Gun Ownership + Carrying + Impulsivity = Increased Firearm Violence Victimization & Death Risk

Think you need a gun “for protection”?

Think again.

The glibly superficial “good guy with a gun” notion is but a trite and specious fallacy.

Research has shown that “that individuals in possession of a gun are over four times more likely to be shot in an assault than those not in possession.”¹

Thus, while gun carrying itself is not a violent behavior, “it potentially marks heightened risk among gun carriers.”

And indeed, “research has demonstrated a strong link between (gun carrying) and gun violence victimization.”¹

“The finding has important implications for states and campuses considering open carry laws α while these policies may be intended to increase safety, they may have the unintended result of increasing gun violence victimization.”²

“On average, guns did not protect those who possessed them from being shot in an assault.³ Although successful defensive gun uses occur each year, the probability of success may be low for civilian gun users in urban areas. Such users should reconsider their possession of guns or, at least, understand that regular possession necessitates careful safety countermeasures.”

“Impulsivity was identified as

Rest In Peace, Larry Flynt: Renown First Amendment Advocate, Vietnam Veteran, Entrepreneur Dies Aged 78

Larry Flynt, known globally as an entrepreneur and First Amendment champion, has died aged 78.

Mr. Flynt had a strong desire for service to the nation, and first enlisted in the United States Army using a false birth certificate when he was aged 15, and had dropped out of the 9th grade. After 7 months, in 1960, he was declared supernumerary and honorably discharged. He then repeated that performance, and joined the United States Navy, where he served for 5 years, and was honorably discharged in 1964 during the Vietnam War. While serving aboard the USS Enterprise as a radar operator, he was on duty during the operation to recover John Glenn’s space capsule after splashdown following his first space orbit.

Larry Flynt (center) makes his way through a crowd at a rally in Cincinnati in 1977.

He was a native Southerner, and was born and raised in Lakeville, Kentucky, in Magoffin County, a still-small village in the practical middle of nowhere, in the state’s eastern central portion, due east of Lexington about a 2-hour drive on Kentucky State Highway 9009.

Mr. Flynt may perhaps best be known as pornographer, and publisher of Hustler magazine, a title of which he was unashamed, and for which an attempted assassin’s bullet severed his spinal cord outside the courthouse in Gwinnett County Georgia, on March 6, 1978, where he was facing obscenity charges, which he won. From that point on, he was never able to walk, and relied upon a wheelchair for mobility, albeit, a custom-made, gold-plated one.

For many years thereafter, Mr. Flynt’s sniper went undiscovered until an arrest for two unrelated killings elsewhere, when the suspect confessed to being Flynt’s shooter. White Supremacist John Paul Franklin said the reason he shot Flynt, was because he objected to photos in Hustler depicting interracial couples. He was executed by the state of Missouri in 2013 – an act which Mr. Flynt disapproved of as an opponent of the death penalty.

For many years, he had a long-term friendship with the Reverend Jerry Falwell

“Just say ‘NO’” has never worked. Here’s what does.

Freedom.

What a concept, eh?

The very idea that you have a brain, and therefore, can think independently to decide FOR YOURSELF what you want, or ought, to do, continues to frustrate others who think that they know better than you do what personal decisions you should make for yourself!

It’s an adult decision.

Why, it’s nothing short of… LIBERTY!

ENOUGH! of the “Nanny State”!

Take your religion home, and GET IT OUT OF GOVERNMENT!!

Practice it PRIVATELY, with your family, friends, and other like-minded individuals. STOP forcing your PRIVATE religious ethics and morals upon others by writing public laws that mirror your private interpretation of your religion.

Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to the Danbury Baptists that cited the establishment clause of our nation’s Constitution, which as he wrote, erected a “a wall of separation between Church & State,” or as we now say, between government, and religion.

Religious nuts have been trying to tear it down, ever since.

And they’re STILL TRYING TODAY!

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‘Drug Use For Grown-Ups’ Serves As An Argument For Personal Choice

If you grew up scared of what illicit drugs could do to you — hearing about all the horrors that could befall you from everyone from Nancy Reagan to your parents — the threat may have felt very real: If you actually took a puff off that joint that the kid who slept through math class offered you, it could lead to failed relationships, chronic unemployment, self-destruction.

The shame would outlive you.

But drugs are a more complicated matter than they’ve been made out to be, according to Dr. Carl L. Hart. In his new book Drug Use for Grown-Ups, the Columbia University professor of psychology and psychiatry zealously argues that drug use should be a matter of personal choice — and that, in more cases than not, personal choice can lead to positive outcomes. His positions may seem quite extreme to some but they also, by and large, make a lot of sense — and are backed up by ample research.

A major reason drugs have such a negative public image, Hart asserts, is racism. He notes that after the Civil War, some Chinese railroad construction workers smoked opium and, sometimes, established “opium dens” to do so. Over time, more and more white Americans visited these dens to smoke opium too. That in turn led to broader, bigoted social fear among whites, like, for example, the sentiments captured in H.H. Kane’s 1882 report:

“The practice spread widely…Many women and young girls, as also young men of respectable family, were being induced to visit the dens, where they were ruined morally and otherwise.”

Then there was the post-Civil War use of cocaine among some Black day laborers, something Hart writes was at first encouraged by white employers because of the productivity it could promote. Soon enough, however, articles appeared widely that tried to make a connection between African American cocaine use and criminality. One particularly egregious article in The New York Times in 1914, cited by Hart, even reported that some police in the South “who appreciate the vitality of the cocaine-crazed” were switching to higher-caliber weaponry capable of “greater shocking power for the express purpose of combating ‘the fiend’.”

But horrifying history aside, one of the book’s most eye-opening aspects is its challenge of the long-running association between drugs and addiction. First the basics: Addiction, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM – 5), must be a source of distress for a drug user. It must also interfere with a person’s job, parenting or personal relationships. Other indications of addiction may be

Free To Drive Drunk? Are Mask Refuseniks Any Different From Drunk Drivers

Laws punishing drunk, or impaired driving are based upon principles of public health and public safety. That is to say, laws forbidding and punishing drunk driving are based historically upon the damages, injuries, and deaths caused by those who have driven while intoxicated.

At some point, The People refused to be abused and victimized any longer, stood up, and resoundingly said ‘NO MORE!‘, and passed legislation making such behavior and associated acts a serious crime. In some states, it’s not uncommon to read of individuals charged with DUI, who are also charged with the felonies of either murder, or criminally negligent homicide in cases where their actions resulted in the death of another.

Have laws against DUI stopped the offense or eliminated the injuries, damages, and deaths associated with the same?

No, but they have so significantly reduced them to the extent that such offenses and their associated damages are now the exception, rather than the rule.

The same principle applies to tobacco use, and smoking. It is a known carcinogen, and its consumption and use is a well-documented cause of numerous types of cancers, associated diseases, suffering, and early death – most notably recently, renown guitarist Eddie Van Halen, who died of metastatic oral cancer contracted from smoking aged 65.

Consequently, taxes upon tobacco have been increased in many areas, and places where its consumption is permitted is severely limited.

And so, now, we have COVID to deal with. Fundamentally, as far as the net effect – death, damage, and destruction – how is that any different? Seriously. Well over 250,000 lives unnecessarily lost in LESS THAN THE SPACE OF A YEAR, and with well over 13,000,000 cases, the good ol’ USA is the world’s NUMBER 1 repository of COVID-19… by far!

Yaay!
Thanks (for nothing) Trump!

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COVID-19, Masks and the Freedom to Drive Drunk

By Andrew Koppelman, Opinion Contributor
11/29/20 03:00 PM EST

Does freedom mean the right to refuse to wear a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic?  Many Americans think so. It is President Trump’s most important legacy. Here’s one implication that is too little noticed: If that is what freedom means, then we owe drunk drivers an apology.

The idea is shaping our world. Ignoring urgent expert advice, an Idaho health board recently rescinded its mask mandate, while 100 new cases were reported in one day and the local hospital was running out of beds. (A couple of weeks later, it reversed itself and imposed the mandate.) The board member who led the change explained, “I agree we have a problem with this virus, but at the same time I object to the mandate the board passed because it restricts people’s right of choice and ability to comply or not comply under penalty of law.” Another member said, “I personally do not care whether anybody wears a mask or not. If they want to be dumb enough to walk out there and expose themselves or others to it, they can.” The story was reported in the Daily Beast under the headline, “This really happened.”

This is a new and unfamiliar conception of freedom. Some people, notably New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, have blamed libertarianism for this stuff, but the standard libertarian story is that people have the right to do what they want as long as they don’t hurt anyone else. Now we are told that they have a right of choice even if they do hurt other people.

Drunk drivers were once casually tolerated. After Mothers Against Drunk Driving was founded in 1980 by a woman whose 13-year-old daughter was killed by one, attitudes and laws both became harsher. The proportion of fatal crashes involving drunk drivers plunged, from 53 percent in 1982 to 34 percent in 1997. There were over 26,000 drunk driving deaths in 1982, and fewer than 11,000 in 2018. I believe universal mask-wearing would have had a comparable effect. An estimated 100,000 or more lives would have been saved.

But, if you’re concerned about masks’ infringement on individual liberty, then why endure DWI (driving while intoxicated) laws? Masks are a lot cheaper than the cabfare home from the tavern, and then there’s the

Biden Wins!

America has a NEW President!

Despite efforts by malign internal actors, heads of government agencies, individuals who are domestic enemies of our Constitution and of The People, who abused governmental resources to thwart freedom…

The People have SPOKEN LOUDLY.

Vice President Joe Biden, Official Portrait 2013

Democratic principles, honesty and the rule of law have worked AGAIN.

Our democratic republic is STRONG!!

Liberty is POWERFUL!

Evil is defeated!

Our United States of America has a NEW PRESIDENT-elect!

In response, a longtime friend and colleague wrote “Not for long , the dead people and illegals that spoke will be discredited.”

My friend, the false and malicious things you wrote are not only lies, but they’re old lies – VERY OLD. One would think that you’re stuck in a time warp of some kind.

What concerns me about your outdatedness, is that the truth of what I wrote, that in this election, something happened which has NEVER BEFORE happened, which is individuals who are OFFICIAL AGENTS of the United States Government, as malign actors, abused their high office, and ACTIVELY played roles to DELIBERATELY thwart freedom, and The People’s Right To Vote.

That was done by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy through the United States Postal Service

Ted Cruz, Jack Dorsey, Twitter, and Free Speech

GOP Texas Senator Ted Cruz, member of the Senate Commerce Committee, moments before he screamed at Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey via remote hearing about Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

Once again, Ted Cruz turns in a great performance, and quite possibly may be nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for the same.

A reminder:
While he was in high school, Ted’s parents talked him out of moving to California to pursue an acting career. So he said in a November 2013 interview with the Boston Globe.

But yesterday, the Asshole from Texas, aka Republican Senator Ted Cruz, made an ass out of himself.

No surprise there, eh?

Nobody likes Cruz. Recall that in 2016, former Speaker of the House, Republican John Boehner (OH-8) called him “Lucifer in the flesh.” Additional diatribes against Cruz may be found at the conclusion of this article.

Ted WILL make a run for the Presidency again, so he’s just posturing. After all, it IS election season, and even though he’s not on an election ticket, per se, he is on the ticket. And just 2 years ago (2018), Cruz just barely escaped being replaced by Democratic challenger Representative Beto O’Rourke (TX-16) – 50.9% to 48.3% of 8,371,655 ballots cast.

In fact, the entire GOP slate is on the ticket nationwide this year. And so far, it’s not looking good. It didn’t look good yesterday, either. The “optics” aren’t good, goes the saying about political appearances.

But more to the point…

The Senate Commerce Committee conducted a Full Committee Hearing on Wednesday, October 28, 2020, 10:00 a.m. which was entitled, “Does Section 230’s Sweeping Immunity Enable Big Tech Bad Behavior?”

What is Section 230?

In short, Jeff Kossett describes it as the “26 words that created the Internet.”

Who is Jeff Kossett?

Jeff Kossett is Assistant Professor of Cybersecurity Law at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and is one of the nation’s foremost experts on Section 230. Regarding the law, he said, “Section 230 set the legal framework for the Internet that we know today that relies heavily on user content rather than content that companies create. Without Section 230, companies would not be willing to take so many risks.”

The law, written in 1996, modified the 1996 Communications Decency Act, is short, sweet, and to the point.

Section 230(c)(1) reads:

“No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.”

But this hearing was pure grandstanding from the get-go.

Why?

Senators

Amy Coney Barrett And Radicalism – Religious & Political

Perhaps by now you’ve heard of the sad and tragic news out of France, that recently, Samuel Paty, a 47-year old male teacher was brutally decapitated by a radicalized 18-year old, Russian-born male Muslim student. Though one committed the heinous act, at least 10 students have been arrested for participation in the plot. The prime suspect is a Chechen refugee.

According to Reuters, the episode began when several Muslim parents were angered earlier this month after Paty taught a mandatory “moral and civil education” class on freedom of expression, and had shown to his pupils 12 cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, which were originally published in a Danish newspaper before republication in Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical publication renown for their anti-establishment satire poking fun at the far right, and aspects of Catholicism, Judaism and Islam.

The Guardian reported that a parent of one of the students in Paty’s class had posted a response to an angry video complaining about the class. The respondent wrote: “I am a parent of a student at this college. The teacher just showed caricatures from Charlie Hebdo as part of a history lesson on freedom of expression. He asked the Muslim students to leave the classroom if they wished, out of respect … He was a great teacher. He tried to encourage the critical spirit of his students, always with respect and intelligence. This evening, I am sad, for my daughter, but also for teachers in France. Can we continue to teach without being afraid of being killed?”

The French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo recently republished for a second time the same cartoons (also seen here) the day before the beginning of a French trial of

Rights, Freedoms, Liberties and Necessities Amidst COVID-19

Based upon recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Governor of your state, or mayor of your town orders numerous businesses and activities to be temporarily paused, halted, or ceased. (Take your pick of the choice of words, which essentially mean the same thing. Although “temporarily paused” sounds more palatable, in my estimation.) That includes practically every type of operation, ranging from retail to warehouse, to factory, to office… including corporate worship services.

Suddenly, people lose their jobs, their health insurance, their income, maybe even their residences, either rented, or mortgaged, and their private transportation.

It seems as if the world has come to a virtual, if not practical, standstill. Many grocery stores remain open, albeit with modified hours and operations, as do gasoline and diesel fuel stations, and hardware stores because they’re considered “essential” businesses. Barber shops, beauty salons and their suppliers, however, are shuttered. Restaurants and bars have closed, some which face certain bankruptcy. Yet banks and other financial operations remain open… including the stock markets, because they too, are considered “essential.” Suffice it to say, numerous sports games are cancelled.

Other “essential” businesses, such as farms and the plant facilities that process the animals and milk, are suddenly in a bind, because the low-wage employees who work there have become infected with COVID-19 coronavirus disease, and have “spread the love” to their co-workers, most of whom were not provided with either adequate safety equipment by their employers, nor were given any modifications to provide for adequate distancing to ameliorate the chance of spreading, or contracting the disease. The President can “order” them to remain open as long as he likes, but if there’s no one to work the lines… and I sincerely doubt the suits know how to do it.

Farmers in some states, notably New York, have complained that their milk supplies are suddenly becoming stockpiled, and they are being reduced to wasting it, and other products made from it. In response, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has told farmers of that state that the state will take all of their present “excess” product, and distribute it to needy families, which have suddenly become almost too numerous to count. The farmers consented.

Idaho potato farmers are giving away their crops as well, since critical links in the food supply chain have been broken, and left them unable to deliver their products to market. It remains to be seen what the pork, poultry, egg, and beef producers will do. Fisheries will simply stop collecting their stock for harvest. Pregnant sows (female pigs) will be administered abortifacients. Fowl will be fed, eggs will be laid, cattle will be fattened, and cows will be milked.

A note on the concentrated industrialization of American farms:

That’s NOT a good idea, and inherently, not only is it a violation of anti-trust laws which promote competition, but it’s a bad idea managerially because if one hiccups or sneezes, the whole industry gets sick. There’s STRENGTH in diversification, and as the old adage goes,

“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”

But for all the good that many, if not most, are doing, there remain a few crybabies, whinos, and belligerents whose cacophonous voices rasp the ears of those who have the misfortune of hearing them.

They bitch, moan, groan, cry, whine, and complain that

Everything Old Is New Again

The Democratic Party’s Establishment cronies, whom are probably more accurately known as Corporate Democrats, or even as “Republicans Lite,” have had their knives out for Bernie Sanders for quite some time.

Not only have they no idea what they’re talking about when they go about Bernie bashing, and falsely claiming that the ideas he promotes are somehow “radical,” but they’re just plain old wrong. Of course, it would be very easy to imagine that anyone who opposes such ideals to benefit the people are in the pockets of their Big Money Corporate Donors, and doing the bidding of their Wall Street Corporate Money masters.

“We need to create a culture,
an entire culture,
which as Pope Francis has reminded us,
can not just be based on the worship of money.
We must not accept
a nation in which
billionaires compete as to the size of their super-yachts,
while
children in America go hungry
and
veterans sleep out on the streets.”

Neither is he a “socialist,” a brush and political nom de guerre which his opponents attempt to paint him with, and thereby demonize him. It would be more accurate to say he’s a social Democrat, insofar as his ideas and policies are designed to benefit the people – not mega-corporations, not billionaires.

President Harry Truman (D), seated LEFT

His opponents’ efforts to make political hay for themselves with the fact that he calls himself a “Democratic socialist” are purely self-seeking, self-serving efforts to ensure continued votes from their constituents… but most importantly, Big Money from Corporate Donors.

Bernie Sanders has NEVER participated in any anti-American activity or organization, and has NEVER promoted any such thing. And, in fact, like every Military Service Member, and countless others in Federal Service whether elected, or not, he has sworn an oath of allegiance to the Constitution, and to the United States.

The principles Bernie Sanders talks about are NOT “radical.”

In fact, the ideas like a:
1.) Right to education;
2.) Right to earn a decent wage;
3.) Right to a job;
4.) Right to housing;
5.) Right to medical care,
and more, are straight out of the FDR playbook from his SOTU January 11, 1944, when he said in part that “necessitous men are not free men.”¹

The Democratic Party has simply chosen to ignore those ideals – wrongfully so, in my estimation – and instead, has proceeded down the merry Republican path, oblivious to the damage and destruction that lies ahead.

Time, and time again, Senator Sanders has made it abundantly clear exactly and precisely what he means when he uses the term democratic socialism. The most detailed example of which was a speech he delivered at Georgetown University, Thursday, November 19, 2015.
(see: http://inthesetimes.com/article/18623/bernie_sanders_democratic_socialism_georgetown_speech

• https://www.c-span.org/video/?400961-1/senator-bernie-sanders-address-democratic-socialism

• https://youtu.be/p9OP0gfmPgA

• https://www.georgetown.edu/news/bernie-sanders-defines-democratic-socialism-in-georgetown-speech/)

“Real freedom must include economic security.
That was Roosevelt’s vision 70 years ago.
It is my vision today.
It is a vision that we have not yet achieved.
It is time that we did.”

Republicans have a long lineage of falsely claiming anything that benefits the people is somehow “socialist.” It could be thought of as their “birthright,” because Republican fear mongering using that term, and others, is nothing new. If they can convince you that someone, some idea, plan, or thing, is going to steal something from you, they’ve already won. That’s their strategy, plain and simple.

President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Medicare Bill at the Harry S. Truman Library in Independence, Missouri, with President Truman seated next to him. Twenty years earlier, President Truman proposed his idea for nationwide health care. Archive photo from the White House Press Office.

They did it in the three Republican administrations (1921-1933) – Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover – which in turn, gifted America, and the world, with the Great Depression.

They did it with Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy’s unfounded fear-mongering “Red Scare” tactics, who found a Communist behind every shrub, and on every street corner.

They did it to “Give ’em Hell Harry” Truman in 1945 a mere 7 months into his Presidency when he proposed mandatory “universal” health care, and later proposed expanding Social Security, a full-employment program, a permanent Fair Employment Practices Act, and public housing and slum clearance, which in his January 5, 1949 SOTU he called the “Fair Deal.”

• During a 1946 Senate hearing on the National Health Insurance Bill, Republican Senator Robert Taft shouted out: “I consider it socialism. It is to my mind the most socialistic measure this Congress has ever had before it,” then led his party members out of the room. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce accused Truman in 1947 of taking a “backroad to socialism” in the fast lane toward a “police state.”

They did it with LBJ’s Great Society programs.

Reagan did it long before becoming President with a 1961 recording “Reagan speaks out against socialized medicine,” and continued the same rhetoric after winning election in 1980, and re-election in 1984.

They did it to President Obama with the Affordable Care Act.
• Tea Party Caucus founder Michele Bachmann infamously called the ACA “the crown jewel of socialism,” and “socialized medicine.”

Trump, and others, are doing it to Bernie, and to AOC’s Green New Deal.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders – I , official portrait

For Republicans, the dread “socialism” is their great boogeyman – a nondescript, amorphous thing to fear, that’ll not only kill you, but will eat your babies first. It’s their ideological whipping boy. But like the boy who cried ‘WOLF!,’ the problem with their tired old argument, and oft-repeated claim, is that not only is it a disservice to the public, and an utter lie, but by so doing, they take the people for complete fools who they manipulate by using such terms.

They have NEVER defined the term “socialism,” because it is not in their interest to do so. In fact, no Republican, Corporate Democrat, Wall Street trader, billionaire, or any other person who has never had the people’s interest at heart has ever defined, nor attempted to define, “socialism.” NEVER.

Senator Sanders, on the other hand, has.

In his Thursday, November 19, 2015 Georgetown speech, he said in part that,

“So let me define for you,
simply and straightforwardly,
what democratic socialism means to me.
It builds on what Franklin Delano Roosevelt said
when he fought
for
guaranteed economic rights
for all
Americans.
And it builds on what Martin Luther King, Jr. said
in 1968 when he stated that;
“This country has socialism for the rich,
and rugged individualism for the poor.”
It builds on
the success
of
many other countries around the world
that have
done a far better job
than we have
in protecting
the needs of
their working families,
the elderly,
the children,
the sick
and
the poor.

“Democratic socialism means that we must create an economy that works for all, not just the very wealthy.

“Democratic socialism means that we must reform a political system in America today which is not only grossly unfair but, in many respects, corrupt.”

He continued by saying, “It is a system, for example, which during the 1990s allowed Wall Street to spend $5 billion in lobbying and campaign contributions to get deregulated. Then, ten years later, after the greed, recklessness, and illegal behavior of Wall Street led to their collapse, it is a system which provided trillions in government aid to bail them out. Wall Street used their wealth and power to get Congress to do their bidding for deregulation and then, when their greed caused their collapse, they used their wealth and power to get Congress to bail them out. Quite a system!

“And, then, to add insult to injury, we were told that not only were the banks too big to fail, the bankers were too big to jail. Kids who get caught possessing marijuana get police records. Wall Street CEOs who help destroy the economy get raises in their salaries. This is what Martin Luther King, Jr. meant by socialism for the rich and rugged individualism for everyone else.”

In short, just like the Scriptural passage in 2 Kings 2:13 describing the transition of one generation’s prophet to another
–
“He also took up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan.”
–
Bernie Sanders has picked up FDR’s mantle.

 

•••
•••
•••

(¹ Vernon v. Bethell (1762). 2 Eden 110 alp. 113, 28 E.R. 838 (H.C.)), found in “Abusive or Unconscionable Clauses from a Common Law Perspective” (2010) p381, by Stephen Waddams, Universil.y Professor and holder of the Goodman/Schipper Chair, faculty of Law, University of Toronto, 49 Canadian Business Law Journal 378-399. The complete quotation in context is: “The court, as a court of conscience, is very jealous of persons taking securities for a loan, and converting such securities into purchases. And therefore I take it to be an established rule, that a mortgagee can never provide al the lime of making the loan for any event or condition on which the equity of redemption shall be discharged, and Lhe conveyance absolute. And there is great reason and justice in tills rule, for necessitous men are not, truly speaking, free men, but, to answer a present exigency, will submit to any terms that the crafty may impose upon lhem.”)

What If I Told You…

That Google knows where stuff is in your house?

Too far fetched?

Not really.

If you have a “Roomba” brand robot vacuum cleaner device, The Great G knows your house layout.

Seriously.

How Has the GOP Improved Alabama Quality of Life?

In almost every measure of the quality of life, Alabama comes up short. Seriously short. Or, to couch it in somewhat Biblical terms (which most Alabamians of any political or religious stripe would understand… and, which most any reasonably well-read person would as well), “You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.” ref: Daniel 5:27 (NIV)

This is not a Republican thing, per se, nor is it a Democratic thing. It is an ongoing statement of the poor quality of of almost EVERYTHING in Alabama. The root of most every problem plaguing Alabamians lies with the state’s 1901 Constitution which, among other things, FORBIDS local self-governance known as Home Rule – the basic principle upon which our democratic republic was founded – which is that EVERY person has a voice, a vote, and a say-so in how things are run from the grass-roots level, and that all are equal under the law, which is no discriminator of persons.

That is in large part why on almost every statewide ballot there are questions pertaining to counties or cities, and why the entire state must vote on what people in the opposite sides of the state do, and why they have a say-so in other towns and cities governance. Think of it as allowing your nosy neighbors a say in how you do things in your house.

Yeah, I know… weird, isn’t it? Maybe “stupid” would be another, better, or more accurate choice of words.

In Montgomery, when the part-time Legislature with full-time pay convenes (total compensation for legislators approximates $50,000/year), they are constitutionally required and mandated to legislate local matters, because the constitution literally FORBIDS local people from making local decisions.

The legislature is further hamstrung, and the people are thereby harmed, by the inordinately short period of time to which they are similarly constitutionally constrained to meet – 30 meeting days in a  105 calendar day period. Who could get ANYTHING done for 4.8 million people in such a short period of time? Seriously… WHO?

Consider public corruption as an example of how problematic the 1901 Alabama State Constitution truly is. Most recently, the GOP-dominated Legislature, Governor’s office, individual legislators (predominately GOP), and other ancillary agencies (Alabama State Troopers/Department of Public Safety, later known as ALEA, Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, etc.) were involved in corruption scandals, the likes of which the state hasn’t seen in, like… FOREVER! Seriously. The extent and degree of severity of corruption which has recently plagued Alabama is unparalleled.

Once the GOP-dominated Legislature was in power, they promptly set about improving the practically toothless Ethics Laws which many of them promised to change, if elected. Ordinarily, that’d be a good thing. Mike Hubbard became Speaker of the House, and the state’s top executive branch offices – Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, State Auditor, State Treasurer, and Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries – were all filled by Republicans.

Now, here’s where the problems begin.

All THREE branches of government – the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial – were touched by serious corruption. As a natural consequence, the people’s business was impeded and damaged, which also wasted the taxpayers time, money and resources to investigate and prosecute.

But perhaps the MOST costly price paid was continued damage to the state’s already tarnished image in the public eye, nationally and internationally… as if it could get any worse.

Governor Robert Bentley was the subject of Federal and State investigations over whether he misused public funds, and violated campaign finance law to further his extra-marital involvement with a female aide. Corollary to that, he was also facing impeachment… the first ever Alabama governor to face such serious public scrutiny and reprisal.

The Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard and other legislators were facing investigations and indictments by the Attorney General for possible violations of ethics laws, and other related laws. Named as witnesses were many well-known, high-powered big business lobbyists, and their clients.

The State Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore was facing a SECOND investigation in his second elected term over his refusal to obey and uphold Federal Law, and a Federal Judge’s court order to obey the law, which meant he could face public trial by the state’s Judicial Inquiry Commission (his peers), and a SECOND possible expulsion from the bench.

The Governor accepted a plea deal to two lesser misdemeanors, resigned from office, repaid monies, performed community service, and promised to never again hold public office.

The Chief Justice was found guilty and removed from the bench – a SECOND time.

The Speaker of the House and other legislators were all found GUILTY of violating the very Ethics Laws they passed – which were all felony violations.

As well, over a dozen current legislators and others (high-powered attorneys, former legislators, lobbyists, business owners, etc.) are STILL being found GUILTY of, or pleading GUILTY to violating Federal and/or state law, including bribery, mail fraud, Medicare fraud, misuse of public office, and various other forms of abuse of public trust.

And then, there’s the sheriff from Etowah County, Todd Entrekin, who was found to have LEGALLY redirected funds which were to have been used for feeding inmates (three-quarters of a million dollars), to his own personal use, to, with his wife Karen, purchase a luxurious beachfront house on the Gulf Coast.

All but one of those identified are Republicans.

But again, this is not an “Us versus Them” or “Republican versus Democrat” problem. It’s a corruption problem, the predominate root of which lies with the 1901 Alabama State Constitution. Consequently, the entire state suffers.

Harvard University’s Center for Ethics researched Legal and Illegal corruption in all 50 states three branches of government, and found Alabama wanting by most measures.

Of course, it neither helps that Alabama has a continuous and ongoing history of voting for one party, or the other – so that there’s rarely if ever a mix of parties in power. It’s quite literally, a bipolar type of operation, which goes from one extreme, to the other.

Alabama has had SIX constitutions, and the one under which it now labors is not even the best of the five which preceded it.

The state’s present constitution – the 1901 Constitution – has well over 900 amendments. That one thing alone makes it the most bloated and inefficient of any such type of governing document in the entire world – hands down, bar none.

The Dictionary of Alabama says this about Alabama’s 1901 Constitutional Convention:
“Called primarily to establish White supremacy by disfranchising Blacks, the Constitutional Convention of 1901 continues to shape Alabama politics in the twenty-first century. The convention also concentrated power in the state legislature, decreased opportunities for Home Rule, and established voter requirements that even many White men could not meet, reducing the political influence of the state’s many poor Whites. The 155 delegates to the Alabama Constitutional Convention of 1901 codified Black disfranchisement and increased the political power of the state legislature at the expense of local government.”

So when combined with the fact that it STILL contains racist language, and provisions which have been

Love Is Free

HAPPY VALENTINE’s DAY… to EVERYONE!

Today is a day in which we pagans… er, did I write that? – celebrate love. And to be certain, Love Is A Many Splendored Thing… or so the movie, song, and teevee “soap-opera” series of years gone by told us.

Love, at least the way others and I have seen it, is an act, and it is not exclusively a sexual one, though it also encompasses the same. Love is giving; love is sharing; sharing is caring; and caring moves us, it motivates us with compassion to either ease another’s suffering, or to join in unity with them, either psychically, or physically, or both.

For example, who ever had sex mad? Anecdotally, I know of no one, nor have I ever read, nor heard of anyone ever confessing to the same. Everyone who has sex has happy sex. Although, I suppose it’s possible to have sex when one is sad to lift the mood.

Nevertheless, as has always been the case, people will

Refraining From Negative Personal Criticism

Do you ever negatively criticize people? Perhaps even, those closest to you – meaning loved ones, and dear friends?

Why is it that such seems to be the case, more often, than not?

To refrain from negatively criticizing people is a loving decision that I’ve made which respects people.

It doesn’t mean that I always agree with their decisions, but it allows

Bullying: Yes, it’s real, and yes, you have ultimate power over bullies.

In the past couple days, in the course of my reading on Professional Nursing Development & other healthcare related topics, I’ve also read about forgiveness.

Nurse bullying is a real thing. It’s tragic, of course, that it exists, but it does exist, and is probably more common than some imagine.

So we’ve moved from forgiveness to bullying, eh?

No… not really.

Here’s why not.

Bullying is never acceptable behavior.

Bullying, of course, is threatening and intimidating behavior used as a manipulative technique by someone who wants to force themselves, their ways, or opinions, on another person. And because Nursing is an exceedingly Female-dominated profession, that means that for the most part, Females are the ones doing bullying in Nurse bullying cases & scenarios.

And to be certain, bullying can occur in any human relationship, personal or business-to-business – it isn’t limited to the schoolyard.

Here’s where the forgiveness part comes in handy.

Our internal response to bullying is

Liberty Brings Blessings — And Responsibilities

If we sat down this morning and started listing the freedoms we enjoy as Americans, nightfall would find us still at the task. The legacy of the United States is a tremendous blessing to her citizens, and our example

Alabama Republican Legislator’s Bill Would Put State In Pornography Business

Republican Jack Williams represents Alabama House District 47 (Hoover and Vestavia Hills) in the Alabama House of Representatives, and is Chair of the Commerce and Small Business Committee.

Jack Williams, a Republican Representative from Vestavia Hills, who represents portions of Jefferson county in Alabama House District 47 has filed HB 428 which would “prohibit the sale of a device that provides Internet access unless the device contains an active filter that blocks access to specified types of obscene material.”

Sounds good, right?

Of course, there are plenty of off-the-shelf subscription services to which anyone can subscribe which blocks such material. And some Internet browsers have such detection systems built-in. It’s not always perfect, and when Super Bowl XXX was played in 1995, it inadvertently created some problems because the Roman numeral X was displayed in triplicate, as if it were associated with some type of pornographic exhibition, and most porn-blocking software blocked the Super Bowl website, and news articles which mentioned “Super Bowl XXX.” That was in the “early days” of the Internet and filtering. Now, Google, and other Internet search engines have made milestones in filtering out objectionable, sexually explicit, and illegal material.

No parent wants their children subjected to such material, and every adult has the right to decide whether they want to view erotic or sexually explicit material, or not. After all, that’s what freedom means… the opportunity to make a decision, even if your neighbor doesn’t like your decision, or vice versa.

But no child should be subjected to exposure to pornography. And no rational adult would even consider doing such a thing, regardless of their personal opinion about erotica, or not. That’s a good parenting decision which rightfully belongs to parents, not the government, because no one wants the government telling them how they should raise their kids… especially in Alabama. And yet, that’s exactly what Vestavia Hills Republican Representative Jack Williams’ HB 428 does.

Federal laws protect those who decide to become involved in the production of sexually explicit material, and requires proof-positive identification of all participants being aged 18, or older, at the time of production – and has, for many, many years. In fact, Congress enacted the Child Protection and Obscenity Enforcement Act of 1988 after it was discovered

Late Term #Abortion Story

Should the government tell you what you can, and cannot do with your body?

We chose to have a funeral and now have a spot in a Blacksburg cemetery where we can visit her whenever we are near. Having a gravesite, I know, was a huge help in the grieving process for Matt.

Are you now government property?

Are you a slave?

Are you not entitled by law to FREEDOM to decide for yourself what is good, and best for yourself?

Or, are we in a “Nanny State” in which politicians and bureaucrats tell you what to do, when to eat, what to wear, where to live, who to love, and when to shower?

Lindsey Paradiso, and her husband Matt, had to make an untenable choice because their unborn infant daughter was diagnosed with a disease from which she would most likely not live… not even a few days.

And indeed, her heart stopped beating before she was at term.

I am so lucky to have such a strong and wonderful man to stand beside. We had just been admitted to the hospital for labor induction after having Omara’s heart stopped.

—/—

https://www.facebook.com/lindsey.shaffer/posts/10105763587970982

This ultrasound photo was the first time I really began to understand what was going on.

This is ending a wanted pregnancy.
This is late-term abortion.

It was

Citizens United Ruling Violates Equal Protection Clause

Nick Hanauer, a multi-billionaire about whom few have likely heard, authored a highly publicized article not too long ago warning about wealth inequity. Increasingly, the wealthy are realizing that a strategy of cutting taxes upon the wealthy and their corporations is not a recipe for American success, precisely for the reason that it adversely affects economic infrastructure, and jobs, among other damages.

However, one needn’t be wealthy to realize and understand that money, and the unreasonable desire for it known as avarice (an extreme form of greed), and the unwieldy power that accompanies it, are corrupting influences in any nation, and particularly in our United States because of SCOTUS ruling in the 2010 Citizens United v Federal Election Commission decision which

Jeff Sessions: Suitable Or Not For United States Attorney General?

Is Republican Alabama Senator Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III suitable to be United States Attorney General?

Some say “yes,” others say “no.”

Let’s examine his record – it should speak for itself.
The legal term for that concept is “res ipsa loquitur.”

1.) Sessions said of the SCOTUS decision in Shelby County v. Holder (570 U.S.___(2013)), an Alabama-based case which gutted important parts of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, that “Shelby County has never had a history of denying voters and certainly not now,” even though Shelby County’s history of discrimination is well-documented and ongoing when in 2008 the small town of Calera in Shelby County drew a gerrymandered voting map which excluded their only Black councilman out of office.

Gerrymandering Explained, by Steven Nass – Each square represents a precinct. See original post here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10203407721984998

Before Calera’s local elections in 2008 the town had redrawn its city boundaries which – even though the town’s Black voting-age population had grown from 13-16% – eliminated the only majority-Black district which had been represented by Ernest Montgomery since 2004, and decreased the voting-age Black population from 71-30% by adding three overwhelmingly White subdivisions while failing to include a large surrounding predominately Black-populated neighborhood.

The United States Department of Justice objected to Calera’s actions, and notified City Officials, who defied the DOJ’s orders and held the election anyway which caused Mr. Montgomery to lose the election by two votes, of which he said “they voted against me because of the color of my skin.”

2.) When Sessions was Alabama Attorney General he supported the “separate but equal” policy ensconced in Alabama’s 1901 Constitution in Amendment 111 which to this day deprives impoverished children in Alabama of a right to public education because public support for school funding collapsed after its passage, and since the early 1990’s created enormous funding disparities in school systems statewide which remain, despite legislative attempts to remedy.

3.) Sessions voted against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act (Public Law 103–322).

4.) Sessions is a fierce opponent of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973(a)) and called it a “piece of intrusive legislation.”

5.) Sessions voted against

.@PastorAmyTRC: I Had A Late Term #Abortion and “I never had a second thought about the right thing to do.”

Church Pastor: The Truth About My Late-Term Abortion

by Amy Butler, October 26, 2016, 7:55PM EDT

“Trump’s words drove me to tears, and to write my painful story for the first time.”

Elections are supposed to be about real people — and not the ones whose names appear on the ballot. They are supposed to be about all of us, the policies that will impact our lives in tangible ways and the choices we make about the country we want to be.

The Rev. Dr. Amy Butler is the Senior Minister of The Riverside Church in New York City. Prior to this call, Pastor Amy served as Senior Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. Pastor Amy holds degrees from Baylor University (BA ‘91, MA ‘96); The International Baptist Theological Seminary (BDiv ‘95); and Wesley Theological Seminary (DMin ‘09).

But this year, we have watched a major candidate for our country’s highest office demean and slander whole categories of American citizens. We have watched him make offensive, outrageous claims about real people and real decisions that everyday Americans face. People like me. Decisions like mine.

What sent me to my computer to write is late-term abortion. As I heard Donald Trump talk about babies being “ripped” from their mothers’ wombs, as if ending a pregnancy is a reckless, irresponsible afterthought, my outrage poured down my face in angry tears. In those moments, Trump, who has never been pregnant and presumably has navigated this far in his life without undertaking any difficult, gut-wrenching, gray-area decisions, used my own pain — deep, deep pain — to advance his political agenda.

But his words won’t tell my story, so I’ll tell it here. I don’t often speak about this experience. And I’ve never written about it until now.

The late-term abortion I chose was the end of a dream. The pain was so real and so consuming that navigating my way through the grief, I never thought that I would have the happy, healthy family that I do today. It was one of the most agonizing experiences of my life and

#Abortion Is A #Religious Matter

Your remark “in God we trust” has validated what I wrote, which is that “Abortion is a religious matter. It is NOT one for the government.”

On a strictly PERSONAL RELIGIOUS level, I oppose abortion. And yet, as a strictly legal, Constitutional matter, I acknowledge that our United States Supreme Court has decided that we the people have the FREEDOM to make deeply personal decisions for ourselves, WITHOUT governmental interference.

Imagine, if you can, if the government told you that you must have a tubal ligation, or that you must have a hysterectomy… or, for a man, that he must have a vasectomy, or an orchidectomy (surgical removal of the testicles) so that they could no longer reproduce. Would you like that? Would you think that would be good? What if your neighbor could

American Entitlement Culture

Recently, I happened across an item which read “When they analyze the demise of western society due to the entitlement epidemic, it’ll trace back to giving kids awards just for showing up.”

Of course, it can sometimes be difficult to discern sarcasm when reading, and I rather suspect there is at least a smidgen of sarcasm in that brief remark.

Sarcasm, of course, can, and is often used to convey a truth, or truths about numerous subjects, and is a teaching tool, as well.

Because I often use dictionaries to aid my understanding, I chose to look up the definition of the word “entitlement.” Here’s what I found:
As a verb, to “entitle” is to give someone a legal right, or a just claim to receive or do something.

For example, in the United States, the First Amendment is an entitlement to

Radical Republicans, TEApublicans and other Governmental Deconstructionists

“Audits, liens, garnishments: the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) goes to amazing lengths to ensure you comply with your taxes but what happens when they turn that energy to making sure you also comply with their political agenda? As recent scandals have shown, that’s exactly what they are doing! Our response: its time we abolished the IRS.

“The IRS has admitted to unfairly targeting conservatives, hassling adoptive parents, throwing lavish conferences, attempting to censor pro-life groups and has leaked confidential tax information for political ends — and this is the agency we are going to trust with enforcing Obamacare?”

Tear it down.

Break it up.

Destroy it.

Kill it.

We hate it.

That’s the message of the modern Republican party.

We hate you.

We love BIG BUSINESS.

We think you ought to believe the way we do, think the way we do, act the way we do.

Be different!

Join the crowd!

Yes, the irony is abundant.

The message quoted above is a direct e-mail message from

Deep Data Mining & Personal Privacy: The NSA has NOTHING on BIG BUSINESS

Much ado about nothing.

That’s how I describe the recent ruckus & hullabaloo made about the recent UK news story that “revealed” the U.S. National Security Agency is “spying” on American citizens at home.

The reality is, that the information the NSA is creating is called “metadata,” is a set of data that describes & gives information about other data. Phone numbers called, dates, times & length of calls is NOTHING by comparison to what BIG BUSINESS knows about us already.

Why do you get certain junk mail?

Ever got junk mail from the AARP?

If you’re near age 50, or older, you probably already have.

Ever gotten junk mail from Social Security, Medicare, FDIC, or even your Congressman or Senator?

I dare say you have NEVER.

When you bought your car, if you borrowed money to purchase it, the bank or credit union which loaned the money to you performed a background credit check on you before they loaned their money to you.

Where do you think they got such information? The federal government?

Please… don’t insult my intelligence.

When you applied for a credit card, did you happen to list your age or birthdate on the application?

What about the life, health, auto, or house insurance policies you have? Did you mention your relationship status, number of children, their ages, specifics of your health including medicines, treatments, surgeries, income & source, length of residency, height, weight, or even the size, color & consistency of your last bowel movement?

I would imagine the answer to ALL those questions – at one time or another – has been “yes.”

And yet, unless you’ve served in the Armed Services, or as a

Growing America’s Middle Class and Increasing Profitability

Some time ago, a friend shared an unsolicited comment about “ObamaCare” before all the ruckus over it had reached the SCOTUS. He had observed about a fellow he knew and described as “a snaggle-toothed Tennessee hillbilly,” whom had joined the United States Army. He observed that the fellow had some health needs, among them poor dentition and the need for corrective lenses. Upon his enlistment, he noted that the fellow was given proper healthcare, and all of his needs – food, clothing, housing, and healthcare – was provided by the United States government.

“Now, why did they do that?,” he asked rhetorically.

Answering his own question, he said quite simply, “because they know

Michelle Obama fires up America with Keynote Speech to Democratic faithful in Charlotte

Not only was her speech more well received than Republican Ann Romney‘s, but that one night of the DNC was more enthusiastic – i.e., FIRED UP – than was the entire RNC event in Tampa.

It was EXCITING to know that the Average American does NOT want to return to the “Bad Old Days” of bad policy as they experienced under the Bush II administration, which was responsible for the bail-out called TARP, starting wars in Iraq & Afghanistan, outsourcing American jobs, increasing the size of government, cutting taxes on the wealthy, the so-called “doughnut hole” in the Medicare prescription program (written by BIG PHARMA), and a whole lotta’ other genuinely bad things.

It was EXCITING to know that personal freedom – religious, private, healthcare – is an instrumental part of the Democratic Platform, as opposed to the RNC which supports… going back via the legislative time machine to the 1800’s, when child labor was common, women couldn’t vote, any non-white person was a second-class non-citizen & couldn’t vote, etc.

—

Transcript: Michelle Obama’s Democratic Convention Speech

September 4, 2012

Below is the full transcript, as prepared for delivery, of First Lady Michelle Obama‘s speech to the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night.

Thank you so much, Elaine…we are so grateful for your family‘s service and sacrifice…and we will always have your back.

Over the past few years as First Lady, I have had the extraordinary privilege of traveling all across this country. And everywhere I’ve gone, in the people I’ve met, and the stories I’ve heard, I have seen the very best of the American spirit.

I have seen it in the incredible kindness and warmth that people have shown me and my family, especially our girls.

I’ve seen it in teachers in a near-bankrupt school district who vowed to keep teaching without pay.

I’ve seen it in people who become heroes at a moment’s notice, diving into harm’s way to save others…flying across the country to put out a fire…driving for hours to bail out a flooded town.

And I’ve seen it in our men and women in uniform and our proud military families…in wounded warriors who tell me they’re not just going to walk again, they’re going to run, and they’re going to run marathons…in the young man blinded by a bomb in Afghanistan who said, simply, “…I’d give my eyes 100 times again to have the chance to do what I have done and what I can still do.”

Every day, the people I meet inspire me…every day, they make me proud…every day they remind me how blessed we are to live in the greatest nation on earth.

Serving as your First Lady is an honor and a privilege…but back when we first came together four years ago, I still had some concerns about this journey we’d begun.

While I believed deeply in my husband’s vision for this country…and I was certain he would make an extraordinary President…like any mother, I was worried about what it would mean for our girls if he got that chance.

How would we keep them grounded under the glare of the national spotlight?

How would they

Scotland Yard: Assange to be arrested “under all circumstances.”

If anything, Mr. Assange is a hero for speaking out for freedom. Freedom of information, freedom for the people, freedom to know what goes on in the affairs of government.

Further, the fact that American Express, MasterCard and Visa have all stopped processing payments to the Wikileaks organization is proof positive that BIG MONEY is involved in the halls of corruption, that they don’t want people to know what goes on within their organizations.

Why the secrecy?

Typically, these items are NOT matters of national security, but rather serve to embarrass high-level officials for their political goings-on.

—

WikiLeaks: Met police embarrassed as Assange arrest plan revealed

A policeman has accidentally revealed a secret plan to seize Julian Assange “under all circumstances” if he steps outside the Ecuadorian embassy, in an embarrassment for Scotland Yard.

The policeman’s handwritten tactical brief Photo: PA

By Martin Beckford, Home Affairs Editor; 6:41PM BST 24 Aug 2012

The uniformed Met officer was pictured holding a clipboard detailing possible ways the WikiLeaks founder could try to escape from the building he has been holed up in for the past two months.

His target, who is

Pussy Riot: Now that Putin’s in charge again, the gulags aren’t all that bad!

People everywhere cry for freedom.

Oppression of political speech?

Or something else?

Putin asked the courts to go easy on them.

And yet, cries of ‘six more years’ was not heard after the verdict was rendered.

Either way, Putin‘s gotta’ go.

Reckon Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is turning over in his grave?

—

Russia: Pussy Riot and the investor

August 17, 2012 5:28 pm by Stefan Wagstyl

Members of the all-girl punk rock band Pussy Riot have been recently convicted in Russian court of “hooliganism,” for performing an impromptu song in a Russian Orthodox Church which was critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

On the face of it, there would appear to be little reason why foreign investors should worry much about Russia’s Pussy Riot court case.

So what if three young female punks have been jailed for two years, as they were on Friday, for hooliganism after a noisy performance in Moscow’s Christ the Saviour Cathedral? After all, there are many western countries where such a provocative public display would also result in prosecution.

But that is to misunderstand Russia. In fact, the case should give even the most hard-headed international business people pause for thought.

First,  it’s a reminder – not that we need one – of the heavy-handed arbitrariness of the Russian courts. The three women could have been

Sure, money is power. But, is it also liberty and freedom? Or, is it a tool?

As Bob Dylan sang some years ago, “The times, they are a-changin’.” Our laws should reflect those changes while adhering to the values ensconced in our Constitution. In essence, the argument is about freedom – freedom from the large corporations that supply “content” via the Internet. As well, openness and honesty – popularly termed as transparency – should be the hallmark of all dealings, by government and enterprise.

In short, what we’re encountering in this age, in this era, is an almost unprecedented and wholesale onslaught of money and the power that comes with it. It is, in essence, a corrupting influence. It is, in essence, a type of bribery – and bribery is itself, a form of theft. Bribery is a form of theft because it takes away, removes, or forbids resources from going where they ought, or rightfully should. In this case, it robs freedom from the people. Not only does it usurp their decision-making capacity, it is a blatant announcement and condemnation of freedom, because it says that the rich, the wealthy have freedom, while the poor and disenfranchised have none.

If – as the Supreme Court has declared – money is the equivalent of free speech, and neither cannot, nor should not be limited, what freedom does the poor man have? Again, if money is equated with free speech (that is, our First Amendment rights), the poor man has none. And that, my dear readers, is but one reason why such a ruling is not only ANTI-Constitutional, but is antithesis of freedom.

Making a further case, our nation’s specie – that is, the currency and coinage – is the property of the United States government. It is NOT private property. Money is a thing used to represent something else. So again, I ask rhetorically… in such instances, and in this case, what does it represent?
—

Google Says “It’s Our Web”–and they bought it fair and square

April 23, 2012 Chris Castle

Who can forget then-candidate Ronald Reagan’s classic line at the 1980 New Hampshire candidate’s debate:  “I’m paying for this microphone!”  And Google probably is wishing that whichever Ivy League idiot thought of rebranding their anti-SOPA campaign site with the double entendre “It’s Our Web” had not been quite so…uh..transparent…about it all.

President Obama had dinner with technology moguls February 17, 2011 in California’s “Silicon Valley” at the home of John Doerr, venture capitalist and partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, in Woodside, California. Flanking the president are (L) the late Steve Jobs, Founder/CEO of Apple Computer, and (R) Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of FaceBook. Also present are:Cisco CEO John Chambers, Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo and Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz. Art Levinson, chairman and former CEO of Genentech, is on the Apple board of directors, and was also present. White House press secretary Jay Carney said after the dinner President Obama exchanged ideas with the business leaders “so we can work as partners to promote growth and create good jobs in the United States,” and discussed research and development spending proposals with the CEOs. (Official White House photo by Pete Souza)

Because it certainly is “their web” and they bought it fair and square according to

Liberals & Conservatives: The difference really is in the way they think

It’s been said that minds are much like books and parachutes.

They’re useless unless opened.

So, it seems evident that there really is something to be said about being “open minded.”

—

Liberals and conservatives don’t just vote differently. They think differently.

By Chris Mooney, Published: April 12

“Follow the money.” As a young journalist on the political left, I often heeded this well-worn advice. If conservatives were denying the science of global warming, I figured, big fossil-fuel companies must be behind it. After all, that was the story with the tobacco industry and the dangers of smoking. Why not here?

And so I covered the attacks on the established scientific knowledge on climate change, evolution and many more issues as a kind of search for the wealthy bad guys behind the curtain. Like many in Washington, I tended to assume that political differences are either about contrasting philosophies or, more cynically, about money and special interests.

There’s just one problem: Mounting scientific evidence suggests that this is a pretty limited way of understanding what divides us. And at a time of unprecedented polarization in America, we need a more convincing explanation for the staggering irrationality of our politics. Especially since we’re now split not just over what we ought to do politically but also over what we consider to be true.

Liberals and conservatives have access to the same information, yet they

Guns and politics

Republicans address the issue of gun ownership as “hunting.”

What a bunch of idiots.

Guns were not invented to hunt.

They were invented to kill human beings.

Period.

And our Second Amendment doesn’t say one damn thing about hunting. Matter of fact, the mention of hunting is nowhere to be found in the Constitution. Neither is fishing, for that matter.

Just to refresh your memory – and in case those 5th grade lessons didn’t take hold – here it is for your benefit.

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

Now… find the word “hunting” anywhere in it.

Nope. You won’t find it.

That’s because the words “Militia,” “security,” “free” and “right” have not one thing to do with hunting, or putting food on the table.

And just in the case your American history is all fuzzied up,

Rest In… Pieces of A Man, Gil Scott-Heron

The world learned of musician poet/author Gil Scott-Heron‘s death via Twittter from his manager Jamie Byng.

His voice was one that demonstrated a strong sense of outrage over social injustice, and will be sorely missed.

Early in his life, his parents divorced where they lived in Chicago, and his mother moved him to Jackson, Tennessee where he was raised by his grandmother Lillie Scott.

He first came to public renown through his recording “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” which was a semi-prophetic commentary upon the times in which we now find ourselves.

Known for

U.S. Military Deaths: A Perspective

I am a U.S. Army veteran.

Sex, Drugs & Rock-n-Roll, “I want my MTV,” and… the end of Titty Bars.

Ever been to a strip club?

It’s almost a “who hasn’t?” response.

We see them on teevee and in the movies, so if one has never been, it’s almost as if they have, even if they haven’t been physically.

Even Huntsville, Alabama – a conservative, strongly religious, Republican-leaning state, and Huntsville, it’s most highly educated city – has strip clubs.

Otherwise and sometimes known as titty bars, and a variety of other pseudonyms, the venues are typically bars or lounges where alcohol is served to predominately male patrons by female employees, and whom quaff their brews while seated together in a dark room watching a female dancer gyrate to various popular musical tunes, accompanied by various stages of disrobing.

Sometimes, depending upon locale and local or state law, the female dancers may be required to wear “pasties” which are opaque adhesive coverings which cover their areolae and nipples. Sometimes also – again, depending upon state and/or local law – alcohol may or may not be served, though it frequently is consumed on premises.

Typically, the dancers will be

The title of this entry is “More sex!” No… Wait… Yes! “More sex!”

Ta-daah! This entry is about…. SEX!

Yup.

Sex.

Specifically, sexual prophecy!

Oh yeah!

Read on!