Month: June 2021

Another Dem Failure

The vote has been taken and the “For The Peoples” Act failed in the Senate.

Was there ever any doubt it would fail?

Of course there was not!

But the MSM had to milk that drama for all it was worth…..

The biggest voting rights bill in decades met its widely expected fate in the evenly divided Senate Tuesday, with Republicans unified in opposition. Senators voted 50-50 on advancing the For the People Act, the Hill reports. Democrats needed 60 votes to overcome the GOP filibuster and advance the bill to debate. Before the vote, which was presided over by Vice President Kamala Harris, Democrats delivered dire warnings about the state of US democracy, the Washington Post reports—and afterward, they vowed to keep fighting the efforts of Republican-controlled states to make it more difficult to vote. “This is a battle for the soul of America,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, per the AP. “We will keep fighting until we succeed.”

The bill, which would bring in national voting standards, passed the House in March but was denounced by Republicans including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell as a partisan “solution looking for a problem.” In a small victory for Democrats Tuesday, Sen. Joe Manchin flipped his vote to a yes, ensuring unified Democratic support. The switch came after Democrats agreed to consider his compromise proposal, which includes a national voter ID requirement. Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, seen as a possible swing vote, said Tuesday that she supported some parts of the Democratic legislation, but the “sprawling” bill would make elections “more difficult, expensive, subject to federal micromanagement,” the AP reports. Democrats may now push to abolish the filibuster, though Sen. Krysten Sinema made it clear Tuesday that she does not intend to change her position.

And Manchin voted “YES”?

Then what was those months of him strutting around pretending to be a leader all about?

Just another example of how flipping worthless and spineless the US Senate has become.

Another illustration of just how far Right morons will go to flex their political muscle…there is nothing about the Senate that works for the people or the country…..just old farts pretending to care.

And the obstructionism lives on.

Amicus Populi

Turn The Page!

I  Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–22Jun21

The whitewashing of American history….this time it is Texas (of all states) with the launch of the “1836 Project”….

WE all know revised story of the Alamo and the fight for independence of Texas from Mexico….mostly popularized by the lies of Hollywood and our educational system….now Texas will go a step further….

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law establishing the so-called “1836 Project,” which the Republican official said “promotes patriotic education and ensures future generations understand Texas values.”

“To keep Texas the best state in the nation, we can never forget why our state is so exceptional,” Abbott tweeted. “Together, we’ll keep our rich history alive.”

As Dean Baker, co-founder of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, pointed out: “Of course, if they actually did talk about the reasons Texas declared independence from Mexico, it would be a very radical course.”

Although Mexico abolished slavery in 1829, its government continued to allow U.S. settlers to bring enslaved people into the country. As U.S. immigrants began to outnumber the non-Indigenous population of Spanish origin, the Mexican government attempted to reassert its control, including its prohibition on slavery. When Mexico’s ruler, Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna, sent an army to reestablish his authority in 1835, U.S. settlers revolted and by 1836 had created an independent, slaveholding republic—Texas.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/06/08/progressives-warn-more-gop-whitewashing-history-abbott-launches-1836-project

The real reason for this insurrection is seldom told in the education of our children….only a revised edition and Hollywood is also to blame for the lack of knowledge.

Not to worry….Texas is NOT alone in the revisionism….

“Promoting Education Not Indoctrination Act” was introduced in the Ohio legislature by Sarah Fowler Arthur, a first-term representative from the overwhelmingly white district of northeastern Ohio that includes both the rustbelt lake towns of Ashtabula and Conneaut and the Cleveland suburb of Chardon. Like many other bills now making their way to law in red states across America, H.B. 327 would outlaw the teaching of what its proponents label as “critical race theory” which they define as the idea that the “United States is fundamentally racist or sexist” or that anyone “is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.” Unlike similar measures in other G.O.P. controlled states, H.B. 327 very specifically applies its prohibitions to Ohio’s large public university system, threatening any institution that allows such teaching with a reduction of one quarter of its state funding.

Anti-Critical Race Theory and Neo-McCarthyism

Again…not to worry…these types of bullsh*t history will not go away any time soon….

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Biden Takes On Domestic Terrorism

After a rise in hate groups over the last decade and then the breach of the Capitol on 06 January Biden has decided to take on the situation of domestic terrorism (about damn time)……

The Biden administration says it will enhance its analysis of threats from domestic terrorists, including the sharing of intelligence within law-enforcement agencies, and will work with tech companies to eliminate terrorist content online as part of a nationwide strategy to combat domestic terrorism.

The National Security Council on Tuesday released the strategy, which comes more than six months after a mob of insurgents loyal to President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol as Congress was voting to certify Joe Biden’s presidential win.

“Domestic terrorism — driven by hate, bigotry, and other forms of extremism — is a stain on the soul of America,” Biden, who’s traveling in Europe, said in a statement. “It goes against everything our country strives for and it poses a direct challenge to our national security, democracy, and unity.”

(Market Watch)

Under Federal law, “domestic terrorism” is defined as “activities that involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State; appear to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion, or to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States.”

The Biden plan is a 4 pillar approach…..

PILLAR 1: UNDERSTAND AND SHARE DOMESTIC TERRORISM-RELATED INFORMATION

PILLAR 2: PREVENT DOMESTIC TERRORISM RECRUITMENT AND MOBILIZATION TO VIOLENCE

PILLAR 3: DISRUPT AND DETER DOMESTIC TERRORISM ACTIVITY

PILLAR 4: CONFRONT LONG-TERM CONTRIBUTORS TO DOMESTIC TERRORISM

Something needs to be done….this is a pretty good start but more will need to be done to protect our nation from those in-bred morons that commit domestic terrorism against this nation.

If you would like to see just what the president and his team want to accomplish then read the plan for yourself….

Click to access National-Strategy-for-Countering-Domestic-Terrorism.pdf

Like I stated….a good start but success will depend on the cooperation of all agencies involved….and I foresee a problem there.

We need to assure the American people (those with half a brain that is) that the events of 06 January was a one off and will never occur again.

Can this plan guarantee that?

Thoughts?

Watch This Blog!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–21Jun21

“Texans need guns”

With at least 300 gun violence incidents in 2021…the last thing we need (anywhere in this country) is more lax gun laws.

But do not worry…..Texas gives a sh*t about this stat…..

Gov. Abbot made this claim at a signing of a new bill…..

Gov. Greg Abbott invoked not just the imagery of the Alamo when he signed a package of legislation relaxing gun control laws in Texas—he called on the head of the National Rifle Association to line up with him. The governor staged a bill-signing ceremony Thursday in San Antonio, a day after actually signing the bills, the Austin American-Statesman reports. One of the new laws allows anyone 21 or older to carry a handgun in public without a permit. Until now, a permit was required, as was training and a criminal background check. “There is a need for people to have a weapon to defend themselves in the Lone Star State,” Abbott said, per the AP. Wayne LaPierre, NRA boss, said: “People want to be able to protect themselves. And thank God that Texas is leading the way for the country.”

At the same time, demonstrators including Moms Demand Action protested the new laws outside the governor’s mansion in Austin. The other six measures, all of which take effect Sept. 1, per the American-Statesman, will:

  • Prohibit government contracts with any entity that discriminates against the firearm industry.
  • Keep hotels from enacting restrictive gun policies.
  • Grant people carrying handguns more choices on which holster to wear.
  • Take firearm suppressors off the list of prohibited weapons under the Texas Penal Code.
  • Decree firearms manufacturers and sellers essential businesses.
  • Bar state and local governments from enforcing new federal gun regulations.

The head of the Texas Municipal Police Association says the new legislation will make it tougher for officers to determine whether someone carrying a gun is allowed to, per Reuters.

Now that is what we need…..more and easy access to carry guns for morons with half a brain.

This will do nothing to help the spiraling upwards of incidents of gun violence and it is now Summer and it will only get worse.

Not to worry……

This will become the poster child for more GOP states to do something that means nothing to the livelihood of the people.

Let stupidity prevail!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Biden’s Broken Promises

I know it is early in Biden’s presidency….but he made so many promises to us voters and I think we need to look at his agenda so far…..

And Biden is NOT alone….most Dems in Congress are abandoning us mere peasants as they always do after the vote.

First it was the minimum wage. Then student loans. Then the $300 weekly unemployment benefit. Then ditching the God-awful Trump tax cuts for billionaires. There was also the public option. Biden sure was racking up a lot of things he wouldn’t fight for, and guess what they all share? They’re all things working people care about – vitally.

Biden and the Dems may figure they can abandon workers, because who will they turn to? Ignominious Trump? The would-be Republican Reich devoted to worker destruction? Not likely. But they could stay home during the mid-terms and, even more devastatingly for Dems, in 2024. Then we’ll have a one-party autocracy, as one twitter wag put it, with giant bronze statues of Trump everywhere. Remember: Obama’s betrayal of tens of millions of workers to bail out bankers ultimately gave us Trump. And that demagogue waits in the wings. Biden’s broken promises may just give him the opening he needs.

Blaming Joe “I Just Don’t Give a Shit” Manchin for Biden’s broken promises is lame. A president like LBJ would have beaten Manchin into shape within his first few weeks of office. LBJ’s DNC would have defunded the renegade senator tout de suite. Even more pathetic is Biden hiding behind the Senate parliamentarian. When confronted with decisions from this person that they didn’t like, GOP senators earlier in the century just fired him.

Biden could have instructed his party’s senators at least to overrule the parliamentarian, when that nobody ruled against including the minimum wage in the covid relief bill. The Dems could even – oh my goodness! – have removed her. But Biden, like most Dems, doesn’t know how to play hardball. That’s because he’s got one arm tied behind his back by his Wall Street donors. Only a few Dem senators don’t. They are the only ones who display any guts when it comes to looking out for the 50 to 60 percent of Americans struggling to pay their bills, as they straggle through each week on a dicey paycheck.

Biden’s Broken Promises Spell Hard Times Ahead

We vote for this betrayal every time….thinking ‘this time it will be different’ and it NEVER is.

And since things do not improve the sheep run to the next election and give the ‘other’ party the control….and things remain the same…..

When will ever learn?

Actually I could put the voter into the file of “Can’t Fix Stupid”!

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

A 50 Year Dismal Failure

It all began on June 1971…..Nixon’s War on Drugs.

The beginning of this failure was not what you think….was drugs the true enemy?

In June 1971, President Nixon declared a “war on drugs.” He dramatically increased the size and presence of federal drug control agencies, and pushed through measures such as mandatory sentencing and no-knock warrants.

A top Nixon aide, John Ehrlichman, later admitted: “You want to know what this was really all about. The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying. We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”Nixon temporarily placed marijuana in Schedule One, the most restrictive category of drugs, pending review by a commission he appointed led by Republican Pennsylvania Governor Raymond Shafer.

https://drugpolicy.org/issues/brief-history-drug-war

Yes it has been a dismal failure…..if the true reason for such a “war” was to stop the flow of drugs….and the American people agree….

The findings released by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) showed that 83% of Americans say the “war on drugs” has failed. That assessment is felt similarly across party lines; 83% of Democrats expressed that view, as did 85% of Independents and 82% of Republicans. Nearly two-thirds of respondents (65%) said it’s time to end the war on drugs.

The poll also found that 66% of voters support getting rid of “criminal penalties for drug possession and reinvesting drug enforcement resources into treatment and addiction services.”

Similar percentages were seen in support for eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes (64%) and for commuting or reducing the sentences of people incarcerated for drugs (61%).

A further finding was that 63% think drug use should be addressed as a public health issue compared to just 33% say it should be addressed as a criminal justice issue.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/06/09/poll-shows-83-americans-believe-so-called-war-drugs-abject-failure

A decade ago, 2011, a commission found that the ‘war on drugs’ was a failure and yet it continues and even expands….and the drugs continue to flow in….

The global war on drugs is a failure and should be replaced by decriminalization strategies grounded in science, health, security and human rights, according to a recent report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy. “Repressive efforts directed at consumers impede public health measures to reduce HIV/AIDS, overdose fatalities and other harmful consequences of drug use,” says the report.

…

As an alternative, the Commission – which includes activists, business leaders, former American cabinet officials, and former European and Latin American presidents — points to a number of countries that have decriminalized drugs without seeing a significant rise in use or drug related-violence. Portugal saw declines in heroin use, new HIV infections, and the incarceration rate once it coupled the decriminalization of all drugs with treatment policies. Similar drops in problematic drug use, especially heroin, were observed in both Switzerland and the Netherlands after adopting polices that emphasized treatment rather than criminalization.

https://civilrights.org/edfund/resource/the-war-on-drugs-has-failed-commission-says/#

After billions upon billions upon billions wasted trying to prevent that we are fighting drugs has accomplished only one thing…..the incarceration of many people for minor offenses….

And the drugs flow on!

The one situation that we can thank the War on Drugs is the militarization of our police forces….

The war on drugs has impacted a myriad of domestic institutions within the United States. Nowhere is this more apparent than in analyzing the evolution of U.S. domestic policing.

Historically, laws within the United States have attempted to separate the functions of domestic police from those of the military. Police are to protect the rights of citizens — both the victims and perpetrators of crime — and are to use violence only as a last resort. The military, by contrast, is trained for war, to engage and destroy enemies. While events throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth century opened the door that separated police and military, the war on drugs blew that door off its hinges.

More traditional wars, like World War II, have a clearly defined external enemy. The war on drugs is different. While the United States engages external enemies as a part of its drug interdiction policies, it also targets domestic “enemies”—drug users, dealers, manufactures, and everyone involved in the illicit drug trade. These domestic adversaries are not readily identifiable.

Militarized Police: A Consequence of the War on Drugs

Time for the admin to grow a set of nuts and face up to this failure and look to the real problems and stop pretending that we are winning an unwinnable war….time to stop wasting much needed funds on a failed policy.

And the drugs flow on!

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Those Worthless Links

Before I go any further I need to wish all my fathers out there a very happy Fathers Day…

31,030 Happy fathers day Vectors - Free & Royalty-free Happy fathers day Vector Images | Depositphotos®

When I post on something I try to include links so that my reader can check the information and my accuracy……as well as the back story so that gaps can fill in any blanks that I may have inadvertently left to the imagination.

Like on 08 June I posted an article remembering the dastardly attack in 1967 on the US Naval vessel, USS Liberty, there is a wealth of information about this attack that killed 34 sailors wounded many….and yet not one person click on the links to see the “rest of the story”.

Looks like since it was Israel that killed those sailors no one wants the story to be told…..it is as if no one gives a sh*t about the deaths and injuries. But let a couple Americans get killed in say a hijacking and these same Americans are ready to go to war.

I think it is PATHETIC that Americans care so little about our war dead.

I am rethinking the use of links.

Since they are about as useful as soiled toilet paper….why bother?

Why waste my time trying to help the reader understand complex issues?

Maybe I would do better if I wrote fluff pieces.  Self-help, fashion, yada yada yada……but I rule out mind numbing BS.  Or maybe try poetry again (tried and was a failure).

I read many posts that bitch about the condition of this country…..and yet those posts are about as well received as a rattlesnake in heat…..they want answer to what is happening then look no further than unused links.

I provide these links as a service to my readers….but few bother….so why continue to assist at every turn?

This type of apathy is what drove me out of political commentary for a decade….and it is very close to doing it again.

I fight every day trying to inform and educate….most of my effect falls on blind eyes…..so why bother?

Now I can understand why QAnon and the ilk are so popular….the people do not care!

Think about it….the country is going to Hell and rapidly and my most popular post is “Watermelon Makes You Horny”…..for me that says it all.

To say that I am a bit disappointed that few care enough to check the ‘rest of the story’ would be an understatement….keep in mind that when you are bitching about the state of our country and you look in a mirror then you are face to face with the problem.

Please do not misinterpret my post….I am proud of the followers and readers and commenters that visit IST on a regular basis….to those loyal readers I say thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I shall continue (for now) to write what I know….but the links may be sparse or non-existent….that is what I want to do….but I know that I will continue and hope concern will return.

Have a great day and enjoy the time with your children….

Peace Out!

“lego ergo scribo”

Pride Month–2021

June has been designated as Pride Month….

National Pride Month High Res Stock Images | Shutterstock
You knew I could not let this slide by without some sort of historic perspective…….and you would be correct.

These are the same-sex couples in history……

History is recorded by individual human beings with their own beliefs and interests guiding what they choose to record, and, as such, many events and details may be omitted from the account of a certain event or the story of a great person’s life. This is especially so when considering so-called “gay history”.

“Gay history”, of course, is just history which includes mention of an individual’s sexual orientation. Same-sex relationships were regarded as simply another expression of human sexuality in the cultures of ancient civilizations and were not considered “shameful” or “sinful” until after the rise of Christianity, which condemned such relationships, not because they were “wrong” but because they were associated with other belief systems and practices.

…

Achilles & Patroclus

https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1775/ten-famous–not-so-famous-same-sex-couples-in-anci/

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Saturday News

As the holiday begins we here on the Gulf Coast are looking at our first storm of the season….lots of wind and rain…..TS Claudette…..rain hard and steady for 6 hours….

The weekend begins and I have a wealth of absolutely useless news to share with my reader…..

Can a 7 year old be arrested for rape?

In New York state, children as young as 7 can be arrested and charged as juvenile delinquents in family court. But is that age too young? It’s a question being asked in the state, one that was amplified by the March 23 arrest of a 7-year-old in Brasher Falls, NY, on a charge of third-degree rape, reports WWNY. Virtually no additional details of the case are known due to privacy regulations (the New York Post reports the incident allegedly happened on Thanksgiving), but the New York Times uses it as a springboard for examining whether said arrest should have happened at all. According to some judges, lawyers, and juvenile justice experts they spoke to, no—they say at his age, it would be better for social service agencies to step in, which does occur in hundreds of cases each year. In 2019, New York’s family courts heard 121 cases involving children 12 and under.

Dawne Mitchell, head of the Legal Aid Society’s juvenile rights practice, says that’s because children of that age aren’t cognitively capable of understanding the consequences that follow their actions, and that being put in handcuffs and taken to court exacts a psychological toll that can be traumatic and set them on a path toward recidivism. And a Queens attorney suggested to the Post that the case was as pointless as it is “absurd”: “They’d have to prove he actually physically committed this act, which to me it almost seems to be an impossibility.” New York’s State Legislature may have a chance to weigh in by way of a bill that would up that age from 7 to 12; the Times notes that the UN in 2018 urged countries to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14. Connecticut also has a minimum age of 7; North Carolina has the lowest specified age in the country, at just 6.

Really?

Looks like an ex-Marine wants to make the state of Maine an all white state….

According to private chat logs obtained by Vice News, a neo-Nazi and ex-Marine has plans to turn the state of Maine into an all-white ethnostate.

Chris Pohlhaus, 34, who has thousands of followers on his popular far-right social media network, sent a series of messages on Telegram that details his plans for white people to move to Maine and make a “white future” for themselves.

Speaking to Vice News, Pohlhaus said that he’s “not doing anything illegal.”

https://www.rawstory.com/leaked-messages-show-ex-marine-has-plans-for-maine-to-be-an-all-white-ethnostate/

Those damn flag burners!

GOP Sen. Steve Daines (Mont.) on Monday reintroduced a constitutional amendment to bar the “physical desecration of the American flag.”

“The American flag is a symbol of liberty and a beacon of hope. It represents the ideals that our nation was built upon and for decades, brave men and women have carried its colors into battle to defend the United States of America,” the Montana senator said in a statement released on Flag Day.

“The Stars and Stripes are a representation of freedom. We must always protect and respect the American flag,” he added.

Daines has introduced this amendment two times before.

The measure was co-sponsored by Republican Sens. Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), Mike Crapo (Idaho), Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.) and Kevin Cramer (N.D.).

Flag burning, an often controversial form of protest, is considered to be a protected form of self-expression under the First Amendment. In the landmark 1989 Supreme Court case Texas v. Johnson, the court ruled 5-4 that Gregory Lee Johnson, a protester who burned a flag, could express politically charged symbolic speech even if it meant desecrating a national symbol.

(the hill.com)

So the Supreme Court is not the last word on law…..gotta love the GOP…they never miss a chance to do stupid stuff.

“My opponent wants me dead”  Uttering from an in-bred Floridian running for office…..

Anna Paulina Luna want to unseat Democratic Rep. Charlie Crist in next year’s election—but she’s worried that potential rivals for the Republican nomination will kill her first. Luna, who lost to Crist in Florida’s 13th District last year, has obtained a stalking injunction against William Braddock, who plans to enter the race this week, the Tampa Bay Times reports. In her petition, she says she was made aware of a a plan “to murder me made by William Braddock in an effort to prevent me from winning the election.” She claims Braddock is working with two other people she describes as “political rivals,” including Amanda Makki, her opponent in the district’s 2020 GOP primary, to “take her out.”

The injunction bans Braddock from a conservative-friendly coffee shop and any event where Luna is speaking. A spokesperson for Luna tells the Hill that there are multiple ongoing law enforcement investigations based on Braddock’s “own threats and actions, and we are confident the facts will be public at the appropriate time.” There will be a hearing on extending the injunction on June 22 and Braddock tells the Times that he’s not planning on preparing for it because he hasn’t done anything wrong. “This woman is off her rocker and she does not need to be representing anyone,” says Braddock, who accuses Luna of filing a false police report. Luna won the 2020 nomination with the help of a nomination from Rep. Matt Gaetz, Raw Story notes

Just a typical GOP candidate these days….batcrap crazy!

How much do you enjoy lobster?

Seems Red Lobster is making false claims about the lobsters it serves to his diners….

Red Lobster has been making some fishy claims about its product, according to a class- action lawsuit filed in California. According to court documents, the plaintiffs say the chain markets its lobster and shrimp as “sustainable” and “responsible” when the truth is very different, IntraFish reports. The lawsuit, which accuses Red Lobster of making deceptive claims, says the chain’s Maine lobster comes from suppliers who use “environmentally destructive practices that threaten endangered populations of North American right whales.” Part of the Maine lobster fishery lost its Marine Stewardship Council certification last year after a judge ruled that it was a threat to whales.

The lawsuit also states that Red Lobster’s shrimp comes from sources that “do not employ the highest environmental or animal welfare standards,” including farms in Indonesia, Vietnam, India, and China. The lawsuit calls for the chain to pay damages to consumers and drop its claims of sustainability. Red Lobster declined to comment on the suit, but Marianne LaCroix, executive director of the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative, tells Maine Public Radio that it is misguided. “The fishermen and the state have been working to protect right whales for over 20 years now and have made great strides,” she says. “

Just another marketing scheme to make diners feel better about the stuff they use or consume.

Boycott Red Lobster if you have a soul.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”