camiloarenivar

[camiloarenivar]

Palm Springs for YOU

Things to See/Do (non-food/drink):

1. Palm Springs Aerial Tram! https://pstramway.com/ slowly rotating gondola that takes you up 2.5 miles/8000 feet above Palm Springs to a mountain station to take in views (and there is a bar & restaurant of course) Tix not on sale for March yet but should be in next week or so...

2. VillageFest - street fair on Thursdays from 6-10, you might be too tired as its a travel day but throwing it out there... https://villagefest.org/

3. Palm Springs Art Museum https://www.psmuseum.org/

4. Walk around Downtown and Forever Marilyn - the giant Marilyn Monroe statue is a must - she's located on Museum Way between Andreas Road and West Tahquitz Canyon Way...and walking around downtown on Palm Canyon Ave between Alejo & Arenas Roads is adjacent! Tons of shops, restaurants, botiques, cafes, restaurants, places to get a drink etc on

----------------------------------------

Cool places to have drinks/martinis:

PSAir Bar: https://www.psairbar.com/ https://www.instagram.com/reel/CikumYkpA96/

I've actullay STILL not been there but it seems soooo cool!

----------------------------

Window Bar at Kimpton Rowan Hotel: https://www.rowanpalmsprings.com/palm-springs-restaurants/lobby-bar/

Also at same hotel: *High Bar (rooftop bar): https://www.yelp.com/biz/high-bar-palm-springs

--------------------------

Melvyn's Bar/Lounge old school elite realness https://inglesideestate.com/melvyns/

--------------

The Bar @ The Tropicale https://www.thetropicale.com/ -----------------

Tommy Bahamas -great place to people watch and decent appetizers and drinks, great Happy Hour! https://www.tommybahama.com/restaurants-and-marlin-bars/locations/palm-springs

___________________________________________

Restaurants:

Mexican: 1. Touristy because live band and right on strip, food and drinks JUST OK but historical and cool spot, so: Las Casuelas Terraza: https://www.lascasuelas.com/ Tip: Make reservations by PHONE at least ONE week in advance

2. Great food, drinks, and ambience: El Mirasol @ Los Arboles - North (this is our favorite PS mexican restaurant, they have a more casual location we go to but this one is super cute if you sit in Patio): https://www.elmirasolrest.com/ Tip: Makes reservations online at website for PATIO!

3. Fancy & overpriced (in my opinion) but very...maybe your style lol - its Mexican nouveau: Tacquila - https://tacquila.com/ Tip: Reservations! ----------------------- California Cuisine Casual & Upscale:

4. We love this place! Quality, quantity & value all rolled into one in a cool setting in heart of downtown strip: Lulu California Bistro - https://www.lulupalmsprings.com/ Tip: Reservations! They make good martinis too!

5. Ambience, old school Palm Springs feel, pricey but huge portions and tasty! Con: owned by a gay Trumper! We ignore that sometimes...it feels really cool but maybe a bit Miami-ish so you might have that in FL: The Tropicale https://www.thetropicale.com/

6. Good food, brunch, decent but cool location:

Zin American Bistro https://www.zinamericanbistro.com/

7. Everyone says this place is great! We haven't been:

Spencers Palm Springs: https://www.spencersrestaurant.com/

Seafood:

8. Love this place, GREAT fisherman style seafood, strong drinks, live music, patio seating, Anthony Bourdain recommended tacos!

Shanghai Red's https://www.fishermans.com/shanghai-reds

Italian:

9. Great seating, decent food, ambience outdoors is nice, and adults get a glass of Amaretto after dinner! Sammy Gs https://sammygsrestaurant.com/

10. More quality food, more upscale not family style but DELICIOUS: il Corso Palm Springs - https://springs.ilcorsodining.com/

------------------------------

DRAG SHOWS: Please note that you PAY for table reservations at drag shows in Palm Springs, never saw this in L.A. before...

reading material: https://www.palmspringslife.com/fun-and-fabulous-drag-brunches-in-greater-palm-springs/

Since Saturday is out, it these main choices:

the one we like, and HAVE been to, is at CHILL BAR and is called AMAZING SUNDAYS - you usually are only able to make reservations about a month out: https://www.chillbarpalmsprings.com/post/amazing-sunday-02-04-24 -there is usually at least one RuPaul Drag Race queen performing or hosting, usually Ongina hosts...

this is popular in Palm Springs, have not been to it: https://www.psdragbrunch.com/

this is new and at PSAir Bar, have not been to it, we only go to Reforma on Saturdays or ChillBar on Sundays:

Oscar's Drag Brunch is historical but we have never been to it!

OK LAST BUT NOT LEAST - THE GAYBORHOOD! Arenas Road off Indian Canyon is the gayborhood! It is a short one block but has Quadz, Chill Bar, Dicks, Blackbook, Hunters, StreetBar all different kind of gay bars/clubs only two with dancing...behind Streetbar is also a gay speakeasy that is an unmarked door you access from the back parking lot... So that is the plus of doing Drag Brunch at Chill Bar, you are already in the gayborhood and can bar hop!!!

[camiloarenivar]

Election 2016: What if the Democrats were as Crazy as the Republicans?

Let me preface this by saying this is not anti-Hillary. Just a rhetorical question...

What if...the Democrats were as much of a loose cannon as the Republicans with candidates they were running for President in 2016. What if people were not opting to sit on the sidelines and let Hillary Clinton cruise to a nomination.

What if there was no pressure from the establishment to sit aside. What if people were not intimidated by Hillary Clinton and just threw their hat in like the numerous Republican candidates. ...what might our Primary election field look like?

What if anyone who believed they could be a relevant candidate chose to ran like the good old days (remember Jerry Brown challenging Bill Clinton? Ted Kennedy challenging Jimmy Carter?)? Democrat online pundits are the first to dismiss people and count out potential candidates and be naysayers but what if no one listened to them and the People participated in the Primary and defined the Election, not those on the sidelines?

Here is what I think the 2016 Democrat field could have looked like...sure I include Hillary, and the other two running Dems, O'Malley and Webb:

Who are these others? I think we have a lot of room here! The much revered Russ Feingold from Wisconsin, the Liberal answer to Scott Walker. We also have the firey Florida representative Alan Grayson. Sure not very Presidential but I did say free for all here didn't I? We also have Gov. Deval Patrick (MA), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (MA), Sen. Al Franken (MN) oh why NOT! Gov. Andrew Cuomo (NY), Al Gore (why count him out?), Gov. Terry McAuliffe (VA), Sen. Mark Warner (VA), Julian Castro (gave the DNC keynote speech in 2012 just like Obama in 2004, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development), Sen. Martin Heinrich (NM), Gov. John Wright Hickenlooper, Jr. (CO), Sen. Claire McCaskill (MO) are just a few who theoretically could have ran campaigns. Oh and if Hillary could run why not Michelle Obama! She has better favorable ratings than her husband! And if Donald Trump with no political experience can run and apprently be taken seriously, why not a Democratic Billionaire like Thomas Steyer? Would it not have been interesting to see them all debate each other? To see who won the voters over in Iowa and New Hampshire?

Ah but back to reality. I have nothing against Hillary Clinton and look forward to seeing her beat just about any Republican they throw at her in a General Election. I just would not have minded the field being a little more open.

[camiloarenivar]

Why Donald Trump’s Surge in Polls Does Not Matter

There has been a lot of news lately about Donald Trump, and the most interesting piece to come out online and in the news shows is that he is leading polls for the 2016 GOP nomination. And that may very well be the case, but I am here to remind you, it does not matter. Sorry to take the fun out of it, but if 2012 is any indicator, it really does not:

We all know how this turned out in the end...

[camiloarenivar]

It is Time to Come Together, Not More Apart - my opinion on current events

If you have not noticed, I have been largely silent about recent current affairs issues pertaining to what happened in Ferguson and in NYC. I have been somewhat opinionated about the chaotic protests that in my opinion were ultimately counterproductive. I have decided it is time to state my opinion - like it or not. First I will say that I believe we are living in a society that has gotten more and more extreme and polarized - at least, that is what Media, both televised and online social media would have us believe. Why is that? We only hear from those who have opposing viewpoints, because that is all that is "newsworthy". The reason I  have been silent about what happened to Michael Brown is that I do not have all the facts. I do know he ended up dead, but I do not know what exactly happened, no credible witnesses ever came out on either side. That's the reason L.A. Mayor Garcetti's plan to have all LAPD officers wear a camera device is a good one. Let there be no doubt. If someone really did reach for a cop's gun, well, you know what is going to happen. Whoever gets to it first will probably shoot to kill. If someone is innocently placing their hands in the air, and a white cop flat out kills him, there must be no doubt in these cases. Which leads us to what happened to Eric Garner in NYC - killed in a chokehold for selling single cigarettes. OK this whole thing is a big WTF. Sure he was not  a Saint, but even the coroner ruled his death a homicide. This time not only was the Black Community outraged, but many members of the public in general outside of that community were appalled. The only good news here was that the U.S. Justice Department was going to do an investigation. The travesty of justice would not go unchallenged and a higher authority would look into it. And that should have been good enough...but we had these protests and civil unrest. Protests, marches, and vigils have always been a part of this Nation's growing pains. As it is again. However, these protests turned destructive and violent. Disruptive and ugly. My belief is that this issue got hijacked by the same anti-Authority "Occupy" groups, many of the tactics were similar to theirs in the final days of their heyday in that their only purpose was ultimately to create chaos. What does that solve? Flash forward to the horrific events of December 20, 2014, NYC once again. This time, a deranged man kills NYPD officer Rafael Ramos and Officer Wenjian Liu while sitting in their marked NYPD police car, completely unprovoked. He then runs to a subway where he kills himself. The killer allegedly ranted on social media that he wanted to make police pay for Eric Garner.  Horrible and appalling. And the Law Enforcement Community is in pain. And angry. Rightfully so. In the pain, someone has to be blamed. Is it NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio because he did not back the Police in the Garner case? Is it the protesters?  Who to blame? I do not think it is necessary to point blame, but I do think that a more polarized and extreme society has contributed to where we are. The reality is that social media and the media at large has taken the worst incidents that have happened as far as police, race, and the public and been the vehicle to create a massive divide where people have been pitted against other people (and yes, PEOPLE, suspects are people, cops are people, ALL lives matter, black, white, brown, yellow, cop, criminal, etc). The Law Enforcement AND the Black communities  have for a long time drifted into a Them vs. Us mentality, and now  it is at a horrible violent boiling point. Yes, it's bad out there for cops in heavily crime riddled communities. Yes, it's bad out there to be black and on the streets.  So where do we go from here? What is the solution?  How do stop this spiral we are in? I believe that this mess is only going to get worse until some kind of positive solution that works on closing the divide that has been created is set in place. I believe it needs to start in the communities most affected as of late, the Law Enforcement community and Black communities need to come together to find out how we can get past this and build some trust. Communicate. Collaborate. Rebuild. Restart.  Time for the killing to end. No more dead black kids. No more unpunished illegal choke holds. No more police officer families having to be missing a loved one because of a supposed act of revenge. Time to find a way to work together and restore trust in each other. It is the only solution. Remember, violence begets violence, this is clearly being played out in front of our very own eyes. Violence and revenge is not the solution. It is not us vs. them. It is all of US.

[camiloarenivar]

Every Day is World AIDS Day - 2014 Edition

Every day is World AIDS Day.

Sure, today by decree of the World Health Organization is the formal day given to remember those who have been lost, and to raise awareness of those who still suffer. Yet every day, someone (in the gay community in particular) is afraid of what others might think of them if they were to test HIV positive. This fear makes them avoid seeking testing, which also leads to people living in fear and not being able to find the treatment that they need to avoid their bodies deteriorating to opportunistic infections that could take their life. The fear keeps HIV+ individuals from reaching out to get the best care and taking the necessary steps to live a healthy life.

We must end the stigma and strive to break down the walls that divide us and shame those who try to shame those who are HIV positive. A lot of progress has been made in treatment, but not so much in treating the mindsets that force many to live in hiding and fear of the opinion of their peers.

It's never too late to start...

[camiloarenivar]

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Answer - or more questions?

So Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 “ended in the Indian Ocean and there are no survivors” based on “new data” from “British satellites” according to Malaysia’s Prime Minister. They will hold another press conference tomorrow.   What exactly is that data? There was also an indication that they may never recover the debris (and one would also assume the bodies as well).  This comes after a weekend that the Malaysian authorities backed off from the information that the plane’s sharp left turn toward the Strait of Malacca was pre-programmed. New data also came in that the plane had dropped from a altitude of 35,000 feet to one of 12,000. My question is, where is all this data coming from? Why has so much of it conflicted with each other? Why do I not trust anything the Malaysian Authorities say no matter how many times they say it? Could it be because of how many times they’ve changed their story? One thing is for sure, there is pressure for the Malaysian authorities to bring an end to this saga. They need to officially conclude that there are no survivors. The families needs closure and there is also the legal reason for them designating them dead, so that the families can handle business as well. Once again there are reports of debris, we have heard reports of debris over and over again and they amount to not being from the flight. Am I the only one who does not feel the answers being provided by Malaysia are believable?  Is it possible that as farfetched as it may sound, just maybe all the countries interested in this have finally gotten together and formed a unified cover up that puts the families at ease but never tells us for sure what happened to that flight? Is it beyond our pay grade? Or shall we just continue to believe this was an unprecedented unexplainable catastrophic failure of a modern jet in great shape that crashed in a way that left us with nothing? Until a functioning black box from flight MA370 is found, I still believe ANY theory is possible. Including that this jet was commandeered and landed in some desolate air field, the passengers were killed, and the plane is being painted and re-purposed for some future use by terrorists or extremists. The only thing I agree with the Malaysian Prime Minister is that there are no survivors from this flight. That is obvious by now.

[camiloarenivar]

Fred Phelps is Dead. In lieu of flowers, make a donation...

Fred Phelps Sr., the notorious bigot who would have his family and followers stationed at various funerals with their "God Hates Fags" signs has died.

His church, the Westboro Baptist Church began picketing various events in the 90s, primarily gay pride events, and high profile political gatherings. In 1998 they got nationwide attention when they picketed the funeral of Matthew Shepard, a victim of a gay hate crime.

When the Iraq War was happening and military funerals started happening, they became known for picketing those with signs that said "Thank God for Dead Soldiers". Their belief was that God was punishing our nation for abandoning its morals. Everything that happened, whether it be school shootings, tornadoes or what have you, it was a punishment from God for supporting gay rights.

So yes, Fred Phelps Sr. is dead. In lieu of flowers, I ask that you make a donation to the LGBT/Equality Rights organization of your choice in his name. To make it even more fitting, you can donate to one in Phelps' backyard, the Kansas Equality Coalition!

http://kansasequalitycoalition.org/donate/

[camiloarenivar]

Curious Case of Missing Boeing 777 Part 2: What are the Malaysians NOT telling us??

Yesterday I posted about the "The Curious Case of the Missing Boeing 777", which of course was about Malaysian Airlines Flight 370. Well, later that day the news got even stranger. Let's bring you up to date: First, China. China said they have some satellite images taken from March 9th that appear to show large pieces of floating debris near where the last radar images were seen. It would also be close to where an oil rig worker claimed to have seen a burning plane in the air.  But in the end, like so many other "sightings",  it turned up with NOTHING. Now, the maker of the jets engines are saying they received electronic data THAT THE ENGINES WERE RUNNING FOR FOUR HOURS after the last radar contact with the plane.

WHAT??!!! And Malaysian officials are pooh-poohing that idea...but they have been all but forthright about radar locations and inconsistent with locations they were searching. What do they know that they are not telling us? What are they hiding? Are they hiding their gross incompetence, or what REALLY happened to flight 370?  

[camiloarenivar]

The Curious Case of the Missing Boeing 777

Before the events of March 8, which are still quite unknown, it is best to back track to some earlier events that may or may not be relevant.

In August 2012, a taxiing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 passenger plane contacted the tail of a China Eastern Airlines A340 plane, waiting on the taxiway at Shanghai's Pudong International Airport. The tip of the wing of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was broken off and hung on the tail of the China Eastern Airbus 340-600. The wing tip of the Boeing 777 was repaired and the plane was deemed safe to return to flight. The plane had undergone a check on February 23rd and there were no issues logged. On February 28 Pouri Nourmohammadi Mehrdad and Delavar Seyed Mohammad Reza entered Malaysia from Iran legally, with Iranian passports.  

On March 1st, Ms. Benjaporn Krutnait, the manager of the Grand Horizon travel agency in Pattaya was contacted by Mr. Ali, an Iranian man who frequently bought tickets through her. In cash. He had her book flights for Pouri Nourmohammadi Mehrdad and Delavar Seyed Mohammad Reza to Europe. She booked them on Qatar Airways and another airline but they expired and Mr. Ali contacted her again on Thursday March 6. This time he purchased the tickets. She chose Malaysian Air and the Beijing connection because it was cheapest.

It was a night like any other on the evening  of March 7 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.  Mehrdad and Reza arrived at the airport with a friend and took a photo together. Mehrdad was enroute to Germany to see his mother. Reza was booked to catch another flight in Beijing to continue to Amsterdam.  They used stolen passports from Thai tourists to board the flight. Despite  being reported stolen two years ago, the two made it through security anyway. At 12:21 AM, now March 8, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 departed Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Around 1:30 AM, when the plane was at its cruising altitude of 35,000 feet , air traffic controllers outside of Kuala Lumpur lost contact with Flight 370. There was no warning, no distress signal, no observable changes. It simply fell off the radar over the sea between Malaysia and Vietnam. And here is where it gets really weird. No oil slick, no debris field.  Nothing. The next two days a search over the area that the plane vanished turns up nothing. But even this is not that weird, a similar thing occurred a few years back when an Air France jet disappeared from radar. Five days later, a debris field was found. It took years for the plane to be located deep in the Atlantic but it was eventually found.  Theories abound about what may have happened to Flight 370. It could have had massive disintegration as part of a gross mechanical failure. That would explain no distress signal. Or maybe a bomb?  Some other kind of mechanical failure. Satellite images show no signs of an explosion or fire in the air. Nothing at all. Then, on the 3rd day of the search, a Senior Malaysian military official off the record says that military radar had tracked the flight nearly 300 miles in the opposite direction, over the Strait of Mallaca, one hour and ten minutes AFTER it had lost contact with civilian radar. There were also reports that the plane began to fly lower as well. Everything from it going to 29,500 altitude to that described as "very very low".  

The former managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board, Peter Goelz, believes that this information, if correct -- is ominous, implying that the transponder was intentionally cut off and someone may have steered the plane from its intended destination. Who would have done that? Why?  That is the big question. Well, one of the many. Then, in a startling turn around, less than 24 hours after the previous announcement, Gen. Rodzali Daud, head of the Malaysian Air Force, backed away from saying for sure it was the Malaysian Airlines flight that they had tracked flying over the Malaysian west coast.   All of this has began to confuse search teams, with 12 countries participating searching West and East of the Malaysian Coast and off coast of Vietnam.  Now an email has turned up from a New Zealand oil rig worker off the coast of Vietnam saying he saw something burning in the sky. Searches have found nothing in that area, but more searchers are en route. Malaysian Air Force refuses to share their radar data which leads to the question - is there something that they are hiding? And what about those Iranians with the stolen passports? Mehrdad's mom was waiting for him at the Frankfurt airport and when he did not show up, she notified authorities. Exhaustive investigations have shown that neither man had any terrorist ties, and most in the security community believe their use of fake passports was more geared toward their seeking asylum in Europe than terrorism. So what happened? Theories abound, from a hijacking to a massive structural failure to sci-fi based speculations.   Only the passengers on board Flight 370 know what happened for sure.  And that's if you believe Malaysian authorities are not hiding anything.

[camiloarenivar]

Repurposing

Ok. So, I am hoping I am successful with this but I have decided I would like to blog more. Originally, this was about politics. Politics is pretty stagnant right now and often bores me!!! Nothing interesting is going on and it's the same old shit. I just can't get motivated to write. Current events still interest me. And so does movies and music, but I am going to keep those posts on my entertainment related blog, CurrentlyPlaying. So, this blog will be about everything else. We'll see how that goes. Oh yes, and don't be surprised if you see politics here too!!!

[camiloarenivar]

Syria Update - A New Day

Syria - a lot has happened since my blog post earlier this week, some of it quite a bit surprising. 1, in the U.K, Parliament voted down military intervention. This wiped out a key ally, and a key ally in the International world... This left the concept of Obama and the U.S. basically "going it alone". Knowing the hardcore legalist Obama is, I found it hard to believe he would authorize military force without the U.N. (which he would not get), AND without Congressional support. I was curious what he would do. Today we got that answer - and a surprising one it was. President Obama would seek Congressional approval. But wait - was it really that surprising? This is a President who as a Senator was hard on Bush and his unapproved war on Iraq. Ultimately, without a U.N. resolution and without an International Coalition, he fell back on his legal background. What about the red line! Doesn't this make Obama weak or not true to his word??? Well, what EXACTLY did he say? He said this: "We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized,” the president said a year ago last week. “That would change my calculus. That would change my equation.” And so YES, it has changed the equation and he is seeking an attack on the regime. At NO POINT DID HE SAY WE WOULD DO IT UNILATERALLY OR WITHOUT CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT. And the politics of this is amazing. If Congress says NO, some could say egg on his face, but at the same time he can always say he followed the Law and the will of the People, for which Congress supposedly speaks. Fascinating. Obama may have surpassed Bill Clinton in the game of politics!

[camiloarenivar]

Syria Crisis 101

Syria - What is the deal? What: Syria has been in a civil war for well over 2 years now. The Government there has killed nearly 100,000 of it's own people. Humanitarian activists have been begging us to get involved and to support the rebels due to the atrocities being done there. For almost two years, President Barack Obama has avoided direct military involvement but warned a chemical attack would cross a "red line."   Why do we care now? The red line has been crossed. On August 21st, it is believed the Syrian regime used chemical weapons on its own people, also known as the rebels*. The use of chemical weapons is contrary to the standards adopted by the vast majority of nations and international efforts since World War I to eliminate the use of such weapon - Specifically on the use of chemical weapons, there is the 1925 Geneva Gas Protocol, drawn up after mustard and other asphyxiating gas attacks in the trenches during World War I. Syria is a party to the protocol, so it is bound not to use chemical weapons in war. The majority of the Western World considers the use of these weapons on a mass scale and a threat of proliferation a threat to our national interests and a concern to the entire world. What is the Problem (or what are the problems)? 1. Initially, the President said: “If the U.S. goes in and attacks another country without a U.N. mandate and without clear evidence that can be presented, then there are questions in terms of whether international law supports it...” the problem is... 2. A U.N. Security Council Resolution to authorize force could AND would be vetoed by Russia and China. Russia and Iran are arming the Syrian government, and Russia has significant gas and oil interests in the region. 3. A military response to the violation of international law  without a U.N. mandate could have adverse reactions depending on the length and severity. 4. The response could potentially be too little, and do little to impact the outcome of the war there. 5. Unfortunately, SOMETHING has to be done. Obama has not matched his words with actions as far as chemical weapons and now that he has significant international support, SOMETHING will probably happen soon. Will the U.S. Attack Syria alone? NO - it will be part of an international coalition HOWEVER it will be our military resources that pull it off - we (and maybe Israel) are the only ones who CAN. WHO are our allies in intervening militarily in Syria? Britain, France, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, and even Germany, who's Steffen Seibert, a spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel said: "The suspected large-scale use of poison gas breaks a taboo even in this Syrian conflict that has been so full of cruelty." Who is against military intervention? 1.  Iran - which is providing weapons to the Syrian government's counterinsurgency 2. Hezbollah - The Shiite militant group is the strongest military force inside Lebanon. It's also a close Assad ally, and its leader to the embattled Syrian leader. Syria is the main conduit for weapons to the group, whose members are Assad's troops in the civil war. Hezbollah depends on Syria for its arms flow from Iran, AND Hezbollah views any threat to the Assad regime as a threat not only to Syria, but also the Palestinians and Lebanon. 3. Russia, who has a financial (oil/gas) and military interest in Syria. 4. China has also expressed admonition against involvement.   What does the U.S. stand to gain with Syria (is this about oil???) We have nothing there - nothing to gain. This is actually about condemning an atrocity and upholding international norms of not using chemical weapons. The CAMILO Opinion: UGH! I hate war. I hate meddling in other country's problems, especially when we have so many of our own. I truly despise being the World's policemen and I truly believe our President feels the same way. I do not envy him and the position he is in right now, at all. These are the tough decisions you have to make when you are the Leader of the Free World. I really do think our hands are tied. I do believe him when he says NO TROOPS WILL BE SENT TO SYRIA. I do believe that whatever we do will be limited, and will be able to be interpreted as narrowly allowable under international law. I have no doubt that law scholar Obama is plotting the most internationally legally plausible response. And I think it is needed to be handled in that sensitive manner, and I believe it is all we could, and should do.   *what are they rebelling against? The trouble began in 2011 in the Syrian city of Deraa. Locals took to the streets to protest after 15 schoolchildren had been arrested - and reportedly tortured - for writing anti-government graffiti on a wall. The protests were peaceful to begin with, calling for the kids' release, democracy and greater freedom for people in the country. The government responded angrily, and on 18 March, the army opened fire on protesters, killing four people.The following day, they shot at mourners at the victims' funerals, killing another person. People were shocked and angry at what had happened and soon the unrest had spread to other parts of the country. They want the President, Bashar al-Assad, to step down. He will not.

[camiloarenivar]

NSA Controversy - Is it really spying on us?

"The NSA is doing what Google does...Google, I’m convinced, is the new Santa Claus: It sees you when you’re sleeping, it knows when you’re awake. It knows when you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness’ sake." - Richard Cohen Every 9/11 following 2001, people don their “We Will Never Forget” photos and avatars, people “remember” the day and events. But when it comes to efforts to secure us so that event that happened on that fateful day in 2001 does not happen again, people sure do whine and bitch. They don’t want their privates x-rayed at the airport. They do not want their phone logs stored. They do not want Government to be doing what it should have been doing in the first place – PROTECTING us. We don't "remember",  we forget! We whine about civil liberties. We don’t want to be spied on. Without even knowing the facts about what is going on, we hear some hothead on a TV news show ranting about the government abusing power and automatically assume we are having “our rights taken away”. Do a little homework. What’s really going on and why is all this in the news these days? Edward Snowden, the whistle-less whistle blower Meet Edward Snowden. He is a 29 year old man who worked for a private contractor hired by the National Security Agency (NSA). He disclosed that there is a phone records monitoring program in which the NSA gathers hundreds of millions of US phone records each day, creating a database through which it can learn whether terror suspects have been in contact with people in the US. He also revealed that they are keeping track of sites and searches people use on the Internet. Big Government goes the way of Google. At least they aren't going to try to sell you a diet or vacation. But in all seriousness, the reason Snowden has no whistle to blow is because Congress knew some of this already.  And they approved it. If anything, he is more of a traitor and in violation of any security clearances he has.  Any government employee or contractor is warned repeatedly that the unauthorized disclosure of classified information is a crime! What IS the NSA doing? The two primary things they are doing are 1)Collecting all the cell phone usage data. Who you call, who you text. They are not LISTENING to the conversations.  The reason for this collection of data is to do data-mining with the database, in an attempt to match call with any known terrorists. In order to access anything more than just numbers, there would need to be authorization from the U.S. Attorney General. So relax, they won't be reading those sext messages...unless they were to a known terrorist! 2) They are also collecting information on what FOREIGN people browse the net for and collecting that data too. All of this was done under  amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that Congress approved in 2008! Isn't this the same thing Bush was doing? Not exactly. The Bush Administration used 9/11 to not only wage a war against the wrong man, but also to illegally wiretap Americans. This program DOES NOT INVOLVE the Government listening to your conversations OR reading your text messages. They are merely collecting, storing, and browsing the numbers of ALL telephone calls made. Is this mildly intrusive? Yes. Is it a violation of any laws? NO! Unlike Bush's warrantless surveillance program that exceeded its legal authority with no judicial check or congressional approval, this program based on what we know now appears to be acting within its legal boundaries. It relies in part on the courts, and is acting within the law (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act ) - approved by bipartisan majorities! Ultimately, this is just another thing for civil libertarians and right wing nut jobs like Alex Jones to rant and rave and go nuts about. This too, shall pass. As it should.

[camiloarenivar]

GOP scandal-mongering making Obama more popular, GOP most unpopular in CNN polling history (repost)

I find it most interesting that in the CNN article that inspired The Daily KOS piece, it notes that "Most Americans say they don't agree with him on the size and power of the federal government, and Americans remain split overall on whether they agree with Obama on issues they care about.". How about that, 50/50. I think because at heart, he truly is trying to be a President of ALL of America, not just the Red States or the Blue States, but the United States, as he said in his landmark DNC keynote speech in 2004. But that's just me. - Camilo Originally printed in The Daily KOS:

Nice try, wingnuts, but America still likes the guy.

The media and Republicans may be screeching about President Barack Obama's scandals, but the American people are seeing through the bullshit.

CNN reported on Sunday that 53% of people questioned in the survey said they approve of the job the president is doing, with 45% saying they disapprove. The president's approval rating was at 51% in CNN's previous poll, from early April. The two point rise was well within the survey's sampling error.

The new numbers indicate that Obama remains popular, with 79% of Americans saying the president is likable.

But it's not just Obama. The Democratic Party went from a 46-48 favorable-unfavorable rating a month ago, to 52-43 in this latest poll. That's a net gain of 11 points.

As for impeachment-screeching Republicans? They're DOWN a net eight points from 38-54 a month ago, to 35-59 this week.

It turns out that:

* The American people just don't think that it's the worst scandal since Watergate that Obama called the Benghazi consulate attack an "act of terror" as opposed to a "terrorist attack".

* The American people just don't care that the IRS spent extra time looking at the applications of political groups—none of which had their applications rejected, mind you. (Well, except for that one liberal group.)

* The American people can't be bothered to care that some reporters were spied on, after the GOP spent the last decade pushing for increased wiretapping powers in the name of "national security". This is exactly what Republicans wanted. No one believes they're really that outraged about it now.

So after the president's supposed worst week ever, with Republicans jumping in glee at the scandals, we find that the president's popularity has inched up, the Democratic Party's popularity is significantly up, and Republicans, at 59 percent unfavorable, are at their highest unpopularity level since CNN started polling the question in 1992.

Way to go, sherlocks.

Related Link: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/05/20/cnn-poll-likability-helps-obama-survive-brutal-week/?hpt=hp_t1

[camiloarenivar]

Today Los Angeles probably elects a long time city councilman, son of a former District Attorney whose biggest ads focused on his opponents endorsement from the local electric company. Funny thing is, it's sour grapes on an endorsement he sought and did not get. Too bad this ad did not air immediately after he started pushing all his anti-Greuel/DWP ads, it's really short and to the point, I love it! I supported Wendy Greuel long before the endorsements of the Democrat establishment (Bill Clinton, Nancy Pelonsi et al.), I met her at a gay Latino political action committee holiday party and she seemed genuine and sincere. I never met Eric Garcetti, but he wasn't there. And she was.

Eric Garcetti has always left me with that slick politician feeling, with a twist of yuppie attitude of the hipster Silver Lake flavor. Just not my kind of person. I am sure he will do fine as another establishment Democrat Mayor (just as Wendy would have), but I simply found him less likable, and less convincing that he had actually started thinking about how he would tackle the city's issues, whereas Wendy already had a plan documented.

[camiloarenivar]

What Happend? - Answered! Post Election Rumblings 2

Watching the talk shows and reading the blogs, it's interesting to see the question of the week following the election, which is, how did this happen? How did Mitt Romney and the Republicans lose so decisively this election? Let's keep it simple. They have a product they are selling, and the American Electorate NO LONGER wants it. The Republican ideology is so closed minded and anglocentric that they need to make serious changes if they want to appeal to the masses.  It's not just the Republican stance on immigration that alienated the Latinos, or the underhanded racist overtones about this President that made 93% of the black voters go for Obama. It is not "gay marriage" alone that sealed the gay vote, or abortion rights that cause voters 18-29 to vote  for Obama by 60 percent to 36 percent for Romney and end up representing 19% of the total electorate. It is ALL of these things and more.  There are still more people who believe in Science than do not.  There are still more people who believe it is good to have strong  personal morals, but that being a politician should NOT enable you to force those morals down the throat of a nation. There are still people that believe the Constitution's reference to the separation of church and State is to protect them from the Church values being made Law of the Land.  There are still people that believe the rich do not need bigger tax breaks so they can create jobs - we've had the tax breaks for the wealthy since Bush was President and we lost jobs all throughout his Administration. As much as they hate the concept, if the Republican Party wants to remain viable in national elections, they need to move a little to the middle. They need to transform as the Electorate has or risk remaining a minority party. A party whose wins are rare and made by politicians not from the far right wing of their Party. If they do not change, the present Republican Party  risks going the way of the Whig Party.  OR, just maybe, just maybe this will be the beginning of the end of the two party system. These are things that only time will tell, but things to ponder.

[camiloarenivar]

Concede to Secede: Post Election Rumblings 1

Wow I thought the politics obsession would mellow out but seems we have a Nation (well  some of the 49% at least) of sore losers. Let's see... 1) 22 year old ice cream scooper gets fired for calling the President the n word and hoping he gets assassinated. 2) Pregnant woman runs her husband down with her car because he failed to vote and Obama's election will cause hardship to her family. Apparently a dead husband wouldn't cause hardship. 3) 80,000 people in TX sign a petition to secede from the Union because the current President is going to make them go broke. But they are within miles of the former President who actually did make them go broke. So, we have wives running  husbands over. Ice scream scoopers threatening assassination (um, can someone call the Secret Service please).  We have Tea Party leader Allen B. West refusing to concede in Florida, and the wackos in Texas and other Southern states wanting to secede from the United States (can someone explain how that is not an act of treason?). A nation divided we are. Or are we? What I've seen is a very loud minority, being loud, obnoxious, and getting media attention. As fun as it might be to lump them altogether, I believe most of the people who did not support Barack Obama were not the crazies we are hearing about. At least half of them (half of the 49%) just profoundly disagreed with the way this President leads. But the other half, the 1/4 of the country, seems to be angry and crazed. Possibly dangerous, with talks of secession and other things.  I think that, in time, it will subside.  I hope. (special thanks to Rasalyn Bowden for her assistance with 1-3)...