Inauguration Swearing-In Ceremonies - Presidents 32 to 44

The term of a president commences at noon (ET) on that day, when the Chief Justice administers the oath to the president. ... The most recent public presidential inauguration ceremony is the swearing in of Donald Trump to begin his four-year term in office on Friday, January 20, 2017. See if you notice how the oath changed over the years.

The Root Of Many Evils!

I saw this being tossed around the internet and thought it was very apropos:

But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
1 Timothy 6:9-10

Go ahead, give it a try!

House Democrat: Obama was "passionate" but wrong on trade!

Jamie Dupree reporting via Twitter...

Trade in Services Agreement - Wikileaks Press release!

WikiLeaks releases today 17 secret documents from the ongoing TISA (Trade In Services Agreement) negotiations which cover the United States, the European Union and 23 other countries including Turkey, Mexico, Canada, Australia, Pakistan, Taiwan & Israel -- which together comprise two-thirds of global GDP. "Services" now account for nearly 80 per cent of the US and EU economies and even in developing countries like Pakistan account for 53 per cent of the economy. While the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has become well known in recent months in the United States, the TISA is the larger component of the strategic TPP-TISA-TTIP 'T-treaty trinity'. All parts of the trinity notably exclude the 'BRICS' countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The release coincides with TISA meetings at the ministerial level at the OECD in Paris today (3–5 June). The 'T-treaty trinity' of TPP-TISA-TTIP is also under consideration for collective 'Fast-Track' authority in Congress this month.

The TISA release today follows the WikiLeaks publication of the secret draft financial services annex of the TISA negotiations on 19 June 2014 showing the aim to further deregulate the financial sector, despite widespread consensus that lack of oversight and regulation was the main cause of the last global financial crisis of 2008. Today's release confirms the ongoing determination to deregulate. Furthermore, standstill clauses will tie the hands of future governments to implement changes in response to changing environment.

Today's release is the largest on secret TISA documents and covers numerous previously undisclosed areas. It contains drafts and annexes on issues such as air traffic, maritime, professional services, e-commerce, delivery services, transparency, domestic regulation, as well as several document on the positions of negotiating parties. WikiLeaks has also published detailed expert analysis of the topics covered in today's release.

Browse the TiSA documents published by WikiLeaks here.

The Other Phobia: Christianophobia

A freedom to choose or privately express your own religion is a trait commonly seen in nearly all developed countries or colonies. Though, there are still areas of the world in which unfair biases still exist which may lead to an intense hatred or avoidance of religions outside of their own. This can even lead to violent outbreaks or unfair treatment of those with opposing viewpoints. Christianophobia deals with the extreme fear of Christians or the Christian faith. While not commonly seen in the United States, this phobia has been fairly predominant throughout the rest of the world.

Symptoms of Christianophobia

There are several ways to spot someone who may be christianophobic. If you or someone you know experience one of the following viewpoints, consider seeking professional therapy or external help in dealing with the situation:

• Conflicting religious views that lead to an intolerance of other religions outside of their own.
• An irrational fear that Christians are conforming together to take over the majority of the world.
• A fear that if Christians are not “stopped” they will do the same to their own religion.
• Avoidance of Christians
• Radically violent or complete intolerance of the Christian religion.

Read the Full Page: Christianophobia – Symptoms and Facts about Christianophobia
AllAboutCounseling.com

Whose Eyes Do You Trust - Carly Fiorina Or Hillary Clinton?

We Trust Brown Eyed People More Than Blue - Except...

People view brown-eyed faces as more trustworthy than those with blue eyes- unless the blue eyes belong to a man with a broad face, according to a new paper in PLOS ONE.

The psychologists (and an anthropologists) attempt to answer a big question: What makes us think a person's face looks trustworthy?

To find out, they asked college students (142 females and 98 males) to rate facial photographs of 40 female and 40 male students and rate them for perceived trustworthiness based on two features: eye color and face shape.  The 80 photos were rated for trustworthiness (dominance/attractiveness) on a ten-point scale where 1 means very trustworthy and 10 very untrustworthy.

A significant number of participants found brown-eyed faces more trustworthy than blue-eyed, whether the faces were male or female. More rounded male faces, with bigger mouths and larger chins, were perceived as more trustworthy than narrow ones, but the shape of a female face did not have much effect on how trustworthy it appeared to the respondents. 

Source: http://www.science20.com/news_articles/we_trust_brown_eyed_people_more_blue_except-100646#ixzz3bYWxJFxZ

The 26 Unemployment Week Limit!

Perusing the daily news this morning I saw the headline "40 percent of unemployed have quit looking for jobs". Reminding myself of my own employment roller coaster over the past few years, this naturally resonated with me....but not in the way you might expect. I am asking myself how can so many people be out of work? There are plenty of jobs out there. In fact, my current job was birthed out of time spent on Craigslist, of all places. Note: There are many online "job shoppers" out there and I'm sure some are good, but many send you a slew of useless junk email, each and every hour. For me Craigslist connected me with people who were actually desperate for...employees. Sure, you have to weed through 90% spam and other worthlessness, but every once in a while you can really strike employment gold.

So here's the rub as I see it. Many people today are not so much unemployed as they are under-employed. Many folks simply do not want to "condescend" to take a job which is beneath their dignity or whatever the excuse. Eventually you have to do what you have to do for your family. There should be little excuse to reach the 26 week limit of unemployment compensation without finding something, unless you are sick or injured. Would you believe that some folks with chronic illnesses actually continue to work because they have to? Then there are others who stay on the unemployment doll waiting for a job to become available in the field they have been trained in only to be met with disappointment 26 weeks later. I cannot comprehend how people can do this, not with all the local and nationwide jobs I see on Craigslist.

If the three of you who read this happen to be looking for work, don't give up. Consider any job that will help pay the bills and get you through this temporary season. Things will eventually turn around. They always do.

Ode to Rush...the rock band!

In The Garden a Working Man toils in the shadows of the Available Light. Our life is more than a Dreamline when we Test for Echo at Lakeside Park. I grew up a cast out within the Subdivisions, a misunderstood misfit, a Natural Science nerd living in a La Villa Strangiato. Escape! Escape! My Red Barchetta wisk me away to Fly By Night up the mountain road where I would park and stare at Cygnus X-1 in the sky. As The Camera Eye watches, I dance to Different Strings. Their music has become Second Nature and a Prime Mover in my life. My Mission is to see this band one more time. The concert hall will be my Xanadu, when the show-lights go dark I will bask in the Afterimage and My Body Electric will hum. Lessons to those who may see my Tears and think I am Losing It, they are not from Scars of pain, but from an air of Joi De virve, music. Their music, it lies Closer To The Heart than any other. Part Grand Design with a dash of Bravado and always pure Chemistry. Their Mystic Rhythms beat in my soul like the pulse in my Vital Signs.

A Far Cry from what the Neurotica called them, a Something For Nothing band going nowhere. I (we) knew better. It has been a Ghost Of A Chance that this band, who placed its Secret Touch on my heart at 15 and still sends chills through my 50-year-old body continues, stronger. What a Sweet Miracle! My love of this band has been a Marathon and In The End I dream that Time Stands Still this tour. And as the Caravan of cars leaves the stadium, I will be filled with joy as it has been one more night of Making Memories. We Hold On to Hope and put on our Bravest Face while we Resist the thought this tour is a Farewell to Kings. But if it is so, I Wish Them Well.