"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."
Archive for the ‘– Even MORE Uncategorized!’ Category
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, April 27, 2024
If it weren’t illegal to be a Negro in Alabama, the state’s Law Enforcement Officers wouldn’t arrest Negroes for being Negro.
But, they do.
In at least 2 events in less than the same number of years, local LEOs have arrested individuals in Alabama charging them with fabricated, trumped up “crimes,” when no crime had been, nor was in the process of being, committed.
In both cases, the lowest common denominator was… that the people arrested had darker skin tone (more of the pigment melanin) than the “average” person, and more than the arresting officer(s). In other words, they were “Black.”
What is such sickness, and why does it seem so common in Alabama, and why… oh WHY do people in the state continue to put up with such outlandishly egregious behavior from public officials, particularly those sworn to uphold the law?
It may have something to do with the state’s Constitution.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, March 28, 2024
Everyone walked away from…
A Six Ranch Shootout
6 Brands, 8 Questions, 1 Answer:
Which is Best?
While taste and flavor are highly subjective terms, there are uniform, concrete facts and standards, which can be independently and casually observed by anyone.
Six Ranch Shootout
Item
Brand
Size
Cost
1
Yo Mama’s
13oz/368g
$4.48
2
Great Value
8fl oz/236mL
$1.43
3
Ken’s Steak House
16oz/473mL
$2.98
4
Wish-Bone
15fl oz/444mL
$2.67
5
Kraft
16fl oz/473mL
$2.48
6
Hidden Valley
16fl oz (1pt)/473mL
$3.98
Which brand(s):
Q1. Contained NO “artificial” ingredients, i.e., had only all-natural ingredients?
Fox News Fact-Checks Donald Trump’s Bond Claim: “Actually Not True”
By Rachel Dobkin
Published Mar 24, 2024 at 3:42 PM EDT
Updated Mar 25, 2024 at 6:21 AM EDT
During a Sunday interview with former Federal prosecutor Alex Little on Fox News Live, host Eric Shawn said, “We’ve also heard there’s a lot of talk about ‘this is unprecedented amount of money… this has never happened before.’ But that’s actually not true. This is from Letitia James, the Attorney General’s own court papers — I’m gonna show it to you right now.”
An on-screen chart graphic then appeared listing court cases with bonds at or over $1 billion, including:
• Sony Music Entertainment v. Cox Communications — $1.2 billion;
• Apple v. Samsung Electronics — $1 billion;
• Oracle USA v. SAP AG — $1.3 billion, and;
• Carnegie Mellon University v. Marvell Technology Group — $1.5 billion.
In February, New York State Supreme Court Justice Judge Arthur Engoron ordered Donald Trump to pay a $355 million bond by Monday, 25 March 2024, plus daily interest — which grand total is now $454 million — and barred him from doing business in New York for 3 years.
Trump and his crime family members have falsely claimed that the bond amount is “unprecedented.”
Obviously, it is not.
Eric Shawn, host of Fox News
In a September 2023 lawsuit brought by New York State Attorney General Letitia James’ office, Trump was found liable for financial fraud. Trump has claimed that he has done nothing wrong and that the case is politically motivated, and has appealed Judge Engoron’s ruling against him.
Trump was given until Monday to come up with a $454 million bond in order to prevent NY State Attorney General James from seizing his assets in order to pay Judge Engoron’s judgment.
Trump has repeatedly criticized the ruling and disparaged Judge Engoron and Attorney General James, on his social media platform Truth Social. In a post last Monday, Trump wrote, Read the rest of this entry »
Are you ready for a healthy, satisfying, nutritious, delicious, hot, home-cooked meal in ONE HOUR?!?
Of course you are!
Let’s get started!
Time’s a-wasting!
Cut open a whole bird by cutting down one side of the spine (use a knife or kitchen shears, it’s player’s choice).
Put it in a baking pan.
Push down on it to split the breast bone/cartilage, to help it lie flat.
Liberally season BOTH SIDES with S&P and your favorite seasonings blends. DON’T BE SHY! And for cryin’ out loud! Be SURE to LAY ON THE SALT! It’ll make the skin crispy! (Salt is hygroscopic — it attracts water, and in this case, it draws it out, thereby crisping the skin.) And use coarse kosher salt… because you can see it easily after applying it, to know how much you’ve used.
Coarsely cut as many red potatoes, carrots, and onions as makes you happy.
Why red potatoes? Yukon gold potatoes are also an excellent choice. They both — red & Yukon gold — hold together better when cooked, but you’re free to do as you wish. After all, YOU’RE the one making this dish — right?
How many “makes you happy”?
Only YOU know the answer to that question!
Spatchcock chicken, leg quarter, skin removed
What constitutes “coarsely cut”?
I’m glad you asked!
This is what constitutes “coarsely” cut, and how it’s done:
1.) Cut potato/onion in half (2 pieces).
2.) Cut those two halves in half, then cut each piece in half again, in the same direction (3 cuts yields a total of 4 pieces, each half).
3.) Hold together the sliced pieces, turn them 90º, then cut crosswise into 3, or 4, even pieces.
4.) Cut whole carrot into 1-2 inch length pieces, do not slice in half lengthwise.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, March 6, 2024
First, she quit the Democratic Party — just like Sarah Palin quit Alaska.
Now, she quit Arizona… and America.
Bad Little Doggie — this one’s for you, babe.
Come in with the sunrise, who knows where you go Smellin’ like something, I don’t want to know
Your sister can’t save you, she don’t know what to do Your bad behavior has finally caught up to you Bad little doggie
Soul all tweeked out, life line thin Loose little school girl, what a shape you’re in
Blue violence, red rosaries Roots of evil growing into trees I’m through messin’, time to learn your lesson Bad little doggie
I’m through messin’, time to learn your lesson Bad little doggie
Goodbye, and good riddance. Perhaps somebody on K Street will take you in. After all, that’s where politicians go after Congressional stints, isn’t it — to become lobbyists.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, March 5, 2024
Come Tuesday, November 5, 2024, American voters coast-to-coast, north, south, east, west, and all points in between, including the District of Columbia, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and the United States Virgin Islands, will cast ballots for the candidate of their choice to be the next President of the United States (POTUS).
The incumbent 46th POTUS, Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr., a Democrat, will face the Republican party’s nominee, who, as events are shaping up, now appears it will most likely will be the former and 45th POTUS, Donald John Trump.
Often monikered as “POS45” (Piece Of Shit 45), the former POTUS has practically single-handedly created a radicalized “MAGA” movement (Make America Great Again) within the Republican party consisting of often disaffected, mostly White, primarily rural voters which has taken hold in Deep South, formerly Confederate/slave states, some Rust Belt states, and others where voters over age 65 comprise the single largest segment of his supporters, including those of whom he said in Nevada 2016 after winning the Silver State’s Republican caucus, “I love the poorly educated!” In context, he said, “We won the evangelicals. We won with young. We won with old. We won with highly educated. We won with poorly educated. I love the poorly educated!,” while USA Today wrote, “Trump did well across the board in Nevada, garnering 45.9% of the vote, but he did even better among voters with a high school education or less. Fifty-seven percent of those voters supported him, according to entrance polls.”
Rarely-to-never in the history of our nation have partisans ever cast ballots for the candidate of the opposite party, that is, Republicans voting for Democrats, but POS45 has motivated many of those of sound mind to do so, leaving the obsequious, toady, and sycophants to their object of worship. But a rehash is a rehash, and 2024 is a rehash of 2020. And in 2020, Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. defeated Donald John Trump.
The San Francisco Call began life on December 1, 1856, as the Daily Morning Call. Staunchly Republican in political outlook, the Call was popular with the working classes, and it was the city’s leading morning newspaper for several decades. By the summer of 1864, the Call was boasting the highest daily circulation in the city, and its readership continued to rise, going from 10,750 in 1865 to 41,066 in 1880. In 1884 it boasted a circulation double that of any other daily. Originally a four page daily, the Call also put out a weekly, published on Tuesdays, and a Sunday edition. One of the paper’s early writers was Mark Twain, who served as Nevada correspondent in 1863 and as reporter after he moved to San Francisco the following year. In just over four months as full time beat reporter, Twain produced some 200 articles on crime and the courts, theater and the opera, and politics. Vol. 77, no. 85 (Mar. 5, 1895)-v. 115, no. 7 (Dec. 8, 1913).
And yet, polls are wishy-washy things, ever fluctuating according to which way the wind blows, and are neither stable, consistent, nor reliable. And with the miserably miasmatic state of affairs in news-gathering/reporting/news-telling/journalism/media these days, we have re-entered the era of so-called “Yellow Journalism,” which is today monikered as “click bait” online, because in broadcast media (radio & television) it’s all about “eyes on the set” which directly relates to the entity’s income gathering ability, insofar as it is tied directly to their advertising rates. More viewers/listeners=more money per spot/ad. Cynical, perhaps, but it’s just that simple.
While one looks to the past to predict the future — something which the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and others say should Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, February 26, 2024
For the answer to that question — Who would God kill? — let’s turn to Genesis chapter 38.
We’ll use the New International Version (NIV).
Genesis 38:
8Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your brother.” 9But Onan knew that the child would not be his; so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from providing offspring for his brother. 10What he did was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death also.
Those krazee Jews!
Let’s put a modern touch to that passage.
GOD: Go fuck your widowed sister-in-law, and impregnate her.
Man: Okay.
(fucks widowed sister-in-law)
God: You didn’t cum inside her!
Man: How’d you know?
God: I’m a voyeur. And now, I’m gonna’ kill you.
Don’t you long for the good old days?
For those who claim to be Xian, or otherwise religious, such “modernizing” of that passage may rile them up. Although, I don’t know why. It’s the Bible. It’s just simply put into modern terms.
Let’s examine that passage line by line.
Verse 8 states: Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your brother.”
We all know that the term “sleep with” is a euphemism for “have sex with.” So, in other words, to fuck.
And when, in the modern rephrasing, it says God, as indicating the one whom was speaking, that is actually a command found in Deuteronomy 25:5, which states:
If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her.
A little bit of background almost always aids our understanding, so we’ll turn to an expert for some background in this instance.
Deuteronomy is the “new and improved second edition” of God’s law, the 5th book of the Torah, which is the holy writ for Jews and is collectively called the “Books of Moses,” which in Christendom, in their holy writ called the “Bible,” are called the Pentateuch, the Greek prefix “penta” meaning 5, and “teukhos,” meaning to implement, a vessel, or scroll case; in other words, a book. The Greek translation of the Torah/Pentateuch, is called the Septuagint, hence the use of the Greek prefix and name Pentateuch. The books, in order, are: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
Dr. Thomas B. Dozeman, PhD, Professor of Old Testament, United Theological Seminary, writing in Oxford Research Encyclopedia and Oxford Bibliographies, stated that the book of Deuteronomy “repeats the revelation of law to the second generation [of Israelites] on the plains of Moab (Deuteronomy). The authorship of the Pentateuch is central to its interpretation in Jewish and Christian tradition. The Mosaic authorship characterized the interpretation of the Pentateuch Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, February 24, 2024
As I was reading a daily devotional, I came across a word which I had never before seen.
I write like that sometimes — placing the preposition before the verb. Although, I sometimes also do the inverse, i.e., “never seen before,” because that’s how most Americans talk. Or, speak. Or, communicate. Or, write.
But in Engrish, we have homonyms — words that sound the same, but are spelled differently, and have different meanings; synonyms — words that describe things that religion says are bad; and in the the South, Mama’nems. Her sister would be your antonym.
But, as I started… as I was reading a daily devotional, I came across a word which I had never before seen.
NOTE: The Twitter-X post linked above, which depicts an obviously-edited (cropped) ocean-going vessel sinking, was deliberately falsely identified as a British vessel in the Red Sea, and the person posting the Tweet deliberately falsely claimed that Houthis sank it.
The post read as follows: “Documentation of the British ship sinking after being hit and attacked by Yemenis earlier today.
The crew abandoned the ship before it sank Yemen 🇾🇪 💪🏼
2:25 PM · Feb 19, 2024″
That is 100% TOTALLY FALSE and ENTIRELY INCORRECT.
The vessel depicted in the Tweet is MV Stellar Banner, a very large ore carrier (VLOC), which was deliberately scuttled off the Brazilian coast three months after she ran aground, having been filled with iron ore, approximately 145,000 tons of which was successfully removed by salvors, to allow the vessel to refloat, and assess the ship’s structure, which was deemed a total loss, and therefore, a decision was made to scuttle her. The MV Stellar Banner was owned and operated by Polaris shipping of South Korea, was chartered to Vale, a Brazilian mining giant, to transport iron ore from Brazil to China. The Stellar Banner was registered in the Marshall Islands, was damaged after departing a Vale loading terminal in Maranhão, Brazil, and ran aground approximately 100km from the coast of São Luís on February 24, 2020. The vessel was carrying 306,000 tons of iron ore and headed for Qingdao, China.
We are pleased to expose the lie, and set the record straight. Ed.
Regardless of the deliberate falsity of the Twitter-X post, claiming that the dramatic sinking of the vessel Stellar Banner was a different vessel than the one WHICH WAS ATTACKED BY HOUTHIS — that one being the MV Rubymar — even though the Stellar Banner was deliberately falsely identified as a the Rubymar, the point is, that Houthis are actively engaged in piracy on the open seas, and are making attacks upon trade vessels.
THAT is why our military is intervening in the Red Sea. To aid our friends… fellow NATO member nations.
Houthis (aka Ansar Allah, meaning Partisans of God) are the terrorist cartel in Yemen funding & arming Hamas terrorists in Gaza.
To be certain, NOT all Palestinians are Hamas, but all Hamas are Palestinian.
So what’s at the bottom of it all, what’s the root cause?
Disputes over sectarian Islamic religious doctrine.
Houthis are Shia Islamists, so named for the Houthi tribe in Yemen from which they come, and are predominantly Zaidi Shias. The Houthis originated “in the 1990s as a youth-orientated revivalist movement” that sought to defend Zaidi religious traditions, which is a sect of Shia Islam.
Zaidism is one of three sects of Shia Islam, and considered the most closely resembling the Sunni.
Shia Islam is the second-largest Islamic denomination.
Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic denomination, and practiced by about 85–90% of Muslims worldwide.
Differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims originated from a disagreement over who would succeed Muhammad after his death, and later Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, February 16, 2024
This week, while filled with joyous victory celebrations, was marred by gun violence.
Specifically, the Kansas City Chiefs — which have now entered the rarified zone of victors with 2-consecutive Super Bowl victories (only 8 teams inclusive, have consecutive wins) — were feted with a parade in their home town when shots rang out, claiming one innocent bystander’s life, and injuring 22 others, ranging in age from 8-47 years, with authorities stating that least half those injured were under age 16.
Firearm violence is now the Number One Killer of children in America.
Authorities have arrested at least two suspects, both juveniles, who remain unnamed, are being held in juvenile facilities, and anticipate other arrests to follow in the still-ongoing investigation. The gunfire tragedy was discovered to have been related to a dispute.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Voters Dissatisfied
Party in Disarray
Never Trump Republicans sent a clear message.
The only question remaining is, “How badly will Republicans lose nationwide in November?”
Trump Chose to Lose
Loser Fairy dumped boatloads of Loser Dust on Federally-indicted convicted sex abuser Florida Loser-Man.
Nikki Haley Defeats Trump in Nevada’s GOP Primary/Caucus
Former President CHOSE to became a Loser by Default by failing to participate in NV’s Presidential Preference Primary/caucus.
Former US Ambassador to the United Nations cum-South Carolina Governess Nikki Haley defeated GOP rival Donald Trump in the Silver State’s GOP Presidential Preference Primary/Caucus Tuesday, February 6, 2024.
Then-former South Carolina Governor, later Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley waves to attendees and delegates at the 2020 Republican National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.
She is now the former President’s only competitor in the race to become the party’s nominee for President; all other contenders — Vivek Ramaswamy, former VP Mike Pence, SC Senator Tim Scott, FL Governor Ron DeSantis, former NJ Governor Chris Christie, former DEA Administrator/AR Governor Asa Hutchinson, and a spattering of others — all dropped out around the time of the NH primaries, or very shortly thereafter.
Notably, Nevada GOP primary/caucus voters also failed to write-in the former President’s name. Some critics have noted an unjustified sense of overconfidence betrayed him, mistakenly thinking that he would somehow magically win, even though he chose not to campaign in the state, and failed to initiate a write-in campaign.
In stark contrast, President Joe Biden, who is campaigning for re-election, did not appear on New Hampshire’s ballot, but won that state’s Democratic primary when voters wrote in his name, with 63.8% of all 123,996 votes cast.
Like Silver State Republicans, Granite State Republicans were not thrilled by their choices, and Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, February 1, 2024
Few things can beat the heartwarming, soul-soothing feeling that a hot bowl of fresh, homemade Tomato Soup provides! It’s a first-class comfort food, to be certain. It’s quick, easy-to-make, and considered a delightful culinary cornerstone.
How difficult, or easy, do you want it to be?
Sometimes, the seemingly easy things are difficult, and the difficult things are easy. And those seemingly easy things take years to master, and perfect.
So it is with Tomato Soup.
The once-fabled “Gray Lady,” aka The New York Times, has been around a while — quite some time. Since 1851, as a matter of fact. But, I assure you, tomato soup, in one form, or another, has most likely been around much longer, even though published recipes for Tomato Soup and variants, are known to 1857 and 1872, while tomato-based ketchup has a history to circa 1812. Up until around 1880 with the invention of pizza in Naples, Italy, Europeans thought the tomato was poisonous, since it is a member of the deadly nightshade family of plants… as are potatoes, eggplant, and peppers.
But, the NYT was once respected. Plagiarism was unheard of there until the 2000s.
Same thing for their recipes — once-respected.
I mean, only the NYT would put GREEN PEAS in guacamole. No kidding.
Bleargh!🤮
The mere thought of it is so utterly detestable, that I refuse to link any semblance of it. You’ll have to do that. Merely telling you, and others, should be enough warning. A word to the wise is sufficient.
And that’s but one MAJOR reason why I no longer read their recipes. They’re whacked out. And to add insult to injury, they expect you to pay them for the privilege of reading any of it… including the miserable recipes.
But, believe it, or else, curiosity got the best of me and I perused a tomato soup recipe at the site.
Yeah… yeah… yeah… I know. Curiosity killed the cat — right?
Fortunately, I’m not a cat. Nor do I play one on Broadway… or teevee.
I’ve known how to make tomato soup with numerous variations for quite some time. It’s dead simple to make. And quick! And one way I’ve done it, and to some extent, still do, is to use tomato paste. Just thin to the desired consistency, add the desired seasonings, and VIOLA!
But I was curious to know what else I could do, what other ingredients I could add, to really make that red stuff SHINE! And that was my motivation. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, January 31, 2024
Tomorrow (February 1) is the first day of Black History Month. BHM is also the 3-letter FAA designation for Birmingham, AL, sometimes also formerly known as “Bombingham.”
For those who say “there’s no such thing as ‘white chocolate,’” there really is. It just has none of the brown solids that give chocolate its characteristic appearance. Kinda’ like the absence of melanin in humans, which gives our skin, hair and eyes, color. Without it, we’d all be white as a sheet. That condition is called albinism.
And, tomorrow is also Decorating with Candy Day. That should be fun! Especially with Peppermint Patty, Tootsie Roll, Mary Jane, Hershey’s Kiss, Almond Joy, and Bit-O-Honey!
My life with Shere Hite: The forgotten feminist who changed sex for ever
photo caption: Shere Hite in 1997. Photograph: Ullstein Bild/Getty Images
When her books about women, men and the clitoris caused outrage, the bestselling writer was forced to flee the US. She ended up in my small ex-council flat in London – her head still full of revolution.
by Joanna Briscoe, Wednesday, 24 Jan 2024 05.00 GMT
I had known about this feminist author from my mother’s bookshelf when I was a child, read about her in Cosmopolitan as a teenager and was quite fascinated by the idea of her by the time I was 25 and went to interview her. Born in Missouri in 1942, she published The Hite Report in 1976, which has sold more than 50m copies and is by some estimates the 30th bestselling book of all time. It was a landmark that brought her wealth and fame and upended the dialogue on female sexuality, most notably by proving that most women orgasmed through clitoral stimulation rather than penetration. Her later surprising findings about male insecurity in The Hite Report on Male Sexuality (1981), and female marital dissatisfaction in Women & Love: A Cultural Revolution in Progress (1987), were anathema to the increasing conservatism of the US in the 1980s. The backlash against her and her work was so extreme that eventually she renounced her American citizenship. … By the time I got to know her in 1990, she was in trouble. She had been the victim of vicious media attacks, doorstepping, public humiliation and death threats, all of which contributed to the loss of her American publishers and of her ability to make a living. Her findings on sex – now widely accepted – caused outrage, and her appearance was used by critics to detract from the seriousness of her work at a time when there were rigid expectations of what a feminist firebrand should look like. She could also be difficult, it has to be said. Most notoriously, she apparently attacked a limo driver who had called her “dear”.
—MORE—
Note the line “She had been the victim of vicious media attacks, doorstepping, public humiliation and death threats, all of which contributed to the loss of her American publishers and of her ability to make a living.”
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, January 28, 2024
Like it, or not, politics often thrives on fear — for the Republicans, especially, and particularly — but truth be told, the Democrats do their fair share of fear-mongering, as well, just not to the extent that GOPers do it. There are a variety of tricks — yes, tricks — that both party’s politicians do to ingratiate themselves to the electorate, and fear-baiting is but one.
And whether, or not, one considers the following fear-baiting, is up to the reader to decide.
But suffice it to say, rarely in the history of American politics has there ever been a time in which Democrats and so many Republicans have coalesced against a candidate, presumptive, or not, of their own party. The former, 45th POTUS is that man.
Many have said that, he is a danger to this nation, to its founding principles, and to liberty itself. The list goes on, and on, and on, and on.
There are numerous reasons why I count myself in that camp, though none of them are based upon fear, and rather, are based upon what he did during his term in office. Never before in the history of our nation has one man attempted to overthrow it. Never before in the history of our nation has any man (or woman) elected to the highest office in the land had utterly ZERO experience in elected office, public or military service, or volunteer service in any capacity, in any organization, whatsoever. And try as one might, there is little-to-nothing good which can be said about him.
When someone tells you who they are, believe them. That man has not only done so, but demonstrated as much. And based upon what he has done, and what he has said, it seems evident enough that he could do, and quite possibly would do, many, most, or worse, even all of the following.
Hey, I “get it,” which is to say that, I understand why and what it is that people see in that man. They like his bull-in-a-china-shop style, his take-no-prisoners approach, his my-way-or-the-highway manner, his bluff, bluster and false bravado, and they believe every word that drips from his lips, as if he were some type of prophet, some type of übermensch, or super-man, as Nietzsche called his concocted idyllic mythical character. It is all interpreted by his followers as “strength,” and “resolve.”
Yet… it is anything but.
But, FEAR NOT!
These words are worth remembering, and repeating, as you cast your ballot in November:
“This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.”
— Opening paragraph of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1st Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933
NOTE: The following is a hypothetical scenario, HOWEVER….
[Every incident mentioned in this article is based on an actual statement or action by Donald Trump, the people closely surrounding him, or something Trump has praised about his role model Victor Orbán.]
It was a hell of a year, 2025: the first year of the First Reich (as those formerly called Democrats referred to it) or The New America as the GOP now refers to our nation. One people, one nation, one leader: America, President-for-life Trump tells us, is now “truly great.”
It started with the election of November 2024, when the No Labels candidacy of Larry Hogan and Joe Manchin pulled enough electoral votes away from Biden — who was more than 10 million popular votes ahead of Trump — that none of the three tickets hit the necessary 270 Electoral College votes to win the White House.
It was a scenario similar to 1824 when John Quincy Adams lost the popular vote to Andrew Jackson but, because William Crawford and Henry Clay were also running for president, neither Adams or Jackson hit the threshold with the Electoral College and the vote went to the House of Representatives, which made Adams president in a series of backroom deals known to historians as the “Corrupt Bargain.”
In a similar way, the election of 2024 was thrown into the House of Representatives, per the 12th Amendment, with each state having one single vote. Since 26 states had Republican-controlled congressional delegations and only 23 had Democratic-controlled delegations (Pennsylvania is evenly split), the House voted 26-24 for Donald Trump to become the next president. He didn’t even need to threaten his vice president or invoke a mob.
At his swearing-in, Trump announced that he was going to fulfill his “dictator for a day” promise and pardoned himself, all Republicans who were in Congress in January 2021 and helped organize or support the attack on the Capitol, and all the January 6th seditionists.
He then announced that the 24 Democrats leading their congressional delegations who’d voted against him in the House were “guilty of sedition against the United States.” As he spoke, each was arrested and taken into custody.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, January 27, 2024
Donald V. Watkins, Sr., then a licensed attorney, gestures in Federal court in closing arguments representing himself in USA v. Donald Watkins, Jr., et al.
Donald V. Watkins, Sr. is a never-ending source of entertainment.
Readers will recall that Mr. Watkins, a formerly-respected attorney, was convicted by a jury of his peers on several Federal charges.
“Donald Watkins, Sr. was convicted of seven counts of wire fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of conspiracy.
Donald Watkins, Jr. was convicted of one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy.”
“Donald Watkins Sr., 70, of Atlanta, Georgia, and Donald Watkins Jr., 47, of Birmingham, Alabama, were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Karon O. Bowdre of the Northern District of Alabama. Judge Bowdre also ordered Donald Watkins Sr. to serve five years of supervised release and to pay restitution in the amount of $14,000,100.00 and ordered Donald Watkins Jr. to serve three years of supervised release and to pay restitution jointly with his father in the amount of $13,850,000.
“The father and son co-defendants were convicted on March 8, 2019, following a jury trial that lasted over two weeks. Donald Watkins Sr. was convicted of seven counts of wire fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of conspiracy. Donald Watkins Jr. was convicted of one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy.
“According to evidence presented at trial, between approximately 2007 and 2013, Donald Watkins Sr. sold “economic participations” and promissory notes connected with Masada Resource Group, a company that he ran as manager and CEO. Investors paid more than $10 million dollars after Donald Watkins Sr. and Donald Watkins Jr. falsely represented that the money would be used to grow Masada, which Donald Watkins Sr. described as a “pre-revenue” company that supposedly had technology that could convert garbage into ethanol. Instead of investing the money into Masada, however, Donald Watkins Sr. and Donald Watkins Jr. diverted funds to pay personal bills and the debts of their other business ventures, the evidence showed. Victim money was used to pay for Donald Watkins Sr.’s alimony, hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes, personal loan payments, a private jet and clothing purchased by Donald Watkins Jr. and his wife. Emails introduced at trial also showed that Donald Watkins Sr. and Donald Watkins Jr. planned to obtain millions of dollars for these purposes from one victim on multiple occasions, when they knew that this victim and other victims trusted them to put their money to use in growing Masada.
“Donald Watkins Sr. also was convicted of defrauding Alamerica Bank, an entity in which Donald Watkins Sr. held a controlling interest through his ownership of Alamerica Bank Corp stock, the evidence showed. In order to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in litigation expenses associated with another one of Donald Watkins Sr.’s business ventures, Donald Watkins Sr. executed a plan to use a straw borrower to take out money from Alamerica Bank and use those funds to pay the defendant’s litigation expenses. This straw borrower—Donald Watkins Sr.’s long-time mentor and a prominent figure in the Birmingham community—took over $900,000 in loans from Alamerica Bank and then immediately permitted Donald Watkins Sr. to use those funds for his personal benefit, the evidence showed.”
To be certain, Mr. Watkins has some very respectable accomplishments, notable among them, he Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, December 31, 2023
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark announced her coming abdication Sunday in a New Year’s speech from Christian IX’s Palace, Amalienborg Castle, in Copenhagen, Denmark. photo by Keld Navntoft / Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images
It looks like 52 years is long enough for anybody.
Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II (b.1940), who has been the nation’s chief monarch since 1972 when she succeeded her father Frederick IX (1899-1972), is widely beloved by her compatriots, respected among her international peers, and other leaders, will turn the job over to her son and heir-apparent Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark (b.1968) on 14 January 2024, the 52nd anniversary of her accession.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, November 27, 2023
Pharmaceutical manufacturers were making cannabis medicines long before it was declared illegal by the United States government.
“Congress has removed hemp from schedule I and removed it entirely from the CSA (Controlled Substances Act).
“…hemp is no longer a controlled substance.
“Congress has likewise removed THC in hemp from the CSA.” This is perhaps the most significant federal recognition that THC is no longer a controlled substance.
“This is perhaps the most significant federal recognition that THC is no longer a controlled substance.”
— excerpts from a USDA bulletin by the Office of General Counsel, issued May 28, 2019, as a legal opinion, on hemp
Naturally, the $64 Question arises: Is Cannabis Now TOTALLY Legal?
Within the cannabis industry in the United States, there is discussion about the DEA’s most recent recommendation to re-schedule cannabis (as marijuana) to Schedule III from Schedule I, which some say would continue perpetuating, and possibly worsen, the can of worms that has developed surrounding cannabis, primarily as “marijuana,” while yet others say that the only reasonably rational way to effectively handle the matter of cannabis, in order to cease perpetuating the numerous problems created by its prohibition, is to fully de-schedule it, in order to tax and regulate it, in much the same way as beverage alcohol was re-legalized following its Prohibition.
Yet the DEA, as a law enforcement agency, is loathe to relinquish any control over the plant, and has thus far, refused to cede any ground to hemp farmers, and all others involved in that aspect of the greater, overall cannabis industry. However, when challenged in Federal court over their stance upon, and actions in the matter, the DEA has lost.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, November 19, 2023
A longtime dear friend from Germany recently asked my opinion of a recipe that purported to be “chili.”
I replied, stating that, “I consider myself somewhat of a chili “snob,” per se, so I might ~not~ be the best one to ask for that reason.
“But you asked, and so I’ll give it to you straight.
“Simply put… NO!
“HELLS TO THE NO! “It’s a vegetable stew.
“AUTHENTIC, GENUINE TEXAS CHILI HAS NO VEGETABLES. PERIOD. “MEAT & CHILIES ONLY. “AND NOT GROUND BEEF, EITHER.
“I’ll share a superior recipe w you via email,” and sent several factual and historic articles and links to prize-winning recipes for authentic Texas Chili.
A couple days later, I followed up, inquiring in a SMS (text) message sent earlier in the day, and asked, “How’d your vegetable stew turn out? That is, of course, presuming that you made the recipe which you’d earlier shared with me. (And I rather suspect that you did.)😂”
That is, of course, the vegetable stew attempting to masquerade as “chili.”
Gilbert Martinez , LEFT, son of founder of El Fenix restaurants and Dallas Morning News columnist Frank X. Tolbert, dressed in Mexican sombreros at an autographing party of Tolbert’s newest book “A Bowl of Red,” a history of his favorite food, chili con carne. Photo is stamped dated August 13, 1966. (Clint Grant/The Dallas Morning News)(staff photographer) Mr. Tolbert (d.1984) was considered the preeminent Texas historian, and enjoyed a long career writing “Tolbert’s Texas,” a renown column for The Dallas Morning News from the 1950s until his death, and authored a book on the dish chili con carne, operated a restaurant on Main Street in Grapevine, TX, now still run by his children, ad co-founded the annual World Chili Championship held in the Big Bend-area town of Terlingua, TX.
I did find it fascinating that the VERY FIRST instruction was:
“In a skillet over low heat, toast a blend of your favorite chili spices for enhanced flavor. Common chili spices include chili powder, cumin, and paprika.”
And here’s the kicker:
A dish, or recipe, does NOT need “enhanced flavor” — unless it is devoid of flavor to begin with.
Continuing the criticism, first we have NO FLAVOR, then we have a struggle with “texture,” vis a vis, “Combining the sauce with the uncooked meat gives your chili a finer texture,”
-and-
“These veggies add great flavor and texture to the chili.”
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, October 22, 2023
NPR published a brief, blurby-type article about “Naked Attraction,” a dating game show streaming on HBO, acquired from England’s Channel 4, the publicly-owned, commercially-operated English broadcaster separate from the BBC, which is paid for by commercials. Apparently, the show’s quite popular, and for whatever reason, has created quite a stir here in the States.
As you might suspect, Naked Attraction is yet another naked pseudo “reality” type show in which the contestants participate unclothed, which, as Neda Ulaby, who reports on arts, entertainment, and cultural trends for NPR’s Arts Desk, wrote, has a fairly simple concept. “Here’s the gimmick: One contestant faces six boxes that contain six naked people. Bit by bit, their bodies are revealed, starting from the bottom. The contestant eliminates possible future dating partners based on the body parts they see.”
Professor Dr. Jeffrey P. Jones, PhD, Executive Director, George Foster Peabody Awards, and Professor at the University of Georgia, authored a book on HBO’s history, was interviewed for the article and stated the most likely reason for the show’s newfound attention:
“They are showing full male frontal nudity, and that’s maybe what’s catching a few breaths. This is marketing that happens without the HBO or Netflix marketing departments.”
In the article, Ms. Ulaby asked a blasé question: “But if nudity is a gimmick that gets them — what happens when nudity gets old?”
Professor Dr. Jones, who earned his undergrad & master’s at Auburn, and PhD at UT Austin, had a succinct reply for that:
“People will never get tired of nudity. It’s on frescoes all through Europe. Nudity is with us forever. Frankly, it’s a central part of who and what we are as humans, and we’re going to tell stories about it.”
On a personal level, I’m glad to know, that at least in a minor way, American society is finally, slowly acknowledging that men have penises, since we so rarely see them in film, or television. That fact seems to have escaped our Puritanical Evangelical brethren who eschew acknowledging that foundational core value of our being, which is that we all owe our existence to a penis.
And to be fair, there’s necessity in the ovaries & fallopian tubes, (manufacturing & delivery), vagina (sometimes termed “introitus,” or driveway) and, uterus (the housing center), as well.
But we in America have shamed the human body, have instilled via extreme, fear-based, punishment-exacting religious indoctrination, a base of shame-based guilt, for no good reason, save to perpetuate a system of dogmatic indoctrination, and legal articulation of extreme rightwing radical religious rhetoric.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, October 10, 2023
Let’s Cook! In Praise of the Humble, Versatile Potato.
If you read recipes, as I often do, you’re bound to have seen at least one recipe for Potato Soup.
Many, if not most, or — dare I say it? — even all recipes for Potato Soup have so MANY so-called “garnishments” that you wonder if you’re eating Potato Soup, or something else, like a puréed casserole, or some such thing.
Perhaps instead those ingredients should be called “amendments” — like soil amendments, for example, defined as being things added to change something to which they’re added… because they FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE the ENTIRE dish — flavor, texture — EVERYTHING, so that the potato becomes lost in the mix, and essentially disappears as a foundational element of the dish, making the additions to it the center-of-attention.
It’s hardly recognizable as a potato, per se, aside from the traditional, well-worn add-ons like sour cream, chives, bacon, onions, cheese, butter, pepper, parsley, milk, buttermilk, pulled pork, celery, celery seed, chicken broth, ancho chili powder, green onions, flour, and goodness knows what all else.
Even for a so-called “loaded” baked potato, that’s a whole lotta’ stuff… that COMPLETELY HIDES, COVERS UP, and MASQUERADES as a “potato.”
Make NO mistake.
It is NOT.
It’s some type of casserole, using a potato as an excuse to exist.
This recipe is NOT that.
Not by a long shot.
Not even hardly.
Look… many, perhaps even most, folks like potatoes. And to be certain, not only are there are numerous types of potatoes, they are ubiquitous globally, including Sweet — and there are numerous varieties even within that group — by some accounts, several thousands. By the way… in the language of horticulture, the proper term that describes a variation (a variety, or type) in a plant is “cultivar.”
Then, we have the Russet, Yukon Gold, Red, etc. And within the greater potato genre, per se, there are multiple thousands upon thousands, tens of thousands, even, of varieties and cultivars of potatoes globally. So, it’s not as if there are only 3, or 4 types. It’s just that “your” grocery store chain has chosen to sell those limited few types, and the farmers… well, the farmers grow ’em, god love ’em. It seems as if we’re broaching upon narrowing to monoculture… almost.
Each of those types and cultivars have their own unique characteristics, including variations in Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, August 17, 2023
Politico:
In Federal court, Alabama Republicans again defend not creating a 2nd majority Black district.
–//–
Alabama is ALWAYS “itching for a fight” because residents feel as if someone is forcing them to do something against their self-interest, or will, or that they’re going to suffer some kind of loss.
In order to motivate Alabamans, they must feel like they’re against something, that something, or someone, is going to take something away from them. It matters not what — it could be their household garbage — but they will no longer be in control of it, because someone is going to take it away from them, and therefore, they must oppose that oppressive, governmental edict-by-force issued from upon high by an alien enemy power, that they must “draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny.”
The astute will recognize, no doubt, the line uttered by the now-late former Governor George C. Wallace in his infamous “stand in the schoolhouse door” speech at Foster Auditorium in June 1963, on the campus of the University of Alabama, in Tuscaloosa.
Harmony and peace are “adults-only beverages” and Alabama cannot yet drink to the fullest from that wellspring, that fountain of life, a refreshingly cool, bubbling artesian well, and with all its other infantile behaviors, still suckles the teat of insecurity, demanding to be diapered and fed, to have attention given to it regardless, still incapable of sleeping through the night.
Mike Rogers-R,AL3 is restrained by Richard Hudson-R,NC8 from attacking Matt Gaetz-R,FL1 after Mike Rogers confronted Matt Gaetz because Gaetz voted “PRESENT” in the 14th round of balloting for Speaker of the House (SOTH), late Friday night, January 6, 2023. Kevin McCarthy-R,CA20 was finally elected as Speaker of the House (SOTH) on the 15th round of voting.
Alabama loved George Wallace.
They loved him so very much, that they elected him as Governor an unprecedented 4 times… not counting the time he was the puppet master, pulling the strings of his wife Lurleen’s campaign and her brief time in office as Governess.
Wallace was the state’s 45th individual to have served as Governor, and was elected as Governor in 1962, 1970, 1974, and 1982.
Later in life, after suffering near death following Arthur Bremer’s assassination attempt upon him while campaigning for the Office of President, Wallace had been paralyzed from the waist down by a bullet which had lodged in his spinal cord, and claimed to have changed afteerward, to have had a Christian religious conversion experience before he won election to an unprecedented nonconsecutive 4th term in office as Governor. As part of that conversion experience, he expressed contrition for his wicked deeds towards the Negro/Black community in Alabama — which were most notably expressed as bigotry, racism and segregation — directly to the Black community in Birmingham, Montgomery, and elsewhere, from the pulpits of their churches.
They believed him.
Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham examined polling data, voter turnout, and other official records from the 1982 General Election, found a level of support for Wallace among the Black community so very great, so that without it, Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, August 17, 2023
IN YOUR OPINION…
What are we, as a nation, a government… what HAVE we been doing WRONG, so that, in the space of the past 50, or 60 years, instead of minimizing substance abuse and associated problems, INSTEAD, we have spawned and cultivated global narcotrafficking terrorist cartels, which have proliferated exceedingly abundantly and are now a root cause of many crimes overall?
Isn’t 50, or 60 years long enough to get a clue as to EXACTLY WHAT we’re doing WRONG — AND CHANGE!?!
The LIES that’ve been peddled and foisted upon us are blatantly contradicted by the government’s own research findings (via the NSDUH, SAMHSA, et al):
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, August 4, 2023
There’s plenty to cry about these days.
Like him, or loathe him, the former, 45th POTUS has been indicted… not once, not twice, but several times in Federal and State courts on a variety of matters, some stemming from his time as President, others before, though the most serious ones deal with national security from his actions taken as an official while in office, and attempting to stay in office knowingly using blatantly violent and dishonest means.
Not good.
That a former President could credibly be accused of a crime — any crime — is a sad state of affairs in our nation.
Approval ratings for Congress — ALL of those critters, House and Senate, in BOTH parties (why are there not many more viable party options?) — is at an all-time low.
Confidence and trust in the SCOTUS is dropping faster than a rock following their law-making actions AND discoveries that Justices Thomas and Alito for many years have been receiving numerous gifts of costly luxurious trips from wealthy partisan political donors without reporting them — as required by law — in addition to other special considerations which they’ve received, all of which are unavailable to ordinary everyday people.
And despite the several good things accomplished by the sitting POTUS with the economy —
• passage of the CHIPS Act,
• passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, aka the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill,
• the lowest unemployment since 1969,
• more people employed and working than at any time in American history,
• creation of 11 million good-paying jobs,
• including 750,000 manufacturing jobs,
• $300 billion private sector domestic manufacturing investments,
• more judges confirmed to the Federal judiciary since John F. Kennedy,
• numerous approvals of large-scale offshore wind energy projects,
• the end of the COVID-19 pandemic,
• rescued a tanked economy with the American Rescue Plan,
• reopening closed schools and businesses,
• reduced inflation with the Inflation Reduction Act,
• enabling Medicare to negotiate medicines’ prices,
• reducing the price of life-saving insulin medication to $35/month,
• capping seniors’ out of pocket pharmacy expenses at $2000,
• reducing the price of gasoline on average by $1.60/gallon by releasing an historic volume from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve,
• protected the rights of our military service members, their family and health,
• signed legislation reinforcing marriage rights for interracial and same-sex couples,
• enacting non-discrimination protections in health care, housing, education, and employment for marginalized minority groups,
• removed bans from military service for them, etc.,
— some folks apparently still don’t like him, particularly his age, which at 80, he’s the oldest POTUS ever, older even (not by much) than his predecessor (who is aged 77), and who is campaigning for a return to office under a growing storm cloud of criminal accusations at the Federal and State levels.
Kentucky U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, aged 81, fell and obtained a head injury (concussion) a few months back, and apparently (according to numerous Congressional members and others) hasn’t fully recovered, as evidenced by his highly-public going-blank/mute episode before news cameras and observers in the Capitol building. “I was sandbagged,” he said to POTUS BIDEN of the episode when called to inquire about his welfare.
Let’s headline this story with a MORE ACCURATE one:
Police Break Up Unofficial, Unsanctioned San Francisco Skateboard Event, Melee Ensues
Such an ill-fitting cheap suit looks unbecoming on the SFPD.
INSTEAD, organizers SHOULD -and- could collaborate WITH the city to make it a competitive skateboard-body sanctioned event, such as by the World Skateboarding Commission, and attraction. And goodness knows, Frisco SURE NEEDS some good press these days.
It’s reassuring to know that public officials in the Bay City have their priorities in order, and that all the city’s problems — homelessness, unemployment, crime (including robbery, vandalism, murder, assault, rape), illicit drug abuse, lack of healthcare, wealth inequality, etc. — are a thing of the past.
Which one is criminal, a genuine threat to society, public health, safety, morals, and good order?
A woman in a wheelchair injects illicit drugs at San Francisco’s infamous open-air drugs market.
Video footage from the event shows large crowds cheering as children and adults furiously rolled down the steep descent — some flying off their boards and hitting the pavement only to get back up to do it again.
Video footage from the event shows large crowds cheering as children and adults furiously rolled down the steep descent — some flying off their boards and hitting the pavement only to get back up to do it again.
More than 100 are charged, including 81 children, as SF skateboarding event erupts into massive melee with minors destroying a light-rail vehicle and yelling ‘F*** the police’ as riot cops crackdown on annual gathering
• San Francisco police shut down an annual skateboarding event that erupted into chaos — arresting 32 adults and citing 81 minors in the Mission District July 8
• Hundreds gathered near Dolores Street to take part in the “Dolores Hill Bomb” — a popular annual skateboarding event where people ride down a large hill
• Officers issued a mass arrest of the crowd at 8.35PM the majority were minors — cops seized multiple firearms, unignited fireworks and narcotics paraphernalia
Published: 02:16 EDT, 10 July 2023 | Updated: 03:45 EDT, 10 July 2023
By Aneeta Bhole for Dailymail.Com
“San Francisco Mayor London Breed appeared quiet in the wake of the incident as many pointed the finger at her poor sense of what is important for the city.
“Many took to Twitter to condemn the Mayor saying the same crackdown seen at the hill should be implemented when fighting the rampant crime and explosion of drug use in the city.
“Last week, a gang of teenagers in ski masks has been attacking mothers and nannies in broad daylight in one of San Francisco’s wealthiest neighborhoods, and stealing their cell phones.
“The group is believed to be behind 11 thefts in one week at the end of June, said Thomas Harvey, captain of the San Francisco Police Department’s Mission District police station.
“The attacks are mainly in the Noe Valley area of the city, where the average house is valued at $1.7 million.
“One suspect has been arrested, and police are hunting for the others, as robberies city-wide surge 11.9 percent, year on year.”
S.F. Police Chief Defends Mass Arrests At Mission Skateboard Event
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, June 28, 2023
And, here’s an example.
Recently, in the course of my reading (and I read EXTENSIVELY), I happened upon a brief excerpt from a recently-published book — it was a summary of a chapter from a recently-published healthcare-science text entitled “Medicinal Usage of Cannabis and Cannabinoids,” edited by: Victor R. Preedy, Vinood B. Patel, and Colin R. Martin.
The authors are respected in their fields, all possess terminal degrees, and their biographies are impressive.
OF NOTE: One of the three, Colin R. Martin, is a Registered Nurse.
Victor R. Preedy
Professor Preedy has been elected as a Fellow to the following Royal Societies: The Royal Society of Biology, the Royal College of Pathologists, the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, the Royal Institute of Public Health and Hygiene, the Royal Society for Public Health, the Royal Society of Chemistry, and the Royal Society of Medicine. He was founding Director of the Genomics Centre at King’s College London and held the post from 2006 to 2020. He is a leading expert on the science of health and has a long-standing interest in disease processes, biomarkers, and tissue pathology. He has lectured nationally and internationally. Professor Preedy has published over 750 articles, which includes peer-reviewed manuscripts based on original research, abstracts and symposium presentations, reviews and numerous books and volumes.
Affiliations and expertise
Professor in the Department of Clinical Biochemistry at King’s College Hospital, London, UK Emeritus Professor in Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine at King’s College London, UK Visiting Professor at the University of Hull, UK
Vinood B. Patel
Dr. Patel is a Reader at the University of Westminster. After completing his PhD at King’s College London, he continued his research experience by undertaking his post-doctoral studies in the laboratory of Professor Cunningham in the Department of Biochemistry at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, (Winston-Salem, NC, USA). This extensive project involved investigating mechanisms of hepatic mitochondrial ribosome dysfunction in alcoholic liver disease (ALD) using biophysical and proteomic techniques. These studies have led to new avenues in determining the pathology of ALD. His teaching areas at both post-graduate and undergraduate levels include clinical biochemistry, investigative pathology and laboratory investigation.
Affiliations and expertise
Reader, University of Westminster, London, UK
Colin R. Martin
Dr. Martin is a Professor of Mental Health at Buckinghamshire New University. He is a Registered Nurse, Chartered Health Psychologist, and a Chartered Scientist. He has published or has in press well over 250 research papers and book chapters. He is a keen book author and editor having written and/or edited several books all of which reflect his diverse academic and clinical interests that examine in-depth, the interface between mental health and physical health. These outputs include the Handbook of Behavior; Food and Nutrition (2011), Perinatal Mental Health: A Clinical Guide (2012); Nanomedicine and the Nervous System (2012), and the major reference works Comprehensive Guide to Autism (2014), Diet and Nutrition in Dementia and Cognitive Decline (2015), Comprehensive Guide to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (2016) and Metabolism and Pathophysiology of Bariatric Surgery: Nutrition, Procedures, Outcomes, and Adverse Effects (2017).
Affiliations and expertise
Professor of Clinical Psychobiology and Applied Psychoneuroimmunology and Clinical Director: Institute for Health and Wellbeing University of Suffolk, Ipswich, UK
Published by Elsevier (ISBN:978-0-323-90036-2), the text is divided into 6 parts with 45 chapters, and a primary intended audience being Read the rest of this entry »
Dr. Gino, who has authored dozens of fascinating studies in the field of behavioral science — has consulted for some of the world’s most prominent and largest companies such as Goldman Sachs, and Google, and has proffered advice in respected news outlets like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and NPR.
However, over the past weeks, several people, including a colleague, have claimed that Dr. Gino fraudulently falsified and Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, June 14, 2023
Mary Trump, whom is Donald’s niece, relates a story from their childhood in which Donald was mercilessly despising his brother — her father, Fred Trump Jr., and would not stop. “Yes. Yeah. That’s one of our favorite family stories. They were really young kids, and I think Donald was maybe 7. And one of his favorite things to do was torment my Uncle Rob, who was a couple years younger. And it was, you know, my grandmother’s cooking dinner, and getting the table ready, and Donald was just being merciless. And Maryanne and my dad could not get him to stop.” “And finally, my dad had no other option but to pick up a bowl of mashed potatoes and just dump it on his little brother’s head. And it ended the — it ended the fight. But I think it also started something, because Donald was humiliated by it, as evidenced by the way he reacts to the story now, is no sense of humor about it whatsoever.” “Yeah. And we know that he doesn’t like the story, so I think it was a bit of a dig. It’s also a way to remember my dad in a way that’s not charged. ‘Cause all of us except Donald think it’s funny and sweet. But he did not — he doesn’t like that story.”
Here’s a thought that few, if any, are discussing:
Before Trump goes to trial, his lawyers settle for a plea deal to lesser, misdemeanor offenses, IN ADDITION TO an agreement to:
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, May 10, 2023
I LOATHE ALL CAPS.
ALWAYS HAVE.
ALL CAPS emerged in the teletype era, when ONLY CAPITAL LETTERS WERE ON THE MACHINES, which emerged in the early-to-mid 1800s, i.e., c.1835-1850.
That is now approaching 200 years ago — 188, to be exact. They’re a close relative to Morse code. It’s a modern-day dinosaur.
I’ve seen a few teletype machines. They’re ogres of monstrosity. My now-late father used ‘em in the Navy during the Korean War. I recollect seeing one being used in a small hometown FM radio station that broadcast in monoaural using a block format.
Yeah… THAT OLD.
By the way, the term “teletype” used to describe a teleprinter, first came from the Teletype Corporation in 1928, which trademarked the term, and as with xerography, now called photocopying, early copiers were Xerox brand, and people “xeroxed” papers, instead of making printed copies. Both terms, teletype, and xerox, became ubiquitously associated with both firm’s products, and in turn, became widely used generic descriptors.
The first station where I worked had one collecting dust in an unused corner near the rear entrance by the tube transmitter. Fortunately, the station’s owner had wisely transitioned to a dot-matrix printer for the AP news copy, using tractor-fed, acordion-folded paper.
The 2nd station where I worked used satellite dishes, and computers.
Digitization through the computer and Internet has changed EVERYTHING. LITERALLY, EVERY THING — including broadcast. On the whole, in my considered opinion, it’s been a blessing, but every rose has its thorn, as the saying goes (unless you buy ‘em from a florist, but then they have no fragrance, either), and that thorn in many cases is human behavior, which historically has almost always been problematic, somebodies wanting to get over on (take unfair advantage of) others, resistance to change, etc.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, May 5, 2023
Over the years, I’ve met, known, and been friends with several vegetarians in my lifetime, and quite frankly, all of them have been very pleasant people, kind, generous, giving, well-mannered, studious, professionals, and in most cases, religious, specifically, Seventh Day Adventist, a Christian sect that practices the Jewish custom of meeting on Saturdays (the Sabbath) for corporate worship, and resting from their labors.
They weren’t at all radicalized or “high pressure” animal rights activists, mean greenies, or other off-the-wall types — just plain ol’ nice, family, folk.
And as a tenet of their faith, they are vegetarian — some lacto-ovo, some pescatarian, some vegan. And you know you’ve made friends with them when they invite you to share a meal with them — that’s true of any people, religious, or not — and I have always considered it great honor to share a meal with them. One such time was Thanksgiving several years ago, when I was Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, April 29, 2023
Texas Sheriff on small town massacre:
Dead Mothers “were actually trying to take care of the babies, and keep them babies alive.”
It wasn’t on a dark desert highway, there was no cool wind in anyone’s hair, and there was no sweet smell of colitas rising up through the air. Instead, it was after 11:30 at night, in a quaint, middle-class Texas neighborhood in a small, quiet town under 7500, and the stench of burnt gunpowder, blood, and death permeated the house.
Law enforcement officials remove bodies from a house in Cleveland, TX, the scene of grisly mass murder where 5 people were shot Friday night, April 28, 2023, in San Jacinto County.
By the time San Jacinto County Texas Sheriff Greg Capers was called by a frantic resident to the 1500-1800 square foot house at 171 Walter Drive, in a “regular country neighborhood” ironically named Trails End Subdivision, 5 people — 3 women, 1 man, and an 8-year-old boy — had been slaughtered in their residence by a next-door neighbor, all shot in the head, execution style.
This is 8-year-old Daniel Enrique Laso and his mother Sonia Argentina Guzman, age 25, who were both shot and killed execution-style by Francisco Oropesa in Cleveland, Texas, late Friday night, April 28, 2023, in San Jacinto County.
Deceased are: Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25; Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31; Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18; and Daniel Enrique Laso, 8.
The 5 sole survivors included 3 children.
Though it had been a fairly common occurrence for many men in the neighborhood to party and whoop it up with guns while drunk on the weekends, 38-year-old Francisco Oropeza was celebrating early, and neighbors, weary of hearing gunshots late into the night, had complained to Francisco that their family had a baby trying to sleep.
Sheriff Capers said it all started out whenvictimized family members walked up to the fence and asked Francisco to stop shooting in his front yard, followed by a call to 911 about harassment just after 11:30PM on Friday night. “Deputies have come over and Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, April 23, 2023
What do Vanna White, and Pat Sajak of the television gameshow Wheel of Fortune, a gay British Scientist, an American science educator-turned author/publisher, and World War II have in common?
You’re about to find out.
HEADLINE:
The U.S. has evacuated diplomats in Sudan amid fierce fighting : NPR
Gripe the First 1.):
WTF?!? Evacuate 70 diplomats FIRST, and totally screw the 16,000 Americans resident in the nation because it’s “too dangerous,” and merely tell them to “shelter in place”? GODDAMN! THAT IS NOT HOW WE AMERICANS DO THINGS! Whose cockamamie, harebrained off-kilter idea was THAT? Ambassador to Sudan John Godfrey? Secretary of State Anthony Blinken? Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III? U.S. Army General Mark A. Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff? POTUS BIDEN? EXACTLY WHO gave the go ahead for such a cowardly act?
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, April 7, 2023
Becky Pepper-Jackson has presented as a girl since fourth grade. The 12-year-old is at the center of a legal dispute that is at the Supreme Court. Credit: ACLU of West Virginia
Hey, I’m ALL FOR transgender & LGBTQIA folks, indeed, for ALL people — I don’t give a shit about how anybody gets freaky with it, how they present themselves to be, whether they stand, or sit, to pee, or any such nonsense. That’s their axe to grind, not mine… live and let live, you know. If Warren Buffett wants to wear a floral kimono, muumuu, or hot pink mini-skirt, more power to him.
BUT, I DO have a suggestion which I think is meritorious, and most WORTHY of consideration when the topic of gender — NOT SEX — enters the picture when determining whether Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, April 6, 2023
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who has been on the bench of the nation’s highest court since 1991, has been found, for the past 20 years, to have been receiving gifts worth several millions of dollars from a Texas real estate billionarie, and has failed to report any of them, as required by law.
THIS is an item which, I think, is BIGGER news than the troubles the former, 45th President, finds himself mired in, all of which are messes of his own making. We’ll see how those cakes cook up.
However, with this matter — which I think is a far more serious one for the integrity of our republic — which is the impartiality of equal justice under law — I smell an imminent impeachment of a SCOTUS Justice on the horizon, perhaps even calls to vacate orders in which his vote was a deciding factor. The ties and the links are present which more than lend themselves to the idea that his rulings demonstrated partiality in favor of certain parties with business before the court.
The quick-n-easy answer is “most likely not,” but a more detailed response, which increases ones understanding of the matter, follows. Published 04/05/23 at 8:00 AM ET, author Steven Lubet — the Williams Memorial Professor Emeritus at the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and coauthor of “Judicial Conduct and Ethics” (5th edition) and many other books — quoted another legal authority on the matter of Justice Thomas’ deliberate failure to report gifts for 20 years, and wrote in part that when asked to whom the Judicial Conference Committee on Financial Disclosures applies, replied by writing that, “the “Ethics in Government Act is the ultimate source of these reporting requirements,” and that it applies to “all judicial officers” including “the Chief Justice of the United States” [and] the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court.””
However, Chief Justice John Roberts has consistently rejected that idea, i.e., the law, including the authority of the Judicial Conference, by writing in his 2011 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary that its “committees have no mandate to prescribe rules or standards” for the Supreme Court. In other words, he wrote that he, and other Supreme Court Justices are above the law, that the law does NOT apply to them.
There are numerous instances in which SCOTUS Justices have flouted the law with regard to gifts, and Justice Clarence Thomas is by no means the only one, though he may be the most egregious example, who also, for a period of 6 consecutive years failed to list his wife “Ginny,” Virginia’s employment on his disclosure forms, and explained it away by claiming that it was “inadvertently omitted due to a misunderstanding of the filing instructions.” For a Supreme Court Justice, a individual well-versed in numerous intricacies of law, to make such a claim is so incredulous, that it borders on preposterous absurdity.
During his last 10 years on the SCOTUS, late Justice Antonin Scalia took over 250 subsidized trips, some of which were related to speeches he made, while others were vacations, and included frequent private jet travel, numerous luxury resorts and lodges stays, many of which he exempted from disclosure under previous, less explicit disclosure and reporting rules. The former Justice Stephen Breyer was similarly a recipient of such largess, and disclosed 185 subsidized trips during the same time period — although both figures may be significantly under-reported.
This problem is directly related to the impartiality that ALL judges, again, as impartial arbiters, are supposed to have, because not only is the lackadaisical attitude toward money and gifts from wealthy donors demonstrative of corruption, so too is the lack of any standard for recusal. The Supreme Court is, quite literally, another example of “the fox watching the hen house,” i.e., that they make up their own rules as they go, all in the name of either autonomy, or self-governance, and essentially think themselves exempt from the law, by refusing to submit to the law’s authority.
There are other observers of the SCOTUS who are also hawks, or watchdogs, on the subject of ethics and accountability on the nation’s highest court, among them, Fix the Court, a website that advocates for reforms to be made to the court to improve integrity and demonstrate unquestionable impartiality, and has a page linking to each Justice’s financial disclosures, for several years back. Sadly, it is painfully obvious, and exceedingly clear that the SCOTUS will not fix their own problems, so external measures must be taken, i.e., laws must be enacted mandating full financial disclosure and compliance, and establishing recusal standards.
This matter, however, is a subset of an even greater national problem, from which both political parties suffer, and that matter is best analogized by acknowledging that football teams don’t get to write their own game play rules, no matter which team is national champion, or not. The Alabama Crimson Tide has not, by virtue of their numerous National Championships, been able to change game rules to suit them, nor has any NFL team ever been able to do so, regardless of how many Super Bowl wins they’ve had, or which team is current champion. So, when politicians select their voters by gerrymandering, they do so in order to give themselves an unfair advantage, and it’s not merely “politics,” per se, it is a matter of corruption, by pretending to be impartial, or just, but instead are openly partisan and denying people of someone who would represent their interests. Politics and law are indeed about being just and impartial, every bit as much as any court should be, including the Supreme Court. Voters are supposed to elect their politicians, not politicians select their voters.
To further aid a direct, grass-roots process, there should be recall and direct petition laws which empower voters to recall politicians who are not representing their constituents’ wishes, as well as establishing a viable legal pathway for citizens to introduce legislation independently of the legislature, when legislators refuse to heed their constituents’ wishes to introduce legislation.
Money in politics is another obviously corrupting influence and power, and the best way to manage it, is to put all donors’ money into one common pot for each office, and divvy it up equally among the candidates, thereby enabling all candidates to campaign on their ability to persuade voters of their ideas, and the value of their candidacy, instead of seeming to purchase the office by the amount of money raised. Such a law which would enable “common pool contributions” AND be equally divided among the candidates for a particular office, would also satisfy the so-called “money is free speech” Supreme Court ruling, and conceivably, could allow more money to be put into the electoral PROCESS, NOT the candidate, i.e., contribution limits could be increased. Conceivably also, because such donations to the PROCESS would be impartial in effect, they could perhaps also be made fully tax deductible.
Ranked Choice Voting would further empower citizen voters to select among numerous candidates for any office, would immediately end costly primary elections paid for by the state, and perhaps even — in conjunction with “common pool contributions” — contribute to a broadening of political parties representing the peoples’ interests, instead of the “either/or” 2-party system which has dominated for so long. Voters should not be forced to choose from a bad or worse candidate.
And when a citizen registers to vote, that individual should immediately, i.e., on-the-spot, be issued a photographic Voter ID. By so doing, it would put to rest the ridiculously asinine and outrageously false claims made primarily by one political party which asserts that voter fraud is rampant. As well, each voter would be issued a number, much like a driver license number, or U.S. passport number, which would then be required to be affixed to, or included with, any absentee, or mail-in ballot, and so done to further reduce any possibility of voter fraud. It would also eliminate the discrimination inherent with, and absurdity of, so-called “exact match” signature laws, because signatures do change over time. As well, by requiring the government to issue a photographic Voter ID -and- a corresponding number, mail-in balloting could be expanded, relatively risk-free, and trouble-free.
Election Day should be made a National Holiday, and employees should get paid for that time off, and Early In-Person Voting should be at least two weeks duration.
To know of SCOTUS Justice Thomas’ corruption is an EXCEEDINGLY stronger, wretch-inducing effluvium — worse even, than the infected, rotting stench of hypocrisy cooking.
Clarence Thomas Secretly Accepted Luxury Trips From GOP Donor
— ProPublica
by Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott and Alex Mierjeski
ProPublica.org
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.
Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published.
Official Supreme Court group photo — Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, October 2022
Texas billionaire, GOP super-donor, Harlan Crow in October 201
In late June 2019, right after the U.S. Supreme Court released its final opinion of the term, Justice Clarence Thomas boarded a large private jet headed to Indonesia. He and his wife were going on vacation: nine days of island-hopping in a volcanic archipelago on a superyacht staffed by a coterie of attendants and a private chef.
Clarence Thomas (tan vest & camera) and his wife, Ginni (in red), front left, with Harlan Crow, back right, and others in Flores, Indonesia, in July 2019. Credit: via Instagram
If Thomas had chartered the plane and the 162-foot yacht himself, the total cost of the trip could have exceeded $500,000. Fortunately for him, that wasn’t necessary: He was on vacation with real estate magnate and Republican megadonor Harlan Crow, who owned the jet — and the yacht, too.
For more than two decades, Thomas has accepted luxury trips virtually every year from the Dallas businessman without disclosing them, documents and interviews show. A public servant who has a salary of $285,000, he has vacationed on Crow’s superyacht around the globe. He flies on Crow’s Bombardier Global 5000 jet. He has gone with Crow to the Bohemian Grove, the exclusive California all-male retreat, and to Crow’s sprawling ranch in East Texas. And Thomas typically spends about a week every summer at Crow’s private resort in the Adirondacks.
The extent and frequency of Crow’s apparent gifts to Thomas have no known precedent in the modern history of the U.S. Supreme Court.
These trips appeared nowhere on Thomas’ financial disclosures. His failure to report the flights Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, April 3, 2023
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin & wife Louise Linton hold sheets of money at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, November 14, 2017 show first run of bills featuring his signature.
First healthcare, eliminate personal privacy rights, women’s healthcare, then come children, and oil.
What Next for Oil After Surprise OPEC+ Cuts? Try $100 a Barrel.
• Cartel removes more than 1 million barrels a day from market
• Analysts say the decline in oil inventories will accelerate
Before the announcement, the cartel’s own numbers suggested the group would need to pump more oil, not less, in the second half. With the International Energy Agency expecting a demand surge later this year, there’s now renewed risk of global inflation.
————— US Gasoline Prices Could Hit $4 a Gallon Thanks to Surprise OPEC+ Oil Cut
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Arabia and other major oil producers on Sunday announced surprise cuts totaling up to 1.15 million barrels per day from May until the end of the year, a move that could raise prices worldwide.
Higher oil prices would help fill Russian President Vladimir Putin’s coffers as his country wages war on Ukraine and force Americans and others to pay even more at the pump amid worldwide inflation.
It was also likely to further strain ties with the United States, which has called on Saudi Arabia and other allies to increase production as it tries to bring prices down and squeeze Russia’s finances.
———————
Saudi Arabia has NEVER been America’s ally or friend, and does NOT give a shit about us, what we think, need, or want.
Their OPEC oil cartel is THE SINGLE GREATEST REASON WHY America should become 100% energy independent.
American BIG OIL companies have long been in cahoots with the Saudis and other OPEC member nations, contrary to American national security interests, and the EXCLU$IVE rea$on why, is avarice, “greed gone wild,” as evidenced by rapacious Wall$treet corporate profits.
Beginning in earnest with Reagan & his administration, when he removed solar panels from atop the White House (a powerful, though largely symbolic move), Republicans have eschewed research & development of hydrogen fuel cells as abundant, clean, powerful, renewable energy sources for Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, March 30, 2023
Senate Chaplain: Senators suffer “from the paralysis of analysis that waits for the miraculous.”
More True Words Are Rarely Spoken
United States Senate Chaplain Barry C. Black, official photo On June 27, 2003, Rear Admiral Barry C. Black (Ret.) was elected the 62nd Chaplain of the United States Senate. He began working in the Senate on July 7, 2003. Prior to coming to Capitol Hill, Chaplain Black served in the U.S. Navy for over twenty-seven years, ending his distinguished career as the Chief of Navy Chaplains. The Senate elected its first chaplain in 1789.
“Eternal God, we stand in awe of You.
“LORD, when babies die at a church school, it is time for us to move beyond ‘thoughts and prayers.’
“Remind our lawmakers of the words of the British statesman Edmund Burke: All that is necessary for evil to triumph, is for good people to do nothing.
“LORD, deliver our Senators from the paralysis of analysis that waits for the miraculous.
“Use them to battle the demonic forces that seek to engulf us.
“We pray in Your powerful name.
“Amen.”
— Opening prayer, United States Senate, Tuesday, 28 March 2023
By now, you’ve heard the sad, bad new of the mass shooting at a private religious elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee in which 6 individuals were killed — 3 – 9 year old children, and 3 adults.
Nashville Metro Police Department is to be HIGHLY COMMENDED for their heroism, and rapid response — only 15 minutes after the first call came in, the shooter was killed on site.
In fact, the whole world now knows how brave Nashville’s police officers are, because unlike the Coward of Broward, and the fearful Uvalde, Texas police, even the Babylon Bee, an online satire magazine website, stood up and took notice, by recently publishing this tweet:
Putin Immediately Surrenders After U.S. Airdrops Nashville Police Officers Into Battlefield https://t.co/ZUb9rf0EaW
And so, when I shared with a friend the Senate Chaplain’s actions, there were only two questions asked, and one emphatic expression in response.
Did he propose any ideas? (Yes.)
-and-
What were his thoughts? We do need to take action!
Here is how I responded.
Not to be sarcastic, of course, but his suggestion was that good men (and women) take action.
My longstanding suggestion — since being published Thursday, August 27, 2015 in “A Simple Solution to America’s Gun & Mass Shooting Problems” — continues to be, that ALL such firearms as the AR-15, AK-47, etc., should be placed under the auspices of the National Firearms Act of 1934, which was enacted to limit access to automatic weapons used by criminals like Bonnie & Clyde, Ma Barker, Pretty Boy Floyd, John Dillinger, Al Capone, et al, to ameliorate the ease with which they committed crimes.
The act permits citizens to exercise their 2nd Amendment rights through ownership, yet places a VERY HIGH BAR to ownership by mandating fingerprinting, thorough & intensive background investigations by FBI, State & Local police/Sheriffs, etc., payment of a $200 tax to the U.S. Treasury Dept., and perhaps a few more things, such as character & mental fitness.
IF for any reason there is any problem with the findings, the application is DENIED, and the tax returned.
That process ensures that ONLY the MOST upstanding & law-abiding citizens can possess such firearms. Included in the NFA are: Silencers (now called “suppressors”), short barreled shotguns & rifles, and automatic firearms (defined as any firearm that discharges more than one bullet with one tigger pull).
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, March 27, 2023
True -or- False?
Things that are not living cannot change.
“There’s a feeling I get when I look to the west, and my spirit is crying for leaving. In my thoughts, I have seen rings of smoke through the trees, and the voices of those who stand looking. It makes me wonder… it really makes me wonder.”
Your mother is hurting.
I guess I was lucky that I didn’t fall tumbling down an almost sheer granite cliff like a rag doll after climbing up nearly to the top in leather-soled cowboy boots en route to Sonora Pass in the Sierras along CA 108 in October ’08. Mom & Dad would’ve been very saddened. Instead, I got to see them die. Well, almost. They were both “on their death bed” when I last kissed them both — Daddy died a few years before Mother. I saw to it that Read the rest of this entry »
People on the right are the biggest snowflakes on the face of the planet.
And you guys got me fucked up.
Not only do you lack the critical thinking skills to understand the difference between social cancellation and government cancellation, you lack the self awareness to understand that all you’re doing is projecting.
Every time you point your finger at a liberal for something, there are four more fingers pointing back at you.
You people claim to be “anti-censorship,” “anti-cancel culture,” and yet, you people are voting for politicians that are doing just that!
And I’m done with saying you’re incompetent — ’cause you understand exactly what the fuck is going on.
Your accuse liberals of needing “safe spaces,” but in places like Tennessee, laws have been passed making it illegal for someone to> Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, March 23, 2023
But Sergeant Pepper didn’t teach the band to play, nor did he have a Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Things Not Worth Fighting For -or- One Giant Fucking Mistake Based Upon A Lie,
And How It Gave Us A Black Eye At Home And Abroad
“All of our experiences were different. It was such a long war. Every year of the war or every phase of the war was very different. We learned that it wasn’t necessarily a just war. But then, we broke it, so then we had to fix it. Navigating wartime service in the Iraq War, especially if you served more than one tour, it’s more about just doing what you are called to do and making sure that you’ve got the men and women to your left and right all home from that war. Focusing more on that than the policy or the why of why we’re there. Because that can be a dark place.”
— Allison Jaslow, former Army Lieutenant, served 2 tours of duty in Iraq during the most violently intense period, now CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA)
“We all felt [that], maybe there was a way to make things better, [but we] then recognized that we hadn’t made things better… it didn’t turn out as we’d hoped. A lot of my fellow Americans don’t even rank it as important. They say, Read the rest of this entry »
Former Hawaii Congressional Representative Tulsi Gabbard made some salient points in her address yesterday (3/18) at the Vision ’24 National Conservative Forum, an event held by the South Carolina Conservative Conference at the North Charleston Convention Center, which was co-sponsored by the Heritage Foundation. However, in the approximately 2-minute video excerpt which she tweeted, what she failed to mention (because it is automatically understood, and is the law) on the topic of hiring, is that the hiring ABSOLUTELY IS considering the qualifications of individuals/applicants, and hiring decisions ARE NOT being made EXCLUSIVELY based upon immutable characteristics, such as race, ethnicity, identity, etc.
As Thomas Jefferson said, "God who gave us life gave us Liberty." Any political party that tries to erase God from every facet of our public life can’t be trusted to protect those inalienable God-given rights enshrined in the Constitution. pic.twitter.com/l86Y30oR2f
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, March 22, 2023
In a pure-hearted effort to be encouraging, a friend shared with me some thoughts as follows:
Someone Greater
There’s a battle happening all around us—a battle for your heart, your mind, and your soul. A battle that’s not only physical, but also spiritual. A battle with literal enemies who impact the seen and unseen world.
John wrote:
“But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.”
1 John 4:4 NLT
Yes, we are in a real battle.
Yes, we have a real enemy.
Yes, the kingdom of darkness is constantly fighting against the kingdom of light.
But for those who are trusting in the finished work of Christ, greater is the One living inside of us than the one who is living in this world.
We have a real Savior.
This story isn’t close to over.
The kingdom of darkness will never prevail against the kingdom of light.
Our enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy. To pervert, manipulate, and confuse, distract, divide, and disable.
But God is greater than the doubts that clutter your mind, the enemies that frustrate your plans, the heart-wrenching and even soul-crushing situation that’s currently consuming your thoughts.
You can fight from a place of victory because the battle has already been won.
Jesus has already conquered death. And now, while we wait for others to come to salvation and for God to bring all things to completion under Christ’s authority, we can fight with a confident hope.
There’s a battle happening all around us—a battle for your heart, for your mind, for your soul. But greater is the One living inside of you than the one who is living in this world.
The gesture was appreciated, and accepted in the milieu in which it was given. After all, that’s what friends do: They love one another, encourage, and help one another as an expression of that love.
None of that message was alien to me, and there have been seemingly countless times in which I have heard, or read such a message, using those exact terms, phrases, and expressions.
And, as friends do, a response was crafted as follows:
Have you ever heard of the now-defunct comic strip by Walt Kelly called Pogo? It was syndicated from 1948-75, set in Georgia’s portion of the Okefenokee Swamp, and was primarily political satire, but included comedic social commentary, as well.
If not, don’t worry; I’m about to succinctly describe one frame.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, March 20, 2023
Generally speaking, recipes are merely broad guidelines for the creation of a dish. Very few recipes are anything like the precision necessary in rocket science… although some websites would have their gullible readers to think so.
Fortunately, the best part of cooking and being a cook, is that you get to eat your own mistakes. And THAT is often the best teacher.
So, with the obvious being “said,” here’s a carrot raisin salad, which at its most basic, contains carrots, raisins, and mayonnaise. The dish depicted here contains the following jazzed up ingredients: A stick of celery, key lime juice + apple cider vinegar (ACV), sugar, a tad salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, raisins (of course), dried cranberries (aka “craisins”), and walnuts.😋
Naturally, shredded carrots are the primary ingredient. So if you’re planning on making this dish, you’ll need more carrots than anything else. How many? How about you being the judge of that? It’s YOUR dish, and you’ll make it YOUR way — which is another beautiful part about cooking: It’s highly customizable.
How much mayonnaise? Again, it’s “Player’s Choice” — as much, or as little, as your heart desires.
Don’t like mayonnaise? No problem. Use salad dressing, or some other condiment (though I dare say, mustard probably would not be a good substitution). But hey! To each, their own. One never knows.
Don’t like celery? Not a problem. Omit it.
Sodium restricted diet? (Celery is also sodium laden.) Omit the tiny pinch of salt. But I will say this, about that: Salt, common table salt, even just a slight amount, enhances sweetness.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, March 15, 2023
I’ve long known that New Mexico was the ONLY state in the union whose lawmakers did NOT receive any salary, only a very modest per diem payment, and certainly NOTHING LIKE the princely “per diem” sum that Ala-goddamn-bama’s corrupt lawmakers pay themselves from the pockets of the honest, tax paying public.
And if you break down and calculate the entirety of what those f🤬ing bastards pay themselves, you, or ANYONE would find that they are — WITHOUT QUESTION — THE VERY HIGHEST PAID legislators in the nation, who get paid LITERALLY for only THREE DAYS OF WORK PER WEEK (Tu,W,Th — the ONLY days they meet), for a GRAND TOTAL of 30 days per year, more if called into Special Session by the Governor.
The Alabama State Legislature’s website states that “the length of the regular session is limited to 30 meeting days within a period of 105 calendar days. There are usually two meeting or “legislative” days per week, with other days devoted to committee meetings. Special sessions of the Legislature may be called by the Governor, with the Proclamation listing the subjects which the Governor wishes considered. These sessions are limited to 12 legislative days within a 30 calendar day span.”
It’s the VERY best goddamn less-than part-time job in ALL of America — hands down.
Here’s a ROUGH approximation of how MUCH, and the tune to which they pick Alabama taxpayers’ pockets:
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, March 10, 2023
Most everybody, it seems, is all for the use of plain language. That is to say, being plainspoken is often seen as a virtue, whereas flowery language is, or can often be, seen as obfuscatory, i.e., attempting to confuse, or hide something by the use of arcane language.
So, would it be “appropriate” to have in a school library a book that openly talked about a young woman having her nipples rubbed, and breasts squeezed by her numerous, seemingly countless lovers? A young woman who was so horny that she wanted men with big penises to stretch out her vagina? To have it filled to overflowing with their semen? To be an orgiastic “cum slut,” or “bukkake babe”?
If the colloquial language used to describe such acts shocks your sensibilities, perhaps the idea of the underlying acts would similarly be shocking: A super horny young girl who just wants to fuck… all day long, day and night, day in, day out, with as many men as she possibly can, who revels in the orgasmic sensuality of the entire experience.
If that shocks, or, even disgusts you, and you think that such descriptions are “inappropriate” for young children, or even older teens, to read such material, perhaps it might be wise to consider banning the book, or books, that contain such sexually graphically depictive language, and ideas.
Interestingly, that book which contains such graphical literary depictions of sexual activity in REAL LIFE is in Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, March 6, 2023
Previously, I’d written about, and provided one example of, what I considered to be an exemplary model of poor journalistic practice — which is the failure to properly identify individuals quoted in stories by their academic/professional achievements, proper title, capitalization, organizational affiliation, and location, to which I added the practice of abbreviated (or not) states’ names.
There are at least TWO fundamental issues underlying the first matter, both of which can be boiled down to one, that one being respect:
1.) Respect for the individual whom is quoted and referenced in the story, most often only obliquely recognized as an authority or expert, and;
2.) Respect for the reader, the party whom is being informed by reading the story, and for whom the authors write.
Folks who earn PhD’s didn’t just have that terminal degree handed to them on a silver platter. They worked their hineys off for years to earn it. As a matter of fact, folks who earn ANY academic achievement didn’t have it handed to them on a silver platter. They had to WORK to EARN it.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, March 6, 2023
The writing style of the majority of bodies of work (especially and particularly “news”) found online is abysmally poor, and uninformative. It’s a problem that I bitch about with seeming regularity. Doubtlessly, there are numerous contributing factors, but it is my opinion that a predominate role has been, and continues to be, played by corporate-profit-driven, Wall-$treet-controlled “media outlets,” whose exclusive concern is… MONEY.
Nothing else.
No concern for truth, no concern for veracity, for authenticity, no concern for quality, no concern for anything but MONEY.
And nowhere is that more excruciatingly shown than at Fox News, which stinking putrid pot has had the purifying and sanitizing light of day shown upon it brought by the MULTI-BILLION dollar defamation lawsuit against it by Dominion Voting Systems of Denver, CO, charging that Fox deliberately spread malicious lies about the November 2020 General Election, falsely claiming that Dominion’s voting machines were part and parcel of a giant conspiracy and fraud to alter the outcome of the election.
They were not.
And as tranche after tranche, raft after raft of documents and communications of myriad kind have shown, and continue to show, not even Fox’s lying talking heads believed the bullshit espoused by the crazies of the Party of Trump.
But more to the point.
Today’s journalists (I use that term loosely) are piss poor writers, uninformative, and more… and worse.
Here’s an example that occurs with calculable regularity.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, March 1, 2023
Are they too low? Too high? Just right?
Some folks, mostly of Republican stripe, cry loud and long, complaining that personal and corporate income tax rates, and other forms of taxes, are TOO HIGH, even excessive. Yet in the mean time, many folks, aka The Common Man, feel more than just a little pinched, and stressed out not just by inflation which has affected everything from groceries to housing, but by the cost of everything in general… even before inflation took its toll.
And, at the end of the day, for many, particularly our most vulnerable — the elderly, children, the impoverished, veterans, the homeless, those without healthcare insurance, etc. — there are more bills than there is money.
Tomorrow (February 1) is the first day of 
And, here’s an example.
And as a tenet of their faith, they are vegetarian — some lacto-ovo, some pescatarian, some vegan. And you know you’ve made friends with them when they invite you to share a meal with them — that’s true of any people, religious, or not — and I have always considered it great honor to share a meal with them. One such time was Thanksgiving several years ago, when I was 
Gripe the First 1.):
Warm Southern Breeze 