It is the weekend and how about a little history that you probably never heard?
This year the world is celebrating the signing of the Magna Carta, 800 years ago…..we all have learned that simple date and fact in every world history class and political science class we have ever taken, right?
But do you know what happened after that famous, ground breaking signing?
Hint….not what you would think!
King John Butchered Authors of Magna Carta « Antiwar.com Blog.
The weekend and I usually post on something different from my normal postings…..today I want to talk about the internet service.
We all have had problems with our service and/or our providers, right? For me it is a slow service at times usually in the early morning hours or a loss of service at critical times in my postings…….usually it comes with me ranting and swearing profusely…..and my blood pressure going through the roof…..after I calm down I try to look at it rationally which usually makes the blood pressure rise again…….
But what could be causing the problems that I and many others have to deal with….regularly? There may be a good answer to that question……
Thanks to new FCC rules put out this year to ensure net neutrality and keep all online data equal, major Internet service providers (think Verizon, AT&T, Time Warner) aren’t supposed to hold our Internet speeds hostage. But that’s exactly what’s happening, per a study by an Internet activist group, causing a hefty slowdown to 75% of wireline businesses and residences, the Guardian reports. Battle for the Net’s study, which checked out results from 300,000 Internet users, found what the paper calls “significant degradations” on the networks of the five largest ISPs, which means we’re paying for traffic speed we’re just not getting. “There is widespread and systemic abuse across the network,” says a rep from one of the groups that comprises Battle for the Net.
The ISPs are already being forced to react to these net neutrality rules: AT&T was hit with a $100 million fine last week for slowing down Internet speeds of customers with supposedly unlimited data plans, per the Washington Post, while Sprint cut out its “data-throttling” procedure of slowing down speeds of customers also believed to be using an excessive amount of data, CNET notes. But the ISPs don’t think they should be regulated as public utilities are, which is effectively what the FCC decided back in February, and AT&T in particular is fighting back against the “unprecedented” and “unjustified” rules it says is damaging its business, CBS Washington reports. (“Radical” changes are needed to fix our antiquated Internet, a Gizmodo writer says.)
CRAP! There goes my pressure again!
TAKE THAT YOU SOUL-LESS SON OF A BITCH!
More accurate words have not been written…….
For decades there has been a battle raging over the simple act of getting married…….we have heard from the Leftist…..then the religious d/bags that equate same sex marriage with everything from incest to bestiality….and then there were those like myself that felt that it was a personal and private decision made by two people and because it was thusly it was none of my business or anyone else for that matter……..
Like I said we have heard from everybody and now we have heard from the the last player………. SCOTUS………
Perhaps the most anticipated Supreme Court case has been decided, and it’s a yes for same-sex marriage throughout the land. In a ruling authored by Justice Anthony Kennedy, the court voted 5-4 today that states cannot ban same-sex marriage, the AP reports.
Kennedy wrote that gays and lesbians “may not be deprived of liberty” or of that “fundamental right” to marry, per CNN. Gay couples could already marry in 36 states and DC, but now the other 14 states will no longer be able to ban same-sex couples from doing so. The decision reveals the court’s resounding “yes” to one of the most important constitutional questions posed in recent times, as worded by the Wall Street Journal in January: “Does the 14th Amendment, which guarantees ‘equal protection’ and ‘due process’ of law, forbid states from treating gay couples differently than heterosexual ones?”The opinion seems to purposely not state a “standard of scrutiny,” SCOTUSblog notes. Instead, it asserts “it is now clear that the challenged laws burden the liberty of same-sex couples, and it must be further acknowledged that they abridge central precepts of equality. … This denial to same-sex couples of the right to marry works a grave and continuing harm.” President Obama sent out a tweet right after the ruling was announced, writing, “Today is a big step in our march toward equality. Gay and lesbian couples now have the right to marry, just like anyone else
Of course the battles are not over…….the state’s rights jerks will be looking for ways to circumvent the ruling as they have with abortion….
For now it is a win for equality…..and after all is that not what the Founders intended?
You may begin the rejoicing!
Since it is my birthday I have decided to give myself the day off…..I will not be posting stuff….just pressing articles I have saved for further reference…….enjoy
Recall a couple of months ago when the Right wing went batcrap craqzy with the news that the military would be carrying out a training operation in Texas?
First of all it is a TRAINING op not a goddam invasion! The military does this regularly….I participated in one such op when I was stationed at Ft. Hood with the 2nd Armored Division………we had NO intention of invading anything and neither do those today! I do hope that the concept of TRAINING is not too abstract for some……..
But the noise machine on the Right has a whole lot of normally rationally people running around yelling “the sky is falling”……especially in Texas!
Nearly half of Texans fear a federal military invasion, poll finds.
Surely everybody remembers the economic crisis of 2008………can you remember all the debate of whether to let the thieving banks to go bust of not? There was also a debate on whether the CEOs of said banks should be held responsible…….how about the term “too big too fail”?
I have written about what Iceland decided to do in the past……and today it looks like their plan was far superior to any plan we had here in the states……
Maybe we should take a good long look at what Iceland did…….and learn from their example…..
Populism is the hot button term for this election.
We have Right wing populism and Left wing populism…….but what will the people do at the time of the vote?
Is it more important to face income inequality? Or is class mobility the more important issue? Are we Americans truly concerned about our fellow citizens?
What do you think is the more important issue for this election?
Which Is the Better Populist Message: Class Mobility or Income Inequality? – NationalJournal.com.
While most everyone else is watching the carrying ons in the Congress and states I have been watching Ukraine and the situation the West is setting up for itself…..
Russia is playing a talking game……while it positions itself along the borders with NATO…….NATO is sending in troops and equipment to position along the borders with Russia……….
The “spearhead” force was initially meant to forestall a Russian invasion of Europe, something which US officials were constantly predicting was imminent. A year later and with the invasion still looking extremely unlikely, officials just keep doubling down at every opportunity.
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter has headed to Europe this week to try to convince various European nations, notably Germany, to dramatically increase military spending so they can afford to send a bunch of excess troops to the Russian border. He will also commit US troops and equipment to the plan.
If a full scale invasion seems unlikely…..what is all this troop movement about?
Why is the world playing the Cold war game again? Is all this weaponry really a good idea?
Why Arming Ukraine Is a Really Bad Idea | The National Interest.
Can you feel the panic setting in?
About now older white right wingers are having their anus slamming shut……this is NOT something they would like to think about…..but they can stick their heads in the sand or they can prepare for the inevitable…….
Whatcha think will be their path?
Whites Projected to Become a US Minority | Al Jazeera America.
2016 just got a little more silly……..nope not talking about the entry of Trump into the campaign……but rather that silly little governor from Louisiana that has the worse possible rating at home…….and now it is official…….the clown car has truly arrived!
The problem is he should have run 4 years ago when his political capital was at a high…..now he is just a silly little dude trying to make a name for himself and pad his political resume to add more cash to his speaking tours…..
There’s always room for one more: “My name is Bobby Jindal, and I am running for President of the United States of America.” So declared the Louisiana governor today. The 44-year-old Indian-American is low in most polls, however, and faces steep odds. One typical example of coverage: FiveThirtyEight calls him a strong candidate—if this were 2012. NPR, meanwhile, rounds up some odds and ends about him, including:
- Given name: He was born Piyush Jindal in Louisiana, but asked to be called Bobby at age 4—after Bobby Brady of the Brady Bunch.
- Rhodes scholar: He turned down Harvard Medical School and Yale Law School to attend Oxford as a Rhodes scholar and study health policy. He then ran his home state’s health department at age 24.
- Bad impression: He was a given a huge opportunity to make his name by delivering the GOP response to President Obama’s first congressional address in 2009. Instead, he drew comparisons to Kenneth on 30 Rock.
Gov. Bobby Jindal has wrecked the state of Louisiana and now he wants to take the carnage national. Jindal announced on Twitter that he is running for president.
When Jindal took office in 2008, the state had a $900 million budget surplus that the governor managed to turn into a $1.6 billion deficit through trickle-down tax cuts. He has doubled the state’s unemployment rate while refusing to raise taxes. Jindal has become reviled in his state by slashing funding for education and healthcare. Gov. Jindal tried to replace the state tax with a much higher sales tax, but he had to pull the plan after both Democrats and Republican rebelled.
Now that is a record of a true American candidate……..
Only good thing about a Jindal candidacy is that he will be a perfect fit for the clown car……
Stay tuned……more to come…….