Title Change & Anomininity

I have shortened the name of the blog from "Dave (Xieon) Harkins Politics" to "Xieon Politics". add

In doing so I would like to address the reason for doing so, as well as the issues of anonymity in the blog-o-sphere. I do not intend this to be an article format style post, nor do I intend to have it be a lengthy post.

Throughout the blog-o-sphere, as well the entire internet - from shady to legitimate - anonymity is both a sought out luxury and a cause for concern. In the early days of the internet, and much more so today, once something has been posted online it can never ultimately be removed.

From images, to words, whatever goes out over our increasingly fast means of communication can never be taken back.

With that in mind, people seek to hide behind screen names, or avatars, in order to post to the internet without having that content being linked to themselves "IRL" or "in real life". From bullying peers, bad-mouthing bosses, or illegal activity unless an average person triggers a F.B.I. suspected terrorism alert, chances are they will get away, with whatever they were trying to do, without anyone knowing it was them.

I speak of this because in changing the title of my blog I do NOT want to be seen as trying to add some level of anonymity to my blog. My full name has always been posted to this blog, and I will continue to list it in my contact information. Additionally, the name Xieon, is a name that I "coined" and with the exceptions of some rare internet occurrences, Xieon is often synonymous with myself.

I may be wrong in what I say, and I may change my views later down the line, however, I choose to utilize my First Amendment right, and express my thoughts. Doing this, as I have with this blog, may certainly have cost myself job positions, and altered somes perception of myself, however, I knew those risks when CHOOSING to not hide behind a name, but instead put myself on the line while expressing my thoughts, beliefs, ideas, or emotions.

New Blog
I have decided that I am going to attempt to run another blog, that will deal with different topics, aside from the political arena.

For anyone interested, the blog can be found here.

As always, anonymously - Dave (Xieon) Harkins

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2010 Midterm Elections - pollster.com - Republican Senate?

For this article I am going to use the pollster.com 2010 Senate Election map.

A good deal of political pundits, especially those in the center, or center left, understood that the Democrats would lose a few seats, however, they were not expecting the massive force accompanying the tea-party.

Many political scientists believed that the Republican party was in the mist of a civil war, promting statments such as,

"A battle for the Planet GOP is currently underway, pitting the RINOs against the EIPOs" - War Room, Salon.com

For those who don't know a R.I.N.O. (rino) stands for Republican in name only. This group consists of those who change their party affiliation to get elected, such as Arlen Specter, or Republicans who do not vote for and address the Republican parties ideology.

A E.I.P.O. (eipo) stands for electable in primaries only. This group of people consists of those who often have strong Republican and Conservative believes, and often are affiliated with the tea-party movement. These qualities are no bad in themselves, however, when it comes to a general election pundits believe that they are too far right, or the Democrats will pull up some information, often skewed, and damage the campaign. Political scientists and pundits believe that the eipos are the new generation of the Republican party, and although excitement was gained in the primary fighting against a weak Republican they lack the skill to beat a strong Democrat.

I could not disagree more with the idea that Republicans elected a bunch of eipo's and are committing political suicide. Many political analyst fail to give credit to the massive force behind the "tea-party" movement. The biggest mistake they make is:

The TEA-PARTY movement is NOT a bus, it's NOT a town-hall, its NOT grass-roots, it IS A STATE OF MIND..

The tea party movement consists of so many people, and factors. Simply going through my inbox, I have ton's of e-mails about tea-party events, bus stops, information about candidates, how to get started,  etc. This is the movement that I believe will cause a major win for Republicans, and I believe that they will take back both houses of Congress, and several Governor positions.
  
Finally to election analysis:

According to this weeks data (needs to be updated):

Republican guarenteed: 47
Democrat Guaranteed: 47
Toss Up: 4
Other: 2 (I counted 3 other states, there are not 51 states, but I'll go with it)



Toss Up State /                Lead             / Voted in 2008
Illinois                            Rep + 1          Dem +23.4
Nevada                           Dem + 1        N/A
Washington                    Dem + 3        N/A
West Virginia                 Rep _2           Dem +20.6

Other                                Lead             Voted in 2008
Alaska                            Rep +6           Dem +4.4
Colorado                        Rep +6           Dem +11.4
Missouri                        Rep +7           N/A

My State
Connecticut                   Dem +3      


First let me start off with Connecticut. I believe that there is a ton of momentum behind McMahon, and assuming she can keep this up, and continue to expose herself as fiscally responsible, and showing ad's of her opponent lying, she should win. This would give Rep 48 / Dem 46

Other States -
Alaska: I think Alaska is going to go Republican. Regardless of what happens they still like Sarah Palin, she still brought some spotlight to Alaska, and she'll always bee the home-town girl. They only just managed to vote by 4 points in 08, and with a +6 point lead, I think they will win, if there is good voter turnout.  Rep 49 / Dem 45

I have not done a great deal of research but I believe that Colorado can maintain it's lead and make it Rep 50 / Dem 44

Nevada is a great state to watch, getting rid of Reid would be excellent, we need someone fresh. It's only a 1 point difference. People need to get active in Nevada, the tea-party express certainly should stop here. Over 70% of people disapprove of the Congress, that needs to be the selling point. Don't go after Reid, but Congress, then link them together and done.

There is still 4 weeks left until the election, and until more is known snout the other states I'm going to skip those states for now.

Ultimately the Republicans don't need 51 votes, because every vote away from the Democrats, or more importantly the liberals, is a great victory.
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CNN's Rick Sanchez Ironically Fired for Bigot Comment

CNN's Rick Sanchez has been fired from CNN after making some inappropriate comments. Exactky what did Sanchez do? He called "The Daily Show" host John Stewart a bigot.

 Sanchez pointed to Stewart as an example, calling The Daily Show host a "bigot" and alleging that he only surrounds himself with people like him. "He can't relate to a guy like me," Sanchez said. "He can't relate to somebody who grew up poor."(1)

The irony of this situation is not missed. If anyone knows about being a bigot then Sanchez is the man for the job.


Rick Sanchez has a far-left view, and is particularly a reverse racist. Sanchez believes that average white American is a racist, and doesn't hide his views.


"Rick Sanchez is no longer with the company. We thank Rick for his years of service and we wish him well" is all the media giant had to say about Sanchez in a recent statement. (2)


The transcript of the radio show, which garnered this controversy, can be found here.


Hopefully no one misses the great irony here !



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(1): http://www.tvguide.com/News/CNN-Rick-Sanchez-1023917.aspx
(2): http://tinyurl.com/3xxj5oe
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Massachusetts: Cahill's runnig mate drops out - Cahill remains.

Tim Cahill(I) has proven to be quite the stubborn person. From claims of tax evasion, to claims of misuse of funds regarding the Massachusetts Lottery for campaign purposes, and now in the latest blatantly obvious sign Cahill needs to drop out of the race - his running mate has dropped out, and endorsed his opponent.

Today Cahill's running mate dropped out of the race for the Governor of Massachusetts, with only a month before the November'10 elections. He not only dropped out, but has now put his support behind Charlie Baker (R).


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Obama administration the most necessary and influential presidency of this generation.

Obama administration the most necessary and influential presidency of this generation.

For those who have read, or know of, my views the above statement may come as a complete shock, surely it must be satirical commentary based upon the inherent failings of the Obama Administration. While I could easily write wit filled article on that subject, this is not satire, but truth.

The Obama Administration very well may, and it's likely-hood is rapidly increasing, both the most influential and necessary administration for this current generation.

I will focus on three words from the last sentence throughout this piece, of which I chose carefully and specifically; influential, necessary, and generation. Along with a theme stemming from a question I recently was asked  

Which is more important, actual experiences, or the memories that remain when the experiences  are over?
  

Influential:  There is a lot of disdain for the Obama Administration and rightfully so, the policies have led the country far from where our founding fathers would've imagine, however, because of said policies a political force has been awoken from the sleeping electorate. A mass of people who never attended a town hall meeting, or written a political blog, an entire "tea-party" movement arose because of this administration. Had the administration been more passive, and more close to center, it is unlikely that such events would've taken place. Some may argue that would be much better, we would be in better shape, however, there eventually would come another day, with another politician, who would be equally or more at odds with the American public than Obama. Which leads into generation:

Generation: If war is inevitable, it is only the selfish who say why fight today when we can fight tommorow instead. We should be thankful that the Obama Administration came during this time, for it is us who will have to fight on the front lines, today, in hopes that our children will have a better tomorrow.

Unfortunately there will be those of us who will suffer the consequences of the administrations policies, however, we are a nation that has never been afraid of sacrifice. We were founded by a group of men who believe that through their own personal sacrifice, they would create something that would enrich the lives of countless generations. I am personally happy that I have to deal with the Obama administration, that I have to fight this political war, as we all should be, for although our generation may be lost, we must look to the future, we musn't be selfish.

Necessary: Similar to influential, in the fact that we needed something to wake us up from the political daze we've been experiencing, but by definition influence means that we choose to rise up in face of the circumstances. What was necessary was the pains that we have felt, the anger, the outrage. The fact that money is being spent in outrageous ways when we give our sweat, blood, and tears to earn it, only to have it sent god knows where. The fact that our military is being disgraced by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, that fact that our president resembles more of a dictator than a representative for the people.

These pains I believe have been the greatest caused by any administration. For in the past there have been political blunders, only to be forgotten, and as the saying goes "those who don't remember the past are doomed to repeat it", and relived. However it is necessary that we face such extraordinary pains at the hands of our own elected leader for long after the experience fade, the memories will remain.

The Obama Administration has caused the necessary pains upon the people of the United States, which was the influence leading to the tipping point, of which this generation may suffer, but we will not allow future ones to endure what we were forced to. Long after this administration is gone, the memories will linger, and the American people will remember what led them down this road, and won't be so quick, or blind, to allow it to happen again.
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PlzSqueeze

Normally I would write articles only relating to politics, but in lieu of my recent hiatus from commentary, and wanting to write an article that has more importance, especially directly, than the more than often obfuscated from reality politics - in essence something that is not just an opinion, but a direct call to arms to help save countless lifes.

The PlzSquuze project is a project that originated from DeviantArt, and what initally started as a joke, has turned into a great cause to spread awareness and shock some sense into people. It aims to spread awareness about breast cancer.

I spent a great deal of time trying to find a quote that best illustrates this project, and although I am not fully satisfied I have decided to go with the following:

“Most people have seen worse things in private than they pretend to be shocked at in public” ~ Edgar Watson Howe

The reason for this quote is because the purpose of the project is to create a mosaic of people squeezing their breasts. It is both satirical and serious at the same time, and perhaps that is the medium needed to get peoples attention.

Everyone see's them self naked, everyone touches them self in some way every day, and these are occurrences that we go about routinely without ever putting much thought into them. In our ever increasing busy lives, some people find 5 seconds hard to come by, and some thing that they possibly will not be affected, or choose to simply ignore those thoughts that arn't pleasant, however, find one person who has lost someone breast cancer, or find one person who has breast cancer, and ask them what they wouldn't give to turn back time and "PlzSqueeze" for just 5 seconds.

There have been numerous ad campaigns designed at spreading awareness, but sadly both men and women are developing this disease that is almost completely curable if detected early at a staggering rate, therefor I come back to the initial quote.

Most people are not shocked to think about their own bodies, or have negative connotations about touching themselves, when in the privacy of their own home, however, the sociital norm has become that images of people squeezing their breasts would be controversial, and that is exactly the point.

PlzSqueeze is not pornographic in any nature, and pictures of men, women, black, white, of all creeds and colors, squeezing their breasts are being made into a mosaic, with the hopes that, and pardon my language, "Did you see the picture of all those people squeezing their tits", and maybe curiosity gets the better of someone and they check it out, and the more controversial the faster it spreads.

Long gone are the days of text only ad's in women only magazines, pink ribbions are great, but the rate of people waking up compared to the rate this disease is outstounding.

So if the please squeeze campaign shocks anyone, offends anyone, makes anybody think twice about it, or burns an image in their mind - GOOD, because then maybe they will take the 5 seconds to "PlzSqueeze" and help prevent breast cancer.

The original deviantart article can be found here:

A link to an example of 24 participants showing what this project is about is located here:

and of course, I wouldn't expect others to do something I myself would not do:

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Forgive my lack of posting.

Although I have clearly have had injuries over the past several months the fact that both the quality, and the quantity of my posts and columns have decreased is discouraging.

I have strong convictions in the beliefs I fight to defend, and the views I put forth on this blog, and while I am certainly not one of the most influential people, it is the believe that one person can make a difference that sets the course of our country of which I must continue to believe in, and in turn continue to publish pieces.

I feel ashamed that I have no kept as up to date with the current political scene, as I have no excuse for doing so, however, I can assure, for those who actually do read my words that I will continue to fight, use our nation's strongest weapon, the pen, and both the quanity and quality of my works will drastically increase.

Thank you to anyone who has taken the time to read what I've written, those who agree, and those who believe that through spirited debate the best results are yielded.
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