And we only have to look to this White House

to confirm that.

This is about more than winning an election. The next president is going to have to mend fences worldwide and use diplomacy to win back our friends and allies. No one is going to take a petty, vindictive president seriously.

There are ways to deal with obstructionists and flame throwers in congress, but it needs to be in a statesman like fashion. I don't want another insulting, playground bully president, even if he/she agrees with me. I want my president to act like a president and be an example to my grandchildren.

If the principles and objectives

of the republican party had not been flawed to begin with, it probably wouldn't have morphed into what it is today. For years now, republican politicians have been deceptive and self-serving in their attempt to win at any cost. They did the bidding of powerful special interests, while proclaiming they were the true patriots. They were willing to make false accusations about their opponents of wrong doing that they were often guilty of, all while waving the flag in one hand and the bible in the other.

It is no surprise that such people would devolve into sycophants to a vulgar, corrupt tyrant. They are the kind of people that brutal dictators recruit and use in their quest for power. All their years of self-serving has been turned back against them, revealing who and what they really are. It was only a matter of time.

I guess everyone's experience with Facebook is different

I know some people who have left or have threatened to leave and I do understand why. I've been thinking about why it hasn't affected me the same way. I believe one of the biggest differences is the smartphone. I don't have one, not because I am technology averse, but because at this point in my life, I really have no need for one. Meanwhile, I've watched gatherings of intelligent, personable individuals sitting around staring at their phones when they could be engaged in conversation.

How you use Facebook, what you expect from it, and who you choose to "friend" could affect the overall experience. I accept very few friend requests and I keep my politics primarily in private groups. One is a handful of friends I met at Democratic Underground years ago and another is actually called Democratic Underground. I don't discuss politics in my newsfeed and don't engage with relatives who want to debate politics. I have unfriended or blocked a few friends who's politics I found offensive or racist.

My friends list is well under 100, many are long lost cousins and friends that I would not have found any other way. I have a quote from an Audrey Hepburn movie on my page, "I already know an awful lot of people and until one of them dies I couldn't possibly meet anyone else." Reggie Lampert, Charade. Sadly, some of my friends have passed away and their pages have become sort of a memorial to them.

I spend more time as a rule on Flickr than I do on Facebook, but my Vintage Photos in Color page on Facebook gets far more traffic. Even if I chose to quick using Facebook, I wouldn't want to give up that page, as photography is such a big part of my life right now and I've engaged with a diverse group of people, I'd have never met otherwise. That's long story for another time.

I am not defending Facebook. I wish there was a better alternative for people like me or that Facebook were better regulated, but I don't see it ever going away. So in the meantime, I use it very consciously, do a lot of fact checking, correct false narratives when I find them, and keep any personal identifying information minimal. Being it will probably always be there, it would be better to work to change it through legislation and public pressure, at least from my perspective.

Mark Zuckerberg: Why is Facebook still using Kaspersky Lab?

I am familiar with Kaspersky. I remember hearing Rachel talking about him and I saw Richard Engel interview the former KGB student a couple months ago. Meanwhile, the U.S. government has banned the use of Kaspersky Lab software and the FBI is advising private businesses to discontinue using it. Possibly too little, too late I suppose, considering all that has transpired the past two years.

Today Facebook logged me out, something which has happened on occasion, but this time it would not let me login unless I downloaded the Kaspersky scanner to "clean" my computer. After I screamed "No" to my computer, I did an anti virus scan with my own software. Then I went to Google to see if this was happening to other people as well. It appears this has been happening for over two years, often with very negative consequences, including removing existing anti virus programs.

In order to get into my Facebook account, I had to use my laptop. I am not ready to give up Facebook, as I keep in touch with family and friends there, but I absolutely will not use Kaspersky software on my computer.

Here is the message I received this morning when I tried to login to Facebook:

Let's Check Your Device for Malicious Software

Hi Pat, we're continuously working to keep you account secure. We've noticed that this device may be infected with malicious software. To continue to use Facebook, you can either use other devices or clean this device by downloading the scanner provided by Facebook and Kaspersky Lab.

I did clear my cache and restarted my computer, but still can't get in. Meanwhile, I wonder how much damage has been done throughout the world with this tactic.

New Peer-reviewed Paper's Bold Statement

Okay, some of my pics from Nashua rally yesterday

Rick Santorum, you are a cruel, insensitive SOB

Your children had a stay at home mom, they even were home schooled. Yet you brag about your contribution to welfare reform in the nineties, sending single mothers of very young children back to work.

I was a single mom and for a couple of years I was on welfare. I was sick, had no car, family support, or even a phone, but Rick Santorum would have insisted that I go back to work even though I could not afford childcare. My children did not deserve even one full-time parent because we were poor. I'm trying to picture how I was suppose to take my 3-year-old to a childcare facility in the middle of winter without a car and then find my way to a job that probably didn't pay the most basic expenses.

My children are grown now and they are assets to society, but if people like Santorum had their way, their lives would have been much different. Welfare got us through a couple of really rough years and my children had a parent at home, even though things were difficult in most respects.

Rick Santorum's comments about welfare reform were like a kick in the gut for me this morning. Enduring the hardships of my life were difficult enough, but to have them trivialized by a self-righteous ass like him, is like rubbing salt in the wound. Walk a mile in my shoes Mr. Santorum, even a quarter of a mile you idiot, and then talk to me about welfare reform! When you open your mouth, you make a mockery of my life and you discredit the value of my children. How Christian of you.