Day: April 16, 2021

Yet Another Mass Shooting

Closing Thought–16Apr21

A headline that is all too familiar these days….and yet the American people seem to care less about this violence…..

This time the moron with a gun is in Indiana…..

Police say at least eight people were killed in a mass shooting late Thursday night at a FedEx warehouse in Indianapolis. Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson Genae Cook says multiple other victims were hospitalized, the Indianapolis Star reports. Police believe the gunman killed himself, the AP reports. Cook says police found an “active shooter incident” with multiple gunshot victims when they were called to the scene just after 11pm.

 

Interstate 70 was briefly closed in both directions near the incident, which took place near Indianapolis International Airport on the city’s southwest side. “Safety is our top priority, and our thoughts are with all those who are affected,” a FedEx spokesman tells CNN. The New York Times reports that more than 100 people who have not been able to contact loved ones have gathered at a hotel near the facility and are being assisted by representatives of the police chaplain’s office.

I am sure that someone will offer up “thoughts and prayers”

Thoughts and prayers my ass.

What has this ever done to help stop these incidents?

The answer is easy….NOT A GODDAMN THING!

When will the American people wake up to the illness that is raging in this country?

If few care this will be an ever expanding problem that so many politicians are afraid to address……and with inaction more people will die and be injured by an idiot with a gun

Please do not offer thoughts and prayers….that is as damn disingenuous as it comes.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

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A Change For SCOTUS?

The referee of this republic is the Supreme Court…..they interpret and set laws for the nation. As it is today it is where ideologues go to push a certain set of principles….no longer are these 9 judges an independent and impartial umpire for the laws of this country.

There has been a movement for the expansion of the court from 9 judges to 13. The Dems are offering up this bill…but will it ever see the light of day?

President Biden signed an executive order to set up a commission dedicated to studying possible reforms to the Supreme Court, including an increase in the number of justices on the bench. Congressional Democrats, however, aren’t waiting for the results of the panel’s report due out in six months, instead moving to introduce legislation Thursday on expansion of the court. The bill, led by Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Jerry Nadler, proposes upping the number of Supreme Court justices from nine to 13—a move that can only be carried out via an act of Congress. The legislation is a reaction to what NBC News calls “an undercurrent of progressive fury” after then-President Obama nominated Merrick Garland in March 2016 to fill Antonin Scalia’s spot after the latter had died, and Mitch McConnell, then the GOP Senate majority leader, denied a vote on Garland.

McConnell’s reasoning: It was an election year, and he felt the incoming president should be the one to fill Scalia’s slot, which Trump nominee Neil Gorsuch eventually took. Democrats’ anger was further stoked when Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in September and the GOP swept Amy Coney Barrett onto the bench just days before the 2020 election. “This bill marks a new era where Democrats finally stop conceding the Supreme Court to Republicans,” political activist Brian Fallon says, per NBC News. The Intercept notes that the number of seats on the court bounced around earlier on in US history, going up to 10 before falling back to nine in 1869, where it’s stayed since. NBC and Vox note the bill is unlikely to become law in the near future, with the GOP pushing back hard against it as a radical move. Biden himself has wavered on fully supporting such an expansion, though he hopes to receive some clarity from his newly formed commission.

Personally I do not see how the rise to 13 would change anything at all on the court.  And yes I have an idea on this as well and I let my thoughts be known here on IST……https://lobotero.com/2020/09/25/i-have-lots-to-say-about-scotus/

But none of these changes will occur,,,,the Senate will make sure that nothing is done to change the make-up of the Supreme Court.

While change needs to happen with SCOTUS but this bill will not change anything but the number of judges…..the partisan BS will continue.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Chamber Of Commerce Voter Suppression

There has been a wealth of citizens that have come out in favor of the voting rights bill in Congress, HR1, and yet as popular as it may be the corporations are in opposition…..but why would they care?

The Chamber of Commerce has issued a strong letter of opposition…..

This is the letter the Chamber has issued…..these are the points that they take exception with….

There are many other aspects of H.R. 1 that are extremely problematic. To highlight just a few:

  • H.R. 1 would fundamentally transform the FEC from a non-partisan agency comprised of three commissioners from each party into an overtly partisan enforcement tool controlled by a majority of commissioners from the political party then in power.
  • H.R. 1 would deem communication by corporations, including associations, to be “coordinated” and thereby prohibited if the organization has even the most innocuous and tenuous of connections with a candidate. For example, a meeting with an elected official to discuss a policy issue, an organizational employee who was previously employed by the elected official or candidate in any capacity, or a common vendor with a candidate would all have the practical effect of prohibiting corporations, including associations, from engaging in the political process.
  • H.R. 1 would also usher in a host of onerous disclaimer requirements for those engaging in communications that mention a candidate or elected official, even if those communications are related to legislative issues.
  • H.R. 1 would give taxpayer funds to political campaigns by allowing Americans to opt-into having their political donations matched by the federal government. Taxpayer money should be used to support projects like infrastructure initiatives and education programs and not political campaigns.

https://www.uschamber.com/letters-congress/us-chamber-key-vote-letter-opposing-hr-1-the-people-act

HR1 includes these points…..

This bill addresses voter access, election integrity and security, campaign finance, and ethics for the three branches of government.

Specifically, the bill expands voter registration (e.g., automatic and same-day registration) and voting access (e.g., vote-by-mail and early voting). It also limits removing voters from voter rolls.

The bill requires states to establish independent redistricting commissions to carry out congressional redistricting.

Additionally, the bill sets forth provisions related to election security, including sharing intelligence information with state election officials, supporting states in securing their election systems, developing a national strategy to protect U.S. democratic institutions, establishing in the legislative branch the National Commission to Protect United States Democratic Institutions, and other provisions to improve the cybersecurity of election systems.

Further, the bill addresses campaign finance, including by expanding the prohibition on campaign spending by foreign nationals, requiring additional disclosure of campaign-related fundraising and spending, requiring additional disclaimers regarding certain political advertising, and establishing an alternative campaign funding system for certain federal offices.

The bill addresses ethics in all three branches of government, including by requiring a code of conduct for Supreme Court Justices, prohibiting Members of the House from serving on the board of a for-profit entity, and establishing additional conflict-of-interest and ethics provisions for federal employees and the White House.

The bill requires the President, the Vice President, and certain candidates for those offices to disclose 10 years of tax returns.

If you are a political geek and would like to read the bill for yourself before you comment then here is the pdf for you to read…..all 791 pages!

Click to access BILLS-117hr1ih.pdf

Interesting that the most opposition comes from corporate America and its paid goons in Congress.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

New 06 January Riot Report

Lots has been written and reported about the breach of the Capitol by the rabid mob of overweight in-bred Trump supporters…..and the reports are not finished…..a new one of the policing of the crowd has been released….

For me this report is disturbing on several levels….

A new report from the Capitol Police force’s internal investigator says that even though the force had advance warnings about the Jan. 6 riot at the US Capitol, officers were told not to use their most powerful tools for crowd-control. The New York Times calls the watchdog report “the most devastating account to date of the lapses and miscalculations” surrounding the attack. The 104-page document from inspector general Michael A. Bolton will be addressed during a House Administration Committee hearing Thursday. It reveals that the Civil Disturbance Unit was instructed not to use tools like stun grenades to disperse the mob. Per NPR, it also reports they received “cumbersome” protective gear and riot shields that shattered upon impact due to having been stored improperly or simply being too old.

This despite the fact that, as the report reveals, the warnings in the lead-up to Jan. 6 were more clear than previously thought. “Unlike previous postelection protests, the targets of the pro-Trump supporters are not necessarily the counterprotesters as they were previously, but rather Congress itself is the target on the 6th,” a threat assessment sent three days before the siege read. Yet, the report says, officers were woefully ill-prepared to handle the attack due to intelligence breakdowns and discrepancies and poor leadership decisions. In addition, some members of the CDU had not undergone the mandatory annual training in years, and some critical equipment was in short supply.

Let me get this right…..

There were a handful of DC police on hand for a mob of thousands….and for a group of black protesters there is hundreds of cops and national guard…..is that equal response?

Don’t give me the excuse about some vandalism possibilities…..what do you think those overweight in-bred morons did to the Capitol?

Once again we see the inequality in this nation.

What will it take for this country to start waking up to the cancer of bigotry that is creeping slowly through our society and destroying piece by piece the very fabric of this nation?

I wanted to give my readers the pdf of the document but since it is restricted the best I can do is a short pdf for them to read….

Click to access HHRG-117-HA00-Wstate-BoltonM-20210415-SD003.pdf

Read the 4 pages carefully and then look at other protests and then tell me what you see.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”