Not Quite . . .

. . . a shutdown . . .

. . . but history CAN teach a lesson . . .


(from Thomas Jefferson;  The Art of Power by Jon Meacham)
". . . the beginning of wisdom, Jefferson thought, might lie in a meeting of the principals out of the public eye. Se he convened a dinner. Jefferson believed things could be worked out, he said, for :men of sound heads and honest views needed nothing more than explanation and mutual understanding to enable them to unite in some measures which might enable us to get along. . . No deal meant disaster. It was clear, Jefferson wrote, "that if everyone retains inflexibly his present opinion, there will be no bill passed at all for funding the public debts, and ... without funding there is an end of the government . . ."

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Amateurs . . .

. . . in the white house . . . 

am·a·teur

ˈamədər,ˈaməˌtər,ˈaməCHər/

noun

plural noun: amateurs

1. • a person considered contemptibly inept at a particular activity.

     "that bunch of stumbling amateurs"

     synonyms:

     bungler, incompetent, bumbler "what a bunch of amateurs"

(https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/31/opinion/the-republican-fausts.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share&_r=2)
". . . The Republican Fausts are in an untenable position. The deal they’ve struck with the devil comes at too high a price. It really will cost them their soul. . . if Trump’s ideology were not noxious, his incompetence is a threat to all around him. To say that it is amateur hour at the White House is to slander amateurs. . . (the) administration is less a government than a small clique of bloggers and tweeters who are incommunicado with the people who actually help them get things done. . ."

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All We Are Saying . . .

. . . I'm not sure how the U.S. qualifies to direct the world in this, and many other, matters except for the fact that we have the ability, and if it is up to many current Republicans also the will, to blow just about anybody away that we choose . . .

. . . so what's wrong with an agreement and a little optimism ?. . .


(from http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/iran-nuclear-talks/iran-nuclear-deal-n390461)
". . . The president spoke after Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif called the agreement a "historic moment" and a "win-win solution" with the potential to usher in a "new chapter of hope" in relations. . . Both Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry billed the agreement as critical to averting broader conflict, with Kerry telling NBC News that "Israel is safer" as a result — but Israeli officials insisted it would have the opposite effect.  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the deal gave Iran a "sure path to nuclear weapons," while Science Minister Danny Danon called the accord "dangerous for the entire free world." . . . However, the EU's chief negotiator said the terms were "balanced" and respected the interests of "all sides." . . . It involves limiting Iran's nuclear production for 10 years and Tehran's access to nuclear fuel and equipment for 15 years in return for hundreds of millions of dollars in sanctions relief. However, the sanctions would not be lifted until Iran proves to the International Atomic Energy Agency that it has met its obligations under the deal. . . "

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Same Old. . .

. . . song?

(from Dylan Ratigan
Host, MSNBC's 'The Dylan Ratigan Show'; Author, 'Greedy Bastards'; Founder, Get Money Out Foundation
Auction 2012: Greedy Bastards and Student Debt)

". . . In President Obama's first speech to a joint session of Congress, he said "education in no longer a pathway to opportunity, it is a prerequisite."  It's no wonder - conventional wisdom says that those with college degrees earn roughly a million more dollars over their lives than those without them.  And there is a vast apparatus of lending institutions and Federal guarantees set up to help put people into college.  They do this not by keeping tuition free or low, as we did as a country after World War II, but by helping people get access to student loans.

This is the essence of what I've been calling The Very Bad Deal, where costs are deferred while benefits accrue upfront.  If you get a student loan, you get to attend college, and college is apparently the key to earning more over your lifetime, to "opportunity".  But student debt has some very nasty tricks and traps that most 18 year olds aren't aware of when they sign on the dotted line, and college may not be the opportunity gateway we've been assured it is.

The scale of the deal is vast and getting bigger - two thirds of those who attend college do so with borrowed money.  In August of 2010, the Wall Street reported that student loan debt surpassed credit card debt for the first time in history.  This amount is now sitting at roughly a trillion dollars.  Higher education inflation is the higher than health care inflation, and two and a half times the rate of normal inflation.  Are students really learning two and a half times as much?

Of course not.  What is happening is that universities have pricing power, and the Greedy Bastard behavior encourages them to compete on facilities and brand-name faculties rather than price and quality.  The Chronicle of Higher Education has described "an arms race of expenditures triggered by the pursuit of prestige."  Student debt also distorts pricing.  If students had to pay the full freight in college, they might be more price-sensitive consumers.  But since the costs of the education they are receiving are hidden, they don't pressure universities to reign in costs.  Lavish living environments, pointlessly luxurious sports facilities, and high salaries for administrators are just symptoms of a system where costs have become irrelevant. . ."

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Available. . .

Everything really is negotiable
Though your initial look may betray
So big and frightening they may appear
Your dedication and intellect make the deal

There's one thing you have to remember
You mean so much to me
That's one certainty
When concerns become burdens
Please know I'm the one you need to see
I will always be
Available
No matter how far life removes you from me

There's no necessity for extreme bravery
All your good qualities I admire
There's no embarrassment and there's no shame
If you accept someone's helping hand every now and then

There's one thing you have to remember
You mean so much to me
That's one certainty
When concerns become burdens
Please know I'm the one you need to see
I will always be
Available
No matter how far life removes you from me

Any other time
Any other place
Nothing between us
Will be any different
You don't need to hide
Feelings deep inside
I'm here to help you
So please let me try

You may not understand you may not care
I know you realize what's to bear
I always felt that my responsibility
Is to make sure you find happiness and we grow

There's one thing you have to remember
You mean so much to me
That's one certainty
When concerns become burdens
Please know I'm the one you need to see
I will always be
Available
No matter how far life removes you from me

Available
©2009 Raymond M. Jozwiak



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. . . and it's getting blacker. . .

Very soon, a tremendous number of the earth's population will observe a 'celebration' of the birth of a possibly historical Palestinian Jew over 2,000 years ago, to whom the origin of a mega-religious institution (and philosophy) is attributed.  This person, whether truly historical or not,  totally human or some combination of spiritual, human, super-human, affected all humanity in the civilized (or semi-civilized) world that followed in some way or another.

What better way to celebrate this occasion than to . . . go shopping?????!!!!!!

(from NBC News.com)
". . . To those who spend the Friday following Thanksgiving doing things like spending time with family, or working, or volunteering, or attempting to construct the world's greatest turkey leftover sandwich, Black Friday devotees are a mystery. Yes, an estimated 147 million Americans plan to go shopping sometime this weekend, according the National Retail Federation. But who are these people, what's the psychology driving them to rise before dawn in pursuit of a deal -- and have they really never heard of online shopping?

"The deals are part of it, but I don't think it's the bigger piece of it," says Jane Thomas, a professor of marketing at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C. "This is the family ritual, as much as eating turkey and dressing is -- it's going shopping as the start of the holiday season together.". . . "

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When I see that look. . .

. . . upon your face

I know that I've been dealt an
Ace of hearts
Something starts.
Pulse is pounding like a conga drum
The blood goes rushing to and from
My head
Turns my face to red

So ante-up and hit me once then hit me twice
The stakes are high you know I've got to keep as cool as ice
This game we're in together
Could end as quickly as it starts
But I'll just take my chances
I'll just take my chances
'Cause I know that I'm have you and you're my
Ace of hearts my Ace of hearts
I know that I have you and you're my ace of hearts

Deal me in I'm staying for the course
And if I lose don't feel remorse for me
You will always be
In my every breath and in my soul
When chips are down you take
Control and then
Bring me back again

So ante-up and hit me once then hit me twice
The stakes are high you know I've got to keep as cool as ice
This game we're in together
Could end as quickly as it starts
But I'll just take my chances
I'll just take my chances
'Cause I know that I'm have you and you're my
Ace of hearts my Ace of hearts
I know that I have you and you're my ace of hearts


ACE OF HEARTS
© 1992 Raymond M. Jozwiak




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