days of 1960 when Kennedy was running against Nixon. I was only 16 but I was a real Nixonite and even accused my father of being a Communist for supporting Kennedy. The idea that Kennedy espoused altruism for all people, social acceptance of others, no matter their background, was really against those feelings I had developed within my gut. I could just not believe my father would succumb to ideals so radical and against what I thought of as our Southern traditions.
Later on in the 1960’s when people started to protest the Vietnam War, hippies grew hair and beards, smoked pot and marched in favor of civil rights, I was aghast at what I thought our country was coming to. I was in the Navy at the time and remember arguing politics with another sailor who actually sympathized with those people. I could not see how this guy, a sailor like me, could be in favor of such radicalized ideas. He pointed out to me that the greatness of our country guaranteed the right of those people to express those convictions without threat of being jailed or ostracized. I was full of God and Country and if you didn’t believe what the majority believed, then you were not really patriotic. After all change was unknown and I resisted it as I had always before. This belief, that if you didn’t acquiesce to the will of the majority, then you were in effect a traitor and not patriotic would affect me personally later in 2002 when the Bush administration was pushing for war with Iraq.
In the early 1970’s the Navy, experienced some disturbing racial events on some of its deployed ships. After all it had only been a little over 20 years since the services were integrated and Black and other minorities, including women had not achieved either high rankings in the services nor were distributed into the more specialized and technical careers. Most minorities, having been recruited without technical guarantees were subsequently pushed into deck jobs, chipping paint, mopping floors and serving in the ships galley and the laundries. Blacks especially felt that even though the service was supposedly integrated, were being institutionally partitioned and segregated as they had been in civilian life. Of course this was all denied by the upper levels of both the officer and the enlisted ranks but the Navy at the time had a CNO in the name of Admiral Zumwalt who was way ahead of his time. His idea was that we did not have a white Navy, a Black Navy but one Navy and he put in place a program called Understanding Personal Worth and Racial Dignity (UPWARD).
The UPWARD Program required the recruitment of sailors from the fleet to be trained to conduct 2 ½ day seminars on race. These seminars would delve into the basis for people’s feelings, where they came from, the experiences they have had in their lifetime, the prejudices they held toward others. Zumwalt decreed that everyone in the Navy from the lowest seaman to the highest admiral was to attend one of these seminars. At the time I was stationed at Subase Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, working in the base torpedo shop and doing work that was boring and not very gratifying. I had just made 1st Class Petty Officer and felt that I could do better things when word came that the command was looking for volunteers to attend this training program to become RAFs or Race Awareness Facilitators. At the time I didn’t think I was racist so I volunteered, probably more to argue my thoughts rather than to serve for the greater good.
Thus began a two week period of self-awareness that was to bring a life change for me. Whoever developed the program really knew how to bring out the feelings of the attendees. I remember other trainees that just could not handle it, getting up, crying and walking out. At the end of this training I had to admit to myself where I had come from and the fact that I had been racially indoctrinated from an early age and it affected my thoughts and actions and how these feelings were deep down in my gut. As it turned out I was probably one of the best candidates for this type of training, hence because I had been there, I was able to take what I had learned and apply it to the seminars that I was to conduct in partnership with Boatswains Mate 2nd Class Thomas. Over the next 10 months Thomas and I did one 2 ½ day seminar per week consisting of 25 to 30 persons which included both officers and enlisted personnel. Looking back I don’t know if we actually changed anyone’s ideas. I do think we uncovered some feelings that people may not have even known they had, and in that way maybe years later it may have had an effect on their lives. I know it did mine.
Spring forward to 1992. I had retired from the Navy almost 10 years earlier. President Reagan was leaving office and Bill Clinton was challenging George H. W. Bush. I had been adamantly opposed to Reagan but for some reason I kind of liked Bush and actually voted for Bush over Clinton. Over the next couple of years I could see that the Conservative Republicans were more out to destroy Clinton then to help him fix the economy. Of course Clinton’s dabbling with Monica Lewinsky didn’t help, but through all that I felt Clinton had the best interests of the country and under his administration no one can say we did not prosper.
The election of 2000 really cemented my aversion to all things Republican. I swore after that stolen election, and seeing the antics of the Republicans in Florida, that I would never ever vote for someone who classified themselves as a Republican. I suppose that is pretty close minded and I know that there are some conservative Republicans who are good and feel that they have the best interest of the country, but in my opinion they have the wrong philosophy of obtaining those ends. This has only been solidified with the Bush/Cheney Administration pushing the Iraqi war on us. I could see from the beginning that we were being sold a bill of goods on that war. Being in the military I knew the term Weapons of Mass Destruction or WMDs but all of a sudden it was a household word. It was a sales job of mass proportions. I also think this has become the basis for the tremendous polarization of our country that we experience today. I know I am totally polarized against conservative Republicans.
OK, might as well talk about President Obama. I have to admit I was a Hillary fan. I told myself I was for Hillary because I was not only a great fan of Bill but I thought Hillary was more capable of winning the election than Obama was and to me that was the most important thing, beat the Republicans. When Hillary finally conceded I was pretty down, as were a lot of her supporters. But as noted above I am a Liberal Democrat and will not vote Republican, I fell in line with Obama, even though I did not think the country was ready for a Black president. I think I was right, although I was wrong about Barrack Obama being able to win. I think this has proven out during the past 3 ½ years. Given what Obama was confronted with when he took office, the obstruction that he has experienced since he has been President and the amount of what he has accomplished, if he were white he would be hailed as one of the great presidents of our time. The problem is the hate that has surfaced during this period since Obama has been elected. No other President has ever had to prove his citizenship with his birth certificate, no other President has had to defend his heritage, and no other President has been subjected to the abuse that Obama has had to endure. This is place squarely on the fact of pure out and out racism and it goes back right to what I wrote about earlier. Not being able to confront change. Not being able to accept the fact that a black man is smart, elegant in the way he conducts himself, eloquent in the way he speaks and has come from adversity to be where he is.
Now on the eve of this election I am very concerned that with the polarization of our country and the hate that has actually become overt in this election, that President Obama wins and wins big, because anything else is going to be disastrous
End of My Musings for Today.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Has Paul Ryan Got Bad Teeth
Funny, I have not seen one photo of Paul Ryan where he is smilling or laughing showing his teeth. Just an interesting observation.
Friday, August 17, 2012
Why Romney didn't serve
Mitt Romney's Response when asked why he did not serve in the military during Vietnam.
“That’s a good question, young man, and I would be happy to answer it. The Vietnam War came at a time in my life when I had other plans. I knew in my heart of hearts that I would one day serve my nation. That I would one day hold an office that would help not only our nation, but also the world. So I did what I could to make sure that I would be around to serve my nation, as well as serving God by teaching very important religious principles to a broader audience overseas. My father did not want me serving, and he convinced me that yes, I was too important to go to Vietnam. I had a greater purpose in life. I wasn’t neglecting my nation, but rather preparing myself for a future of service.”
As a person who served during that period I find this remark highly arrogant and offensive.
Navy Retirement Ceremony
Watching a young sailor retiring from the Navy after 20 years of service. This kid didn't join until 10 years after I retired. Really brings it home. 
Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
$718 billion Medicare Cut
The Obama administration uses this money to help Medicare beneificiaries pay for prescription drugs and enable more seniors to get preventative care like cancer screenings. Romney/Ryan uses this money to cover the loss in federal revenue from tax cuts they want to give the rich. Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
Thursday, August 16, 2012
I'm Living on Your Dollar
Ok, I have a confession to make. I am living entirely on your tax dollars. Does that piss you off?Yes, I am living in Key West on my boat taking pics of sunsets every night on you. I get my SS check and my military retirement check every month without fail. I have my medicare and my tricare which pays 100% of my medical. That's right no co-pays. I love my medicare and SS and I hope it is there for my children when they get my age. My concern is that it will not be. There are two philosophies being presented in this upcoming election.
With Obama it will remain much the same. There may be some adjustments such as raising the FICA limit or deleting it all together. That would mean everyone would pay on all their wages. Currently people who make over $106,800 do not pay FICA for anything over that. So someone making say $1,000,000 per year would exceed that after the first month of the year and would not have to pay more. If you make less than that all your income is subject to FICA. Another option is provide a need test so very wealthy people may not draw SS or Medicare even though they paid into it. It must be noted that many wealthy people (like Romney) do not pay very much into FICA as their income is mostly derived from interest in dividends and they currently pay a much lower tax rate. Another option is to raise the age for Medicare and SS. Currently you cannot draw Medicare until you are 65 and full SS until 67. You can still draw a reduce amount at 62. Currently the out of pocket for Medicare is about $100 per month and it is taken out of your SS payment. Those who do not have Tricare, which is most of you would pay an additional out of pocket of 20% of the allowed amount the doctor can charge you. Some people elect to purchase an additional insurance policy to cover that.
Now with the Romney/Ryan plan as much as I can determine from the confusion of whether it is a Romney or Ryan plan is as follows. Anyone born after 1958 would get the option when they turned 65 of accepting a voucher worth a certain amount, as yet undetermined but would be based on the lowest amount of an average of costs for the current 80% coverage. If this covered their medical for the year that's ok. If you got cancer and had chemo you might be in trouble. You could also opt for staying with the current Medicare plan. The problem with this is that if all the healthy people go with the voucher plan it puts all the unhealthy ones in the classic plan and it goes broke. The other problem as I see it is that with the voucher system all your FICA deductions goes into the market. If the market does well, good deal, if not they you are SOoL. Of course this is all speculation. There is no guarantees in the Romney Ryan plan but once they start changing things lookout.
Social Security as we know it has been around since 1935. My grandmother got a meager check each month which kept her out of poverty and she used to slip me a dollar when her check came in and I loved it. Medicare has been around since 1965 and there are a lot of us on it that thank it is great. I personally think Obamacare should have been made Medicare for All but the insurance lobby was just too great.
Well you know where I stand. What I have is good and there is absolutely no reason to change it. There are certainly some tweaks that can be made based on income levels, number of people drawing it, etc. But believe me it is a good deal and if you are under 55 and you have been paying into FICA for 30-40 years you should not be deprived of what you have earned. Please don't trust promises being made by people who are super wealthy and are trying get into office. Believe me that do not have your best interest in mind.
Ayn Rand and The Fountainhead, the Movie
I had not read Ayn Rand in the past but since the selection of Paul Ryan, a devout follower of Rand’s, I figured it was time to see for myself a little of her work. Initially I was going to read the novel but found that the library held a copy of the 1949 movie, starring Gary Cooper and Patricia Neal, on DVD format. Sometimes movies don’t follow the book but since Ayn Rand also wrote the screen play, I figured it to be pretty accurate.
Many of the comments I have read have been critical of Ryan as a follower of Rand’s “Individualism” as portrayed in the novel and some of her other work, ie. “Atlas Shrugged”. Somehow this Individualism was taken by the modern Republican Party and or Tea Party to espouse less Government and more emphasis on the individual accomplishments of people. Words and phrases that come to mind as I watched the movie were the mob, the masses, compromise is bad, don’t give in to mediocrity, standing up for your principles against all odds. Used in the context of the movie or the book, these are all great ideals. The hero Roark never waivers in his commitment to ensure that his architectural designs are used exactly as he laid them out. He will never accept any changes to his designs and would not work and would deny the love of his life rather than succumb to any changes that might be more acceptable to less radical thoughts or more acceptable to the masses.
As noted, these are great ideals but in my opinion, even great ideals taken to extreme can be bad. For instance, if all writers and authors refused to allow any editing of their work, I doubt there would be very much written in major journals, magazines and a lot less novels written. Unless you can write, print, market, distribute and collect all by yourself, you are pretty dependent upon an editor and work of a publishing company. I dare say trying to do all that yourself would really limit your ability to write. These entities then have a share in the risk and the rewards of getting your work published. Along with that risk comes the right to edit your work. If you don’t like it you just don’t get published, hence the need to negotiate and to compromise if you are going to get anything done.
Actually I thought the movie and the ideals presented in it were applicable to Progressive people as well as Conservatives. Towards the end the hero Roark made a presentation to a jury in defense against the charge that he destroyed a building that was built with changes to his design. He said throughout history great things have been accomplished by people with vision and that this vision cannot be compromised to the lesser thoughts of the masses. Not sure if I really got this exactly right but in general that is what I took from it. Overall, in spite of the flat style of the 40’s movie dialog it was an ok entertainment for the evening and gave me a better understanding of the philosophy of Ayn Rand and Paul Ryan.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Key West Sunset August 15, 2012
Great Cloud distribution 
Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
Paul Ryan & John Birch Society
As a kid I recall seeing huge signs on the hi way (yes I'm am old fart) calling for the impeachment of Earl Warren. The signs were sponsored by the John Birch Society. I really thought that organization had faded away, but alas, now I find out that not only has it not faded away but it has embedded itself deeply in GOP politics. Interestingly one if the 12 founding members was the elder Koch founder also of Koch Industries. Also of note is the fact that the JBS is headquartered in Wisconsin. http://www.jbs.org/news/congressman-ryan-as-vice-president
Monday, August 13, 2012
Paul Ryan's Inspirational Guru, Ayn Rand
Paul Ryan, Ayn Rand Fan, Brings Writer's Philosophy To the Presidential Stage "“What are your masses but mud to be ground underfoot, fuel to be burned for those who deserve it? What is the people but millions of puny, shrivelled, helpless souls that have no thoughts of their own, no dreams of their own, no will of their own, who eat and sleep and chew helplessly the words others put into their mildewed brains?…I know no worse injustice than justice for all.” – Ayn Rand, first edition of the semi-autobiographical novel, We The Living" Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
Forwarding Tweet by @carrieinco
"Obamacare? It's true: I do care" wp.me/pUgO9-lSF via @TheObamaDiary Read it online: http://twitter.com/carrieinco/status/235161535712993280 Sent via TweetDeck (http://tweetdeck.com)
Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
Forwarding Tweet by @ginsengity
Been payin Medicare tax since I was 16- now Romney wants 2 give me a FUCKING COUPON in exchange, while HE PAYS NO FEDERAL INCOME TAXES #p2 Read it online: http://twitter.com/ginsengity/status/235161392699822081 Sent via TweetDeck (http://tweetdeck.com)
Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Bain Capital and the Georgetown, SC steel plant. How the Residents Still Love Romney or Hate Obama.
This comes from a friend's post on Facebook that lives in Georgetown, SC. Unfortunately I can't paste the comments in but they they were all in support of Romney. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5glPz-4Rf98G7zuRdHA5taYgSaQq... Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
Paul Ryan & Ayn Rand's Objectivism
I kept hearing Ayn Rand associated with Paul Ryan so I did some research. It seems she was a Russian American philosopher that espoused a philosophy of life called Objectivism. It seems Paul Ryan is a big proponent of this philosophy, so much so he makes all his staffers read it. Here is a synopsis of the concept as comes from Wikipedia.
"Objectivism is a philosophy created by Russian-American philosopher and novelist Ayn Rand (1905–1982). Objectivism's central tenets are that reality exists independent of consciousness, that human beings have direct contact with reality through sense perception, that one can attain objective knowledge from perception through the process of conceptformation and inductive logic, that the proper moral purpose of one's life is the pursuit of one's own happiness (or rational self-interest), that the onlysocial system consistent with this morality is full respect for individual rights embodied in laissez faire capitalism, and that the role of art in human life is to transform humans' metaphysical ideas by selective reproduction of reality into a physical form—a work of art—that one can comprehend and to which one can respond emotionally."
Thursday, August 2, 2012
What Ann should say to Mitt after he Disses her on Refalca
"It's a big exciting experience for my husband. I have to tell you, this is Mitt's vocation. I'm not even sure which day the election goes on. He'll get a chance to participate, I will not be voting in the event. I hope he does well."
Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Romney's Biggest Problem, His Real identity
Mitt Romney has been pretty adapt up until now in masking his real identity. It's kind of like he is going to a costume party and calling it a presidential campaign. Fortunately for him the American Press has been reluctant to pull at that mask. Unfortunately for him the British press has no qualms. They were able to see a phony when they find one and call it like they see it. Even the British conservative press jumped on him, to the consternation of the US Conservative press. Ie Fox News.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
After a day of TStorms the sun finally makes its debut.
Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
Where My Clothes Were Made
I did my wash today and as I was pulling them out of the dryer I started looking at the labels, where they were made. For Tshirts I just did countries. For shorts I did the brand also. TShirts. USA - 3
El Salvador 3
Honduras 3
Haiti 3
China 1
Mexico 1
Nicaragua 1 Shorts. Columbia - Nicaragua Old Glory - Bangladesh Nautical - Bangladesh Bill Blass - Mexico
Eddie Bauer - Mauritius
Ralph Lauren - Singapore
Weekender - Taiwan I actually found a couple of towels made in the Good ole USA. We all know this but we seem to just ignore it while complaining about all the jobs going overseas.
Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
El Salvador 3
Honduras 3
Haiti 3
China 1
Mexico 1
Nicaragua 1 Shorts. Columbia - Nicaragua Old Glory - Bangladesh Nautical - Bangladesh Bill Blass - Mexico
Eddie Bauer - Mauritius
Ralph Lauren - Singapore
Weekender - Taiwan I actually found a couple of towels made in the Good ole USA. We all know this but we seem to just ignore it while complaining about all the jobs going overseas.
Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Thursday night at dock
No enhancement needed on this photo. Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
The Purple Sky
Really liked this purple sky tonight. 
Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Hemingway Poster
Waiting for flight at Key West AP. took this photo and did some adjustments on it. 
Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
Monday, June 18, 2012
It's hard to duplicate what I'm seeing with a camera.
Unbelievable!! 
Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
Sometimes it is just breathtaking.
Going to be gone for a week starting tomorrow and will miss this. 
Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Just had to get this one on the blog.
Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Friday, June 8, 2012
Nice photo of sun poking through just before sunset.
Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Minimal Sunset Tonight in #keywest
This might be the best we can do tonight.
Image Watermarked with iWatermark on my iPhone.
Image Watermarked with iWatermark on my iPhone.
Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Some amazing sunset shots tonight
Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
Friday, June 1, 2012
For my files.
Image Watermarked with iWatermark on my iPhone.
Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
Thursday, May 31, 2012
This is the non sunset tonight.
Image Watermarked with iWatermark on my iPhone.
Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Big Crabby on Dock today
We had a dock visitor today
Image Watermarked with iWatermark on my iPhone.
Image Watermarked with iWatermark on my iPhone.
Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Great sunset while cooking dinner
First time in a couple of weeks. Hooray! 
Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
Friday, May 18, 2012
The Joness @Babalu's in #keywest
Really unique sound. Like it. And the Saturday Night Special was good too. 
Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Monday, May 7, 2012
Saturday, May 5, 2012
McClelanville Shrimp boat
At shrimp festival in McClelanville, SC 
Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
Monday, April 30, 2012
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Schooners Wharf Bar, Captains Meeting for Wreckers Race
Last race of the series is tomorrow @ 1pm. 
Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Mixture of sunset afterglow, water and lights across the Boca Chica Bridge.
Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
Monday, April 23, 2012
Perfect Beach day in #flkeys #keywest
Heavy rain on Saturday and high winds on Sunday gives way to a perfect beach day on Monday. Going to check out the Conch Republic reenactment of the secession this afternoon. 
Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Quinoa Salad for Tonight's Potluck
Had read about quinoa but never tried it so I picked up a box the other day and decided to try a salad. It is kind of like tabbouleh but a little different in texture. I washed the quinoa and then drained, then added double the water to the quinoa. I made a 12oz box so about 2 cups. I brought it to a boil, then tuned down to a simmer for about 15min. It gets soft and the kernels become translucent. Drain the excess water and set aside to cool. I put a towel over the bowl. Prior to serving peel one large cucumber and dice. Dice a tomato, 1/2 onion, a few baby carrots. I also seeded and diced a jalapeño pepper for a little kick. I made the sauce using a little olive oil, white vinegar, and juice from 1/2 grapefruit, and a little sugar, along with some salt & pepper. Toss it all together with the previously cooked quinoa, sprinkle with some cilantro, fresh if you have it. Finally I garnished it with a sliced avocado (not pictured). Needless to say, most people really liked it, but you could tell the conservative eaters who didn't know what it was. They only took a tiny portion, then came back for seconds. 
Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Wind for Tomorrow
I must really be bored. 
Sent from Richard's iPhone
See my blog at www.riburton.posterous.com
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I’m a product of the South. I grew up a southern white boy in the 50’s. I went to all white schools and lived in all white neighborhoods. ...
