News Catch Up Time

 

'This defines the Roberts Court': Chief justice's wife earns millions placing lawyers at firms that argue cases...Since SCOTUS has gone conservative, it has also gone corrupt. First, there was Justice Clarence Thomas' wife, Ginni, now Chief Justice John Roberts' spouse can...

make millions of dollars recruiting attorneys who are placed into top law firms that argue cases before it?

Dozens of dogs left freezing to death in cold...A northwest side of San Antonio is only one U.S. city where over a dozen dogs were left out in the cold. Texas weather has been brutal and animals can freeze to death in a short while. PLEASE bring your pets in from the cold and report any strays. It could mean their life!

Ex-colleague of chief justice's wife makes ethics claim...More confirmation on SCOTUS Chief Justice John Roberts' wife, Jane, for unethical behavior.

A comprehensive list of Florida’s freedoms...NOT! This article illustrates just

how far the Fla. Gov. Ron (the despot) DeSantis' wrecking ball has gone, as an example...

Books. Specifically books that make students feel uncomfortable in any way, so that their parents need never endure a more complicated discussion than “tendies or nuggies?”

A homeless mother left a note with her dog for whoever found her. An animal shelter reunited them...Finally, a good news story for both the homeless and a    bandoned animals, in this case with no choice. Heartwarming!

Nearly Two-Thirds Say They’re Worse Off Than Two Years Ago...And it's not all Republicans. Some Democrats agree. With wages and the economy up and the unemployed down, am I missing something?

Judge suggests abortion might be protected by 13th Amendment despite Supreme Court ruling...SCOTUS Judge Samuel Alito is guilty of ramroding the repeal of Roe v. Wade and the country has been sorry ever since. And I think pro-abortion will find a way.

Missouri dog euthanized after grooming; family calls for accountability...A mistake like this is unconscionable. In fact, any euthanization of animals should be illegal. We MUST work together; the public, animal shelters and local governments, to curb the uncontrolled populations of pets. Then, the feds can pass a law to make Euthanization against the law.

100 gun deaths a day, about half suicides, most of them men...Gun sales go up and the natural result is more gun violence. Fortunately the NRA is in its drmise so we no longer have these sayings like, 'Guns don't kill people, people kill people.' #1, ban assault weapons; #2, beef up background checks; #3, eliminate concealed and open carry unless necessary; #4, pass tougher gun control laws. And do it before gun violence kills more innocent people.

How 'the most lawless jurist in the country' could ban medical abortions 'in all 50 states': journalists..."In less than three years, Kacsmaryk (the lawless jurist) has seized control over border policy, repeatedly defied the Supreme Court’s decision protecting LGBTQ employees, and restricted minors’ access to birth control." The journalists point out three massive flaws in the case...

First, none of the plaintiffs "have a remotely plausible claim to standing," or "ability to sue in federal court."

Second, the "substantive arguments are ridiculous."

Third, a federal judge has never banned a drug "by wholly revoking FDA approval."

There's one more...you thought demonstrations were bad before, just watch if this moron takes away the abortion pill. 

MORE LATER...

UPDATE: Gun Nuts Abuse Their Right To Carry Arms Intimidating The Innocent

 

UPDATE: DAILY BEAST: 

It’s Sickening How Many Guns Were Sold on Black Friday

Right here in Phoenix we had groups of Trumpsters/2020 election deniers out shadowing voters at drop boxes, and it was all legal. Voters were scared for their safety since many of the intimidators were heavily armed. Arizona is, of course, wide open to guns, even allowing them in bars. It is a normal day in this state to see someone walking around the streets packing heat. Ownership requires only a warm body. But all this has escalated into something much worse.

Here's the way Mike McIntire of the New York Times sees it...

"Across the country, openly carrying a gun in public is no longer just an exercise in self-defense — increasingly it is a soapbox for elevating one’s voice and, just as often, quieting someone else’s."

Okay, it is one thing to stand on the corner armed to the hilt trying to stare down a voter. But it is quite another thing to confront your opponents swinging an AR-15 in their face. It is clearly a threat and that is exactly how it is meant to be. Here's a recent headline from The Guardian, "Six million Americans carried guns daily in 2019, twice as many as in 2015." This study by the American Journal of Public Health continues...

"The new estimates highlight a decades-long shift in American gun ownership, with increasing percentages of gun owners saying they own firearms for self-defense, not hunting or recreation, and choosing to carry a gun with them when they go out in public..."

Responsible Gun Owners Don't Use Guns to Intimidate...

I don't buy this "self defense" crap when you are out in public, but it sometimes can be valid at home when you are threatened. Authentic statistics that confirm gun carriers have been instrumental in stopping a gun confrontation or saving a life are hard to find; I am sure there are some but this hardly justifies the coercion of innocent people with an assault rifle, as is depicted in this NYT article. And the Editorial Board of the Washington Post wants us to be honest about guns...

"The mass shootings that plague this nation are a uniquely American jumble of contradictions. Each new one horrifies, and yet fits into a depressingly familiar pattern. Communities count the dead — nearly 50 so far in November — and tally the gruesome details. The country vows to honor the lives cut short. And then it all fades from the headlines and people move on, leaving behind thoughts and prayers but no concrete policies to stop the next bloodbath."

The month of November will be over tomorrow and there have been "nearly 50"

deaths due to gun violence in this month alone. Merry Christmas from the NRA. SCOTUS has made things even easier...

"A landmark supreme court case this summer overturned a New York law that placed strict limits on public gun-carrying, ruling, for the first time, that Americans have a constitutional right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home."

The Guardian says an estimated 16 million adults...

"saying they carried a loaded handgun in public at least once a month, and an estimated 6 million saying they did so daily..."

It may be legal to carry guns in public, even for those who have no training on how to use them, but the time is coming when a comatose public will finally wake up to the horrifying innocent deaths due to gun violence in the U.S. and wreak havoc on this insane gun culture. Better sooner than later!

Should We Cancel Thanksgiving This Year? NO but...

 

Starting with the corruptive enigma that almost brought down this country, Donald Trump has decided to run for President again.

I, and millions more can't be thankful for that.

I am not thankful for the amount of animal abuse and cruelty that is going on in the U,S, and in the world. In this country an estimated 115 million animals in science labs are killed every year for chemical, drug, food, and cosmetics research. Every 60 seconds, one animal suffers abuse; Every year, more than 10 million animals die from abuse in the US alone; There are over 10,000 puppy mills in the United States.

Millions are definitely not thankful for this. And I do not see how anyone could abuse an innocent animal; it takes a sick human being to do something like this.

Next, the idiot Elon Musk, a leader in electric vehicles, recently bought Twitter and is slowly but surely dismantling one of the best social medias the world has known.

Again, myself and millions can't be thankful for that.

A number of viruses, infections, new variants and most recently a deadly fungus threaten the U.S. population. How did it start and then spread so fast?

Once more, millions recognize that beginning with the pandemic and continuing with the current onslaught of calamities must, to some degree, be blamed on anti-vaxxers that we certainly can't be thankful for.

A recent blue tsunami in the November election is something to be thankful for, but the GOP although barely winning the House, does open the door to idiocies like the Hunter Biden investigation being planned by Jim Jordan.

Certainly nothing to be thankful for on either side of the aisle.

And then there are Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, the shallow and brainless Bobbsey twins that barely tip the meter of double-digit IQs.

If you really searched high and low, there is absolutely no way to be thankful for these two idiots. 

Look at gun violence. With two recent incidents of mass shootings at the Univ. of Virginia and another at LGBTQ Club, Club Q, eight are dead along with multiple injuries. There have been 39,005 gun violence deaths so far this year and 34,706 injuries from gun violence.

No one should be thankful for the National Rifle Assn. and its head, Wayne LaPierre, as well as the minions that serve him. Also, those gun nuts out there who have blocked responsible gun legislation.

Perhaps the most pressing problem the world has ever had, climate change is drying up lakes that are critical for reservoirs in the U.S. and causing weather calamities that are changing lives around the world. Although the Republicans take the lead in the denial of this issue. the Democrats have also dragged their feet. WHO estimates that half of the world’s population will be living in water-stressed areas by 2025.

How could anyone possibly be thankful for this.

The U. S. has a Supreme Court that has moved so far to the right there are calls for impeachment for at least two judges, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. In the court's recent decision to in effect repeal the abortion act, Roe v. Wade, millions of women have been compromised, and they are mad as hell. They showed their anger in the recent election by turning back the expected red tide.

Yes, there are millions who are not thankful that the right to control their own bodies has been taken away from them.

Democracy is slowly dying, made possible by the autocratic government of Donald Trump's administration in the White House, supported vigorously by the Republican Party. 

Who could want their rights taken away from them and end up living like basketball star Brittney Griner has been forced to do? But this is the way they do it in a fascist government.

And the last entry leads to the question of whether Americans could live without their right to vote. If Republicans have their way vote will be restricted for some constituents; as an example, the black vote.

I am not thankful for the many laws the GOP has managed to pass and the new drawing of voting districts just to favor the right.

There are more I know but this is enough for now. 

Back to my original question, NO we shouldn't cancel Thanksgiving. What we must do is be thankful that we still have the right to fight tyranny and make it a 2023 resolution to try and mend the fences that have been erected by both the Republicans and Democrats, and return to the use of the two words negotiate and compromise. Without them, we are a lost nation. 

 

Clips From Nasty Jack Buzz: Gun Violence

 

The night of Nov. 13, 2022, three people were shot and killed on the campus of the University of Virginia. Two others were injured. The three dead were football players. The shooter, Christopher Darnell Jones, is in custody. Yahoo!News says...

"A former student athlete accused of fatally shooting three University of Virginia football players was able to legally buy two guns after failing a background check last year and trying to get a handgun while underage four years ago, according to the gun shop that sold him the firearms."

And then only hours later, four University of Idaho students were found dead in an

off-campus house. CNN reports...

Moscow [Idaho] police said they are investigating the deaths as homicides, but did not provide any other information about what happened. As of midday Monday, no suspect was in custody. Anyone with information about the case has been asked to contact police.

Two gun violence murder scenes so close together, it was hard for the media to decide which to concentrate on. It is no doubt the Idaho killings that will receive the most focus until the shooter is caught. Authorities called it senseless killings but did not get into the basics that lead to this kind of brutality resulting in unlimited bloodshed. I looked at the Gun Violence Archive and this is the gun violence activity in only the last 72 hours. The list is almost endless with 10 pages.

The hard numbers are 39,005 gun violence deaths so far this year. There were 34,706 injuries from gun violence. Of these 285 children (age 0-11) were killed, 627 injured. Added to this teens (age 12-17), 1,194 dead, 3,354 injured. There are 390 million guns out on U.S. streets with a population of 329 million people. America rules the world as the Czar of guns and gun violence. This is not a reputation most citizens of this country want, but are comatose when it comes to action. 

I have selected a few posts done on gun violence, as follows:

This one actually came to pass in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection of the U.S. Capitol, "Gun violence bloodshed threatened if 2020 goes to Democrats." Here's an excerpt...

You would expect no less from Fox News and other conservative news outlets than to suggest gun violence bloodshed should the Democrats win big in 2020. It's looking likely that they will so these anarchistic terrorists are "threatening mass violence and a bloody people’s revolt in the streets."

And turning back to 2018, "American Medical Association asks for ban on assault weapons." It's about time the people who witness gun violence firsthand get in the act. Here's a startling clip...

The ban of assault weapons in the U.S. today should be a given based on the number of school children killed by one of these weapons in 2018 alone. Kids all over the country are expressing their fear of going to school because they are afraid they will be the next victim. Just a couple of years ago some youngsters were scared to face the school bully. That bully has now decided to arm himself and wipe out as many as 44 students.

Are COVID-19 deaths more relevant than gun deaths? Comparing gun deaths

to Covid deaths, I cite Donald Trump, then in the Oval Office, because of his reluctance to acknowledge the pandemic, as leading the American public into a state of apathy similar to the gun violence problem. Here's a selection from that post...

And here we go again says Charlie Warzel in the New York Times...

"The coronavirus scenario I can’t stop thinking about is the one where we simply get used to all the dying."

And therein rests the problem. The American public was tricked into indifference over the deaths from gun violence by Wayne LaPierre, the NRA head, and his minions. and once again when Donald Trump refused to address the coronavirus pandemic. Unfortunately both gun violence and the Covid virus continue to spread. 

Here are all my gun violence posts to read...

 

 

2022 Election Republican Extremists

 

The nation's focus is on Arizona because the experts say that if the radical slate of extremist candidates win, democracy is lost in the state. The concern is over a select five including Kari Lake, running for governor, Mark Finchem for Sec. State, Blake Masters, U.S. Senate and incumbent House members Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs. All 2020 election deniers. Gosar's family even says do not vote for him. There are more not on the current active list which I will cover later.

What can I say about Kari Lake?...She's a misinformation lunatic and possibly the next train wreck to hit Arizona unless she is stopped. If you go to "Search," above, and type in her name, there are numerous posts that express the need to defeat her. One of my favorites is "Kari Lake, Potentially Most Dangerous Politician in America," It recounts one of her latest lies saying she has won the election...

"Lake boasted that recent polls showed her up 11 points and 9 points just before Fox News flashed a graphic of the latest New York Times/Siena College poll showing the race tied at 48 to 48 percent." 

You cannot believe Kari Lake so why would anyone but an idiot want her for the next governor of Arizona? VOTE FOR KATIE HOBBS (D) TOMORROW!

Mark Finchem is a devout 2020 election denier, but his most serious downside is the fact that he has said, if elected, he wants to do away with 'vote by mail' in Arizona and will make changes to the state's voting system that will make it harder to go to the polls in the future. In a debate this whacko admitted 'the big lie" is a fraud. Duties of the Arizona Secretary of State include serving as the state's chief election officer. So, VOTE FOR ADRIAN FONTES (D) TOMORROW!

Blake Masters, another avid believer that the 2020 election was won by Donald Trump, not Joe Biden. Masters is not alone...

"Election deniers will be on the ballot in 48 of 50 states and make up more than half of all Republicans running for congressional and state offices in the midterm elections. Nearly 300 Republicans seeking those offices this November have denied or questioned the outcome of the last presidential election, according to a Washington Post analysis."

This is unconscionable as is Masters' position in Arizona. VOTE FOR INCUMBENT SENATOR MARK KELLY TOMORROW! 

Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar, two Arizona House members that should have been voted out years ago. My blog on February 9, of this year, following the Republican insurrection of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, "ARIZONA: Home of Insurrectionists." pretty much labels Biggs and Gosar the anarchists they are. Added to that...

Leading Phoenix columnist E.J. Montini says it all in his headline, "Arizona's Jan. 6 insurrectionists should be barred from holding office."

The same should apply, of course, to the other 2020 deniers mentioned above. But it all comes down to the 14th Amendment; here is Section 3...

No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

And the other non-active Arizona election participants are Karen Fann, Kelli

Ward and Wendy Rogers. Fann, as Arizona Senate Pres. ordered an audit of the election results in Maricopa County, hiring a firm that was founded by a pro-Trump conspiracy theorist who promoted false claims of fraud. And Ward, after losing three Arizona elections, was chosen as chair of the Arizona Republican Party and who filed lawsuits seeking to nullify the state's (AZ) 2020 election results.

Finally, Wendy Rogers, the Arizona state Senator who was the focus of an ethics investigation by her own party for a comment on the Buffalo gun massacre...

“Of course I condemn the violence in Buffalo, who doesn’t?” Rogers tweeted on Monday morning – two days after suggesting it was a false flag attack by a federal agent.

 Could it get any hotter? Many political pundits are exclaiming, 'so goes Arizona, so goes the rest of the U.S. The local newspaper, The Arizona Republic, a conservative publication said this...

"Don't sit out this election. The stakes are too high"

VOTE TOMORROW AND MAKE THIS A BLUE TSUNAMI! 

Joe Biden Administration Accomplishments

 

People are still making up their minds before going to the polls next Tuesday. Over 20 million Americans have already voted and the U.S. Elections Project reports that more Democrats than Republicans have voted early. With a turnout of 154.8 million (66.8% 18+) in 2020, and with expectations higher for the 2022 midterms, there should be an onslaught on Nov. 8. Michael Moore says it will be a blue tsunami. It should be, based on the accomplishments of the Biden

administration from Matt Robison of RawStory.

You also must credit certain Democrat congressional members for their support of the President's agenda; and then there are others like Sen. Krysten Sinema of Arizona and Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia that fought Biden all the way. However, the Biden administration hasn't done a good job of communicating their record achievements, an effort I hope to rectify here to the best of my ability. So, just before that surge to the polls, here are the real facts on Joe Biden.

Let's start with jobs: The greatest single year of job creation in American history, more than 6 million in 2021, a decrease of 16 million receiving unemployment benefits, and the biggest drop in the unemployment rate in history. Including manufacturing jobs, the biggest yearly increase in US manufacturing jobs in nearly 30 years. Democrats’ new incentives for key industries have already led to announcements of thousands of new manufacturing jobs.

The covid pandemic:  Biden executed the most successful American 

vaccination program in history – from under 1 percent of adults fully vaccinated to over 75 percent, with over 500 million shots administered – and from less than half of schools open to almost all of them.

Budget: Jerome Powell has been in a year-long effort to lower the inflation with some success. And, there is the Inflation Reduction Act which reduces the deficit by $300 billion.

For Safety: The President passed the biggest anti-violence measure in decades, including the Gun Safety bill and strengthening the Violence Against Women Act.

Protecting America and our allies: No country has been more active in the support of Ukraine and its fight against the Russians. Biden also kept the NATO alliance together in support of Ukraine following the Russian invasion, brought in two new countries and took out the world’s number one terrorist, Ayman al-Zawahri.

 Top Moments of Joe Biden's Presidency...

For diversity and equality: Democrats made lynching a federal hate crime, made Juneteenth a federal holiday and Biden appointed more Black women to the US Court of Appeals in one year than any president in history.

Confronting poverty: The Democrats' child tax credit created the largest-ever one-year decrease in childhood poverty in U.S. history, around 3 million kids were affected. Households saying they didn’t have enough to eat dropped by a third.

Healthcare: Democrats’ new tax credits resulted in a record 14.5 million Americans signing up through the ACA, including 5.8 million new people getting coverage. They forced drug companies to negotiate prices for the elderly and capped costs at $2,000 per year. This will save elders thousands annually.

Support the police: Democrats passed 4 bills supporting both police and 

crime victims. During Biden's administration he has had to contend with Republicans, especially Donald Trump, advocating violence.

For Veterans: Democrats allocated funds for hundreds of thousands sickened by burn pits in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

Climate Change: The Inflation Reduction Act includes the largest investment in history to address global warming. Biden rejoined the Paris Climate Accords and the EPA established strong new fuel economy standards.

Roads, bridges, energy: the bipartisan infrastructure bill will finally fix America’s infrastructure. In 2022 alone, repairs are starting on 65,000 miles of roads and 1,500 bridges, with thousands of jobs created.

As you can see, there is something for everyone. Joe Biden may be softspoken and laid back but he acts with the forceful action this country needs to move back into its place in the world as a leader. We need Biden and supporting Democrats to get the job done after the damage the Republican Party has wreaked on America, led by Donald Trump. We need Joe Biden as president to protect our democracy.

  

Kari Lake Lies Again - Makes Joke About Pelosi Assault

 

As I said in my blog post yesterday, "Kari Lake, Potentially Most Dangerous Politician in America," this country has a desperate problem on its hands if this lunatic is elected to any government office. Republicans are having a field day with the Paul Pelosi assault, with Elon Musk doing his own muckraking, and Lake is licking her conspiracy theory chops as usual. She expects to win the Arizona governor's office Nov. 8, with her special brand of misinformation. 

The Republican disinformation machine is never silent, it purrs right along and has picked up significant speed before the elections. Paul Pelosi, the husband of Nancy Pelosi, Democrat Speaker of the House, is the perfect target. Beyond tasteless, Lake is not alone, Yahoo!News reports, "Prominent Republicans push conspiracy theories about attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband." Some of those mentioned are Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La. and Virginia Gov. Republican Glenn Youngkin.

There are more, and of course...

Donald Trump Jr., meanwhile, shared an Instagram post on Sunday night featuring a photograph of a hammer on top of a pair of Hanes underwear that he captioned, “Got my Paul Pelosi Halloween costume ready.” Trump Jr. doubled down on Monday, reposting the meme and adding the comment, “The internet remains undefeated… Also if you switch out the hammer for a red feather boa you could be Hunter Biden in an instant.” He also shared on Instagram a meme that showed two men having sex and the older one on the phone telling police he’s being attacked.

We expect this kind of nonsensical nonsense from the Trump family but not from elected officials the American public should be able to expect civility from. But, there is no civility left in the Republican Party and that, folks, is the problem. Nancy Pelosi was in Washington, "but Paul Pelosi, 82, suffered a fractured skull and underwent surgery at a local hospital. He is expected to make a full recovery." Yet the GOP has chosen to do their smearing at the bottom of the barrel on this.

She just flat-out lied': Cooper calls out Kari Lake's false claim about Paul Pelosi...

Here is Elon Musk's statement with added comment from Yahoo...

“There is a tiny possibility there might be more to this story than meets the eye,” Musk tweeted, along with a link to an account of the attack in the Santa Monica Observer, a site with a history of posting right-wing misinformation.

Musk subsequently deleted the tweet, but he did not post any admission that it was false or apologize for defaming Pelosi. Instead he mocked the New York Times for accurately reporting what he had done.

Saying he is not attached to either political party, he sure sounds like a Republican

to me.

Heading back to Arizona, another political freak...

Wendy Rogers, a Republican state senator in Arizona, shared a phony Amazon listing for a “Paul Pelosi Fake Attack Plastic Novelty Item” that included a blood-stained hammer. Anthony Sabatini, a Republican state legislator in Florida, posted “RELEASE THE PELOSI TAPES” on Twitter. (It’s not clear what tapes he is referring to.)

But here is the ultimate of bad taste... 

"Last Wednesday, Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., posted on Twitter a video of himself firing a rifle and the hashtag #FirePelosi. In an interview with CBS on Sunday, Emmer was asked if he would take down the tweet and if he would stop running ads focused on Pelosi. He declined to do either."

With gun violence raging in America, this moron uses a gun to mock Nancy Pelosi. If the American public doesn't realize the dilemma we are in and correct it in the upcoming election, the U.S. is destined for disaster. VOTE DEMOCRAT NOV. 8! 

Gun Violence is here! Why are we still Debating About it?

 

The debate of whether to enact strict(er) gun laws should have ended years ago. It would have if not for National Rifle Assn. head, Wayne LaPierre, and his gun nut minions. ABC reports...

"There have been more than 500 mass shootings in the U.S. so far this year, according to a tracker from the Gun Violence Archive. Two of those shootings -- one at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York and the other at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas -- sparked nationwide outrage and debate about gun violence."

And we finally have a response from the state of Oregon where voters will consider a gun reform measure on the ballot this year. It's a start and, hopefully, other states will take notice after a year of unnecessary gun violence resulting in 37,018 deaths so far and 32,962 injuries. We've even had feedback from a "drugged" Congress in the passing of red flag laws, closing the "boyfriend loophole" and enhancing background checks for potential gun buyers under the age of 21.

Gun violence in America shows no sign of slowing after new spate of mass shootings...

Here's Rev. Mark Knutson, one Oregon's chief petitioners behind Measure 114 and chair of the group Lift Every Voice...

"It's been called the Oregon model," Knutson said, adding, "I think it'll give a lot of courage to state legislatures, if they can see a major victory come out of Oregon."

Gun control is not a priority issue today, which is unbelievable to me when you consider the above statistics. For the upcoming election the economy and abortion are on the top of the list. Issues we have to address but with minimum attention to gun violence, we can expect over 3,000 otherwise avoidable gun deaths each month. Think about it. 

Republicans Spreading More MisInformation Before Midterms

 

Robert Reich has done it again in his post, "Republicans are trying to win by spreading three false talking points. Here’s the truth." Reich's three main thrusts are crime, inflation and IRS auditing harassment. Reich destroys the GOP's attacks with something the right rarely acknowledges...truth.

Have Democrats Been Soft on Crime?

It is common knowledge that it is Republicans that have put more guns on the street; more than the U.S. population. Here is the scenario...

"While violent crime rose 28% from 2019 to 2020, gun homicides rose 35%. States that have weakened gun laws have seen gun crime surge. Clearly, a major driver of the national increase in violence is the easy availability of guns."

And lack of police funding...

"While violent crime rose 28% from 2019 to 2020, gun homicides rose 35%. States that have weakened gun laws have seen gun crime surge. Clearly, a major driver of the national increase in violence is the easy availability of guns."

These scripted conversations on gun rights come direct from Wayne LaPierre and his NRA minions who favor guns over innocent lives.

Analysis: The three things Republicans are betting on in the midterms...

Inflation 

It isn't Biden’s spending, and wage increases that have caused domestic inflation. It is greedy U.S. Corporations that are "taking advantage of inflation by raising their prices higher than their increasing costs." This also includes things like food and gas during the Covid pandemic. And blaming heavy spending on Biden, not so...

"heavy spending by the US government began in 2020, before the Biden administration, in order to protect Americans and the economy from the ravages of Covid-19 – and it was necessary."

And American workers getting wage increases...Reich says...

"American workers getting wage increases? Wages can’t be pushing inflation because wages have been increasing at a slower pace than prices – leaving most workers worse off."

Hiring an Army of IRS Agents to Harass the Middle Class 

Pure bunk. Why would Biden go after the middle class when they are a big part of his plan to improve the economy. No, it is rather the wealthy and tax cheaters that are the target...

"The extra staff are needed to boost efforts against high-end tax evasion – which is more difficult to root out, because the ultra-wealthy hire squads of accountants and tax attorneys to hide their taxable incomes."

If you think Donald Trump is still the biggest liar in the GOP, and that could be what Republicans want, you must consider this wave of misinformation from the right when you go to the polls next month. I urge you to read Robert Reich's post because there is much more than I covered. VOTE DEMOCRAT ON NOV. 8! 

Time to Load the Supreme Court with Liberals

 

Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh told Sen. Susan Collins that he would not overturn Roe v. Wade. She voted for his court appointment then in June he and five other justices did in fact vote to overturn Roe. He lied and is he really fit to serve? Was Collins naive or did she just come dumb because there were signs all over the place what the decision would be. I know this is somewhat old news but it does reflect questionable acts of the conservative judiciary across the country.

Like Florida Judge Aileen Cannon, appointed by Donald Trump, who succumbed to his request for a "Special Master" to verify the Mar-a-Lago classified files that the former Oval Office lunatic had absconded with. Apparently the fact that the DOJ had already confirmed the fact they were all the way up to top secret and contained U.S. nuclear information did not register with Judge Cannon who recently was deemed "unfit for the bench," said political observers.

Conventional wisdom has it that the Roe decision will have an effect on the midterms, and that is already apparent considering my recent blog post, "Female Vote Could Decide Midterm Elections," which revealed that Roe's overturn...

"pissed off 67% of the female population that have been showing their opposition with demonstrations all over the country."

But back to Florida Judge Cannon, The Atlantic says...

"By appointing a special master to review the Mar-a-Lago documents, Judge Aileen Cannon gave Trump the special treatment he asked for—and undermined the values of her profession."

In this article, by legal expert Andrew Weissmann, he says, "Her ruling is untethered to the law and presents a skewed recitation of the facts." That says a lot for Cannon's ethics and raises the question of whether this all could be "payback" for her appointment. More from John Stoehr in the AlterNet...

"His [Kavanaugh] confirmation is getting attention for another reason. It came before the 2018 midterms. The conventional wisdom is that the confirmation of a credibly accused sexual predator nominated by another credibly sexual predator [Trump] to a lifetime job on a court that would rule on Roe animated women to produce that year’s blue wave."

3 Years ago: Collins: Kavanaugh won't overturn Roe v. Wade...

And, Common Dreams avows "The Current US Supreme Court Is Not Constitutionally Legitimate." That's a pretty hefty statement but Common Dreams is a hefty organization, a newsworthy non-profit with advocacy in multi-dimensional categories. Here's their take...

"On Friday, June 24, an extremist majority of the U.S. Supreme Court overruled more than 50 years of legal precedent, taking away a previously recognized fundamental right for the first time in the court's history."

The article acknowledges the fact that Roe's overturning...

"unleashed the full force of a regressive, coordinated state-by-state attack on the already perilously eroded right to access an abortion, on women's rights, the human right to bodily autonomy, privacy, and control over our own lives and dignity, and to life-saving healthcare and freedoms."

There are 74 million women and girls throughout the U.S. who have been raising

their voice of concern for months. It is also a fact that poor women, women of color, transgender, and gender non-confirming people will suffer the most. What is most bizarre is Justice Alito's comparison between Plessy v. Ferguson, (an 1896 Supreme Court case), not completely applicable, and Roe v. Wade leading to the conclusion by Common Dreams...

"This decision—in concert with a host of inconsistent, constitutionally indefensible, and regressive jurisprudence from the Court targeting voting rights protections, our safety from gun violence, the rights of immigrants, housing, public health, and protections from police violence and the coercive power of the criminal legal system—further confirms what the Poor People's Campaign has already declared: the current U.S. Supreme Court is not a constitutionally legitimate body."

Is it time for impeachment? 

 

 

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.

Haven't we done enough to Native Americans?

 

Here we go with Brett Kavanaugh again, but that comes later. The conservative Supreme Court does again what it does best, fuck up the country. The overturning of Roe v. Wade is, perhaps, one of the worst things that has happened to the U.S. in decades. In a 2nd Amendment decision gun rights were expanded in a nation with one of the highest rates of gun violence in the world. And six rightest radicals decide that separating church and state is no longer a good thing.

And now, if they haven't been persecuted enough already, conservative SCOTUS has decided to upend the lives of Native Americans. Here's how Nick Estes of the Guardian begins his article...

‘Kavanaugh’s words could have come from the most ardent anti-Indian racist of a bygone era. Asserting state criminal jurisdiction over Native lands has been a primary tactic of legally eliminating Native people.’

But first, some insight into the culture of America's Native Americans. I live in Arizona where there are 22 American Indian communities which accounts for one-quarter of state land. Their casinos are thriving here, however...

"The San Carlos Reservation is one of the poorest Native American communities in the United States, with an annual median household income of approximately $14,000 in 2000, according to the US Census."

But the San Carlos Reservation has the Apache Gold Casino & Resort on their land so where does that income go?...

"A portion of the gaming revenue gets shared with individuals in tribes where the casinos are located. The money also benefits communities — supporting education, buildings and services. And casinos also provide jobs in the thousands, although exactly how many is not clear." 

And how much is the U.S. tribal casino gaming revenue? A record $34.6 Billion in fiscal-year 2019, but apparently there was a slowdown during the Covid pandemic. Still, am I missing something or are we not getting the right information from the federal government? And what about state and federal taxes...

"Indian casinos do not pay a state tax as such, although the tribes pay the state and local governments a fee based on the casino revenue. Some tribes distribute a portion of the profits, also, in the form of a per capita payment. In those cases, tribal members pay federal taxes on their income."

So, where does all this money go and why is The San Carlos Reservation one of the poorest Native American communities in the United States, with an annual median household income of approximately $14,000 in 2000? That story in a later post because today our concern is what is a conservative SCOTUS going to do to the Native American nation in general? Here's a hint from an 1886 Supreme Court decision in United States v Kagama...

"Paradoxically, the court found that the very nation that waged wars of extermination and invasion against Native people also declared itself their sole guardian, protecting its “wards” from the “local ill feeling” of land-hungry whites flooding Native lands in the western states."

There's more...

"And where the US constitution was lacking in language defining federal authority over Native nations, the court had invented it, for better or for worse."

The Native Americans never had a chance. But the Kagama decision helped...

"That decision and others like it – however imperfect and drenched in conquest they were – supposedly shielded Native people and their reservations from the arbitrary authority of states and hostile white settlers."

And now back to Brett Kavanaugh who said, “A state has jurisdiction over all of its territory, including Indian country,” based on a "false 10th amendment claim, which doesn’t authorize states to intervene in tribal affairs." However, Kavanaugh's decision results in...

"States, according to this [Kavanaugh] extremist – and now dominant – view in the court, possess the authority to abolish and criminalize abortions, potentially curb voting rights and now abrogate treaties and redefine federal relations with Native nations."

As I said earlier, the cards were stacked in the favor of the federal government and the states from the beginning, and my guess is this outcome was always anticipated. But I don't want to end this on a putrid note of a radical conservative Supreme Court hell-bent on destroying our democracy and the U.S. in general, and although it will take time to neuter this band of lunatics, I'll end with an amazing story of the Native American participation in WWII.

As Navajo Code Talkers, they participated in all assaults the U.S. Marines led in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945 including Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Peleliu and Iwo Jima. This from the Arizona Republic, the Code Talkers transmitted messages by telephone and radio in their native language. This code was never broken by the Japanese, a miracle considering other means of secret messaging used by the Americans was often deciphered.

An Unbreakable Code...Inspiring description from former Navajo Code Talker...

Some quick facts: The Navajo Code Talkers originally numbered 29 but grew as the need arose; Many were wounded and many died; The Code talkers had the highest level of commitment in their duties, a part of their success; Native Americans serve in the military at five times the national average on a per-capita basis; and, only 3 Navajo Code Talkers remain. They are Peter MacDonald, John Kinsel, Sr., and Thomas H. Begay.

I could never describe the total contribution of the Navajo Code talkers to the Second World War and the United State of America, but if you are interested, there is a great book titled, Code Talker, by Chester Nez, one of the original Code Talkers. It is fascinating and I highly recommend it.

Arizona's State Sen. Wendy Rogers investigated by her own

 

The Arizona State Senate launched an ethics investigation into this wingnut, Wendy Rogers, for a comment on the Buffalo gun massacre...

“Of course I condemn the violence in Buffalo, who doesn’t?” Rogers tweeted on Monday morning – two days after suggesting it was a false flag attack by a federal agent.

The "it was a false flag attack by a federal agent" part is what is being looked into, although with a Republican Arizona legislature, is likely to go nowhere.

Arizona newspaper opinion contributor says, "It does real damage when Sen. Wendy Rogers spews hate and claims to love Jesus." Tim Wright adds...

Recently, state Sen. Wendy Rogers spoke at the America First Political Action conference. America First was founded by Nick Fuentes, labeled a white nationalist.

Fuentes views societal change in the U.S. as the “bastardized Jewish subversion of the American creed. The Founders never intended for America to be a refugee camp for nonwhite people.”

Another Arizona columnist, Laurie Roberts, comments...

"Latest election audit says no hacking, so, of course, Sen. Wendy Rogers decries hacking."

There was more from Roberts...

 “I want the routers,” state Sen. Wendy Rogers demanded, ad nauseam.

“Get the routers. Yep. #AmericasAudit,” Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward tweeted.

Kelli Ward is just one more of Arizona's premiere political idiots.

Senate launches inquiry into Wendy Rogers' comments on Buffalo shooting...

And, another of our Arizona columnists, E.J. Montini, who tells it like it is exclaims...

"Arizona state Sen. Wendy Rogers opposes free speech for 'satanic demons'"

He quotes from Nick Martin, editor and writer of The Informant, a publication dedicated to keeping track of the many hateful extremists who infest the land...

"A while back the Arizona Senate – Democrats and Republicans alike – censured Rogers for a speech she gave at a white nationalist conference calling for public hangings and for her ugly social media attacks on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy."

"She claimed at the time it was an attack on her free speech, a concept Rogers has never quite grasped."

Arizona has become a hotbed for this kind of political hack/lunatic. We've come to expect it but yearn for the day when we will be able to expel the whole lot in one fell swoop. I just hope I live long enough. 

  

ASSAULT WEAPONS = 6 dead...10+ wounded

 

Six people are now dead from gun violence and more than ten are wounded. Early this morning in Sacramento, California, in downtown, no less, and they haven't caught the shooter yet, as of moments ago. This is the city's second mass shooting in a month and yet another cry for help from gun control advocates to ban assault weapons. Who the hell needs this kind of weapon for anything other than to kill as many people as possible?

The U.S. gun culture has reached its limits when it come to the limits of firearms on the street. There are 393 million guns on U.S. Streets with a population of 326 million people. And do guns make us safer? According to David Hemenway, professor of health policy at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, "there is no good evidence that using a gun in self-defense reduces the likelihood of injury." So why are there so many guns in America?

Because there are so many gun nuts, many of which are not satisfied with just one

gun, but require several. According to Pew Research, two-thirds of gun owners say they own more than one gun, including 29% who own five or more guns. But, admittedly, the major problem recently seems to be mass killings, which usually involve assault weapons. Getting rid of these vast agents of human destruction would, at least be a start.

You can see a collection of my posts on gun violence over the years...here.

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