Iowa caucus is a group of religious extremists' much ado about nothing

I lived in Iowa at one time; still have family there that will no doubt roast me alive after this post.  But I am sick and tired of seeing religion, not just making its impact on politics like any other politicking body, but in actual control of the outcome.  And that is exactly the position the Iowa evangelicals are in when it comes to caucus results.  They are able to do it because of their numbers in the state and also because of their unlimited passion over what they believe.

University of Akron’s expert on religion and politics, John Green, says, ““Relatively few people participate in the Iowa caucuses, so it’s ideal for a group of highly committed activists to have a big influence.”  The need to attend area get-togethers is a requirement, and since evangelicals thrive on sharing their devotion, it is easy for the churches to initiate this kind of participation.  And there is nothing wrong with this loyalty to their cause.

 

What is wrong is the influence the Iowa Caucus has on voters’ opinions across the country of the candidates and their qualifications to be president.  What would the evangelicals do if someday this country elected an agnostic to the highest office in the land?  He or she would believe in a God, but not share the normal Christian beliefs such as the crucifixion.  This new president would have all the capabilities to perform the necessary duties, and he or she would possess all the real values of good people.  The latter is possible, you know.

 A U. of Iowa journalism professor, Stephen G. Bloom, a New Jersey transplant, has wreaked havoc in the state with his statement: "Whether a schizophrenic, economically depressed, and some say, culturally challenged state like Iowa should host the first grassroots referendum to determine who will be the next president isn't at issue. ... In a perfect world, no way would Iowa ever be considered representative of America, or even a small part of it. Iowa's not representative of much." 

When I lived in Des Moines in the late 60s, it was a dingy place, very cliquish, and when I left, knew I would never want to live there again.  Apparently a lot of people still feel the same way as Forbes magazine ranked Iowa in the top ten states losing population in 2010.  That doesn’t mean those who stay are bad, just that it is an environment in which they feel comfortable.  Perhaps many who desert the state are just not “evangelical” enough to fit in and decide to go elsewhere.

To illustrate what I feel to be the complete absurdity of the Iowa Caucus, evangelist Pat Robertson in 1988 finished second, ahead of then-Vice President George H.W. Bush.  Now I am far from being a Bush fan but finishing behind Pat Robertson, come on!  It’s like having the big “E” before his name qualifies Robertson to be president of the United States and that is ridiculous.  But this seems to be the only criteria of the current caucusers. 



Iowa caucus GOP

 As another example, former Penn. Senator Rick Santorum’s latest surge in the polls might be explained by the fact he landed on Time’s list of America’s 25 most influential evangelicals; he is also a devout Catholic.  But as the vote becomes even more fractured, Iowa’s evangelicals have become worried that it will lessen the importance of the caucuses nationwide and have yet another trick up their sleeve. 

They are attempting to get either Santorum or Michele Bachmann or Rick Perry to drop out so as not to dilute the vote for the chosen evangelicals.

At least we have a real election to look forward to in New Hampshire a week after the Iowa fiasco.  With any luck in 2012 we’ll sweep Congress clean of conservative extremists like the lunatics of the Tea Party, and the religious right that puts faith before country, and bring in some progressives that will again concentrate on what is good for America.  Hell, we might even elect an agnostic after President Obama’s second term.

Drug companies want to convince you that you are sick

Americans are going without necessary drugs to fight major aliments like cancer with no alternative available according to a new report, while pharmaceutical companies play with a new business model that emphasizes profitability.  Lipitor was the culprit when it went generic and its maker, Pfizer, was faced with losing the $13 billion in annual revenue.  The current model of betting on everyday afflictions required high priced screening programs that took up to 15 years to reach success, and requiring enormous facilities and numbers of people.

Not sure what was wrong with the old model since over the last 20 years, drug companies have been the world’s most profitable.  Pfizer, itself, is ranked 21^st in the Fortune 500 with sales of $8.257 billion in 2010; Johnson & Johnson was 9^th; Eli Lilly was 29^th; Abbott Laboratories was 33^rd.  But Scott Gottlieb writing in the Wall Street Journal says, “There’s something unanticipated in drug research that can’t be industrialized.”  The new focus of drug makers are the more serious conditions such as cancer and Alzheimer’s.

Pharma pushing drugs

The concentration is now on more finite accuracy over wide-scale experiments, but much depends on government regulation.  The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) is not known for being the best at what it does, although it is the only game in town.  Gottlieb comments, “Regulatory requirement have grown enormously over the past few decades, increasing costs and deterring new investment.  But it would seem that we are being led to believe that, in spite of being the highest profit industry in the world, drug companies should be pitied.

The same report says that if pharmaceutical companies were forced to report potential shortages to the FDA in a timely manner, the agency could find alternatives to deal with the issue.  Like the situation 61-year-old Renee Mosier faced with her ovarian cancer this past June.  She needed the drug Doxil, which has no generic equivalent, and has not been available for several months.  It is a life and death thing for Mosier, particularly since this is a recurrence of her cancer.  Currently there is no legislation requiring the reporting of shortages.



But the above isn’t even the worst of a pharmaceutical industry gone bonkers.  Ever hear of disease mongering?  It’s a term that’s been around 20 years and refers to the way drug companies promote their blockbuster drugs to those who are “sick.”  Lynn Payer, author of Disease-Mongers: How Doctors, Drug Companies, and Insurers Are Making You Feel Sick, lists four disease mongering tactics:

• taking a normal function and implying that it is potentially dangerous and should be treated, preferably for a long time
• taking a common symptom that could mean anything and making it sound as if it is a sign of a serious disease    
• saying that a large percentage of the population might be suffering from the “disease”
• recruiting doctors to spread the message

To me the last one is the most alarming, assuming some docs would recommend a drug just because the salesman is pushing it because the company wants to promote it at all costs.  And Dr. Andrew Weil adds yet another contrivance: allocating a clinical-sounding name to what is really an everyday malady like heartburn, which becomes “gastro-esophageal reflux disease or GERD.”  In the article done by David Wallechinsky, he says, “Aggressive and creative marketing has permitted drug manufacturers to convince millions of people they have a problem that requires treatment and medication.”  Like depression.

But when depression became passé, pharmaceutical companies switched to adult ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder).  ADHD cases skyrocketed; doubling, even tripling among important age groups 20 to 44 and 45 to 65.  Disease mongering has also led to “cooked up” diseases like female sexual dysfunction leading over 60 percent of women to think they had it.  Pfizer even tried promoting Viagra to women until it was proven it was no more effective than a placebo. 

Wallechinsky adds, “Sometimes, the therapy being pushed can be more harmful than the condition it’s supposed to treat.” Like exploiting rheumatoid arthritis with immune suppressors such as Remicade, Enbrel, and Humira.  “Taking these, however, can ‘invite cancers, lethal infections, and activate TB [tuberculosis],’” according to Martha Rosenberg at AlterNet. 

There’s more to be said about the shenanigans of large pharmaceutical companies like shady lobbying and how they use your personal data that I will cover in a later post.  In the meantime, isn’t it nice to know that these big corporations have the consumer’s best interest at heart, and that we have the FDA to protect us if something happens?  Yeah…right!

Congress enjoys fat pensions and 401(k) plans while Americans just get poorer

The current Congress will have a hard time convincing the American public they should be re-elected, except for those dolts that walk around in a daze and end up voting for who they are told to vote for.  It’s pathetic, but in my estimation, it is this apathetic group that can often sway elections.  Otherwise, how would you explain nit-wit incompetents like Arizona’s sham Gov. Jan Brewer getting into office?  There is no other explanation, and it is likely that 2012 will be the long awaited reckoning.

In the meantime, these blundering blockheads we have sent to Washington will go on their merry way and even if we throw them out will enjoy a hefty pension of an average $40,000 per Congress member per year.  The taxpayer’s portion of that nice nest egg is 23 percent, according to newspaper columnist Laurie Roberts who laments “…the number of the people who approve of the job they're doing could fit comfortably into a Smart car…”  In addition there is a lucrative 401(k) plan which taxpayers also must contribute to.



All this while recent Census figures show that almost 1 in every 2 people in the United States are now considered poor or low-income.  You read that right; 146,400,000 people now fall into that category, based on current population figures from the U.S. Census.  And the numbers could go up if states continue to make further cuts.  But a conservative researcher says some of those in this class “…live in decent-size homes, drive cars and own wide-screen TVs.”  There is always the exception, but this does not explain the overall situation.

The actual figures are 97.3 million in the low income category and 49.1 million below the poverty line.  And the total is up by 4 million since 2009.  Yet the GOP refuses to allow a tax on millionaires that could help in stabilizing the economy and putting many of these people at the poverty level back to work.  But Tom Coburn of CNN says the millionaire tax won’t work but suggests instead ending  earmarks for the wealthy.

These earmarks include tax write-offs for second homes and luxury yachts, gambling losses, business expenses, electric vehicle credits, even child care tax credits.  There are unemployment checks in the amount of $74 million, $316 million in farm subsidies, $9 billion in retirement checks, and $16 million in government-backed loans to attend college.  If we can’t tax the filthy rich, at least we should be able to take away perks that could be going to help low income and poor.

To me this sounds absolutely ridiculous and reeks of the grounds on which most Social Democracies are founded.  A financial inequity such as we have in America today has all the elements of a revolution and there are many out there that have already been pushed to the limit.  The Occupy Movement is an example and considering its longevity so far, could easily pave the way to more disorder in the trenches.  The extreme conservative right must take full credit for the situation we are in, and progressives must realize the opportunity at hand and take full advantage.

Arizona tough Sheriff Joe Arpaio under fire from all directions

The federal government issued a harsh report recently that illustrates the scope of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s civil rights violations against Arizona Hispanics.  It includes a history of racial profiling and discrimination, emphasizing the regular raids that Arpaio conducts to find illegals.  The investigation has been going on for three years according to the Associated Press, and exposes a culture of bias that starts with the Sheriff and works its way down through the agency.

Thomas Perez, head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division says that Arpaio stimulates this environment of hostility and bias by sending “racially charged letters” to top aides and even saved them.  DOJ’s expert on racial profiling said, “it's the most egregious case of racial profiling in the nation that he has seen or reviewed in professional literature.”  As an example here is an excerpt from the report:

“The investigation found a number of instances in which "crime suppression activities" were initiated on complaints that ‘described no criminal activity, but rather referred, for instance, to individuals with 'dark skin' congregating in one area, or the individuals speaking Spanish at a local business.’"

And then there’s Arpaio’s botched sex crime investigations where 432 cases had fallen through the cracks and were not investigated.  A now-retired detective left a “poor paperwork trail” which resulted in these unprosecuted sex crime cases.  The Sheriff tried his usual cover-up strategy by saying Phoenix police had a much larger caseload of similar cases.  Phoenix police countered that, unlike Arpaio’s inaction, they immediately assigned a task force to the issue.

The Sheriff’s latest headache is a Mexican woman, an inmate in the county jail, who claims sheriff’s officers mistreated her during and after a pregnancy which included shackling her while in labor and following a Caesarean delivery.  Miriam Mendiola-Martinez has filed suit against the Sheriff, his agency and deputies, which follows right on the heels of the federal report.  The Arizona Dept. of Corrections, the U.S. Marshall’s Service and the FBI have eliminated the practice of using shackles on pregnant women.

Arpaio giving up right to detain illegals

But that’s still not all.  On the day before Christmas, a judge ruled that Sheriff Joe Arpaio could no longer detain people for being in the country illegally.  The ruling is a direct result of a 2007 lawsuit against Arpaio and his officers of racially profiling Latinos in traffic stops that occurred during Arpaio’s infamous immigration sweeps.  At the same time the judge sanctioned the Sheriff for destroying documents related to the case.

The feds report had a number of other interesting revelations.  It found that Arpaio and his staff had tried to silence people speaking out against him and the department.  Hispanics are 4 to 9 times more likely to be detained in traffic stops than non-Hispanics.  From 2006 to 2009, 20 percent of traffic stops handled by Arpaio’s immigrant smuggling squad were done without reasonable suspicion and involved almost 100 percent Latinos.  Deputies were encouraged to make high-volume traffic stops in “targeted” locations, often arresting Hispanics who were in the country legally.  And there’s much more.

Another quote from the report:

“Investigators believe the sheriff's office followed a pattern or practice of unconstitutional treatment of Hispanics both inside the jails and in traffic stops, especially by the sheriff's human smuggling and work-site enforcement units.”

The Tucson Citizen newspaper commented: “Arpaio is equivalent to ‘Bull’ Connor and our Arizona Governor Jan Brewer is equivalent to Alabama’s George Wallace.”  “Bull” Connor was the bigoted Birmingham, Alabama Commissioner of Public Safety with control over a police force that directed the use of fire hoses, and police attack dogs against peaceful demonstrators, including children.  George Wallace was the Governor of Alabama and an avid pro-segregationist.  Both are very accurate comparisons to the people who run the state of Arizona.

Racist JT Ready with Russell Pearce

But wait, that’s still not all.  Randy Parraz, president of Citizens for a Better Arizona, the guy who was responsible for removing racist Arizona State Sen. Russell Pearce from office in a recall election, is asking the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to pass a resolution to dump Arpaio.  Parraz has said in the past that he might consider a recall for Joe Arpaio as well as Arizona’s bogus Gov. Jan Brewer.

Unfortunately Arizona has all of a sudden discovered it is in the hands of a gang of bigoted, extreme conservatives that have almost brought the state to its knees.  Being the great place Arizona is, the question is will its people find their way once again and return to a sane environment to live and visit.

With voters deserting Democratic, Republican parties en masse, who is to blame?

In the Republican Party it would be safe to say today that many are upset that the Tea Party has had so much control over the GOP and has led it down the path to near-destruction.  Last Friday’s cave by House Speaker John Boehner to Democrats came only after members of his own party, in the name of Senate Minority leader, Mitch McConnell, said are you out of your freaking mind?  The Dems are of course gloating over their victory, but they have problems of their own.

For years now the left has settled for mere compromises when fighting the right over certain legislation, and the Republicans have gotten pretty much what they wanted.  We have entered an era where religion dominates certain national issues such as abortion and gay rights.  The former, although still legal but looking iffy, is attacked daily by religious conservatives.  And gay rights have only recently been able to make any headway in the U.S.

Other losses are how big business has entrenched itself firmly, with the solid help of the GOP, as steadfastly favored over consumer rights.  The wealthy enjoy unfair tax cuts thanks to George W. Bush, and Republicans are making it clear that they will not stand for an increase on the rich.  So what do the Democrats do?  They easily relented on this issue to pay for the payroll tax cuts and earlier this year in the attempt to balance the budget.

 

This has come from the top down and many progressives are now looking for someone to stand up and say enough is enough.  But if it doesn’t start with President Obama, there is no way to enlist Democrats in the House or Senate.  The leader of the party must show the strength to organize the rest to support him and demand the legislation.  So far this hasn’t happened and I believe the voting public has decided both political parties have failed.  That is further confirmed with Congress at an abysmal 11 percent approval rating.

According to USA Today, 2.5 million voters have left the Republican and Democratic parties since the 2008 elections.  Republicans dropped in 21 of the 28 states that register by party, Democrats 25, but Independents increased their total in 18.  By the numbers, the Independents gained 325,000, Democrats lost 800,000, Republicans 350,000.  The Dems are still out front with 42 million voters, with only 30 million Republicans.  There are 24 million Independents, which proves to be a colossal challenge for both parties in 2012.

Adlai Stevenson-Last Statesman

The study says there are many reasons that account for the demise of the parties.  Families move or people die, some are purged from voter rolls when they have been inactive for some time.  But my guess, and one that is shared by many political writers today is the fact that a great deal of the population is just fed up with the shenanigans in Washington and an incompetent bunch of congressional leaders that think only of holding on to their seat in Congress.  Here is an appropriate quote from Thomas Jefferson:

“A politician looks forward only to the next election.  A statesman looks forward to the next generation.”  

Unfortunately, there are no statesmen left.

Read more here.

Tea Party massacred on payroll tax decision

Senate majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) has brought the Tea Party to its knees once again.  He beat Sharon Angle, a TP favorite, for his Senate seat in Nevada just a year ago, and now he backed House Speaker John Boehner, backed by radical TPers, into a corner on the payroll tax bill until they had to lose face and give in to what had been the right thing to do all along.  The only upside to this whole bizarre episode is that the American public is finally seeing the real color of these right wing fanatics.

President Barack Obama signed the two-month extension of the payroll tax cut this past Friday, a victory for himself over a Tea Party that has targeted the President since its inception and his inauguration.  Independents and moderate Republicans should view this as an example of how Democrats and progressives in general can champion tax cuts.  Also included in the bill are a continuation in jobless benefits and a delay in decreased Medicare payments to doctors that could seriously affect Seniors.

Apparently Boehner, who was originally in favor of passing the two-month deal worked out by Senate Democrats and Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, caved to the TP lunatics led by head maniac Eric Cantor (R-VA) House Majority Leader.  Some have even questioned whether it is Cantor or Boehner leading the House, and if it’s Cantor, then, up until last Friday the Tea Party had definitely been in control. 

Political analysts view this defeat and turmoil leading up to the showdown as significantly hurting the GOP in their backbone Republican philosophy of tax cuts at any cost.  It clearly shows that when it comes to the wealthy, there is absolutely no concession on taxes, but they are willing to sacrifice the middle-class and lower income groups on the basis of demanding a year’s extension over the two-months that was finally passed.



Jon Summers, who was instrumental in Reid’s win over Angle, thinks that things will go much the same way at the end of the two-month extension as it did last Friday.  Democrats are on a roll and they will get what they want in February of 2012.  Harry Reid has already predicted that the Tea Party, spawned in hard times, will just fade away as the economy improves.  In the second phase of the payroll tax cut fight, even more damage could be done to the GOP by TPers that place extreme right ideology over their country.

If you want to know who to blame, you can take a look at the list of Tea Party caucus members here, led by presidential hopeful (?) Michele Bachmann, along with some other good info on the group by Wikipedia.  The list is a blueprint of House representatives and Senate members, some of which are running for office in 2012, that we progressives want to give the boot.  This is also the gang

that is apparently enraged at John Boehner after caving to Democrats last Friday.

When Congress reconvenes in January and the fireworks start, it will be interesting to see who is on the offensive and who is on the defensive.  If the Democrats and all progressives alike don’t take advantage of their current momentum to slay the ultra conservative dragon, the elections of 2012 could well be a complete toss up.

Immigrants want a part of the Occupy Movement

Several have commented that no group is more apt to be part of the 99 percent the Occupy Movement is fighting for than immigrants.  Two occupy activists, Phil Arnone, and Emma McCumber, established the Immigrant Worker Justice Working Group to help bring together these folks in a cohesive way.  IWJWG is focused on two main points: First is wage theft, wages stolen from low-paid workers; Second is protesting the private prison industry that takes advantage of poor immigrants kept in questionable detention for months or even years.



The organizers are starting with education centered on the connection between corporategreed and the private prison industry that encourages more immigration round-ups to fill their prisons.  This coincides perfectly with an investigation done recently by National Public Radio on whether the crackdowns on immigration have gone too far.  NPR commented that only a year ago, the country was ripe for more immigration control legislation.  Today it seems somewhat clear that it has already gone too far.

Alabama immigrants protest

Arizona, the flagship of immigration laws, followed by Alabama, are both seeing their legislation challenged in court, by local businesses and a part of the population as well.  In Alabama, where agriculture depends significantly on immigrant workers, it is estimated the economy would shrink $40 million without 10,000 workers affected.  Other states with similar legislation, or at least have it in the works, are Pennsylvania, Georgia, Oklahoma and South Carolina.

Both Occupy Movement organizers and immigration activists see great potential in bringing immigrants into the cause.  The former, to increase their numbers with a credible group of people who are deserving; the latter to educate their following and by virtue of the organization, line up those who are eligible to vote and get them registered.  The question is whether they will be able to overcome the fear immigrants have of law enforcement after going underground as a result of the anti-immigration legislation.

John Michael Torres, an activist from McAllen, Texas, worries about the ability to communicate with those who don’t have a TV or the Internet.  That is the reason for the meetings like the ones in New York where those who have experienced a connection with the movement can tell their story.  Maurio Munoz, who is a part of the Spanish assembly for Occupy Wall Streetsays they are offering classes with legal experts, including lawyers, to answer peoples’ questions.

Teresa Puente wrote in In These Times that “the convergence between the immigrant rights struggle and Occupy is growing increasingly profound.”  She adds, concern has been voiced “because the white activists seen as leading the Occupy movement haven’t been vocal about immigration reform.”  So activists have decided that the best way to win the attention they want is to get involved, bringing as many immigrants into the fold as possible.

International Migrants Day was December 18, and Occupy activists marched in the Immigrants Occupy! Rally in Manhattan at Foley Squareled by the Immigrant Workers Justice Working Group.  Here is their statement:

“We recognize globalized capital–in the form of financial institutions, multinational corporations, and neoliberal state economic policies–as the impetus for economic migration to the United States, and deplore the fact that banks and corporations, supported by the government, continue to profit from immigrant detention and deportation. The leadership and participation of immigrant workers is necessary for any discussion of social, economic, and environmental justice.”

The discipline of a Jihad terrorist suicide bomber

Sam Giancana

I have written about the discipline of the American Mafia in the past, a subject that has fascinated me since I had lunch in a restaurant in Chicago on Harlem Ave. where mobster Sam Giancana was holding court with his Lieutenants in a covered booth in the back.  The bartender went about his business as if it was his regular clientele, which I later learned Giancana was. 

The choice of the restaurant was by accident and I never met the man, but I remember how my friend and I were the only other party there at the time.  The setting was reminiscent of the days when the opposing mob drove by with blazing machine guns, all but the innocent knowing in advance what was about to happen.  Well it didn’t, and I eventually left the place unscathed and full of questions about the Mafia.

Giancana died on the night of June 19, 1975, killed by another mafioso because he had crossed the mob by becoming a witness for the FBI.  He was shot in the head while frying sausage and peppers in his kitchen.  For some reason or other the FBI had pulled his protection just before the shooting.  Sam had broken his pledge to the organization and even he most likely knew he had to die.  That is the discipline of the Mafia.

Taimour Abdulwahab died on December 11, 2010, on Stockholm, Sweden’s

Olof Palme street



Taimour Abdulwahab

in the middle of an array of apartment buildings and commercial businesses.  A lot went wrong with his intended suicide bombing when the car he had packed with explosives would not detonate.  He then walked around for ten minutes trying to set off the bomb around his waist.  Finally part of the bomb finally exploded killing Abdulwahab, but the rest didn’t no doubt saving lives.

The discipline this terrorist showed, not only in the planning and building of the bomb, but also in how he kept everything from his family and friends, is remarkable.  And this is the main problem with these lone-wolf suicide bombers who, in the face of all kinds of obstacles, manage to carry out their mission.  Although Abdulwahab did not kill anyone but himself, this kind of incident is becoming more prevalent and one day could result in a small nuclear device.

Abdulwahab did it because he didn’t like the cartoon of Swede Lars Vilks, which was a controversial rendition of the Prophet Mohammed, and he didn’t like the Swedish being Afghanistan.  If all the explosive devices had gone off, it could have injured many people and property plus killing several.  Magnus Ranstorp, research director at the Swedish National Defense College and a leading counter-terrorism expert commented the bomb was anything but amateurish.

The following video is Jihad jibberish audio from Abdulwahab just before he blew himself up:

  

Abdulwahab had a well laid out blueprint for his bomb building and suicide plan that took him from Luton, England to Sweden.  In a nearby building to his sister’s home, he was able to build the mechanism using components he was able to buy right in the town.  He had learned to build the bomb in Iraq, and there may have been two additional people helping him.  He used a white Audi, which, along with all the other necessary ingredients for the bomb, many thought was just too rich for someone with a limited income.

An investigation still continues to learn if Abdulwahab was associated with a terrorist organization overseas.  Regardless of those findings, the world is up against a breed of maniacs who are willing to die for a cause and able to muster the discipline to carry it out.  The question is will we ever be able to stop this?

RELIGION: Evangelical youth tire of being told how to live…leave church

The religious conservative right has long been a thorn in the side of Democrats and progressives in general.  Mixing religion with politics has been considered much too acceptable for far too long and now young evangelicals are turning the tide in both church attendance and their voting habits, and, in compelling numbers.  It’s the 18-to-29-year-old age group producing a 43 percent drop in their participation in Christian church services.

They’re telling parents “Don’t tell me what to do,” saying they will live with their partner before marriage if they want to, and that means gay or straight.  And abortion is an option they want on the table if they decide to end a pregnancy.  In other words, mom and dad, we can think for ourselves and do not necessarily agree with your fundamentalist beliefs.  These young people maintain their Christian frame of mind but many have decided not to attend a church at all.

What is frightening is the fact that some say that based on politics as usual today, they may just not vote at all.  That is a dangerous precedent, one that is not prevalent only in their age group, but rather widespread among all ages due to congressional dysfunction going on in Washington.  76 percent of all voters say that most members of Congress should be dumped from office in 2012, the highest percentage ever says Gallup in asking the question over 19 years.

Laura Stepp

The whole thing is reminiscent of members leaving the Catholic Church for years because of the stringent discipline that allows them little leeway in making their life’s decisions.  My Catholic friends have told me repeatedly that the church is so demanding that it is impossible to think for yourself and be a loyal follower.  So, they leave.  And now it has reached the evangelical community and these millennials have decided they aren’t taking it anymore.

Here are some hot spots for this group in a CNN report by Laura Sessions Stepp:

·       70% are OK with unmarried sex and engage as much as non-Christians

·       Most women in their early 20s give birth unmarried

·       60% want abortion legal

·       60% support same-sex marriages

According to the Christian Science Monitor, millennials say the wealthy and corporations have too much power and should be taxed more.  Two-thirds want more regulation for financial institutions.  Stepp says this is beginning to sound a lot like Democratic ideology, but I say it is simply a new progressive tone from the young people who are sick and tired of the radical conservative dogma that has brought this country to its knees over the past few years.



It is apparent that the GOP is losing these young evangelicals in significant numbers, but that could also apply to the left if it isn’t careful.  It will take a definite improvement in the jobs situation to get this group’s attention.  And since elections in the past have been decided by the 40+ crowd, much of the emphasis of the President and fellow Democrats seems to have ignored these young people.  Obama received 33 percent of the young white evangelical vote in 2008, and he can’t win without it and other millennials in 2012.

More gun sense and nonsense

Starting with the ridiculous, New York’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg has shown the gun freaks once again that he means business.  Some time back he demonstrated how some low-lifes in Arizona and elsewhere in the country were willing and anxious to sell guns to people they had reason to believe did not have the right to own them.  You can read more on this in an earlier Nasty Jack post.

 

In my post, Bloomberg and Thomas Menino, Mayor of Boston and co-founder of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, were asking for an overhaul of the background-check system for gun purchases which allowed such massacres as the one at Virginia Tech which killed 32 people, injuring 17 others, and the most recent in Tucson, Arizona killing 6 and injuring 13, including U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords from Arizona.



Craigslist-New York

But the latest that Bloomberg/Menino have come up with exposes the gun industry once again as being irresponsibly relentless in its pursuit to make firearms available to anyone, no matter what their past, or whether they are fit to own a weapon.  The mayors’ sting operation centered on the online marketplace, particularly Craigslist and Web sites selling firearms. 

These reprehensible gun nuts were willing to sell to NYC investigators that clearly admitted they were probably unable to pass a background check.  Some even said they were too young to buy a gun legally.  These private sellers are not required to make a background check, but knowingly selling to someone who admits to not being able to pass one is a felony.  Just more of the NRA’s best.  In all fairness, there were other instances where the seller refused to make the deal.

And then there was the person who could lose their 2^nd Amendment rights over having a medical marijuana card, which borders on ridiculous.  The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) now says you will lose a “key constitutional right” if you let your state know you take pot medicinally.  Arizona’s make-believe governor, Jan Brewer, and Michigan’s attorney general are already interfering with medical marijuana laws legally passed by their constituents.

In a Nevada case, a woman is challenging this BATFE ruling after trying to buy a gun and being turned down.  If her intent is to have the weapon in her home for protection, it is absurd that the government would deny her this 2^nd Amendment right just because she uses the medical marijuana for pain.  However, in terms of issuing her a concealed carry permit to walk the streets with her weapon, I would be absolutely against this and another court case in Oregon is pending on this issue.  It all comes down to what’s reasonable and both sides must give.

Guns and marijuana

Where’s the NRA when you need them?  Just let a situation like this get a little touchy, in this case involving medical marijuana, and they tuck their tail between their legs and hide.  Other larger gun organizations have done the same.  But it could all come down to an order from President Obama that directs BATFE to make an interpretation of the policy, which is in their discretion, to determine that these users are not unlawful due to their regulation under state law.  It’s all about bureaucracy and in this case the gun industry should win.

Cell phone users and texters need to grow up

When someone says they are having trouble shaking an addiction to perpetual use of their cell phone or texting, especially while driving, you have to question their propensity toward mental analysis.  In other words, they are a fruitcake.  It becomes even worse when they compare this craving to that of cigarettes or alcohol, which clearly places them in the category of the feeble-minded.  Sorry, but if these people have learned that little discipline in their life, it’s pretty sad.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) this last week recommended a complete ban on the use of cell phones and text messaging devices while driving and this prompted outcries such as the above.  Although it is only a recommendation and states must pass their individual laws, it might be a good thing if the federal government considered such a law.  According to the NTSB, “at any given daylight moment” there are 13.5 million drivers on hand-held phones.  Sometimes it seems they are all right in front of you, right?

The Board also reports that there are 3,092 fatalities on the roadway caused by distracted drivers, a figure which could be underestimated due to reporting methods and drivers who won’t admit what they have done.  "This (distracted driving) is becoming the new DUI. It's becoming epidemic," says the NTSB’s Robert Sumwait.  But everyone agrees that laws are not the only answer; there must be a massive educational campaign to convince the hard-noses.  If you want to compare this with cigarette addiction, education helped reduce smokers.

The straw that broke the cell phone’s back was a 2010 chain-reaction accident close to Gray Summit, Missouri involving a truck, a tractor trailer and two school buses.  The idiot driver of the pickup had sent and received 11 text messages in the 11 minutes prior to the crash.  It’s almost like he didn’t have his eyes on the road at all during this period.  Two people, including the truck driver were killed, 38 others injured.  The driver of the pickup was 19 and was at the time breaking a Missouri law that prohibits drivers under age 21 from texting while driving.



The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that a “safety-critical event” while driving was 163 times more likely to happen if the driver was texting, e-mailing or surfing the Internet.  Right now there are laws on the books in 35 states that ban text-messaging while driving, 30 that ban cell phone use by “novices,” and 10 that ban all use of hand-held cell phones.  Cell phone companies have successfully lobbied in many states to block these laws and will undoubtedly fight the NTSB recommendation.

Do you know anyone who doesn’t own a cell phone?  In most cases if we did, they would probably be in a coma.  They’re everywhere, and with over 4 percent of the U.S. population—doesn’t sound like much but it’s 13.5 million people—on their cell phone at any moment while they are driving, just how coincidental would it be if one of these distracted lamebrains were to rear-end your car at a red light?  

Socializing on the phone, which probably accounts for much of the activity, should come under the heading of “duh” I really shouldn’t do that.  Doing business; why not wait until you get to the nearest Starbucks?  An emergency is different but in most cases you can pull off the road.

The NTSB knows they have a fight on their hands and an already dysfunctional Congress is not likely to listen to the Agency, at least until after the 2012 elections.  The question is, how many more deaths, many of whom will be innocent drivers, will occur by then?  One thing is for sure; the NTSB will be keeping a record of incidents.

Read more here.