Angry America

The two big stories this week revolve around the leaking of classified national security information, whether it was deliberate or not, and the recall election in Wisconsin.

The "leak" is a perfect example of political asshattery. The argument revolves around whether this was a deliberate political move by the current administration. Senator McCain states that the leaks came from the "highest levels" at the White House and wants a independent investigation. President Obama says the accusations are offensive and wrong.

What the problem is with the debate, is that it doesn't discuss the information that was leaked. 

The real discussion should center on the use of drones itself. Right now we are working on developing drones the size of insects and birds. More of our weapons will be unmanned in the future, and it would seem that the discussion should center on the morality of their use. The power to kill from a distance with no immediate threat to one's life changes the whole game. What power that is. To inflict harm and terror to a populace while sitting in safety. Computers run drones, hackers run computers; there is so much that is, or could be, wrong here.

How about policing your own populace with this technology?  

Wisconsin's Governor Walker keeps his job for now. Outspending the democratic challenger eight to one, there wasn't much chance for the challenger. Some thoughts on the election claimed that what Walker and the republican party managed to do was build up resentment in the white blue collar worker vote against those who are better off than they. That and the fact that in Wisconsin's government there is a higher percentage of minorities in the workforce than in private jobs. Smaller government gets rid of the problem. Nice race card.

Voters are a fickle lot. Walker had a 58% disapproval rating, women were the target of anti-health laws and the state prosecutor is still looking at Walker for illegal activities. Still, the conservatives win. Some say it wasn't money, just good old divisive politics.

Everyone is the enemy.

This recall failure will effect politics this year. In Michigan, the recall effort for Governor Snyder was cancelled, due to lack of interest and not being able to build enthusiasm after Wisconsin's loss. 

The Presidential race has evolved into your basic slugfest. Every possible word that can be taken out of context is pounced on by the opposition. Every action, no matter how trivial, is exhorted into media headlines. 

Romney discusses what a poor leader Obama is, yet never lets us know any of his specific plans. What we know from recent statements is that Romney will repeal health care and will remove those awful subsidies. You might think that energy and agriculture to name a couple, would be his targets, but remember Romney is conservative. He would rather get rid of those awful art and amtrak subsidies; transportation and enjoyment are not on the list of approved benefactors.

Americans have failed to cultivate an intelligent democracy.

Planet Politics

Syria continues the onslaught on its own citizenry. On Thursday, United Nation monitors were not allowed access to the small town of Qubeir. When they were granted access on Friday they found scattered body parts and blood. Apparently the delayed access made it possible for a quick coverup. 

Brutal massacres are a part of Syria's history, and with Russia trying to maintain a foothold in the middle east, like China, nothing will be done to stop this horror. Another genocide because people do not matter to power. 

Egypt's runoff election will take place this coming weekend. Activists are planning to spoil their voting ballots in an effort to show whoever may win how many oppose the new ruler. Talk about not wanting a "military or religious fascist state" has met with some enthusiasm, but most of the problems deal with what is thought of as vote rigging in the May elections where those favored by the populace were tossed out of the final runoff. 

I don't think the civil unrest will stop after the election.

Iraq is still not enjoying civil unrest. at least 23 were killed by a car bomb on Monday, retaliation followed. Power sharing in ruling Iraq is the desire, so sunnis are killing shiites; if that makes any sense. Religion killing the religious. 

More good news in the constant killing department, the Azerbaijan-Armenia border is seeing some of the worst violence in years; we kill a few of yours, you kill a few of us. 

Britain celebrated the 60 year reign of the queen, and for some reason Americans love what they fought to escape. It's amazing how much time the media spends on this.

The Organization of American States is under attack by Bolivian President Evo Morales and Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa. They would like to reform the Human Rights Commission. Apparently the commission has identified those two with human rights abuses. Imagine that.

Puberty Police

The old and the new, starting with the old. 

In Michigan, a high school senior had sex with his freshman girlfriend. Age of consent is 16, he is now a sex offender. He received a one year prison sentence and three years of probation. After serving his sentence he resumed the relationship with the young lady that he loves, and received another five to fifteen years for violating his probation.

There seems to be a growing number of mothers who are not happy with the sex offender laws that make their sons and and daughters criminals for having consensual sex.

In St. Charles, MN, a graduation rehearsal at the local high school enjoyed some controversy. All of the seniors were given breathalyzer tests. In what appears to have been a trend for years now, school age children are taught that basic rights do not apply to them.

We go too far in the harassment of our country's youth. In Texas, Diane Tran spent a night in jail for missing too many days of school. Diane works two full time jobs since her parents had split and moved out of town. She is an honor student.

More and more teens are being charged as adults when it comes to crime.

Wicked Women

For some reason, women are the enemy.

This week the GOP house approved a Homeland Security spending bill. Weird included provision, no abortions for illegal immigrant detainees. According to Immigration officials, no abortions have ever been provided.

Why are women wicked? Apparently they are having abortions based on the sex of their child. The GOP controlled House failed to pass a bill that would make it a federal crime to abort a pregnancy because of a child's sex. They brought this bill up to attempt to switch the war on women theme that democrats have been using. Conservatives say the real war on women is allowing a fetus to be aborted based on the possible child being female. 

The Christian based groups are fighting back. Live Action, a supposed youth led pro-life movement, has video of a Planned Parenthood counselor dealing with a woman who only wants an abortion if the child is female. Of course the video is cut to make it look as bad as possible and we can't tell what really occurred unless we had the complete video.

Planned Parenthood fired the counselor, who they state was new. Others claim the video is a hack job.

The problem with sex based abortion bans is that it promotes racism. Since those occurrences happen in mostly Asian societies, Asians in the states would be looked at critically when wanting a legal procedure. Then there's the possibility of criminalizing doctors, since he's supposed to report any "hint" that it may be a sex based abortion or go to jail.

Though anecdotal, I have never heard of anyone being disappointed with the sex of a child in this country. I guess there may be some, but I don't see this as a major threat to women. 

God's Goofballs

Adriana found this gem. The same gentleman that burned a copy of the quran that set off three days of violence in Afghanistan has an effigy of President Obama hanging from a rope on the church's front lawn. The Secret Service will investigate, but since the gentleman in question is a man of god, I'm sure he'll be given a slap on the wrist at most. 

David Barton, the man who would rewrite American history in god's name, thinks that the poor are not spending enough time reading the bible. If they read the bible they would understand hard work. Interesting, another attempt to correlate god's blessings with wealth.

Tony Perkins is highly upset with this tourism video, it appears that somewhere in the video a man touches another. He says the video highlights same sex attractions. I say Tony is looking for some attention.

Education Enemies

One story stands out this week. Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant states that we should have prayer in school. That way we could let people know that there is a god, and let students know that that god cares about them. 

In Michigan religion is once again on the prowl. This weeks intrusion into education is a passed bill that is headed for the Governor's approval. Part of the bill states that a counselor's personal beliefs comes first, not the child needing guidance. 

Then there's this weird story. A teacher at Fresno's Hamilton School hands out an assignment that centers on the theme of drawing a "Help Wanted" poster for soldiers involved in the crusade. The winner's drawing is one of Jesus with a caption of "I want you to kill all the infidels." The drawing is posted in the main lobby where everyone sees it entering or leaving the building.

Final Fixation

Social networking sites attract different people with different agendas, and this one is no different. Twice we've had this REPORT CEENON blog posted on this site. I'm all for discussing new thoughts, but I have no use for a blog where comments are moderated. 

For me, this is like some preacher jumping on the site advocating whatever nonsense he believes in, and not allowing anyone to disagree. It should never be allowed. It infringes on the basic premise of a social network; one is not a network.

Only cowards moderate comments. They are afraid of critical thinking, of basic commentary, of questions that perhaps they can't answer.

May we say goodbye to the foolishness, or is this something our members want to see?

Planet Politics

In the United States, conservatives in 34 states are working on suppressing the vote. This is part of the plan to regain the White House in November.

In Nebraska, Senator Ben Nelson wants a federal investigation into the closing of polls in predominately minority neighborhoods. That and the state's decision to knowingly send out wrong polling locations seems to imply possible illegal activities.

The Justice Department is telling Florida to stop purging their voter rolls. It's not a coincidence that the majority of voters being deprived of their right to vote are democrats and minorities. When you have a criminal in charge of the state, shouldn't you expect more of the same? All 67 Florida Election Supervisors suspend the voter purge.

Texas joined Florida in introducing laws restricting voter registration. Florida, Maine, Ohio and Wisconsin introduced laws on when and where people can register to vote. Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Tennessee and West Virginia have shortened the early voting window. Mississippi is also purging voter rolls. The list goes on.

Apparently the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is no longer pertinent.

In Wisconsin the recall election will take place on Tuesday, June 5. Walker has been funded from out of state big donors while Barrett hasn't had the same monetary support. Walker has raised over 30 million, while Barret only a little over 3 million. Money rocks, Walker has had a lead in the polls from the start. Voter turnout will tell the tale. 

Bill Clinton was in Wisconsin rallying the troops. His main message centered on Governor Walker's divide and conquer method of gaining and keeping power.

We have come to the point where a few rich white guys now run the country, and with that have undo influence in the world. Conservative super PACs will spend a billion dollars this year on the presidential election.

Wisconsin is a signal on how the elections will be run in November. Is money power greater than people power?

Special interest groups now have more influence in American politics than ever before. If you're interested in helping the fight, Bernie Sanders is still collecting signatures. There is a problem when a handful of men have more influence than a million of the 99%.

John Edwards appears to be a free man. The ex-presidential candidate left court smiling and making fairly embarrassing comments.  Another example of how money rules. 

In the Middle East, The protests from last year have left the door open for theocracies. In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood has a strong candidate in Mohamed Morsi. The elections will take place on June 16 and 17, and Morsi seems to have the edge. Many citizens took to the streets in protest after the first round of voting, favored candidates will not be on the ballot. The revolution will continue. Hosni Mubarak, the former president, was charged under article 40 of the Egyptian criminal code, which makes it a crime to incite a felony. He ordered soldiers to use live ammo against peaceful protestors, and ends up with a life sentence. 

Tunisia is having problem with Salafist hard liners. Salafist groups have been attacking bars, burning police stations and terrorizing those who do not share their enthusiasm on religion. The Interior Minister Ali Larayedh is stating that police can use live ammunition against the group. Tunisia is interesting to watch, secularists and moderate Islamists deciding the fate of the country.

Misogynist Men

A couple of stories irritated sections of the populace this week. Jay Townsend remarked on how someone should "throw acid" at female Democratic senators. The gentleman works for Republican Senator Nan Hayworth, who by her silence, would seem to agree with his statements.

Our conservative House of Representatives went after women and abortion this week voting on a bill that would not allow abortions based on the gender of a child. The legislation failed and Planned Parenthood stated that the legislation failed to address inequality, health disparities and attacks the communities it claims to help. The bill was introduced by our friend out of Arizona, Representative Trent Franks, the anti-abortion conservative crusader.

Can a woman be a misogynist? Oklahoma's "Conscience Clause" allowed a doctor to refuse providing a 24 year old woman with emergency contraceptives. Heck, the hospital itself refused.

Toddler's Tanked

Out of 35 industrialized countries, Romania has the most children living in poverty. Number 2 is the United States. I have a hard time understanding how a country of such wealth can ignore their future by ignoring the children living in poverty. We have a conservative mantra going on that promotes life while a woman is pregnant, then ignores that life after being born.

Lets see, another 100 drones or feed the hungry; doesn't seem to be a hard decision.

1 out of every 5 children in the states are at risk. 15.7 million live in poverty. 18.6 million benefit from food stamps. When a child is hungry, they lose out on everything. They can't grow, develop and learn like other children. When we talk about income inequality, this should be a major point of the discussion.

Prison Profits

A good reason for avoiding immigration reform is the money to be made imprisoning migrants. Latinos without a criminal past are now being held in prisons for profits and the anti-immigrant laws being passed are there to continue reaping profits.

In New York, marijuana arrests were at an all time high in 2011. 50,000 citizens arrested in one year, 137 people a day. Lobbyists for the prison industry keeps laws harsh and look for judges that will lock up children for minor offenses. 

GEO Group and Corrections Corporation of America are the biggest two providers, raking in almost 3 billion in revenues in 2010. If you're wondering why immigration and drug laws seem to get harsher every year, here's the reason. 

God's Goofballs

We had two discussions on the site for the serpent-handling pastor who died from a rattlesnake bit. Yes, god works in mysterious and mean ways.

Then there is the video showing a child singing at a the Apostolic Truth Tabernacle Church. The child can't be blamed, it's the parents and the theists who hate that are at fault. 

Tony Blair's religious views are the subject of a big discussion on this site. Read and comment, it's been fun.

This passage from the bible, "Now go, attack the Amalekites, and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys," has been used to justify genocide. Now 100,000 children ranging from 4 to 12 years old will be taught the story this year in after school programs offered up at public schools. Training for a future war?

Education Enemies

It's all about money as usual. Quebec students continue to protest tuition hikes. There are several discussions on this site that refer to the problem. 

In North Carolina, the public school system seems on its way to being dismantled. 1.3 billion in cuts will get them close to being last in spending per student. 

A Georgia pastor is upset about the new science curriculum being developed that would help students understand evolution and natural selection. He says, “What message are we sending to our children when they come away saying, ‘I’m an ape with less hair’?”

Mitt has vocalized his disgust over public schools. Teacher's and their unions are bad, parents good, profits good. Charter schools are the answer to everything.

Occupiers Oasis

One very interesting story this week on the movement, Occupy Buffalo has talked the city into removing funds invested with J.P. Morgan and moving them to a local bank, the First Niagara Financial Group.

This has been the result of an ongoing battle against J.P Morgan's foreclosure tactics. Well done.

This is one of OWS's accomplishments, entreating people to move their money from "Too Big to Fail" banks to local business groups.

Final Fixations

Pick and choose. It is the usual atheist mantra when it comes to theists and their bibles. The bible contains many horrible stories, so believers must pick the parts that they like and ignore the rest to be content. It's a common theme to many blogs.

Take it farther though and you see that the pick and choose method infiltrates into every part of there life.

A conservative will look at politics in a manner that fulfills their bias; they pick and choose certain points to validate their way of thinking. I talk to a friend who's son-in-law has a new job. His daughter, who is on an expensive medication, makes a comment about how her husband has to be employed for four months before he gets any type of health insurance. My friend says great, maybe they'll be able to hire more people if they don't have to pay for insurance any sooner. 

He is against his own daughter's well being because he has chosen a political worldview that must be exonerated at all costs. Even if it means keeping part of his family in the poor house trying to pay for their health, it's all good.

It comes to the same regarding science. A family member who is anti-science had a bad heart valve and now has a cool little replacement; that science is good. He can acknowledge gravity exists, (that one is not too tough), and even the possibility that germs do exist. But anything that contradicts his worldview is incorrect. All those studies on secondhand smoke; bullshit. Climate change; no thank you. Evolution; don't even think about it. 

I think it is interesting how reality can so easily be ignored for some people.

And oh, by the way, Zimmerman is going back to jail. After concealing an extra passport and not revealing money donated to his legal defense, his credibility takes a hit.

Enjoy your day.