COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Monday, January 23, 2017

1968...2017, Trump did not Divide America - America is Divided



 Obama’s Legacy Is a Weaker and More Divided America
Hans von Spakovsky    / @HvonSpakovsky / Grant Strobl    / January 19, 2017 /


Americans voted in November for seismic change, but our outgoing president is still as clueless as ever about the nation he governed.

In his farewell speech-cum-lecture earlier this month, President Barack Obama proclaimed that he made America better by “almost every measure.”

The statement goes far beyond optimism, and lands squarely in the realm of delusion.

Eight years of Obama’s leadership has left America demonstrably weaker and more divided. Rather than the promised “healing”—racial and other—the Obama era frayed the ties that bind us.


It began when his Justice Department dropped an open-and-shut voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party. It was essentially a declaration that his administration would use the Voting Rights Act to protect only certain races.

There followed a steady stream of false claims that America was an inherently racist society with a biased judicial and law enforcement system. Obama rekindled a racial divide that had been steadily disappearing in American society.

In fostering group identity politics for political advantage, the Obama administration only divided the American people. And the people know it.

A recent Rasmussen poll found that 60 percent of Americans felt “race relations have gotten worse since Obama’s election”—a far cry from the president’s claim of “better” race relations under his administration.

The president also boasted of controlling health care costs while bringing Americans better insurance coverage. Neither claim is true.

This year, insurance premiums skyrocketed by an average of 25 percent in states with exchanges. Deductibles are through the roof. And people shopping for more affordable insurance are finding far fewer options.

Most states this year have even fewer insurance providers participating in health care exchanges than last year.

As for “better coverage,” the vast majority of previously uninsured people now covered are enrolled in Medicaid—a troubled and increasingly stressed program that actually delivers poorer health outcomes than those of people with no insurance at all.

It’s no wonder that more Americans want to repeal the consistently unpopular law than keep it, according to a recent Kaiser Health tracking poll.

The president proudly stated that he opened a “new chapter with the Cuban people,” but it appears the new chapter for the Cuban people is one behind bars. Since Obama began “normalization,” arrests of Cuban political dissidents have escalated, with over 9,000 political arrests made in 2016.

It is no secret that the tyrannical Castro regime has a dismal human rights record. The influx of American capital blessed by normalization will only bolster the regime.

It was a huge mistake to give Havana diplomatic recognition with no conditions and no requirements to stop the oppression. In Cuban-American communities, the widespread celebrations of Fidel Castro’s death stood in stark contrast to the bitter disappointment in Obama’s failure to stand for freedom and liberty in Cuba.

Returning to domestic policy, the president ignored his real record: eight years of economic stagnation. Instead, he offered happy talk: “The good news is that today the economy is growing again.”

Really? Our economy continues to under-perform, with low increases in gross domestic product, a low labor participation rate, increased cost of living in cities, and lower-than-expected wage growth.

Rather than implement policies that encourage business creation and investment, the president fostered an environment of class warfare and instituted policies, including Obamacare and over-regulation in many other areas, which increased the barriers to entry for small businesses and entrepreneurs.

This no-regrets president remained unapologetic of his “pen and phone” approach to governance. First expressed in 2014, it reflects his belief that the limits of the Constitution on the power of the presidency do not apply to him.

Obama has engaged in more unilateral policy-making through executive fiat than almost any previous president—bending, changing, rewriting, and ignoring the law at will.

From refusing to enforce federal immigration law or welfare work requirements, to ignoring statutory deadlines, to making illegal recess appointments, Obama abused his office and his power. That is not something to be proud of.

In his typical lawyerly fashion, the president skirted around the truth of cities riddled with racial tension and soaring crime rates, small businesses ruined by rising health care costs and crushing regulations, a metastasizing national debt, and a foreign policy that seems to favor authoritarian regimes over our allies.

Perhaps all the spin worked on the reporters attending Obama’s last speech. But the broad swathes of the American people who have suffered the consequences of his misgovernance for eight long years stopped buying it months, if not years, ago.


IT COULD BE WORSE 

 

67 comments:

  1. 1968

    Doug got out of the Army
    MLK got shot
    Bobby Kennedy got shot
    Tommie Smith wins Olympic gold a decade after beating Doug in the 100

    ReplyDelete
  2. Trump did not divide America. The division belongs to Obama, lock, stock, barrel and silencer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. lock, stock, barrel and silencer is excellent !

      Delete
    2. The MSM acted as his silencer.

      Delete
  3. BACKGROUND ON AUTHOR

    Hans von Spakovsky is an authority on a wide range of issues – including civil rights, civil justice, the First Amendment, immigration, the rule of law and government reform -- as a senior legal fellow in The Heritage Foundation’s Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies.

    As manager of the think tank’s Election Law Reform Initiative, von Spakovsky also studies and writes about campaign finance restrictions, voter fraud and voter ID, enforcement of federal voting rights laws, administration of elections and voting equipment standards.

    Heritage’s election reform project examines not only how to protect the integrity of campaigns and elections but to achieve greater fairness and security. “In an era of razor-thin election margins, these issues are vital to the preservation of our republican form of government and the rule of law,” von Spakovsky says.

    Previously, as manager of the think tank’s Civil Justice Reform Initiative, von Spakovsky studied how plaintiffs’ attorneys and activists attempt to manipulate the courts for their own ends -- at the expense of the public.

    He is the co-author with John Fund of the book “Who’s Counting?: How Fraudsters and Bureaucrats Put Your Vote at Risk” (Encounter Books, 2012) and “Obama’s Enforcer: Eric Holder’s Justice Department” (HarperCollins/Broadside June 2014).

    Before joining Heritage in 2008, von Spakovsky served two years as a member of the Federal Election Commission, the authority charged with enforcing campaign finance laws for congressional and presidential elections, including public funding.

    Previously, von Spakovsky worked at the Justice Department as counsel to the assistant attorney general for civil rights, providing expertise in enforcing the Voting Rights Act and the Help America Vote Act of 2002.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Without the consent of the US majority, Ted Kennedy institutionalized a globalized immigration policy. Obama made it far worse with disregard for law and borders.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Single most destructive act in my lifetime.

      Delete
  5. There is no basic human right more basic than territorialism. Call it nationalism but a people have a right to defend their territory and culture. They certainly have no less of a right than those that encroach on territory and resist and want to undo the cultural status quo.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  6. January 22, 2017
    Felony charges awaiting hundreds of Inauguration Day violent rioters
    By Thomas Lifson

    For the last 8 years leftist thugs have gotten a pass. Early on in the Obama administration, New Black Panther storm troopers – the label is fitting because they were decked out in ominous uniforms – stood before a polling station, weapons at hand, an obvious effort at voter intimidation that drew no official action from Eric Holder’s Justice Department. In effect, open season was declared by the chief law enforcement officer of the United States, and the message was received by progressives.

    Those days are over, now that Holder’s surrogate Loretta Lynch is no longer in charge at the DOJ. Even before the law-and-order new boss Jeff Sessions is confirmed:


    Most of the approximately 230 protesters arrested on Inauguration Day will be charged with felony rioting, federal prosecutors said.

    The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the offense is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. The office said most of those arrested will be released without having to post bail and must return to court in February....


    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/01/felony_charges_awaiting_hundreds_of_inauguration_day_violent_rioters.html

    Good. Hard to get a conviction in D.C., but they'll be in real jeopardy for awhile which might be sobering....

    ReplyDelete
  7. KOBLENZ, GERMANY

    French far-right leader Marine Le Pen urged European voters to follow the example of Americans and the British and "wake up" in 2017, at a meeting of right-wing leaders aiming to oust established parties in elections this year.

    Le Pen told several hundred supporters in the German city of Koblenz that Britons' vote last year to leave the European Union would set in train a "domino effect".

    A day after U.S. President Donald Trump took office, Le Pen said his inauguration speech included "accents in common" with the message on reclaiming national sovereignty proclaimed by the far-right leaders meeting in Koblenz.

    "2016 was the year the Anglo-Saxon world woke up. I am sure 2017 will be the year the people of continental Europe wake up," she said to loud applause on Saturday.

    Populist parties are on the rise across Europe. Unemployment and austerity, the arrival of record numbers of refugees and militant attacks in France, Belgium and Germany have left voters disillusioned with conventional parties.

    Le Pen, head of the anti-European Union, anti-immigrant National Front (FN) and seen by pollsters as highly likely to make a two-person runoff vote for the French presidency in May, has marked out Europe as a major plank in her programme.

    REUTERS

    ReplyDelete
  8. Far right my ass. It is plain vanilla "Right".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. I get tired of that term 'far right' too.

      It's usually just welping propaganda.

      Delete
  9. TORONTO

    Several Canadians traveling to attend either the inauguration of Donald Trump as president of the United States or a march planned for Saturday in Washington were turned away at the border by U.S. officials.

    Relations between Canada and the United States are under scrutiny following the election of Trump, who has vowed to put "America first" and renegotiate a trade agreement with Mexico and Canada.

    "It seems to me that they just weren't interested in having us in the country for the inauguration," said Sasha Dyck, a 34-year-old nurse from Montreal.

    Dyck was car-pooling with five other Canadians and two French nationals on Thursday who were held for two hours at the Lacolle border crossing where they were searched, made to unlock their mobile phones and ultimately denied entry.

    "I hope it doesn't represent a closing down or a firming up of the border, or of mentalities south of the border," Dyck said, adding that he was high-fived by U.S. border officials when he traveled south for Barack Obama's inauguration.

    Joseph Decunha, a 20-year-old physics student at McGill University in Montreal, was also turned back at the Lacolle crossing between Quebec and New York state after being asked specifically if he, his partner and a friend supported or opposed Trump.

    "We were forthcoming and explained we were quite vehemently anti-(Trump)," he said.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't like the sounds of any of this.

      I don't want to be denied entry into Canada because I voted for Trump.

      Best answer:

      'I'm too old to be political'

      Delete
  10. It could be far worse. We could have another Clinton which brings me to the first gem, Bill Clinton.

    Good old Bill bombed Yugoslavian Serbs because they chose to defend their territory and culture from Albanian Muslims. They threw around the usual far-right, racist, ethnic cleansing, clap and trap.

    Clintons sided with the globalist view. I wonder how things are going since Bill and Hillary sorted that out?

    Since the 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia, a large portion of Kosovo Serbs have been displaced from their homes, like other minorities throughout the province. A significant portion of Serbian Orthodox churches, as well as Serbian cemeteries and homes, have been demolished or vandalised.

    ReplyDelete
  11. PRISTINA, Kosovo

    Every Friday, just yards from a statue of Bill Clinton with arm aloft in a cheery wave, hundreds of young bearded men make a show of kneeling to pray on the sidewalk outside an improvised mosque in a former furniture store.

    The mosque is one of scores built here with Saudi government money and blamed for spreading Wahhabism — the conservative ideology dominant in Saudi Arabia — in the 17 years since an American-led intervention wrested tiny Kosovo from Serbian oppression.


    Since then — much of that time under the watch of American officials — Saudi money and influence have transformed this once-tolerant Muslim society at the hem of Europe into a font of Islamic extremism and a pipeline for jihadists.

    Kosovo now finds itself, like the rest of Europe, fending off the threat of radical Islam. Over the last two years, the police have identified 314 Kosovars — including two suicide bombers, 44 women and 28 children — who have gone abroad to join the Islamic State, the highest number per capita in Europe.

    ReplyDelete
  12. But of course, dueling missionaries -

    Where the Americans saw a chance to create a new democracy, the Saudis saw a new land to spread Wahhabism.



    ReplyDelete
  13. http://adam.curry.com/enc/1485118103.617_na-897-art-feed.jpg

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VIDEO: PASSENGERS CHEER AS WOMAN BERATING TRUMP SUPPORTER IS KICKED OFF PLANE

      http://pamelageller.com/2017/01/video-woman-freaks-trump-supporter-train.html/

      Delete
  14. HERE IS THE BEST PART:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fb-hAxlGNZU

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. Try this from across the aisle -

      http://www.theamericanmirror.com/video-passengers-cheer-woman-berating-trump-supporter-kicked-off-plane/

      One can see your average Trump supporter....he happily puts some of his stuff in her now vacant seat :)

      Delete

  15. Germany: Muslima slits policewoman’s throat, “frustrated” she couldn’t join Islamic State
    By Robert Spencer on Jan 22, 2017 08:39 pm

    Germany: Muslima slits policewoman’s throat, “frustrated” she couldn’t join Islamic State
    European authorities congratulate themselves for preventing jihadis from leaving their countries to join the Islamic State. But they’re just creating more trouble for themselves when those jihadis decide to wage jihad right where they are. “Muslim schoolgirl, 16, who slit a policewoman’s throat because she was ‘frustrated’ she could not join ISIS in Syria is […]
    Read in browser »


    Switzerland: Muslim migrant sexually assaults woman in train station
    By Robert Spencer on Jan 22, 2017 08:24 pm
    Switzerland: Muslim migrant sexually assaults woman in train station

    The Qur’an teaches that Infidel women can be lawfully taken for sexual use (cf. its allowance for a man to take “captives of the right hand,” 4:3, 4:24, 23:1-6, 33:50, 70:30). The Qur’an says: “O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to bring down over themselves of their […]
    Read in browser »


    Germany: Muslim migrant murders elderly Catholic because she was “unbeliever”
    By Robert Spencer on Jan 22, 2017 07:37 pm
    Germany: Muslim migrant murders elderly Catholic because she was “unbeliever”

    “The 27-year-old defendant, named as Abubaker C, is accused of strangling the 70-year-old woman to death after breaking into her home on May 19 last year and leaving a series of Arabic and religious messages around the house….Prosecutors allege Abubaker killed the woman because she was ‘a disbeliever from his point of view.” Strangling. “When […]
    Read in browser »

    http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=12857896c3097382b25b80a09&id=3d31612140&e=ed5f5d431b



    Gute Nacht !

    ReplyDelete
  16. No go zones in Sweden

    The Rape Capital of Europe

    http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/5149189013001/?#sp=show-clips

    ReplyDelete


  17. Why the middle class loves Trump:

    http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/5291186790001/?#sp=show-clips

    ReplyDelete
  18. Sweden: Three Muslims Arrested After Woman’s Rape Livestreamed on Facebook
    Three Muslims have been arrested on suspicion of aggravated rape, after hundreds watched the alleged rape of a woman in Uppsala broadcast live on Facebook.
    Via: breitbart.com

    Witnesses say one of the men drew a gun and threatened viewers during the broadcast, and the arrival of police to the crime scene was also caught on camera, reports Swedish newspaper Upsala Nya Tidning.

    The men arrested were born in 1992, 1996, and 1998, making them between 19 and 25, younger than their victim, who was born in 1986, making her about 31. According to Expressen, the eldest of the men has previous convictions for drugs and violent assault.

    Several people who contacted local media said the assault took place from 3.30 am, and was broadcast live on the page of a closed group on Facebook. Police were contacted by a number of witnesses who saw the attack unfold on the social media website.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Shia Labeouf - HE WILL NOT DIVIDE US

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgEQE4YjHII

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good Lord.

      Even Revolutionary pizza !

      Kids all on meth ?

      Delete
  20. January 23, 2017
    Mall Attendance at the Trump Inauguration
    By Greg Richards

    Sean Spicer, Trump’s new press secretary, remonstrated with the media yesterday for underreporting the attendance at the inauguration. The press was affronted because it is pretty clear that Spicer’s claim of record attendance was absurd. This can be seen in the following picture comparisons of the Mall for the morning of the Trump inauguration at 11:04 a.m. and for the Obama 2009 inauguration at 11:30 a.m. The thinness of the crowd for Trump is pretty stark, made even more so by the white tarps put over the grass on the Mall for the first time.



    Except…


    CNN has released a billion-pixel interactive photograph that the user can both move around and zoom into. It shows a very different picture from the photograph above. If you zoom into it, you can see that the crowd in the Mall goes all the way back to the Washington Monument.

    The first picture above is at 11:04am. The interactive picture is taken during the inaugural speech, about an hour later. Mark Twain said “there are lies, damn lies and statistics.” I guess we can modify that to “lies, damn lies and pictures.” To a skeptical Deplorable, the timing of the pictures on the Mall -- i.e., one hour before Trump’s inauguration -- and the lack of follow-up on those pictures on the Web appears to be fabrication of fake news.

    Later in the day, at the end of the inaugural parade, there were empty bleachers at the president’s viewing stand. But that is not the point at issue in terms of the Mall and attendance at the inauguration.

    The press has now internalized the meme that Spicer lied about attendance at the inauguration and that the lie is easily confirmable. Except that he didn’t and it isn’t.

    No surprise. We knew it was going to be a battle.

    See interactive pic here:

    http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2017/01/politics/trump-inauguration-gigapixel/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/01/mall_attendance_at_the_trump_inauguration.html

      Delete
    2. Manipulate the pic, you can see the crowds back to the Washington Monument.

      Delete
  21. Video - Nasty bitch gets thrown off plane:

    … I knew this was going to be a long flight at this point. She then proceeded with: (somewhat paraphrased as my memory allows)

    Her: “You put a crazed man in charge of the nuclear codes! You should be ashamed!”

    Me: ‘Well we’re all entitled to our opinions here ma’am.”

    Her: “And I’m entitled to get drunk and puke in your lap! I’m going to throw up right in your lap! You make me sick! Don’t talk to me! Don’t look at me! Don’t you dare even put your arm on that rest. You disgust me! You should be ashamed of yourself! You put a maniac’s finger on the button” (assuming she’s means nukes). You are a bigot. You should get off this plane!”

    Me: “ma’am, by definition, bigotry is disparaging someone prior to knowing them simply by their beliefs and opinions. Thank you for being the very thing you preach against.”


    http://www.theamericanmirror.com/video-passengers-cheer-woman-berating-trump-supporter-kicked-off-plane/

    ReplyDelete
  22. TRUMP IS CORRECT

    CNN published the photo taken at 11:04am. The interactive picture is taken during the inaugural speech, about an hour later. The Mall is full.

    ReplyDelete
  23. .

    Here is the picture I saw in the WaPo...


    https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=picture+of+trump+inauguration+crowd+washington+post&view=detailv2&&id=9B0014364DDCC1F3F4DD19AF9B2878CB09FE0C3F&selectedIndex=48&ccid=cw8czLTU&simid=207248842577&thid=OIF.g%2bf4gW4jFnSk3aETFAS91g&ajaxhist=0




    An obvious attempt to skew the facts. I watched the inauguration live and concur with the CNN interactive posted above.

    To my mind, the whole argument, on both sides, over crowd size is stupid, puerile, and petty.

    That being said, I can understand why Trump would be upset. It appears that not only the media but people inside the government bureaucracy are making an effort to delegitimize President Trump.

    The Interior Department argued that all they were doing was their job in posting pictures to show crowd size; however, when they posted side-by-side photos of the Trump and Obama inaugurations, they maid it a political issue.

    That being said, Spicer and Conway did Trump no favors when they threatened the press and came up with new locker-room postings like 'alternative facts'.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .


      ...maid?...

      ...they made it a political issue.


      .

      Delete
    2. It's just the movement of your manly mind.

      Try made maid, and you will have expressed yourself perfectly.

      Delete
  24. The media, Hollywood and the establishment showered adulation on Obama and they are out to destroy Trump.

    In my mind, I'm with Trump. Get it on!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Spicer is holding a press briefing right now. Lots of arguing....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 'it's about a constant theme of you guys'.....

      Delete
    2. 'It doesn't all have to be negative, Jim. Some days we do something right, Jim....'

      Delete


  26. Thought experiment for Quirk:

    What would Obama's behavior be if he received the treatment Trump gets from the press?

    What would Trump's behavior be if he received the treatment Obama gets from the press?

    Obama is Obama, Trump is Trump, and the press is so far beneath contempt it is indescribable.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      As to the first, it is obviously a thought experiment since it has no practical value as Obama is no longer there.

      On the second, IMO, he would consider it his due but that it falls far short of what he deserves.

      On the third, it is not a thought experiment at all but merely a simple statement of the obvious.

      .

      Delete
  27. Our high browed but small brained political commentator, Ash Welp, maintained the other day that The Donald was a fascist who would make everything illegal and then selectively allow some of his favorites to do privileged things.

    So far, not working out that way:

    Trump Wants to slash regulations by 75% -- or 'maybe more'....DRUDGE

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ash can't see the fascistic bent of PC Censorship, "Liberal" prejudice and small mindedness, regulation of every aspect of people's lives etc, etc.

      Delete
  28. And:

    Trump discusses fighting terrorism in phone call with Sisi....DRUDGE

    Exactly as he should be doing.

    Now if he would just support the creation of a Kurdish State, he will have hit all Bob's Buttons....

    1) Support Israel
    2) Support a Kurdish State
    3) Make nice with Sisi

    Smart man, that Donald.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. One Way to Disarm North Korea
      By Todd Crowell
      January 23, 2017

      ? Is it ?

      http://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2017/01/23/one_way_to_disarm_north_korea_110672.html

      Delete
  29. Trump must stop Team Trump leaks to the New York Times.

    http://www.lifezette.com/polizette/trump-team-warned-disturbed-leaks/

    ReplyDelete
  30. Marie Harf joins Fox News as a contributor
    Jan 23, 2017 7:01 PM by John Sexton

    “We cannot win this war by killing them."

    http://hotair.com/archives/2017/01/23/marie-harf-joins-fox-news/

    That's Marie 'Jobs for Jihadis' Harf.

    What the hell is going on at Fox ?

    Is this fool being hired to serve as a sacrificial foil to the serious commentators, somewhat in the manner Ash Welp functions here ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. See the VIDEO of Marie instructing us that the jihadis can only be beaten by a jobs program created and funded by us at the link cited above.

      Delete
    2. Partial Cure Confirmed For SMIRK'n'QUIRK


      Neuroscientist Says Meditation Can Make You Smarter

      Woman meditating (Photo by: BSIP/UIG via Getty Images)

      Research shows meditation can increase your IQ by 23 percent. (BSIP/UIG via Getty Images)

      What if there was a technique to increase your IQ? And what if you could do it in a way that there were lasting benefits? Oh, and finally, it would be a method that didn’t require much time. Would something like that have any appeal to you?

      If you’re too smart for your own good already, stay away. For the rest of us, it may be time to start meditating.

      Melanie Curtin explores the benefits for Inc.com. Curtin writes:

      “Meditation is not just good for your physiological health, reducing stress, improving mood, and setting you up for emotional equilibrium rather than reactivity. It can also make you significantly smarter. Siegfried Othmer, neuroscientist and former president of the neurofeedback division of the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, conducted neurofeedback research on participants using brainwave training (a specific form of meditation). Those who meditated showed an average gain in IQ of 23 percent.”

      How does it produce this jump?

      “As slower brainwaves take over (also known as being in a delta or theta state), the brain increases its own plasticity, or ability to reorganize itself. By practicing focused attention during meditation, whether on your breath, a mantra, or even music, you give your brain just the right kind of respite. That’s all you need to do: You rest your brain, it improves itself.”

      The increase was found to be “lasting,” with study participants still showing “significant gains in creativity, concentration, and self-awareness” during a follow-up study a year later. And rest assured, the improvement isn’t just for “yogis.” Curtin notes that benefits were experienced by a group that meditated “for only 20 minutes a day over four days.” Yes, that is 80 minutes total for a smarter you.
      To read more on how meditation can increase your IQ, click here. Interested in getting started already? Curtin suggests heading over to Headspace, which bills itself as “a gym membership for your mind.”

      —RealClearLife Staff


      http://www.realclearlife.com/health/neuroscientist-says-meditation-can-make-you-smarter/


      A 23% increase should bring both up nearing the 100 IQ world average.

      Delete
    3. .


      :o)

      How ironic is it that the bar's resident 'fisherman' appears to have bought into the inducements
      of Real Clear Life hook, line, and sinker.

      You can't make this stuff up, folks.

      No doubt, he'll be 'heading over to Headspace' soon and will likely be doing virtual chin ups at the "gym membership for your mind" as the personal trainers at Headspace look on smiling.

      .

      Delete
  31. Spicer kicked ass today in that press conference.

    ReplyDelete
  32. He did indeed.

    And, Trump seems keeping some promises his first real day in office.

    What will Quirk say if Trump turns out to be an honest politician, and not a 'dick' ?

    His whole philosophy will collapse....he will wander the streets for a time, aimless and confused....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. .

      :o)

      At your age, Idaho Bob, you likely suffer from a little night blindness so I won't suggest you rush right over to Headspace right now; however, if your convinced it will help, you better get over there first thing in the morning. Sign up for their 'metaphoric biology' class. (If they don't have one I'm sure they can cut and paste one together for you in no time.) You really seem confused about what actually constitutes a dick.

      Honest politician?

      While an honest politician is preferable to a dishonest one, that quality is simply a necessary but non-sufficient qualification for non-dickhood.

      One can be as honest as the day is long; however, if he is honestly a moron and acts as such he can still qualify for the Dick Hall of Fame.

      .

      Delete
    3. Ja,ja....

      I've concluded Trump is at least sincere.

      And, he isn't dumb, I think you would concede.

      So does he qualify for non-dickhood ?

      Even if some of his policies don't work out ?

      That is the quivering question, Quirk-O.

      Delete
    4. (It is also Uncle Ed's conclusion at the Casino that Trump is at least sincere....so that nails down the issue of sincerity)

      Delete
    5. .

      Trump and Dickhood

      You offer up subjective interpretations of what you consider Trump attributes. Since they are subjective, other might disagree and in fact do.

      Actions speak louder than words. It is Trump's actions I am interested in and what will determine his level of dicktitude.

      Being sincere and honest, something I do not often see Trump accused of, does not preclude Trump from the 'dick' category.

      For instance, it's possible that G.W.B. falls into the latter category, just another dumb hick, honest and clueless (as indicated by these photos)

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXMfbZLX00I

      And then you have Cheney in the background, a different cat altogether. However, both are dicks based on what they have wrought, one by intent and the other because he just didn't now any better.

      .

      Delete
  33. White House English-only website....DRUDGE

    I think this is good.

    And I think we need to make English the official language of the land....

    It's working well in India with its 20 language groups....Hindi is the other official language, but it's English that everyone learns.

    Thus slowly it is coming to be that everyone can speak to one another.

    I don't think we should be going in the opposite direction....

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    1. .

      I agree a country should have only one official language. (Although I don't object to some accommodations for key services. A foreign person has to be able to communicate what is wrong with them at a hospital and we sure as hell don't want them pissing on the street.)

      Language is a unifying factor for a country and immigrants should be willing to make the effort to learn it if they plan on staying in this country.

      Of course, your point about English in India is, as has been pointed out before, rather simplistic.

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      If you want to learn a second language as millions in India do, English is probably and excellent choice. The make it the one of the official languages of India is absurd. About 10% of the nation understands English mast as a second language. Only about 0.0002 of the population speaks English as a first language.

      Therefore, making English an official language there s equivalent to making Arabic an official language here. It is also a constant reminder of the detritus left behind by the imperialist occupation of India by John Bull.

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