"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 Monday, June 22, 2020
… to little fanfare in Tulsa, Oklahoma’s BOK Center yesterday (Saturday) evening, June 20, 2020.
Many reporters and pundits completely overlooked what should’ve been hailed as a globally glorious and momentous moment of monumentally magnificent proportions — the President of the United States of America announced a CURE for the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, aka COVID-19, in a rally Saturday night in Tulsa, Oklahoma’s BOK Center.
The announcement was of such magnitude, that only a statement announcing the discovery for a cure to Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, June 15, 2020
When it’s all over, said and done, this ENTIRE COVID-19 disaster and ALL its deaths will be justifiably and rightfully laid at the feet of the POTUS, the GOP and this utterly inept, and corruptly incompetent administration.
How to Track COVID-19 Nursing Home Cases and Deaths in Your State
Harrowing blame game over COVID-19 toll in nursing homes
By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
Monday, June 15, 2020
WASHINGTON (AP) — A grim blame game with partisan overtones is breaking out over COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents, a tiny slice of the population that represents a shockingly high proportion of Americans who have perished in the pandemic.
The Trump administration has been pointing to a segment of the industry — facilities with low federal ratings for infection control — and to some Democratic governors who required nursing homes to take recovering coronavirus patients.
Homes that followed federal infection control guidelines were largely able to contain the virus, asserts Seema Verma, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, which sets standards and pays the bills. “Trying to finger-point and blame the federal government is absolutely ridiculous,” she says.
Verma says data collected by her agency suggest a connection between low ratings on safety inspections and COVID-19 outbreaks. But several academic researchers say their own work has found no such link.
Advocates for older people say the federal government hasn’t provided needed virus testing and sufficient protective gear to allow nursing homes to operate safely. A White House directive to test all residents and staff has been met with an uneven response.
“The lack of federal coordination certainly has impeded facilities’ ability to identify infected persons and to provide care,” Eric Carlson, a long-term care expert with the advocacy group Justice in Aging, told lawmakers. “That absence remains important as facilities are attempting to open up, which requires an extensive reliance on testing.”
Democrats are critical of the Trump administration response.
“We need action,” says Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa. “We need a plan from CMS and we need resources to stop the spread of COVID-19 in nursing homes.”
Nationwide, more than 45,500 residents and staff have died from coronavirus outbreaks at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, according to a running count by The Associated Press. That’s about 40% of more than 115,000 total deaths. Nursing home residents are less than 1% of the U.S. population.
It’s a sensitive election year issue for President Donald Trump, who’s trying to hang on to support from older voters. A recent CNN poll found that 54% of adults 65 and older said they disapproved of how Trump is handling his job as president, while 44% approved.
With more coronavirus legislation possible this year, congressional Democrats are pressing for a national testing plan and additional resources for nursing homes. Republicans are mainly seconding the administration’s arguments.
During a recent briefing for lawmakers, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the No. 2 House Republican, blamed New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo for the high numbers of deaths in his state. A since-rescinded state directive that nursing homes had to accept recovering coronavirus patients “ended up being a death sentence” in New York and several states with similar policies, Scalise said.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, June 15, 2020
America’s historical laxity on DWI/DUI is infamous.
In some nations, as recently as 1978/9, anecdote suggests that DUI offenders in some nations may have been summarily executed… without trial.
But civilization, you know.
And due process.
There’s something to be said for them both.
And yet, due process is NOT laxity on law.
Consider some contemporary penalties for inebriated drivers in other nations:
In Australia, the names of intoxicated drivers are sent to the local paper and are printed under the heading: “He’s drunk and in jail”.
In England, drunk drivers face a one-year suspension of license, a $250 fine, and one year in jail.
In France, there is a three-year loss of license, one year in jail, and a $1,000 fine.
In Malaysia, the driver is jailed. If he is married, his wife is jailed, too.
In Norway, the penalty is three weeks in jail at hard labor and one year loss of license. With a second offense within five years, the license is revoked for life.In Russia, the license is revoked for life.
In South Africa, the penalty is a ten-year prison sentence and the equivalent of $10,000 fine, or both.
In Turkey, drunks are taken ten miles from town by the police and forced to walk back under escort.
Nevertheless, that I’m aware, there’s little-to-no evidence to suggest that DUI is a capital offense – at least in America.
Or, is there?
There’s the late Rayshard Brooks of Atlanta, you know.
He was summarily executed – shot in the back – by Atlanta police officers for DUI.
Yeah.
And he wasn’t even driving.
That’s an “inconvenient truth” which some don’t want to talk about.
And then, I think about what John Adams (1735 – 1826) – American Diplomat, 2nd POTUS, father of John Quincy Adams, and “founding father” of the United States – said at a December 1770 mass murder trial in which he was the Attorney for the Defense.
“Facts are stubborn things;
and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations,
or the dictates of our passion,
they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”
They were British soldiers of the 29th Regiment under the command an Irishman, Captain Thomas Preston.
Along with 4 civilians, the soldiers accused of murder were William Wemms, James Hartigan, William McCauley, Hugh White, Matthew Kilroy, William Warren, John Carrol and Hugh Montgomery.
The deceased victims of the event colloquially known as the “Boston Massacre” were Samuel Gray, Samuel Maverick, James Coldwell and Crispus Attucks, all who died immediately. Patrick Carr, who was wounded, died 9 days later.
The circumstances of the situation were that, late on the night of Monday, March 5, 1770, a crowd had gathered in front of the Customs House and confronted 8 British soldiers and Captain Preston. The soldiers, armed with muskets fitted with bayonets, formed a semi-circle as the crowd dared them to shoot. The scene was tense, and an unknown man in the crowd threw a club which struck a soldier, whereupon a shot was fired, which was followed by about 6 seconds of silence, followed by a volley of several shots. Many were wounded, including some who died instantly.
Enraged that troops under his command had fired without his order, Captain Preston commanded them to cease fire. Upon restoration of order, the troops departed the scene unscathed, leaving the peaceful civilian protesters feeling powerless.
Shortly, additional reinforcement British troops arrived on scene, which again escalated tensions, which had been significantly reduced following Captain Preston’s orders. Violence again seemed impending, but when Thomas Hutchinson made a quick speech from the balcony of the Town House guaranteeing that Captain Preston and his troops would be tried in court, the peaceful protesters were assuaged, the situation was thereby de-escalated, and the crowd dispersed.
According to the magistrate’s order, Captain Preston and the eight soldiers were to be tried separately.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, June 14, 2020
Scenario: Your friend makes a bad decision to drive after consuming beverage alcohol.
On the way home, your friend stops by a fast-food restaurant for a quick bite to eat, and falls asleep in the car in the parking lot, which is parked somewhat sloppily, but is not impeding traffic flow, nor is it blocking patrons.
The engine is not running, and your friend has nodded off with the doors closed, doors locked, and windows up.
The police are called, and respond to the scene whereupon they awaken your friend – who is alone – and order your friend to get out of the car, and your friend complies.
The police suspect your friend may be inebriated, or otherwise under the influence of some intoxicating substance(s) such as beverage alcohol, and order your friend to take a roadside sobriety test.Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, June 3, 2020
They might as well have whipped a nigger… right?
That’s the net effect of what they wrote, for it’s certainly no different from anything that ever happened in the South, and the heinously barbarian acts of racism and slavery, which they continue to glorify.
The pseudo righteous indignation of an Alabama group known as the Sons of Confederate Veterans was expressed in a letter posted to their Facebook page recently on the matter of the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors monument in Birmingham, Alabama.
What do those clowns do?
Hold traitor night classes, run around practicing treason against the United States as Confederates, killing and whipping Blacks, advocating for slavery and secession while wearing hooded outfits with pointy hats?
Seriously.
A man identified as Carl Jones, Division Commander (whatever that is, or means) wrote a letter (Oh? They’re literate now?) which bemoaned the “thuggish and lawless attacks on the monument…”
NOTE: Here’s the beginning of a CLASSIC Straw Man Argument.
He claimed to “mourn the untimely and unnecessary death of Mr. George Floyd in Minneapolis,” and to “offer our heartfelt prayers and condolences to his family and loved ones” while neglecting to mention that the statue’s presence was an explicitly continual public reminder, and glorification of slavery. He might as well have mourned the death of Charles Manson, for all the good the “heartfelt prayers and condolences” meant to the Black community, and to others.
See the BIG BLUE TRUCK? Big Blue hauled away Birmingham’s edifice to evil.
His condemnation of “those in Birmingham” (“those” as in “you people”?) whom he falsely claimed had a hand in “the destruction of our hallowed monument” PURPOSELY and COMPLETELY IGNORED the fact that their “hallowed monument” (an onerous obelisk which was enduring evidence as an edifice to evil, and a malingering maleficence) was NOT destroyed, but rather, was gently, carefully, painstakingly, and methodically dismantled bit-by-bit, and piece-by-piece and hauled away on a flatbed trailer truck by the City of Birmingham at the resident citizens’ request.
“The Alabama Monuments Preservation Act provides a singular avenue for enforcement — the filing of a civil complaint in pursuit of a fine, which the Alabama Supreme Court has determined to be a one-time assessment of $25,000. The Act authorizes no additional relief.
“Should the City of Birmingham proceed with the removal of the monument in question, based upon multiple conversations I have had today, city leaders understand I will perform the duties assigned to me by the Act to pursue a new civil complaint against the City.
“In the aftermath of last night’s violent outbreak, I have offered the City of Birmingham the support and resources of my office to restore peace to the City.”
This evening, the City of Birmingham has deployed crews to dismantle and remove the onerous obelisk which has cast the pallor of slavery over the city since its erection in 1905 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, May 28, 2020
As I’ve pondered the often tragic events of the past several days, weeks, and months of news items concerning the deaths and abuses of men – mostly, but of women as well – of color in our country, from states as far south as Georgia, to as far north in Minnesota, I weep.
When I see, read, and hear of deaths which would otherwise be called “murder” and “assault” at the hands of law-enforcement officials, by every day citizens, retired law enforcement officers, and even mere civilians in public parks, I not only cringe, but throw up in my mouth just a little bit.
The not-so-subtle cheapening of human life, particularly of Black lives, is not merely disgusting, it is fully and completely immoral and entirely irreligious, for it is neither pietistic, and certainly not humanistic.
“The Lost Cause” title page, 1866
And when I think about how and why we got to this point, and wonder how the demonic deification of diabolical deeds, and grandiose glorification of such evil and treachery occurred, I consider “The Lost Cause” as the root cause. It is the single-most practical perpetuation of all such wickedness which continues to live and roam among us.
In a much earlier entry entitled “Terrorism In the South,” and dated October 6, 2016, I wrote about some survivors of the American Civil War, whom have been long dead.
While I confess to not being a student of the Civil War, I do take a modest passing interest in a backgrounder of some of its lesser-known facts, such as the romanticizing efforts of “The Lost Cause” which was, and remains, an attempt to ennoble the matter of slavery, its savageries, and the war by Southerners which sought to perpetuate it.
The term “Lost Cause” emerged at the end of the Civil War when Edward Pollard, editor of the Richmond Examiner, popularized it with his book The Lost Cause, which chronicled the Confederacy’s demise. The term swiftly came into common use as a reference not only to military defeat, but defeat of the “southern way of life”—a phrase that generally referred to the South of the antebellum period, when plantationslavery was still intact. Since the late nineteenth century, historians have used the term “Lost Cause” to describe a particular belief system as well as commemorative activities that occurred in the South for decades after the Civil War. Commonly held beliefs were that the war was fought over states’ rights and not slavery, that slavery was a benevolent institution that offered Christianity to African “savages,” and that the war was a just cause in the eyes of God. Commemorative activities included erecting Confederate monuments and celebrating Confederate Memorial Day.
Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy; frontispiece to author Edward A. Pollard’s 1866 book The Lost Cause
When describing the Lost Cause, historians have employed the terms “myth,” “cult,” “civil religion,” “Confederate tradition,” and “celebration” to explain this southern phenomenon. Many of these terms are used interchangeably, but they all refer to a conservative movement in the postwar South that was steeped in the agrarian traditions of the Old South and that complicated efforts to create a “New South.” For diehard believers in the Lost Cause, the term New South was repugnant and implied that there was something wrong with the values and traditions of the antebellum past. For individuals devoted to the idea of the Lost Cause, the Old South still served as a model for race relations (blacks should be deferential to whites as under slavery), gender roles (women should be deferential to their fathers, brothers, and husbands), and class interactions (poor whites should defer to wealthier whites). Moreover, individuals believed that the Confederacy, which sought to preserve the southern way of life, should be respected and its heroes, as well as its heroines, should be revered. Indeed, white southerners, for whom the Lost Cause was sacred, argued that the members of the Confederate generation fought for a just cause—states’ rights—and were to be honored for their sacrifices in defense of constitutional principle.
One could think of The Lost Cause as a “We’ve always done it this way” kind of thinking – which ironically, are also “The Last Six Words of a Dying Organization.”
Nevertheless, as many historians note, photographs of individuals from that era are exceedingly rare, as are those of the more infamous individuals such as William T. “Bloody Bill” Anderson, a notoriously wicked, savagely brutal, wantonly profligate, dissolutely treacherous guerilla terrorist gang leader of Confederate mercenaries who is widely thought to have personally killed at least 52 human beings, based upon a cord he kept in his pocket, which when found upon his corpse, is reputed to have had as many number of knots in its length.
You could think of “Bloody Bill” Anderson as the “MS-13 of the Civil War.”
To describe his actions and life as reprehensibly reprobate, cravenly pusillanimous, even proliferately profligate, ignominious and pervasive is not strong enough to convey the utter depths of depravity of his darkened soul.
As a young man aged 22, he quickly became a scumbag of the First Order by making money stealing and selling horses – a type of automobile theft of the antiquated day – all along the Santa Fe Trail, as far away as New Mexico.
After “Bloody Bill” Anderson’s father’s death – he was shot in self defense by A.I. Baker, a Confederate-sympathizing judge in the Council Grove, Kansas area, after being threatened by him because the judge had issued an arrest warrant for the son for horse theft after numerous complaints by area ranchers and farmers – he doubled down and became a murdering thief, wantonly hijacking and murdering travelers, stagecoaches, United States soldiers and civilians in and around Missouri.
His loyalty was to no one but himself, and was known to have remarked that he sought to fight as a Confederate mercenary – for money, rather than for principle, or fealty.
Bloody Bill shortly became mixed up with another ne’er-do-well guerilla leader named William Clarke Quantrill around May 1863, who headed the equally infamous guerilla terrorist group Quantrill’s Raiders, to which the equally infamous criminal brother duo of Frank and Jesse James briefly belonged. They, along with Cole Younger and his brothers Jim, John and Bob Younger, another notorious criminal cabal who were also part of Quantrill’s Raiders, and following the Civil War, joined with Jesse’s brother Frank James, to rob trains.
MORE COVID-19 Deaths than all deaths in WWI – 116,516.
Last week, we eclipsed all deaths from the Korean and Vietnam Wars combined.
We are in a very Public Health war.
And so far, testing continues to lag with only 4.6037% of the entire American public tested – 15,192,481.
Meanwhile, South Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan, Vietnam – along with their economies – are returning to normal with no new cases reported, while stupid Americans cry, whine, moan, groan, gripe, bitch, and complain about not being able to get haircuts, their nails done, eat out, or go to the gym.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, May 27, 2020
Some have wondered how other diseases’ mortality (death statistics) compares with COVID-19.
To illustrate, their questions can be stated somewhat like “on an annualized basis, how many deaths have historically occurred because of “X” disease when compared to COVID-19?”
Such a comparison examines ONLY death.
It does not examine risk.
“Death as a Strangler”; “Death playing the violin at a Masquerade during a cholera outbreak in Paris in 1831.” 1845, by Alfred Rethel (1816-1859)
It’s akin to asking “who will die?”
Answer: Your death is a 100% certainty.
Or, if you prefer, we know for a hard, cold fact, that you will die. The corollary operative Latin phrase is “memento mori,” translated literally “remember die,” and which translates functionally as “remember death,” or loosely as “remember that you must die.”
Death rates do NOT examine how quickly hospital or healthcare systems have been or could be overwhelmed with “X” disease.
In some localities, New York City most notably, COVID-19 has overwhelmed the healthcare resources of America’s most populous city.
Death rates do NOT examine the disease’s ease of transmissibility.
COVID-19 is spread by breathing. Cancer is not. Heart disease is not. Accidents are not. Cerebrovascular disease is not. Alzheimer’s is not.
Cancer, diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, etc., are typically chronic (long-term) conditions.
COVID-19 is not, and has often killed in a matter of days.
Death rates do not consider the insidious nature of COVID-19, i.e., that it hides in the body, often not even making its presence known (at least 30-50% of those infected are asymptomatic, i.e., show no signs of infection – not even one, including fever), even after an incubation period that ranges from 2-14 days.
Starving Rats Are Reportedly Turning Into Cannibals And Attacking One Other As Their Restaurant Food Supply Disappears
By TPorter@businessinsider.com (Tom Porter)
• The CDC has warned that rats are growing increasingly aggressive amid the coronavirus epidemic, and advised on what people can do to stop infestations in their neighborhoods.
• The rodents usually feed on rubbish in restaurant bins, but with many outlets closed or only offering takeout they are empty.
• Videos have been posted on social media of rats swarming deserted streets in New Orleans and New York streets.
• Pest control officials say that some rats are resorting to cannibalism and infanticide to survive.
Rats are growing increasingly aggressive in their hunt for food as restaurants across the US Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, May 25, 2020
One again, Republicans are demonstrating their lackadaisical reckless attitude toward human life, and thereby proving that they care little, if anything, about Americans of any stripe.
Whether young, old, infant, geriatric, sick, healthy, able, disabled, veteran, civilian, Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, well-educated, poorly-educated, gay, straight, bi, gender non-conforming, or anything of all points in between – it makes no difference. Money is their god. The Almighty Dollar rules.
They and their feckless titular leader are forcing ALL Americans to bow before the altar of Mammon, sacrificing our wise elders, children, even the unborn, to the all-consuming selfish fires of commerce.
The radicalized members of the Party of Trump are your “Death Panels.” They are the very thing Republicans warned America which would happen if the PPACA were to become enacted — which is not even anything even remotely close to Single Payer/Medicare For All.
And yet, even though they’ve continually tried their damndest to kill the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), aka “ObamaCare,” and every vestige of it since the day it was enacted on March 23, 2010, they’ve still not managed to come up with any alternative whatsoever.
Nada.
Bupkis.
Not only have the GOP’s dire predictions not come true, nor have they even remotely happened, but they’re still showing America what they think is TRULY important – money, money, money… MONEY!
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, May 16, 2020
Good news, America!
As of today, we’re only 6,069 body bags, and 3 days away from our goal!
Let’s review:
Yesterday, Friday, 15 May 2020, we closed out the day with 85,884 COVID-19 Deaths in America.
Today, we close out the day with a total of 88,754 COVID-19 Deaths – a 3.3417% increase, only slightly above our projected 2% daily increase.
As we had earlier written, “Again, a friendly reminder that by June 2, at the current rate, we’ll have a total of 115,781 COVID-19 related deaths. In fact, at the fairly constant increase of 2% per day, in 5ive days (May 19), we’ll have MORE COVID-19 related deaths than ALL the DEATHS from the Vietnam War & Korean War COMBINED – 94,823!!”
If we continue to keep up what we’re doing (and there’s no indication that we’ll do anything any differently – why mess with success, eh?), at our projected approximate 2% Daily Death Rate increase, we’ll be Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, May 12, 2020
Editor’s annotation appears in the conclusion.
GREAT job, Mister President!
Way to go, Republicans!
We’re Number 1!
Trump has made America GREAT AGAIN!
Now, let’s Keep America Great Again!
COVID-19 Morning Update May 12
We can’t let the Democrats get in the way of Republican success!
Over 1,347,936 Confirmed Cases of COVID-19, and increasing daily!
In fact, MORE than ANY OTHER NATION in the world!
And the best part?
COVID-19 Nightly Update May 11
More deaths than any other nation, as well!
In fact, now, with 80,684 confirmed COVID-19 deaths, soon America is on track, and will soon have MORE than the TOTAL Deaths of the United Kingdom (32,141), Italy (30,739), and Spain (26,744) COMBINED – 89,624!
And face it… a few folks will have to die to KEEP AMERICA GREAT!
COVID-19 Morning Update May 11
But their sacrifices will NOT be forgotten!
They’re PATRIOTS and HEROES on the FRONT LINES of the ECONOMY!
They’re Warriors for Wall Street!
We can’t let the Made in Wuhan Chinese Virus stop us!
We’re NUMBER 1!
Dow Jones Industrial Average 12-31-1970 to 5-12-2020
And the precious Stock Market is STILL HIGH!
Even with the present minor downturn and slight course correction, it’s HIGHER THAN IT’S EVER BEEN!
Trump hasMADE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
And we MUST KEEP ON MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
WHO CARES ABOUT UNEMPLOYMENT!?!
Just more FAKE NEWS by Never Trumpers!
FOUR MORE YEARS!
“We are gonna win, win, win. We’re going to win with military, we’re going to win at the borders, we’re going to win with trade, we’re going to win at everything. And some of you are friends and you’re going to call, and you’re going to say, ‘Mr. President, please, we can’t take it anymore, we can’t win anymore like this, Mr. President, you’re driving us crazy, you’re winning too much, please Mr. President, not so much, and I’m going to say I’m sorry, we’re going to keep winning because we are going to make America great again. I will not let you down.”
— Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump Friday, May 20, 2016, 145th annual NRA convention, Louisville, KY
“We’re going to win. We’re going to win so much. We’re going to win at trade, we’re going to win at the border. We’re going to win so much, you’re going to be so sick and tired of winning, you’re going to come to me and go ‘Please, please, we can’t win anymore.’ You’ve heard this one. You’ll say ‘Please, Mr. President, we beg you sir, we don’t want to win anymore. It’s too much. It’s not fair to everybody else.’” Trump said. “And I’m going to say ‘I’m sorry, but we’re going to keep winning, winning, winning, We’re going to make America great again.”
–– Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump, Thursday, May 26, 2016, Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark, Billings, Montana
“We’re gonna’ win with trade, we’re gonna’ win with health, we’re gonna’ win at so many levels! We’re gonna’ WIN! WIN! WIN! You’re gonna’ get so tired of winning, you’re gonna’ say, ‘Mr. President, PLEASE! We don’t wanna’ win anymore! It’s too much!’ And I’m gonna’ say, ‘I’m sorry! We’re gonna’ keep winning! Because we’re gonna’ make America great again!’”
— Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump days before the November 2016 General Election
“Total nonfarm payroll employment fell by 20.5 million in April, and the unemployment rate rose to 14.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The changes in these measures reflect Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Your Money, or Your Life… You Choose.
Presently, there are increasing calls clamoring for our states’ and nation’s economies to be returned to a state of “normalcy” (whatever that may be, or look like). Those voices are largely cacophonous, often belligerent, threatening with violent, even lawless displays, such as in Michigan recently, when renegades and insurrectionists stormed the State Capitol building armed with loaded assault weapons, and battle accouterments such as helmets, flak jackets, and bullet-proof vests, threatening to kill the Governor, and attempted to seize the Legislative floors.
In response, some states’ Governors are “reopening” their states’ economies, which have been largely shuttered for the benefit, and protection of the Greater Good, preservation of Public Health, and the prevention of loss of life, through unwitting dissemination of a particularly insidious and occult disease for which we have no cure, neither validated, nor verified treatment, nor vaccine – the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, aka COVID-19.
It seems to me that, in essence, what is being done – not merely said – is presenting a “your money, or your life” robbery type scenario, a practical sacrificing of human life upon the altar of filthy lucre to the god of mammon, through the high priests of Read the rest of this entry »
“We now know from recent studies that a significant portion of individuals with coronavirus lack symptoms (“asymptomatic”) and that even those who eventually develop symptoms (“pre-symptomatic”) can transmit the virus to others before showing symptoms.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, February 11, 2020
Diane Ravitch is a name known to some, to few, and to many.
It depends upon what circles one travels in to determine who knows whom.
If it’s educational circles, then one is certainly well aware of her stature and renown. One wouldn’t suppose that bricklayers, stonemasons, heavy equipment operators, or welders would recognize her name. But, they could. One never knows.
However, Ms. Ravitch is a well-respected, and highly-regarded education historian, policy analyst, and author, who also blogs on her personal website DianeRavitch.net, and for many years, has advocated for improvements in Public Education.
She was appointed by POTUSes Clinton and George W. Bush to public service, served as Assistant Secretary of Education from 1991-93 to Secretary of Education, Lamar Alexander. From there, she was appointed membership to the National Assessment Governing Board, which supervises the National Assessment of Educational Progress, and served in that capacity from 1997-2004. She earned her PhD from Columbia University, and undergraduate from Wellesley College.
And ardent education reformer who opposes Common Core and the seemingly incessant testing to which students are subjected, she has said that the only sure way to stop corporations’ efforts to undermine taxpayer-funded Public Education is to “build a political movement so united and clear in its purpose, that it would be heard in every state Capitol, and even in Washington, D.C.”
Caricature of James Russell Lowell, by Théobald Chartran published in Vanity Fair, 21 August 1880.
Whereas formerly, she supported the school voucher system, she now opposes it, and in her 2010 book “The Death and Life of the Great American School System,” which NPR described as a “terrific and timely book,” she explains why she did so, citing an abundance of “new evidence.”
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, December 28, 2019
In this Dec. 18, 2019 photo, Joey Covino poses for a photo at his home in Saugus, Mass., with a photo of himself as a 9-year-old boy. Covino was abused by Rev. Richard J. McCormick at a summer camp in Massachusetts in 1981. Covino said the entirety of his adult life had been altered by McCormick’s abuse – failed relationships, his decisions to join the military and later the police, nightmares that plagued him. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
Can anyone think of any legitimate reason why child sex offenders should not get a mandatory Death Penalty – with no possibility for appeals?
Sex offenders who prey upon children are incorrigible. They are literally incapable of reform. It would be easier to ask a leopard to change its spots.
In this Monday, Aug. 10, 2015 file photo, Judge Timothy Feeley, left, addresses the former Rev. Richard J. McCormick, 74, in Salem Superior Court in Boston after his conviction of raping Joey Covino as a child, for which he was sentenced up to 10 years. Joey Covino said the entirety of his adult life had been altered by McCormick’s abuse over two summers at a Salesian camp – failed relationships, his decisions to join the military and later the police, nightmares that plagued him. His decision to come forward led to McCormick’s conviction of rape in 2014. McCormick has since plead guilty to assaulting another boy. (Faith Ninivaggi/The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)
No form of treatment – not even chemical castration – has ever “cured” or eliminated child sex abusers’ compulsion to harm children. Professionals acknowledge that, “no cure exists for pedophilia.” As one organization put it, “No one has been able to find a way to change pedophiles into nonpedophiles.” It is splitting hairs to argue that the term “pedophile” is somehow inapplicable because sexual attraction to, and sexual abuse of, children aged 11 to 14 is categorized as “hebephilia.”
Currently-accepted thought is that child sexual abusers are born with a predilection for being sexually aroused by children. And while that inordinate unhealthy desire can be “cultivated,” per se, it needn’t be acted upon – it needn’t be cultivated.
Sexual preference for children (as in normal, healthy, youthful sexual desire) doesn’t have to result in actual sexual behaviors being demonstrated toward or upon children, and is differentiated from acting upon one’s thoughts – including differentiating between fantasy and reality.
It is differentiated from habitual sexual abuse of children, especially by adult males in a religious order (in this case), who exercised some degree of authority, or control over the children and teens in their “flock” of believers.
How common is sexual abuse of children?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that 1 in 4 girls (25%), and 1 in 6 boys (16.6%) are sexually abused before age 18, with the average age of first abuse between ages 9 and 10. The typical pattern is abuse by an adult male acquaintance (60%), which continues for at least 4 years.
As of March 31, 2016, there were 805,781 registered sex offenders in the United States. Many offenders evade detection and their offenses are unknown, along with the actual number of child molesters, which also remains unknown. As well, the root cause(s) of their impulses are largely unknown.
The Catholic Church has not helped to expose or stop such horrific wrong-doing, and instead, has conspired to Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, November 2, 2019
UPDATE 08 December 2019: On Tuesday, December 3, 2019, California Senator Kamala Harris announced that she was dropping out of the race as a contender to be the Democratic Party’s nominee for President. See also her announcement as a candidate at the close of this article.
Ad hominem attacks are only valid on, and for, reprobates like Donald Trump.
BTW, for the record, I’m not a Democrat – I’m a GDI, and always have been.
But, when a candidate seeking the party’s nomination says to attendees at an early voting state’s event that, “We’re gonna’ need a nominee on that stage with Donald Trump, who has the ability to go toe-to-toe with Donald Trump. And Iowa, you’re lookin’ at ‘er.,” it just doesn’t bode well as an answer to the question “what will you do ‘for the people?'”
Criticizing her political campaign, no one has heard what her plans are for rural America, Economic Infrastructure, tax policy, international relations, or any other intermediate or long-range economic policy. Or, at least she’s not made them the centerpiece or cornerstone of her campaign.
Almost every Democratic candidate is in practical philosophical agreement with almost every issue in this election cycle: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, September 1, 2019
What the hell!?! Damn!
I was ready to go to bed after wrapping up a blog entry on Joe Biden’s support of the Firearm Owners’ Protection Act (FOPA) which was responsible for the “measure that allowed dealers to sell rifles, shotguns and ammunition through the mail, and, eventually, the internet. It limited federal inspections of firearms dealers while allowing them to sell guns at gun shows, which helped them grow in size and popularity. And it made it easier for private collectors to sell guns without obtaining a federal dealers’ license, which would play a role in what later became known as the “Gun Show Loophole.””
First thought that came to my mind was the lead sentence in this entry.
The next thought was, “Ban all guns. The motherfuckers obviously can’t handle them, and don’t need them.”
Then, I thought, “Well… maybe we need to make it more difficult for just anyone and everyone to obtain firearms. Something that’d be ‘Constitutionally-approved.'”
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, August 10, 2019
NOTE TO READERS: Effectively, because no other parties were named in the indictment against Jeffrey Epstein, the case against him is now just as dead as he is. As well, it’s highly doubtful that any information obtained in the Grand Jury process will be released to the public. However, Geoffrey S. Berman, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said, “Today’s events are disturbing, and we are deeply aware of their potential to present yet another hurdle to giving Epstein’s many victims their day in Court. To those brave young women who have already come forward and to the many others who have yet to do so, let me reiterate that we remain committed to standing for you, and our investigation of the conduct charged in the Indictment – which included a conspiracy count – remains ongoing.” Such a statement strongly suggests that the government’s investigation into Epstein’s sex trafficking case will continue. There is at least one other potential co-conspirator, and that is Epstein’s long-time confidant-cum-occasional-sexual partner, Ghislaine Maxwell. –Editor
––//––
According to a Press Release by the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons – including numerous independent reports from validated, and verified sources – convicted pedophile, and accused sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein has apparently Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Yesterday marked the 8th anniversary of the loss of phenomenal 27-year-old Grammy Award-winning British musician-songstress Amy Winehouse.
Her 6 awards included an ironic-now-iconic autobiographical performance of “Rehab” at the 50th annual Grammy Awards February 20, 2008 in Los Angeles, where she won an unprecedented 5 awards for her 2006 album Back to Black – making her the first British female artist to have ever won as many – including Album of The Year for “Back to Black,” Record of the Year and Song of The Year for “Rehab,” Best New Artist, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “Rehab, and Best Pop Vocal Album for “Back to Black.”
At the time of the Grammy awards, she was in London performing at the 2008 BRIT Awards via satellite from Earls Court.
Her accomplishments were unprecedented, because she also tied the previous record for the most Grammy awards by a female artist in a single night.
The Grammys honor musical achievement in the year prior, and were for releases between October 1, 2006 through September 30, 2007.
On July 23, 2011, she was found unresponsive in her bedroom at her house in the borough of Camden, in northwest London.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, July 9, 2019
Ross Perot (1930-2019)
Ross Perot, the Texas billionaire who made his fortune in Information Technology/Computer Data Systems, twice ran for POTUS as an independent candidate, and prophetically warned about the “giant sucking sound” of American jobs moving to Mexico if NAFTA was ratified, has died, aged 89.
Perot was a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, which is also why, in part, he chose retired former Vice Admiral James Stockdale – an Annapolis graduate, living recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor, and Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Perhaps you know that I read, and do so widely.
Yesterday, I read something that I found utterly BRILLIANT!
This is but one thought from it.
“To avoid being mistaken for gay, these days many self-proclaimed straight people—men especially—settle for superficial associations with their comrades and reserve the sort of costly intimacy that once characterized such chaste same-sex relationships for their romantic partners alone. Their ostensibly normal sexual orientation cheats them out of an essential aspect of human flourishing: deep friendship.”
As I am now writing these words, another thought came to mind, and it was that I learned a new word recently.
The word is “alexithymia,” and refers to the inability to describe emotions.
The word it self is a fairly new one having emerged circa 1970’s, and examining its component parts, tells us something about its meaning. The prefix “a” means the negation or absence of something, “lexi” means speech, and by extension communication, and “thymia” refers to a noun form meaning a condition being related to the mind and will.
I learned that word after viewing a brief TEDx presentation given by a gent who was presenting the case against the social, colloquial phrase “be a man” – and most all ideas associated with it, which also flow from it – and which as he shared, has significantly contributed to the alienation and isolation of emotions from boys, and the social retardation of the full development of personality and character which otherwise might be more fully developed were they “in tune with” their emotions, and able to describe them.
He made a much better case for emotional support than I’m able to explain here in a few words, but suffice it to say, that the impetus of his idea was that boys’ emotional development is largely (or, at least has been historically, most notably in modernity) socially squelched, and they have not been encouraged to express their emotions, save perhaps, except in sports, which itself is a very narrow expression.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, February 7, 2019
Emantic Fitzgerald “EJ” Bradford Jr. was shot and killed by a Hoover Police Officer on Thanksgiving night 2018 inside the Riverchase Galleria mall.
The word “vomitorium” describes an exit in a coliseum, and stems from its Latin root word “vomus” which means “to spew forth.”
Spew is what this report does.
And exit is what AL AG Steve Marshall does in regard to this case and matter.
From page 23 of the 24 total pages:
“First, a reasonable person could have assumed that the only person with a gun who was running toward the victim of a shooting that occurred just three seconds earlier fired the shots.”
Right… assailants with guns run TO the scene, just like cops. (sarcasm)
WRONG!
The AG’s report contains an error of the First Order by presuming that ordinary citizens would behave like Law Enforcement Officers (LEO) and run TO the sound of gunfire.
Most folks run AWAY from gunfire.
“A reasonable person” would do similarly.
Which, I suppose, would mean that LEO’s are therefore NOT “reasonable.”
Again, that is contradictory to the AG’s report which presumes that reasonable people run TO the sound of gunfire.
That also makes everyone on the scene who fled, unreasonable.
And on page 8, the report states “The officers engage Bradford, who stands holding a gun and then, unlike others at the scene, runs toward the gunshots.” (emphasis added)
The AG’s claim not only contradicts his later assertion, it does NOT even make logical sense, because Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, December 3, 2018
Increasingly, it seems highly unlikely that the mortal remains of John Alan Chau will ever be repatriated to the United States.
Chau was the 26-year-old missionary who illegally invaded North Sentinel Island in the Andaman and Nicobar Island chain east of India in the Bay of Bengal, then was killed while trespassing by the Stone Age tribe members who are thought to have resided there for 60,000 years.
John Allen Chau
So far, police have arrested 7 people, including the 6 fishermen who ferried him to North Sentinel Island.
Chau still didn’t act alone.
Dependra Pathak, Andaman Director General of Police, said “We are investigating the role of at least two Americans, a man and a woman, who met with the man who went to the island. These other two, who have since left the country, were reportedly into evangelical activities and encouraged him to visit the island.”
Though he neither identified them or their organization by name, Police Director Pathak said the two Americans who had Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, November 26, 2018
The late John Allen Chau, a 26/27-year-old thrill-seeking American with criminal intent, who was justifiably killed by the Stone Age tribe members on North Sentinel Island because he invaded their sacred, protected-by-law island, wrote a few notes before his last, and fatefully fatal encounter with the 60,000 year old tribal pygmy aborigines.
John Allen Chau
He instructed the fishermen to deliver his handwritten notes to a friend of his, whom was similarly complicit in his nefariously illegal deeds, and was later arrested with the others.
That friend then emailed John Allen Chau’s mother of what had happened.
That same friend was likely the one who sent the images of his thoughts – his last journal entries – to his mother.
Why did neither the fishermen, nor Chau’s “friend” not FIRST inform the authorities?
Because of the criminal activity involved, and because by so doing would have been a confession/admission of guilt to a felony crime.
In turn, Chau’s mother – Lynda Adams-Chau – then contacted the United States Consulate in Chennai, a city of about 8.8 million, and capital of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state in India.
The Consulate then contacted law enforcement authorities.
Chau KNEW he was committing a FELONY ACT under Indian Federal Law.
According to the reports of the 6, or 7 fishermen he bribed to ferry him to North Sentinel Island – some of whom were his religious friends – he, and everyone was knowledgeable of his criminal intentions, and actions.
They were ALL arrested after they ferried him to the island AT LEAST 6 times.
If there was an analogous American equivalent to his criminal deeds abroad, it might be have snuck in to the White House unawares, and then, after six days, finally making his presence known.
As Andaman Director General of Police, Dependra Pathak CORRECTLY IDENTIFIED, John Allen Chau’s selfish motives were Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, November 26, 2018
John Allen Chau
Many news-telling organizations are uninformed and completely WRONG in the stories they write about American John Allen Chau who was recently killed on North Sentinel Island in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands chain in the Bay of Bengal, east of India.
1.) John Allen Chau was NOT a “missionary” of any kind. He was about as much a “missionary” as fictitious group The Blues Brothers – Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi – in their absurdist 1980 comedy movie, who in character claimed they were “on a mission from God.” Chau NEVER made any such claim.
Instagram obituary of John Allen Chau, 27, by his family.
Chau’s verbatim description of himself on his Instagram account was: Following the Way.
Wilderness EMT.
PADI Advanced Open Water Diver.
Outbound Collective Explorer.
Perky Jerky Ambassador.
Snakebite Survivor.
Outbound Collective is loosely, unofficially affiliated group of people who describe themselves as “a relatively small, but well-balanced team. We come from a variety of backgrounds and outdoor interests. …united by a shared passion for the outdoors.”
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, November 25, 2018
Instagram obituary of John Allen Chau, 27, by his family
NOTE: This story, at least as it’s being told by most American news media outlets (sometimes also known as MSM, or the Main Stream Media), is sparsely incomplete, at best. While it’s not the purpose of this entry to castigate, criticize, or deride them, it is worth noting that they, like other outlets, make determinations of what viewers want to read, or don’t want to read, and publish what they think viewers want to read. Determining and discerning those two items is the job, in large part, of editors and publishers. The purpose of this entry is to inform readers, as fully as possible, from the widest variety of sources, details of the story which remain largely untold by most American news media outlets. Your comments are welcome. –ed.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands chain showing North Sentinel Island in the Bay of Bengal, off the east Indian coast.
Perhaps by now you’ve heard of the tragic and bizarre death resulting from the deliberately premeditated, most likely illegal, and profoundly stupid acts of John Allen Chau, a 27-year-old Alabamian, who’d recently moved to Vancouver, Washington with his mother Lynda Adams-Chau. As a self-described “adventure tourist” who lived part-time in an isolated cabin in California’s Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, he was killed by Stone Age tribesmen while trespassing on North Sentinel Island, in the southernmost Bay of Bengal among the Andaman and Nicobar Islands chain east of India.
The Sentinelese, who are thought to be direct descendants of the first humans who emigrated from North Africa 60,000 years ago, are called one of the Earth’s last “uncontacted” people, and by Indian law, it is illegal to even attempt to contact them, much less to make contact with them. The Indian government vigorously protects the Sentinelese people who neither use any form of money (one of the earliest forms of money used in commercial transactions appeared in Egypt and Mesopotamia – the cradle of civilization – by the third millennium BCE), who by law cannot be prosecuted, contact with them is forbidden, as is entry or attempted entry into any area they populate or inhabit.
Their protection is so jealously safeguarded by Indian law, that even taking videos of the Sentinelese people is prohibited. In 2017, the Indian government clarified in the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) that the Andamanese, Jarawas, Onges, Sentinelese, Nicobarese and Shom Pens had been identified as “aboriginal tribes,” that they are protected under the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes) Regulation, and as such, videos showing them cannot be uploaded on any social media or the Internet, and that they would legally seek “removal of these objectionable video films from YouTube and initiate action on those who uploaded these video clips on social media platforms.” Even the Indian navy is forbidden to encroach near North Sentinel Island, in an effort to protect the isolated, reclusive, often violent tribe.
Such protection is not granted exclusively to North Sentinel Islanders, and in 2012, the Indian government made illegal any advertising promoting tourism of the Andaman and Nicoman Islands area relating to aboriginal tribes. The law states in part that, “Whoever enters these areas in contravention of the notification under section 7 {prohibiting entry into reserve areas} for taking photographs or making videos shall be punishable with imprisonment up to three years.” The law and protection is so strict and so great, that violations of other sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities Act) can also be added the list of offenses for anyone who violates the law.
The Sentinelese people’s population has never been accurately, correctly or properly enumerated, and relatively little is known about them. During India’s 2011 Census, enumerators found only Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, November 25, 2018
SHOTS FIRED!
Black Man With A Gun!
Birmingham, AL metro area showing Hoover, south of Birmingham, and the Riverchase Galleria mall, south of Hoover.
“They took out the threat. Our plan works.”
– Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis describing how uniformed HPD LEOs killed Emantic Fitzgerald “EJ” Bradford, Jr.
It was a Black Friday in more ways than one.
Gunfire erupted late Thanksgiving night around 10PM Central Standard Time in Hoover, Alabama, a small suburb south of Birmingham and part of the Greater Birmingham Metro Area.
It was Black Friday eve at Riverchase Galleria – the state’s largest shopping mall – where holiday shoppers where amassed for huge sales and deep discounts at local and national retailers, many of whom have had a presence there for the over 30 years its been a Jefferson County jolly green sales tax giant.
“The Threat,” Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford, Jr., has been neutralized. “Our Plan works,” said Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis.
A 21-year-old Black man identified as Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr., of Hueytown, AL, was observed fleeing the shooting scene while brandishing a handgun, was engaged, shot and killed by a uniformed Hoover police officer, according to Hoover Police Captain Gregg Rector.
Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis, said, “Thank God we had our officers very close. They heard the gunfire, they engaged the subject, and they took out the threat. That threat could have materialized into a lot more people being injured. Thank goodness that did not happen. We have a plan and our plan works.” Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, November 14, 2018
I still remember the 1st GSW I saw.
Went from assault, to murder, in a matter of minutes.
Completely fucking bled out.
As in O.
U.
Fucking T.
OUT.
Unclamped his aorta, and BOOM!
“Time of death…,” and all walked out – ‘cept me.
And then, there’s the drug deal gone bad.
Etc., etc.
And the .22 to the temple.
There’s a reason it’s called “gray matter.”
And the one where no one could figure out where he was shot… until I found the powder burns around his nostril.
And the mother who lost her only son.
Yeah.
Like Mother Mary.
We looked at each other & said not a word as I caught her while she started to collapse.
Her soul spoke volumes w/o words.
I went & hid behind the curtains in an empty slot in the Trauma bay, looked out over the city & wept.
I could hardly compose myself.
Gawddamn.
That is some shit.
The scumbag dealers of death want us to forget that “those who live by the sword will die by the sword.”
Prophets of profit.
Ministers of misery.
Purveyors of pain.
Balladeers with bullets.
Thieves of time.
Luxuriating liars.
Cold steel hearts.
Barrels of blood.
Gunpowder girls.
Children dancing with death.
Devils with human hands.
Manufacturers of the merciless.
Dead eyes.
Cheap shots.
Raining bullets.
Shell shocked.
Locked and loaded.
All clear.
Trigger happy.
Russian roulette.
Drive bys.
Going postal.
Full auto.
One shot.
Blunderbuss.
Red sticks.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Ever thought about suicide?
Many have.
And not all of them are depressed.
Some are epidemiologists – folks whose business it is to think about the source, causes, and prevention of disease. And then, other health professionals such as physicians, Nurses, psychologists, social workers, and others think about suicide – again, not as means to end their own lives, but for the sake of others. And yet Nurses and physicians also personally think about suicide, and often at rates greater than the average population.
I’ve thought about suicide.
I’ve thought about suicide many times.
In fact, I’m thinking about suicide as I write this entry.
But I’m not thinking about suicide as a means to end my own life.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, August 16, 2018
Aretha Franklin (1942–2018)
On this day in which we mourn the passing of the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, it seems fitting to acknowledge a similarly renown 78-year-old soul singer from the tiny north Alabama town of Hanceville whose new album will be released soon.
Aretha Franklin at FAME Recording Studios, in Muscle Shoals, AL. Her first Number One hit “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)” was written for her by her friend Ronnie Shannon, produced by Jerry Wexler, and released in 1967 – was recorded at FAME Studios with the guidance and direction of Rick Hall. It almost didn’t get cut (and was the only song recorded at that session) because of tensions between her then-husband Ted White and a member of the Muscle Shoals Horn Section, and Jerry Wexler and FAME owner Rick Hall.
The two artists share numerous similarities, and could – for all practical purposes – be considered musical sisters by virtue of their musical upbringings. The producers, musicians, engineers and others – including their families – in whose orbit they traveled, are similar, if not identical, as are their life stories.
The other to whom I refer is Candi Staton.
Linked below, NPR previews the album (linked on the page) which will be released August 24, and supplies a brief story about her 30th album which is entitled “Unstoppable.”
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, June 24, 2018
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall’s wife Bridgette apparently committed suicide Sunday morning, June 24, 2018, and his office issued a statement which in part said, “We are saddened to report that Bridgette Marshall, wife of Attorney General Steve Marshall, passed away this morning after a long struggle with mental illness.”
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and now-late wife Bridgette at their Albertville, AL home.
Former GOP Attorney General, and repeat AG candidate Troy King said in part that, “We offer our deepest sympathies and heartfelt prayers for Attorney General Steve Marshall and his family and pray that God’s grace and peace and hope will enfold and sustain them,” and ordered all his campaign advertising temporarily ceased, adding that his campaign effort has been “paused.”
To be certain, suicide is tragic. We’ve seen far too many. And the recent deaths of Chef Anthony Bourdain, and Designer Kate Spade have once again, brought to the fore of discussion the problem of suicide.
Alabama prisons, like other prisons nationwide, are chock full of those with mental illnesses. We can thank Ronald Reagan and the GOP for that misguided plan.
Alabama’s first Governess, Lurleen B. Wallace, advocated for superiority of mental healthcare in Alabama, and while not without problems, Alabama boasted a mental healthcare system of which it could be, and was, justifiably proud. Partlow, Bryce, LBW in Decatur, and numerous other facilities throughout the state cared for those whom were unable to care for themselves because of the severity of their disability and ill mental health.
Now, in Alabama, and throughout the nation, mental health is a joke. And neither the GOP in Alabama, nor national GOP show any signs of changing.
“Thoughts and prayers…” are all the GOP has to offer. That’s all they had to offer following the mass murders in Las Vegas, and other schools. Their pietistic platitudes are meaningless, and worthless.
Alabama, like the national GOP, has allowed mental health to deteriorate. Their values are valueless, worthless, and meaningless. They do NOT value life, they value birth. For if they TRULY valued life, they’d pay for it, they’d support research upon it, learn how to preserve it, protect it, and prolong it for those whom are living and breathing. They don’t care about the living. They care about those who don’t breathe. The unborn. Once you’re born, you’re on your own. Good luck! That is NOT life affirming, it is NOT life valuing! It is degrading, and dehumanizing! It is the “Law of the Jungle,” where “only the strong survive.” It is as much a gladiatorial match as any. Only this one is played out in Congress upon the American people as victims.
Professionally, and personally, I have seen and cared for more cases of mental illness and mental health than any ten people combined, at least.
Here’s an example of one case of mental illness – you’ll need to see the image in context to understand it, and I’ll not explain it here. You MUST go to the site to read the description (click on the photograph to go to the site) – for I’ll NOT “spoon feed” you, or others whom can feed themselves.
I recall also the case of a young man in Tennessee whom was my patient in a secure facility where he will likely spend the remainder of his life, and die. Like some animal in a zoo on display, he was paraded on the Dr. Phil show, whom mocked and derided him, rather than seeking to understand why the system failed him from childhood, knowing that he very early on showed signs of serious mental illness, and yet continuously FAILED him to the point at which he, as a teen, bludgeoned his mother to death as she slept, and attempted to burn down the house where she, he and his brother lived, as his brother was sleeping.
I recall at least FIVE High School friends, and at least one Professional colleague whom committed suicide. One while in HS. Another after he returned home from the Navy. Another whom did so shortly after graduating. Another who took his life in the back seat of his family’s car. Another who felt she couldn’t live. A Professional Nursing colleague took her life. There are others, but I’ll spare you.
There are medications to treat depression, often the root cause of suicide, one which is showing IMMENSE success which is a novel, off-label use of an anesthetic called ketamine. UAB led the nation in demonstrating efficacy of that medication to practically instantly reverse suicidal ideations in those who showed up in the ED (Emergency Department). Now, it’s being used nation-wide, and is being developed for intranasal administration.
What’s Alabama doing about it?
Not one goddamn thing.
Bupkis.
It’s a GIANT FUCK YOU to everyone concerned.
EVERYONE.
Including those who do NOT suffer from mental illness.
So DO NOT EVER tell me that the GOP in Alabama, or elsewhere, has any sense of care for the living, for THEY DO NOT.
Or else… we could’ve had this problem solved by now.
But Alabama?
Alabama is still stuck in the 18th century.
It’s the PERFECT time for the ALGOP to tell the people how and why they care, and what they plan to do to correct matters of mental health.
But, they have no plan.
They don’t care.
They.
Just.
Don’t.
Care.
They care more for a big mule than a human.
Do NOT vote for Republicans in November.
And for those whom would mindlessly scold me, as if they have some moral superiority, I have this to say:
“My maternal Grandfather committed suicide while my mother was pregnant with me.
“My life has been touched by suicides more times than I care to count – at least a dozen.
“I purposely DO NOT talk about my private life, because it’s MY PRIVATE LIFE.
“But I hardly think anyone in a position to scold me, my friend, especially given the fact that as a RN, EMT & Firefighter, I’ve seen more death and suffering in my life than most people will EVER see in theirs.”
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, April 22, 2018
The AR-15 rifle used in the Nashville Waffle House Mass Murder on Earth Day, Sunday 22 April 2018.
Let’s start Earth Day with some sad news.
Around 0325 this morning (Earth Day, Sunday, 22 April 2018), a White male gunman using an AR-15 rifle opened fire at the Waffle House, 3571 Murfreesboro Pike in Nashville and shot 6 persons, 4 fatally – 3 died at the scene, 1 at the hospital. The 2 others are being treated at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Crime Scene tape surrounds the Waffle House, 3571 Murfreesboro Pike in Nashville, TN where an early morning Mass Shooting Murder occurred around 0325 Sunday, 22 April 2018.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, April 18, 2018
79.
That’s the current number of Congressional resignations from the House, and Senate which will be replaced soon.
The House has 73 resignations, while the Senate has 6, of which 60 are Republicans, and 19 Democrats.
Alabama’s Special Election in which Democrat Doug Jones won was a bellwether (he’s the first Democrat to represent Alabama in the Senate since Howell Heflin retired in 1997, and the first Democrat elected statewide since 2008), and Democrat Conor Lamb’s win in Pennsylvania’s highly gerrymandered 18th Congressional District was confirmation. Lamb, whose district voted for Trump by nearly 20 points and wasn’t supposed to win (The Cook Political Report rated the district R+11), was sworn in April 12. Pennsylvania’s State Supreme Court also ruled that such gerrymandering was unconstitutional.
Here’s another Special Election to watch.
April 24 is the date of Arizona’s Special Election to replace Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ, 8) who resigned amidst claims that he asked at least two female staffers to be surrogate mothers for him and his wife.
The Democratic candidate is Hiral Tipirneni, a former Emergency Room Physician who now works as a cancer research advocate.
Her Republican challenger is Republican AZ state Sen. Debbie Lesko.
Arizona Central newspaper reported from the candidates’ Campaign Finance disclosures, that Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, April 14, 2018
In a direct blow to the firearm radicals (aka “gun nuts”) crowd’s assertions, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) has shown that, contrary to what the tax-free National Rifle Association has publicly claimed, “of over 14,000 incidents in which the victim was present, 127 (0.9%) involved a SDGU.” (Self Defense Gun Use)
In other words,
“a good guy with a gun”
does NOT
lower nor reduce criminal activity.
What is the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)?
The BJS writes this about the NCVS:
“The Bureau of Justice Statistics’ (BJS) National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is the nation’s primary source of information on criminal victimization. Each year, data are obtained from a nationally representative sample of about 135,000 households, composed of nearly 225,000 persons, on the Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, March 26, 2018
Remington Outdoor Company, formerly known as Remington Arms Company, LLC, is America’s oldest firearms manufacturer, and privately-owned by Cerberus Capital Management, announced February 12, 2018, that they intended to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection later this year. Cerberus will relinquish ownership once restructuring is completed. Their filing was done today, March 26, 2018.
Remington’s plan will allow them to reduce debt by $700 million of their $950 million debt, contribute $145 million of new capital into their subsidiaries, and $100 million in creditor-funded money as a debtor-in-possession term loan. Planning for the bankruptcy had been announced late 2017.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, December 21, 2017
Someone recently wrote, “Happy Winter Solstice!”
Winter Solstice occurs every December 21st, and is also known as Yule, Midwinter, the Shortest Day, and Longest Night of the year, and occurs this year (2017) at 11:28 AM ET (10:28 AM CST) Thursday.
I’m not so sure it’s a “happy” event, per se, in as much as it is the deepest, darkest, night of the year.
“Saturn in Capricorn is a very useful placement, denoting one tough individual, but on a macro level, it doesn’t promise much in the way of fruitful change.”
However… that being “said,” it ~does~ mark the end of one timeframe, and establishes a point of a “new beginning.” And that is cause for hope, or rejoicing.
Noiseweek magazine had this to say about it: “If you don’t have access to a Yule log but are still interested in protecting yourself during the solstice, approximate the ritual with a candle (preferably marked with runes) and allow yourself some low-key, restorative indulgences, like working from home, moisturizing, eating some citrus, journaling or hibernating as best you can.”
Perhaps just staying inside, nekkid, and drinking spirituous libations all day will suffice, eh?😂🤔😜😳🤣😎
One astrologer, Neil Spencer, who writes for The (London) Observer, says this year’s solstice is particularly foreboding because of planetary alignment which hasn’t occurred since 1664 – the sun will pass in front of the constellation Capricorn hours after Saturn does also, which will cause both planets to line up for the first time time since 1664 – and for that reason, he says, folks ought practice double caution about starting new endeavors on that day.
Which is a good thing… if one is prone to being nekkid inside and drinking, anyway.🤣🤪
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, August 8, 2017
The song “Gotta’ Travel On,” written by by Billy Wayne Grammer (August 28, 1925 – August 10, 2011), is perhaps among the most renown songs in modern recorded history, and for good reason. It was one of the very first songs to have ever had broad “crossover” appeal.
The song’s melody is a traditional one, and the lyrics are thought to be based on a fragment of an unnamed song found in the archives of the Virginia Folklore Society entitled “Done Laid Around,” though there are versions of the song with the same title which typically use a different set of stanzas.
February 22, 1958, Pete Seeger became the first musician to have recorded it and the lyrics with which most are now familiar – which were written by Paul Clayton, David Lazar, Larry Ehrlich, Fred Hellerman, Pete Seeger, and Lee Hays. The BMI Award Winning Song is BMI Work #503008 in the repertoire, and is 100% controlled by BMI.
Pete Seeger performs “Gotta Travel On”
It was only very shortly thereafter, in 1959, when Billy Wayne Grammer recorded and released that song, that it charted on the Country (ranking 5th), Pop (ranking 4th) AND R&B (ranking 14th) music charts! That was no small feat! While not the very first such crossover song,”Gotta’ Travel On” was certainly one of the first. And in the years since, many songs have increased popularity among wider audiences by artists whose interpretations have brought nuance, and even complete change to a song.
Of the numerous musicians have since lent their interpretations to, and re-recorded “Gotta’ Travel On,” which include musical luminaries such as Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, July 5, 2017
As a child and youth – even later in life – when visiting my maternal grandmother, I would often play her baby grand piano.
As a child, when a summer thunderstorm would approach, she would tell me to stop playing, because, as she said, lightning would strike the piano because of the metal wires in it. She falsely supposed it to be an attractive force of some type.
Of course, at the time, I thought such an idea to be preposterously absurd… and still do. And in retrospect, I saw my obedience, then rebellion, and later obsequiousness, more as a reflection of my love to, and respect for her.
Naturally, as a youth, I attempted to reason with her by asking her if she’d ever heard of, or knew anyone who’d ever had their piano struck by lightning while being played during a thunderstorm, and she said Read the rest of this entry »
My name is Donald V. Watkins. To my knowledge, we have never met. The unfortunate incident that happened to Megan Rondini at your home in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on the night of July 1, 2015, has brought us together.
You got to know Megan in life, at least on that one night in July when you admitted to having sex with her. I have only gotten to know Megan in death.
I am a trial lawyer and investigative journalist. I usually work on the difficult cases most prosecutors are afraid to touch, or on exposing the cases where prosecutors have “fixed” the outcome for the benefit of rich and powerful people.
I am very familiar with how some law enforcement investigators and prosecutors “fix” cases for the oligarchy that runs Alabama. I have seen this type of prosecutorial misconduct occur throughout my 44-year legal career. I also understand how prosecutors sometimes use the grand jury system as cover for their unwillingness to prosecute rich and powerful people. Whether a case is indicted or not often depends upon the socio-economic status of the parties involved and how a prosecutor presents the evidence and applicable law to grand jurors.
I understand sexual assault cases in Alabama (and elsewhere). To me, a sexual assault is not just a sex crime; it is an act of violence against the victim. In many cases, the deck is already stacked against female victims of sexual assaults by the very nature of our male dominated world of law enforcement.
One version of the “truth” in Megan’s case resulted in her allegations of sexual assault against you going away. Former Tuscaloosa District Attorney Lyn Head reportedly presented Megan’s sexual assault case to a Tuscaloosa County grand jury several weeks after her February 26, 2016, death and that body took no action against you.
Today, Megan is dead and you are walking around free. The criminal justice system in Tuscaloosa worked well for you. The same system failed Megan miserably.
My job is to find and report the whole truth in Megan’s case. I have been doing this kind of work for a long time.
You may be familiar with some of my most recent work. In 2014, I discovered and reported the shocking truth about the wife-beating conduct and marital infidelity involving Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, June 12, 2017
Mourners saying farewell to slain NAACP official Medgar Evers at his funeral, June 15, 1963.
Today marks the 54th anniversary of the death of WWII Veteran & Civil Rights activist Medgar Evers.
His death, along with that of 14-year old Emmet Till’s 1955 torture and murder, were seminal events in the Civil Rights Movement.
At 12:40 a.m., June 12, 1963, as he stood in the driveway of his home in Jackson, Mississippi, 37-year old Medgar Evers was shot in the back by a Ku Klux Klansman who used a high-powered rifle.
Though he was rushed to a nearby hospital, he died less than a hour later.
During WWII, Evers volunteered in the Army, and participated in the Normandy invasion. After tours of duty in France & Germany, Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, May 21, 2017
Mrs. Edith Ayres, Illinois Training School Nurse of the Class of 1913. Mrs. Ayres was the first American female casualty of WWI, and was buried with military honors at her home in Attica, Ohio.
Among the first casualties of World War I were two Army Nurses – US Army Nurse Corps Edith Ayers, of Attica, OH, and USANC Helen Burnett Woods, of Evanston, IL who were attached to Base Hospital 12 aboard the USS Mongolia – a passenger vessel which was converted into an armored troop carrier and hospital for the Army March 1917 – en route to France, and died 20 May 1917. Also wounded was Miss Emma Matzen, of the Illinois Training School, Class of 1913.
Miss Helen Burnett Wood was a Nurse graduate of the Evanston Hospital Training School, and was one of the was the first two casualties of WW I.
At that time, military Nurses held no rank.
Woods was attached to the U.S. Army Base Hospital, No. 12, also known as the Northwestern University Base Hospital, because a majority of its personnel came out of the university. In May 1917, she received her official orders to join the Base Hospital staff on its way to New York where the staff would embark for Europe.
The two women were on the Mongolia’s deck observing various weapons firing and were struck by fragments of the 6-inch gun’s propellant caps which had ricocheted off a stanchion.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, May 5, 2017
Calling out EVERY TRUMP VOTER!
Sarah Palin’s “Death Panels” are now Donald Trump & the GOP’s gift to you!
They WILL kill you & your grannies, grandpas, kids, wife, relatives, family, and YOU!
DO NOT BE DECEIVED!
In their world, Money Trumps Life!
—
By Yvonne Foster
“I have atrial fibrillation and arthritis, my husband is pre-diabetic and has had heart surgery, our daughter is asthmatic. None of this is through any fault of our own.
“I have shed tears today not only for my family but millions of others like us. What is going to happen to all these people? Healthcare should not be something available only to the rich.
“I have seen evil before, but I’ve never looked this kind of evil in the eye until I looked at Trump and Read the rest of this entry »
One again, Republicans are demonstrating their lackadaisical reckless attitude toward human life, and thereby proving that they care little, if anything, about Americans of any stripe.
I’m not so sure it’s a “happy” event, per se, in as much as it is the deepest, darkest, night of the year.
