Republicans In Congress Are Total Hypocrits

Chris Matthews is calling this republican congress “chicken hawks”.  They want to “bomb, bomb, bomb Iran” and yet there has been a war resolution the President has been trying to get passed against ISIS since last summer and congress has done nothing on that.  It’s a truly queer situation.  We don't have to "imagine" what Ted Cruz would do about ISIS.  He and congress have already shown us.  Nothing.  Despite all of today's flowery rhetoric at today's NH convention, Ted Cruz is missing in action on this issue.  So I say "Imagine" being the guy who's president when World War III begins and is the principal person responsible for wiping out half of humanity.  Also the GW blog states that the patriot act is set to expire in a few weeks.  It ought to be like a mortgage that’s finally paid off.  I hear they used to have mortgage burning parties where now middle aged couples were free after thirty years.  Now of course- - there is panic at the NSA because they don’t want their authority yanked or “sunsetted” in a few weeks.  The thing is- some may say “Well we can give THIS President these broad rights to snoop because he’s “one of the good guys”.  But we might well elect a president who is “Not one of the good guys”.  Just think what would happen if we elected another Bush to the White House?   Keep in mind Jeb’s record is just about as sleazy as his brother’s.  If the Patriot was an “emergency measure” meant for the fall of 2001 when there were all these Anthrax laden letters floating around- - logically what we should do are two things – find out who sent these letters and then the Patriot Act will have served its function and we can let its provisions die a natural death.  (Just like the Japanese internment camps were temporary)  But congress has this screwball idea of renewing the Patriot Act authority and including it in some “American Freedom” bill.  This idea is completely stupid.  It reminds me of this so called “fiscal cliff” crisis we faced a few years ago where people who weigh in on the topic often didn’t know their ass from a hole in the ground.  There WAS no “fiscal cliff”.  This was just some invention of the lame stream media.  The BEST thing we could have done then was absolutely nothing.  We should have let all of the Bush tax rates sunset and go back to the Clinton rates, which seemed fine for us in the nineties.  We have a similar type situation here where the prudent thing to do is what this congress is good at doing most of the time- - absolutely nothing.  And I would say the same thing of the Trans Pacific Partnership.  The wise thing to do is absolutely nothing.  Don’t give me this “fast track” crap.  Why is it when the WORST lasting legacy that Obama may give us in his eight years- - is the ONLY part of the President’s agenda that the Republicans are for.  The TPP would surrender our sovereignty on things like product safety, safe conditions for workers, pollution regulations,  and by the way “Any legal suit that could impact profits” is disallowed.  Thus this bill takes away the power of our Courts, including the Supreme Court.  Why suddenly is the Supreme Court so silent on this particular issue?   

Rush Limbaugh and Shawn Hannity both pointed out that Hillary Clinton has lied about how “all four of her grandparents are immigrants’ when in reality only Hugh Rodem, her paternal grandfather is from another country and came here as a child.  Of course we know Hillary lied about her Bosnia landing and immediately duck and covering because they were taking sniper fire.  Her meet and greets are rehearsed ahead of time.  She won’t even talk to you if you pass her on the street, unless you’re part of the script.  You can tell when Hillary is scripted because she gets that sing-songy voice about her.  Washington’s blog has pointed out the E mail deletions and also questions about security at the Libyan embassy in the middle of 2112.  But most importantly she is a creature of Wall Street, because Wall Street has sent the word they’d be perfectly happy with either Hillary Clinton or Jeb Bush.  But what I find depressing is that she has no competitors.  You’d think someone else would run against her just to raise all of these issues- - and other issues you’ll no doubt think of.  But they don’t.  Bobby Jendell turned a one billion dollar surplus into a one and a half billion dollar deficit in the State of Louisiana.  Now he wants to strengthen anti gay legislation, and the democrats are running this anti Jendell ad   I wonder what Ted Cruz learned at Harvard.  Rand Paul was a respectable opthamologist, so you can’t fault his work history.

This is after breakfast on Saturday April 18, 2015.   We are coming up on a bunch of anniversaries in this period of time- most of them violent.  Today is the Anniversary of the San Francisco earthquake in 1906.  It’s also the anniversary of the battle of Lexington and Concord as well as the birth of the tea party in 2009.  Tomorrow is the anniversary of Waco, where Janet Reno really was “over-bearing” and more notably the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.  And Monday the 20^th is the anniversary of Colembine.  This is the period known as “The second season” both in Ice Hockey and in NBA Basketball because the play-off “season” starts and that runs about two months, in both cases.  I’m going to keep the wallpaper of “Watering Hole” right up until the time I get paid in two weeks on May first.   President Obama talked about global warming in his Saturday address on KNX radio. 

One bill passed today was the abolishment of the estate tax entirely.  This is a drastic move.  It's pointed out that since this nation's founding, we have believed that each new generation "prove itself" with hard work and the like- and not have the landed gentry owning increasing ammounts of property in a country leaving the remainder increasingly impovrished.  It might as well be called the “welfare for the ultra rich” bill.  This is because what se have now are rich people awash in inherited money.  Now none of that swill go to the government, at least at the federal level.  This will have a significant impact on our deficit to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars.  There are only the top .2% of one percent that even qualified for ANY estate tax, so this is a really “targeted” relief bill for the very rich.

Rachael Maddow is interviewing Harry Reid wearing sun glasses because he is now blind in his right eye “due to an injury” but they didn’t say what.  This injury had nothing to do with the decision not to run for Senate again since Reid says he had already come to that decision before the incident.  So he’s wearing sun glasses.  I’ve concluded that I don’t have enough material for a blog post tonight.  I may leave those “The Week” magazines in that draw in Bill’s bookcase a while, and then mention it when he gets back.

Early June is going to complete an adverse seven year cycle- - that will be over according to the latest Federation statement.  This means among other things that the Patriot Act will NOT be renewed but the republicans will let the June deadline slide without reaching agreement.  We can hope.  The word seems to be that a majority of this congress- including a lot of Republicans- - believe the Patriot Act treads too much on our civil liberties.  The Federation is also confident that this Supreme Court WILL say that gender restrictions on marriages are unconstitutional and that ALL restrictions on gays - - or "sexual identification" will be barred.  As Chris Matthews points out "This will be a period when people like Mike Huckibee and Ted Cruz will flower and polliferate.  Some in the Federation are saying that the end of another "seven year curse" is what brought down the Berlin Wall in mid November of 1989.   Things that are marked as doomed pursuits will thus fall of their own weight.  (Selah)  This will be a period when the full moon is approaching the "Al Qaeda home planet" in the constelation of Scorpio.  On a personal level the Federation is predicting that I will received at last some "economic relief" for my many problems.  I'll believe it when I see it.

Mike Huckibee has formed an exploratory committee to see if he wants to run for President, which means he will.  I also heard that Huckibee plans to announce next month.  Mike Huckibee is forthrightly against a two state solution in Israel and the West Bank.  OK, then all you need to do is to give the Palestinians the right to vote in national elections.  Stop treating them as second class citizens and having an apartite type situation like you used to have in South Africa.  Many of Huckibee's talking points in today's NH speech were identical to Shawn Hannity's talking points.  He speaks of Saudi Arabia and Egypt and Jordan having a firmer alliance with Israel than the United States does.  He gets asked a question about India, and goes off on a rant about Israeli sovreignty.  The guy has Israel on the brain.  Nevertheless, I don’t find Huckibee quite as annoying at Ted Cruz - - and generally Huckibee is just following the pack on most of these anti gay issues or how President Obama is “not an American” and was raised at a Medrassa and indoctrinated in Islam.  Now that I think about it Huckibee IS pretty darn nutty!  You’re going to continue to hear this stuff on the right.  Since I regard Huckibee as less “dangerous” than Ted Cruz- - I would work to increase Huckibee votes where he and Cruz were face to face. How ironic then when Huckibee says "The reason why I'm more qualified than the others is because America needs "the best quarterback for the team" who doesn't go around attacking all of his rivals for the job".  (selah)  Actually Chris Matthews and Ron Reagan just mentioned this- - not just with Ted Cruz but also with major players such as Scott Walker or Jeb Bush that Huckibee may cut them off at the knees.  So it’s said that Huckibee may function as “King Maker” (one of those old fashioned phrases) You deal with him.  Also (unlike Christie) Huckibee is wisely NOT talking about cutting Social Security or Medicare, which he (correctly) regards as “A pact with the American people”.   (Selah)   Rush Limbaugh actually worked to get out Hillary voters in Texas and other states, if you’ll remember in “Operation Chaos” back in 2008.  Remember that?  Rush Limbaugh is also proud the he sabatoged Hillary’s “Healthcare Bill road tour” in 1993.  Rush said he had more agents than Stephano Di Mira- - and always got more of HIS fans out in the audience booing- - than any fans Hillary could muster up- - even in cases where the rout was changed at the last minute to prevent this.

 Terry Hill came by this morning while I was waiting for this room to be finished.  Terry tracked down my genealogy only a short ways.  And even that involved a waiting period.  Sabastian Hiss was born in Germany in 1831 and I guess he’s grandma’s grandfather.  Terry seemed surprised that he was German.  On the male side only Charles Dutton’s father, John, was tracked down and that stopped.  I think this guy’s name used to be Miller according to that thing Dee showed us, but I’ve never borrowed that whole material.  Of course I've let it slip having posts from Money Draw day and face the dreaded H's in money draw line, such as Loretta Hill, Brenda Hess, and Keith Haney, all of which are known for taking a lot of time in the office. Terry just confirmed what a tedious job it is tracking down ancestors.  Rumor is that Mike Huckibee is in the race now.  The substitution guy on WCPT mentioned this tidbit.  I did that photo of “Yes We Scan” from GW’s blog.  And in smaller print it says “Deal With It”.   One Republican caller said something I agree with.  Barock Hussein Obama will have left his most damaging legacy in terms of the Trans Pacific Partnership in terms of surrender of so many of our legal and national sovereign rights.  Nobody in the clown car is even talking about this.  You’d think the three that have already declared- - - would.  Gov Christie gave a speech before some New Hampshire Republican Unity rally today.

Let's Make This Our Political Platform Now!

Americans Becoming Increasingly Resentful of Pig-Headed Ego-Centric Government Policies

Polls show that – despite President Obama’s rhetorical skills – Americans don’t like his core policies.

This is not a partisan statement … Americans have come to despise both mainstream Democratic and mainstream Republican party policies.

Specifically, Americans:
Believe by a 70-30% margin that big banks and corporations – rather than average Americans – have benefited most from Obama’s economic policies. 2 years ago, 74% thought that the bailouts helped Wall Street more than the people

Want to break up the big banks

Overwhelmingly want the government to get tougher on prosecuting Wall Street fraud

Want to end or substantially rein in the Federal Reserve

Oppose war against Syria (and see this). This is not as new or surprising as many believe: Americans have been sick and tired of war in the Middle East for years

Oppose arming the Syrian rebels

Hate the broad program of spying currently being conducted by the NSA and other government agencies

Think that the government has gone way too far in the name of terrorism, and want our liberties restored

Don’t believe the NSA
Consider NSA leaker Edward Snowden to be a hero

Don’t trust Obama to actually do anything to rein in spying

Want the director of intelligence – James Clapper – prosecuted for perjury
Are more afraid of the government than terrorists

Overwhelmingly support labeling genetically modified food

Want poisons kept out of our food and water

Want elections to be made more fair

Oppose Obamacare by a 45 percent to 23 percent margin. Liberals now realize that it’s turned into afeeding frenzy for big healthcare companies … which creates two classes of citizens

Democrats are realizing that Obama is as bad as Bush. And Republicans are waking up to the fact that the GOP leadership lied to them.

Peoples’ hatred of Congress is so passionate that it’s comical. And Obama’s patina of wanting to help the American people has worn very thin for everyone other than his most diehard fans.

Indeed, poll after poll shows that both mainstream parties – Democrat and Republican – are deeply unpopular with the American people.

Both conservatives and liberals want to cut the corporate welfare queens off from the public dole.

Americans of all political stripes have awoken to the fact that most politicians are corrupt, and that big government and big business have become intertwined in a malignant relationship which hurts us little people.

The Essence of what it is to be a Neo Con

"Whenever Money Changes Hands - It's Taxed"

"Don't ask me what I want it for - -

If you don't want to pay some more"

Men who get divorces know this truth all too well!

Here is a coralary saying "Whenever a Christian changes churches - - the Faith and religious knowledge meter gets reset to zero".  Just think about it.

So - - are "tough eggs" laid by unhappy chickens?"

WHAT IT IS TO BE A CONSERVATIVE

The other day Shawn Hannity said the thing which distinguishes a conservative is that they want to be self reliant and don’t want the government ‘holding them back” either with regulations or with “assistance”.   Shawn has this idea that people are conspiring every day to “get on welfare”.  I thought they pruned back “Welfare as we know it” in 1996.   People who get on SSI are diagnosed as disabeled, either physically or mentally.  It’s by no means an easy process to get on, as I found out first hand.  (You have to have someone hounding you too keep at it till you succeed, as in my case)   I didn’t WANT to get on SSI.  I honestly didn’t think I needed it, and didn’t like some of the “vow of poverty” ramifications.  I personally would say that what distinguishes a conservative is “hatred of the Other”.   I would also say there is an inherent fear of the democratic process and openness all around by conservatives.  This used to be just the OPPOSITE in Goldwater’s party where they championed Democracy.  No more.  I would also say there is a basic sense of self delusion among the adherents that “They think they are better than they really are”.  Don’t be insulted by that; just accept it as true.  Most of them think some how some way “the rules everyone else has to live by don’t apply to them”, almost as if they had been “chosen by God” or something.  And this I submit is the true meaning of what they are getting at with that word “exceptionalism”.  There is a disregard altogether of the future- - of the human race, and also of Planet Earth.  There was an Irraquois saying that “When we pass a law, we need to think about how it will affect the next seven generations”.   There is a need to “Impress” and to wow with the immediate “first impression”, and a tendency, as there was with Captain Queeg “Of reverting to clichés and second hand phrases”.  Think about it.

JEB BUSH IS A FIRST RATE MAJOR CROOK
The International Business Times reports that Jeb Bush Funneled $1.7 BILLION of pension cash to W’s donors – some who are now Jeb donors.

The former Secretary of Health and Human Services says that Jeb lobbied on behalf of an infamous Medicare swindler.

Bush is also a hardcore neocon, and member of the influential warmonger group Project for a New American Century. He’s for mass surveillance by the NSA. He supported the Iraq War, and has tappedkey architects of his brother’s failed Iraq War as his advisors.

Mother Jones notes:
Financial support flowed to Jeb through Miami’s right-wing Cuban community. Republican party politics and a series of business scandals — including Medicaid fraud and shady S&L deals — were inextricably intertwined. A former federal prosecutor toldMJ that, when he looked into Jeb’s lucrative business dealings with a now-fugitive Cuban, he considered two possibilities — Jeb was either crooked or stupid.

Mother Jones also notes that Jeb supported the Contras, and may have been involved in the Lincoln S&L scandal.

Alternet reports:
Five months after he left the governor’s mansion in 2007, he joined Lehman Brothers as a “consultant.” No doubt he was well-compensated, as reporters may learn if and when he releases his tax returns someday. The following year, Lehman infamously went bust — and left the state of Florida holding about $1 billion worth of bad mortgage investments. (A Bush spokeswoman said, “His role as a consultant to Lehman Brothers was in no way related to any Florida investments.”)

***

He performed a similar service, with more success, on behalf of the Cuban militant Orlando Bosch, for whom he sought a presidential pardon from his father. The boastful murderer of dozens of innocent people — and a prosecution target of the U.S. Justice Department — Bosch deserved a pardon about as much as the worst jihadi in Gitmo. But his sponsors were the same Cuban-Americans in Miami who had fostered Jeb’s real estate business there, so he ignored the Republican attorney general’s denunciation of Bosch as an “unreformed terrorist.”

And Jeb “helped” his brother become president. Noted social historian and author Michael Parentiexplains:
Under orders from Governor Jeb Bush (Bush Jr.’s brother), state troopers near polling sites delayed people for hours while searching their cars. Some precincts required two photo IDs which many citizens do not have. The requirement under Florida law was only one photo ID. Passed just before the election, this law itself posed a special difficulty for low-income or elderly voters who did not have drivers licenses or other photo IDs. Uncounted ballot boxes went missing or were found in unexplained places or were never collected from certain African-American precincts.

Today President Obama took the historic step of removing Cuba’s name from the list of official nation terror states.  The only three on the list now are Iran, Syria and Sudan.  I’m surprised Cuba remained on the list while North Carolina or Libya or some of these other obvious terrorist nations such as Yemen, are not there.  And most of the terrorist acts Cuba is accused of by us were prior to Ronald Reagan’s putting Cuba on that list of nations in 1982.  They were supporting leftist terrorists in Columbia.  This has been deemed a road block to Cuba’s agreeing to establish diplomatic relations with the United States.  It does kind of seem from here that the United States is making all the concessions, and Cuba is getting their way.

My stance on "Free Speech" and "Higher Education" is that this the essence of "liberalism".  Liberal means to say what you want to- - and the only criteria is whether it is "intellectually respectable" and "brings something accademic to the conversation".   Higher discourse is supposed to transcend politics, and not seek refuge in Ad Hominum arguments.  The Greeks believed "Education" was the "bring out" of knowledge which lies to be within a man or woman, that is - helping them to be what they were meant to be.  I had my problems with one teacher in particular - Mr Richi - - in two different college classes - - Philosophy of Religion in fall of 1972 and Logic in the fall of 1973.  In both cases I was arguing from a Born Again Christian point of view.  It was Michael Benner who spoke of certain things "ticking you off" or striking a reaction point,  Some may call that emotional baggage.  Conservatives have a lot of emotional baggage and are unable to argue an Issue on its merits alone.  If there were "politically correct speech" rules in a University, I would be equally against these whether they originated from the left or from the right.

 Loretta is back.  I saw her smiling face - - wearing what looked like a fresh hair style.  She related all the experience she’d undergone in the “nine or ten” weeks she was gone.  She was transferred from hospital to hospital.  In one hospital they had smoking breaks only three times a day, at 7:45 AM and 7:45 PM, and at 12:45 PM.  That’s it.  My pink eye was acting up.  Sinus troubles weren’t that bad.  She related how she’d interacted with Glen at one of the hospitals (closing that circle). Food never came up as a topic.  People thought she had gang affiliation because of her tattoos.  She talked about how she used to ride on the back of a Harley with one of her husbands, but she’d never ride solo.  One time she threw a table through a window or something.  Another time she had “a really good roommate” who was orderly and didn’t have screaming fits in the middle of the night.  She said that people here had gifts for her like shampoo and things delivered to her room, which was neat.  I might have stayed and talked longer if - - [it weren't for my pink eye discussed below] .   I took inventory of the laundry and made out a list on a fresh piece of paper.  It was NCIS and I only watched the one episode because I was pretty tired.

This is Wednesday April 15, 2015, Income Tax day.  That’s the reason I turned it from Sean Hannity because when he says “people who ride the subway to work are in such high brackets that the government gets half of their estate when they die”, I know he’s nuts, because only a fraction of one percent pay any estate tax at all, and I know even his staff isn’t that well paid.  As to the constant rain of remarks about leaving New York, they bitch and moan about it and they’re still there and it’s been a year since I first heard it.  If Republicans and Shawn are that upset about the "freeloaders" who don't pay Federal Income Tax, sure we could adjust this number a little if you want.  Maybe we could institute lowering the threshhold income to say 27% who will no longer pay Federal Income Taxes, just so Shawn will feel better.  Then I turned to Bill Carol talking about these water swamps on Mars (?) which so far are lifeless.  There are no microbes or anything yet found on Mars.  Then he talked about this new version of the dog flu, which differs from a previous version of a dog flu because cats can also get this one. 

 On Days of our Lives the big news is that both Brady and Melanie have figured out Teresa’s dark secret that Teresa doesn’t know herself.  (Those are the worst kind of secrets)  Even if you were in regression and related a tale of being drugged and your embryo forcibly removed from your body the therapist would call it “false memory sidrone” but that’s exactly what happen.  Christine Di Mira made her return to the script today.  For the second day in a row I sprouted a bad case of pink eye or something after the noon hour.  Today it’s more explainable because we had Santa Ana winds kicking up pollens in the air, which are rampant right now.  I went to smoke and paid Paul back three more cigarettes after buying a fresh pack at the store.  Then Larry chimed in and demanded the two I owed him.  I went for coffee in the courtyard and got two cups from Dora.  I called Mom at her place and obviously she’s feeling better.  Her voice is back to normal, she sounds chipper and she was leaving for an appointment to have her hair done.  I just took off that heavy black and white shirt.  In the early morning there were no winds and it was pretty cool out.

Marco Rubio Announces for President Today

"The one mistake you made - was in your Head"

Marco Rubio is only 43 years old and making a bid to be President upstaging his mentor and elder, Jeb Bush - - fifteen years his senior- - was a bold and brash mood.  It’s pretty much like declaring war on him.  This could be the year where declaring early gives you that needed momentum and leg up, which is why Hillary felt it necessary to leap out of the gave so quickly, when she had previously planned on waiting till this summer.  As it stands now despite Hillary’s falling (if not crumbling) poll numbers- - she is still the only game in town.  Not this O Mally guy from Maryland, and nor Senator Jim Webb of Virginia have a prayer against her and this is becoming more apparent every day.  There is talk this year that “The democrats may not even have a primary this year” according to leading liberal pundits.  Marco Rubio is announcing from this Freedom Center.  It’s the heartland in Miami, Florida of all the Cuban refugees who made it here from Cubs fleeing Castro.  Marco Rubio is hoping to parlee this into some major crusade of “Even the most humble, down and out immigrant can make it in the USA, which is still the land of opportunity”.  The problem is that the Cuban community is no longer what it was fifty years ago as the older generation dies off and the younger generation doesn’t car all that much.  Among liberals- - Rubio will be forever be known as the guy who kept reaching for his water glass and gulping during his “Response to the State of the Union Message’ one year.  People have pointed out that all three republican candidates so far, Rubio, Rand Paul, and Ted Cruz, are newly elected- - - Junior Senators.  So here is a case where I wouldn’t mind it so much is Hillary Clinton adopted the disparaging remark of calling all three of them “The Junior Varsity” team.  I must agree with my opponent, Shawn Hannity on one key issue, which is that "2016 is the most important electoral race we've ever experianced".  The Supreme Court hangs in the balance.  One blog noted one area where the Supreme Court has been STRIPPED of power.  They CAN'T apparently declare an action of the Executive Branch as "unconstitutional".  This is an area where I would retain "Judicial Review" because there are no checks and balances.  Couldn't the Supreme Court declare various acts of the NSA unconstitutional?  Couldn't this same court declare the Trans Pacific Partnership as Unconstitutional after it is rammed through?  If I were on the bench I would do just that.  The Constitution of the United States got its idea for checks and balances from the Irriquois Nation.  So once again we have the Indians to be grateful to- - rather than "God".  (Selah)

There is a rule more of a rumor I've heard since I was a kid that if you touch a piece in checkers or chess then you have to move it.  I wonder if God abides by this rule while playing chess with Satan.  If you think you've been "touched by God" then God has to make a constructive Move in your life.  After all, God wouldn't to be known as a "Day Tripper" would he?  It's right around today that we experiance what is known as "Sundial parody" where the Sundial registers the correct time on a meridian- - which is also does an equal (mirrored) distance from the Summer solistis on the other side come September first, which those of you slow to get a newspaper in Moscow, is no longer the Russian new year.  I had a dream a month ago that something "cosmic" was going to happen around April 23rd but I don't know what year, and even while in the dream I had real doubts that it would.

There has been another police shooting besides the one on Saturday involving the San Barnidino sheriff's where there was a high speed pursuit - on a horse, that lasted an hour and the edreneline was really going and you know what happens.  Cops are only human I guess.  Not to excuse cops or anything but I'll sooner excuse a cop for having a human weakness, than I would God - - for claiming he acted incorrectly because he had some lingering human frailty- - like when he told Moses he wanted to destroy the nation of Israel and start all over with Moses, and Moses had to talk him out of it.  But now there is yet Another - - police shooting.  "And the hits keep on coming!"   This one was in Tulsa, Oklahoma or something where a retired police volenteer was chasing a black man down and was planning on using his Taser on him, but instead just shot him with surer lethal means.  Are we to believe this was another "horrible mistake"?  I mean, how many "horrible mistakes" is a certain agency of Government allowed to make?  Cops aren't God, but then you want to flip it around and say "Is God the policeman of the cosmis?" or is that Alcyonne's job.  Bu the way, in case you didn't hear (this goes for you Berle Eyves) Alcyonne is the dimmest bulb in this particular cluster of young stars- - and I stress the cosmologally word "Young" as in sibblings.  We know from the Ionians that there is some emnity between Orion and the Pliades, but I am unclear as to the details, and I have scarcely thought for a moment that maybe the "misunderstanding' could be talked out- - since already it's been a few thousand years that has passed.  Just remember those who would promote themselves to the media a time tested truth, that it's the empty can that rattles the most.

THE BEST OF “THE MIDDLE” (Provisional Free Bonus Album)

Drive My Car (original version)

Hey, You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away (Anthology

I’m Really Down (Anthology)

It’s Only Love (Anthology)

Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby (Live at Chea Stadium) (Anthology)

Norwegian Wood   (Anthology)

I’m Looking Through You (Anthology version)

Twelve Bar Original (Anthology)

Got to Get You Into My Life (Anthology)

And Your Bird Can Sing (giggling Anthology version)

Eleanor Rigbee (original version – with lyrics)

I’m Only Sleeping (vibraphone instrumental)

Strawberry Fields Forever (version two)  (Anthology) *

T N K / W Y A W Y (from “Circ De Solee” collection)

Only a Northern Song (Anthology version)

Being For the Benefit of Mr Kite (from “Circ De Solee”)

Good Morning (Anthology version)

A Day in the Life (Anthology version) with Paul blurb

Title letters start off white and “The Middle” is in bright pink, and there are no quotation marks.  The colloge photograph is (are) from a Romulan video dating all the way back to summer of 1967 of “A Day in the Life” involving a collage of traffic signals taken with a telephoto lenz- - and a photo of (apparently) John Lennon singing the song live - - lit in gold- - and a portion of a big black car- - - and non descript photographs of unidentified people (in black and white)  This info was “used” by Sirius A on the provision that they didn’t doctor anything up but gave the people exactly what CMK gave them.  This is a provisional Bonus Album because it’s offered as a free bonus if you also purchase “The Best of Greenie”.  This album came out today on Sirius A and so far has outsold the album that came out two weeks ago- - largely due to the fact that Romulans are buying this album where they weren’t the previous release.  Apparently we had to negotiate the two Circ de Sulee tracks from their guardian angels, but have always been free to use as many Anthology tracks as we pleased.  Part of the thinking here is the two unchanged tracks- - we thought about using on “Greenie” but weren’t sure and we wanted to stick to our “prime number” format.  The Mash-up is “Within You and Without You” and “Tomorrow Never Knows” where each song adopts the tempo and beat of the other.  The “Kite” song features that murky organ stuff at the end in a murky parody of “She’s So Heavy”.   Both John and Stu thought it would be a good idea to restrict ourselves to material that was recorded only when Brian Epstein was alive, as a way of honoring him.  Stu became more sympathetic to Brian after John Lennon gave Stewart the same talk that you hear on “Anthology I” about how much work Brian put into the group and was a “Beautiful man” and how he saw to it that the Beatles always put their best foot forward”.   FH also thought ending with a Day in the Life was a way of honoring Ron Diggins and John Sneed.  For a lot of Sirius A people - - (younger ones) the only things they’ve heard before in their current state are “12 Bar Original”, “Drive My Car” and “Eleanor Rigbee” that vibraphone version of - - plus whatever else I've forgotten about plus the little blurb of Paul Mc Cartney at the end  where he says “A lot of people ask us questions like- - just what is it you’re up to?”  which occurs at the end of our new version of Abbey Road.  Later tracks had been considered.  The back of the album is kind of black text on “clay white” background- - and much of the commentary material is stuff included right here.  Aldeberan IX was blown up by Alcyonne a few days after the release of Sgt Pepper.  This may figure in the "lateness criteria" also.  If you're looking for a certain Ringo track - - we in our infinite folly (-) included it on the "Help" album and it also made its way prior to that on the "KAOS Radio, the Sixties" three CD compilation dating from May of 2006.  Also since Stu was consulted in the production of this album, it was his little way of "dissing" Ringo.   We have our sneaky little ways.

 * This track is actually a composite of two recordings.  The melitron is heard at the beginning and the end of the song, but not in the middle, which is basically a bassier sounding acoustic guitar. 

 Bob Sheefer is retiring, which is something because we’ve lost a lot of seasoned reporters lately - -  and I’m wondering if he was booted out by management because he’s just too liberal for this day and age.  In the news on this Sunday April 12, 2015 of course Hillary Clinton launched her almost stealth campaign for President.   Bob Sheefer made his announcement at Texas Christian university.  Washington DC is in the middle of the cherry festival right now and they showed them.  Someone committed suicide in the capitol steps with a gun, and they had to close off the area.  President Obama met with Raul Castro yesterday in what they are endlessly calling “a historic meeting”.   Basically it’s just grandstanding, because what else is Obama going to do the next year and a half?   The Ayatolah in Iran is openly humiliating our President by tweeting in English that none of the things John Kerry said about the deal were true, and almost everything is different from how we fancy that it is.  President Obama countered that our partners such as Russia and China back up John Kerry’s version of events.  Rand Paul was on Face the Nation in addition to John Kerry.  Reinz Previs was promised.   Reinz Previs is on now- - and he did note that “Rand Paul is endeavoring to bring minorities into the Republican Party”.  A lot is made of the fact that the Saudis have donated to Hillary Clinton’s political action committee when they themselves couldn’t get away with taking foreign money. 

            

Women really were considered chattel in the first hundred years of this country and even now in Alabama, if you marry a man and have your own Sears account, your husband may cut you off from your own account and you have no rights to it.  It's kind of like Judy with AT&T.  Women's property could be conthiscated once her husband dies and if she's a widdow with children, the children will be taken away.  One Illinois court ruling in 1873 not only said a woman could not join the Illinois bar association - - but went on to say that the very idea of a woman owning property at all was "Republic to the family values this country has always stood for".  Keep in mind John Lennon's song "Woman is the Nigger of the World" was once literally true.  When Black males had the vote, at least on paper, women still had no vote.  The theory now is that as slow as we are to give Blacks equal rights- - we are even slower to give women equal rights.  I had “Meet the Press” on yesterday most of the hour- and they had Rand Paul and John Kerry on also.  But as far as I can see Rand Paul still never had to answer Savanna Guthrie's question about Rand Paul changing his position on gay rights and on Iran and on the legalization of marijuana.  There was nothing at all unreasonable about this lady reporter or ANY reporter wanting such an important question resolved.  If Rand Paul can't face Savanna Guthrie, how will he ever stand up to Hillary Clinton in a debate?  “This Week” had a little of that “North Charleston, South Carolina” police shooting, and also Mike Huckibee- - who seemed surprisingly lucid this day.  42% of Republicans would “Never consider voting for Jeb Bush” next year.  That’s a popularity ceiling of 58% or below.  To me Huckibee seems less threatening or looney than Ted Cruz does, though the liberal pundits are good at cherry picking his remarks.  In terms of that police shooting video, those who are on the Sean Hannity right - - have to make a "leap in faith" that this is the ONLY time that a Black man was unjustly shot by a white officer.  It's an "unfortunate coincidence".  To me it's more Reasonable that- - this sort of stuff goes on all the time and we just never see it.  If we heard audio of comgressional secret meetings we'd be similarly shocked at the deals that are made.  We were all shocked and Mitt Romney lost the campaign because of that 47% remark made in secret.  Huh?   I had “Breakfast with the Beatles” on which was generally uneventful.  They did play mono versions of “Magical Mystery Tour’ and “Blue Jay Way”.  (The “Radio versions”)  You know KLOS does their famous "dub ins" of little "bits", too.  I was out way before ten o clock coffee break trolling for cigarettes and went in the courtyard at five to ten and waited twenty minutes till ten fifteen and then gave up and returned here and caught “Run for Your Life” and looked and saw the coffee cart and went back down for just one cup of coffee, because we were limited to that.  The final track of the day was the Radio Head mash-up of “A Day in the Life”.  

On The California Drought

Rush Limbaugh’s remarks (transcript) on a recent program centered on two themes.  First of all he said that thirty plus years ago that the Gay population said “We just want to be left alone”, but that today they don’t want to be “left alone” but they want overt acceptance and being embraced by the main stream culture.  I have trouble finding fault with this logic.  It’s just that I too am “homophobic” but I don’t advertise that fact, because I think being rabidly anti gay is a non starter in this current political climate.  So the question is “Am I going to come out of the closet that I’m actually anti gay?” But then he moves on to the Southern California drought.  This is the fourth full year of the drought, that actually began in 2011.  Rush Limbaugh believes our problem is that we didn’t build enough resavaurs when times were good to store more water.  It doesn’t make any difference how large your resavaur is if there is no water to put in it.  I was never told “All of our lakes and resavaurs are to capacity- - we can’t save another drop”.  My memory is that there has ALWAYS to one degree or another been a LACK of water in our lakes and resavaurs.  I am inclined to lend a sympathetic ear to those who say we don’t need “smart meters” to monitor us all minute by minute and insure that we confine ourselves to five minute showers.  And I told you about the microwave emissions that will take place which some day will endanger the health of the residents of the home.  And unspoken in this- - was the likelihood of these new microwaves causing interference with other electronic devices.  Yet at the same time they are letting water OUT of resavaurs ON PURPOSE so that the fish will have more water to swim in.  Clearly though this particular drought is worse than any of the others.  Apparently the next driest season was the 1960 – 1961 season.  Now they are telling people to rip out their lawns that they’ve labored over and nurtured trying to get them growing good and green.  To me this is nothing short of absurdity.  Grass is good for a whole host of things- - like kids playing in the yard - - ect.  It looks nice.  But more importantly it COOLS the air and also absorbs carbon emissions- - so it’s an ecological move.  In this era is trying not to WASTE energy it seems to pointless to get all manner of bulldozers and such- - consuming energy to rip out lawns and put in a rock and cactus garden- - that looks tacky and is a constant reminder that we ARE in a drought- - and most importantly heats up the air driving our Air Conditioner bills up.  I do not relish the idea of “federalizing” this crisis.  That’s just more beaurocrats to get in the way.  One thing wrong with the handling of Katrina was that each governmental layer blamed someone else.  I got to be a little much.  Some are “confident” that our government is going to become more totalitarian all around.  For instance today it’s water.  Tomorrow there will be laws on what we can spend our money on and our whole economy will be “monitored” much more tightly, as presumably massive new rounds on taxes on new groups of people will take place.

Hillary Clinton is kicking off her campaign for President tomorrow- - and it’s staged and pre planned, which we will be seeing a lot of.  The video for it has already been recorded.  For some strange reason she’s going to be “not herself” but pretend in some new plastic campaign that she is a “new voice” in American politics.  Bill Clinton will play a minimal role in the campaign, which Shawn Hannity regards as a major mistake, and I agree.  Hillary has collapsed in the polls going from 67% and 64% as recently as a couple of years ago- - to 48% now and now is losing to Rand Paul in the key states of Virginia, Iowa, and Colorado, three “purple states”.  She seems not to be noticing this total collapse of support around her.  Just now I saw Hillary’s announcement of 2007 when she spoke of the Bush Administration and conversation in Washington getting a little styfeling.  It still is.  Then as now she opened up a “listening tour” and I guess she’s satisfied with that campaign formula.  Virginia Governor Jim Webb might be a "non threatening" form of liberalism - - because Webb confines himself to the issues we'll need to face next year, without saying "This is the way a political Liberal looks at the situation".   

They had extensive coverage of the Rand Paul campaign and this idea of “nation building” Ran Paul talked of in his speech- - I took to mean that there will be no humanitarian or bridge building or schools for women or anything like that.  Our foreign policy will veer away from diplomacy and concentrating on lobbing bombs, preferably Nuclear Bombs- - on whatever Islamic country we think deserves it.  And yet this same group that “Swift Boated” John Kerry- - “Committee for a Secure American Future” or whatever- - is now doing a saturation or “carpet bombing” campaign in the media attacking the Ron Paul campaign before it can get off the ground.  Even Michael Steel admits these people in the Dick Chaney wing of the Republican Party are dreadfully afraid of him.  They are accusing Rand Paul of being pro Obama backing the President’s stance on the Iranian deal- - when I heard Rand Paul say just the opposite.  They had a thing on the White House staff under Nixon and others in a segment I partially skipped over.  There is a fiction that they are “only there to serve” like robot androids who have no emotions or thoughts about what they are hearing in the conversation.

The Apple watch came out yesterday but they have a backlog of orders already until June.  Leo didn’t spend that much time talking about them, except he enumerated cases where they could come in really handy.  Leo says they might come out with a twelve inch deluxe I Pad come October.  Leo is saying the I Phones come out in September, but I remember a time when they always came out in June.  I guess there is a deeper issue here- because the media has been and does now- - talk to us and pitch goods to us as though there is or has been no economic recession the past seven years.  One wonders how any sane person could ever afford something so frivelous as a watch you have to have an I phone to even use properly.  The media sees us as completely bored with money to burn and willing to spend a seemingly boundless ammount of greenbacks on the most trivial thing that strikes our fancy.    Congress has not met for two weeks but are supposedly scheduled to be back Monday.  It’s seemed longer than that.  The US Military now had dropped all restrictions on active servicemen getting tattooed.

If “The Bible Continues” as a series continues to play it as some “political movement” or philosophical movement of “a new way of thinking and seeing the world” one wonders why it would even be relivant whether Jesus physically rose from the grave or not.  If he as Pilate says “just a decaying piece of dead meat” how do you go about saying anything other than that (grim fact) - about his current physical state?  Or if you do allude to some improved "state" (such as ascended into heaven now) and yet offer up no evidence.  It’s like Joseph Smith and the gold tablets that appeared and were transcribed, and then taken back up into heave, and you’re supposed to take the whole experience of others “on faith”.  To me that is a much weaker message than repeating the words and message that Jesus actually taught, more so in the first three gospels than in the Fourth Gospel, laden as it is with heavy theology.  No.  Without the over-lay of Gnosticism, what Christianity essentially IS, a “Belief System” rather than a way of living daily life- - would have never gotten off the ground.  Without the “Born Again” experience of Gnosticism, Christianity may have evolved very differently indeed.  (Selah)

 Thom Hartman was just reading off a bunch of postings from Palm Beach police on the best way to give a suspect they don’t like a hard time.  They say to use a realistic looking beebee gun as a thrown down rather than a weapon actually used in a crime, which they would have to explain.  There was talk about sprinkling marijuana leaves on the car- or having a cocaine bag in the car at all times to plant.  This whole exchange between multiple officers was obscenity laden.  Were I accused of a crime in this area I would merely have my attorney make reference to exchanges like this.  Clearly the officer’s word is no good.  Norman’s show was on the idea that good cops or doctors will not get rid of bad cops or doctors, so the way I see it, we can “temporarily forget that there are good cops or doctors” when we criticize them.  Because it’s if they are saying “We don’t CARE if you see the whole group as bad- - “ so I’m merely agreeing with them.  OK our Blogger number is up to 31 so this blog is getting off to a better start.  OK this is later and I just watched about half of a VP Joe Byden speech on Iraqi unity in the face of the ISIS threat.  There is more unity and resolve shown by ALL factions than Shawn Hannity would ever dare admit. 

  

150 Years Ago was a Good Start

Today is the 150th anniversary of Robert E Lee's surrender to U S Grant at Appamatix court house ending the civil war.  As such it is a day which Blacks should celebrate because it least it bought them some temporary equal rights.  There was this black man son of a doctor who lived in Ladera Heights.  But in Junior High school because of school boundary lines- - he found himself going to school with poorer Blacks.  This was in the late seventies – about the time Daryl Gates was making his rise to power.  As you know in grammar school- - I went to a school that had a higher percentage of Blacks- - - it was one of those brick buildings that was all paved in asphalt for the playground the way LA schools are.  I hung out with white kids who tended to be older, because my criteria was intelligence and who could I have a good conversation with.  And at age fourteen he took a ride with some kids into south central Los Angeles.  And the LAPD stopped the car and had them all out on the curb with their fingers interlaced behind their heads while the police searched the car.  And one of the teenagers protested and said “We didn’t do anything wrong; why are you hasseling us?” and the Police pulled a weapon out of the police car in the baggie wrapping and said “You see this .38 revolver that was used in a murder?  We just found it in your car”.  So they knew right then they’d better “styffle” and count their blessings.  They were let go.  Were it not for that vidwo of the South Carolina shooting- - that white officer would be a hero and by now would be raising a gigantic political slush fund.  In terms of the rat poison in prison story with the guy that shot the Eric Garner video, there is an alternate story about it.  There was one prisoner who raped a female guard and the other prisoners smashed some plate glass to rescue the woman from the rapist.  But somehow- - maybe they were “punished” for being “rats” and not allowing the rape to go forward.  The cops would shine bright lights into his house at night and otherwise hassle the guy.  There was a story in the media that drugs were planted on him or something.  And there is talk the guy made bail bond but the authorities still wouldn’t let him go because according to Hartman “They’ll hold you for as long as they want to”.   I would just tell you that I don’t believe White people- - or even rich people who might be shielded even if they are Black- - don’t truly understand the day to day life of people in the Black ghetto.  Some of it is human nature as far as the police are concerned.  “If you’re a hammer then everything looks like a nail”.   So the cops admittedly deal with a lot of the scum of society each day and they think everyone they encounter is like that.   Not all shooting stories are with Black victims- - but too high a percentage of them are to be just coincidental.

I'm convinced the Iran - Contra scandal isn't studied enough in schools - or even by us adults who lived through it.  As far as I know there HAS been no objective movie on the Presidency of Ronald Reagan showing the scandal step by step.   As you know it's the stated policy of the United States government not to trade for hostages with either money or arms.  Nobody has ever explained why THIS case had to be different.  It's like all of the basic motivation for this trade have been scrubbed from the record.  The Reagan administration destroyed a lot of documents.  These hostages were in Lebanon held by a group called "The Islamic Republic" or something, with Iranian ties.  So it started off as arms for hostages- - - but then this Mc Farlane guy left in late 1985 after the United States on several successive dates, sold Iran all sorts of varied weaponry, TOW missiles and otherwise.  Then North and Poindexter came on board and it was their idea to get the funding of the Contras in Nicaragua into the act.  Otherwise they might call it the 1980 election secret deal with Iran - - - scandal.  Netenyahoo’s biography was scrubbed of his early carrier as ambassador to the United Nations from Israel.  Wikipedia plainly states that the money for the TOW missiles to Iran was funneled through Israel.   So Netenyahoo would have been clearly aware of it.   Many times Wikipedia will moderate their remarks by saying "This version is according to President Reagan", which is fine.  But then how about going through and getting every elses' oppinions too?  They try to midigate it by saying “Oh it was the moderate faction of the Ayatrolah regime”.   I’m not buying that one for a minute, and even if this ‘moderate’ thing is true- - how is that different from now?  Clearly this whole ploy about "Oh I was selling them to the Moderates" is a crock- - because there WERE no "moderates" running Iran at the time.  But it helps build a cover story to steer away people from discovering the Truth about the September 1980 deal Bill Casey made with Iran to get Reagan elected by holding off release of the hostages.  In terms of Israel's moral credibility- - it's clear they have none- - then or now.  Just as right now- - Israel functioned as the lap dog doing the bidding of the Republican Party of this country.  One thing that is slowly dawning on me is the extent to which Israel - - has basically this parasitic relation to the United States, and without the US, Israel could not exist.  I guess to speak in Roe vs Wade abortion terms, "Israel is not a viable organism" that can susvive outside the presence of the United States.   Why Netenyahoo is urging more Jewish people to emigrate to Israel is strange if Israel is such a "dangerous and violent place" to be as we are led by the PR to think of it as- - as if "one good attack and we could be wiped out at any moment".  And the government funds Abortions in Israel which is really strange, for a country that claims to be under-populated.

Shawn Hannity condemns the current deal with Iran and speaks of "letting down our allies in the region".    These would be Saudi Arabia, ruled by a "minority of Solifi Muslims" and Jordan, Israel, and the unelected military junta that took control in Egypt.   All of these "Allies" Shawn would have us to believe- - hate Iran more than they do ISIS.  Nobody has ever really explained where ISIS is getting their "vast funding" from.  A lot of it comes from Saudi Arabia, however.  As such it would seem that the Saudis need to "come clean" on this issue.  We all agree that ISIS needs to be eliminated from the world scene.  If Iran is helping us do that- - my philosophy is to "take out one enemy at a time".  Once ISIS has been eliminated, then we can worry about Iran.  Some are worried that Iran will get a nuclear bomb in thirteen years.  To my way of thinking IF that is true, it is a whole lot better than "in a few months" which the Israeli prime minister has been saying- - literally for years.  How is Iran a BIGGER mennace now than it was under President Ronald Reagan?  Back then we supposedly made an arms for hostages deal.  Did we ever get the hostages released safe?  Nobody seems to know that.  All we know is that suddenly the plan was changed by Oliver North and suddenly we didn't seem to care about those hostages.  Why was it so fashionable to play diplomatic footsie with Iran back then, and now with even the prospect of a deal, it's a major disaster according to Hannity?   Wouldn't a nuclear bomb free Iran be better.  Wouldn't it be better to strengthen the hand of those fighting on the same side we are to combat and erridadicate ISIS?

Does Rand Paul’s web site really put “Edumacation”?  Everybody thinks Rand alias Randell Paul - is a phoney.  When you just hear him making speech he sounds a little like Don Knotts- - after he's had a confidence in speaking course or something.  He sounds whimpy.  He's going to have to face reporters who aren't already on his side, but he's not getting off to a very good start.  Rand Paul “shooshed” Savanna Guthrie – putting his fingers to her lips like with a little kid - - who was trying to pin him down on why he’s changed position on various issues.  It's a simple enough matter to find out whether Rand Paul has changed his position on issues.  Just dig up his old speeches from a few years ago.  If indeed Rand Paul has NOT changed his positions on anything, these old speech transcripts will prove it.  Stephanie played “mini Kiss’ and “mini Queen” alluding to Rand Paul’s diminutive size.   Well it's time to move on and look to the next Republican candidate to step up to the plate now that Rand Paul has struck out.  I guess that would be Marco Rubio.  Just a word to the wise here.  The Latino segment of the population is a large one, and for Rubio to have a prayer with this group, he's going to have to stop being hostile to Latinos as a group.

Reforming the Concept of Libertarianism

I try and learn what I can to keep these blogs new and interesting - - and not repetitive.  Often I think my research doesn't dig enough for juicy facts.  I watched most of “Ring of Fire” this morning.  They had a thing on arsnic in cheap wines that they had on TV.  Then they went into Scott Walker in depth.  President Obama has taken to taking personal pot shots at both Scott Walker and Shawn Hannity.  It would appear that Scott Walker is the man to beat right now.   Ted Cruz is like the University of Kentucky - - .  He has a lot of people routing for him right now but in the end he'll lose.  Cruz isn't used to losing and I know that.  But it's that very smug assurance that will do him in.  I don’t intend for my postings to have a shelf life of twelve hours like a piece of pastry in a donut shop.  The author of Washington’s Blog makes frequent references and links to articles that go back years.  The attention span of the average reader is far too short nowadays.  My numbers of the past few days in “Skeletons” are nearly nonexistent.   I have thought one good name for a political party is “The Constitutional Union Party”.  It’s been done before- just before the Civil War- as an attempt to resurrect the Whig party.  I have also toyed with the idea of the name “Reform Libertarian Party” since I believe the whole topic of libertarianism needs reform.  We need to think of libertarians as protectors first and foremost of Civil Liberties.  There used to be a saying “My right to swing my fist ends at the tip of your nose”.  It used to be that libertarians believed in “first of all- - do no harm to thy neighbor” but you can’t say that these days.  So they turn a blind eye to Wall Street crooks, and allow industrial pollution and worker’s safety violations on a massive scale.  It used to be according to Jefferson, that with rights- we had responsabilities, but these seem to have flown out the window.  And the word “Freedom” to some people means “The freedom to take YOUR rights away” and that isn’t right.

There have been two major police shootings in the news.  It's starting to become a way of life- - and the thing is - each one is more outrageous than the last in terms of innocence of the party being shot and killed - - - with the mandentory emptying of the clip.  One involved a high speed car chase where the car was stopped- - and one officer stood on the hood of another car- - and fired ten rounds into the rear window of the car they were after.  The other was in the Carolinas.  It involved a small town that was only 37% white but the police force was eighty percent white.  Initially the officer reported that there was a struggle for the officer’s taser.  There was a man on a routine traffic stop (?) running away from the police that was shot eight times and died.  Then the officer threw down his taser as though the suspect hat stolen it.  One Norman Goldman caller says a "throw down weapon" is SOP for dealing with dead suspects. There was a video of this- - so the police couldn’t lie their way out of it.  Swift disciplinary action was taken in this case.  However according to this same Norman Goldman caller- - that a dozen Federal Civil Rights violation actions have been filed by families of victims in this small town.  He says "the smaller the town - the tighter the clique".  Maybe we’re hearing about these cases because of cell phone videos now.  Keep in mind this whole thing began as a routine traffic stop involving a busted tail light.  And the guy also was deliquent in his back child support payments.  Videos that shock us now might be so routine nobody cares- - after a few more years after we become apathetic and jaded.  But at least the media is still showing them.  They could become so common that the media might just STOP showing them at some point.   To me this should be a civil libertarian issue.  Mike Papentonio says there is a “Death in custody- - while under arrest” problem with police.  And it’s pointed out that while shootings of police officers have always been well documented- - I was stunned to learn that there ARE no good records on how many unarmed people are shot by police officers in this country.  Police shootings of civilians are a growing problem and were up 44% in one year!  Ramsey Orta was the guy who videoed the death of Eric Garner on Staten Island.  He was arrested seemingly for an unregistered firearm (where if it had been a white guy I doubt they would have even cared) and thrown in a prison where they admit feeding rat poison to prisoners.  So really this is some kind of major war by police against Black people in this country.  So now whistle blowers are in jeopardy of their lives for doing the right thing.

Rom Emanuel won in yesterday’s Chicago mayoral election.  I know a lot of people on the left hate Rom Emanuel and one of these days I'll need to investigate why.  One woman got a ballot at the voting place, and her ballot was already pre marked for Rom Emanuel.  There were wide spread reports of this going on yesterday.  The press has all these reports- - but of course the news isn’t being broadcast on the news.   You haven’t heard much out of Republicans lately about “Chicago thuggishness” lately.  Whatever it is about Rom Emanuel, he strikes a chord that a lot of Republicans like.  You’d think in any other setting that pre market ballots would be the source of a major investigation- - but people in Chicago seemingly just shrug their shoulders.

Libertarianism in Europe is a left wing ideology.  But in this country Libertarianism was “founded” by a right wing lobbyist in 1946 pushing back against the New Deal, and was funded by a lot of the big corporations of the day - - basically giving some sort of philosophical respectability to their extreme pro business views.  Of course now the infrastructure of America is all going to Hell in a hand basket.  Areas of Washington DC including government buildings and the White House- - lost electric power because one line was down.  Apparently there are certain areas of the country where the electric grid is antiquated- - and power failures occur more than ten times as often as they do in Europe or Japan, for instance.  They are also shutting off the water to Baltimore, just like they did in Detroit in poor areas last year.  Water is considered a “basic human right” by the UN but not with the powers that be here in America. Thom Hartman rips of labels of items he buys in department stores – and never fears being arrested for shoplifting, when a Black person in the same situation would never dream of doing that- - -or making darned sure he had the receipt.  I wouldn’t walk out of a store with an item that I didn’t have the sales receipt for.   This is what’s different about the gay lobby in that gay people earn on average more income than the rest of us- - so there is almost a thing called “gay privilege”.

Rand Paul is not a libertarian if he buys into this Sheldon Addelson theory that we have to adopt the Lecud party’s foreign policy on Iran.  Apparently Rand Paul has bowed to pressure from the Neo Cons and now wants to balloon the defense budget and scuttle the treaty with Iran.  He made it a point to get the “Radical Islam” theme out there in his speech yesterday.  He has to give up his senate seat if he runs for President because Kentucky law says you can’t do both.  But now Rand Paul wants to change the law just for him.  Rand Paul would wipe out the whole state exchange of Kennect - - the ACA version in Kentucky.  There are a lot of poor people who are grateful to the Governor for having that.  It makes no sense to say “I want to restrain government and let Freedom loose”, because “government” ought to be “the will of the people through the democratic process”.  It isn’t government these people are against but democracy and voting rights.  And as you know when any of them talks about “Freedom” or “letting freedom loose” or “unleashing the economy” they mean cutting taxes on rich people.  Thom Hartman says these rich people are so obsessed with “things” they might have some kind of a “hoarder’s syndrome”.  I don’t know about that, because what they are REALLY after is the taking away of power from the rest of us and oppressing the poor and the doing away with the REST of the Bill of Rights- - and not obsessing on just the second amendment.   So the bottom line is that Rand Paul really is bogus as any kind of “libertarian”.   And I guess once he figures out that Black felons won’t be rushing to vote for him- - he’ll abandon those people too.  It’s absurd to say “My solution for fixing the inner ghetto is- - - cutting taxes and keeping THAT money at home”.  I’ve heard he isn’t REALLY in favor of marijuana legalization, either.

 [Yesterday} I listened to Rand Paul’s speech throwing his hat in the Presidential ring.  Most of the speech was bullshit with the same tired republican platitudes.  You don't cut the deficet by slashing Federal income taxes any more than you economize in a personal household by saying 'You know what?  I think I'm quitting my job.  I don't feel like working".  About the only thing he said that made sense was the idea of main streaming black youth in the inner ghetto, and that we should given the choice, prefer Peace to War. I wish Rand- - short for Randell - - would take a cue from Pat Buchannon and argue that our security is NOT compromised by this deal with Iran.  Pat's been around a number of years.  A whole hell of a lot longer than you have.   I’m surprised as hell this crowd even applauded for such a bold statement as saying "Peace is better than war".  It kind of flies in the face of the whole Gospel of Dick Chaney thing.  Because most of what Rand Paul said was the same cliché right wing bat crap crazy stuff.   Norman Goldman thought Rand Paul was bogus but for other reasons.  The thing is that Rand Paul did not say one word on abortion or gay life styles, so I don’t know why Norman is so upset.  There are two classes of what I'd call "priveleged minorities" today - - Jews and Gays.  Both have well equipped media attack dogs that can pretty much set their own agenda and make the rest of us adopt to it- - as it were "You'll see things MY way and like it" kind of thing.  Certainly people with - - shall we say – personality aberrations like wanting to be homosexual- - or kill their own offspring- - I would not welcome a political party that said “Oh we want psychologically disturbed people setting the moral tone of our party’.   Rand Paul’s commitment to NOT involving us in overseas wars- - was weak to non existant.  This used to be a primary selling point of that wing of the Republican Party.  Now that stuff is deleted from his political agenda - just like Hillary's E mails.  And Rand Paul didn’t say one word about legalizing marijuana.  His remarks condemning NSA abuses were tepid at best.  I wasn’t convinced.  And of course he said nothing about the corruption and abuses of Big Money and Wall Street banksters.  In other words, the speech was tailored to just want the average tea party minions out there wanted to hear.