In These Here Parts

The Grand Jury is in and Officer Wilson of the Ferguson, MO police department will not be indicted for committing any crime in the shooting death of Mr. Michael Brown…including Involuntary manslaughter which is the unlawful killing of a human being without malice aforethought, either express or implied…distinguished from voluntary manslaughter by the absence of intention.

And as the Prosecutor who announced the Grand Jury’s decision pointed out: In the United States any individual (and that includes you and me) has no duty to retreat from any place they have lawful right to be and may use any level of force, including lethal, if they reasonably believe they face an imminent and immediate threat of serious bodily harm or death…and the Grand Jury found that to be the case..an armed police officer shot and killed an unarmed citizen because the officer felt seriously threatened.

So even though Officer Wilson killed a person with intention to do so it is not a prosecutable crime because of the fear he had for his safety…And you and I have the same right to do the same thing if we feel threatened by someone armed or un, whether intentional or un.

So be careful out there.

That’s the law in these here parts.

If “Office Gossip” Were a Full Time Job…

Which apparently it is!

House Republicans announced on Friday that a two-year investigation determined the Obama administration responded appropriately to 2012’s attack on the Benghazi consulate.

Wow! “All that education for nothing.”

The report issued by the Republican-led House Select Committee on Intelligence found no intelligence failure prior to the attacks, no evidence that the White House told the military to stand down during the attack and no evidence that the CIA was involved in related arms shipments.

So all of those accusations, allegations, charges, threatened lawsuits and indictments, internet E-mailings, countless hours of television punditry and politicians’ feigned indignation, denunciations, complaints, calls for impeachment, hand wringing over the demise of our country’s great tradition of integrity within the presidency…after all of that pretended nonsense…the truth is finally revealed without so much as a shout or a fanfare. 2 years devoted to bullshitting and 2 minutes devoted to truth telling.

And the report concluded that there was no, not and never a purposeful attempt from the White House to mislead.

The report did, however, find that the consulate was inadequately protected. Which the Republicans should have known without an investigation since they voted to cut the State Department budget, which includes financing for diplomatic security.

It should also be noted that The report on the Benghazi attack took thousands of hours of work in Congress.

Nice work…if you can get it…huh?… Now if only we could find a Congress that worked!

Just When You Thought We Couldn’t Get Any Dumber…or…Don’t Worry, Be Happy!

In just one year, the percentage of Americans who don’t believe in climate change has actually gone up 7%! Now almost 1 in 4 Americans thinks that climate change is just a big hoax… even though over 97% of all scientists who have written about global warming and its causes agree that its human caused.  And The other 3% don’t deny it, they simply haven’t stated their position as to its cause one way or the other.

So 23% of Americans (laymen) still don’t believe in climate change despite what facts and statements scientists (the experts) show and tell them… But if you’ve ever been a teacher you know that this is nothing new and why testing is a big waste of time. If all of these scientists, who completely agree on the facts, were teachers in today’s public schools, they would be facing pay cuts and possible unemployment because their students (in this case 23% of the public) just don’t listen to them and/or believe in what they have to say…no matter how hard they try…and as a result wouldn’t be able to pass a test on the facts…leaving a passing rate of 77% …or in public school terminology…total failure!

So do we need better trained scientists? Higher science standards? Free market Charter science academies? More rigor in our de ri·gueur?… In order to get more people to learn and accept the truth? Research (the polls) have shown that if you’re one of the 23% who does not believe in global warming then you’re not very likely to change your mind no matter what evidence you are confronted with, or how many times you are polled…It still gets cold in the winter and hot in the summer and that’s about all of the science and data on climate change you need to know.

Hey teachers! Does this ring any bells?

A 2012 poll from the Pew Research Center found that even though 97% of all scientists agree that humans are causing the spike in global warming, less than half of all Americans thought scientists agreed so completely. And why do So many Americans think that the scientists are still split about what’s causing all of this warming?

Well, The media has assisted in this public misconception, because most of their climate stories are always “balanced” with a “skeptic” perspective making those few scientists who might be in disagreement seem like half! So by trying to balance their stories by showing both sides of the debate (even though there is really only one side and no debate at all) the media has actually created a completely unbalanced perception of reality. As a result, people believe scientists are still split about what’s causing global warming.

So why can’t people learn? Duh…it’s the television! That damn stupid TV!

But then again, any teacher (let alone scientist) could have told you that!

Moral of the story? Take a day when you can and just Call in sick and go to the beach, cause this old world is still gonna blow a gasket…whether you or those other 23% believe in the facts or not…(which of course you won’t)

And that’s the fact Jack!

Are You Still Alive?

Well, you shouldn’t be…at least according to Fox news. We should all be either dead or infected with the Ebola virus, and on death’s door by now. But Fox News is staying on top of the story…There is even an Ebola Outbreak map (http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014-ebola-outbreak-map) where you can go to follow the death and destruction as it happens live! (or dead… depending on your perspective) I kid you not.

So far the score is Africa 14,475: The United States 5….at least last time I checked.

You can also go here (http://www.foxnews.com/live-coverage/tracking-ebola)…if you want to actually follow the plague live, in color and up to the minute… and see how you and your friends… and Fox are doing.

Fox is also staying on top of the possibility of whether terrorists could use Ebola to deliberately infect and wreak psychological havoc on our unsuspecting population. After all…”all you need is a bag of vomit.”

And now Fox’s medical experts want to know why the President and his Ebola czar aren’t saying more about this epidemic (Is it another conspiracy?)…and why aren’t we doing more to help Africa??? And our volunteers who are there? Is that the same Africa that Fox News wanted quarantined and wanted volunteers who went in there…to stay there?

Remember when shouting “Fire” in a crowded theater was against the law…and NOT freedom of speech?

In the meantime, if you want to remain reasonably healthy in America this Fall, go get a Flu shot…and go for a walk instead of watching TV…just don’t go walking in Missouri if you are a brown person…

Speech Has Spoken

The 2014 general election is behind us and Speech has Spoken! 90% of all winning candidates spent more money than their opponents did. That’s a 9 in 10 chance of winning your elective office…if you spend the most money. And that’s after only 4 years of living with the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision which declared money to be the equivalent of free speech. Who knows what the percentages will look like in a few more years…when money talks…it pretty much gets what it wants.

I wonder what those Supremes were thinking? In their majority decision they stated that there was no reason to believe or assume that those who donate large sums of money to political candidates would do so in order to obtain political influence. So they were either being stupid, naive or disingenuous. After all, Who doesn’t know that money buys things? That’s what money does doesn’t it? And when it speaks it says…”How much?” and that’s about all it says.

So now here we are, America in the 21st century, with a Representative Democracy that is 90% representative of free talking monied interests and 10% representative of the rest of us, who, when we all put our own money together can barely manage to speak above a discordant whisper.

I think it’s sad that our political representatives can now be bought and sold on the open market …The Koch brothers just bought 5 more political “friends” this election cycle and I really have no idea how many “friends” they already own (excuse me: foster, champion, cultivate, nurture, feed) but I know it’s a lot plus they have 2 Supremes in their caring and supportive pockets…but what’s even sadder than that is the kind of representatives that we all end up with.

Our hallowed halls of government are now stocked with the kinds of folks who will do, say and believe whatever they are told to do, say and believe or whatever they think that their benefactors would be happiest with them doing and saying and believing…and all for money. And that makes them all opportunists, toadies, bounders, mercenaries, charlatans, speculators, fortune hunters,rascals, bullies, hypocrites, frauds, scoundrels and liars…or some combination thereof…doesn’t it?

We all work for money but when we work against our interests and the interest of others, or don’t even consider either, for money then who or what are we? Certainly not leaders nor legislators nor governors. What’s the point in following someone who is “in it” just for the money unless you’re getting a piece of the action too? And what piece of the action do Americans get if it’s not also attached to a corporate interest?

Is it any wonder that this current version of Congress will go down as the greatest “Do Nothing” Congress of all time…and the one with the lowest citizen approval rating of all time too! If you stand for nothing, and represent no one except yourself, then you might as well do nothing also…while you wait around for your greedy handlers to give you some instructions. So what’s to do except call each other names, block each others bills (they literally phone in their filibusters!) and form committees to investigate each others “scandalous actions” (what other kind of Congressional action is there?)

If money is speech then it has definitely spoken… and it has declared Democracy…dead!

And the War Continues…

Scott Walker, The governor of Wisconsin says that one of his top priorities now that he has been re-elected, is to pass a law requiring recipients receiving food assistance and unemployment compensation to be drug free in order to qualify for benefits. As part of his re-election campaign, Walker vowed to require “a drug test for those requesting unemployment and able-bodied, working-age adults requesting food stamps from the state.”  So with his re-election he now believes that he has obviously received a mandate from the people to do so.

In Wisconsin, an estimated 836,000 people receive Food benefits, but about 40 percent of those people are children, and as of last week, 39,958 people have also filed weekly unemployment compensation claims in Wisconsin.

So I guess the plan is that depriving the jobless and the hungry, should they also be drug users, of food, will make them want to get jobs…even if they are kids?

The governor says that he will work with his Cabinet in the coming weeks “to craft a specific proposal,” which will be designed to move people from government dependence to independence. And so far there are 17 other states in our union who have similar programs for either unemployment benefits and/or food stamp programs and their recipients…

But I’d like to see the states go even further!

I’d like to see the states drug test every college student within their state. College students are over 1 trillion dollars in debt to the states and federal government and I bet there are some drug users in that bunch, don’t you? That might explain why they keep borrowing money without even having jobs so that they can pay it back! And if we find that they are using drugs we should kick them out of school…and definitely deny them and their colleges any kind of state aid! Shouldn’t we?

I’d like to see the states drug test all physicians and pharmaceutical companies within their borders. How can we have a prescription drug crisis in this country if the prescription writers and drug makers aren’t in on it? Why keep making more drugs or prescribing more drugs if so many people are abusing them? These folks must be taking their own drugs? Why should we be subsidizing them with any government money?

How about having the states institute mandatory drug testing for all of the bankers and financiers that are in their state? Those guys lost all of their (our) money 6 years ago and they couldn’t even tell us how they did it? Bankers wrote mortgages for people who didn’t have any money. Then packaged them up into neat little bundles and sold them to each others banks! They had to have been smoking or snorting something! Don’t you think? And if they fail a drug test we could put them in jail so they could bail themselves out rather than us bailing them out!

Are politicians drug tested regularly? There is something the states could do. Many politicians don’t even know our nation’s history or how to use words correctly in sentences. Many couldn’t even tell their own elbows from a woman’s reproductive system…let alone their asses. I bet when they throw their big parties and festive balls and expensive donor dinners they don’t just drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes. They must have some other drugs of choice available. What do you think? And if they fail a drug test they should be shown the door immediately! And no pensions! And no lobbying jobs! And definitely no free food!

And all of the states have costly public  athletic stadiums filled with costly athletes. Let’s drug test them too…well, OK we do test them now but what’s the penalty? 50 days of vacation and then they are welcome to come right back to their million dollar jobs and adoring fans as though they have learned their lessons and will never do it again. Let’s ask all of those drug user has beens how well they would be able to hit, pass, catch, kick and dunk now, if we had taken away their money and made it harder for them to find something to eat while they were suspended! Why should the state governments subsidize these wealthy teams and owners if any of their players use drugs for any purposes at any time?

And don’t forget…if any of these college students, university presidents, bankers, financiers, doctors, lawyers, corporate executives, owners, athletes, coaches etc. are caught using drugs…They are immediately fired from their jobs and their kids don’t eat too! Doesn’t that sound fair and reasonable to you?

Awww Heck! Are we running a war on drugs and unnecessary public subsidies here or not?…

Or is EVERYONE on drugs?… Are you?

The Best Offense is a Good… Offense

Wow! Some folks just don’t know how to win. It’s truly amazing…or is winning and complaining just good strategy to help achieve a more solid “democracy”?

Apparently, some voters in Texas and Virginia are complaining about election fraud by the Democratic Party! In Texas, the complaint is that the Republic candidate didn’t even appear on some ballots…and in Virginia when a voter clicked on the Republican candidates name the Democrat’s name lit up!

And yet, despite this out and out fraud, the kind that Republicans everywhere have been warning us about, the Republican candidates in Texas and Virginia won overwhelming victories! Even when Democrats cheat they can’t win…

This is very disturbing because it seems as though the only way to explain how Democrats get any votes at all is obviously…with fraud and fraudulent voting schemes to misdirect voters! And Republicans have had enough and won’t be satisfied until every vote that is legitimately cast is counted fairly and squarely for each voter’s intended candidate…which of course would be the  Republican candidate… and if states don’t remain vigilant and continue to pass and enforce stricter voter ID laws, continue with district gerrymandering and obliterate all campaign financing laws, it will be 2008 and 2012 all over again when President Obama, an immigrant, Ethiopian, Muslim who hates America, was fraudulently elected by millions of cheating cheaters.

Which just goes to show you: You can’t trust a Democracy to free citizens alone. It takes money, strong leaders, a strong legislative effort and a very supreme court.

Citizens United: One vote! One party! One checkbook! One America!

Because winning…isn’t everything.

Gimme Shelter

So far the survival rate for Americans who have become infected with the Ebola virus is 100%. We’re 3 for 3! In Africa where the disease originated it’s fatal in about 50% of all cases. That’s one of the big the differences between living in a First World country and a Third World country.

Here in the United States, on this election eve, the Republicans are eager and hopeful of winning a majority in the Senate. And right now it looks as though they have a very good chance. It is important to note that One of the things they are promising to do, should they obtain the majority, is to pull out all of the stops in an effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act. At the very least their hope is to undo the law’s funding provisions through a special parliamentary process requiring only a simple 51-vote majority…without funding they hope to cripple the law’s ability to help people who don’t have enough money of their own to purchase health insurance. Why?

Because, as we all know, spending money on helping Americans to have better Healthcare is bad for the economy…or is it?

If you live in first world America then let’s be honest: You have little to fear from the Ebola virus…but if you live in third world America as 50 million fellow Americans do, then your potential future infection and survival of this deadly disease may just be…a vote away.

So, if you really are worried about the Ebola virus and about disease, pandemics and plagues, Please vote for health and not money this election day. Because in the long run voting for money may cost you and your family (1st, 2nd, 3rd world or not) more than you’ll ever know…and will that really be worth it?

Godless Christians?

Here in the United States you can watch your television at just about any time of the day or night and find someone who lauds our country as “The greatest democracy of all time” or “The greatest Christian nation in the history of the world”…

But last night I was watching a show on television and part of the host’s and guest’s debate focused upon whether the religion of Islam was an ill-conceived faith that directs its followers along violent pathways that all Muslims must adhere to (or not) and then if that is true all Muslims and Muslim governments throughout the world are ultimately culpable and accountable for jihadist terrorism wherever it may happen..is that fair to say?…or not?

Which got me to thinking…our U.S. Supreme Court has found that corporations (legal entities) are now equivalent to individuals, with rights and privileges that heretofore only belonged to human beings and that money (a thing) is representative of free speech, which is a right that until now belonged exclusively to people. And when we feel the need to defend or avenge ourselves against outside aggressors we now send unmanned drones (or robots) to do our bidding. They are very effective at killing the bad guys but they also kill many innocent bystanders at the same time that they are doing our bidding…

So would you say that these leadership decisions are representative of good Christian values and government or rather godless in nature?…and as good Christians in a good Christian nation are we then all just as culpable… or not?

And if I’m just too liberal to understand the difference, please someone explain it to me.