Foreign Affairs: Anton Barbashin- The Eurasian Economic Union Is An Illusion

Posted on January 20, 2015 by Erik Schneider
Attachment-1-389

Source: Foreign Affairs Magazine

Source:The New Democrat

Eurasia lets call it, the area east of the European Union with the first Slavic states and former Soviet republics, all the way over to the Arab states, will never be very successful economically as long as Russia is run by someone who simply wants to put the Soviet Union back together. Or bring back all of those republics back to Russia. And not so much interested in what is in the best interest of the people in these countries. Because decisions will always be made on how to obtain greater power and territory. And not what is in the best interest of the economies in these Slavic countries.

Russia will always be a potentially great country and new superpower, with its great and educated population, land mass, and natural resources and not actually returning to the world again as a superpower, but this time economically to go along with militarily and diplomatically, as long as Vladimir Putin is running the government there. Whether he has the official title as Russian Federation President or not. As long as Vlad is interested in obtaining more power and territory for Russia and not developing the economy so it reaches most if not all the Russian people, Russia will remain a developing power, if not country all together.
Euro News: Eurasian Economic Union Summit Begins With A Show of Disunity

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The Onion: John Elway Casually Mentions To Peyton Manning How Great it Was Going Out on Top

Posted on January 20, 2015 by Erik Schneider

Source:The New Democrat 

I’m going to be serious for a minutes, all right fine maybe two minutes just to say that Peyton Manning even if he is the best regular season quarterback of all-time, which would be like being the best team of all-time that didn’t win the Super Bowl in the NFL, Peyton who I respect as a great quarterback, is simply overrated. Peyton Manning is a fan favorite of the stats and now generation. People who judge athletes by their numbers and the fact that they are playing now, must mean they are better than players who played before simply because of that.

If you judge players especially quarterbacks by how well they play in the playoffs and their record in the playoffs and not how many times they threw for four-thousand yards and thirty touchdown passes, Peyton would be pretty far down on the greatest quarterbacks list. Even if he is the best regular season quarterback of all-time. And keep in mind, all of Peyton’s personal success as a quarterback as far as stats has not come in the passing age, which was the 1980s and the 1990s. But the Roger Goddell age where the NFL has simply decided that offense is more important than defense for financial reasons. And have made it very difficult for defenses because of the rules to be successful.

I mean how many great quarterbacks do you know of have losing records in the playoffs and are headed to the Hall of Fame if they are not already there? Peyton Manning would be one, can you name any others. Tom Brady could easily tell Peyton, “look, you have better numbers, but I have the numbers that count the most. I’ve won twice as many playoff games that you have and have won 2/3 of my playoff games. I’ve played in five Super Bowls, won three of them and have a winning record in them. But you look better on SportsCenter, YouTube, social networks and so-forth. So congratulations, but I’ll keep my victories and championships”. I doubt Brady has ever said that, but he could and would be right about that.

Is Peyton Manning one of the best quarterbacks of all-time and lets say that is top ten if not twenty, dumb question and he’s probably somewhere around ten for me, if not further back. And of course he’s a top two or three quarterbacks of his era. Only behind Tom Brady and Brett Favre, because of what Brady and Favre accomplished both in the regular season and playoffs. But I’m getting tired of hearing Peyton mentioned as the greatest quarterback of all-time and I’m not that comfortable about him as the greatest regular season QB of all-time. Simply because of the era he played in. And he’s certainly not the best quarterback of all-time and neither is Tom Brady.

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The New Republic: Kevin Mahnken: President Pro Tempore Orrin Hatch & Need For Succession Reform

Posted on January 19, 2015 by Erik Schneider
U.S. Senate President Pro Tempore

U.S. Senate President Pro Tempore

Source:The New Democrat 

Here’s a post that perhaps only political, Constitution and American history junkies would be interested. I just happen to be all three, so I’m more than qualified to be interested in this. But here’s something that I actually agree with a New Socialist, I mean New Republic author on and that is the need to reform U.S. Senate rules and perhaps even the U.S. Constitution itself. That is if the Senate simply couldn’t reform the President Pro Tempore position itself. And it might be able to since under the Constitution Congress writes its own rules. But I’m not a lawyer.

But what I would like to see done in the Senate and I’ll explain why assuming this could be done by the U.S. Senate laterally, is to add an amendment to the Pro Tempore position. The amendment would say that the majority party decides who the Pro Tempore is and that person doesn’t have to the longest Senator in the majority party. Actually I would go further than that and say the Pro Tempore or Leader of the Senate, whatever the title of the position is who would be the first ranking member of the Senate, would be an at-large seat and member. Mot elected by a state, but by the American people themselves, or at the very least the Senate majority members. But that is for a future post.

What I would do is essentially male the Pro Tempore or Leader of the Senate like the Speaker of the House for the Senate. The lead presiding officer, but also the person who appoints committee chairman, decides what bills come to the floor and up for a vote. And have that person in charge of the Senate floor. Because if we are going to even have this position, then it shouldn’t be signed to someone simply because they are the oldest or have been in the Senate the longest. If the Pro Tempore should ever become President because something happens to the President, Vice President and Speaker, that person should be ready to be President and healthy enough for the job.

I doubt Orrin Hatch ever wants to be President of the United States, at least at this point, he did run in 2000. He’s someone who I respect as a Liberal, even though he’s pretty right-wing and I’m not taking this position because he is currently the Pro Tempore. But just to point out that someone shouldn’t be the chief presiding officer of the Senate with real responsibilities, that is when the Vice President is not up at Congress and third inline for the presidency, just because they are in their late seventies or eighties and have been in the Senate for a long time.

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Lyle Denniston: Is The First Amendment on The Side of a Pro Football Team’s Name?

Posted on January 19, 2015 by Erik Schneider

Source:The New Democrat 

I’ve sort of gone out of my way to avoid getting into this debate because I quite frankly find it stupid. It’s now 2014 and Americans and the U.S. Government has just discovered that the Redskins is a racist name. Even though the franchise has been around since what, 1933 or 32. Give me a break, if Redskins was a racist name, which is what Nigger would be for people of African descent, that it would’ve been thrown out a long time ago. Saying the Redskins is a racist name, is like calling Bill Maher towards Muslims because he criticizes Islam, even though Muslim is not a race, but Muslims are followers of the Islāmic religion. It’s not even worth considering.

But that is just the practical argument. How about this little thing called the First Amendment that protects all Americans right to free speech and allows for people to call themselves essentially whatever the hell they want to and that includes organizations. But even if you say the federal trademark law about profiting from names that some Americans may tend to find offensive, again where was this 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 years ago. Why is the name Redskins offensive in 2012-13 when this controversy started and not again decades ago. This is really nothing more than pop culture correctness at its worst.

The Redskins are now getting the Bill Maher treatment from the Far-Left and being labeled as racists. Not by Bill Maher who I imagine is on the side of the Redskins here for First Amendment protections. But a man who just back in September was considered a hero on the Far-Left, is now considered to be a “White Devil” or something. But if you put all of this aside, the fact that Congress is not very good at writing laws and people wonder why they are so unpopular, because even when they do pass laws, they don’t write them very well, but lets the trademark law is constitutional for a second. The fact that they didn’t define what is racially offensive in a name, means the Redskins at the very least will probably, win on a technicality.

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FOX Movies: Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957) Starring Tony Randall & Jayne Mansfield

Posted on January 18, 2015 by Erik Schneider

Source:The New Democrat

Jayne Mansfield plays Rita Marlowe in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter and I believe and have heard that Marlowe was one of the names that Jayne considered changing her last name to after arriving in Hollywood. But instead settled for Mansfield the last name of her first ex-husband. But anyway Rita Marlowe is a star actress and Hollywood goddess who goes to New York, because she wants to improve her image. New York is the advertising capital at least of America, so not a better city to choose from.

Tony Randall plays Rock Hunter a talented and semi-successful advertiser, who hasn’t hit it big yet in the business. The firm he works for is looking for a big account that would bring them a lot of money and future clients. Rock is looking for the that one big account that would jumpstart his career and take him to the top. It turns out that Rita and Rock are perfect for each other, because they both have what the other needs. Rita would be that account that would Rock’s firm needs. And Rock has what Rita needs which is an intelligent successful professional man who would make her look good.

That is what Rock Hunter is really about. Rita and Rock make a deal with each other and do favors for each other. Rita endorses products that Rock is trying to promote for his firm like perfume. Rock pretends to be Rita’s boyfriend and appear in public with her as a couple so she can be taken more seriously in Hollywood. This movie is also about people believing that they are obligated to be things that they don’t want to be and instead find ways to do things that they want to do instead.

This is not a great movie, but it is a very funny movie with a good message. That people don’t have to be the way that others be they should be and work in professions that others believe they should. That people can be themselves and do what makes them happy. And have to worry about their image so much. Tony Randall as usual in this movie is very funny and the same thing with Jayne Mansfield. Who is her usual adorable baby girl funny self, with all her funny and adorable mannerisms.

FOX Movies: Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? 1957

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The Alfred Hitchcock Hour: Hangover (1962) Starring Tony Randall & Jayne Mansfield

Posted on January 17, 2015 by Erik Schneider

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Source:CBS– Tony Randall and Jayne Mansfield.

Source:The New Democrat 

“Jayne is sooooo good in this. If you every get to see it, (It’s about a hour long and VERY HARD TO FIND) you’ll know that Jayne was a very good actress. To bad she didn’t do more roles like this. I LOVE the short hair.”

From Sam Pena 

“Remembering nothing of what happened the day before, a talented, alcoholic ad man painfully reconstructs the events of what proves to have been a very bad day indeed.”

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour_ Hangover (1962) Starring Tony Randall & Jayne Mansfield _ The New Democrat

Source:IMDB– Tony Randall and Jayne Mansfield, on The Alfred Hitchcock Hour in 1962.

From IMDB

“Hangover.” An episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (Season 1, Episode 12). First air date: 6 December 1962. Tony Randall, Jayne Mansfield, Robert Lieb, Myron Healey, Tyler McVey, June Levant, William Phipps, Dody Heath. Teleplay: Lou Rambeau. Based on two short stories by John D. MacDonald and Charles Runyon. Director: Bernard Girard.

JAYNE MANSFIELD Hitchcock Hour Hangover

Hadley Purvis (Tony Randall) has a major drinking problem, one bad enough to prompt his wife to threaten divorce if he doesn’t quit. One morning he wakes up to find his wife gone; in her place, however, is another woman named Marion (Jayne Mansfield).

Now, we can all agree that worse things can happen to a man than to wake up to a woman like Marion, but Had’s problem is he doesn’t remember a thing from the day before. It’s only in little fragments that he gradually reconstructs what actually happened � and the final revelation will prove devastating …

Jayne Mansfield On 'The Alfred Hitchcock Hour'

Source:Mystery File– Hollywood Babydoll Jayne Mansfield on The Alfred Hitchcock Hour in 1962.

From Mystery File

A chance to see Jayne Mansfield with short hair. Don’t worry, she’s still baby-face adorable and hot with short hair. Tony Randall plays a talented, but alcoholic advertiser who’s drinking has gone too far to the point that it costs him his job, which is a very good job and his wife. And as well as his memory where he doesn’t remember the night before. Where he gets kicked out of a bar, screws up his presentation at work for one of his clients and wife walks out on him. He also forgets about an affair he had with Marion played by Jayne Mansfield.

He actually shows up at work the next morning thinking everything is normal and that nothing incredible happened the night before. He doesn’t even remember being fired and is wondering what Marion is doing at his home the next morning. He shows up to work locked out of his office where they tell him again that he was fired. And essentially spends the rest of the day trying to figure out what happened the day before.

As Alfred Hitchcock said on this show himself, this was about showing people the dangers of alcoholism, which I’m even surprised that term was even around in the early 1960s. And would assume that people who were alcoholics were considered to be mentally weak and not people with disease that needed serious treatment. But alcoholism causes Hadley Purvis (played by Tony Randall) his job and his wife and he loses his temper and takes it out on Marion.

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Keith Hughes: Cuba Explained- Ending the Embargo

Posted on January 15, 2015 by Erik Schneider

Source:The New Democrat

I’m not saying ending the Cuban trade embargo unconditionally is a good idea and sure as hell hope that is not what President Obama did. I’m in favor of ending the embargo conditionally. That any American trade and business that goes into Cuba goes to the Cuban economy and the Cuban people. That the Cuban Government doesn’t tax most of it away, or all of it way to boost up their communist regime. But as long as Cubans see, feel and get the benefits of American trade in their country and have all the access to Cuban resources like hotels and everything else as American tourists, than this is something we should definitely be doing.

Cuba is not a threat in any way to America. Economically, militarily in no way whatsoever. If anything Venezuela is a bigger threat to America than Cuba, because they have a larger military, more economic resources, better ties to other authoritarian regimes who don’t like America and everything else and yet we trade with Venezuela. We are the only at least developed country in the Western world that doesn’t trade with Cuba and that only hurts the American economy and American business’s. Cuba gets that economic activity back and then some from Europe, South America and Asia.

Cuba is moving in a better if not positive direction now under Raul Castro now the President of the Communist State. They have opened up their economy to private enterprise and they now have Cuban business people who work or own for private business’s and other companies. They’ve also lessened restrictions as it relates to personal freedom and allowing Cubans to have more access of their own country. You don’t open up countries by ignoring them. We are seeing that with China and saw that with Russia when they were under Soviet control. You open up countries through engagement and encouraging the people in those countries to take control of their own country.

Keith Hughes: Cuba Explained- Ending The Embargo

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David Lindholm: The Girl Can’t Help it (1956) Starring Jayne Mansfield

Posted on January 15, 2015 by Erik Schneider

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Source:The New Democrat

If you are familiar with Jayne Mansfield in real-life and you are familiar with this movie, you know that Jayne essentially plays herself in this movie. Except for one key factor, Jayne plays a women who doesn’t want to be a star, an entertainer in this movie. The real Jaynes Mansfield only wanted to be a star and move to Hollywood and make it big in the entertainment business as an actress, singer and perhaps even comedian, she could do it all. At least when she was sober, but in this movie she plays someone who essentially just wants to be a good housewife to the man she loves and take care of their children.

Her boyfriend played by Edmund O’Brien has completely different ideas for Jerri Jordan played by Jayne Mansfield. He plays an entertainment mogul who has produced big hits in the past and made a lot of money, but hasn’t produced one lately and is sort of looking for a big comeback. Fats Murdoch played by O’Brien, also has other business connections, including being involved in organized crime and has even done time in prison. Which is one of the reasons why his career in the entertainment business is in, shall we say recession where he hasn’t been active lately.

Murdoch wants to marry Jerri, but the problem is she isn’t known yet and is worried that marrying someone who is unknown and perhaps seen as a nobody could hurt his image. He knows that she is physically a goddess, a hot baby-face and perhaps even baby girl voiced goddess, with an incredible body is a star in waiting and just needs someone to lead her in the right direction and to get noticed. That is where Tom Miller comes in played by Tom Ewell, whose career is also in a bit of a slump. But who is a talented agent and scout who has made entertainers stars in the past, but hasn’t done anything lately.

Murdoch hires Miller to make Jerri Jordan a star. To show her around town and to get people in the entertainment business to see and know her and to lead her to people who can get her in the entertainment business and start a career for herself. The problem is Jerri doesn’t want to be a star and Miller knows that, but also knows that his gangster boss Murdoch won’t be satisfied with that. Miller is scared of Murdoch and doesn’t want to be cut out or eliminated, but doesn’t want to force Jerri to do something that she doesn’t want to do. Murdoch also has other gangsters after him that want him killed. And Miller and Murdoch help each other with each other’s problems.

The Girl Can’t Help it is certainly not a great movie. Very funny, at times sure and pretty entertaining, but Jayne Mansfield like in real-life is so overwhelmingly adorable, hot and sexy in this movie, that she makes the movie worth watching on her own. She’s also very funny in this movie like she is in most of her movies and Edmund O’Brien and Tom Ewell are very good and funny in this movie as well. This movie also features Julie London, who plays one of Miller’s former clients who became a big star, but dumped him after they get involved. So this is a pretty good movie and Jerry Jordan helps Miller get over Julie London who plays herself in the movie.

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Keith Hughes: What is a Liberal?

Posted on January 14, 2015 by Erik Schneider

Source:The New Democrat

Keith Hughes explained what is a Liberal in basically the first minute of this video and he even said that we all are a Liberal at least in some way. Because we all believe in liberty, equality, freedom, the ability to live our own lives. Those are the things that Liberals believe in and why I’m a Liberal and what liberalism is actually about. And if you want to call me a Classical Liberal, fine but I’m a Liberal because that is what Liberals believe in.

But if you listen to the stereotypes of what Liberals are and what liberalism is about, whether it comes from hyper-partisan right-wingers, the media and people on the Far-Left who have the balls to call themselves Liberals, you would think that liberalism is a democratic form of statism, or just statism in general, but under a different name. That the job of government is not to make sure that everyone can live in freedom, but that everyone is taken care of. That the job of government is to take care of people and even protect them from themselves, both from an economic and personal perspective.

The stereotypes of today’s Liberals is that we are essentially statists and perhaps even Neo-Communists. That individual freedom shouldn’t be the goal, but that what we want is a society where everyone is take care of. Where no one is poor and where no one is too rich, especially when others are struggling. Where no one is able to, or is making bad decisions with their own lives that society as a whole has to pay for.

So a statist today if they are democrats, are essentially Socialists or Social Democrats when it comes to economic policy. A huge welfare state mixed in with private enterprise to finance a welfare state, but are paternalists when it comes to personal issues as well. So people don’t make mistakes with their own lives that again society as a whole has to pay for. That it is the job of government to take care of people both from an economic and personal point of view.

I mention these things, because that is what so many Americans tend to believe when they think of Liberals and liberalism. People who statists essentially, both welfare statists when it comes to the economy and nanny statists when it comes to personal issues. But that is the opposite of what Liberals are and what liberalism is about. Liberals aren’t anti-state, meaning anti-government. We are anti-big government, we don’t want big government running our lives for us. Just to do what we can’t for ourselves as individuals, or can’t do as well.

Liberals believe in freedom and equality and that basically means freedom for everyone. Not that everyone has the same income and material wealth, but that everyone has good opportunities to live in freedom. So Liberals believe in safety net to help people who don’t have the skills to live in freedom because they lack the education needed, to use as an example. But with that public assistance we don’t want government simply taking care of people, which is what Socialists tend to believe in. We want government to help people help themselves so they can live in freedom as well. Things like education, job training and job placement for the less-fortunate.

The idea of a Liberal Utopia is not socialistic where everyone is completely equal, where big government has all the resources it needs to take care of everyone. The Liberal Utopia would be a place where everyone has the freedom to take care of themselves. Because everyone is well-educated and has the skills to take care of themselves and the freedom to live their own lives as long as they aren’t hurting any innocent people. And are living up to the consequences and responsibilities of their own freedom and decision-making.

Keith Hughes: What is a Liberal?

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Foreign Affairs: Matthias Matthijs & Daniel R. Kelemen: ‘Reforms That Will Save The EU From Irrelevance’

Posted on January 13, 2015 by Erik Schneider

EU
Source:The New Democrat

I’m not suggesting that in the short-term the European Union go from essentially a regional United Nations, even though it’s a lot more effective and run a lot better and I would argue a lot more important and perhaps the most important international player in the Western world outside of the United States and the United Kingdom, to a Federal Republic and state. Even though long-term I believe that would be in Europe’s best interest would be as one federal state in Western Europe. Going from Belgium and Portugal in the West over to Poland and Italy in the East, with every other state in between.

The European Union as a Federal Republic would be a superpower economically, militarily, diplomatically and everything else. And the economies in Europe would be much better off as part as this one huge market of three-hundred and fifty-million people or so. Instead of one mid-size market of forty or sixty-million or so, or even smaller depending on the country. But short-term for the EU to be stronger and more relevant, they need to be a little more centralized as far as the Commission and Parliament being in the same European capital and being part of the same organization under the EU.

As well as the EU should be more democratic with a real executive branch lets say that comes under the President of the European Union. Who would be elected by European Union voters. Voters in each EU state, instead of the EU rotating the presidency every few years or so. The people in these states would elect the EU President. And Commission would come under the President, with the President having their own Commission and appointing essentially cabinet members to the Commission, that would need to be approved by the Parliament. Whether the Parliament is bicameral or unicameral.

These reforms would make the EU more relevant and more effective, because the EU under the President and their commission would be able to act and act effectively dealing with issues that effect Europe and have a Parliament. Organizations like a united European Defense Force, that could eventually replace NATO and be a major partner of the Britain, Canada and America would be able to respond to either attacks inside of the EU, or attacks nearby like human rights and military crisis’ nearby, like in Africa or in Arabia like with what we saw in Libya in 2011 or in Syria today.

The United Nations is essentially a joke and not much more than a debating society. But especially if you compare the UN with the EU and that is not what you want the EU to become a place where nothing is essentially done other than debating and critical issues are never addressed. Which is what we saw with Russia in their invasion of Ukraine and with Syria as well. A united EU whether it is a federal state or not with a strong Commission under a President and a strong Parliament, would be able to address these issues in a timely and effective way. Because now you wouldn’t need all the EU members to agree on anything before anything is done.

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