"The Global Consciousness Project, also known as the EGG Project, is an international multidisciplinary collaboration of scientists, engineers, artists and others continuously collecting data from a global network of physical random number generators located in 65 host sites worldwide. The archive contains over 10 years of random data in parallel sequences of synchronized 200-bit trials every second."
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, October 25, 2020
If you have family and friends whom reside in Mississippi, the following will be of particular interest to you.
If not, it will still be of significant interest. We’ll explain why momentarily.
First, some background.
This year, Mississippians will have the opportunity to vote on whether, or not, they want to avail themselves, their loved ones, and friends, of the opportunity to use cannabis to treat the symptoms of their diseases.
The bill which would bring Medical Marijuana to Mississippi is called Initiative 65. The bill is fully written, and is not a mere hollow proposal. Establishing a complete infrastructure, Initiative 65 thoroughly lays out the plans by and through which cannabis would become available to medically qualifying Mississippians, including the regulatory agency and mechanism, the taxation structure, prescriptive authority, distributive network, farming and production facilities, product safety testing mandates, and more.
Mississippi, like some other states, has a public initiative process by and through which citizens have the ability to facilitate legislative action outside of their legislature. It is a direct type of democratic involvement, which for them is ensconced in their State Constitution. The Mississippi Secretary of State’s website writes explicitly that, “The Mississippi initiative law affords voters an avenue for addressing important constitutional issues which the State Legislature does not.”
The site further references the qualifying conditions that must be met in order for any prospective measure to be placed on the ballot – and win – by stating that,
“for an initiative measure to be placed on the ballot, a minimum of 106,190 certified signatures must be gathered with at least 21,238 certified signatures from each of the five congressional districts as they existed in the year 2000. Signatures must be certified by county circuit clerks. A completed petition is filed with the Secretary of State’s Office, along with a $500 filing fee. Not only must an initiative receive a majority of the total votes cast for that particular initiative, it must also receive more than 40% of the total votes cast in that election.”
Suffice it to say, the state law establishes a very high standard which prospective initiative measures must meet in order for them to be placed on the ballot, and then to pass. Whereas in most other states, a simple majority is often all that’s required for any candidate or measure to win, or to pass, in Mississippi, that state’s Initiative Law requires that IN ADDITION TO meeting all other qualifying conditions, it must be voted upon by AT LEAST 40.1% of all voters/ballots cast.
For purposes of illustration – if there are 100 TOTAL voters/ballots cast in an election, and only 30 out of the 100 voters voted on the measure (called an “undervote,” a condition in which all voters do not bother to vote on a particular race or measure), and voted for it to pass, and the nay votes were -0- (zero), despite the 30-0 victory margin, it will NOT pass, because it did NOT “receive more than 40% of the total votes cast in that election.”
Again, despite the fact that more voters voted FOR the measure to pass, than voted against it (which in this example would be zero -0-), or did NOT vote upon it, the measure still would not be considered to have passed.
Comprised of 76 diverse individuals from a variety of backgrounds including Physicians, Nurse Practitioners and Professors, Registered Nurses, Republican and Democratic politicians, Party Executive Committee members, State Legislators, and Local Officials from both major parties, Ministers, retired Military Service members, Business Owners and Executives, District Attorneys, retired Law Enforcement Officers, and more, they are the members of the steering committee which are guiding the measure called Initiative 65 which, if approved by voters, would establish a Medical Marijuana Law in Mississippi.
Initiative 65 is a well-though-out bill, one which is thoroughly considered, and the bill for the prospective measure contains practically every aspect of consideration which would be involved in establishing an entire infrastructure for Medical Marijuana.
Over the years, in over 20 attempts, the state’s legislators quashed every effort to help the people, and not once did they ever Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, October 24, 2020
When in the history of our nation have you EVER heard of ANY President denigrating the FBI and other agencies of the United States government – for ANY reason whatsoever?
So, what’s the endgame for the far right?
Total anarchy & chaos, or are they actually going for an authoritarian state?
What’s the difference between “Big Government” and autocracy?
The derisive term “big government” is one used by anti-government anarchists, even though they’d NEVER call themselves that. But then again, White Supremacists don’t call themselves anti-Constitutional terrorists, either.
Frankly, I have long maintained that, contrary to the numerous assertions we’ve heard spouted, our government is NOT “too big,” but rather is TOO SMALL to be either effective, or efficient.
Think of it in restaurant terms.
Go to a 5-star Michelin restaurant, and you’d expect to find only one cook, and one wait staff… right?
OF COURSE NOT!
For such a fine dining experience, with a patronage seating of 100 or so (minus bar space), it would be REASONABLE to have AT LEAST 25, or likely even more, staff of all kinds – ranging from maître d’hôtel, to sous chef, to chef de cuisine, to line cooks, kitchen porters, to wait staff, to sommelier, to bus staff, dishwashers, and others – including bartenders, runners, housekeepers, and more.
The beginning of America’s decline began in earnest with Ronald Reagan, who, in his grandfatherly-like tones, and “aw, shucks” disarming humor, won American’s hearts, and their minds followed. That included Democrats who voted for him in almost unprecedented numbers over incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter who introduced America to Energy Independence, Energy Conservation, Renewable Energy, and placed solar collectors/solar hot water heater panels atop the White House… which were promptly removed by the Reagan administration.
In his first Inaugural Address, “the Great Communicator,” as he was monikered, stated bluntly that “government is the problem.” It never occurred to anyone that if government was the problem, the obvious solution that problem is the elimination of it. And that’s precisely what he and the GOP set out to do. But it wouldn’t be called treason.
Of course, as a VERY skilled orator, having traveled across America on GE’s dime years earlier, he frequently gave talks that were very much sympathetic to BIG BUSINESS interests, all couched in patriotic language.
With his blessing, and encouragement, and the insidiousness of Newt Gingrich of Georgia as Speaker of the House, and their misguided fallacious “Contract With America” the GOP began to Read the rest of this entry »
By Benjamin Weiser, Alan Feuer, Amy Julia Harris
22 October 2020
Ms. Maxwell, who fought to keep the deposition secret, repeatedly denied that she helped Jeffrey Epstein recruit and sexually abuse teenage girls.
Ghislaine Maxwell is embraced by Jeffrey Epstein
For years, Ghislaine Maxwell has been a central but silent figure in the scandal involving Jeffrey Epstein’s history of abusing teenage girls.
On Thursday, however, Ms. Maxwell offered her fullest response yet to the swirl of claims surrounding Mr. Epstein as a four-year-old deposition was released. In it, she put up a wall of evasions and denials.
Over and over again in the 418-page deposition, Ms. Maxwell, 58, rejected accusations of wrongdoing. She denied that she had recruited minors to give Mr. Epstein sexual massages. She denied that she knew he was abusing girls and young women. She denied having engaged in sexual acts herself with underage people.
“I can’t think of anything I have done that is illegal,” she said.
At one point, Ms. Maxwell was asked more than a dozen times if she believed that Mr. Epstein had abused any minors — and each time she failed to answer. At another point, she parried inquiries about a laundry basket of sex toys, telling the lawyer asking questions, “I need you to define a sex toy.”
Eventually, Ms. Maxwell became so frustrated that she suddenly erupted into a “physical outburst” and knocked the court reporter’s computer off the conference room table, according to a separate document released with her deposition. She later apologized for her behavior, the deposition said.
As Mr. Epstein’s former romantic partner, Ms. Maxwell became the focus of a federal investigation into his sex-trafficking network after his suicide in jail last year at age 66. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have charged her with conspiring with Mr. Epstein, a financier, in his abuse of minors. As his closest associate, she is believed to have extensive information about him and others who might have been involved.
But her deposition left unanswered the question of who that might be: Nearly all of the names contained within it — except her own and Mr. Epstein’s — were redacted.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, October 22, 2020
It’s a good thing that American Presidents don’t nominate weirdos or extremists for the Supreme Court.
Amy Coney Barrett as Hannibal Lector, the psychotic, psychopathic weirdo in the movie series “Silence of the Lambs.”
People who have 7 kids – adopted, or not – are certainly outside the norm.
As is forbidding the use of birth control – and that’s almost exclusively a religious matter.
And now that businesses can have religion, which god do they worship – Mammon? Was it the Commerce Clause that Jesus died for? Or, was it people?
But after all, “businesses are people, my friend.”
And since money is free speech, what’s next?
To be frank, being outside the norm is not illegal in the United States.
It’s not illegal to be a weirdo.
Goodness knows, there are plenty of them in all 50 states.
Belonging to a weird religious cult shouldn’t disqualify one for service – at least according to the Constitution, which has a renown “no religious test” clause.
I mean, we could have, and there is no legal compunction forbidding, Moonies to serve us in our government – any government, federal, state, or local – and, that’s perfectly A-okay according to the Constitution – as it should be.
People who believe the Earth is flat could serve us in government – and while there’s not a “no scientific test” clause in our Constitution, I would imagine that most reasonable people would agree that, like the Moonies, those who believe the Earth is flat are weirdos, and extremists.
People who believe in alchemy – the fraudulent and disproven notion that gold can be made from lead, various ores, or things that do not contain elemental gold – could be elected, or appointed, and serve us in our government.
Why, even those who have belonged to the Ku Klux Klan have served on the Supreme Court – Hugo Black, an Alabamian.
And the virulently infamous racist George C. Wallace was elected as Alabama’s governor FOUR times.
Revealed: Ex-members of Amy Coney Barrett faith group tell of trauma and sexual abuse
by Stephanie Kirchgaessner, in Washington, D.C.
Wednesday 21 Oct 2020, 0500 EDT
Last modified on Wednesday 21 Oct 2020, 2337 EDT
Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the supreme court has prompted former members of her secretive faith group, the People of Praise, to come forward and share stories about emotional trauma and – in at least one case – sexual abuse they claim to have suffered at the hands of members of the Christian group.
In the wake of the allegations, the Guardian has learned that the charismatic Christian organization, which is based in Indiana, has hired the law firm of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan to conduct an “independent investigation” into sexual abuse claims on behalf of People of Praise.
The historic sexual abuse allegations and claims of emotional trauma do not pertain specifically to Barrett, who has been a lifelong member of the charismatic group, or her family.
But some former members who spoke to the Guardian said they were deeply concerned that too little was understood about the “community” of People of Praise ahead of Barrett’s expected confirmation by the Senate next week, after which she will hold the seat formerly held by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Two people familiar with the matter say that more than two dozen former members of the faith group, many of whom say they felt “triggered” by Barrett’s nomination, are participating in a support group to discuss how the faith group affected their lives.
“The basic premise of everything at the People of Praise was that the devil controlled everything outside of the community, and you were ‘walking out from under the umbrella of protection’ if you ever left,” said one former member who called herself Esther, who had to join the group as a child but then left the organization. “I was OK with it being in a tiny little corner of Indiana, because a lot of weird stuff happens in tiny little corners in this country. But it’s just unfathomable to me – I can’t even explain just how unfathomable it is – that you would have a supreme court justice who is a card-carrying member of this community.”
Barrett was not asked about her involvement in People of Praise during her confirmation hearings last week, and has never included her involvement with the group in Senate disclosure forms, but has in the past emphasized that her religious faith as a devout Catholic would not interfere with her impartiality.
People of Praise is rooted in the rise of charismatic Christian communities in the late 1960s and 1970s, which Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, October 21, 2020
Amy Coney Barrett before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary for her nomination to the United States Supreme Court
Much has been made in recent days about Judge Amy Coney Barrett, the President’s nominee to fill the vacancy on the United States Supreme Court created by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Barrett has her critics. I am one. But there are other criticisms, including of the rushed process, which I too, hold. Rushed things hardly ever have good results.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has indicated that the full Senate will most likely have a vote on Judge Barrett on Monday, 26 October 2020 – a mere 31 days since her nomination on 26 September 2020. In stark contrast, her initial nomination to the Federal judiciary took 5 months 24 days.
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has published a paper entitled “Supreme Court Appointment Process: President’s Selection of a Nominee,” (R44235) first published on October 19, 2015, and updated periodically, and most recently on September 28, 2020, which answers some essentially basic questions about the nomination process, and provides background, and historical overview for the same. The “CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress.”
Regarding Judge Barrett’s Judicial “style” which she and others call “textualism,” and or “originalism,” it seems to me to be a rather bizarre way to think of the document which forms the foundation of our government, which has endured since it was written and ratified in the late 1700’s. Doubtless, the Founders, and those alive then could not begin to conceive of plucking stardust from an asteroid (which NASA recently did) to analyze, communicating instantaneously with someone on the opposite side of the globe using video teleconferencing on a hand-held device, traveling faster than the speed of sound, splitting the atom, and using laser light to communicate, so why would we begin to imagine that we should adhere to some arbitrary, or even capricious standard to interpret what it means to, or for us, today?
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot expressed it best in this brief story, why “originalism” and “textualism” are misguided rules.
CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she is preparing for when Amy Coney Barrett takes her seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. She was asked to share her thoughts Tuesday on the judge and minced no words.
Mayor Lightfoot was first asked if she views the U.S. Constitution as Judge Barrett does, as an “originalist.”
Originalists firmly believe all statements in the U.S. Constitution must be strictly interpreted based on the original understanding at the time the Constitution was adopted. They do not believe in the concept of a “Living Constitution” that can be interpreted in the context of current times.
“You ask a gay, black woman if she is an originalist? No, ma’am, I am not,” Lightfoot laughed.
“That the Constitution didn’t consider me a person in any way, shape or form because I’m a woman, because I’m black, because I’m gay? I am not an originalist. I believe in the Constitution. I believe that it is a document that the founders intended to evolve and what they did was set the framework for how our country was going to be different from any other.”
“But originalists say that, ‘Let’s go back to 1776 and whatever was there in the original language, that’s it.’ That language excluded, now, over 50 percent of the country. So, no I’m not an originalist.”
Mayor Lightfoot said she’s deeply worried about some of Judge Barrett’s stated views, for instance, being against gay marriage.
“I deeply worry about this woman’s stated views. She’s on the record on a number of different things, not the least of which is thinking that gay marriage is something that shouldn’t be countenanced. And she’s got soulmates in Justice Thomas and others, who think that the decision by the Supreme Court…should somehow be rolled back,” Lightfoot said.
“What should I tell my daughter — that somehow now my wife and I are no longer married? That we’re no longer legitimately recognized in the eyes of the law? That is dangerous, dangerous territory. And what about a woman’s right to choose? We’re gonna keep re-litigating this issue, and we’re gonna make abortion illegal, as Amy Coney Barrett thinks it should be?”
The Mayor also called Republicans “hypocrites” for pushing the Barrett nomination when they put off taking up the Merrick Garland nomination by President Obama.
“The hypocrisy is something that is a bitter pill for me to swallow,” Lightfoot said.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, October 21, 2020
To much chagrin, and outcry of many long-time WordPress users, the company unilaterally decided to switch to a “block editor.”
It has not gone over well.
Run atop JavaScript, “Gutenberg,” as it’s called, runs entirely in the web browser, according to the company.
The longtime, stable editor built using the WYSIWYG HTML editor TinyMCE which parlayed WordPress into a power player and preferred “provider” in the web design world, has come close to being abandoned, in lieu of something touted as “new and improved!”
It is not, and anything but.
The rollout was unceremonious.
It was almost as bad as a violently forced kiss on a first date – or, maybe even worse.
If some of the technical jargon is beyond you, not to worry, we’ll do our best to explain how this is not only applicable to you, but to all of their customer base – including the no-cost gratis accounts hosted on WordPress dot com, such as this site – and how they could have done better, and apparently, have taken a lesson from, at least for the time being.
First is Customer Service.
WordPress has been a pretty good company and enthusiastic member of the tech community, and has definitely found their niche as the practical backbone of the web design world insofar as a significant portion of the world’s major websites – some which you would immediately recognize were I to name them (Microsoft, the White House official site, the UK National Archives, Sony Music, UPS (United Parcel Service), Target, The New York Times, The Walt Disney Company, Tribune Media, Vivendi {a French multimedia company}, Toyota, the official site of the government of Sweden, Wired, Variety, Best Buy, Xerox, Etsy, Home Depot, Fortune, The New Yorker, Reuters, Skype, Yelp, Chicago Sun-Times, People, IBM, GoDaddy, etc.) – and comprise at least 37.6% of ALL websites, while 62% of the fastest growing companies do so.
WordPress has become a “Content Management System” (not to be confused with CMS – the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services of the U.S. government), which sounds all nice and knowledgeable, even “professional” – use of acronyms and abbreviations make it seem to others like you’re sophisticated. However, being plain-spoken is more admired, and reaches more people than being a jargon-using weisenheimer technogeek.
To date, WordPress has been responsive to the needs of their customers insofar as creating a usable, workable product, which is fully scalable to comport to the specific needs of each individual user. Whether BIG or small, WordPress had been responsive.
Next, is ease of use.
Artist’s rendition of what it might have looked like in Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press workshop.
WordPress’ learning curve has been short and shallow. Having emerged from the initial fray of bloggers, WordPress has emerged the clear winner. That includes among contenders like “the Great G,” also known as Google, which continues hosting their blogging service called “Blogger,” and among newcomers like Wix.com – which ostensibly, at least as it would seem, is what WordPress is working up against. Not that it’s a contender by any stretch of the imagination, but it promotes itself by claiming that “When you choose Wix, you don’t just get a drag and drop website builder. You get the whole package. Free reliable web hosting, top security, the best SEO and a dedicated support team to help you along the way.”
WordPress has long had, and continues to have, an excellent, even enviable, gratis service.
That solitary combined three-part claim – “free,” “reliable,” and “drag and drop” – has appeal. Among those who study such matters, the word “free” has continually shown itself to be a powerful and motivating word… because, everyone wants something for nothing. And in an increasingly costly world, “free” can be perceived as a significant benefit – even if it’s not all what it’s cracked up to be. And while reliability is almost taken for granted, though again, claims are not always what they’re cracked up to be.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, October 21, 2020
This is what the soft hatred of bigotry cloaked in religious garb looks like.
This revelation should come as no surprise, that a radicalized right-wing religious zealot should serve at a high level on the Board of Directors for three schools in three separate states under a common umbrella would discriminate.
Below her image are three more images of the same type thing.
This person must NOT be confirmed to the nation’s highest court!
And toward that end, perhaps it may alarm you to know that a Ku Klux Klansman has been seated on the nation’s highest court.
You can read Matt Reimann’s excellently succinct August 15, 2017 article via the link above. Of note, Mr. Justice Black was also a “textualist” on matters of interpretation of the Constitution – the same thing late Justice Scalia said he was, and which Judge Barrett says she is.
“CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she is preparing for when Amy Coney Barrett takes her seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. She was asked to share her thoughts Tuesday on the judge and minced no words.
“Mayor Lightfoot was first asked if she views the U.S. Constitution as Judge Barrett does, as an “originalist.”
“Originalists firmly believe all statements in the U.S. Constitution must be strictly interpreted based on the original understanding at the time the Constitution was adopted. They do not believe in the concept of a “Living Constitution” that can be interpreted in the context of current times.
““You ask a gay, black woman if she is an originalist? No, ma’am, I am not,” Lightfoot laughed.
““That the Constitution didn’t consider me a person in any way, shape or form because I’m a woman, because I’m black, because I’m gay? I am not an originalist. I believe in the Constitution. I believe that it is a document that the founders intended to evolve and what they did was set the framework for how our country was going to be different from any other.
““But originalists say that, ‘Let’s go back to 1776 and whatever was there in the original language, that’s it.’ That language excluded, now, over 50 percent of the country. So, no I’m not an originalist.”
“Mayor Lightfoot said she’s deeply worried about some of Judge Barrett’s stated views, for instance, being against gay marriage.
““I deeply worry about this woman’s stated views. She’s on the record on a number of different things, not the least of which is thinking that gay marriage is something that shouldn’t be countenanced. And she’s got soulmates in Justice Thomas and others, who think that the decision by the Supreme Court…should somehow be rolled back,” Lightfoot said.
““What should I tell my daughter — that somehow now my wife and I are no longer married? That we’re no longer legitimately recognized in the eyes of the law? That is dangerous, dangerous territory. And what about a woman’s right to choose? We’re gonna keep re-litigating this issue, and we’re gonna make abortion illegal, as Amy Coney Barrett thinks it should be?”
“The Mayor also called Republicans “hypocrites” for pushing the Barrett nomination when they put off taking up the Merrick Garland nomination by President Obama.
“”The hypocrisy is something that is a bitter pill for me to swallow,” Lightfoot said.”
The September 13, 1937 front page of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette printed an image of Black’s KKK resignation letter.
“Hugo Black had been associate justice of the Supreme Court for less than a month when the news broke. In September of 1937, an exposé by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette found proof of Black’s membership in the Ku Klux Klan. He had joined in September of 1923, and resigned in July, 1925, as one of his first moves before running for one of Alabama’s U.S. Senate seat. Ironically, the smoking gun was Black’s resignation letter, written in legible longhand on Klan stationery, which appeared on the paper’s front page.
“Franklin Roosevelt, who nominated Hugo Black, was implicated in the scandal, which threatened to have far-reaching consequences for the president’s New Deal image. What was once seen as shrewd politics — the New Deal-friendly textualist was confirmed with a 63–16 vote — had become a disgrace. “Millions of Americans,” wrote one Indiana newspaper, “will not forget this sole tangible accomplishment of President Roosevelt’s attempted ‘liberalization’ of the Supreme Court.”
“When asked by the press to remark on the scandal, Roosevelt brushed questions aside, saying, “I only know what I have read in the newspapers. I know that the stories are appearing serially and their publication is not complete. Mr. Justice Black is in Europe where, undoubtedly, he cannot get the full text of these articles. Until such time as he returns, there is no further comment to be made.”“
apnews.com
Barrett Was Trustee At Private School With Anti-Gay Policies
By Michelle R. Smith and Michael Biesecker
October 21, 2020 at 10:51:08 AM CDT
Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett served for nearly three years on the board of private Christian schools that effectively barred admission to children of same-sex parents and made it plain that openly gay and lesbian teachers weren’t welcome in the classroom.
The policies that discriminated against LGBTQ people and their children were in place for years at Trinity Schools Inc., both before Barrett joined the board in 2015 and during the time she served.
The three schools, in Indiana, Minnesota and Virginia, are affiliated with People of Praise, an insular community rooted in its own interpretation of the Bible, of which Barrett and her husband have been longtime members. At least three of the couple’s seven children have attended the Trinity School at Greenlawn, in South Bend, Indiana.
The AP spoke with more than two dozen people who attended or worked at Trinity Schools, or former members of People of Praise. They said the community’s teachings have been consistent for decades: Homosexuality is an abomination against God, sex should occur only within marriage, and marriage should only be between a man and a woman.
Interviewees told the AP that Trinity’s leadership communicated anti-LGBTQ policies and positions in meetings, one-on-one conversations, enrollment agreements, employment agreements, handbooks and written policies — including those in place when Barrett was an active member of the board.
“Trinity Schools does not unlawfully discriminate with respect to race, color, gender, national origin, age, disability, or other legally protected classifications under applicable law, with respect to the administration of its programs,” said Jon Balsbaugh, president of Trinity Schools Inc., which runs the three campuses, in an email.
The actions are probably legal, experts said. Scholars said the school’s and organization’s teachings on homosexuality and treatment of LGBTQ people are harsher than those of the mainstream Catholic church. In a documentary released Wednesday, Pope Francis endorsed civil unions for the first time as pope, and said in an interview for the film that, “Homosexual people have the right to be in a family. They are children of God.”
Barrett’s views on whether LGBTQ people should have the same constitutional rights as other Americans became a focus last week in her Senate confirmation hearing. But her longtime membership in People of Praise and her leadership position at Trinity Schools were not discussed, even though most of the people the AP spoke with said her deep and decades-long involvement in the community signals she would be hostile to gay rights if confirmed.
Suzanne B. Goldberg, a professor at Columbia Law School who studies sexuality and gender law, said private schools have wide legal latitude to set admissions criteria. And, she said, Trinity probably isn’t covered by recent Supreme Court rulings outlawing employment discrimination against LGBTQ people because of its affiliation with a religious community. But, she added, cases addressing those questions are likely to come before the high court in the near future, and Barrett’s past oversight of Trinity’s discriminatory policies raises concerns.
“When any member of the judiciary affiliates themselves with an institution that is committed to discrimination on any ground, it is important to look more closely at how that affects the individual’s ability to give all cases a fair hearing,” Goldberg said.
The AP sent detailed questions for Barrett to the White House press office. Rather than providing direct answers, White House spokesman Judd Deere instead accused AP of attacking the nominee.
“Because Democrats and the media are unable to attack Judge Barrett’s sterling qualifications, they have instead turned to pathetic personal attacks on her children’s Christian school, even though the Supreme Court has repeatedly reaffirmed that religious schools are protected by the First Amendment,” Deere said in an email.
Nearly all the people interviewed for this story are gay or said they have gay family members. They used words such as “terrified,” “petrified” and “frightening” to describe the prospect of Barrett on the high court. Some of them know Barrett, have mutual friends with her or even have been in her home dozens of times. They describe her as “nice” or “a kind person,” but told the AP they feared others would suffer if Barrett tries to implement People of Praise’s views on homosexuality on the Supreme Court.
About half of the people asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation against themselves or their families from other members of People of Praise, or because they had not come out to everyone in their lives. Among those interviewed were people who attended all three of its schools and who had been active in several of its 22 branches. Their experiences stretched back as far as the 1970s, and as recently as 2020.
NOT WELCOME
Tom Henry was a senior at Trinity School in Eagan, Minnesota, serving as a student ambassador, providing tours to prospective families, when Barrett was an active member of the board.
In early 2017, a lesbian parent asked him whether Trinity was open to gay people and expressed concern about how her child would be treated.
Henry, who is gay, said he didn’t know what to say. He had been instructed not to answer questions about People of Praise or Trinity’s “politics.”
The next day, Henry recalled, he asked the school’s then-headmaster, Jon Balsbaugh, how he should have answered. Henry said Balsbaugh pulled a document out of his desk drawer that condemned gay marriage, and explained it was a new policy from People of Praise that was going into the handbook.
“He looked me right in the eye and said, the next time that happens, you tell them they would not be welcome here,” Henry recounted. “And he said to me that trans families, gay families, gay students, trans students would not feel welcome at Trinity Schools. And then he said, ‘Do we understand each other?’ And I said, yes. And I left. And then I quit the student ambassadors that day.”
Balsbaugh, who has since been promoted to president of Trinity Schools Inc., says his recollection of the conversation “differs considerably,” but declined Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, October 20, 2020
Perhaps by now you’ve heard of the sad and tragic news out of France, that recently, Samuel Paty, a 47-year old male teacher was brutally decapitated by a radicalized 18-year old, Russian-born male Muslim student. Though one committed the heinous act, at least 10 students have been arrested for participation in the plot. The prime suspect is a Chechen refugee.
According to Reuters, the episode began when several Muslim parents were angered earlier this month after Paty taught a mandatory “moral and civil education” class on freedom of expression, and had shown to his pupils 12 cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, which were originally published in a Danish newspaper before republication in Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical publication renown for their anti-establishment satire poking fun at the far right, and aspects of Catholicism, Judaism and Islam.
The Guardian reported that a parent of one of the students in Paty’s class had posted a response to an angry video complaining about the class. The respondent wrote: “I am a parent of a student at this college. The teacher just showed caricatures from Charlie Hebdo as part of a history lesson on freedom of expression. He asked the Muslim students to leave the classroom if they wished, out of respect … He was a great teacher. He tried to encourage the critical spirit of his students, always with respect and intelligence. This evening, I am sad, for my daughter, but also for teachers in France. Can we continue to teach without being afraid of being killed?”
The French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo recently republished for a second time the same cartoons (also seen here) the day before the beginning of a French trial of Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, October 19, 2020
With the nomination and practical acceptance of Amy Coney Barrett being ramrodded through roughshod by the Republicans, it’s almost a practical assurance that the Judge from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will fill the seat vacated by the recent death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
So if she’s approved to be a Justice on the Supreme Court, it will have been done in less time than it took for her original nomination to be confirmed to the Federal judiciary – 5 months 24 days, versus 3 weeks 3 days/24 calendar days (to date), and counting.
Amy Coney Barrett at investiture to the Federal bench, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Proceeding therefrom, it now appears that the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) will no longer be tilting at windmills, but instead, will be significantly tilting toward the far right side of the political spectrum – the right-wing nut job side.
So, given that Judge Barrett, whom for one year clerked for late Justice Antonin Scalia, well-known for his interpretive style on the court – which he called “originalism,” and “textualism” – we can expect more nonsensical rulings in the 40+ years to come, the time for which she could reasonably be expected to rule.
Just like Neil Gorsuch’s infamous “Frozen Trucker” case.
And just so you’ll know – not that you would know – there’s a rather telling, and disturbing side of Judge A.C. Barrett’s judicial perspective, and interpretive style.
Case in point to illustrate: Kanter v Barr – a case in which she dissented involving a man who pleaded guilty to one count of a Federal Felony – mail fraud involving Medicare.
In the court’s ruling – an “en banc” decision, involving three judges – they wrote that: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, October 18, 2020
Trump’s economy is SO BAD…
How bad is it?
Trump’s economy is so bad, that he has LOST MORE than was gained under his administration.
When he took the Oath of Office in January 2017, POS45 was given a THRIVING economy by his predecessor, the Black Democratic President (that’s GOT to gall POS45, don’t you know!?!) Barack Hussein Obama.
Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) from the St. Louis Federal Reserve, presented graphically data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis about our national economy.
And, just for funsies, and perspective, data from the First Quarter 2005 until Current – 2nd Quarter 2020 is shown.
And as you can see plainly, the last time the economy was performing at this level, was in the 1st Quarter 2015 – over 5 years ago.
5ive years.
That would be the next-to-last year of President Obama’s 2nd term.
Yeah.
Trump has
SQUANDERED AWAY EVERYTHING,
AND THEN SOME!
Kinda’ sounds like a Bible parable, or some such thing.
Isn’t that what he’s done historically with his casinos and their 6 associated Chapter 11 bankruptcies?
But look also at this: The sudden precipitous decline, the rapidly massive downturn in Trump’s economy is the WORST – THE WORST (he likes superlatives) – since records began being kept in 1947. Maybe even worse than the Great Depression.
But look also at this: The sudden precipitous decline, the rapidly massive downturn in Trump’s economy is the WORST – THE WORST (he likes superlatives) – since records have been kept in 1947. Maybe even worse than the Great Depression.
Trump’s economy is now at the point
where Obama’s economy was
in the 1st Quarter 2015.
Here’s another one which points out the utter hypocrisy of the GOP and the religious right wing community in moving her nomination forward shoving her nomination down American’s throat.
Think of it as a form of political rape.
As I’ve written previously – she’s allowing herself to be used.
On Monday the Senate Democrats [avoided and ignored] the subject of religion. During the first day of Appellate Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearings, they focused on health care and how Donald Trump’s third nominee might rule after the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments next month on the Affordable Care Act. Avoiding religion was probably wise given the Republicans’ level of fake outrage over fake “religious bigotry.” The rest of us, however, don’t need to play along. Barrett’s Catholicism is fair game.
Yes, I know. Highly influential liberal pundits, and some liberal pundits striving mightily to become influential, argue that religion should be off limits. First, they say, because a person of sincerely held religious beliefs can adjudicate impartially. Second, there’s enough to talk about without bringing up Barrett’s faith. While I presume these liberals mean well (to be clear, in presuming this, I’m being generous), they’re wrong.
They assume, for one thing, that religion and politics can be disentangled. Sometimes they can be. Sometimes they can’t. For another, these liberals behave as if politics is somehow taking religion hostage. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote Monday night: “When politicians use faith as an excuse to pass and uphold laws that seize control of people’s bodies but not guarantee them healthcare, feed the poor, shelter the homeless, or welcome the stranger, you have to wonder if it’s really about faith at all.”
No, you don’t have to wonder. It’s about their faith, full stop. Millions in this country—white evangelical Protestants and conservative white Catholics chief among them—root their genuinely held religious beliefs in opposition to modernity, which is to say, in politics. There is, therefore, no appreciable difference between them. The more our society moves in the direction of greater freedom, equity and justice for all people, the more these revanchists believe their faith is under siege; and the more they feel their faith is under siege, the more prepared they are to go to war over “religious freedom.”
I don’t know if Barrett intends to help reverse Roe any more than you do. I do know—and you know—that that’s why Donald Trump picked her. That’s why she accepted his illegitimate nomination. Overturning Roe, or at least gutting it in order to Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, October 17, 2020
Scottie Alton Johnson, a 45-year old Alabama resident, and ward of the state’s prison system, died from complications from COVID-19 on August 1, 2020, according to autopsy results.
Records show that on July 31, authorities took him to a hospital nearest the Bullock Correctional Facility which is located in Union Springs, in Bullock County. Though authorities did not specify, Bullock County Hospital at 104 Bullock Drive, Union Springs, Alabama is less than 3 miles straight down the road, West from the prison.
He died August 1.
At the time of his admission to hospital, he was not thought to be infected with the novel coronavirus, and a COVID-19 test conducted upon his admission resulted negative.
by Stephen Fowler, Georgia Public Broadcasting
Oct. 17, 2020
5 a.m. EDT
Congress works for you. Learn how to be a better boss with the User’s Guide to Democracy, a series of personalized emails about what your representatives actually do.
This article is co-published by ProPublica, Georgia Public Broadcasting and National Public Radio.
Kathy spotted the long line of voters as she pulled into the Christian City Welcome Center about 3:30 p.m., ready to cast her ballot in the June 9 primary election.
Hundreds of people were waiting in the heat and rain outside the lush, tree-lined complex in Union City, an Atlanta suburb with 22,400 residents, nearly 88% of them Black. She briefly considered not casting a ballot at all, but decided to stay.
By the time she got inside more than five hours later, the polls had officially closed and the electronic scanners were shut down. Poll workers told her she’d have to cast a provisional ballot, but they promised that her vote would be counted.
“I’m now angry again, I’m frustrated again, and now I have an added emotion, which is anxiety,” said Kathy, a human services worker, recalling her emotions at the time. She asked that her full name not be used because she fears repercussions from speaking out. “I’m wondering if my ballot is going to count.”
By the time the last voter finally got inside the welcome center to cast a ballot, it was the next day, June 10.
The clogged polling locations in metro Atlanta reflect an underlying pattern: The number of places to vote has shrunk statewide, with little recourse. Although the reduction in polling places has taken place across racial lines, it has primarily caused long lines in non-White neighborhoods where voter registration has surged and more residents cast ballots in person on Election Day. The pruning of polling places started long before the pandemic, which has discouraged people from voting in person.
In Georgia, considered a battleground state for control of the White House and U.S. Senate, the difficulty of voting in Black communities like Union City could possibly tip the results on Nov. 3. With massive turnout expected, lines could be even longer than they were for the primary, despite a rise in mail-in voting and Georgians already turning out by the hundreds of thousands to cast ballots early.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder decision in 2013 eliminated key federal oversight of election decisions in states with histories of discrimination, Georgia’s voter rolls have grown by nearly 2 million people, yet polling locations have been cut statewide by nearly 10%, according to an analysis of state and local records by Georgia Public Broadcasting and ProPublica. Much of the growth has been fueled by younger, non-White voters, especially in nine metro Atlanta counties, where four out of five new voters were non-White, according to the Georgia secretary of state’s office.
The metro Atlanta area has been hit particularly hard. The nine counties — Fulton, Gwinnett, Forsyth, DeKalb, Cobb, Hall, Cherokee, Henry and Clayton — have nearly half of the state’s active voters but only 38% of the polling places, according to the analysis.
As a result, the average number of voters packed into each polling location in those counties grew by nearly 40%, from about 2,600 in 2012 to more than 3,600 per polling place as of Oct. 9, the analysis shows. In addition, Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, October 17, 2020
This image is so ironically apropos.
Why?
It’s what he has done to himself.
The Asshole in Chief – truly, a man with a genuine psychiatric and personality disorder, Narcissism among them – has never taken the job as President of the United States seriously. Not even once.
Last Thursday night – October 15, 2020 – NBC TODAY co-host Savannah Guthrie, a Georgetown Law School-educated attorney – took no quarter when Trump ran his tired and worn deny, deny, deny tactic against her when she took him to task for retweeting some false nutso conspiracy theory crap from the nutso group QAnon.
America is sick and tired of his bullshittery and gross incompetence.
And, if voter turnout is any indication of voter discontent with his putrid performance in office, we’ll see a Blue Tsunami unceremoniously turn him out of office.
Even deep-red Republican Alabama is having a record turn-out.
“Alabama voters have set a state record for casting the most absentee ballots during an election, and there are still three more weeks to go.
“Alabama Secretary of State of John Merrill said that as of Tuesday, 91,000 absentee ballots have been cast ahead of the November 3 general election. The previous record was
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, October 17, 2020
“You’re the President — you’re not like someone’s crazy uncle who can just retweet whatever!”
–– Savannah Guthrie, NBC News’ TODAY co-anchor and Chief Legal Correspondent to U.S. President Donald Trump, Thursday night, October 15, 2020, at a town hall styled outdoor debate at Perez Art Museum, Miami, Florida
US President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks during an NBC News town hall event moderated by Savannah Guthrie at the Perez Art Museum in Miami, Florida on October 15, 2020.
In addition to getting losing ratings when compared to Biden’s Philadelphia town hall event, Trumpanzee acted like the ass he’s always been – even while in office. A leopard can’t change its spots, nor a zebra its stripes. And Trump can’t be anything other than an asshole – the Asshole in Chief, specifically.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, October 16, 2020
Trump Lost.
Joe Biden and ABC were the BIG WINNERS in Thursday night’s “split screen America” debate.
Biden’s Q & A Town Hall meeting Thursday, October 15, 2020 with voters was held in Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center with George Stephanopoulos moderating. Both men, and all attendees were more than adequately distanced for public health reasons.
Meanwhile, Trump’s Town Hall was conducted outdoors at the Perez Art Museum in Miami, and was moderated by NBC’s Savannah Guthrie, a Georgetown Law graduate who was distanced at least 12 feet from the President.
But it turns out NBC was played for a fool by the Manipulator in Chief.
Trump lost.
NBC lost.
After initially rejecting the Commission on Presidential Debates offer to conduct a “virtual” town hall, Trump reached out to NBC to hold the town hall style meeting on the same day and time slot as Joe Biden’s appearance in Philadelphia in a direct head-to-head viewership challenge to feed his fragile ego.
Yashar Ali, a contributor to New York Magazine and HuffPost wrote that several NBC employees were angered, and that “over a dozen NBC, MSNBC, and CNBC sources (talent and staff) and the frustration with and anger toward their employer for scheduling a town hall against Biden is palpable.”
Trump lost.
NBC lost.
NBC News agreed to put Trump before voters in a town hall style event on Thursday, October 15 – the same day as Biden’s scheduled town hall in Philadelphia – stipulating that beforehand, he must have submitted to an independent coronavirus test with the results reviewed by Dr. Anthony Fauci.
NBC said that Trump was administered a coronavirus test Tuesday by the National Institutes of Health, the results of which were reviewed by NIH Clinical Director Dr. Clifford Lane and Dr. Anthony Fauci, both who stated after reviewing the President’s medical records, that they had a high degree of confidence that the president was “not shedding infectious virus.”
But Trump’s COVID-19 test wasn’t the only thing reviewed.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, October 16, 2020
Voting in America is crazy.
Reading the bizarre differences of Voter ID laws, rules, and regulations in four neighboring states – Florida and Alabama, Alabama and Tennessee, and Tennessee and Kentucky – one can’t help but laugh at the absurdity, and inconsistency of it all.
Moreover, it gives pause for thought, and raises the question: What the hell is going on, and why?
Such absurdity is not limited to those Southern former “slave states.” Throughout America, laws relating or pertaining to voting are a poorly designed, pathetically executed mishmash, a harum-scarum hodgepodge, which is rickety and contradictory, and a miserably vacillating excuse for a democratic process as one could possibly imagine.
There is LITERALLY NO CONSISTENCY in them whatsoever!
LITERALLY!
Here are a few simple, yet egregious examples to illustrate the case in point.
In Vermont, Maine, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico (yes, Puerto Ricans are American citizens) convicted felons can vote… while incarcerated.
But not in any other state in the union.
In Florida, voters in the Sunshine State agreed in 2018 with a 65% majority to allow former felons who had completed their sentences to vote. It restored the rights of nearly 1.5 million citizens in that state. However, the GOP-dominated legislature overrode the citizens expressed will and changed the law to require the former felons to have paid all fines and fees associated with their case, before they could register to vote, thereby effectively disenfranchising at least 6.98% of 21,477,737 Floridians of their Constitutionally-guaranteed right.
In 16 states, felons lose their voting rights only while incarcerated, and receive automatic restoration upon release.
In 21 states, felons lose their voting rights during incarceration, and for a period of time after, typically while on parole and/or probation. Voting rights are automatically restored after this time period. Former felons may also have to pay any outstanding fines, fees or restitution before their rights are restored as well.
In 11 states felons lose their voting rights indefinitely for some crimes, or require a governor’s pardon in order for voting rights to be restored, face an additional waiting period after completion of sentence (including parole and probation) or require additional action before voting rights can be restored.
And while some states revoke the right to vote following a felony conviction, thereby requiring re-registration, North Dakota automatically registers all eligible voters.
And that’s just a good start to illustrate the case in point.
There is NO consistency in the 50 states’ laws when it comes to matters pertaining to voting.
For the largest part, states can, and do, whatever they want when it comes to matters pertaining to voting.
Why?
Because they can.
There are very few, if any, Federal voting-related laws, rules, or regulations in the United States.
Article I., Section 4 of the United States Constitution reads in pertinent part that, “The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.”
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, October 15, 2020
Judge Amy Coney Barrett, the President’s nominee to be a Supreme Court Justice, has dodged the question of recusal on any potential case which might come before her which would be brought by the President on any matter pertaining to the 2020 General Election. She dodged because she replied that she would follow the law of recusal.
She said in part that, “I commit to you to fully and faithfully applying the law of recusal. … I will apply the factors that other justices have before me in determining whether the circumstances require my recusal or not. But I can’t offer a legal conclusion right now about the outcome of the decision I would reach.”
When asked about the law of recusal, she said in part that, “I can’t offer an opinion on recusal without short-circuiting the entire process.”
When specifically asked about election cases, she stated to the effect that it wasn’t a question she could answer “in the abstract.”
Obviously, she is aware of the law’s requirements, but what is concerning is if she will obey (follow) the law.
There could be an argument made that she has no interest in the case, per se, at least insofar as she was not a member of the President’s administration, nor had she done any work for him.
There are several disconcerting aspects of this matter, none of which concern her judicial temperament, nor her judicial philosophy, nor her rulings. First is that she has allowed herself to be used by the GOP and the President to force her, as their nominee, through the confirmation process in the midst of an ongoing election. Already, millions of people have voted.
Secondarily is Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s actions, in conjunction with the President’s efforts, to rush the nominee through the process. Rushed things are rarely done with high quality, or long-term thoughtfulness. Further, that “Moscow” Mitch McConnell has deliberately stalled, or “killed” well over 400 bills from the House of Representatives is prima facie evidence of his contempt for the Constitution, and legislative process. And that he has similarly refused to act upon any bill which would first, and foremost, deal with the matter of the coronavirus, aka COVID-19, and the needs of the people for their health, their needs for economic sustenance, and more, is again, hard-core evidence not merely of a lack of caring, but is an abandonment of his responsibilities to the American people, not merely to the citizens of Kentucky whose interests he is supposed to represent.
To the extent that Amy Coney Barrett participates in that wretched process, she is complicit in it all. She has, in effect, become a political tool, and is doing so knowingly.
Were she to have requested a delay of her hearings until after the election – a delay of a few mere weeks – she would likely have not garnered such opposition. For she is, in my considered estimation, more than a well-qualified jurist, and would be a good addition to the United States Supreme Court. Even 88 University of Notre Dame faculty members wrote an open letter to her, stating that it was “vital” that she “issue a public statement calling for a halt to your nomination process until after the November presidential election.”
In the letter, those faculty members also wrote in part that, “The rushed nature of your nomination process, which you certainly recognize as an exercise in raw power politics, may effectively deprive the American people of a voice in selecting the next Supreme Court justice,” and stated that “you can refuse to be party to such maneuvers. We ask that you honor the democratic process and insist the hearings be put on hold until after the voters have made their choice.”
And goodness knows, we need more legal diversity on the nation’s highest court, and I don’t mean to refer to sex, ethnicity, or any physical factor – I mean to refer to the schools of law which the nominees have attended. And as she herself has noted,
“I would be the first mother of school-age children to serve on the Court. I would be the first Justice to join the Court from the Seventh Circuit in 45 years. And I would be the only sitting Justice who didn’t attend law school at Harvard or Yale. I am confident that Notre Dame will hold its own, and maybe I could even teach them a thing or two about football.”
Would she be my pick?
Perhaps not, but again, it is the rushed nature of this event which is most exceedingly distasteful. Hypocrisy has neither a pleasing aroma, nor taste.
Finally, there are other matters concerning the Supreme Court which desperately need to be addressed, which undoubtedly will not have an opportunity to be discussed simply because of the Senate Majority Leader’s deliberately destructive tactics to “kill” legislation.
Hearings to examine the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett, of Indiana, to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. 116th Congress (2019-2020)
And so, for your benefit, here is the law of recusal to which she referred. You can, and should, read it for yourself. It’s not difficult to understand, and is straightforward, without mumbo jumbo jargon.
§455. Disqualification of justice, judge, or magistrate judge
(a) Any justice, judge, or magistrate judge of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.
(b) He shall also disqualify himself in the following circumstances:
(1) Where he has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party, or personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding;
(2) Where in private practice he served as lawyer in the matter in controversy, or a lawyer with whom he previously practiced law served during such association as a lawyer concerning the matter, or the judge or such lawyer has been a material witness concerning it;
(3) Where he has served in governmental employment and in such capacity participated as Read the rest of this entry »
And then, there’s Professor Dr. Michael McDonald, PhD, of the University of Florida, who administers the United States Elections Project website which compiles early voting return statistics, and a few days ago found that over 8 million ballots had been cast, eclipsing by a factor of 10 the number of ballots cast in the last presidential election at this point in the cycle. When interviewed by Reuters on October 9, said, “We’ve never seen this many people voting so far ahead of an election. We’ve never seen this many people voting so far ahead of an election. People cast their ballots when they make up their minds, and we know that many people made up their minds long ago and already have a judgment about Trump.”
Today, the Election Project is reporting that voters have cast a total of 18,105,692 ballots in the reporting states – over double the number a few days ago – which at this point, is 13.1% of the total votes counted in the 2016 general election.
Based upon the Early Voting returns from 34 states and the District of Columbia, Professor Dr. McDonald is Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, October 15, 2020
In this critique by an Australian directed at Australians, a former Australian government official warns about the toxic mess which the American President Donald J. Trump has created in the United States surrounding the voting process in the 50 states.
In an oblique way, it could be considered an enumeration of reasons why American voters should NOT vote for, nor support the man, nor his re-election to office. Again, it is merely a statement of fact about voting-related incidents in, and sad facts about the U.S.A. as it relates to voting, and serves as a warning to Australians to NOT make the same mistakes, and to stay AS FAR AWAY AS POSSIBLE from such.
Face it, folks… Trump has NOT made America “great again.” But of course, the slogan “make America great again” was bad, and fatally flawed to begin with – just like his presidency – because a thing cannot be made again unless it is unmade to begin with. It’s kinda’ like your bed. It’s either made, or not, and to make it again (if it is made already) requires unmaking it.
The US electoral system is not a pretty sight. Australia should take heed.
As the US presidential election on 3 November draws near, many around the world watch on with concern and denounce the erosion of democracy and democratic values from afar.
For Australia, it should act as a poignant reminder to consider the health of our own system, where mistrust in politicians and the political system features glaringly in public sentiment.
The global flag-bearer of democracy, the US, has been engulfed in a wave of disputes regarding gerrymandering, voter purges from electoral rolls, and ugly voter suppression campaigns. Voter turnout has seldom nudged the 60% mark, which ranks among the lowest of major democratic countries in the world. [emphasis added -ed.]
That was the promise which was authorized and made to freed slaves by General Tecumseh Sherman in Special Field Order No. 15 on January 16, 1865, during the last days of the Civil War.
It was promptly broken by President Johnson, who was a slave owner, and had become President upon Lincoln’s assassination.
America has been breaking promises at least since 1776.
I wish that America’s politicians
(especially the GOP)
cared more for The People
than for corporations.
Anyone that loves America, loves her people, loves the idea of liberty, of equality, and guaranteed rights under law, should also love honesty, justice, and responsibility. And one simply CANNOT examine any segment of American history without acknowledging the horrific and grotesque inequity present FROM THE BEGINNING of this nation. It’s written in the Constitution, for heaven’s sake!
Women did not have the right to vote (suffrage).
Blacks were enslaved. Then, Blacks were continually discriminated against in seemingly countless ways – ranging from the denial of voting rights, of commerce, of justice, and more. And, as if to add insult to injury, the 13th Amendment has an exclusion clause FOR the purpose of perpetuating slavery. The amendment reads: Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
“…except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted…”
Yes, slavery IS 100% Legal in the United States. The Constitution says so.
And to ANYONE who claims or asserts that there is not now institutionalized racism in this country need only look to the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) to see that racism is institutionalized, and alive and well in the United States.
In the 1999 Class Action case Pigford v. Glickman(Timothy Pigford, et al., v. Dan Glickman, Secretary, United States Department of Agriculture), “the suit claimed that the agency had discriminated against black farmers on the basis of race and failed to investigate or properly respond to complaints from 1983 to 1997.” Members of the class included those who received allocation of farm loans and assistance between 1981 and 1996. (See: “Black Farmers Win $1.25 Billion In Discrimination Suit,” By Jasmin Melvin, February 18, 2010, online at https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-farmers-pigford-idUSTRE61H5XD20100218)
• The 2007 Census of Agriculture reported that 2.20 million farms operated in the United States. Of this total, 32,938, or approximately 1.5% of all farms, were operated by African Americans.
• Over 74% (24,466) of African American farmers in the United States reside in Texas, Mississippi, North and South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Virginia and Louisiana.
• Average annual market value for farms operated by African American farmers in 2007 was $30,829. The national average for white U.S. farmers was $140,521.
• Overall, the number of farms operated in the United States increased by 3.2% between 2002 and 2007. Farms operated by African Americans increased from 29,090 to 32,938, an 11.7% increase over the five-year period.
• In 2007, 348 (757 in 2002) African American farmers received Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) loans amounting to a total of $9.9 million. This averaged $28,408 per participating African American farmer, about 32% of the national average ($87,917). Average CCC loan value to white farmers was $88,379.
• Other federal farm payments to African American operated farms averaged $4,260, half the national average government farm payment of $9,518. About 31% of all African American farmers received some government payment compared to 50% of white farmers.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, October 13, 2020
Most polls which ask the question “Do you think America is headed in the right direction?” find that an exceeding majority of respondents answer “NO” to that very simple, straight-forward question.
Since January 2009 to today (October 13, 2020), those who believe the country is on the wrong track has ranged from a high of 76.5% to a low of 45.8%, with the majority occurring in the 60% range for most of that time, who think the country is headed in the wrong direction. That’s according to the averaged aggregate polling data collected by RealClearPolitics from a variety of polling organizations.
About the President, some have intoned sarcastically, “Poor ol’ Trump is the only President that has ever made mistakes.”
No, of course not, and it’s easy to understand the tenor and gist of such sarcasm.
Flooding by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans
I can say, have said, and will say this, however, and it is that, to date, in our nation’s history, he is the ONLY President whom has NEVER held any office of Public Trust of any kind, whatsoever – neither elected nor appointed – nor has he EVER volunteered for or with any kind of Public Service in ANY capacity with any public policy or public service-based organization. And for that reason, he is as unfit for duty as his bone spurs made him during Vietnam.
While many criticize and make political hay out of regarding a candidate’s “inexperience,” and tout that as being a strong point of benefit, there is this to consider – which I’ll explain using analogy.
Most people are employees. They have a job to do, and do it well. But they’ve never owned, nor run a company of any kind.
So it would be utterly preposterous, absurd, and even stupid, to imagine that just anyone would be able to step into Jeff Bezos’s shoes (Amazon’s Founder, President, CEO) and perform his job at least as good as he does.
We would be utter failures… just like the President is.
Another part of that problem is that the President’s “mistakes,” or “failures,” as they’re properly called, affects 330,441,455 people, and the world’s LARGEST economy.
And on that note, I’ll make this observation:
As the world’s 3rd most populous nation, to China and India, respectively, each with over 1 BILLION MORE people than we have, it is the height of absurdity and preposterousness to imagine for even a moment that somehow, with that many people and STILL GROWING, that we should somehow have a “smaller” government is not merely stupid, it is moronic.
Analogously again, it’s like imagining that you should wear smaller clothes the bigger you get.It’s nonsensical on the order of Alice in Wonderland.
VERY few people want to talk about it, and even FEWER want to hear it, but… because our elected officials Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, October 12, 2020
––Day 1: Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing: Blumenthal Urges Barrett To Recuse From Cases Involving Election––
Perhaps you’ve read, and therefore know, my earlier opinion on that matter.
I have also said that she should recuse herself, because he and his campaign are PLANNING on a Supreme Court fight in the course of this election – much WORSE than Bush v Gore, which will make that case look like a cakewalk. And, the President is COUNTING ON HER SUPPORT.
He has said as much:
“We need 9 justices. You need that. With the unsolicited millions of ballots that they’re sending, it’s a scam; it’s a hoax. Everybody knows that. And the Democrats know it better than anybody else. So you’re going to need 9 justices up there. I think it’s going to be very important. Because what they’re doing is a hoax, with the ballots. I think this will end up in the Supreme Court, and I think it’s very important that we have 9 justices. I think it’s better if you go before the election because I think this scam that the Democrats are pulling, it’s a scam, this scam will be before the United States Supreme Court. And I think having a 4-4 situation is not a good situation. If you get that. I don’t know that you’d get that. I think it should be 8-to-nothing or 9-to-nothing, but just in case it would be more political than it should be.”
(Hearing him talk is like listening to the idiotic babbling of a toddler – incessantly repeating himself.)
He is suborning her prejudicial support of his court case. That is a corrupt practice, not only for an independent judiciary, but for the Office of the President.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, October 11, 2020
Eddie Van Halen performing at New Haven Coliseum, color-corrected image
Rock guitar god and musical innovator Eddie Van Halen (1955–2020) died recently from throat cancer which had spread to his brain, and other organs. For nearly 20 years, from the late 1970’s through the mid-1990’s, through the ascendancy to peak of the band’s popularity, he had made his mark upon the world by and through his musicianship, and a well-known penchant for “tinkering” with his equipment, much like another renown late rock god and inventor – Les Paul – whom is considered the father of multi-track recording, and of the electric guitar.
As well, the Van Halen band’s customary practices brought about significant changes to the live-performance industry in performance contracts, with the addition of “riders” to their contracts – criteria stipulating certain conditions and specifications which must be met. The band was renown for their stipulation of seemingly picayune, senseless and inane requests, such as a bowlful of M&M’s candies which had to be placed in each of their dressing rooms. While deeper within the contract a separate stipulation would require the removal of all the brown-colored M&M’s.
Bizarre as it may seem, however, David Lee Roth, former lead singer and frontman who for 10 years helped catapult the band to success with now-iconic hits and his characteristic ultra high-energy performances, then rejoining for its last 10, said there was rhyme and reason to the seeming madness. It was a test to see if the contract had been thoroughly read and honored, which was critically important because of legitimate safety concerns the band had for their own, and others’ safety and well-being, as well as for preventing costly damage to equipment.
Early in the band’s history, several members of their road crew had very nearly been fatally electrocuted because of Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, October 11, 2020
This death count brought to you by: The once Grand Old Party, who reminds you, Vote for Biden!
The GOP reminds you: VOTE FOR BIDEN!
There are at least 214, 367 reasons to NOT vote for Trump. Those are dead reasons. There are 7,717,392 living reasons to NOT vote for the Liar in Chief.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, October 8, 2020
You KNOW things are serious when a majority of physicians, scientists, researchers and others come out against a political leader, especially and particularly the President… when they’ve NEVER DONE IT BEFORE.
America has NOT been made “great again” by our feckless misleader, the Liar in Chief, Donald John Trump.
It’s time to TAKE OUT THE TRASH IN NOVEMBER!
In an uncharacteristic move, The New England Journal of Medicine recently took a step which they have not since their 1812 founding.
A scathing editorial signed by all 34 editors of the publication – physicians, scientists, health researchers, and medical experts – acknowledged that in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the President and his administration have “taken a crisis and turned it into a tragedy.”
The group minced no words in their scorching criticism of the President and his administration for their abysmal, still-ongoing failures which have claimed at least 212,466 lives, and counting, by writing that “Instead of relying on expertise, the administration has turned to uninformed ‘opinion leaders’ and charlatans who obscure the truth and facilitate the promulgation of outright lies.”
Solution being carefully poured into a petri dish that sits under a micro scope. A medical scientist wearing glasses can be seen concentrating as he pours from the glass flask. Selective focus.
Noting that physicians and other healthcare professionals face the possibility of lawsuits, and loss of license for such malpractice, they acknowledged that the nation’s solitary recourse for political malfeasance is to vote him out of office, and wrote that, “Anyone else who recklessly squandered lives and money in this way would be suffering legal consequences. Our leaders have largely claimed immunity for their actions. But this election gives us the power to render judgment.”
They cited America’s Trump-led failures and wrote that in comparison to other nations, “We have failed at almost every step. We had ample warning, but when the disease first arrived, we were incapable of testing effectively and Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, October 8, 2020
True to form, radicalized, far right-wing political extremists are portraying Judge A.C. Barrett as a victim. The “poor, pitiful me” routine has taken hold in the GOP, Tea Party and other such ilk. Self loathing has never been more popular, it seems. But it does seem rather peculiar that it should find residence in the right, when for years we’ve been told that it is the political left who are such whiners and crybabies.
Aaaah… the political hypocrisy! You can smell the stench of its cooking all the way from the banks of the Potomac in Washington, D.C.
And the blindly vicious ambition! Its unmitigated violence permeates the miasmatic ether surrounding the city, all the way to the Chesapeake Bay, and beyond.
While “organic,” such contaminants are far from resembling a healthy backyard compost pile where grass clippings, leaves, eggshells, coffee grounds, vegetable peelings, and other such items begin their transformation process to become rich humus, fertile soil for vegetable and plant growth. Their forms, while neither ephemeral, nor impermanent, per se, are causative of other illnesses and diseases transmitted even to the 3rd and 4th generations, and beyond – all preventable – and must be guarded against by every generation.
The only difference being, is that disorders caused by those infections are preventable by conscience, not by manufacture. And the inoculation against such infection and affliction is love.
“Contrary to the impression many have of Barrett, what is most striking about her record is not the looming specter of theocracy, but her enduring opposition to what many Christians believe justice and mercy demand, presented under the aspect of originalism — an ersatz catechism, written in the pages of her judicial opinions, that fuses the political aims of the religious right with the constitutional theories of the late Antonin Scalia.”
There is NO “war” against religious faith in this nation, nor has there ever been. Neither has there ever been any alleged “war against Christmas” by our government, nor by its elected officials and administrators… like Federal judges, and other lifetime appointees. Although, it is curious how an officially non-sectarian, non-religious government sponsors a Federal holiday acknowledging a deity, thereby giving deference, homage and support to the same.
Judge Amy Coney Barrett, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
Rather, our Founders, not all of whom were religious-minded, were cognizant of others’ desires to express themselves through the practice of a privately-held conviction of faith – if they so chose – collectively and individually, according to the dictates of their conscience, and allowed to the greatest extent possible the practice of the same, without impingement upon the practices of government, and without obtruding upon others, who might, or not, agree with them. The Founders thought that aspect of individual liberty was so inherent, so inviolable, so sacrosanct to the public good, that they ensconced it, along with a few others, and made it and them First, and foremost among all others which followed.
Our fundamental foundational governing document, the Constitution, ensures and guarantees rights to Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, October 6, 2020
Alternate headline: Trump Fucks Over America
“I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election when, immediately after I win, we will pass a major Stimulus Bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and Small Business,” Tweeted his highness, the Twitterer in Chief, and Chief Twidiot on Twitter the day after returning from a weekend hospital stay at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center where he was treated for COVID-19.
His hypocrisy marks a 180° reversal from the weekend when Trump pushed for negotiators to reach an agreement, telling them to “GET IT DONE.”
The SOB in Chief just cut his own throat -and- that of every other GOPer in every down-ballot race in America.
He CONTINUES to shoot himself in the feet, and America in the head and back – execution style.
Expect a🌊BLUE🌊TSUNAMI🌊in November!!
By his intransigence, he has now set America on a guaranteed one-way course to GREAT DEPRESSION II.
And that EVEN AFTER Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned of PERMANENT economic damage if additional support was not forthcoming.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, October 6, 2020
In a debate that was genuinely enjoyable to watch, incumbent Republican South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, faced Democratic contender Jaime Harrison in an hour-long face-off in Chappelle Auditorium on the campus of Allen University in Columbia, which partnered with WIS-TV channel 10, also in Columbia, and The State newspaper, to host the event.
In stark contrast to the first Presidential Debate with incumbent Republican President Donald Trump, and the Democratic contender, former Delaware Senator, then Vice President Joe Biden, in which the nation’s Chief Executive behaved like a belligerently bellicose bombastic baseborn buffoon – an ignominious first in the history of Presidential debates – this debate was a civil, even genteel by comparison, walk in the park.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, October 5, 2020
I have maintained from Day One of the emergence of this pandemic back in late December 2019, early January 2020, that there will be a “golden thread” running through it all, and that being, is that we are unwittingly marching into the veritable “promised land” of health, which is longevity, through improved well-being. The lessons learned in this coronavirus pandemic are teaching us, by experience, what we need to know to improve human health, and by extension, longevity.
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, MD, Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
It will, of course, emerge as a secondary by-product of treatment, and prevention, at the tertiary level. And for that, we can all be grateful.
So, while at present, we (at least the wise ones) are taking every conceivable precaution to prevent contracting the disease, there remain stubbornly stupid individuals whom insist on ignoring science (like the President and many Republicans) and the expert recommendations of those whose life work has revolved around studying infectious disease, the most notable among which is Dr. Anthony Fauci, MD, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, in Bethesda, Maryland.
Why Do Some People Weather Coronavirus Infection Unscathed?
One of the reasons Covid-19 has spread so swiftly around the globe is that for the first days after infection, people feel healthy. Instead of staying home in bed, they may be out and about, unknowingly passing the virus along. But in addition to these pre-symptomatic patients, the relentless silent spread of this pandemic is also facilitated by a more mysterious group of people: the so-called asymptomatics.
According to various estimates, between 20 and 45 percent of the people who get Covid-19 — and possibly more, according to a recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — sail through a coronavirus infection without realizing they ever had it. No fever or chills. No loss of smell or taste. No breathing difficulties. They don’t feel a thing.
Asymptomatic cases are not unique to Covid-19. They occur with the regular flu, and probably also featured in the 1918 pandemic, according to epidemiologist Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London. But scientists aren’t sure why certain people weather Covid-19 unscathed. “That is a tremendous mystery at this point,” says Donald Thea, an infectious disease expert at Boston University’s School of Public Health.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, October 2, 2020
🎯BULLSEYE!!🦠☠️
The “October Surprise” is right on time!
Not to worry… a cup of bleach oughta’ clear it right up!🤣 Or some hydroxychloroquine.🏴☠️ Sarcasm purposely intended.
Why does this NOT surprise anyone – not even one iota?
When it comes to the matter of the eventuality of his infection, for quite some time numerous individuals have maintained that “the booms are getting closer,” a colloquialism meaning that sooner, or later, the “booms” will find their target.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, September 30, 2020
The Current White House Occupant managed to shoot himself and the GOP in the foot again last night (Tuesday, 29 September 2020) with his unmitigated bullying and verbal abuse at the first Trump-Biden Presidential Debate. No doubt, GOP candidates in so-called “down ballot” races will appreciate his effort for making the party look so appealng. </sarcasm>
True to form, and likely knowing that he couldn’t succeed against Biden – an expert debater with 36 years of Senate experience – Trump took a “burn it down/scorched earth” approach and succeeded in destroying the debate, format and forum, by repeatedly interrupting his opponent, the Democratic candidate Joe Biden, and the Moderator, in order to prevent his opponent from cogently responding.
Trump even verbally attacked Moderator Chris Wallace, Fox News Anchor, several times. In the history of American Presidential debates, that has never happened. At one point, Wallace found it necessary to sternly ask Trump to allow his opponent, the Democratic Party’s Presidential Nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, to answer the question, and Trump rudely interrupted him. The exchange was:
WALLACE: “Mr. President, I’m the moderator of this debate and I’d like you to let me ask my questions.”
TRUMP: “I guess I’m debating you, not him. I’m not surprised.”
To characterize the GOP candidate as undisciplined, unbridled, unhinged, out-of-control, and even rude throughout the 90 minute episode, would be diplomatically generous on all counts. Interestingly enough, his performance was oddly reminiscent of Russian tactics during World War II in which the Russians and their army retreated as the German Nazis advanced toward Moscow – colloquially termed as a “scorched earth” policy – in August/September/October 1941. Knowing that the Nazis were approaching, the peasants and others decided to evacuate their towns and cities, burning everything that could possibly be useful to the enemy as they departed. Moreover, it was Hitler’s ill-fated decision to invade Russia, in conjunction with the Russian tactic, that marked a turning point in World War II for the Nazis, which depleted their strength, and resolve. And ironically, Trump’s scorched earth approach to the debate may similarly prove to be the turning point of his candidacy, and presidency, marking the beginning of his end.
Republican strategist Alex Conant confirmed Trump’s failed “burn it down” approach by acknowledging that Trump undoubtedly knows that he’s behind in numerous national polls, and among voting groups whose support it critical to his success, especially in Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, September 25, 2020
Recalling that even a broken clock is correct twice daily:
“Standing in this same place a third of a century ago, Franklin Delano Roosevelt addressed a nation ravaged by depression and gripped in fear. He could say in surveying the nation!s troubles: “They concern, thank God, only material things.”
“Our crisis today is in reverse.
“We have found ourselves rich in goods, but ragged in spirit; reaching with magnificent precision for the moon, but falling into raucous discord on earth.
“We are caught in war, wanting peace. We are torn by division, wanting unity. We see around us empty lives, wanting fulfillment. We see tasks that need doing, waiting for hands to do them.
“To a crisis of the spirit, we need an answer of the spirit.
“And to find that answer, we need only look within ourselves.
“When we listen to “the better angels of our nature,” we find that they
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, September 25, 2020
The Supreme Court, and the legal profession in general, are steeped in tradition – perhaps even more so than the United States Senate.
If you’ve ever heard any of the oral arguments before the nation’s highest court, you’ve likely heard the opening remark, “Mr. Chief Justice, may it please the court.”
However, if you’ve never heard an oral argument, you’re fortunate to be living in this age, because oral arguments in the nation’s highest court are recorded and archived for posterity sake. Audio recordings of the arguments may be found Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, September 24, 2020
What the police did in Louisville, KY is CRIMINAL, and INEXCUSABLE.
PERIOD.
That her murderers/killers were NOT indicted is a indictment itself upon the INJUSTICE system in that town.
This is where vigilante justice comes in handy begins to enter the picture.
Right-Wing Extremists and GOPers are doing it (look at Wisconsin), and now, turn about’s fair play.
They’re permanently marked men – with the “mark of Cain.”
But unlike Cain, look for them to be Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, September 24, 2020
I hate to admit this, but I am practically at the point of saying, when it comes to so-called “anti-maskers” (who are most often Trump supporters and GOP types), and others who proudly flout and steadfastly refuse to wear any type of face mask thereby endangering the lives of others, and who deny that COVID-19 is a pernicious health threat to our nation’s people, and by extension to our national security, I am just about ready to say to them all – FUCK YOU. I hope you get it, and die. It would serve you right.
Their maliciously malignant behavior is not merely stupid, it is cruel, and inhumane.
Michael L. Parson is the 57th Governor of Missouri.
Yet, there comes a time when good will is exhausted, and there is nothing remaining for those who would otherwise need it the most. The dregs having been long drained from the bottom of the barrel of the milk of human kindness, it has become bone dry, and utterly bereft of anything but empty space – a yawning void, a catastrophic chasm of unimaginable vacuousness. Yet it was them who gleefully rejected all sound advice, and threw caution to the wind.
That’s how utterly FED UP I am with the ignorance-promoting, anti-science nut jobs who loudly bray their ignorance like a donkey does its presence. Perhaps even more so.
And just yesterday, when I read the news that Missouri’s Republican Governor Mike Parson, a virulent anti-masker, along with his wife Teresa, tested POSITIVE for COVID-19, I thought that it serves him right. There is poetic justice in this world, and it’s often tragically ironic.
However, I hasten to add this:
The sowing of confusion and chaos in this matter is the work of America’s enemies, most notably, Russia.
And sadly, the American president (yes, like it, or not, he’s America’s President), has long played friendly with totalitarian regimes, again, most notably, Russia, long before he became the Misleader of the Free World, and Liar in Chief.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, September 23, 2020
The more things change, the more they remain the same.
That oxymoronic statement is likely more moronic than oxy. And yet, we as human beings are capable of change. Change is the only constant. Sometimes, we change for the better, while at others, the worse. But change we must. Again, change is the only constant.
Change implies that a state of being exists in which either progress or regress is possible. (I have opined on that subject previously.) There is no such thing a genuine stasis. Even within the human body, stasis ulcers, also known as venous stasis ulcers, bought about by blood “pooling” – typically in the lower extremities – causes a deterioration in the character and quality of the surrounding flesh. Venous stasis ulcers develop because of venous valve malfunction, and accompanying high return pressure, and occur typically in the feet, ankles, and lower legs. In turn, swelling occurs in the extremity. If you’ve ever wondered why blood only goes in one direction, it’s because of one-way valves in the veins. When the valves malfunction, the return pressure is transmitted AWAY from the heart (venous blood circulates returning TOWARD the heart, in order to be re-oxygenated by passage through the lungs).
But again, let one thing break down, and the entire surrounding environment starts deteriorating. (I would say “goes to hell,” but some might say that’s “unprofessional.”)
Point being, is that condition itself demonstrates that change occurs, and that not all change is good.
On the other hand, positive change yields positive results, and positive change is possible.
What you’re about to read may shock you.
It did me.
For whatever reason, I long had the impression that Lincoln had always been a proponent of racial equality.
That’s not true.
However, he changed.
Exactly how, and when that change began to occur is largely unknown, but his changing opinions about slavery reflected the development of his thought on racial equity. And for that, he became a target, literally, of Southerners who sought his assassination for that reason.
They did mange to succeed in killing him following Lee’s surrender to Grant at Appomattox, in Washington, D.C. at Ford’s Theatre, through John Wilkes Booth who throughout the Civil War was a Confederate spy.
“While I had not proposed to myself on this occasion to say much on that subject, yet as the question was asked me I thought I would occupy perhaps five minutes in saying something in regard to it. I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor ofRead the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, September 22, 2020
The sorts of problems described in the story linked below could be resolved very simply by Congress, which has the authority to regulate election law, but has chosen to abdicate the responsibility, failed to exercise that right, and allowed chaos and pandemonium to ensue by allowing at least 50 different laws, rules, regulations, and more.
By establishing a National Standard Election and Uniform Voting Law which would cover ALL aspects of voting, from registration, to identification, to hours of operation and places of polls, to dates, times, and types of voting methods used, ALL those questions and more would be settled, and uniform nationwide, from state to state, and sea to shining sea.
From Maine to Minnesota, Mississippi to Maryland, Michigan to Arizona, and from Florida to Washington, Georgia to Oregon, and California to Texas to the Carolinas, and all points in between — ONE LAW to govern them all.
We would then begin to have a truly UNITED STATES!
2020 Election Faces Unprecedented Amount Of Litigation
Hundreds of lawsuits are already swirling around mail-in voting as campaigns, parties and outside groups try to sort issues both basic and technical — questions such as:
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, September 22, 2020
America has problems – 330,337,600 problems, to be exact.
That’s how many people – at least – are resident in the United States as of Tuesday, September 22, 2020.
Previously, there were 330,326,679 people in the USA yesterday.
PROBLEM: The House of Representatives is TOO SMALL.
FACTS: Following the 1910 Census, with the Apportionment Act of 1911, Congress set the number of Members in the House of Representatives at 435, to become effective March 1913. The 1910 Census found 92,228,496 people in our United States, so at that time, the ratio of Residents per Representative was 212,020 to 1. The ratio is now 759,396 to 1. If you feel like you’re not being represented in Congress… guess what? You’re NOT.
“Dog whistle is a type of strategy of communication that sends a message that the general population will take a certain meaning from, but a certain group that is “in the know” will take away the secret, intended message. Often involves code words.
“Republicans say they want to make civil rights for gays a state issue, which is really just a dog whistle strategy for saying that they will refuse to grant equal rights on a federal level.”
Trump To White Minnesota Audience:
“You Have Good Genes.”
by Christopher Wilson – Senior Writer, Yahoo News
September 21, 2020
It’s called a “dog whistle,” a word or phrase in a speech that is unobjectionable on the surface but conveys a coded message to partisans, by analogy to high-pitched sounds that are audible to dogs but not to people. Richard Nixon leaned on it heavily during his 1968 presidential campaign, referencing “law and order” and a “war on drugs,” further codifying racial appeals from Barry Goldwater for “states’ rights” and “freedom of association.” Ronald Reagan took it to another level in 1976, demonizing a “welfare queen” who fraudulently collected $150,000 in government benefits, a barely concealed appeal to the race and class resentments of White voters toward Blacks.
Ed. NOTE: Reagan’s demagogic demonization of an ostensibly Black woman as a “welfare queen” is a highly-popularized modern-day Republican myth. Linda Taylor, a Tennessee-born White Chicago-area resident, was given the miscreant moniker by the Chicago Tribune in October 1974, which also focused upon her personal possessions – jewelry, furs, and a Cadillac – though the real story of her behavior was much worse, and more complicated than a relatively minor case of simple welfare fraud. In 2013, Josh Levin, Editorial Director for Slate, wrote an extensively detailed report of the real-life character who Reagan mythologized on his campaign trail, exclusively in an effort to capitalize upon the “shock and awe” factor to gain voter support for his candidacy. Reagan’s use of exaggeration as a raconteur was renown, and in a January 1976 campaign rally, as any good story-teller would, he embellished that character by claiming, “In Chicago, they found a woman who holds the record. She used 80 names, 30 addresses, 15 telephone numbers to collect food stamps, Social Security, veterans’ benefits for four nonexistent deceased veteran husbands, as well as welfare. Her tax-free cash income alone has been running $150,000 a year.” While much has been written about Reagan’s well-known penchant for demagoguery, little of what he claimed was true, though he made significant political hay with it by portraying one isolated problem as a wholesale representation of systemic organizational failure, which he later used to justify reducing spending on social welfare programs. While Taylor did go to prison for committing about $8000 in welfare fraud (the 2020 value of which would be about $36,500), she was more memorable for her theft-claim and bigamy scams, which frauds were discovered only years later, along with probable murder and kidnapping for which she was never indicted. Levin wrote, “For Linda Taylor, people were consumable goods, objects to cultivate, manipulate, and discard. For Ronald Reagan, Taylor was a tool to convince voters that the government was in crisis.”
By that standard, President Trump’s riff about the “good genes” found among the people of Minnesota — an 80 percent white state — wasn’t a dog whistle. It was a train whistle, folding in Trump’s long-held belief that some people, himself especially, are simply born with superior traits to others.
“You have good genes, you know that, right?” Trump said during his Saturday rally in front of a nearly all-white crowd in Bemidji. “You have good genes. A lot of it is about the genes, isn’t it, don’t you believe? The racehorse theory. You think we’re so different? You have good genes in Minnesota.”
The racehorse theory is the belief that some humans have a better genetic endowment than others, and by breeding two superior people you end up with superior offspring. The belief in eugenics, the pseudoscience of trimming out “inferior” bloodlines to increase the quality of the gene pool, is part of a long, racist history in America, from forced sterilizations to research funded by the Carnegie Institution, among other wealthy foundations. Earlier this month, charges surfaced that a doctor at an ICE facility was performing unwanted and likely unnecessary hysterectomies on detained immigrant women, which would prevent them from having more children.
“It’s not just eugenics in theory, but it’s eugenics in practice,” said Steve Silberman, a historian whose Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, September 21, 2020
It’s said that, “a picture is worth 1000 words.”
In that case, here are two.
And 822 words.
The Supreme Court may be about to take a hard-right turn If Donald Trump manages to install a new justice
September 21st 2020
RUTH BADER GINSBURG, the trailblazing liberal justice who died aged 87 on September 18th, will lie in repose at the top of the Supreme Court’s steps on Wednesday and Thursday. As mourners pay their respects, Donald Trump and his advisers will be huddling a few miles across town to pick a nominee to replace her. The choice, Mr Trump said on September 21st, will be revealed on Friday or Saturday — days before Ms Ginsburg is to be buried in a private ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery alongside Martin, her spouse of 56 years, an Army veteran who died in 2010.
Though she gained widespread celebrity as a lion of the liberal legal movement later in her career, Ms Ginsburg arrived at the Supreme Court as a moderate in 1993. The president who tapped her, Bill Clinton, said “she cannot be called a liberal or a conservative” as she has “proved herself too thoughtful for such labels”. Indeed, several progressive groups, including the Alliance for Justice, expressed misgivings at the time that she might not be bold enough on the bench.
Those worries gradually ebbed as Ms Ginsburg began a steady path to the left, leaving her, at the end of her career, paired with Sonia Sotomayor as the more progressive half of the liberal quartet of justices. But with Mr Trump in the White House Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, September 20, 2020
199,474 – TOTAL U.S.A. COVID-19 Deaths
197,544 – TOTAL number of casualties – deaths, injuries, POWs, MIAs – from the Top Ten Major Civil War Battles of:
Gettyburg Chickamauga Spotsylvania Courthouse Shiloh Stones River Antietam First Battle of Bull Run Second Battle of Bull Run Fredricksburg Cold Harbor
Civil War Battlefield Deaths – 204,100
Only 4,626 to go.
196,103 deaths on 9/16/20.
199,474 deaths on 9/20/20.
That’s an average of 843/day.
At that rate, we’ll surpass that figure in 5.48 days – by September 26.
At the current rate, Trumpvirus Deaths will ECLIPSE Civil War Battlefield Deaths
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, September 20, 2020
South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham is a hypocrite, and a liar… just like his narcissistic miscreant misleader, Donald “DJ” Trump, aka POS45.
In comments lasting about 6 minutes on March 10, 2016, before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Graham said in pertinent part,
“I want you to use my words against me:
If there’s a Republican president in 2016,
and a vacancy occurs in the last year of the first term,
you can say ‘Lindsey Graham said,
‘Let’s let the next President,
whoever it might be,
make that nomination,”
and you could use my words against me,
and you’d be absolutely right.”
– South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, to the Senate Judiciary Committee March, 10, 2016
On Wednesday, October 3, 2018 in an interview with Jeffrey Goldberg, Editor in Chief of The Atlantic, at The Atlantic Festival in Washington, D.C., Graham said in pertinent part that,
Here’s an excerpt of the pertinent part of that interview which has become part of an ad exposing Graham’s lying hypocrisy, and opposing his re-election.
Things are different now, and that instead, he will support the President’s nominee.
Here’s a recent Tweet published by him Saturday, 19 September 2020 of him attempting to explain away his twice former promises and position to adhere to his promise of not promoting a SCOTUS nominee during an election season.
As to my view of filling a Supreme Court vacancy in 2020, I’d encourage you to review these most recent statements.
And that’s but one reason why the GOP will lose the Senate, gain the White House, and strengthen their hold on the House of Representatives.
Sen. Graham’s challenge: Fill a court seat and save his own
By Meg Kinnard
Sunday, 20 September 2020
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Few members of the Republican Party have taken a political journey as long as Lindsey Graham’s, from ridiculing Donald Trump as a “race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot” to becoming one of the president’s fiercest defenders in Congress, as well as a regular golf partner.
Graham has long been known to have flexible politics, and that has served him well in South Carolina for decades. But this November may be his toughest test yet as he seeks reelection and explains to voters how, as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he will push for Trump’s Supreme Court nominee on the president’s aggressive timetable, when the senator was so clearly — even defiantly — opposed to that approach as recently as two years ago, even demanding that he be called out for hypocrisy if he switched.
He switched.
“The rules have changed as far as I’m concerned,” Graham said Saturday.
It falls to Graham, as committee chairman, to vet Trump’s pick to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, September 20, 2020
“I want you to use my words against me:
If there’s a Republican president in 2016,
and a vacancy occurs in the last year of the first term,
you can say ‘Lindsey Graham said,
‘Let’s let the next President,
whoever it might be,
make that nomination,”
and you could use my words against me,
and you’d be absolutely right.”
– South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, to the Senate Judiciary Committee March, 10, 2016
BACKGROUND: Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had earlier died unexpectedly during his sleep while on a hunting trip in Texas on February 3, 2016, thus creating an opening on the nation’s highest court. Within an hour of the national notice of Justice Scalia’s death, Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) had issued a statement to the effect that he would not grant any consideration (floor vote) to any nominee from President Barack Obama.
In that speech, Biden argued that then-President George H.W. Bush should wait until after the November General Election to put forth any nominee to any potential Supreme Court vacancy which might arise during the summer, or if not, should establish a precedent, and nominate a moderate whom would be acceptable to the then-Democrat-controlled Senate.
Republicans later began to refer to that concept as the “Biden rule,” though Biden reiterated that he had always thought that the President and Congress should “work together to overcome partisan differences” when considering judicial nominees.
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, (R)
Linked above from C-SPAN are South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham’s full remarks (approximately 6 minutes) to the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 10, 2016 on the matter of consideration of SCOTUS nominees in an election year.
In his remarks, he noted that he had voted FOR Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor NOT because he agreed with them ideologically, but because he thought they were qualified.
In those same remarks, he also warned also of an increasing tendency of the Senate toward rancor, like in the House of Representatives, and of ideological partisanship accompanying judicial nominees, some of which COULD in the FUTURE be significantly detrimental to the nation because of a nominee’s unfitness for the bench, and an ideological unwillingness of the controlling party to compromise, or for an unwillingness of dissenting members in the controlling party to vote against an unqualified candidate put forth by the controlling party.
C-SPAN VIDEO DESCRIPTION: The Senate Judiciary Committee held a business meeting on whether to hold a hearing on a Supreme Court justice nomination to replace Justice Antonin Scalia. Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said Read the rest of this entry »
The so-called “McConnell Rule,” which was actually no rule at all, but a political ploy by the Republican Senate Majority Leader from Kentucky, should be considered.
After all, turn about it fair play, and paybacks are hell.
But, before we continue in detail, NPR, which first reported the story of Justice Ginsburg’s death, wrote this:
“Just days before her death,
as her strength waned,
Ginsburg dictated this statement to her granddaughter Clara Spera:
“My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”
Justice Ginsburg was referring to comments that McConnell made following the unexpected death of SCOTUS Justice Antonin Scalia, while on a hunting trip in Texas on February 13, 2016.
And I mean to refer specifically to those comments.
Scalia’s body wasn’t even proverbially cold yet, and preparations for disposition of his mortal remains, and burial hadn’t even begun to be made, and the noxious Senator from Kentucky was already shooting off his mouth. Read the rest of this entry »
