Political Anxiety

I wanted to throw some more posts in here. I thought about it. We had a trip to see family which went well. The problem was my wife during a layover in Baltimore broke her arm while helping someone. We made it home the next day but my mind was far from blogging. She's much better now, about two weeks from freedom from all cast-like support. Her Occupational Therapist says she's doing much better than other people in her situation.

During this time and since I have been watching all the goings on with the news coverage of the election campaign, and it has been giving me a noticeable amount of anxiety.
In the past, I was decidedly conservative and Republican. The choices were fairly easy and acceptable. This time is different and I don't like it. In my mind, our option as republicans is not easy or acceptable. I may have said this before, both candidates are awful at the very least.  I am so frustrated that our system has allowed these people to become our choice. One legitimate and one not, Hillary was chosen to be the candidate before the election began by powers beyond the process.
Trump became the nominee because we let the system work and people voted him there because they were angry at the status quo and wanted change. He said things that they were thinking and feeling, they liked it and voted for him. Hillary was chosen before the campaign started, it was her for the taking, it was her turn. She became the nominee because the democrats wanted her there and were going to put her there. Only Bernie got in the way but didn't have a chance. It was later revealed that he didn't have the chance he thought he did.

Watching the debates made me nuts. I only really watched the first one, and I didn't like his performance. I thought he was rude and inconsiderate, and self-centered talking about his businesses etc. He's all wrong on several levels. I sort of "caught up" with after debate broadcasts by both conservative and liberal media sources. I can't choose him, he's just wrong for the presidency of this country. Plus, I don't see him fitting in with Washington. It is set up to run a certain way and that's not his way. Hillary is a better "fit" for Washington, but she and her husband and some very powerful backers, have corrupted so much of Washington, the democracy is ruined, even the idea of it.

I have read some things people have posted that we are no longer a democracy, but an oligarchy. The industrial-corporate complex really controls things, with special interests controlling the politicians. America has lost its way.
I am disappointed that the country I grew up in has changed so drastically. Then I think that what I thought the country was all about was not true, it was all a facade. Something else was going on behind the scenes that we the people knew little if nothing about. I knew little about it until these last 10 years when I really began looking, researching. Are the conspiracies just theories? Some are deep, complex and crazy, others less so.
I will either come back and amend this entry to include some of the theories or try and cover some of them in another post.

I'm trying to monetize this blog, so you'll see some ads. I have to fine tune the placement of them, so bear with me. Take care, stay saine

Is This Really Happening?

One of the things I have noticed recently is that the Clinton campaign is using all the technology available to it, and why not? I would think the Trump campaign is too.  As I have been studying this political cycle I have noticed a difference between the two camps. The democrats will cheat, and the republicans will play by the rules, maybe thinking the democrats will too. If that is the case, it’s naive of the republicans. Not that they should cheat too, but expect it and be ready to counter it. The thing is, how?

Do you try and expose your opponent’s cheating? Nowadays so much can be done electronically. How do you prove it, especially when the media is a big supporter of the Clinton campaign and will help them any way they can. This year there has been a lot of attention to Hillary’s time as secretary of state and how she handled her emails. It was on her own server, and her cell phone was unsecured. So it was outside of the government's jurisdiction.

During the DNC in Philadelphia, there were reports of hacks on the DNCs systems and leaks of embarrassing emails by democrat officials, resulting in the resignation of Debbie Wasserman Schultz from the DNC chair post. And still there is talk of whether the Russians had anything to do with it. The thought being that they wanted Trump to win instead of Hillary.

Now there is a story of Trump’s campaign manager working for an undisclosed foreign lobbying interest. Pick your story: https://www.google.com/search?q=manafort+lobbying&rlz=1C1CHWA_enUS599US599&oq=manafort++lobbying&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i60.12335j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

As bad as Hillary is, can Trump have things look any worse? Can it be said he’s trying to throw the election for Hillary? I wonder. And we’ve still got about 80 days to go. This is the strangest election ever.

Hacked! I hack, you hack, we all hack for data!

I have been following the Hillary Clinton email/server/hacking saga in some form or another since it first broke in early 2016. I had heard about it when the server became an issue and then it was speculation that the Clinton server was hacked because it was unprotected.

Now, it seems, everybody has a copy of everything that was on that server, the FBI, the NSA,  the GOP Prosecutor, WikiLeaks, Guccifer, the Russians. The only ones who haven't said anything are the Chinese and the North Koreans, I think.

I read an article tonight about how Hillary and company were worried that Guccifer got into the server because it was found out that Sydney Blumenthal's emails were compromised or something and there was a discussion about it in the Clinton camp while she was Secretary of State. http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2016/08/clinton-emails-guccifer-hack-mills-226878 I cannot imagine being in her position, knowing what she knows and doing what she did, wondering who was going to find out about it. Or did she even care?

One of my theories about her running all over the world with unsecured electronics is that she did it that way so she could give away pertinent information. Why? Maybe it's a plot to undermine the USA. I am pretty persuaded that Barak Obama has little or no love for this country. I don't think he cared that she probably compromised national security. The question now is, who will own us?

Update: 6/2/18 - Shock of shocks, Donald Trump is now the president. Been so for over a year. regarding my previous comments about Hillary Clinton, a lot of people were in a froth about "digital security". However, President Trump poses a new threat; tweeting from an unsecured cell phone?  

I have read a few articles about his tweeting habits and what he uses. (This scenario boggles my mind, more on that later). Well, we know he likes to tweet. He thinks it's the only way he can get his ideas to the American people because the media is so biased. There is something to that, but... it has been reported that he did use an unsecured Samsung Galaxy S3, at least before becoming president and maybe shortly after. 

More recently I've seen that he's been persuaded to use an iPhone and some sort of secured cell phone. Here's to progress. But still, giving your cell phone number to other world leaders impromptu doesn't seem like a good idea in light of what's been discussed previously. I've also read that Mr. Trump has reluctantly given up his personal cell phones for more secured ones. A seemingly good thing. 

Digital security has become such a concern lately, we've been attacked so many times, companies and financial databases etc. Lifelock and scanning the dark web are becoming a thing. I hope they manage to get Mr. Trump under control.

Hello again. As I write this, I am trying to hasten my recovery from a cold with a cup of chicken broth laced with garlic and lemon pepper. Cheers.

What this post is, is a recap of news items that have caught my attention as significant for the moment. My main source is Google News.

Google News has been a staple of mine for a while. If I may betray my bias, Google has been my preference as a 'system' for a while. Simply because they have everything I could need under one roof; email, blogging (of course), Drive and their office suite, the play store, and the connection with Android. Now you can do all that on Apple, but the hardware is more expensive. It's good but expensive. So, for now, my setup is Windows 10 with Chrome and an Android phone.

Ok, to the news of the moment.

A tale of two conventions, the RNC and the DNC. Donald Trump vs Hillary Clinton. In my opinion, the two most dysfunctional candidates that I've seen since I've been voting. Maybe Nixon and Carter come close, but I won't go there with them now.

Trump wants to make America great again because he thinks it has been downgraded by our current president, Mr. Obama. Initially, I would tend to agree. As a country, we've done a lot of great things and have a lot of exceptional people. We have also done a lot of questionable and controversial things, bad as well. But it seems those were the cards we were dealt and those were the choices we made in the moment for better or worse.

Lately, our choices have been getting more questionable and controversial. Our dealings in the middle east have only stirred up problems. We don't understand that region and interfering have hurt and brought bloodshed to us. Have we become that inept and uncaring? I don't have the answers, but if we want peace, we're doing it wrong. If we want war and chaos, then we're on a good track. Are we in control or are we being manipulated? If manipulated, then by whom?

Germany: Prime Minister Andrea Merkle wants to bring more immigrants to Germany despite the recent attacks in Europe. I don't know if they are being checked or what their policy is, but as a headline, it doesn't make sense given the recent past events and threats made and uncovered in Europe.

Well, I had some notes, but when the page changed, I lost them because I didn't save them. Live and learn.

That's all for now. Maybe more tomorrow. There is so much stuff going on. Leave a comment if you like, Thanks for reading. Later

When I read the news...

My routine when I log on to Google is to look a the new headlines before anything else. Living in Cleveland this year has been a good time, the Cavaliers winning the championship feels good, after 52 years. But I've only been here for 40 of those 52 years. But it still feels good.

Later on, by now, soon, we will have the RNC in town. Ever since I've been here, Cleveland has wanted to host a political convention. Now we have it. And now we are all holding our breath because it seems, this will be such an unconventional convention. First, there's Trump, then the protesters, Then will Trump be replaced and what reaction will that cause? Will there be guns on the street, some have promised to bring them, as a show of freedom, not as a reaction to a threat, I hope.

And again, Mr. Trump seems to be picking fights with prominent people. His latest target is Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He seems to thrive on that kind of controversy. I don't like it. I can't see how this will serve him if he becomes president. Maybe he thinks being president is the ultimate reality show? If he becomes president, how will he handle the day to day life of the president, dealing with world leaders, making policy intentions that aren't popular or are criticised by congress etc? A twitter fight?

There are things about Donald Trump that make it hard for me to see past the maybe superficial issues. Of course, they said Ronald Reagan was an actor.

Then there is the bigger issue of globalism vs. nationalism. Does it have to be one or the other? Can we find a balance? I don't know. Sometimes I am inclined to think, does it matter anymore? Is it forward vs, back, progressive vs, tradition.

With all the terrorism going on the argument become freedom vs. security. To keep from being blown up or shot, we have to be watched all the time, by all our devices and cameras on every street corner. We're there already and don't have a promise of security. Are we being manipulated and don't know it? If we are, can we participate in such a way that it can make a difference without public unrest and riots? Or are there elements in place, big elements, that we cannot change and it doesn't matter, it's too late, and there's nothing we can effectively do?

 The last point; does popular media show us our circumstance and we just look at  it like entertainment? for example; the book 1984 by George Orwell, the movie The Matrix and popular tv shows like House of Cards and Mr. Robot, just to name a few. Is our just trying to survive keeping us distracted from what is really going on?

Just something to think about.

Thanks for reading.

Well, hello again. I don't show up as much as I'd like, but events in the world have prompted me more than normal to put something down here, share my mind, if you will.

Part of it is to work at writing something and getting something out in difficult times, the other is just to write and try to organize my thoughts and feelings.

Disturbing things have happened, and are happening this week; three shooting incidences and one government/legal proceeding that may have consequences for years to come.

The shooting incidences were the two black people dying at the hands of cops, again. These are disturbing enough on their face. There has been way to much of it going on. The situations and scenarios are even more troubling. The "suspects", as I understand it so far, were subdued or complying with the officers orders. Then, for some reason, multiple shots were fired by the officers, killing the "suspects".

As I understand it, from what limited accounts I have gotten from the media, and I have not delved into the details of these accounts. But on the surface, it seems, there would be no justification for these killings. One was a compliant suspect in a traffic stop. The other, the suspect was, as I understand it, subdued and under control. No need for firearms discharge by an officer.  It seems both situations could have been handled with out incident.

Now, as I have said, my information gathering has not been in-depth. But I am disturbed by what I have heard. It doesn't make sense on it's face.

The protest rally in Dallas is even more disturbing. Snipers killing cops. Right now I have no words.

Then, during the same week there was the Clinton email FBI investigation. In a nutshell; they are investigating Hillary, Bill Clinton meets with Loretta Lynch, on her plane in Phoenix the week of June 26th. He walks in on her spontaneously. Can you say bad timing, or was he sending a message?
On July 5th James Comey says Hillary Clinton was 'extremely careless" and that no charges be brought against her. the GOP went nuts and called him to the Hill for a "session". Mystified as to his conclusion. That was July 7th.  Now there are announcements of  the State Dept reopening a probe of her dealings etc.

So, to review:

June 27th Hillary is under investigation, Bill Clinton walks on to Loretta Lynch's government plane and meets with her for 30 minutes, talking about "innocent" things, family etc.the press goes nits over the optics of this.
July 5th: James Comey, head of the FBI investigating Hillary Clinton, announces no charges be brought against her though she was extremely careless in the handling of her official government communications.
President Obama with Hillary lands in SC to begin campaigning with her.
That same day, if not at that same time: Alton Sterling, a black man, is shot by a cop in Louisiana.
July 6th: Philando Castile shot in Minneapolis.
July 7th: GOP Oversight Committee hearing questions James Comey That afternoon/evening there is a protest march in Dallas Texas. During the march shots are fired from several locations and a sniper shots at Dallas cops. 5 - 6 Police Officers are killed. The sniper/shooter is a former military with no record but just went nuts that night.
July 8th: The State Department reopens it inquiry into Hillary Clinton's dealings as Secretary of State.