by Cody Lyon

Changing hearts and minds is sometimes best left to moments like this horrible tragedy in the Hudson when a young and gifted soul felt he had to leave this earth.  The brutal evidence of society's intolerance often shows up in the most hurtful events. This appears to be one of them.

One picture to show you.

Voters will turn out in a month and will send the country forward – or send it back.

For the seven years before the recession, job growth was tepid and family income was stagnant when economic times were called "good." Unbridled financial excess toppled the economy by 2008, and hundreds of thousands of positions in each month of that year "terminated", or got moved offshore.

The figures, shown in thousands, are tracked monthly by the U.S. Dept. of Labor.

Click on the graphic for a larger size image.

Not quite the narrative du jour. Nevertheless, it is the most likely scenario to evolve. True, Republicans will make gains - major gains, but they will fail to overtake the Democrats in either house of congress.

That Republicans will make gains is no surprise. The party out of power - and in this case way out of power --  nearly always benefits in the midterm elections. And, as we wade through the muck of destruction left in George W. Bush's wake, we must also expect that those currently in charge will take a hit for the current state of the nation, regardless of whom was responsible for it.

Also no surprise is that the minority party will be the party with greater 'passion' and thus the most 'likely' voters. The frustration of powerlessness is a great motivator.

Thus the media narrative of which we are all familiar.

There are, however, some elements to this year's election cycle that might be surprising, some things that run counter to the narrative that Republicans will take the day. These are things that will deny the GOP their fantasy of a congressional majority.

And here they are, conveniently bullet-pointed for your perusal:

Top 9 Reasons the GOP Will Fail to Take Either the House or the Senate

Fiscal integrity, who's got it.  

Look over to Marco Rubio - the former Speaker of the House of Florida and current U.S. senator - who frequently scolds the federal government for sponging up public citizen $$$ and binging on credit.  Reports emerged in the Florida press in 2010 that Rubio has done all along the same thing he decried, under wraps.

His campaign team won't answer queries – or release Amex statements from the GOP campaign – to clear up charges Rubio crossed a threshold between a home kitchen makeover and a Republican Party campaign charge account.

He has tried to brush off claims, made by a former backer of his, that Rubio used the RPOF (Republican Party of Florida) American Express card for $4,000-$5,000 of kitchen flooring supplies. The party, meanwhile, selectively released the RPOF card statements for Rubio for 2007-08 but officials have held back on most months of the prior 2 years for the RPOF card they issued Rubio for 2005 & 2006.

"The Florida Times-Union questioned Rubio earlier this week after allegations that he charged kitchen flooring on the card, but Rubio declined to address that question specifically."

We... ... as in humans. And no, not all humans, but many millions of humans - particularly those with the fewest resources who live in the world's most vulnerable conditions - are at risk of absolute destruction.

All because of the long-term effects of global warming.

A little overdramatic? Maybe for you, but not for them.

We've known about the greenhouse effect and human-induced global warming for decades, yet we've done nearly nothing to stifle its progress.

The global warming 'skeptics' - aka: the greedy, the misinformed, and the willfully ignorant among us who find some reward in questioning scientific consensus or fantasizing about environmental conspiracies - are a large part of the problem. But so are the rest of us. We are the adults who rightfully talk down to these people. We know and accept the reality of the situation and the daunting prognosis that shadows it. We know the threat posed and even the steps necessary to mitigate and eventually halt the warming process.

Yet we do nothing as a society. We still drive our SUVs, buy cheap crap from China, leave lights on all over the house, and drink water out of plastic throw-aways.

Glaciers recede, the Arctic melts, deserts grow, oceans acidify, weather patters go haywire and storms intensify.

Political will for action is cowed by constant campaigns and elections and by electorates more concerned about the heft of their pocket right now than the likely condition of the world in which their grandchildren will be raised.

But why?

It generally happens in world history that change comes to rural areas later than it comes to cities and that, no matter where you are on the planet, rural areas are more conservative politically, which is saying the same thing, really, since conservative means to want to hold on to what was good in the past, or not to change too much. Whether you are talking about rural Pakistan, or rural Russia, or rural Wyoming, the people who live--and are separated from each other by fields and forests --are likely to hold tight to traditional values and be suspicious of change.

 That could be good, of course, but the bad side is that rural areas are also more likely to resist the mingling of races that comes with commerce and cities, or the rise of women's rights, or mixture of social classes, or experimentation with education and health care, or, in fact any other form of government intervention to assist those who are in trouble.  

I know you need your sleep now,
I know your life's been hard.
But many men are falling,
where you promised to stand guard.
~~Leonard Cohen

My friend Bernie says he's suffering from Afghanistan information exhaustion. "During all those months that Obama was dragging his feet about escalating the war in Afghanistan, did you ever get the impression," he asked, "that foxes were in the hen house, chickens were squawking and running around crazily, wolves were tearing the foxes to pieces, and farmers were shooting wildly into the coop with no regard for the innocent?"

I stared at him, mouth agape, my mind trying to shore up all that activity. "Well ... I --"

"And that's just the generals -- David Petraeus and Stanley McChrystal -- and their boss, or cohort, defense secretary Robert Gates. They were everywhere -- everywhere!" Bernie said, rolling his eyes. "And still are. Turn on the TV, pick up a newspaper, open a magazine, check out Congress, look under a rock -- peek behind a tree -- and there they are. They're a three-man brigade -- "we're going in, we're coming out -- we're winning, we're losing. Or maybe not. We won't know for 15 years...20 years...or until it's over --"

Humanists must strive to tackle injustices in Africa

Biochar, the modern version of an ancient Amazonian agricultural practice called Terra Preta (black earth, TP), is gaining widespread credibility as a way to address world hunger, climate change, rural poverty, deforestation, and energy shortages... SIMULTANEOUSLY!

If you talk to God, you are praying; If God talks to you, you have schizophrenia.~~Thomas S. Szasz, The Second Sin

As with most forms of nonhuman animal exploitation and slaughter, it comes down to human monetary gain, "tradition," comfort, pleasure or convenience--with an utter disregard for sentience and for the growing body of cognitive ethology studies showing that the individuals that people like you and hunters wantonly massacre lead relatively rich intellectual, emotional, and social lives. It takes a souless person, Tony, to reify or objectify thinking, feeling individuals to the extent that you can eradicate them like a flea infestation, murdering them, tearing apart families, and leaving fawns motherless before they're self-sufficient.

Glenn Beck has always been desperate for two things -- attention and ratings.  And he learned early in his career that nothing works as quickly nor as well with the media as personal insults, public humiliation and character assassination.

The topic below was originally posted on my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal.

Like millions of my fellow citizens, I am reflecting after the death of Ted Kennedy. Death is an egocentric experience for the survivors. Indeed, rituals such as funerals, wakes or in the Jewish religion "sitting Shiva," is really about nurturing the souls of those left behind. That is also true when it is a public figure or celebrity that has died. We may never have met them or knew them yet they touched us nonetheless. The Kennedy family understands this better than anyone and is well practiced in rituals that not only honor the dead but comfort the living.

One of the most controversial parts of President Obama's healthcare proposals is the public option.  It's also badly needed. Nonetheless, the insurance industry and conservatives and even Blue Dogs in Congress are fighting it tooth and nail.

BEING A WELCOME ADDRESS BY LEO IGWE TO THE
PUBLIC SYMPOSIUM ORGANIZED BY THE NIGERIAN
HUMANIST MOVEMENT AND STEPPING STONES NIGERIA
ON JULY 29 2009 AT THE CONFERENCE HALL OF THE
CULTURAL CENTRE COMPLEX IN CALABAR