Greece -- A Slippery Slope?

The following paragraphs below were made by bloggers whose points I thought salient and worthy of consideration about the present economic disaster in Greece. Are they accurate? Truthfully, I do not know. I do know I loathe "austerity" for nation states as remedies for the payment of debt because the national economic debt cannot and should not be paid on the backs of the poor! Is the bankruptcy of Greece but a slippery slope for other western nations whose currency is the Euro? I do not know that either. I surely hope not as another Bush years Great Recession I cannot take as our global economies are so intertwined; pull one knot and we all fall down.

Blogger No. 1 states

The destruction of countries on Europe's south and east are biggest reasons for all these economic problems. Libya, Syria and Ukraine, all countries destroyed in the past four years were created by western interference. Libya bombed by the west, rebels from Libya took arms from Libya to Syria through Turkey and instant civil war in Syria. Lots of refugees from both these countries and countries south or east of t hem coming to Europe in boats in the thousands every week. Ukraine was destroyed by US backed coup d'état. Refugees mostly going to Russia. Ukraine is destroying itself with it's civil war and the Ukrainian government's reckless policies. Yet, the IMF is willing to help Ukraine and not Greece.

All of southern Europe and not only Greece are being destroyed by the policy of austerity on the backs of the common people. The common people do not have money to pay back these loans by their governments.

Greece should do what Iceland did. Jail the banksters. Start over. Iceland is doing great. Austerity on the common people will never repay the banksters in a million years. It is a fantasy that the IMF has imposed on southern Europe for the past five years . It is not working and will never work.

Blogger No. 2 affirmed: Excellent points. I don't know what European powers were thinking when they decided to intervene in Libya and later Syria. I mean, I can understand national interests -ahem, oil- and why they, like the U.S., made such moves, but didn't these countries, specially Italy and France not expect influx of refugees as a aftermath? Even the Ukrainian disaster could have been avoided and now war goes on and the sanctions are hurting EU countries as much as Russia. 


Eurozone failure should not come as a surprise. Establishing a common currency introduces mutual dependence but maintaining individual states sovereignty precluded making effective/efficient fiscal policy amongst polities that were still mutually competitive. 

The following paragraphs below were made by bloggers whose points I thought salient and worthy of consideration about the present economic disaster in Greece.  Are they accurate?  Truthfully, I do not know.  I do know I loathe "austerity" for nation states as remedies for the payment of debt because the national economic debt cannot and should not be paid on the backs of the poor!  Is the bankruptcy of Greece but a slippery slope for other western nations whose currency is the Euro?  I do not know that either.  I surely hope not as another Bush years Great Recession I cannot take as our global economies are so intertwined; pull one knot and we all fall down.

Blogger No. 1 states

The destruction of countries on Europe's south and east are biggest reasons for all these economic problems. Libya, Syria and Ukraine, all countries destroyed in the past four years were created by western interference. Libya bombed by the west, rebels from Libya took arms from Libya to Syria through Turkey and instant civil war in Syria. Lots of refugees from both these countries and countries south or east of t hem coming to Europe in boats in the thousands every week. Ukraine was destroyed by US backed coup d'état. Refugees mostly going to Russia. Ukraine is destroying itself with it's civil war and the Ukrainian government's reckless policies. Yet, the IMF is willing to help Ukraine and not Greece.

All of southern Europe and not only Greece are being destroyed by the policy of austerity on the backs of the common people. The common people do not have money to pay back these loans by their governments.

Greece should do what Iceland did. Jail the banksters. Start over. Iceland is doing great. Austerity on the common people will never repay the banksters in a million years. It is a fantasy that the IMF has imposed on southern Europe for the past five years . It is not working and will never work.

Blogger No. 2 affirmed:  Excellent points. I don't know what European powers were thinking when they decided to intervene in Libya and later Syria. I mean, I can understand national interests -ahem, oil- and why they, like the U.S., made such moves, but didn't these countries, specially Italy and France not expect influx of refugees as a aftermath? Even the Ukrainian disaster could have been avoided and now war goes on and the sanctions are hurting EU countries as much as Russia.

Eurozone failure should not come as a surprise. Establishing a common currency introduces mutual dependence but maintaining individual states sovereignty precluded making effective/efficient fiscal policy amongst polities that were still mutually competitive.

REPUGLICONS USE ECONOMIC AUSTERITY AS A WAY TO SCREW THE POOR AND ENRICH THE ALREADY RICH TO GET OUT OF STATE AND NATIONAL DEBT.  YET ANOTHER REASON AMONG ALL THE OTHER CONFEDERATE FLAG AND ANTI-IMMIGRANT LOATHSOME CONTENT OF REPUBLICAN CHARACTER AND WHY A DEMOCRAT MUST MUST MUST KEEP THE WHITE HOUSE, TAKE THE SENATE AND IN MY WILDEST DREAMS I HOPE FOR A DEMOCRATIC TAKEOVER OF THE HOUSE. 

ALL THE GOOD THINGS ACHIEVED LAST WEEK AND WEEKEND COULD BE DESTROYED IN A HEART BEAT SECOND.  REPUBLICANS DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOU BUT WILL DUPE THOSE LIKE US AS THEY IDEOLOGICALLY RAPE GAYS, THE POOR, WOMEN AND THE POWERLESS OF ALL THEY HAVE ACHIEVED!

Realty Check

Leave it to Glenn Greenwald to give a reality check refresher course on the equal marriage issue.  It is on the "Intercept."  and is beyond brilliant.  I post the link here and below.  Then scroll down and read my email to Glenn about his historical analysis of gay rights in the US.  I have some amendment to his analysis with respect to the president that I wrote on the "Intercept" blog.

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/06/26/todays-supreme-court-ruling-though-expected-still-shocking/#respond

Your article is a BRILLIANT historical analysis and one of the best I have read.   Your historically dazzling article brought me back to reality.   But I will say, Glenn, I did on the "Intercept" blog an Obama supporting small dissent to what you said about him which I do not see on the blog yet. 

Still no one can argue your academically spellbinding analysis of why so  many felt as you said did during those mind crushing decades.  I hope you will be on the Rachel Maddow Show, or any of the other more progressive shows as well as Amy Goodman's "Democracy Now" if you haven't already discussed this on her show.

Kudos, you have written an award worthy editorial.  No one can argue with that!

ScotUS -- Frank Bruni -- New York Times "Our Weddings, Our Worth"

Here or below is an article by the editorialist Frank Bruni in the New York Times that a political ally and friend sent to me.  It's wonderful and beautifully written.  It is entitled "Our Weddings, Our Worth" and it characterizes so much so well on this contentious issue of our time.  It is entitled SCOTUS with the US rainbow colored (best I could do was pink and blue!)

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/06/28/opinion/sunday/frank-bruni-same-sex-marriage-supreme-court-our-weddings-our-worth.html?referrer=&_r=0

Glenn Greenwald again is dazzling--LGBT history lesson

I wrote Glenn: BRILLIANT historical analysis here or below by Glenn Greenwald.  It is one of the best I have read.   Your historically dazzling article brought us back to reality.   But I will say, Glenn, I did on the Intercept blog write an Obama supporting small dissent to what you said about him which I do not see on the blog yet.  Perhaps I will.

Still no one can argue your academically spellbinding analysis of why we felt as we did during those mind crushing decades.  I hope you will be on the Rachel Maddow Show, or any of the other more progressive shows as well as Amy Goodman's "Democracy Now" if you haven't already discussed this on her show.

Kudos, you have written an award worthy editorial.  No one can argue with that!




https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/06/26/todays-supreme-court-ruling-though-expected-still-shocking/#respond












N. Rosen

For All Time

I cannot thank Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Kennedy, the two more conservative justices, enough for doing the right thing handing down a 6/3 decision to uphold the ACA a/k/a Obamacare.   It is not an easy thing to step outside of one’s zone of political comfort.   I laud them for that.  

 

I have been critical, I admit, of what I saw as the conservative bent to the court that made it, in my opinion, an advocate for the very very rich.   I thought it did a great disservice to our nation’s humanity and had its worst effects on the poorest among us.  I have changed my opinion of the Court somewhat today and, indeed, apologize for any less than judicious comments I have made on a variety of issues in the past through the technological miracle of our time, the Internet , that sent my opinion many times to SCOTUS itself.

 

I still feel the same about the issues but because of the bravery, ethical purpose and humanity of most especially Justice Kennedy and Chief Justice Roberts, I can say that my views of the Court have been , to a degree, altered this day.   All the Justices who voted to uphold the ACA have made me proud to be American, proud of a system that can get it right on issues that can help those who, through no fault of their own, cannot help themselves to get the healthcare they so desperately need.   The Justices’ decision today upholding Obamacare will save many liv es.

Our system, one of checks and balances, our Founders got right centuries ago works.  From Marbury v. Madison in 1803 to King v. Burwell in 2015, a span of more than two centuries, our Founders gave the third branch of our system, the Court, permission to decide our most contentious issues. 

Societies change and the Court can change too ensuring our nation become fairer and more just.  That it can do this is the beauty of our nation that shines in Lady Liberty's lamp as an example it sets for all nations for all time.

DELIROUSLY HAPPY

OBAMACARE UPHELD ... HERE TO STAY!!!!!! 6 to 3


Fair Housing Act Upheld


Please God just one more to go.





I'm crying out of happiness!!!!!!

The Admission

The Admission: I know very little about trade. It's important to know it and yet it is so boring to me that my brain shuts off. However, on the Huffington blog I found an explanation by one whom I think is an astute blogger. It sounds credible. I post it for you to, in part, understand this vital issue. If you think it in error please advise! THEN IN 2016 VOTE THESE LOW LIFE REPUGLICANS OUT OF OFFICE. THEY ARE NOT ABOUT YOU OR ME!

Debra Knox Tillman The original trade agreement is APEC. TPP is an upgrade of that. It began under Bush in 2002. Obama is renegotiating it. He has said that he wants to correct some of the mistakes of previous agreements and added TAA as part of that. TPP is unfinished and is still being negotiated. What has been "leaked" may be parts of Bush's version. ALL trade agreements are considered a part of foreign policy, therefore, they are classified. There are trade advisers of all strata although the majority of them are corporate. Obama doesn't need TPA authority from congress, but by granting him fast track it makes the finished agreement available for us to see for 2 months, then congress has another month to debate it, but can't amend it, and they DONT have to vote yes... they can still reject it and vote no.

Trade agreements don't control corporations..where they invest or move jobs. Corporations bribe governments for access to do business, trade agreements set the terms for doing business between the governments, by establishing rules and regulations to establish accountability. The rules and regs have been lax in enforcement in past agreements, and corporations have moved jobs away, exploiting those workers with low wages, poor working conditions, creating a situation where we're unable to compete. Many of us were used to train our replacements instead of refusing to do so.

Obama submitted a jobs bill over 3 years ago that congress refuses to pass and we've allowed them to get away with that..we're all hyped up about losing jobs to a trade deal, but ok with congress not passing a jobs bill..we're ready to throw Obama under the bus as betrayer-in-chief, but not turn out to vote in the midterms and allow congress to DO NOTHING? I like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. I don't want a lousy trade deal, but I also want the truth to be revealed. Our manufacturing jobs have been slowly leaving since Reagan was president due to corporate greed. We've allowed them to corrupt congress and change the tax code to benefit them, create loopholes for them, and deregulate all our protections so they can extract our tax dollars then tell congress to destroy our public sector through policy changes, to pay for the lost revenue. Think about that while you're busy being upset about this trade deal and the misguided hype.

Science Rules--If you care about your children's lives you will read this link

Ignore this to your peril. Science wins every time see link here or below. Those who do not believe in it will face the same fate as all the other species that will be extinct in a very short time!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/22/earth-extinction-phase_n_7629330.html

Why voting Democrat is SO VERY IMPORTANT. It is the only Party that gives credence to science as opposed to the Republicon Party of know nothing junk which feeds at the corporate trough and feeds you lies!

Follow the Money – the Confederate Flag Justification Examined

One writer said that no one is talking about simple mental illness as the reason for the brutal murders of 9 black people praying in a Bible study class one evening.

No one is diverting discussion of mental illness.  We realize the mental pathology in some humans especially in a nation that includes a culture of gun worship and a proliferation of drugs.  We understand DNA errors that naturally occur to create that pathology.  That does not take away from the cultural emblem of what the Confederate flag means and the message is sends.

 

Just what were the Confederate soldiers fighting for that is so culturally worthy to so many today who want to keep the Confederate flag as a symbol of their heritage?  Confederate soldiers were fighting to keep in place an economic system for the growth of cotton when cotton was economic king, grown best in the South, through a system of free labor.  It was a boon to those whites -- ones of money and position few though they were -- who owned plantations and could afford slaves.  Slaves were expensive to buy and expensive to maintain.  If one could afford it then one had a lot to lose by President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.  Follow the money!

 

The slave system was an institutional economic one that captured Africans by slave traders working for corporations like the East India Company. The white lower classes here were enlisted as well but did not have plantations and could not have afforded slaves. As low class as many whites were they were in a higher position than the black man whom they, too, could control with force if necessary and slave owners employed them to do just that. 

 

Justifications were used for the obvious brutality, cruelty, and inhumanity of slavery to keep it in place while keeping the black man oppressed.  The system is justified by God Himself through their interpretation of God’s Biblical edicts contained in a 5000 year old text. 5000 years of Biblical mandates and a plethora of Biblically condoned law that commands man do what is seemingly ridiculous to do in our time.  Slavery, the subjugation of women and even animal sacrifice are examples extraordinaire of Biblical anachronism.  Religion can justify an odious anything if one looks to justify it hard enough in the Bible.  All manner of cruelty can be explained away to soothe the consciences of those who perpetrate that cruelty.  It is how those of wealth and class control the masses and even themselves to feel complacent even good about the heinous things they do to other men.  It is as old as man himself.

 

The Confederate flag symbolically justified that cruelty and it kept an entire social order in place to do so.  There is NOTHING -- I repeat NOTHING -- that is humane and good about the symbol of the Confederate flag.  There is NOTHING for anyone to be proud about States’ Rights, a cerebral euphemism, giving a permission slip to a state to do anything inhuman and uncivilized it wants while providing the coverlet of law protecting it to do so.

 

TAKE DOWN THE CONFEDERATE FLAG NEAR THE SOUTH CAROLINA STATE HOUSE STEPS AND STAND FOR SOMETHING MORALLY GOOD AND HUMANE FOR ONCE INSTEAD OF OPPRESSIVE, MEAN AND CRUSHING AS JUSTIFICATION TO LORD OVER ONE POWERLESS GROUP OR ANOTHER.

 

Then turn the tables on the Party of White, the Republican Party and defeat them by kicking them out of office everywhere.  Oh, yes, while you are doing that elect Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton sending the first woman to the Oval Office!

 

Remove the Confederate Flag

The Confederate flag is a symbol of TREASON against our nation's union. It is like raising a Nazi flag where there are Jews. Sure, the flag may be a symbol of southern culture, a fact of which I personally would not be proud, and somebody's granddaddy might have died under that flag but it is a flag symbolic of oppression, slavery, hate and murder. It is emblematic of a group of people who want to return to an age where people of color are crushed under its yoke. Remove it.

NOT FAST ENOUGH FOR ME

John Cornyn, Republican Senator from Texas, Michael Steele, former RNC Chairman, Nikki Haley, Republican governor of S. Carolina and other Republicans all decry the senseless murders of 9 black innocents yesterday during a Bible study meeting in South Carolina at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

 

The Republican Party, if one looks closely or not so closely, at it one will see few black faces among its ranks.  There is a reason for this.  The Republican Party courts the white racist vote, a vestige of our sad Anti-Bellum Civil War South this time in the state of South Carolina which has the dubious distinction of being the first to secede from the Union in that era.

 

The Republican Party is happy to welcome disaffected white racists who think the election of a half black president gives them license to appeal to those Confederate flag wavers north AND south to send a message that the nation is being taken over by persons of color and that something must be done to stop it.  The Party of interposition and nullification then is the party of it now as they block and gum-up-the-works of everything the half black president wants to pass.  The president, to his detriment, tries to play in their neighborhood but they do not want him.  They have kicked dirt in his face by rejecting or stalling nearly everything he wants.  

 

The racism they protest for the shootings and killing of innocent church goers and their minister is the protest of hypocrites.  Steven Scalise, the new House majority whip of the GOP-dominated Congress, spoke at a gathering hosted by white supremacist leaders in 2002 but, no matter, he was kept on as Republican majority whip in Congress.   Republicans who protest what happened at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church yesterday are hypocrites. White supremacy is alive and well in this nation and is given a place of honor in the larger Republican Party.

 

What message does this send to persons of color in our nation?  It sends the message that the Republican Party does not want them in it except a few, of course, for television image. The media and others will bloviate non-stop about how this hate must change.  They are the mendacious bloviations of showmen and other charlatans who do not mean a word of it. 

 

The Republican Party salt and peppers in a few persons of color when its candidates speak in front of a TV camera but the true change of ideological systemic belief that is needed to right this morally putrefied Party would make an already compromised Party useless and that cannot happen fast enough for me.

DESPICABLE

"Nine Killed at Historic Emanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina"

Oh sure, we are a "post-racial" society, another moronic statement from a "conservative" skewed court!"


If you do not see it day after day after day the racist Republcrat Party, then I give up. You -- ALL OF YOU -- need to vote the ONLY Democrat who can carry the day -- Hillary Rodham Clinton. I love Sanders BUT he cannot win. Do NOT give the murderous Bush KLAN another Nader-like win!

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/charleston-church-shooting/nine-killed-historic-emanuel-church-charleston-south-carolina-n377436

Jon Stewart on Trump!

If you do not watch anything else in your life watch Jon Stewart's June 16 segment on Trump's entrance into the Republican race for president!!!!!!! The best comedy I have ever seen.

It has some off color things so if you are squeamish it's not for you but if you want a laugh of all laughs, tears rolling down your face, the sight of brilliance Google it!

Then make Hillary the next President of the United States!

The Blog of Bush

A Top Commenter has written a VERY insightful and historical blog about the Bush political dynasty and the nation's albatross. It states as follows:

By: Benjamin Dover

Not a single Bush ever did this country right. They have all been HORRIBLE. The trail to the wealth of the Bush family has been paved with the millions they have killed.

The Patriarch Prescott Bush

As a US Senator he collaborated with the Nazis during WWII. He was also part of a plot to over throw the US government to put a fascist dictator in charge. The oil that Prescott sold the Nazi helped them start WWII and also prolonged the war resulting 10's of millions of people killing including Americans.

GH Walker Bush

As head of the CIA he created Osama Bin Laden. He was responsible for training and arming him and his men. As President gave Saddam Hussein the impression that he could invade Kuwait which started the Persian Gulf War.

GW Bush

Cook the intelligence reports to trick Congress and the American people into an illegal invasion into Iraq which cost over $7 Trillion, completely mismanaged both wars resulting it the US defeat in both and wrecked the US economy. ISIS is the direct result of the mess GW created in Iraq along with 100's of thousands of people needlessly killed. During his reign oil prices more than doubled which was good fore the Bush family bank accounts.

Jeb Bush

As Gov. of Florida he obstructed the vote count to get his brother GW into the White House and we all know what a disaster that was. Jeb was also the man who came up with idea on how to stop people from voting in order the steal elections. Not too long ago Jeb was asked about the Iraq war which his brother lied about his response was and I quote, "it was just one of life's mistakes." I guess compared to his granddaddy Prescott 10's of millions that he was responsible for makes his brothers 100's of thousands seem minor.

Neil Bush

Banker who was deeply involved in the S&L Banking disaster back in the 1980's an 90's. He basically gave away the depositors money to his friends and family (GH, GW & Jeb) and then had the American Tax Payers pay for all the millions he gave away.

I REST MY CASE AS TO WHY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON WILL BE PRESIDENT AND SHOULD! GET OUT THE DEMOCRATIC VOTE in 2016 AS IF YOUR LIFE DEPENDED UPON IT WHICH IT DOES!!

Black Like Me -- As Simple as That

Rachel Dolezal considers herself black even though her white birth parents “outed” her as 100% white. The responses to this phenomenon have been varied – some project a “who cares” attitude and some, well, frankly, both black and white, show a hostile response to her choice. Why is this white woman wanting to give up the power and dominant privilege of being white for an ethnic identification of black the status of which means historically a never-ending struggle for equality, justice, fair play and often for the privilege of living life itself? Others ask why is this white woman taking money and position away from a person of color who needs it more than she.

This motif is not unheard of in film. Gregory Peck in the 1947 movie “Gentlemen’s Agreement” takes on the persona of a Jew giving up, for the time it took him to write a newspaper article, the privilege of being Christian in a culture that judged Christian as superior and in a culture where the price for being Jewish was often rejection, exclusion, shame, even assault and even in America. The difference in the treatment of others toward him was profound including his own son beaten up because other boys found out he was a Jew or being denied – albeit politely – a hotel room when the clerk discovers he is Jewish. Signs of that era saying “No Jews or Dogs Allowed” in the swimming pool were not uncommon as were signs “No Jews or Irish Need Apply” for a job.

“Black Like Me,” a 1964 film found on IDMB, linked below is “the true account of John Griffin's experiences when he passed as a black man. In the film, John Horton takes treatments to darken his skin and leaves his home in Texas to travel throughout the South at the height of the civil-rights movement, so that he could experience the realities of a black man's life in the segregated South.”

I cannot comment as to why Ms. Dolezal awkwardly attested to her black origin nor can I armchair psychoanalyze her motivations but I can comment on my own. It may surprise some as it did when in the late 1960’s I revealed to my parents, relatives and friends that if reincarnation existed I would like to return black. Some, sadly, thought I had temporarily lost my mind. Why should I want to be black when I could be immersed in the luck and the birthright of being white in America? Few understood my reason. One can be assured that my desire to be black had nothing to do with gaining advantage either for an occupational position or for “affirmative action” entrance into a selective university but it was because my sheltered life of suburban white that said “all men are created equal” was replaced by the reality I discovered in college that only some in this country were. It was the first time I became aware of social injustices so cruel, so marginalizing and so debilitating against persons of color that I wanted to be a personal part of a movement making a colossal wrong right.

Two black women resided on my dorm room floor with whom many of us enjoyed a friendship. My heart ached that these lovely women had to suffer the cruel injustices about which I could only read but never truly experience. I wanted them to know I was part of their struggle. I told my white Jewish friend, with whom I talked radical left-wing politics incessantly, of my yearning. She said “Forget about it." "You can never, will never know what it is like to be black and they will never accept you as IF you were black because you are not." I will never forget that time.

Perhaps, if I may speculate (even if I said I would not) Rachel Donzel raised in a house with adopted black siblings and marrying a black man merely wants the same thing as I did those many years ago and that is to say I am with you, I am a part of your struggle and to prove it I will become black. Maybe it is as simple as that.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057889/plotsummary

WORK for Hillary Rodham Clinton who shares our progressive ideals although she must work in a system where money must unfortunately secure for Democrats high office OR any office! GET OUT THE 2016 VOTE for HRC! I love Sanders BUT he cannot win!

Favorite Songs

Adele: Sky Fall

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xusp2s_adele-skyfall-official-video-lyrics_music

Eva Cassidy "Autumn Leaves" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXBNlApwh0c
("Autumn Leaves" My mother's favorite song)

K.D. Lang: "Constant Craving

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXqPjx94YMg

A Joke -- Laughter the Best Medicine!

There were five houses of religion in a small town: the Presbyterian Church, the Baptist Church, the Methodist Church, the Catholic Church, and the Jewish Synagogue.

Each church and synagogue was overrun with pesky squirrels.

One day, the Presbyterian Church called a meeting to decide what to do about the squirrels. After much prayer and consideration they determined that the squirrels were predestined to be there and they shouldn't interfere with God's divine will.

In the Baptist Church the squirrels had taken up habitation in the baptistery. The deacons met and decided to put a cover on the baptistery and drown the squirrels in it. The squirrels escaped somehow and there were twice as many there the next week.

The Methodist Church got together and decided that they were not in a position to harm any of God's creation. So, they humanely trapped the squirrels and set them free a few miles outside of town. Three days later, the squirrels were back.

But...the Catholic Church came up with the best and most effective solution. They baptized the squirrels and registered them as members of the church. Now they only see them on Christmas, Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday and Easter.

Not much was heard about the Jewish Synagogue, but they took one squirrel and had a short service with him called circumcision and they haven't seen a squirrel on the property since.

A Question of Love a Letter from my cousin -- please sign

Please sign and pass the letter below on and KNOW this is why Republicans MUST be overthrown and Hillary (the ONLY Democrat who can win) MUST keep any Republican from the oval office and everywhere else seats of power exist. It is important for ALL of us in so many ways as discrimination we all know exists here as well and not only for the LGBT community. Persons of color, women, the elderly, the disabled and others who need power to be on their side!
 
Please sign below and pass the letter from my cousin around.

Dear

This was sent to me by my first cousin on my father’s side (who is gay).

Imagine: 3 years in prison just for being gay. That's what could happen to Lahcen and Mohsine, two Moroccan gay men. They were arrested while taking a photo next to a monument in Rabat. The police said they were violating "public modesty" by standing too close together.

Their trial is in 3 days, where it's likely they'll get a 3-year jail term: last month some other Moroccans were given 3-year sentences, just for being gay. All Out's Moroccan partner, the Aswat Collective, is fighting for Lahcen and Mohsine's freedom and have urgently asked us to help.

A huge global outcry, just before their trial on Tuesday could be a game-changer for Lahcen and Mohsine. The Moroccan authorities are investing in the tourist industry to attract visitors from across the world – they can't risk the damage to their reputation of a massive global petition.

Just 3 days left to speak out that being gay is not a crime. Sign and share the petition now, to build a giant call for Lahcen and Mohsine to be freed:


https://go.allout.org/en/a/lahcen-mohsine

To Tell tjhe Truth -- Jeb Bush Gets it Wrong -- Again

YET again the media blows it. Touting Jeb Bush as "being comfortable in his own skin" and not making any gaffes on his trip to Poland they get it wrong. OH YES HE MADE A GAFF and why did only Rachel Maddow catch it (see link here or below?) He said the former Foreign Minister and now the equivalent of Speaker of the House of Poland was a great US ally when in fact he spoke against the US and was caught on tape doing so. He resigned the day before Jeb Bush met him and just as old Jebby said what a great ally he is. WRONG he dislikes the US and the tape of his saying it proved it. Reminded me of his know nothing brother saying he could see into Putin's soul. Yeah right!

So WHY do the networks fail to report it that way? That was a BIG gaffe that old genetically gaffe prone Jebby said and just wait there will be others. He is INCOMPETENT to be president and looks very uneasy and NOT comfortable at all in his own skin. Beltway press, TELL THE TRUTH about Republicans for once will ya?

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/awkward-stumble-for-jeb-bush-in-poland-463470659540

"Still Alice" -- A Review

I LOVED this film, Julianne Moore and Alex Baldwin in it. It completely emotionally covered me and I cried much. Many, I am sure, who see this film have had at least some experience with neurological diseases like Alzheimer's or something else. My own family has suffered with that and more. 

I thought the film reminds us what truly is important in life and that it is about love, as Alice, so compromised by the erasure of her personality by the disease, still in the end, saw! Julianne Moore is incredible but this film may not be for everyone unless you can see 

the realities of life played out without wanting to hide under the covers that will not, in the end, save anyone. I watched the movie in segments because it saddened me so but I believe it is necessary to see the sad of life to appreciate the happy of it as well.

What a wonderful film "Still Alice" is. T'were the trillions wasted on killing humans in endless wars of stupidity instead were spent on the research and treatment of nature's mistakes that could save many of us from an unacceptable fate. 

 The why of it all has always eluded me but we go on nonetheless, I  believe, to fight for humane and just causes with the hope our one
little life can mean something good for those who follow.

How Much more Proof--Red River Overflows

HOW MUCH MORE PROOF DO THESE REPUBLICON KNOW NOTHINGS NEED TO KNOW THAT THE NATION/WORLD IS CLIMATE CHANGE DYING AND THAT THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING as Naomi Klein wrote in her excellent book of the same name!!!

So called "conservatives" will tell you it is God's punishment. I ask for what? Their responses are as if they were born in 1600 making sure to blame licentious sex, the president, liberals and oh yes, don't forget to blame the homosexuals, the new Communists.

Believe in SCIENCE as in science rests our only hope! We need to fossilize fossil fuels and we need to do it FAST!

Click on the link below for a REALITY CHECK!

http://www.nbcnews.com/watch/nbc-news/red-river-overflows-around-shreveport-bossier-city-louisiana-461235267665

Restoration of Faith

Restores my faith in a humane humanity.

Watch The Wonderful Moment A Rescuer Wins The Heart Of A Terrified Homeless Dog

Here or

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/10/hope-for-paws-oakley-rescue-elded-hagar_n_7550294.html

Gay Men's Chorus heads to the Middle East?

I read in disbelief the headline in the June 9, 2015 Metrowest Daily News: "Gay Men's Chorus heads to the Middle East" linked here or below. My first utterance was "WHAT?." Reading the story further examining the article in more detail, it refers to the Gay Men's Chorus going to Israel and to Turkey to sing. I do not know too much about the milieu in Turkey, although it is, in part, much more accepting of western influence, but Israel should be (hopefully) a safe place in which the Gay Men's Chorus will sing. I would rather have the Gay Men's Chorus sing there than in, for example, Kansas or Mississippi.

This is an example of what, in my opinion, is positive about the State of Israel. The thought of the Gay Men's Chorus singing in Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Iran or most anywhere else in the Middle East chilled me to the bone. Their lives obviously would be at risk.

For those who are critical of the Israeli state or any other nation state I often use their treatment of gays as a yardstick in which to measure how free a state really is.

I am not uncritical of Israeli policy with respect to Palestinian issues but it is a truism that Israelis (with the exception of uber religious Jerusalem) are leaps and bounds civil libertarian freer than most any other nation state in its neighborhood.

I hope fervently that the issues surrounding the freedom of statehood for the Palestinian people which so intractably and for decades have divided both people will be, ultimately, equitably and existentially resolved. 

 http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/article/20150609/ENTERTAINMENTLIFE/150606583

The Arms of Everest

I just received a fabulous email from a political ally which said:

"Back in 1991, retired Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger said in a television interview that the Second Amendment "has been the subject of one of the greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word 'fraud,' on the American public by special interest groups that I have ever seen in my lifetime." in his new book, "Six Amendments: How and Why We Should Change the Constitution," former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens called for the addition of five words to the Second Amendment to clarify its original intent — "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms when serving in the militia shall not be infringed."

Those five words could have made all the difference between the life and death of thousands for which the arms of Everest are responsible. To amend the Constitution and most of all the killing machine's "glorious" Second Amendment is I know, a tall order.

The Second Amendment SHOULD have read as the quote states when our Founders convened to hone the Constitution itself but our Founders never envisioned a US as big as it is AND never envisioned a population so huge. Most importantly they never knew an AK47 nor did they know of the vicious NRA and a man as loathsome and mean as Wayne LaPierre who is its head armed with hordes of supporters and the millions of bucks they bring.

We must work for change one day at a time!

ELECT DEMOCRATS IN EVERY STATE, IN EVERY CITY AND IN EVERY TOWN. MOST ESPECIALLY ELECT DEMOCRATS TO THE CONGRESS AND OF COURSE THE PRESIDENCY. SEND HILLARY YOUR SUPPORT!

Cable Rape

There are merger talks going on with Dish Network and T-Mobile Story below.

I am a capitalist and think it the best economic system to create quality and provide the most product choice to the consumer BUT if there if there is no choice then what? There is no quality. Nothing makes me angrier than the monopoly of the few cable companies the consumer has from which to choose. This is NOT capitalism.

It's a scam and they have us by the throat because we have such limited choice. Why? Corporatist money controls politics. When those elected to Congress get their hands OUT of the plethora of corporate cash paying to play then maybe we can have our nation back and it can work as it once did for the 98%!! The game is rigged because the Congress allows it to be so and Congress is rigged because the electorate ALLOWS it to be so.

When a former Speaker of the House goes into Congress with a total worth of $250,000 bucks and comes out with millions it does not take a rocket scientist accountant to understand what is happening especially when the phenomena is multiplied by the 100's that occupy both the Senate and the House.

One signs up for FIOS, they raise their rates within a year and you ditch them for RCN that for one year has maybe a decent price with which one can live. Then slowly the rates go up so one switches to Comcast or back to RCN, repeat as directed.

One is playing musical chairs with three cable companies. Worse one must pay for a faster connection to boot. If you don't pay you will have the slowest most frustrating blood pressure rising turtle Internet connection on planet Earth. IT'S A RACKET and the FCC allows it because they are paid to do so. The average consumer does not have a competitive chance to get a fair price because they have so few companies available from which to choose. Paying for cable (a must in our tech age) eviscerates one's bank account.

UNTIL the US electorate sees what is happening because of those whom THEY put into office and sees that the Republcan Party ESPECIALLY (although Democrats surely do it too) is NOT about any of the 98%. We must drop kick them out of Congress or we will be living an oligarchic nightmare of not just cable but everything else as the many are controlled by the billionaire few!

AMERICA, WAKE UP your Congress especially your Republican Congress is NOT NOT NOT about most of you!

Yet another reason to vote Democrat. Democrats are not perfect but they are legions better than rightwingnut side of the isle! 

here or http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/03/dish-network-in-merger-ta_n_7507468.html#comments
 

Dumb as Dirt

CNN just reported that W. Bush has now upped his favorability rating from a low when he left office to now a high of 52%? By whose yardstick did he do this? This utter nincompoop presidential moron who led us into the greatest recession since the Great Depression, this immoral frog killer draft dodger ushered in the greatest military debacle and defeat in US history, the same one ordering "shock and awe" and the illegal Iraq War killing hundreds of thousands and dismembering the Middle East to what it is today -- loaded with Sunni ISIS the same guys his moron-in-crime Iraq manager Bremer disbanded, with no job, no money but plenty of ammo to fight another day and kill Americans.

Why the Bush/Cheney gutter snipes are not sitting in jail with their henchmen I will NEVER know. And OH YES, this same gutter snipe frat boy who missed the "Presidential Daily Briefing" that said before 9/11 that "Al Qaeda set to attack within the US" did nothing but tell George Tenet, CIA director, that now he "covered his ass;" the same president that said getting Bin Laden was not important that he did not even think about it;" this same one, the worst president in US history is getting an over 50% approval now????

I simply do not believe it and do not know in what universe our nation sits. If I believe that 52% think George W. Know Nothing Bush was AOK then I have to believe those who are giving him an over 50% approval rating are as DUMB as dirt.



If you do not want eternal, never ending war and religion mixed with politics then NEVER EVER NEVER send another Republican within eye-shot of the oval office or for that matter the Congress!

The BEST thing EVER written in 2006 about the Bush Presidency

Read this opinion below and MAKE sure we NEVER EVER NEVER NEVER elect a Republican to the presidency again!!!!

Friday, June 02, 2006 by Dom Degan

George W. Bush: The Last Republican President

This is it, folks! The beginning of the end of the disgusting administration of a corrupt, hideous, half-witted frat boy named George W. Bush. And not a minute too soon, ay? When a nation stupidly sends to the oval office - to the White House - someone with the IQ of a half-eaten box of Milk Duds, you're gonna have some serious problems. This isn't rocket science, kids. It's called Civics 101!

In November of 2000, when the voters of the United States of America foolishly sent this moron to the executive mansion, we effectively pointed the proverbial loaded pistol at our own collective head. Four years later, on election day 2004 - make no mistake about it- we pulled the trigger.

Here's our biggest challenge in the next two and a half years: Weeda Peeple have got to make damn good and sure that George W. Bush is the last Republican president in American history. The GOP has slit the throats of the poor and the middle class. They (along with a lot of foolish Democrats) are responsible for the atrocities that are this very day being committed against the children of Iraq. They must never, ever be allowed to govern this country again. Please stop soiling the memory of one of the greatest presidents in history by calling it, "the party of Lincoln". Don't ever call it that again. Abraham Lincoln's influence on the republican party ended at exactly 7:22 in the morning on April 15, 1865 when he breathed his last breath.

PREDICTION: George W. Bush will be remembered in history, primarily, as the first (pray last) former chief executive to go to federal prison. Sound crazy? Stay tuned.

Pray for peace.