BALTIMORE RISING

Marilyn Mosby, Baltimore State Atty., has brought the Freddie Gray matter back into perspective for the city of Baltimore as well as the rest of the country. The 35-year-old is only in her fourth month on the job but she has acted quickly in charging six of the city's police officers from murder to manslaughter to assault. She found theFreddie Gray, arrest was even illegal since the knife Gray was arrested for was not a switchblade; it was legal. In reflecting on the riots now, there is justification for the unrest of the black community but not justification for the rioting. But when you think about it, tension builds emotions which have to be expressed, and often, these days, it all tends to go in the wrong direction. In Ferguson, MO, it was blatant racism from the police chief on down. If the white people of this country think the blacks are going to continue to take this without a more disastrous retaliation, they are going to be sorrowfully wrong.

WHICH VERSION OF THE BIBLE DO YOU FOLLOW?

There are hundreds of translations of the Bible and I would think that would be a nightmare for devout Christians, especially fundamentalists, although they say they don't take all scriptures literally. So if they pick and choose, what does that say about the Bible as a whole? Even Jesus said, "You have heard it said...but I say to you..." The site Biblica states there are two views on how the translation should be conducted. On the one hand the "translation should stick just as closely as possible to every word of the original Hebrew and Greek." On the other it, "should transfer the message, that is, the exact thought and emotion of the original text." For those who favor the King James Version, dating back to 1611, if you tried to interpret its scriptures literally you would be a lost soul. And then there is the Apocrypha (meaning hidden), a second set of booklets that were never included in the Bible nor talked of by Jesus and the Apostles. It is full of history and can be fascinating to read.

My point here is that no matter what version of the Bible you follow, you must face up to the fact that it was written by human beings, no doubt divinely inspired, so there is always the possibility of inaccuracies. Faith is a good thing, as long as it is tempered by facts.

INSTANT CITIZENSHIP-IS IT RIGHT?

It is one thing when immigrants who have been here for years, contributing to the U.S., become citizens through the legal process. It is another when an immigrant crosses the border into this country with her unborn baby with the express purpose to birth it here for citizenship. But the 14th Amendment clearly states, " All persons born or naturalized in the United States..." It makes no distinction to who they are or how they got here, it's an open invitation that GOP members of Congress are now questioning. As is the rage over the 2nd Amendment, we haven't yet heard the shouts about what the "Founding Fathers" meant. Just what Republicans want to do to put another barrier up against the Hispanic movement. And this whole issue would not be flaring up again in a completely new venue if the GOP would help pass immigration reform.

Incidentally, if you're in the changing mood, you should focus on the 2nd Amendment and either revise it drastically or get rid of it altogether.

THIS POPE IS AWESOME

Pope Francis took a stand on homosexuality, although not endorsing it, rather, lightening the load on the church's LGBT community. He acknowledged climate change and the need to do something now. And his latest cause is to support women's rights to be paid the same as men. The homosexuality issue is progressing through the Supreme Court right now, climate change seems to be getting more attention, even around the world, but a woman's right to make the same kind of money as her male counterpart is going nowhere. Despite the Equal Pay Act of 1963, women working full time earn only 77% as much as the guy in the next office doing exactly the same job. How do you justify that in a civilized nation? You don't, you just write it off to those insecure bubbas out there who apparently aren't too sure about their masculinity.

FLORIDA GOVERNOR MORE EVIDENCE OF GOP BRAINLESSNESS

These Republican fruitcakes just keep popping up. Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) has decided to sue Obamacare for a deleted program the Affordable Care Act made unnecessary. He wants the money the ACA can provide for Florida's low income population but refuses to accept it in the name of Obamacare. The former policy, “Low Income Pools” (LIP), designed by Bush/Cheney to help hospitals actually funneled some money to Florida and now Radical Rick wants more of it, but only in the name of LIP. Kansas GOP Gov. Sam Brownback recently cut educational budgets in that state literally putting the future learning of that state's kids in dire jeopardy. Now Florida's Scott wants to do the same thing to his state's low income constituents needing healthcare. Pathetic!

DONALD TRUMP SAYS PRESIDENT OBAMA RESPONSIBLE FOR BALTIMORE BURNING

It seems that dufus Donald has laid the blame for the recent Baltimore riots at the feet of President Obama. This ding-a-ling has also indicated he might run for president. Can you imagine this man in charge of the most powerful government in the world? Can you imagine this man in charge of anything? Yes, he is successful in business, a phenomenon I am sure surprises many people. My wife and I were in the Trump Tower in Manhattan a few years ago and it was actually somewhat run down. Here's a tweet from this fruitcake: “Our great African American president hasn’t exactly had a positive impact on the thugs who are so happily and openly destroying Baltimore!” Comments like this are shameful but no doubt will be picked up all over the world heaping more ridicule on the U.S. This moron should stick to his TV show where he can scare the hell out of his guests and where a double-digit IQ audience apparently eats it up.

DECIDING WHAT A PROGRESSIVE IS

Progressivism started as a social movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, eventually becoming a political movement. Teddy Roosevelt actually spearheaded the cause after taking office in 1901, mixing this with GOP conservatism. He said most everyone wants some progress but both Republicans and Democrats were slow to actually implement it. Roosevelt took it a step farther declaring he "always believed that wise progressivism and wise conservatism go hand in hand." Progressivism was highlighted in the Industrial Revolution, later when technology completely changed the way we do business. It was recently in 2014 that Andrew Tillett-Saks described a Progressive in Counterpunch, as one believing in a restrained free market, trade unions, taxing the wealthy, the nationalization of essential social needs such as education and healthcare, strong public welfare programs, higher minimum wage requirement and increased unionization, and the support of the poor.

The difference between a liberal and a progressive, at least as far as I see it; first I would extend the free market restraints to serious regulations on corporations. As far as taxing wealth, liberals have been way too lax on this in recent years. And liberals have been far too conceding on the establishment of private schools at the sake of the public school system. Bleeding liberals open welfare to the point of dispensing money without any control which I think is counterproductive. There hasn't been a sufficient drive in liberal politics to increase the minimum wage and to do more for the poor, both of which Progressives feel would improve the economy. And then there is my favorite of all, gun control, which some liberals even vote against.

Believe me, there are other differences that reside on an individual basis but the key factor here is that Progressives aren't saddled with a radical ideology like the Republican right. That's why we're called Progressives.