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FOCM Political Discourse
Within FOCM Networking are several sub-groups, one of which is the political group. These “discussions” take place via email and occasionally we have them at this website but we put a password on the discussion group so all can feel free to state their opinion in private. So to give you an idea of what the FOCM political email discussions can look like, here’s a recent exchange, with all names removed:
FOCM Political Member A
All this would all be so much funnier if it wasn’t so serious! He is the biggest moron. All smoke and mirrors as far as his “success” and the biggest liar in the public eye. He makes the others look like Honest Abe! And all his supporters are proof of the complete failure of the American educational system!
Hillary 2016!
FOCM Political Member D:
Good Lord, no to Hillary – she’ll hurt the drug companies which will hurt my livelihood and that’s the only thing you should be concerned about – me! Although I actually have no idea what Trump will do.
What worries me about Hillary is what America would look like in 4 years (if she has a Democratic Congress) –
Long lines at men’s rooms due to a shortage of them – having to convert some to Men who are transitioning to Women; Women who are transitioning to Men, Now Men were Women, Now Women were Men (what about the international symbols for such bathrooms – oy vey!)
Availability of abortions for up to the day before birth
Holding down pharma company profits – breaking one of America’s best industries; stifling innovation
The same access to healthcare for everyone (lowering the quality and increasing the price)
Socialized Medicine (see above – lower quality, longer wait times)
Taxing caucausians to pay remunerations to descendants of slaves and Native Americans
Only Liberal free speech allowed
FOCM Political Member B
A Hillary supporter questioning anyone’s educational level makes me chuckle (and throw up in my mouth a little). Honestly, the woman could strangle a kitten on live tv and her supporters would still vote for her and claim she had nothing to do with it.
I honestly don’t get what is to admire. Her hunger for power at all costs? I don’t see her at all as a woman who has forged her own way. I see her as opportunistic at best. As a woman, working mother, wife and veteran, she stands for nothing I hold in esteem. I can abide a buffoon far more easily than an intentional manipulator who seems to have a compulsion for lying.
FOCM Political Member A
Love Kasich. I blame the slimy media that more people don’t know why he’s the best candidate. All they care about is hype and Trump is a media darling. It’s a shame since he is the only qualified Republican.
FOCM Political Member B
But the resounding rationale I hear for supporting her and calling those with differing opinions uneducated is simply that she isn’t as bad as the other guy……followed by dismissive laughter.
Don’t expect any clear reasons beyond that she isn’t Trump. If Trump is no longer in the picture I, like so many others, will be waiting with bated breath to hear about all of her astounding leadership and fight for the common man or woman (with whom she has zero in common).
Trump might not be presidential in demeanor, but you’re right on one thing….he’s showing up the racket for what it is. So is Sanders. Neither of them would have any traction if not for Hillary. Kasich is taking the higher ground in many respects. Cruz has his fair argument to make.
FOCM Political Member A
No one lies more than Trump. And I don’t vote for buffoons.
Hillary 2016!
FOCM Political Member B
No one leaves more ambassadors to die and makes up fake cover stories than Hiilary.
Hillary for prison 2016!
FOCM Political Member A
Trump is a criminal, a narcissist, misogynist, racist, pathological liar, has no plan AT ALL and no idea how to run a country. He’s a complete joke.
Trump for prison 2016!
Hillary for president 2016!
FOCM Political Member C
John Kasich is the one to vote for.
The one good thing Trump has done is release this country from the shackles of PC speech. We are once again free to say what we believe! However he is not presidential material and neither is Hillary.
Why she believes she has the moral authority to demand lower CEO pay when as a multi-millionaire she demands more for a ONE hour speech than the average US CEO makes in a year. Her rationale for charging this much was that she was just doing what previous secretaries of state had done. Given her wealth I see that as nothing more than pure greed on her part. Every day I struggle to understand how she can be worth $30+ million and have only left her secretary of state job 3 years ago…. that’s about $10 million per year…sounds like CEO pay to me. Please, someone, anyone, help me understand what economic added value enterprise she was running for the last three years that justifies that kind of income.
I’d love to read her Wallstreet speech transcripts. Even the Huffington Post thinks she is afraid to release them. But, as with anything else her supporters don’t like, heads go into the sand and fingers get pointed at others to somehow justify it all.
FOCM Political Member B
Hopefully, someone will reply to your question with a logical justification, but I doubt it. A vote for Hillary is a vote for the status quo.
Donald Trump Raw Transcript
From the NY Times comes this interview with Donald Trump and when I read the words to his answers, it’s comical in its lack of substance or content. I know many politicians evade answering questions, but they usually go to a substantive point they want to make, but not Donald.
Donald J. Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, had two telephone interviews with Maggie Haberman and David E. Sanger of The New York Times. Here are some excerpts:
On whether he would be willing for the United States to be the first to use nuclear weapons in a confrontation with adversaries:
“An absolute last step. … I personally think it’s biggest problem the world has, nuclear capability … And the first one to use them, I think that would be a very bad thing. And I will tell you, I would very much not want to be the first one to use them, that I can say.”
What!?! Nuclear capability is the biggest problem the world has? I think he means, countries with nuclear capabilities. And, uh, no shit, the first one to use them would be a very bad thing.
_____
On whether the United States should spy on its allies, and whether President Obama was right to stop the listening in on Angela Merkel’s cellphone:
“You know, I’d rather not say that. I would like to see what they’re doing. Because you know, many countries, I can’t say Germany, but many countries are spying on us. I think that was a great disservice done by Edward Snowden. That I can tell you.”
So, he would like to continue spying on our allies to see what they’re doing?, but he’d rather not say that?
_____
On his standards for using American troops abroad, such as for homeland protection, for humanitarian intervention, or to aid allies:
“It sounds nice to say, ‘I have a blanket standard; here’s what it is.’ No. 1 is the protection of our country, O.K.? That’s always going to be No. 1, by far. That’s by a factor of 100… After that it depends on the country, the region, how friendly they’ve been toward us. You have countries that haven’t been friendly to us that we’re protecting. So it’s how good they’ve been toward us, etc., etc.”
I guess it’s nice that he speaks at the 5th grade level, so that everyone can understand what little substance he says, but these phrases like: “number 1 by far by a factor of 100”.
WHAT?!
_____
On recent American engagement in the Middle East:
“If you would go back 15 years ago, and I’m not saying it was only Obama, it was Obama’s getting out, it was other people’s getting in, but you go back 15 years ago, and I say this: If our presidents would have just gone to the beach and enjoyed the ocean and the sun, we would’ve been much better off in the Middle East, than all of this tremendous death, destruction, and you know, monetary loss.”
HUH?!?
_____
On his recent comments questioning the effectiveness of NATO and its ability to combat terrorism:
“I’ll tell you the problems I have with NATO. No. 1, we pay far too much. … NATO is unfair. … Because it really helps them more so than the United States, and we pay a disproportionate share. Now, I’m a person that – you notice I talk about economics quite a bit, in these military situations, because it is about economics, because we don’t have money anymore because we’ve been taking care of so many people in so many different forms that we don’t have money. … So NATO is something that at the time was excellent. Today, it has to be changed. It has to be changed to include terror. It has to be changed from the standpoint of cost because the United States bears far too much of the cost of NATO.”
I know I may be nitpicking, but the sentences and grammar – ugh: so NATO has to be changed to include terror. What does that mean?
_____
On whether Russia will end up dominating Ukraine:
“Well, unless, unless there is, you know, somewhat of a resurgence frankly from people that are around it. Or they would ask us for help. But they don’t ask us for help. They’re not even asking us for help. They’re literally not even talking about it, and these are the countries that border the Ukraine.”
HUH?
_____
Fast food advertisement parody
stumbled onto this and hadn’t seen it before, funny.
Conference Calls
This is all too funny, yet painfully familiar to anyone who is involved with conference calls with coworkers:
Hardly noticed, cleverly done
So when President Obama met with the Saudi royal family, I noticed the interpreter used by the US was a woman. Knowing how Saudi men and culture repress women’s rights, i thought it was a nice, gentle stick in the eye to the Saudis.
Trump Transcripts are Funny
I’ve now read a couple of interviews or portions of interviews with Donald Trump. Watching and listening to him talk and answer questions is one thing but reading them is different, amazing – kinda and funny. Like other politicians who don’t answer a question – they give an answer to a question they’d rather answer, Trump also doesn’t answer, or well, he kinda answers but with a jibberish statement.
Here’s an example: he was answering a question about the North Carolina new law that includes barring individuals in the state from using public bathrooms that don’t correspond to their biological sex — the one listed on their birth certificate.
“North Carolina did something — it was very strong — and they’re paying a big price,” Mr. Trump said. “And there’s a lot of problems. And I heard — one of the best answers I heard was from a commentator yesterday saying, leave it the way it is, right now.” (okay, see what I mean – what kind of answer is this? leave what the way it is right now; right now it is the law as passed or does he mean before the law)
He added that before the law passed, there had been “very few problems” but now North Carolina is experiencing an exodus of businesses and “strife” from people on both sides of the issue.
“You leave it the way it is,” he said. “There have been very few complaints the way it is.”
“You know, there’s a big move to create new bathrooms,” Mr. Trump said. “Problem with that is for transgender. That would be — first of all, I think that would be discriminatory in a certain way. It would be unbelievably expensive for businesses and for the country. Leave it the way it is.” (Really, there is a big move to create new bathrooms? and how is a “big move to create new bathrooms” a problem for transgender people? How are new bathrooms discriminatory?)
Article on Civility in Arizona
I saw this in the October 19, 2015 issue of The Weekly Standard; written by Cita and Irwin Stelzer. It has to do with the civilized behavior of Arizonans (my home state) as compared to where they moved from.
” We never thought we would find ourselves stocking a pantry in Arizona. But now that Phoenix is our winter base, there we were, on line at the deli counter of a supermarket….. After waiting awhile, we realized we were a take-a-number queue. We … got number 61. … a customer who’d arrived after us, but taken a number promptly, was called, she nodded toward us and told the clerk, “These people were here before me. They just forgot to take a number. So serve them first.”
This reminded them of a trip 40 years earlier to Phoenix and Mr. Stelzer had taken his 10 year old son to a Phoenix Suns game. When Adam came back from getting a hot dog, he said, in amazement: “no one pushed me!”
As they’ve stayed in Phoenix, they’ve encountered “have a nice day”, “have a blessed day” from store clersk and waitresses.
“Disconcerting as it was to us East Coast types, we decided that what we were encountering was civility, and we were noticing it because we were accustomed to its absence in Washington, (DC), a place we had recently fled.”
the ….. are where I shortened their original sentences to make for a shorter post. Where I have quote marks is where I quote their article directly.
Raleigh FOCM Networking Event
So there I was, up in Raleigh, NC again for meetings and a FOCM networking event was organized. The date, June 30, 2015; the location: San Jose Tacos & Tequila in Brier Creek Shops.
San Jose Tacos & Tequila
A big group showed up. Michelle Jacobson, after more than a year on FOCM Membership probationary status, received her Membership Card. And as it turned out, I also had neglected to capture on camera Sarah Meister’s card ceremony. Sarah has been a member in good standing for quite a while and a frequent attendee of events. The first time FOCM event attendee, John Icardi received his card. John and I hadn’t seen each other in quite a while and ran into each other on a plane, I think, or at a conference and reconnected.
In the group photo (L:R): John Icardi, Pippa Wilson, Renee Brown, Peter Payne, Nick Macaulay, Christina Alexander Smith, Mike Markowitz, Gayle Grandinetti Mark Mickunas, Michelle Jacobson, Denee Oakley, Vince Hoefling, Rosina Maar Pavia and event organizer.
June 30, 2015
DIA 2015 Networking
It was a hot few days in June 2015 when FOCM Networking went to Washington, DC for the annual Drug Information Association annual convention. In a stunning, at least to the more seasoned veterans of attending DIA social events, the performer at the ERT and TransPerfect party was Snoop Dogg and Doug E Fresh. I was shocked to see co-workers of mine excited beyond my belief and rushing the stage and singing all the words to his songs!!! These are people I thought were pillars of their communities, respected scientists and project managers and they knew all the words to these songs!!!
Former ICON co-worker Mark Eberhardt got his FOCM Card, Casey Piccirillo who I worked with at YPrime got her card, as did Jennifer Brown in a re-do from an earlier photo (she may have lost her original card). Allen Wooten went to high school with my daughter. The YPrime crew on the last day of DIA were looking surprisingly chipper.
