Kudos to Sabrina Eaton
Category: Politics
Observations of Political Landscape
Call the Police, I’ve been attacked on Facebook
(wivb.com) 7th grader busted for Facebook attack
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YnisVNClqcA seventh grader in suburban Syracuse is in deep trouble after police say she attacked a teacher through Facebook.
Are weapons available on Facebook?
Tips for the President: Customer Service for an Angry Nation
President Obama has lots of angry customers, and the State of the Union address on Wednesday will probably exacerbate the problem.
To that end, here are some suggestions on how to approach the speech to an angry nation.
Some time-honored steps to follow when dealing with angry customers:
1. Listen – Each time a customer has to repeat or explain a problem the anger grows, so listen carefully and take notes.
2. Repeat the problem back – This helps to make sure you understand the problem and the customer will know they’ve been heard and understood.
3. Empathize – Saying something as simple as, “I’d be calling about this problem, too,” makes it clear you see them as a person and you care.
4. Explain the steps to resolve the problem – A long, drawn-out process is made easier to deal with if you know all the steps and you know someone is working on it.
5. Provide updates – Not all problems can be solved immediately. From the customer’s point of view, not hearing anything is the same as nothing being done at all.
6. Follow through – The most important step of all. Following the previous steps goes a long way to tone a situation down. Not following through will only make the customer angrier.
What not to do:
1. Argue with the customer – Do not tell them they are wrong for feeling angry. Don’t put the customer on the defensive by making them justify their anger.
2. Make foolish promises – If they are already angry, don’t make the situation worse by promising something you can’t deliver. It is better to say “I don’t know, but we’ll work on a solution,” than to promise to fix something you haven’t dealt with before.
3. Blame someone else – Problems don’t get fixed through blame. Letting the customer know you think a coworker is lazy might make you feel better, but the problem will still be there after you are done complaining. Working to solve the problem regardless of the cause will earn their trust.
4. Personalizing the problem – avoid using “I’s and You’s” in your discussion, which can trigger defensiveness and come across as ordering the customer around. “You have to bring your car in before I can repair it” feels much different than, “When the car is brought into the shop, repairs will be started.” By staying factual, you can maintain focus on what’s important: solving the problem.
NASA will miss Congressional Deadline for Asteroid Tracking – no Funding Provided from Congress
NASA won’t meet Congressional orders to track most city-smashing-sized asteroids in Earth’s neighborhood by 2020, an expert panel concluded Friday, because the government didn’t provide the money to detect such Near-Earth Objects.
“because for the past 5 years the administration requested no funds, and the Congress appropriated none, for this purpose.” (blogs.usatoday.com/sciencefair)
This issue is not a possibility, its a probability. Sooner or later Earth will be hit by another asteroid that will cause massive amounts of damage.
Bundle up all the things Washington protects us from into one giant cataclysmic ball and it still wouldn’t equal the damage a large asteroid will do.
The mistake is that asteroids are still legal. If asteroids were illegal then there would be ample funding to track and destroy them.
To that end, please help spread one of these rumors about asteroids –
Illegal aliens use asteroids to sneak into America.
Disaster capitalist are plotting to steer asteroids at Earth for profit.
Drug traffickers use asteroids to smuggle narcotics into America.
Global warming is caused from the friction asteroids create entering the atmosphere.
Al-Qaeda is secretly plotting to steer an asteroid into the White House.
Teenagers are getting stoned on Meteorites.
Name-calling is Fun and Entertaining – and Drowning Debate: The Jon Stewart / Keith Olbermann Saga
Here is Keith Olbermann’s response to Jon Stewart over Olbermann’s namecalling towards Scott Brown. At the end, Keith Olbermann says “You’re right. I have been a little over the top lately. Point taken. Sorry.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZylQXm-visThe ad hominem spam in political discussion is so abundant it’s become an issue unto itself. Unemployment and a shrinking economy have to take a backseat to political pundits personal views of others. To quote Stewart on this subject, “Stop, stop, stop, stop hurting America.” (Jon Stewart on CNN’s Crossfire)
The irony is that at the end of the Crossfire video, Jon Stewart gets sucked into the namecalling by calling Tucker Carlson a “dick.” I’m not defending Olbermann; calling someone a “dick” is a far cry from calling someone “an irresponsible, homophobic, racist, reactionary, ex-nude model, tea-bagging supporter of violence against women and against politicians with whom he disagrees.”
The namecalling is so loud now its drowning out debate about the issues. Most political talk these days is focused on getting the best dig in and not the best point across. The king of the hill battle to arouse prejudices needs to die down. It would be an improvement for Olbermann to refer to Scott Brown as a “dick” next time.
Even when you are well aware of the damage caused by personal attacks, it’s easy to get drawn into the battle. It takes a great deal of self-discipline not to reach for the flamethrower when attacked or when there is a strong disagreement on an issue.
To teach themselves some self-discipline and so someone can benefit, the pundits should put up their own swear jar. Each time they drift away from the issue at hand and go with the personal attacks, they have to throw some money in the jar to be donated to charity.
Alex Jones calls Glenn Beck a Slimeball Traitor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAYXOpZFXQw
Most of the name calling between the pundits isn’t very news worthy, but Alex Jones sounds so much like Sam Kinison its difficult not to laugh even when he is being serious.
Jones compares Beck to Grima Wormtongue in Lord of the Rings. Its a bit dated, but I think of most TV pundits as Larry ‘Lonesome’ Rhodes from A Face in the Crowd.
Secret Test – Military Drones being readied for Law Enforcement in AMERICA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLfd_IOneus
Ok…I’m officially a conspiracy nut now. There have been police helicopters for years, but using the same tools and tactics used to fight terrorism on US citizens is scary.
Congressmen Ron Paul and Anthony Weiner On Massachusetts Election Results
Ron Paul “What the people are upset about is the government can no longer function”
Anthony Weiner on Ron Paul “I’m not sure he’s in touch with the mothership”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m36rzWr1JHU&feature=player_embeddedWeiner evidently didn’t understand the anger message from the election results. I’m sure the hounds will be released shortly.
Massachusetts Senate Race – It’s the Agenda, Stupid
The lesson to learn in the latest ping pong game of politics is when governing with an agenda other than defending freedom, you are asking for rude awaking from voters. It wasn’t Obama’s agenda that was the problem in Massachusetts–it was having an agenda to begin with. The goal of our form of government is to defend freedom, and when the power of government is used to serve other purposes there will be consequences.
No amount of marketing or packaging or media can turn a loss of freedom into something everyone will gleefully accept as beneficial. Neoconservatives tried to sell national security in exchange for liberty and paid the price at the ballot booth. Progressives have been trying to sell the security of health care insurance in exchange for liberty, and will eventually suffer the same fate as neoconservatives.
The agenda of redefining freedom as security didn’t work for the Bush administration, and redefining freedom as health care security isn’t working for Obama’s administration. They can use the power they have to force their new definitions onto the public, but there will always (and should always) be a backlash for stripping freedom rather than preserving freedom.
What happened in Massachusetts is not a lesson in politics; it’s the rule of getting into trouble when you aren’t doing the job you were hired to do. Jobs have specific requirements. You are expected to X,Y and Z and if you add V and W and stop doing X and Y, you might get fired. We hired the President and Congress; they are our employees, not our leaders. They were not hired to create new definitions of their jobs or draw up a new rule book.
I hope Washington got the message loud and clear; it’s time to put the agendas aside and get back to doing the job you were hired to do. If there is any question or doubt about the responsibilities of their job, somewhere there is a two hundred year old employee manual to follow.
Drinking Pepsi Made Me Fat, so I’m Switching to Coke
If you heard someone say, “Drinking Pepsi made me fat, so I’m switching to Coke,” you’d think they were joking, or ignorant of the fact there isn’t much difference between the two. Maybe this person just hasn’t heard about drinking water, tea or cappuccino? Perhaps they have a short memory, and forgot they put on weight when they used to drink Coke?
Much of the debate on political blogs runs along these same lines. The Republicans sure made a mess of things, so vote for the Democrats; the Democrats are screwing up worse than the Republicans, so vote Republican. The blogs sometimes say its the voters’ fault for not voting for the good candidates, but that’s like saying you got fat by picking the wrong can of Pepsi.
Democrats and Republicans keep telling us they have changed the formula in their products. They tell us this election is different. “We are now New Coke, and New Coke tastes much better than Pepsi or old Coke.” Then it turns out the formula hasn’t changed, and they’ve only put a new label or logo on the bottle.
As screwed up as things are right now, why do people insist on choosing between two obviously faulty products? I’m disappointed in America because there hasn’t been a third and fourth party emerge. How screwed up do things have to get before other political parties gain popularity when there is clearly a market for other brands of politics?
I like the Libertarian party, but things are so far removed from the ideas of limited governing that having Libertarians in office sounds dangerous to most. I’m not opposed to a radical change from the present situation, but to the general public, Libertarian views seem more radical than changes proposed by the far left.
I’d settle for something simpler at this point–something along the lines of a growing freedom party. Not a party to revolutionize or change everything at once, just a very simple philosophy of looking for ways to grow freedom. Any new or proposed change to legislation would be held up to the simple question: Will this lead to more or less freedom?
No hidden agenda with being pro-liberty; it would be a clear goal to restore freedom one baby step at a time. No overzealous unrealistic promises of changing the political landscape required; instead, just a very simple promise of increasing liberty when the opportunity presents itself.
It’s sad to be hoping for a party that in essence would be defending and upholding the Constitution, but that sums up just how far away from liberty we are.