NRA Says National Gun Violence Day "Pointless"

Today is National Gun Violence Awareness Day, sponsored by Everyone for Gun Safety Action Fund. Celebrities like Julianne Moore helped make this first event successful in spite of being panned by the National Rifle Assn. (NRA). The NRA "attacked the campaign as 'pointless' and said 'participating is an easy way of scoring points for being 'socially conscious.'" I have heard this organization lower itself in similar statements before so nothing is surprising anymore. What is surprising is that the NRA is still around to do this kind of damage after the thousands of gun deaths it is responsible for. The cry of "Wear Orange" is a symbol for the value of human life everywhere and honors the January 29, 2013 shooting death of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton who was killed by gangs on Chicago's south side. People are wearing orange all across the country today in an effort that is quickly burgeoning into a full blown movement to get guns off the streets.

Brainless Actor Vince Vaughn Wants to Arm America's Schools

I knew when Jennifer Aniston dumped this guy there was a good reason. He had an addled brain that needed a major tune up. He says he "supports guns in schools to prevent mass shootings..." He also believes in concealed and open carry as he put it "full stop." And then the kicker, "We have the right to bear arms to resist the supreme power of a corrupt and abusive government." Yeah, like he's been mishandled by the feds; God, that's getting old. He talks about "guys shooting up these f***ing schools because they know there are no guns there." These "guys" could care less if there are guns in the schools because most of them are on a suicide mission and end up dead anyway. I am all for actors coming out and voicing their opinions on current events but Vince Vaughn is beginning to sound like Charlton Heston in his famous speech about someone having to pry his gun from his cold dead hands. Heston's rhetoric sounded dumb then as Vince Vaughn's does today.

Hail-Hail...Conservatism is Declining

In a study by Gallup in the way Americans define themselves politically, conservatives no longer lead the pack. The rise of the Progressives/liberals makes them equal to social conservatives at 31% each for the first time in 15 years. Conservatives dropped from 39% to 31%. Progressives rose from 21% to 31%, a two point increase advantage. Can anyone wonder why? Let's see, Geo. W. Bush went into office on Jan. 20, 2001, and served for eight years. That, alone, would push the borderline/moderate conservatives to change their loyalty.

Barack Obama was sworn in on Jan. 20, 2009 and it was almost immediately that Mitch McConnell made it known that it was his number one priority to make sure President Obama was a one-term president. He didn't; in fact Obama beat Mitt Romney handily in 2012. But McConnell's hate campaign turned the U.S. Senate into a bunch of laughable hyenas and it has never recovered. Then the House was taken over by Republicans in 2011, and John Boehner, the new Speaker, has made it his personal cause to oppose every idea and piece of legislation President Obama has come up with.

But the House infiltration of the Tea Party has perhaps been the most damaging to this country in ages. When you add to that Ted Cruz--one of the laughable Senate Hyenas--almost shutting down the government in 2013, well, you can understand a shaky conservative block that said, 'enough is enough.' In another war of matching numbers Gallup finds Democrats jumping from a low 37% to 53% leaning toward liberal issues. Likewise Republicans dropped from 67% to 53% in their ideological identification on social issues.

What does this mean for 2016? You only have to look at who is the biggest Progressive out there. Bernie Sanders.

Tea Party Founder Busted for Kiddie Porn

Joseph Hayon, founder of the ultra-conservative Brooklyn Tea Party, was arrested last Thursday for possessing and sharing child pornography. The man has four children ages 9, 7, 4 and 15 months. He admitted that he had been trading photos of children between the ages of 2 and 12 as recently as December 2014 on the Internet. What this low-life has done is reprehensible but what I can't get out of my mind is that he founded an ultra-conservative Tea Party chapter. In my book the Tea Party represents the bottom of the barrel of humanity but Hayon has proved just how low the members can go. He once campaigned with the slogan "Our children are our future," according to EDGE MEDIA NETWORK. Hayon, 37, also has a long history of fighting the LGBT community.

When The New York Post asked him if his wife, Batya, tipped cops off to his disgusting behavior, he only said, “Definitely not my wife.” I don't think even the Tea Party would condone behavior like this but it is time that the public is aware of the bad apples like Joseph Hayon that reside in that organization and send its credibility crashing to the depths of reality.

Grieving Parent Richard Martinez Battles Gun Lobby

He lost his son, Christopher, in the Isla Vista, CA shooting near the UCSB campus, where he was a sophomore. Richard Martinez said soon after the shooting, "Why did Chris die? Chris died because of craven, irresponsible politicians and the (National Rifle Association). They talk about gun rights -- what about Chris' right to live?" How many times now have grieving parents had to come to grips with a loved one's death due to gun violence? It's vast but in each case it comes down to two things: a gutless Congress and the National Rifle Assn. (NRA). Unwilling to pass the gun control laws that will make this stop. However, Martinez has thrown down the gauntlet exclaiming:

"I have chosen to make this my life’s work. In choosing to do so, I was aware that the path to changing laws and minds would be challenging. I was still surprised to see how entrenched the gun lobby is with certain state legislators and the dangerous degree to which it pushes bills that endanger public safety."

Martinez charges members of Congress with backing anything the NRA introduces for an endorsement by the organization. Some of this legislation he calls "outrageous," such as a bill they are pushing this year to allow access to guns for domestic abusers. This should drive any sane individual up the wall, especially the abused. In Florida he joined legislators, students, moms, and members of law enforcement to fight six separate guns in schools bills. They all lost so it can be done. Add to this Gabby Giffords group, Americans for Responsible Solutions and the former NY Mayor Mike Bloomberg group, Everytown for Gun Safety, and I would say Richard Martinez is traveling in the right circles.

Pro-Choice Jumps Ahead in Abortion Fight

A recent Gallup Poll puts the Pro-Choice group ahead of Pro-Life by six percentage points, 50% to 44%.
Gender-wise, 54% of women favor compared to 46% of men. Gallup sees this as a reflection of a much broader study from their "Values and Beliefs" poll. "They show Americans finding greater ideological identification as social liberals and less as social conservatives..." Apparently the tired, out of date, out of reasonability ideologies of the conservative right are finally falling to the fresh, updated, naturally acceptable way of the Progressive left. And it is certainly about time.

It is my firm belief that women should have a choice for an abortion, most definitely in terms of rape or incest, but also for those normally responsible but, 'oh my gawd, I forgot my birth control pill' victims. You know the guy has some responsibility too. But if you don't want children, what kind of life would the kid lead? There is a question re. timing, as to what's too long. The GOP house recently passed a bill banning abortion after 20 weeks, heavily opposed by female Republicans. But that's five months and you have to wonder what the biological nature of the child is at that point. Doctors on Fetal Pain say fetuses cannot feel pain until at least the 28th week of gestation because they haven't formed the necessary nerve pathways. So that rules out the pain issue.

But the religious right believes there is life at conception, and as a scientific fact, that is hard to argue with. Unless you consider maturity as a part of the "life" process. That is, as the body grows and forms, is there a point where this little person becomes a human and is this really where life starts? Fetal lung maturity, considered the last major organ necessary to survive outside the womb is around 32 weeks. That's eight months, but, of course, almost no one would suggest an abortion at this point. The two factions, pro-choice and pro-life, will never adjust their beliefs to the other side's facts, thus the standoff we've had since Roe v. Wade.

But the conservative right confirmed its loss of touch with reality when former Missouri congressman and devout Tea Party member Todd Akin said, “It seems to me, from what I understand from doctors, that’s really rare,” Mr. Akin said of pregnancies from rape. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down." Can you believe this? No? Neither could anyone else in the sane world.

Over-Armed America Reason for Police Violence?

What do you expect from police who know there are 300 million guns on the street and that every person or car they approach might be armed and dangerous. That's almost one gun per person but, then, it is when you consider infants that are too young. This is compounded now as the black community has decided the only way to keep from getting killed is to legally arm themselves. A move which has caused a slim majority in favor of gun rights over gun control for the first time in decades, according to Pew Research. All this because the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) has pushed for years to put more guns on the street. Salon says "more armed citizens will not make police work any easier—if anything, they will only make it more challenging."

When you add to all this the Stand Your Ground law passed by over twenty states, also ramrodded by the NRA, this gun lobby has created a "shoot first" society as Salon puts it. Gun rights proponents led by John Lott claim that privately armed individuals are more qualified than the police, which, of course, is absurd, and it is no way to build relations between the community and cops. Lott, a gun radical even eggs on gun owners to vigilantism which has to eventually result in violence itself. The recent outbreaks in violence in cities like Ferguson, MO, and Baltimore MD, may just be the tip of the iceberg as the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) goes merrily on its way putting more guns on the street.

Where Bernie Sanders Stands on the Issues-Women's Rights

Any candidate who expects to be President cannot do it without some help from the female vote. Barack Obama won the women's vote by 12 percentage points in 2012 against Mitt Romney. A recent Gallup Poll gave Hillary Clinton a 56% favorability rating with women. Although I cannot find a poll indicating Bernie Sanders' support by women, below are his stands/votes on women's issues:

• Voted YES on reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act.
• Endorsed as "preferred" by The Feminist Majority indicating pro-women's rights.
• Enforce against wage discrimination based on gender.

But conservative has-been William Kristol resurrected an ages-old piece Sanders wrote intended to attack gender stereotypes of the 1970s which has been blown completely out of perspective since he announced his running. His "campaign spokesman Michael Briggs said it was a 'dumb attempt at dark satire in an alternative publication' that 'in no way reflects his views or record on women.'" Salon goes on to say:

• In 2003, Sanders was among 32 co-sponsors of the Prison Rape Elimination Act, a measure to “establish a zero-tolerance standard” for sexual violence in prison.
• In 2011, Sanders co-sponsored a measure to address the rape kit backlog.
• In 2012, Sanders co-sponsored the renewal of the Violence Against Women Act.
• In 2013, he called on the Dept. of Veterans Affairs to step up efforts to provide care and benefits for veterans who experienced sexual assault in the military.
• In 2014, Sanders voted for New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s proposal to move the system of reporting and prosecuting rape in the military outside the chain of command.

Bernie Sanders clearly respects women's rights and deserves the female vote.

Where Bernie Sanders Stands on the Issues

Bernie Sanders believes in the average person and detests wealth in relation to inequality between that and the other 99% of the country. This has kept him in office for almost 35 years now but it has all been in the state of Vermont. Not many racial problems there or gun violence or difficulty with immigration, nor has he had to really get out and actively woo the female vote. But that was Vermont and now he wants to be President of the United States. Although he is reasonably defined on many issues, his goal must be to make these positions crystal clear to the public. Here they are:

Racial issues:Voted NO on ending preferential treatment by race in college admissions. Rated 97% by the NAACP, indicating a pro-affirmative-action stance. Sponsored Recognize Juneteenth as historical end of slavery.
Gun Control: Voted YES on banning high-capacity magazines of over 10 bullets. Voted YES on allowing firearms in checked baggage on Amtrak trains. Voted YES on prohibiting foreign & UN aid that restricts US gun ownership. Voted YES on prohibiting product misuse lawsuits on gun manufacturers. Voted YES on prohibiting suing gunmakers & sellers for gun misuse. Voted NO on decreasing gun waiting period from 3 days to 1. Rated F by the NRA, indicating a pro-gun control voting record.
Immigration Reform: Voted YES on continuing federal funds for declared "sanctuary cities".  Voted NO on comprehensive immigration reform. Voted NO on declaring English as the official language of the US government. Voted YES on eliminating the "Y" nonimmigrant guestworker program. Voted NO on building a fence along the Mexican border. Voted NO on reporting illegal aliens who receive hospital treatment. Voted NO on more immigrant visas for skilled workers. Rated 0% by FAIR, indicating a voting record loosening immigration. Rated 8% by USBC, indicating an open-border stance.

More on this later.

Americans Do Not Handle Guns In the Best Interest of a Civil Society

Following the Waco, TX, bike gang shootings where nine people were killed, it was only natural to bring up the issue of too many guns on the street again. It also is tragic that Americans continue to look on this kind of regularly occurring event as just normal in today's gun culture. It's not and it doesn't have to be. I have been saying this in recent years and John Traphagan of the Dallas Morning News has written a story in agreement with that point and several others I have talked about for some time. For example, he also believes that owning a gun should be tied to the universal background check and extensive training. Now is that asking too much? He continues...

"The solution to gun-related crime is not further arming the public. It involves enacting comprehensive gun control laws that prohibit many forms of gun ownership, significantly curtailing or eliminating access to and the ability to purchase guns..."

As a matter of fact, unlimited arming of the public is what has caused the crisis in the first place like Adam Lanza in Newtown, CT, who massacred 20 kids and six teachers at the Sandy Hook Elementary School using his mother's gun which was completely unsecured. It was a semiautomatic Bushmaster .223 caliber model XM15 rifle and he also took along two handguns and a shotgun, all hers. After shooting his mother he just picked up the weapons and went out on a rampage. And this woman knew her son was acting strange for some time, like covering his windows with black trash bags.

Thanks to the National Rifle Assn., this totally irresponsible person was able to maintain a fully equipped arsenal in her home and even with a gun closet, didn't see fit to keep it locked. Yet the gun rights bunch would have us put more guns on the street in the hands of other people just like this. Their cries that it is the criminals with guns that cause the problems has become meaningless since Sandy Hook, and Aurora, Colo. and Tucson, AZ, as well as all the dumb parents who leave handguns on the coffee table so their kids can spread theirs or their siblings' brains all over the couch.

It's disgusting and no one is listening, especially the gutless U.S. Congress. Gun control advocates should take their cue from Bernie Sanders and start their own revolution.

Huckabee Says Good Boy-Santorum Says Bad Boy

He said...He said, both Republicans caught up in a battle that the GOP richly deserves based on their stringent conservative standards for family values. In an earlier post I pointed out that a lot of their leaders are sure palsy with the Duggars. Josh Duggar has admitted to molesting five girls when he was younger, four reportedly his own sisters. Okay, the guy made a huge mistake and has probably already experienced  plenty of retribution, but the family's close connection with the Republican Party should be explained, particularly all the GOP Presidential candidates that consider the Duggar family close allies.

If you represent such a high standard of family values, shouldn't you know something about what these friends are doing? A story by In Touch exposed what had happened way back in 2006, and it was at that time that Jim Bob Duggar consulted an Arkansas State Trooper named Joseph Hutchens who talked to Josh but later said he was told only about one incident of molestation. It went no further. The police than halted their investigation in 2006 because the statute of limitations ran out. Hutchens is now serving 56 years in prison for child pornography.

It all comes down to living the life you preach to others or risk being brought down by the truth if you don't.

Immigration Reform Could Haunt the GOP Right Up to 2016

You would think Republicans would have learned by now but a GOP Texas gang of conservatives brought the lawsuit along with 25 other states that stopped President Obama's Executive order on immigration in its tracks. Obama's action that would have helped up to 4 million undocumented immigrants came to an abrupt halt due to the Republican Party. Hispanics should take note of this now and go to the polls in 2016 to vote for the party that has their best interest in mind, Democrats. Clarissa Martínez-De-Castro, deputy vice president of the National Council of La Raza, said"

“Those who continue to block commonsense relief to settle a score with the president should realize that their political gamesmanship is destroying lives and alienating an increasingly influential voting bloc, who will remember these very personal attacks on our families and our community come Election Day.”

 President Obama's Executive Actions were designed to provide protection from deportation as well as granting work permits to millions of illegal immigrants. I've said this repeatedly but needs repeating now; these folks are vital to both American agriculture and for domestic purposes. What would happen in this country if there was no one to work in the fields, or in restaurants, or household care or in gardening, which these people excel in?

Hillary Clinton has taken her stance on the issue by backing full citizenship for potentially millions of undocumented immigrants. Bernie Sanders must come out quick and establish his position if he wants to be a viable candidate in this race.

Undeniably, Gun Deaths Up Nationwide

Gun deaths are up across the country, significantly in some states. Nationwide they are up 12% but Maine had the highest increase of 93%. The analysis was done by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution researching through government statistics, insurance industry data and reports from state vital-records agencies over the past decade. Five states had fewer gun deaths: The District of Columbia, California, New York, Maryland and Illinois. All five states have pretty strict gun control laws. Here are some more interesting figures:

California, the most populous state, reported 3,026 deaths from firearms in 2013. Georgia, with the eighth-highest population, had the sixth-most gun deaths: 1,262. Others in the top 10: Texas (No. 2 in both population and gun deaths), Florida (No. 3 in both categories), Pennsylvania (No. 4 in gun deaths, No. 6 in population), Ohio (fifth in gun deaths, seventh in population), North Carolina (No. 7 in gun deaths, No. 9 in population), Michigan (No. 8 and No. 10, respectively), Illinois (No. 9 in gun deaths, No. 5 in population), and Tennessee (tenth in gun deaths, but only 17th in population).

It is fair to conclude from these figures that stronger gun control laws prevent gun violence. Not all of it, but one life saved is worth the passing of the legislation.

It's Official...Bernie Sanders' Revolution Goes National

This sign says it best: "People for Bernie." They're sitting on it, the grass roots of Bernie Sanders campaign, showing their admiration and support. It all happened in Burlington, VT, but he has every intention of taking the revolution national, and it is people like these who will help him do it, eventually winning the Democratic nomination. To start the revolution he said:

“Today, with your support and the support of millions of people throughout this country, we begin a political revolution to transform our country,” he said. “This campaign is not about Bernie Sanders. It is not about Hillary Clinton. It is not about Jeb Bush or anyone else. This campaign is about the needs of the American people, and the ideas and proposals that effectively address those needs.”

 The time has come for these American people to put their support where their mouth is and come out for the man who is fighting for their needs. Bernie Sanders has started cropping up repeatedly on my Facebook and Twitter pages recently, an indication that more folks are becoming aware of his presence in the race and just who he is. The latter has a direct effect on MSNBC's question of whether he can successfully take his revolution national and adds a national revolution is longer than a longshot for Sanders. But he did it once before and won the office of Mayor in Burlington, in another longshot.

One of his former staffers "...attributes Sanders’ later successes to reality catching up to Sanders’ rhetoric." The hope is now that reality will catch up with the American public and put this man of the people in the White House.

Bernie Sanders Burlington, VT Revolution Rally Pictures

Couldn't wait to get these online. They are early pictures from Bernie Sanders' Vermont rally launch yesterday. Awesome.

Hillary Clinton Comes Out Swinging for Immigration

For a Hillary Clinton that can be cautious on the campaign trail, she has come out swinging by backing full citizenship for potentially millions of undocumented immigrants. Earlier she had spoken out in favor of giving driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants, both issues a certainty to arouse the need for the Republican field to respond. It's all about the Hispanic vote; although it hasn't exerted its full muscle yet, there are still over 25 million registered Latino voters in the U.S. Historically Democrats, this voting block is slowly pulling away, in my opinion, caused by the lack of effort by the Obama administration. The question will be what gets Hispanics out to vote in 2016: in 2014 it was hands down the economy, followed by healthcare, surprisingly, the immigration issue coming in third.

Bernie Sanders Can Win Because He Is Authentic

Bernie Sanders is as real and genuine as it gets but will that land him the Democratic nomination for 2016? CNN is still saying don't count Bernie out, even though he faces enormous popularity and financial odds against Hillary Clinton. I did the numbers once, 30 million Progressives and another 40 million Democrats, not necessarily Progressives. Sanders can't count on all 30 million Progressives and he can count on taking some of "Hillary's" 40 million Democrats. And throw in a few thousand moderate Republicans making the pot pretty massive for someone. Bernie Sanders' biggest problem is that in a recent poll, only 1% of voters haven't heard of Hillary Clinton. And In a late Clear Politics national poll Clinton has 62 percent support from Democratic voters, Sanders only 5.6 percent. He also can't expect a lot of establishment endorsement since he is an outsider doing his own thing. But that is what the grass-roots folks love and why so many of them love Bernie.

There are reasons for the candidate's growing popularity, primarily his "frontal assault on the political system and a pledge to directly combat the billionaire class.” Also, with the level of distrust in Washington at its peak, things are ripe for Sanders' damn-the-system revolution. Bernie Sanders has Jimmy Carter's "Peanut Farmer" appeal but with more substantive issues in his playbook.

Fox News Has Become a Retirement Community

There are a lot of things liberals don't know about Fox News and I'll bet this is one of them. The median age of their viewer is 68, not that there's anything wrong with that, hell, I'm 82. But it just doesn't seem right that after that many years these people would want to be so uninformed as the Faux News Network will lead them to be. I did a post on this earlier, "It's Official-Fox News Viewers Are Really That Dumb," that I guess these folks didn't read. Politico talked to Bruce Bartlett who has done a paper indicating that Fox has changed American Media and Political Dynamics with the inference that it has become the leader of the pack. Not so says Politico quoting some figures to back that up. As an example, The O’Reilly Factor claims some 3.3 million viewers tops and that's a drop in the bucket compared to the voting age of over 234 million. But one of Bartlett's points makes good sense, that since the launching of Fox News in 1996, the network only picked up the gauntlet, but is continuing to lead the Republican Party toward radicalized candidates for president.

Frank Rich, a well-known liberal writer discounts Fox News power. In New York he said, "...aside from infuriating liberals, Fox flexes little political power." Tell that to Bill O’Reilly.

Will Bernie Sanders Change Election Politics?

Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders talked to host Brian Stelter on CNN's Reliable Sources this past Sunday. The subject was Sander's criticism of the media for covering everything in the 2016 election but the issues and concentrating on negative campaigning. The comparison was drawn between how celebrity scandals came to the news desk cheap and produced great ratings resulting in the same mentality in presidential races. Sanders said:

"The majority of American news consumers are either misinformed or underinformed. There is a lack of basic current events knowledge in our society. Most people get their news from television, and television has decided not to cover serious issues."

Stelter noted that "Bernie Sanders is one of the few we've seen consistently speaking out on the topic..." Here's his actual comment on the air:  

"It's rare to hear a candidate or any politician really talk about the systemic issues in the press the way you did last week. I kind of lit up when I heard it, and I wondered, is it a winning strategy for you to be going at the press?"

Sanders replied that he didn't know if it was a winning strategy but it was what he did, followed by another listing of the issues. This is all in comparison with the other candidates, Republican and Democrat, constantly beating around the bush and never addressing the issue. But the American public buys this and it is pathetic!

New Memorial Day for Veterans Dying From Lack of Health Care

If the Veterans Administration continues its path of destruction for the veterans they are charged with helping we'll have to establish a new holiday: VETERANS DEATH DAY. At least 40 vets died waiting for healthcare in Phoenix, where the eventual disaster was originally discovered. In the latter part of 2014 there had been 293 deaths confirmed due to denied care by the U.S. Inspector General. There have been more since then.

An example is Richard Miles who went to the Des Moines VA for help in Feb. of 2015 with "worsened PTSD," anxiety and insomnia, was given some pills and told to go home and wait for an appointment. He died five days later when he froze to death in the woods after taking a toxic amount of sleeping pills. When he returned from his deployment in Iraq he suffered from anger, irritability and sleep disturbance with troublesome dreams. He was hospitalized at the Iowa VA hospital four times for PTSD for trying to hang himself twice and for bringing  a gun into a different hospital ward planning to kill himself. Is the VA really this stupid?

The only problem is that it will be hard to designate an actual date for VETERANS DEATH DAY since this "war" is still going on and there is no end in sight.

What is the History of Memorial Day?

We've been told enough recently the distinction between Memorial Day and Veterans Day, the former representing our war dead and the latter all veterans who have served. But where did this celebration come from and how did it mature through the years to what it is today? It was originally called Decoration Day, referring to the practice of decorating Civil War soldiers' tombs with bouquets of lilacs and other fresh flowers. And then in 1866, it had its first village-wide observance in Waterloo, N.Y. led by Gen. John Murray and Henry Wells, using flags at half-staff, evergreens and black fabric to signify mourning. But it was on May 26, 1966, that President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a Presidential Proclamation honoring Waterloo as the Birthplace of Memorial Day. Many Southern states still pay homage to the Civil War and the Confederate dead on their own specified days. And then following World War One, the day was expanded to honor those killed in all wars, not just the Civil War. Remember, the National Moment of Remembrance is 3 PM local time wherever you are.

Thanks to the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle.

What Republicans are Aligned with the Duggar Family

Josh Duggar is a former reality show star and he is also a former molester who fondled his four sisters. His dad, Jim Bob, contacted police and church elders but he was never arrested. This all becomes particularly interesting when you consider that 2016 Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is solidly behind Josh Duggar and his family. The Duggars earlier switched their support from Rick Santorum to Huckabee. On May 19, Josh Duggar tweeted a picture of himself with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who's expected to launch his presidential bid next month. "He's been photographed smiling alongside Sens. Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee." His wife, Anna, knew of all this before they were married, saying now she is proud of his "openness and humility." The fact that the Republicans, above, are associated with Duggar does not mean they support the molestation of children but it sure reinforces that old adage, "Choose your friends wisely because their influence on you is much greater than you might imagine."

Ireland Does What U.S. Can't Seem to Do

Ireland has voted "resoundingly" to allow gay marriage, the first national vote on this issue in the world. They amended their Constitution to permit marriage equality and they did it with a popular mandate, stated Leo Varadkar, a gay Cabinet minister. In the county of Dublin the Irish capital looks to have voted around 70 percent in favor of gay marriage with no districts outside the capital reporting a no majority. The vote nationally was 62.1% in favor. Ireland is certainly as religious a country as is America so how do we equate that with the fact that it is religious conservatives in this country that are holding back gay marriage equality here? Constitutional scholars debate whether or not the U.S. Constitution should reflect the legal values of foreign nations. The Supreme Court looked abroad in "deciding who – such as juveniles — should be exempt from the death penalty." The big question now is whether SCOTUS will let Ireland's landmark decision affect its verdict on gay marriage in the U.S. coming soon.

Findings: Bullying Leads to Future Health Problems

For a subject that has quieted down for a while, there is new evidence that those who are "bullied by their peers actually suffer from worse long-term mental health effects than children who are maltreated by adults." It makes sense to me. Your parents are supposed to be on your back to make you a better person. Your friends, or acquaintances, are supposed to treat you like one of them. When they resort to bullying the bullied kid probably doesn't understand why his or her coequal is doing this. A study from The Lancet Psychiatry came up with the conclusion and the findings were a surprise. Their scientific discovery showed that since the children spent more time with other kids than their parents, the negative results are more pronounced. Additional results showed kids mistreated by adults were more likely to be bullied. The researchers compare bullying to the victim to being a caged animal with nowhere to escape, with the repetitive nature of the act being the most harmful part. The answer, they say, is to stop it in the schools where most of it originates. If parents suspect bullying, they should talk to their kids immediately, then contact school officials.

Why Do We Continue to Bury Our Heads in the Sand Over Racism?

This country has never gotten over this idea that there is a genetic difference between the racial colors of blacks and whites that makes them different. Some studies in the past have suggested that whites are naturally smarter than blacks so it must be genetic? Not so. Genes are a segment of the DNA and all humans, black, white, brown, yellow, whatever have the same DNA. So if you can't blame it on heredity but does the environment we grow up in come to mind? Bingo. Fifty-three years ago James Baldwin said he would never forgive his country or countrymen for destroying hundreds of thousands of lives, not really knowing what they had done, and not wanting to know. Today, I believe those who so criticize and condemn blacks realize what they are doing and many are proud of it.

I grew up in the South in the 1950s and 1960s so I experienced the whole nine yards. I didn't understand why then and I don't understand why now. Tim Wise, who writes on this issue a lot, quoted Baldwin's words, above, commenting, "and in the wake of the Baltimore uprising that began last week, they are words worth remembering." He brings up a point voiced by many black Americans, 'How can we possibly know what they go through when we have never lived it?' There is no way any white American can put his or herself in the shoes of a black man or black woman...or Hispanic, or American Indian, or Asian. But what's the problem anyway? Years ago in the South there was the fear that if a black family moved in beside you your property value would go down. Most of the time that was imaginary, or if it did happen it was only temporary.

Today we live side by side with property values unaffected but there is still an unmistakable tension of hate between the races.