Female Vote Could Decide Midterm Elections

 

Republicans were screwed royally when a conservative SCOTUS voted to repeal Roe v. Wade, enraging a universe of women who have declared all along that they should be in control of their bodies. The New York Times reported that "Decades Ago, Alito Laid Out Methodical Strategy to Eventually Overrule Roe." Well, it happened, and it pissed off 67% of the female population that have been showing their opposition with demonstrations all over the country.

In 1985 Alito "cautioned" President Reagan...

"against mounting a frontal assault on Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that declared a constitutional right to abortion. The Supreme Court was not ready to overturn it, he said, so urging it to do so could backfire."

Alito offered the suggestion of a "reasonable" response to the law allowing conservatives to pounce on the issue in the future. It took three decades but a Donald Trump administration would lay the groundwork by the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch. The former Oval Office lunatic could not have picked a more radically right trio. But the move could be the determining factor in the upcoming November elections.

Roe v Wade: Protests as Supreme Court overturns right to abortion...

The ladies could come out in huge numbers for the midterms and assuming they are all fired up over the Roe v. Wade fiasco, it is a reasonable assumption that the majority will vote Democrat. Tom Bonier, a Democratic political strategist and the C.E.O. of TargetSmart, a data and polling firm, revealed the progress Republicans had made since the first of the year. Then...

"But once the actual Dobbs decision came down, everything changed. For many Americans, confronting the loss of abortion rights was different from anticipating it. In my 28 years of analyzing elections, I had never seen anything like what’s happened in the past two months in American politics: Women are registering to vote in numbers I never witnessed before."

It started in Kansas where "voters there defeated in a landslide a constitutional

amendment that would have removed abortion protections in the state." There are Twenty-five states plus DC that have laws protecting abortion access. Bonier reveals in his article that in the state of Kansas, where the Republican Party has dominated politics since statehood in 1861, sixty-nine percent of the new voting registrants were women.

Continuing...

"In the six months before Dobbs, women outnumbered men by a three-percentage-point margin among new voter registrations. After Dobbs, that gender gap skyrocketed to 40 points. Women were engaged politically in a way that lacked any known precedent."

Kansas is an illustration of how the tide can turn so quickly on an issue that affects voters as Roe v. Wade has. It apparently has become serious enough that a GOP strategist warns the party is "getting killed among women over abortion." Brad Reed in RawStory comments...

“I’m convinced that, based on numbers we have, Republicans have to make some kind of leap on the abortion issue,” Arizona GOP strategist Chuck Coughlin tells Politico. “Because they’re getting killed among women.”

Reed uses Arizona Trump backed Senate candidate Blake Masters who "has consistently trailed incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ)." He adds...

"Masters recently rushed to scrub his website of pledges for a nationwide abortion ban, and he even deployed his wife to appear in an ad aimed at winning over women voters."

Republicans are scared in Arizona and throughout the rest of the country because the SCOTUS conservatives led by Justice Samuel Alito opened a can of worms that could eat their midterm aspirations alive.

 

Fla. Gov. DeSantis turns his state into "international embarassment"

 

It is a well-known fact that the former White House lunatic made the United States the laughingstock of the world. That's right, world-wide, America was known as the country with a leader who was generally certified as mentally unbalanced. Donald Trump played this out daily during his administration and continues his maniacal antics today in a futile attempt to prove he actually won the election in 2020. He didn't by all measures, and now he has another unbalanced clone.

Florida Gov. Ron 'the despot' DeSantis, according to MSNBC "The ReidOut" blogger Ja’han Jones, is...

"turning Florida into an "international embarrassment" after a United Nations racial justice committee flagged the state leader’s anti-riot legislation for supposedly restricting free speech."

Since being elected, DeSantis has passed a multitude of absurd legislation in his state stigmatizing the the residents of Florida. As an example, a federal judge declared his ludicrous "Woke Indoctrination" law unconstitutional. Further, Florida residents have sued DeSantis over revoking Disney’s Special Tax District; LGBTQ groups have sued Florida over the so-called 'Don't Say Gay' law; and Civil rights groups filed a lawsuit over the Florida congressional map signed by DeSantis.

Passage Of Gov. Ron DeSantis' Anti-Riot Law Met With Harsh Criticism...

These are only three of the bizarre moves made by the tyrant who wants to take over this country in 2024. Do you really want this Trump twin to set up his radical hijinks in our nation's capital? And this international incident is an unconscionable event in U.S. history as America continues its fight against the anti-democracy wave passing through the U.S like DeSantis' legislation. Here's the scenario...

"The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on Tuesday issued a report examining discrimination across the globe that name-checked Florida House Bill 1, an oppressive anti-protest law pushed by DeSantis, the state's Republican governor."

According to Jones... 

"The Florida law, referred to as “anti-riot” legislation by its supporters, is a product of right-wing fearmongering."

Fearmongering has been a regular tool of Republicans to criticize or block anything coming from Democrats. The people of Florida cannot “willfully participates in a violent public disturbance involving an assembly of three or more people.” I get the violent part but who knows if a demonstration is going to turn violent, and I don't really think most Floridians would condone this. U.S. District Judge Mark Walker wrote in a ruling...

“If this Court does not enjoin the statute’s enforcement, the lawless actions of a few rogue individuals could effectively criminalize the protected speech of hundreds, if not thousands, of law-abiding Floridians.”

I cannot understand the political climate in the state of Florida re. its support of a clearly defined dictator. But, it is politically compelling that the people of Florida understand what the despot DeSantis is doing to their state and the U.S. and do something about it in November. 

VOTE FOR CHARLEY CRIST!

LABOR DAY: The Real Meaning

 

It's not just a day off from work, folks, it is a day that represents a near rebellion over working conditions dating back to the 1880s. It was a Pullman strike in 1894 that started it when President Cleveland dispatched federal troops to Chicago to enforce an injunction against the strike...

"Illinois’ pro-labor governor, John Peter Altgeld, who had already called out state militia troops to prevent violence, was outraged, calling the government’s actions unconstitutional."

Continuing...

With the arrival of federal troops, the Pullman strike turned bloody, with some rioters destroying hundreds of railroad cars in South Chicago on July 6, and National Guardsmen firing into a mob on July 7, killing as many as 30 people and wounding many others.

The American Railway Union (ARU) had been formed earlier with 3,000 members and its head, Eugene V. Debs. Eventually, "125,000 American railway workers on 29 railroads had quit work rather than handle Pullman cars. The Pullman strike shut down rail traffic and commerce in 27 states stretching from Chicago to the West Coast, with Debs and four other ARU leaders arrested, later released on $10,000 bond. More on Eugene Debs later.

The Pullman Strike of 1894 Explained: US History Review...

I cannot begin to count the hours I spent in Pullman cars from a toddler up into my teens. My father was an executive on the Illinois Central Railroad and we always took this method to travel. I have to admit the clackety-clack of the steel wheels on the iron rails was very soothing and did put me to sleep. We relocated every two years as my father moved up the ladder, and also due to the fact he was instrumental in building railroad bridges across the country.

And back to Eugene Debs, following his arrest the ARU was disbanded. Debs, however, went on to become the leader of the nation’s growing socialist movement, running for president five times on the Socialist Party ticket. The railroads did survive, only to run into tough competition years later by the trucking industry and the airlines. But, railroads are expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.4% from 2022 to 2030. My father would be pleased.

If you would still like more information on the real meaning of Labor Day, here are three sites:

Labor Day 2022

How a Deadly Railroad Strike Led to the Labor Day Holiday

Who started Labor Day? The bloody and confusing history of an American holiday

UPDATE: Former Trump AG Wm. Barr "Dismisses" Request for Special Master

 

UPDATE: The Daily Beast has confirmed what many thought about the Donald Trump special master appointment: "Trump Went Judge Shopping and It Paid Off in Mar-a-Lago Case." READ MORE...

Judge Aileen M. Cannon was appointed to the bench just two years ago by Donald Trump and, coincidentally, she is able to call for a "special master" to review Mar-a-Lago classified documents to determine potential attorney-client privilege and possible executive privilege. Once again another T-rump strategy, if you can't beat 'em, delay the whole thing. The Justice Dept. responded...

"a special master is unnecessary, and the unprecedented FBI search of a former president’s home was justified. The filing alleged that Trump and his advisers repeatedly failed to turn over highly classified government documents even after receiving a subpoena and pledging that a “diligent search” had been conducted, leading to the Aug. 8 raid that found more than 100 additional classified items."

Apparently " Judge Cannon signaled her “preliminary intent” to appoint a special master before she had solicited opinions from the government. And in an MSNBC opinion the point was made...

"U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed by Donald Trump only two years ago, should recuse herself and not rule on Trump’s request for a special master to review the documents the FBI seized during its Aug. 8 search of Mar a-Lago."

Familiar Trump Stall Strategy Plays Out In 'Special Master' Gambit...

Alan Feuer of the New York Times doesn't think all this furor will delay the DOJ and MSNBC reports...

"Not only is the Department of Justice investigating a former president and the acknowledged leader of the Republican Party, but it is also investigating a possible future presidential candidate. Thus, it’s vitally important that the public have no suspicion that those refereeing the case between Trump and the DOJ are being persuaded by their politics or personal ambitions."

Both sides are appealing to Judge Canon on Thursday afternoon with the government describing the case on NBC in "grave terms" with this retort from the opposition...

Trump lawyer Jim Trusty compared it to something more mundane. “We’ve characterized it at times as an overdue-library-book scenario where there’s a dispute — not even a dispute — but ongoing negotiations with [the National Archives] that has suddenly been transformed into a criminal investigation,” he said, sidestepping that the Justice Department had issued a subpoena for the documents earlier this year.

 With this kind of argument, Donald Trump might want to make arrangements at home to spend this Christmas in prison...hopefully!

How Would we Fight a Modern Civil War in the U.S.?

 

In the Civil War of 1861, there was a clear distinction between opponents; north of the Mason Dixon Line and south of the Mason Dixon Line. The north, of course, were the federal forces being opposed by the Confederate Army in the south. Eleven southern states left the Union in 1860 and 1861 because of the long-standing disagreement over the institution of slavery...

Although the North did want to block slavery, they were also concerned that an extra slave state would give the South a political advantage.

As you can see, there is no doubt why they were fighting this war, and also no question who the players were. So, now to the question, 'How would you separate this country in a civil conflict of today?' As an example, on my street in a Phoenix suburb, I know of at least one other liberal family, but for the most part, the rest are conservatives, one known Trump supporter. We are right next door to each other so do you see the problem of opposite sides doing battle?

Of course, we don't yet know what kind of clash it would turn out to be; a violent one or a war of ideologies addressed through social media and the press. Or, a combination of both, possibly somewhere in between. This is perhaps one of the biggest unknowns that has ever faced this country. Marc Fisher's perspective in the Washington Post is...

"It’s easy and logical to conclude that the United States today stands as close to the edge of civil war as it has since 1861."

 'The Next Civil War' Looks At Our Current Divided Area And What's Ahead...

There seems to be no doubt of the imminence, but no one appears to be sure of the shape it will take. The experts surmise why...

"They point to evidence that can seem persuasive: a blizzard of threats against FBI agents, judges, elected officials, school board members and elections supervisors; training camps where heavily armed radicals practice to confront their own government; and polls showing that many Americans expect violent conflict."

What bothers me most is "that many Americans expect violent conflict." To substantiate that Science.org says...

"Firearm deaths in the United States grew by nearly 43% between 2010 and 2020, and gun sales surged during the coronavirus pandemic."

Despite all the propaganda from NRA head, Wayne LaPierre and his Republican minions, we know what more guns on the street means; more shooting violence and more innocent deaths. But not so fast says Marc Fisher, with all the violent rhetoric there may be another expectation. There are, indeed, plenty of threats...

"But the Anti-Defamation League and other watchdog groups are not seeing the kind of specific planning by private militias and online assemblages of radicals that was evident before last year’s Jan. 6 insurrection and the white-supremacist march in Charlottesville in 2017." 

There is more from the ADL...

“We are living in a country where disinformation, conspiracy thinking and lies have resulted in deadly attacks,” said Oren Segal, vice president of the ADL’s Center on Extremism. “It’s not exactly kumbaya in this society. But we have been going through this for a long time now, and I don’t see people coming together in the more coherent organizing we saw prior to Jan. 6.”

But Robert Reich says, "The second American civil war is already happening." He thinks America is becoming "two versions of itself and wonders "how will the two be civil toward each other?" This article, although over 3 months old, still hits the mark in this issue. Reich explains it this way...

"The second American civil war is already occurring, but it is less of a war than a kind of benign separation analogous to unhappily married people who don’t want to go through the trauma of a formal divorce.

"One America is largely urban, racially and ethnically diverse, and young. The other is largely rural or exurban, white and older."

As conservative writer Kurt Schlichter said in his book, We'll Be Back: The Fall and Rise of America, "It's nice to hold cities, but if you do not also hold all the rural territory between the cities, as well as the routes to the places where you are getting your food and fuel, you have a real problem." So what's the answer? Americans are flocking together based on ideologies with animosity toward those in the opposing party higher than at any time in living memory.

Then, Marc Fisher points out there are two sets of analysts...

"those who say we’re heading toward civil strife and those who say the threat matrix is largely limited to lone rangers and small, disorganized groups whose dangerous but scattered acts don’t constitute a civil war — agree there is little chance of an organized, violent attack on the government, or of local or state authorities taking up arms against their federal counterparts. But there remains a sharp divide over whether a mounting series of individual and small-group attacks could add up to a warlike conflict that destabilizes the country."

Don't know which is worse. In one case there would be a defining difference in warring factions but near impossible to separate the two as in the Civil War of 1861. But in the second, it could be literally neighbor fighting neighbor. It would give a new name to block parties and can you even comprehend being shot at by the folks next door? There are so many issues from abortions to racism and it doesn't look like there is a peaceful way to settle this.

All I wanted is to live but...

 

...my forever family didn't want me anymore. Did you know that 47% of dogs and 42% of cats are abandoned by owners each year? The no-kill shelters try to save as many as possible--they strive for 9 out of 10--but approximately 1.5 million animals are euthanized annually. Broken down this is about 670,000 dogs and 860,000 cats. And do you really know what happens when you take your pet to a kill shelter?...

Typically, the holding period before euthanasia runs from five to seven days. However, it can be as short as 48 to 72 hours in some cases.

The answer is a combination of education, feral animal catch and neuter/spay, and supporting your local rescues and shelters so they can provide quality care for more animals. Think twice before abandoning a pet that is like another child to the family. Just imagine how they feel being dumped after believing they had their forever home.

Steve Jobs/Apple Responsible for High E-book prices

 

Remember when you could get a newly released E-book for as little as $3.95 in the early days of the electronic revolution? David Baldacci is a best-selling author of thrillers with an amazing track record selling over 100 million books worldwide. His latest, The 6:20 Man, is number 45 on Amazon books. The hardcover sells on Amazon for $15.39, the Kindle edition for $14.99. That is only a 40 cents difference. Amazon thinks that pricing is an essential factor. 

Michael Kozlowski in Good E Reader says, digital books on the Kindle, Nook or Kobo are way more expensive now than ever before and it is the fault of major publishers who control the prices. Remember now the earlier Kindle price of $3,95.  Here's the scenario...

"All good things come to an end. When Apple launched their iBooks Store, Steve jobs met with the heads of all of major publishers. He wanted them to gain more control over the digital publishing business and create a uniform pricing structure. This was known as a cartel, which is illegal."

Steve Jobs' Role in the E-Book Pricing Conspiracy...

Amazon pioneered the concept of paying $9.99 for a new E-book from a major publisher the day it was released. E-books were cheaper than paperbacks and significantly cheaper than a hardcover which could sell for over $25,00. Experts say Amazon was losing money on Kindle books but it was well worth it to promote their product, the Kindle Reader. I am on my second and have always looked for books by price.

However, I must admit having an ardent interest in some classics that can be found as low as that old $3.95 price. I shy away from best-sellers unless it is what I call a necessary read hoping the Kindle price will eventually go down. It never does. My gut tells me this new "cartel" of publishers is not letting that happen. The U.S. Justice Department got involved in what I call price-fixing in a case against Apple and all of the publishers.

After a few years...

"the five publishers settled for $166m (£120m), while Apple lost at trial and was ordered to pay out $450m in 2016, after a lengthy legal process that ended when the US supreme court declined to hear the company’s challenge."

 

Kozlowski says...

"It is very rare that publishers ever reduce the price of an E-book. When a new title is released and the publisher sets the price, they hardly ever discount the E-book at a future date."

I still think this is a matter of price-fixing but with a conservative Supreme Court today, you'd never get them to agree. Now don't get me wrong, the Kindle is a    great tool for the avid reader and with Amazon Prime you have a multitude of choices for reduced price, even free books, including those on audio. So, although we can thank the Apple folks for setting up this "price-fixing" arrangement, it would appear digital books are here to stay.